Red light excitation: illuminating photocatalysis in a new spectrum

• Lucas Fortier,
• Corentin Lefebvre and
• Norbert Hoffmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 296–326, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.22

• -row d6 metal complexes such as Fe(II) complexes and positions Cr(0) as a promising alternative in photoredox applications under low-energy red-light conditions. The enhanced performance of these Cr(0) complexes is attributed to their strong ligand field, provided by the isocyanide ligands, which

• properties of metal complexes. Phthalocyanins, porphyrins, and their derivatives exemplify this, as their rigid macrocyclic structures enable strong absorption in the visible to NIR regions, making them appealing for photoredox catalysis applications. For instance, ruthenium phthalocyanin complexes have

• photocatalyst has shown superior yields compared to free-base and other phthalocyanin first-row transition-metal complexes, such as nickel. The choice of solvent was also critical for optimizing the reaction efficiency: a mixture of pyridine and methanol not only improved the yield but also has helped to

Advances in the use of metal-free tetrapyrrolic macrocycles as catalysts

• Mandeep K. Chahal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3085–3112, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.257

• functional versatility [44], and many of these resulting metal complexes are catalytically active [45][46][47]. These synthetic metalloporphyrins take inspiration from biological systems, such as hemes (iron complexes), chlorophylls (magnesium complexes), and vitamin B12 (cobalt complex). Contrary to

• macrocycles as electrocatalysts Development of efficient renewable technologies is a driving force in the efforts to achieve sustainability with the same or even increasing demands for energy worldwide. In this context, transition-metal complexes of tetraazamacrocycles (N4-macrocycle) such as porphyrins

Advances in radical peroxidation with hydroperoxides

• Oleg V. Bityukov,
• Pavel Yu. Serdyuchenko,
• Andrey S. Kirillov,
• Gennady I. Nikishin,
• Vera A. Vil’ and
• Alexander O. Terent’ev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2959–3006, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.249

Synthesis, electrochemical properties, and antioxidant activity of sterically hindered catechols with 1,3,4-oxadiazole, 1,2,4-triazole, thiazole or pyridine fragments

• Daria A. Burmistrova,
• Andrey Galustyan,
• Nadezhda P. Pomortseva,
• Kristina D. Pashaeva,
• Maxim V. Arsenyev,
• Oleg P. Demidov,
• Mikhail A. Kiskin,
• Andrey I. Poddel’sky,
• Nadezhda T. Berberova and
• Ivan V. Smolyaninov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2378–2391, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.202

• derivatives are used as ligands in the synthesis of metal complexes (Ni(II), Pd(II), Pt(II), Cu(I), Ag(I) etc.) exhibiting antibacterial and antitumor activity [34]. In most cases, polyfunctional catechol thioethers were obtained by Michael reaction via the interaction of o-, p-benzoquinone and the

Catalysing (organo-)catalysis: Trends in the application of machine learning to enantioselective organocatalysis

• Stefan P. Schmid,
• Leon Schlosser,
• Frank Glorius and
• Kjell Jorner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2280–2304, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.196

• and type II’ β-hairpin. Even though the latter was consistently lower in ground state energy (up to 6 kcal/mol for some catalysts), predictive models for enantioselectivity were found for both catalyst conformers in separate MLR models. For organophosphorous ligands of transition metal complexes, the

1,2-Difluoroethylene (HFO-1132): synthesis and chemistry

• Liubov V. Sokolenko,
• Taras M. Sokolenko and
• Yurii L. Yagupolskii

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1955–1966, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.171

• transitional metal complexes with 1,2-difluoroethylene as a ligand should be mentioned [109][110][111]. Conclusion In conclusion, our literature analysis demonstrated that radical processes are most typical for 1,2-difluoroethylene, while examples of electrophilic reactions are scarce, and nucleophilic

Benzylic C(sp³)–H fluorination

• Alexander P. Atkins,
• Alice C. Dean and
• Alastair J. J. Lennox

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1527–1547, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.137

• transition-metal complexes to generate metal–fluorine bonds capable of FAT to benzylic substrates. In a follow-up to their work using electrophilic fluorine sources for palladium-catalysed benzylic C–H fluorination (Figure 5), the Sanford group demonstrated in 2012 the same transformation could be achieved

Electrophotochemical metal-catalyzed synthesis of alkylnitriles from simple aliphatic carboxylic acids

• Yukang Wang,
• Yan Yao and
• Niankai Fu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1497–1503, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.133

• invention of cooperative catalysis with electrochemical transition metal catalysis, which generally has mild oxidation potential for the generation of persistent radicals in the form of nucleophile-bound metal complexes. We and other groups have successfully applied this reaction design to enantioselective

Rapid construction of tricyclic tetrahydrocyclopenta[4,5]pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine via isocyanide-based multicomponent reaction

• Xiu-Yu Chen,
• Ying Han,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1436–1443, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.126

• carbon atom of isocyanide has both a lone electron pair and empty orbitals, so it has outstanding electrophilic and nucleophilic reactivity. At the same time, isocyanide also has good coordination ability to coordinate with metals to form diverse metal complexes [1][2][3]. Therefore, isocyanides have

Generation of alkyl and acyl radicals by visible-light photoredox catalysis: direct activation of C–O bonds in organic transformations

• Mithu Roy,
• Bitan Sardar,
• Itu Mallick and
• Dipankar Srimani

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1348–1375, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.119

• . Different photocatalysts, such as transition metal complexes [23][24], organic dyes [25], and semiconductors [26], can be employed for visible-light-induced chemical processes. The choice of photocatalyst depends on the specific requirements of the catalytic process, including the type of reaction, the

Synthesis and physical properties of tunable aryl alkyl ionic liquids based on 1-aryl-4,5-dimethylimidazolium cations

• Stefan Fritsch and
• Thomas Strassner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1278–1285, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.110

• weakly coordinating anions like bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [NTf2]− [25]. In addition, dicationic salts or anions containing metal complexes have been described [26][27]. Due to the numerous combinations of different anions and cations, ILs can also be described as designer solvents [28]. We

Mechanistic investigations of polyaza[7]helicene in photoredox and energy transfer catalysis

• Johannes Rocker,
• Till J. B. Zähringer,
• Matthias Schmitz,
• Till Opatz and
• Christoph Kerzig

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1236–1245, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.106

• triplet reactivity of the Aza-H photocatalyst through spectroscopic measurements. The careful characterization of the versatile Aza-H photochemistry might contribute to the development of a new class of photoactive catalysts that can compete with traditional metal complexes and well-known organic

• chromophores (as listed above). Results and Discussion A thorough understanding of the operation principles of a photocatalyst is essential for the development of improved catalysts and efficient photoreactions. To this end, the photochemical properties of photocatalysts such as metal complexes and organic

Evaluation of the enantioselectivity of new chiral ligands based on imidazolidin-4-one derivatives

• Jan Bartáček,
• Karel Chlumský,
• Jan Mrkvička,
• Lucie Paloušová,
• Miloš Sedlák and
• Pavel Drabina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 684–691, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.62

• ; Introduction The application of chiral metal complexes as enantioselective catalysts is among the fundamental strategies for preparing compounds in non-racemic forms [1][2][3][4]. These complexes typically comprise a chelating chiral ligand capable of coordinating with a metal ion; otherwise, a metal atom

A laterally-fused N-heterocyclic carbene framework from polysubstituted aminoimidazo[5,1-b]oxazol-6-ium salts

• Andrew D. Gillie,
• Matthew G. Wakeling,
• Bethan L. Greene,
• Louise Male and
• Paul W. Davies

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 621–627, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.54

• provide scope to influence the reactivity profile of their resulting metal complexes through steric shielding, direct stabilising interactions with the metal, or by proximal effects to reactive species. Given the sensitivity of metal catalysis to even subtle steric and electronic changes in the ligand

• aminide 7 in good yield on a gram scale (Scheme 1b). With the novel 3-aminoimidazo[5,1-b]oxazol-6-ium salt in hand, we examined its use as an NHC precursor for the preparation of late transition metal complexes. Treating compound 9a with triethylamine and either dimethyl sulfide gold(I) chloride or copper

• (I) chloride in acetone led to the formation of the desired AImOxAuCl and AImOxCuCl metal chloride complexes 13 and 14, respectively (Scheme 2) [7]. The 1H NMR spectra of the resulting AImOx metal complexes show a loss of symmetry for the diisopropyl substituents, indicating restricted rotation about

Switchable molecular tweezers: design and applications

• Pablo Msellem,
• Maksym Dekthiarenko,
• Nihal Hadj Seyd and
• Guillaume Vives

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 504–539, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.45

• particularly evident for metal complexes, where the system's geometry can be finely tuned to modulate its response based on the selection of metal and ligand components. This aspect has been extensively explored by Schmittel and co-workers in a recent review [17]. Molecular tweezers have been developed in this

• system and enable dynamic ligand formation due to the reversibility of the hydrazone bond formation [40]. More recently, Vives and co-workers have developed a family of terpyridine-based tweezers bearing metal–salphen complexes as functional units (Figure 9). Using metal complexes as arms brings

• using metal complexes as switching units (Figure 20). This concept named “weak link approach” (WLA) [78] uses square planar d8-transition metal complexes with two hemilabile bidentate ligands composed of a strong binding site (phosphorus) and a weaker one (generally sulfur, oxygen, selenium, or nitrogen

Perspectives on push–pull chromophores derived from click-type [2 + 2] cycloaddition–retroelectrocyclization reactions of electron-rich alkynes and electron-deficient alkenes

• Michio Yamada

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 125–154, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.13

• and alkenes. The pioneering work by Bruce et al. in 1981 revealed that the cleavage of tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) under mild conditions via its reaction with metal acetylides yields metal complexes featuring the tetracyanobuta-1,3-diene (TCBD) structural motif [3]. Subsequently, numerous researchers

Using the phospha-Michael reaction for making phosphonium phenolate zwitterions

• Matthias R. Steiner,
• Max Schmallegger,
• Larissa Donner,
• Johann A. Hlina,
• Christoph Marschner,
• Judith Baumgartner and
• Christian Slugovc

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 41–51, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.6

• candidates as well. Ortho-hydroxy-substituted phosphines have been mainly used as chelating ligands for metal complexes until recently [16][17][18]. Further, ortho-hydroxy phosphines have been used for the synthesis of probes in metabolic labeling [19], as a photocatalyst in the defluoroalkylation of

Aldiminium and 1,2,3-triazolium dithiocarboxylate zwitterions derived from cyclic (alkyl)(amino) and mesoionic carbenes

• Nedra Touj,
• François Mazars,
• Guillermo Zaragoza and
• Lionel Delaude

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1947–1956, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.145

• of charges (Figure 1) [13][14][15][16]. Crabtree and co-workers first reported the abnormal binding of an imidazolium salt to an iridium hydride at the C4 carbon atom instead of C2 in 2001 [17][18]. Since then, many other metal complexes bearing imidazol-4-ylidene ligands (F) have been reported [7

Unprecedented synthesis of a 14-membered hexaazamacrocycle

• Anastasia A. Fesenko and
• Anatoly D. Shutalev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1728–1740, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.126

• ., vitamin B12, chlorophyll, metalloproteins, cyclic peptides, etc). PAMs themselves and their metal complexes exhibit various useful properties [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31], particularly, they possess a wide range of biological activities and are used as contrast

Effects of the aldehyde-derived ring substituent on the properties of two new bioinspired trimethoxybenzoylhydrazones: methyl vs nitro groups

• Dayanne Martins,
• Roberta Lamosa,
• Talis Uelisson da Silva,
• Carolina B. P. Ligiero,
• Sérgio de Paula Machado,
• Daphne S. Cukierman and
• Nicolás A. Rey

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1713–1727, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.125

• cell membrane integrity [21]. In the context of cancer therapy development, metal complexes of N-acylhydrazones stand out. For example, Firmino et al. demonstrated that gallium(III) complexes of isoniazid-derived hydrazones exhibit strong cytotoxicity against HL-60 and HCT-116 cancer cell lines [22

Decarboxylative 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of amino acids for the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds

• Xiaofeng Zhang,
• Xiaoming Ma and
• Wei Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1677–1693, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.123

• aldehydes and α-amino esters (via dehydration) or α-amino acids (via decarboxylation) could be classified based on the substitution groups on the N atom to: 1) N-substituted (N–R type), 2) hydrogen containing (N–H type), and 3) metal complexes (N–M type) (Figure 1) [16][17]. These AMYs could also be

Radical chemistry in polymer science: an overview and recent advances

• Zixiao Wang,
• Feichen Cui,
• Yang Sui and
• Jiajun Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1580–1603, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.116

• (OMRP) is also a commonly used polymerization method, which uses transition-metal complexes such as titanium and vanadium for coordination polymerization [69]. However, due to the high cost of these complexes and their post-processing, OMRP is not widely used. The chain termination reaction of OMRP is

• mechanism (cf. section 3.2) [86]. 2.3 Metal-free ring opening metathesis polymerization (MF-ROMP) ROMP is a powerful and broadly applicable technique for synthesizing polymers. Traditional ROMP systems are initiated by transition-metal complexes and Ru-based alkylidene complexes, which are also known as

Application of N-heterocyclic carbene–Cu(I) complexes as catalysts in organic synthesis: a review

• Nosheen Beig,
• Varsha Goyal and
• Raj K. Bansal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1408–1442, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.102

• the metal to the π* orbital of the NHC. Over the last two decades, NHC–metal complexes have been extensively used as efficient catalysts in different types of organic reactions. Of these, NHC–Cu(I) complexes found prominence for various reasons, such as ease of preparation, possibility of structural

• stable; as a result, the stability of the resulting metal complexes is enhanced [14]. This has led to the development of a variety of NHC-incorporating metal compounds exhibiting increased activity/selectivity in catalysis [15]. Nature of the NHC–metal bond NHCs constitute a well-established class of

• 12 years, i.e., from 2010 through 2022 only. Nevertheless, wherever necessary, earlier works may also be included to maintain coherence. Furthermore, in view of the enormous amount of research work done on NHC–metal complexes and their application as catalysts, the present review was restricted to

Enabling artificial photosynthesis systems with molecular recycling: A review of photo- and electrochemical methods for regenerating organic sacrificial electron donors

• Grace A. Lowe

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1198–1215, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.88

• predominantly earth-abundant materials. The recycling of NADH analogues has been carried out using precious metal complexes, such as [CpRh(bpy)(H2O)]2+ [47]. This rhodium complex was adhered to a photoelectrode in a photoelectrochemical cell which also contained a second photoelectrode functionalized with a set

Synthesis of aliphatic nitriles from cyclobutanone oxime mediated by sulfuryl fluoride (SO₂F₂)

• Xian-Lin Chen and
• Hua-Li Qin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 901–908, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.68

• of novel synthetic methods and strategies toward nitrile group construction continues to be a focus for synthetic chemists. The cross-coupling reactions of C–C bonds catalyzed by transition-metal complexes play a crucial role in modern organic synthesis, as they make it feasible to synthesize complex