Chemoenzymatic synthesis of the cardenolide rhodexin A and its aglycone sarmentogenin

• Fuzhen Song,
• Mengmeng Zheng,
• Dongkai Wang,
• Xudong Qu and
• Qianghui Zhou

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2637–2644, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.204

• natural products. Representative CGs with promising biological activities. Retrosynthetic analysis of rhodexin A and sarmentogenin. Chemoenzymatic synthesis of sarmentogenin (2). Synthesis of rhodexin A. Optimization of the fermentation conditions of the biocatalytic C14–H α-hydroxylation. Supporting

Thiazolidinones: novel insights from microwave synthesis, computational studies, and potentially bioactive hybrids

• Luan A. Martinho,
• Victor H. J. G. Praciano,
• Guilherme D. R. Matos,
• Claudia C. Gatto and
• Carlos Kleber Z. Andrade

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2618–2636, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.203

• moieties exhibit a broad spectrum of biological activities [6][7][8]. They are found in several medicinal compounds (Figure 2), including etozoline (antihypertensive), ralitoline (anticonvulsant), thiazolidomycin (antibacterial), and in the type II diabetes mellitus drugs pioglitazone, epalrestat

Efficient solid-phase synthesis and structural characterization of segetalins A–H, J and K

• Liangyu Liu,
• Wanqiu Lu,
• Quanping Guo and
• Zhaoqing Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2612–2617, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.202

• unique conformational constraints imposed by cyclization and diverse biological activities [1][2][3]. Specifically, plant-derived cyclopeptides represent a valuable source of potential lead compounds for drug discovery [4]. Segetalins A–H, J and K (1–10), isolated from the seeds of Vaccaria segetalis

• evaluation and structure–activity relationship studies. The systematic investigation of the their key biological activities, including estrogenic activity (assessed via breast cell proliferation assays), antitumor activity (evaluated through HeLa cell inhibition assays), and antibacterial activity (evaluated

Total syntheses of highly oxidative Ryania diterpenoids facilitated by innovations in synthetic strategies

• Zhi-Qi Cao,
• Jin-Bao Qiao and
• Yu-Ming Zhao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2553–2570, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.198

• of cardiovascular diseases [21][22][23][24]. Additionally, compounds such as cinnzeylanol (6), cinncassiol B (7), and cinncassiol A (9) exhibit various potential biological activities, including insecticidal, ion channel modulatory, and immunosuppressive effects [25][26][27][28][29]. Review Synthetic

• research on Ryania diterpenoid natural products Ryania diterpenoids have garnered sustained interest in the synthetic chemistry community due to their complex, unique molecular structures and potential biological activities. This has motivated extensive research that has led to notable advances. This

• , structural elucidation, and biological activities. Particular emphasis has been placed on analyzing the strategic designs and key synthetic transformations employed in existing total syntheses, aiming to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of the current state of total synthesis achievements for

Catalytic enantioselective synthesis of selenium-containing atropisomers via C–Se bond formations

• Qi-Sen Gao,
• Zheng-Wei Wei and
• Zhi-Min Chen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2447–2455, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.186

• selenides, recognized as valuable synthetic intermediates and biologically active compounds, have been demonstrated to exhibit a broad spectrum of biological activities. Among them, the synthesis of β-(selenium)vinyl sulfones can be accomplished via selenosulfonylation reactions initiated by free radicals

Transformation of the cyclohexane ring to the cyclopentane fragment of biologically active compounds

• Natalya Akhmetdinova,
• Ilgiz Biktagirov and
• Liliya Kh. Faizullina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2416–2446, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.185

• , terpenoids, alkaloids, steroids and carbanucleosides. The spectrum of biological activities of the listed classes is wide and unique in efficacy. Natural prostaglandins are polyoxygenated derivatives of a hypothetical twenty-atom prostanoic acid, the C8–C12 atoms of which are contained in a cyclopentane ring

• contraction through aza-benzilic acid-type rearrangement (Scheme 13). Hasubanan-type alkaloids exhibit a wide range of biological activities, including antiviral, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic activities [46], while the biological activities and synthesis of structurally attractive norhasubanan-type alkaloids

• ], the mechanism and factors controlling the selectivity of the oxidative ring contraction in cyclic α-formyl ketones under the action of H2O2 were studied in detail. Due to their complex architecture and diverse biological activities, including antiviral, antitumor, antimalarial, and antifungal activity

The high potential of methyl laurate as a recyclable competitor to conventional toxic solvents in [3 + 2] cycloaddition reactions

• Ayhan Yıldırım and
• Mustafa Göker

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2389–2415, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.184

• exhibit a wide range of biological activities [26][28][31][32][33][34][35]. The validity of the atom-efficient methodology under discussion has been demonstrated in experimental research; its efficacy in facilitating the rapid formation of multifunctional complex molecules being in contradistinction to

An Fe(II)-catalyzed synthesis of spiro[indoline-3,2'-pyrrolidine] derivatives

• Elizaveta V. Gradova,
• Nikita A. Ozhegov,
• Roman O. Shcherbakov,
• Alexander G. Tkachenko,
• Larisa Y. Nesterova,
• Elena Y. Mendogralo and
• Maxim G. Uchuskin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2383–2388, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.183

• bioactive molecules (Figure 1). This scaffold exhibits a broad range of pharmacological activities, including significant in vitro antimycobacterial properties [4], potent antitumor effects against melanoma cell lines [5], and antagonism of TH2 lymphocyte function [6]. Due to their wide-ranging biological

• activities, spiro[indoline-3,2'-pyrrolidines] have attracted substantial interest in medicinal chemistry, prompting the development of diverse synthetic strategies. Several methodologies have been reported for the synthesis of substituted spiro[indoline-3,2'-pyrrolidines] (Scheme 1), which can be broadly

Recent advances in Norrish–Yang cyclization and dicarbonyl photoredox reactions for natural product synthesis

• Peng-Xi Luo,
• Jin-Xuan Yang,
• Shao-Min Fu and
• Bo Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2315–2333, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.177

• , characterized by a [5,6]-bisbenzannulated spiroketal moiety as its central structural motif. This key feature is critical to its potent biological activities, including strong inhibition of human telomerase [52], as well as its established roles as an effective antibiotic and HIV-1 reverse transcriptase

Thiadiazino-indole, thiadiazino-carbazole and benzothiadiazino-carbazole dioxides: synthesis, physicochemical and early ADME characterization of representatives of new tri-, tetra- and pentacyclic ring systems and their intermediates

• Gyöngyvér Pusztai,
• László Poszávácz,
• Anna Vincze,
• András Marton,
• Ahmed Qasim Abdulhussein,
• Judit Halász,
• András Dancsó,
• Gyula Simig,
• György Tibor Balogh and
• Balázs Volk

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2220–2233, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.169

• exhibit diverse biological activities and have found application for the treatment of psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases [13][14][15][16][17]. Therefore, we now report our results in the synthesis and characterization of compounds 3 containing a 2,9-dihydro[1,2,3]thiadiazino[5,6-g]indole

Electrochemical cyclization of alkynes to construct five-membered nitrogen-heterocyclic rings

• Lifen Peng,
• Ting Wang,
• Zhiwen Yuan,
• Bin Li,
• Zilong Tang,
• Xirong Liu,
• Hui Li,
• Guofang Jiang,
• Chunling Zeng,
• Henry N. C. Wong and
• Xiao-Shui Peng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2173–2201, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.166

• search tools and profiles applied. Review Construction of indoles Indoles, exhibiting interesting photoelectric properties and biological activities, were widely applied in organic synthesis, pharmacology and organic materials science [112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125

C2 to C6 biobased carbonyl platforms for fine chemistry

• Jingjing Jiang,
• Muhammad Noman Haider Tariq,
• Florence Popowycz,
• Yanlong Gu and
• Yves Queneau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2103–2172, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.165

• prepared using this process. Antifungal activity assays against four general plant fungi demonstrated that several of the synthesized new furan products exhibited also broad and strong biological activities (Scheme 21) [95]. A metal-free efficient strategy was developed by the Gu group for the synthesis of

The application of desymmetric enantioselective reduction of cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds in the total synthesis of terpenoid and alkaloid natural products

• Dong-Xing Tan and
• Fu-She Han

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2085–2102, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.164

• complex natural products. On the other hand, terpenoids and alkaloids, with their intricate and diverse skeletal frameworks as well as the broad range of biological activities, have long been a major focus for synthetic chemists. Over the past fifteen years, significant progress has been made in the total

• : alkaloids; cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds; desymmetrization; enantioselective reduction; terpenoids; Introduction Terpenoids and alkaloids are two major classes of highly important natural products because they usually exhibit diverse and important biological activities, such as antitumor, anti

• -inflammatory, and antiarrhythmic effects etc., and show potential to be developed into drug candidates or novel medications for treating human diseases [1][2][3][4]. However, their scarcity in nature limits further research into their biological activities. Total synthesis is an important device to address the

Discovery of cytotoxic indolo[1,2-c]quinazoline derivatives through scaffold-based design

• Daniil V. Khabarov,
• Valeria A. Litvinova,
• Lyubov G. Dezhenkova,
• Dmitry N. Kaluzhny,
• Alexander S. Tikhomirov and
• Andrey E. Shchekotikhin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2062–2071, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.161

• Street, Moscow 11991, Russia 10.3762/bjoc.21.161 Abstract Indolo[1,2-c]quinazoline derivatives have emerged as promising chemotype in drug discovery due to their versatile biological activities, including antimicrobial and antiviral properties. In this study, we report the design, synthesis, and

• [2,1-b]quinazoline-6,12-dione) and its derivatives are particularly noteworthy as they demonstrate multiple biological activities, including antibacterial, antitumor, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antileishmanial, antiplasmodial, etc. [18][19]. The structurally isomeric class – pyrimido

• as the activating agent under standard peptide coupling conditions. Cleavage of the Boc-protecting group with TFA afforded the target 6-oxoindolo[1,2-c]quinazoline-12-carboxamides 7a–c (Scheme 2). 3-Aminomethylindole derivatives represent a well-established class of compounds with diverse biological

Enantioselective desymmetrization strategy of prochiral 1,3-diols in natural product synthesis

• Lihua Wei,
• Rui Yang,
• Zhifeng Shi and
• Zhiqiang Ma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1932–1963, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.151

• isolated from organisms are often asymmetric in their spatial structures, and these unique spatial structures are precisely what lead to their diverse biological activities [1][2][3][4]. For the synthesis of these natural products or bioactive molecules, chemists usually need to consider how to carry out

• adopted using compound 85 as the synthetic intermediate, which was prepared from diol 77 in a four-step sequence with 60% overall yield and 96% ee. In 2003, the Fukuyama group realized the first total synthesis of leustroducsin B, a microbial metabolite with various biological activities, featuring a

Synthesis, biological and electrochemical evaluation of glycidyl esters of phosphorus acids as potential anticancer drugs

• Almaz A. Zagidullin,
• Emil R. Bulatov,
• Mikhail N. Khrizanforov,
• Damir R. Davletshin,
• Elvina M. Gilyazova,
• Ivan A. Strelkov and
• Vasily A. Miluykov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1909–1916, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.148

• synthetic organic chemistry and pharmaceutical applications due to their diverse biological activities. In this study, we synthesized three novel glycidyl esters of phosphorus acids 1–3 via the condensation of chlorophosphine oxides or phosphorus oxychloride with glycidol in the presence of a base

Preparation of spirocyclic oxindoles by cyclisation of an oxime to a nitrone and dipolar cycloaddition

• Beth L. Ritchie,
• Alexandra Longcake and
• Iain Coldham

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1890–1896, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.146

• an important class of compounds with significant biological activities. Spirocyclic derivatives are present in a variety of natural products. We describe here the formation of spirooxindoles using an intermolecular nitrone cycloaddition reaction. The nitrone dipole was prepared in situ by cyclisation

• ]. Representative examples are shown in Figure 1. The alkaloid alstonisine has antimalarial activity, with IC50 7.6 μM against Plasmodium falciparum [5]. However, the biological activities of most of the Alstonia alkaloids are currently unknown, despite the potential of spirooxindoles for drug discovery [6]. This

[3 + 2] Cycloaddition of thioformylium methylide with various arylidene-azolones in the synthesis of 7-thia-3-azaspiro[4.4]nonan-4-ones

• Daniil I. Rudik,
• Irina V. Tiushina,
• Anatoly I. Sokolov,
• Alexander Yu. Smirnov,
• Alexander R. Romanenko,
• Alexander A. Korlyukov,
• Andrey A. Mikhaylov and
• Mikhail S. Baranov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1791–1798, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.141

• tetrahydrothiophenes are known to exhibit different biological activities [8]. However, to date the use of this reagent in the synthesis of spirocyclic derivatives to our knowledge is underinvestigated [26][27]. Results and Discussion In this work we present a systematic study of [3 + 2] cycloaddition of thioformylium

Catalytic asymmetric reactions of isocyanides for constructing non-central chirality

• Jia-Yu Liao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1648–1660, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.129

• chiral products, e.g., biological activities and utility as chiral organocatalysts or ligands, warrants greater attention. We anticipate that considerable efforts in these directions would be crucial for advancing this field and fully unlocking the synthetic potential of isocyanides in the preparation of

Facile synthesis of hydantoin/1,2,4-oxadiazoline spiro-compounds via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrile oxides to 5-iminohydantoins

• Juliana V. Petrova,
• Varvara T. Tkachenko,
• Victor A. Tafeenko,
• Anna S. Pestretsova,
• Vadim S. Pokrovsky,
• Maxim E. Kukushkin and
• Elena K. Beloglazkina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1552–1560, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.118

• pharmacophore, and molecules containing this group exhibit a wide range of biological activities, including antitumor, anti-HIV, anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, anticancer, and antitubercular properties [1][2]. Among these molecules, bicyclic compounds with the dihydrooxadiazole connected to

• another cycle via the single quaternary carbon atom C5 demonstrated significant biological activity, greater than analogs with non-spiro-bonded cyclic fragments [3][4]. Hydantoin derivatives also exhibit a wide range of biological activities. Compounds containing the hydantoin pharmacophore group, are

Heterologous biosynthesis of cotylenol and concise synthesis of fusicoccane diterpenoids

• Ye Yuan,
• Zhenhua Guan,
• Xue-Jie Zhang,
• Nanyu Yao,
• Wenling Yuan,
• Yonghui Zhang,
• Ying Ye and
• Zheng Xiang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1489–1495, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.111

• biosynthesis; P450 oxidation; synthesis; Introduction Fusicoccanes are a family of 5-8-5 tricyclic diterpenoid natural products that are produced by bacteria, fungi, algae, and plants (Figure 1a) [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Fusicoccanes possess a broad range of biological activities, including anticancer, anti

• by its natural source, Cladosporium sp. 501-7W, due to the loss of its ability to proliferate during preservation [17]. The important biological activities and complex structures of fusicoccane diterpenoids have inspired several total syntheses, which range between 15 and 29 steps [18][19][20][21][22

• , the diverse biological activities and complex structures of fusicoccane diterpenoids have stimulated multiple elegant chemical syntheses. In contrast to these approaches, we harnessed the biosynthetic machinery of brassicicenes to produce brassicicene I in an engineered A. oryzae strain. Brassicicene

Oxetanes: formation, reactivity and total syntheses of natural products

• Peter Gabko,
• Martin Kalník and
• Maroš Bella

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1324–1373, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.101

• vitro [19]. As for natural occurrence of oxetanes, they are relatively uncommon, and an extensive review has recently been published by Dembitsky which explored the structural features and biological activities of oxetane-containing natural products [20]. Some of the most famous examples are taxol [21

• E [30] and daphnepapytone C [31] from the 2020s (Figure 4). Most of these compounds possess intriguing biological activities and selected examples from this list are discussed in more detail in chapter 4 with regards to their isolation, bioactivity and a recent total synthesis. The aim of this work

• transformations of 3-oxetanone leading to advanced oxetane building blocks. In chapter 3, we review the reactivity of oxetanes with regards to ring openings and ring expansions including both symmetric and enantioselective variants. Finally, chapter 4 covers isolations, biological activities and total syntheses

A multicomponent reaction-initiated synthesis of imidazopyridine-fused isoquinolinones

• Ashutosh Nath,
• John Mark Awad and
• Wei Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1161–1169, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.92

• modifications of MCRs could generate novel and complex molecular scaffolds [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Some MCR adducts generated from Ugi, Passerini, Gewald, Biginelli, and Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé (GBB) reactions have been modified to form chemically diverse heterocyclic scaffolds with potential biological

• activities [9][10]. Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine and isoquinolinone-kind scaffolds are privileged rings which can be found in drug molecules such as zolimidine [11], zolpidem [12], alpidem and antiemetic drug 5-HT3A antagonist palonosetron [13] (Figure 1). Imidazopyridine-fused isoquinolinones have been developed

Synthetic approach to borrelidin fragments: focus on key intermediates

• Yudhi Dwi Kurniawan,
• Zetryana Puteri Tachrim,
• Teni Ernawati,
• Faris Hermawan,
• Ima Nurasiyah and
• Muhammad Alfin Sulmantara

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1135–1160, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.91

• Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Semarang, Central Java 50229, Indonesia 10.3762/bjoc.21.91 Abstract Borrelidin, a naturally occurring antibiotic, has attracted considerable interest due to its diverse biological activities and complex molecular

• ]. Moreover, several derivatives have been synthesized by Moss et al. (2006) [42], Wilkinson et al. (2006) [43], Sunazuka et al. (2013) [44], Hahn et al. (2014) [45], Laschat et al. (2016) [46], and Huang et al. (2018) [47]. This demonstrates that borrelidin, with its remarkable biological activities and

Pd-Catalyzed asymmetric allylic amination with isatin using a P,olefin-type chiral ligand with C–N bond axial chirality

• Natsume Akimoto,
• Kaho Takaya,
• Yoshio Kasashima,
• Kohei Watanabe,
• Yasushi Yoshida and
• Takashi Mino

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1018–1023, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.83

• Isatin is a well-known natural indole derivative. Due to the broad biological activities of its derivatives, extensive research has been conducted on their synthesis. Furthermore, the isatin framework is a versatile starting material for various transformations, including multicomponent reactions and the