Modern synthetic pathways towards eribulin and its subunits

• Sebastian Dominik Graf

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 495–526, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.37

• acid), Boc-protection and Ru(III)-induced oxidation led to lactone 233 (Scheme 26). Treatment with NaBH4 triggered the cleavage into an intermediate diol, which was cyclized upon addition of 2,2-dimethoxypropane and oxidized towards aldehyde 234. The first α-chlorination yielded a racemic mixture ((R

• -Tol2IOTf led to the formation of salt 239. Additionally, building block 247 was synthesized from commercial 240 (Scheme 27). Again, stereoselective chlorination using NCS and MacMillan catalyst 248 was perfomed to yield 241 [101]. Subsequently, ketone 249 was added to aldehyde 241 within a stereoselective

• aldol reaction. Reduction with DIBAL-H and addition of AgOTf triggered the cyclization of 242 and the untouched secondary alcohol moiety was TBDMS-protected. 243 underwent dihydroxylation and subsequent oxidative cleavage reaction to furnish 244, which served as a substrate for the third α-chlorination

Recent advances in the stereoselective synthesis of distal biaxially chiral molecules

• Fanxing Zhou,
• Chen Zhang,
• Lingyu Sun,
• Yiyun Fang,
• Siming Zheng,
• Lina Hu,
• Mengyang Shen,
• Zhen Zhao,
• Wei Xu,
• Yunqiang Sun and
• Zi-Qiang Rong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 461–479, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.34

• and co-workers reported a class of Brønsted basic guanidinylated peptides that were able to catalyze atroposelective chlorination reactions, representing the first reported example of such a transformation (Scheme 20) [59]. This reaction employs a complementary strategy for the catalytic synthesis of

Recent advances in the cleavage of non-activated amides

• Eun-Sol Choi and
• Hyo-Jun Lee

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 352–369, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.23

• amide 44, incorporating (2S,5S)-2,5-diphenylpyrrolidine as a chiral auxiliary, furnished the enantioenriched ester 45* in 64% yield with 90% ee. Wan et al. investigated the chlorination of primary amides using trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCCA) to promote esterification (Scheme 10) [58]. In the presence

Ring contraction and ring expansion reactions in terpenoid biosynthesis and their application to total synthesis

• Nicolas Kratena,
• Nicolas Heinzig and
• Peter Gärtner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 289–343, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.21

• ) directly. From here another oxy-cyclisation and aromatic chlorination leads to the most complex member of the indole meroterpenoids, penitrem A (46). Another example of a ring expansion reaction, in this case of the aromatic 5-membered ring of an indole, was discovered to be operational in the biosynthetic

Synthesis of diaryl phosphates using phytic acid as a phosphorus source

• Kazuya Asao,
• Seika Matsumoto,
• Haruka Mori,
• Riku Yoshimura,
• Takeshi Sasaki,
• Naoya Hirata,
• Yasuyuki Hayakawa and
• Shin-ichi Kawaguchi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 213–223, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.15

• chlorides and the corresponding alcohols, which generates large amounts of heat and hydrogen chloride gas [32][33]. Focusing on the upstream material, phosphoryl chlorides are obtained via the chlorination of white phosphorus and excess chlorine gas. Further upstream, white phosphorus is obtained from

Total synthesis of natural products based on hydrogenation of aromatic rings

• Haoxiang Wu and
• Xiangbing Qi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 88–122, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.4

• chloride. Finally, through a sequence of removal of the Cbz protecting group, alcohol chlorination, proximal nucleophilic substitution, and deprotection of the secondary alcohol, the first total synthesis of nominine was completed. Although the synthetic route seemed to be lengthy, this challenging total

• conditions, thereby permitting iterative thermal re-equilibration of the undesired cycloadduct 111, which enhanced the formation of 112 while minimizing material loss. Cycloadduct 112 was converted to 113 in high yield through a three-step sequence of carbonyl hydroboration, alcohol chlorination with thionyl

Reactivity umpolung of the cycloheptatriene core in hexa(methoxycarbonyl)cycloheptatriene

• Dmitry N. Platonov,
• Alexander Yu. Belyy,
• Rinat F. Salikov,
• Kirill S. Erokhin and
• Yury V. Tomilov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 64–70, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.2

• dynamic equilibrium or total rearrangement of 5 into 6 upon formation. Thus, halogenation of hexa(methoxycarbonyl)cycloheptatrienyl anion 2 formed from 3 led to different outcomes with chlorine, bromine and iodine (Scheme 1). Chlorination gave exclusively i-substituted symmetric cycloheptatriene 4a in an

• occur. In the case of bromine, the two processes demonstrate similar rates. The formation of product 4a upon chlorination indicates the reaction barrier above 9.6 kcal/mol. Therefore, unlike with alkylation, the ester group adjacent to the α-position reduces chlorination of the main conformer, while

• hydrogen, conversely, induces the i-chlorination. Besides the obvious steric influence, the ester group slightly reduces the negative charge at the nucleophilic center (Figure 3) and can also influence the electronegative transition state in terms of orbital overlap. Additionally, we considered the

Synthesis and applications of alkenyl chlorides (vinyl chlorides): a review

• Daniel S. Müller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 1–63, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.1

• Synthesis of Acetylenes” [29] which discusses the preparation of alkenyl chlorides via ketone chlorination using PCl5 (Figure 3A). The synthesis of β-chlorovinyl ketones was later reviewed by Poland and Benson in 1966 (Figure 3B) [30]. More recently, Morandi and co-workers summarized transition-metal

• group in the α-position (e.g., aldehyde, ketone, sulfone, nitro) is beyond the scope of this review. In 2011, Guinchard and Roulland reviewed Pd-catalyzed cross-couplings of 1,1-dichloroalkenes and boron-chlorination reactions in the context of natural product synthesis (Figure 3C) [33]. Takai’s

• -catalyzed C–halogen bond formation (Figure 3E) [36]. Exchange reactions were reviewed by Evano and Nitelet in 2018 (Figure 3F) [37]. In 2020, Gandelman and co-workers provided an overview of decarboxylative chlorination reactions of carboxylic acids (Figure 3G) [38]. Hoveyda’s 2023 review highlights

Synthesis of new tetra- and pentacyclic, methylenedioxy- and ethylenedioxy-substituted derivatives of the dibenzo[c,f][1,2]thiazepine ring system

• Gábor Berecz,
• András Dancsó,
• Mária Tóthné Lauritz,
• Loránd Kiss,
• Gyula Simig and
• Balázs Volk

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2645–2656, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.205

• of compound 28 with 1,2-dibromoethane (29), reduction with NaBH4 (30), chlorination with SOCl2 (31) and subsequent treatment with methylamine afforded pentacyclic product 25. Reaction of bromoalkyl derivative 30 with potassium thioacetate gave acetylthio derivative 32, which was cyclized after

• removal of the acetyl group by intramolecular dehydrative thioetherification [3] to the bridged molecule 26. As regards the synthesis of compound 27, reduction of ketone 28 with NaBH4 (33), chlorination with SOCl2 (34) and treatment with 2-bromoethanol afforded 2-bromoethoxy derivative 35, which was

• ): reduction of 8 with NaBH4, followed by chlorination of alcohol 36 with SOCl2 and substitution of chloro derivative 37 with various amines resulted in compounds 38a–c. Tianeptine analogue 38d was obtained by hydrolysis of ester 38c. The synthesis of the new regioisomeric tetracyclic compounds containing the

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

• diastereoselective reduction of the C3 ketone, the acyl pyrrole group was introduced to yield 81. During acyl pyrrole installation, excess KHMDS enolized the lactone to suppress lactone-C3 hydroxy transesterification. However, α-chlorination of the ester carbonyl was unavoidable. Finally, reductive dechlorination

Formal synthesis of a selective estrogen receptor modulator with tetrahydrofluorenone structure using [3 + 2 + 1] cycloaddition of yne-vinylcyclopropanes and CO

• Jing Zhang,
• Guanyu Zhang,
• Hongxi Bai and
• Zhi-Xiang Yu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1639–1644, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.127

• is the retrosynthetic analysis for the key intermediate 1, which can reach the final compound VI via chlorination and demethylation [19]. Target molecule 1 can be accessed by decarboxylation reaction from compound 13, prepared by an intramolecular Heck reaction between the β-ketoester and the vinyl

Recent advances in amidyl radical-mediated photocatalytic direct intermolecular hydrogen atom transfer

• Hao-Sen Wang,
• Lin Li,
• Xin Chen,
• Jian-Li Wu,
• Kai Sun,
• Xiao-Lan Chen,
• Ling-Bo Qu and
• Bing Yu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1306–1323, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.100

• , Alexanian’s group reported a chlorination method for aliphatic C–H bonds with high site selectivity to expand the halogenation capabilities and applicability of their system (Scheme 12) [97]. Consistent with previous experiments, the reaction was initiated by visible light, generating amidyl radical 45 from

• by yields of 69% and 54% for products 85, and 86, respectively. Notably, the natural product sclareolide underwent chlorination with an impressive selectivity, achieving an 82% yield for the product 87. Amidyl radical from amide anion In 2024, Ooi and colleagues established a pivotal advancement in

• C(sp3)–H in polyolefins addressed by amidyl radical under visible light. Site-selective C(sp3)–H bromination implemented by amidyl radical under visible light. Site-selective chlorination of C(sp3)–H in natural products implemented by amidyl radical under visible light. Alkylation of C(sp3)–H

On the photoluminescence in triarylmethyl-centered mono-, di-, and multiradicals

• Daniel Straub,
• Markus Gross,
• Mona E. Arnold,
• Julia Zolg and
• Alexander J. C. Kuehne

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 964–998, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.80

• effect is not due to the changed electron accepting strength, TTM radicals with additional chlorination only at the phenyl ring, to which the donor moiety is connected have been synthesized. Also here, a strong increase of the ϕ compared to the donor-functionalized TTM radicals has been observed (see

• chlorination appears to be a favorable route to render the different diradicals stable. For the non-chlorinated and the perchlorinated (PTH) Thiele radicals, the ground states have been confirmed to be singlet states, with little to no diradical character (y0 = 0) [90][91], while more recent investigations

• have produced y0 = 0.3 for the non-chlorinated Thiele diradical [92]. Interestingly, the Thiele hydrocarbon without chlorination in the meta-positions of the four peripheral phenyl-rings (TTH), exhibits higher y0 of up to 0.4, indicating the mesomeric equilibrium to be further on the open-shell side

Cryptophycin unit B analogues

• Thomas Schachtsiek,
• Jona Voss,
• Maren Hamsen,
• Beate Neumann,
• Hans-Georg Stammler and
• Norbert Sewald

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 526–532, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.40

• crystallised in the monoclinic space group P21 with R1 = 0.0285 clearly showing the expected (R)-configuration with a Flack parameter of −0.07(6). Starting from monomethylaniline derivative 7, the synthesis of the final building block was finalised by chlorination [20], Alloc protection and saponification [21

Unprecedented visible light-initiated topochemical [2 + 2] cycloaddition in a functionalized bimane dye

• Metodej Dvoracek,
• Brendan Twamley,
• Mathias O. Senge and
• Mikhail A. Filatov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 500–509, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.37

• the chlorination reactions on the synthetic path to Cl2B and Me2B, chlorine gas was generated by reacting MnO₂ with HCl and then passed through a stirred suspension of the pyrazolinone. In the case of Me4B, trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCICA) was used as the chlorinating agent as a safer alternative to

• . Experimental Synthesis The studied bimanes were synthesized following the approach reported by Kosower and co-workers [17][19], and an alternative chlorination method developed by Neogi et al. [31]. The synthetic details can be found in Supporting Information File 1. Compounds were crystallized from a MeOH–DCM

The effect of neighbouring group participation and possible long range remote group participation in O-glycosylation

• Rituparna Das and
• Balaram Mukhopadhyay

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 369–406, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.27

• the extremes of SN1 and SN2 pathway by employing the effect of counter ions, showing close resemblance with the SNi mechanism [41], conforming to the famous Winstein’s ion-pair theory [42] and draws analogy with chlorination of alcohols by thionyl chloride [43]. Incorporating the role of counter ion

Recent advances in electrochemical copper catalysis for modern organic synthesis

• Yemin Kim and
• Won Jun Jang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 155–178, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.9

• oxidation. C–X Bond formation Cu-catalyzed electrochemical reactions have been developed for the formation of C–C, C–N, and C–X bonds. For instance, in 2013, the Kakiuchi group reported Cu-catalyzed electrochemical chlorination of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds (Figure 13) [63]. Typical chlorination reactions are

• anodic oxidation of chloride ions, thus replacing stoichiometric chemical oxidants. This catalytic electrochemical chlorination method is suitable for β-ketoesters 68 with electron-withdrawing or electron-donating groups on aryl substituents, as well as for β-diketone, and β-ketoamides. In 2020, Fang

Recent advances in organocatalytic atroposelective reactions

• Henrich Szabados and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 55–121, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.6

Reactivity of hypervalent iodine(III) reagents bearing a benzylamine with sulfenate salts

• Beatriz Dedeiras,
• Catarina S. Caldeira,
• José C. Cunha,
• Clara S. B. Gomes and
• M. Manuel B. Marques

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3281–3289, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.272

• oxidative chlorination with aqueous chlorine [30], or treatment with toxic sulfur dioxide. Thus, we envisaged to further investigate BBX reactivity to address the S–N-bond formation, as an alternative method towards sulfur-containing compounds [22]. Results and Discussion We initiated our study by extending

Synthesis of 2H-azirine-2,2-dicarboxylic acids and their derivatives

• Anastasiya V. Agafonova,
• Mikhail S. Novikov and
• Alexander F. Khlebnikov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3191–3197, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.264

• derivatives, were synthesized using two reaction sequences (Table 1). The first sequence involved the chloroformylation of isoxazolones 3 to 5-chloroisoxazole-4-carbaldehydes 4 by POCl3/DMF [20][21][22][23], followed by radical chlorination of 4 with SO2Cl2/AIBN [24]. The alternative route to acid chlorides 1

• that chromatography was not required to isolate the products. At the same time, compound 4i proved to be inactive under the used chlorination conditions, compounds 4g,h underwent partial hydrodebromination in the aryl substituent in the same step, while compound 4j yielded a product with difficult to

Controlled oligomerization of [1.1.1]propellane through radical polarity matching: selective synthesis of SF₅- and CF₃SF₄-containing [2]staffanes

• Jón Atiba Buldt,
• Wang-Yeuk Kong,
• Yannick Kraemer,
• Masiel M. Belsuzarri,
• Ansh Hiten Patel,
• James C. Fettinger,
• Dean J. Tantillo and
• Cody Ross Pitts

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3134–3143, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.259

• ). Addition of a CF3SF4 radical to 1 affords INT4, which can either abstract a Cl atom from CF3SF4Cl via TS5 to make 5 or add to another equiv of 1 via TS6 to access INT5. As anticipated, chlorination of the radical is thermodynamically favored over addition to 1 (ΔΔG = −10.7 kcal/mol). It is also predicted

• here that the free energy of activation is lower for chlorination, albeit only by 0.4 kcal/mol. This is consistent with the notion that the kinetic preference can be overcome by increasing the concentration of 1 relative to CF3SF4Cl. In the second product-determining step, Cl atom abstraction by INT5

Hypervalent iodine-mediated intramolecular alkene halocyclisation

• Charu Bansal,
• Oliver Ruggles,
• Albert C. Rowett and
• Alastair J. J. Lennox

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3113–3133, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.258

• agrochemicals has been shown to greatly increase the potency of a compound [45][46] and can be considered a bioisostere for a methyl group. Chlorination through HVI approaches provides a safe and mild approach to chlorinated cyclic compounds. Nitrogen nucleophiles Intramolecular chlorocyclisation promoted by

• support for the former pathway (Scheme 39). In 2023, Chai, Jiang, Zhu and co-workers included the oxybromination of alkenes to form brominated dihydro-[1,3]-oxazines 76 and 2-oxazoline 77 derivative (Scheme 40) [6][49], alongside their chlorination examples. Optimized reaction conditions were developed

C–H Trifluoromethylthiolation of aldehyde hydrazones

• Victor Levet,
• Balu Ramesh,
• Congyang Wang and
• Tatiana Besset

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2883–2890, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.242

• corresponding sulfur-containing heteroarenes, only a few methods have been developed (Scheme 1). In 1988, Lee and co-workers reported the synthesis of SR-containing hydrazones in a two-step process (chlorination [65] then reaction with thiols) from readily available aldehyde-derived hydrazones [66]. Wang et al

• aldehyde hydrazones using sodium sulfinates. These seminal works brought interesting proofs of concept for the synthesis of SR-containing hydrazones. Inspired by these previous works and taking benefit from our in-home expertise to forge N–SCF3 bond (after chlorination/anion metathesis with AgSCF3 from the

• Information File 1) [75]. Different reagents for the bromination or chlorination were also evaluated (Table 1, entries 1–3) and NBS was the most efficient one (Table 1, entry 1). With the best reaction conditions in hand, the nature of the hydrazone part was first investigated (Scheme 2). Under standard

A review of recent advances in electrochemical and photoelectrochemical late-stage functionalization classified by anodic oxidation, cathodic reduction, and paired electrolysis

• Nian Li,
• Ruzal Sitdikov,
• Ajit Prabhakar Kale,
• Joost Steverlynck,
• Bo Li and
• Magnus Rueping

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2500–2566, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.214

• agrochemical and pharmaceutical chemistry. In 2019, Jiao and colleagues reported that 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) could be used as a chlorination reagent for the production of (hetero)aryl chlorides and vinyl chlorides [21]. The reactions were carried out in an undivided cell containing a mixture of DCE in

• products were obtained in good yields (51–81%). The reaction involves the catalytic dehydrochlorination of DCE at the cathode, simultaneously with anodic oxidative aromatic chlorination using cathodically released HCl as the chloride source (Scheme 13). Additionally, the Lei group demonstrated a double

Multicomponent syntheses of pyrazoles via (3 + 2)-cyclocondensation and (3 + 2)-cycloaddition key steps

• Ignaz Betcke,
• Alissa C. Götzinger,
• Maryna M. Kornet and
• Thomas J. J. Müller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2024–2077, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.178

• 130 through chlorination and Stephens–Castro coupling [148]. With 1,4-dioxane as a solvent, chlorination yields could be increased by activation of oxalyl chloride to give glyoxyl chlorides 133. The resulting ynediones 134 were cyclized in a consecutive three-component fashion with Boc-hydrazine to

• with electrophiles, such as deuteration or electrophilic chlorination using N-chlorosuccinimide, in this consecutive three-component synthesis to give persubstituted pyrazoles 165 (Scheme 55) [162]. (3 + 2)-Cycloaddition – C2 building blocks as substrates 1,3-Dipolar cycloadditions are important