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

• . While its mechanism remains incompletely understood, this additive’s unique efficacy in such transformations is unprecedented. Subsequent steps involved hydroxylation of the double bond and the protection of the vicinal diol as a dimethyl ketal giving ester 100. Oxidative dehydrogenation, benzyl

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

• 82, followed by dehydrogenation, delivered compound 83 in 49% yield over three steps. Pyridone 83 could be funneled into pyridine 85 through O-triflation followed by Pd-catalyzed reductive detriflation. Ir-catalyzed meta-selective C–H borylation of 85, followed by bromodeborylation of the pyridine

Pd-catalyzed dehydrogenative arylation of arylhydrazines to access non-symmetric azobenzenes, including tetra-ortho derivatives

• Loris Geminiani,
• Kathrin Junge,
• Matthias Beller and
• Jean-François Soulé

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2234–2242, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.170

• a Pd-catalyzed three-step sequence to access a wide range of non-symmetric azobenzenes (Figure 1b, bottom) [43][44]. Inspired by these approaches and building on recent advances in the dehydrogenation of 1,2-diarylhydrazines to azobenzenes [45][46][47][48][49][50], we developed a one-pot strategy

• for synthesizing non-symmetric azobenzenes via a Pd-catalyzed cascade involving C–N coupling of arylhydrazines with aryl bromides, followed by oxidative dehydrogenation (Figure 1c). As our study was nearing completion, Váňa and co-workers disclosed a related Buchwald–Hartwig approach employing the Pd

• were consumed, various impurities, including biphenyls, diarylamines, aniline, and toluidine, were formed in varying amounts. Since a final dehydrogenation step is required to complete the reaction, the experiment was repeated with various oxidants tested as additives. The use of di-tert-butyl peroxide

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

• [203]. Biobased CPN can also be directly obtained from C-5 carbohydrates. For example, Zhang and Li recently reported a two-step route directly from xylose (or hemicellulose) going through cyclopentenone as intermediate. A subsequent hydrodeoxygenation/dehydrogenation sequence led to cyclopentadiene

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

• secondary alcohol to a ketone allowed for rapid construction of bicyclic ketone 34 in high overall yield. The oxidative dehydrogenation of 34 gave α,β-unsaturated bicyclic ketone 35 smoothly. Sequential A-ring construction and functional group modifications of 35 produced the diketone 36. Subsequently, 36

• donor, securing the desired secondary alcohol product in excellent enantioselectivity (99% ee). Protection of the alcohol group with TBDPSCl gave silyl ether 64 in high yield (79% for 2 steps). Subsequently, successive four manipulations including dehydrogenation, Morita–Baylis–Hillman reaction

Chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of helically chiral, planarly chiral and inherently chiral molecules

• Wei Liu and
• Xiaoyu Yang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1864–1889, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.145

• chloranil-mediated dehydrogenation. Despite the early demonstration of CPA catalysis in synthesizing chiral helicenes, the next instance of CPA-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of helicenes was not achieved until 2023. Employing a sequential CPA-catalyzed asymmetric Povarov reaction and oxidative

• dehydrogenation. Almost simultaneously, the Li group independently reported the asymmetric synthesis of chiral quinohelicenes using a similar sequential asymmetric Povarov reaction and oxidative aromatization strategy [14]. In their study, they employed 3-vinylindoles 10 in the CPA-catalyzed asymmetric Povarov

• oxidative dehydrogenation of 68, displayed unexpectedly low configurational stability. Consequently, we developed a more efficient dynamic kinetic resolution protocol for the asymmetric synthesis of inherently chiral 68. This method involved the CPA 17-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogen transfer reaction of

Fe-catalyzed efficient synthesis of 2,4- and 4-substituted quinolines via C(sp²)–C(sp²) bond scission of styrenes

• Prafull A. Jagtap,
• Manish M. Petkar,
• Vaishnavi R. Sawant and
• Bhalchandra M. Bhanage

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1799–1807, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.142

• formation of intermediates III and III′. Subsequent electrophilic cyclization/C–H annulation of the aromatic amine, followed by aromatization, afford intermediates V and V′. The oxidative dehydrogenation of intermediates V and V′ then results in the formation of products 3a and 3a′ and the regeneration of

Recent advances and future challenges in the bottom-up synthesis of azulene-embedded nanographenes

• Bartłomiej Pigulski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1272–1305, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.99

• synthesis of π-extended azulene was the non-benzenoid isomer of pyrene published by Ward and co-workers (Scheme 1) [31]. Cyclohept[bc]acenaphthylene (2) was obtained from a partially saturated precursor 1 via dehydrogenation using palladium on carbon. However, the reaction carried out at 300 °C gave 2 as a

• . Dehydrogenation played a pivotal role as a key step also in the synthesis of larger π-scaffolds. For example, Murata and co-workers reported the synthesis of an azulene containing isomer of benzo[a]pyrene 9 (Scheme 2) [33]. Reduction of ketone 7 using LiAlH4 resulted in alcohol 8 which was subsequently

• dehydrogenation of partially unsaturated precursors in the final stage can be applied to larger molecules as well. In this approach, the final PAHs with embedded formal azulene moieties are formed from substrates that already possess adjacent heptagons and pentagons but are partially saturated [38]. Ie, Aso and

Recent advances in oxidative radical difunctionalization of N-arylacrylamides enabled by carbon radical reagents

• Jiangfei Chen,
• Yi-Lin Qu,
• Ming Yuan,
• Xiang-Mei Wu,
• Heng-Pei Jiang,
• Ying Fu and
• Shengrong Guo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1207–1271, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.98

• , facilitating dehydrogenation and stabilizing the intermediate. Finally, rearomatization occurs, resulting in the formation of the difluoroamidated oxindole product 78a. N-Arylalkenes: alkyl halides C(sp3)-centered radicals In 2014, Liu’s group developed a novel method for the selective activation of the C–H

Recent advances in synthetic approaches for bioactive cinnamic acid derivatives

• Betty A. Kustiana,
• Galuh Widiyarti and
• Teni Ernawati

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1031–1086, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.85

Cu(OTf)₂-catalyzed multicomponent reactions

• Sara Colombo,
• Camilla Loro,
• Egle M. Beccalli,
• Gianluigi Broggini and
• Marta Papis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 122–145, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.7

• additive. Some control experiments support a mechanism whose key intermediates are the formation of the iminium ion XIX, originated from aniline with formaldehyde which serves as the C1 building block, and the generation of the cyclic α,β-unsaturated ethers XX by Cu(OTf)2-catalyzed dehydrogenation of the

• process by using α-diazoketones, nitroalkenes and primary amines, in the presence of air as oxidant. The mechanism involved the formation of α-ketocarbene XXVI from α-diazoketone, able to react with the amine affording imine XXV after copper-catalyzed oxidative dehydrogenation. The subsequent [3 + 2

Non-covalent organocatalyzed enantioselective cyclization reactions of α,β-unsaturated imines

• Sergio Torres-Oya and
• Mercedes Zurro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3221–3255, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.268

• cyclic derivatives. Conjugated imines are usually synthesized from the corresponding carbonyl precursors by reaction with a sulfonamide in the presence of Lewis acids and a dehydrating agent such as molecular sieves [3]. Also, recently a palladium-catalyzed dehydrogenation of aliphatic imines was

N-Glycosides of indigo, indirubin, and isoindigo: blue, red, and yellow sugars and their cancerostatic activity

• Peter Langer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2840–2869, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.240

• ). Dehydrogenation of the latter with DDQ afforded the anomerically pure indol-N-glycoside β-26a which upon benzylation and methylation gave products β-27a and β-27b, respectively. Iodination gave products β-28a and β-28b, however, due to the basic reaction conditions (I2, NaOH, DMF), ether rather than ester

Deuterated reagents in multicomponent reactions to afford deuterium-labeled products

• Kevin Schofield,
• Shayna Maddern,
• Yueteng Zhang,
• Grace E. Mastin,
• Rachel Knight,
• Wei Wang,
• James Galligan and
• Christopher Hulme

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2270–2279, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.195

• , Scheme 10. In line with all prior MCRs, good yields were observed with no deuterium scrambling. Calcium channel blockers derived from this methodology are heavily metabolized by CYP3A4 via dehydrogenation to afford inactive pyridines, Scheme 11 [54]. As such, bio-isosteric deuterium–hydrogen exchange at

• scrambling. GBB reaction products, no deuterium scrambling was observed. aA 70% [D2]-isocyanide was used in 7a and 7b. Ar = 4-PhPh, Ar1 = 4-MePh. Modified Hantzsch pyridine synthesis to afford 1,4-dihydropyridines. No deuterium scrambling was observed. CYP3A4 mediated dehydrogenation of dihydropyridines

Efficacy of radical reactions of isocyanides with heteroatom radicals in organic synthesis

• Akiya Ogawa and
• Yuki Yamamoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2114–2128, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.182

• isocyanides forms the imidoyl radicals, which undergo intramolecular cyclization and oxidative dehydrogenation to give phenanthridines (Scheme 27) [100]. Conclusion In this Perspective, the addition and cycloaddition reactions of heteroatom radicals with isocyanides have been described in detail and their

A facile three-component route to powerful 5-aryldeazaalloxazine photocatalysts

• Ivana Weisheitelová,
• Radek Cibulka,
• Marek Sikorski and
• Tetiana Pavlovska

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1831–1838, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.161

• Discussion Regarding the synthesis of 5-aryldeazaalloxazines 2 (5-arylpyrimido[4,5-b]quinoline-2,4(1H,3H)-diones), the data in the literature are quite limited, and the known methodology describes the dehydrogenation of initially formed 5,10-dihydro analogues (5-aryl-5,10-dihydropyrimido[4,5-b]quinoline-2,4

Oxidation of benzylic alcohols to carbonyls using N-heterocyclic stabilized λ³-iodanes

• Thomas J. Kuczmera,
• Pim Puylaert and
• Boris J. Nachtsheim

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1677–1683, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.149

• experiment no formation of an alkoxyiodane was observed, indicating that the formation of this ligand-exchanged intermediate is slower than the dehydrogenation. As a consequence, we attempted to accelerate the ligand exchange through the addition of a Lewis acid and the performance of the NHIs was compared

Methyltransferases from RiPP pathways: shaping the landscape of natural product chemistry

• Maria-Paula Schröder,
• Isabel P.-M. Pfeiffer and
• Silja Mordhorst

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1652–1670, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.147

• cyanoborohydride as a mild reducing agent, and paraformaldehyde as a methylating agent [36]. Methanol can be used as the methylating reagent in other methods. Here, a palladium on carbon (Pd/C) catalyst processes the dehydrogenation of the alcohol to form the corresponding aldehyde. The subsequently formed imine

Synthetic applications of the Cannizzaro reaction

• Bhaskar Chatterjee,
• Dhananjoy Mondal and
• Smritilekha Bera

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1376–1395, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.120

• synthesized via the Cannizzaro reaction. Proposed catalytic cycle for the dehydrogenation of alcohols. Intramolecular Cannizzaro reaction of aryl glyoxal hydrates using TOX catalysts. Intramolecular Cannizzaro reaction of aryl methyl ketones using ytterbium triflate/selenium dioxide. Intramolecular Cannizzaro

Manganese-catalyzed C–C and C–N bond formation with alcohols via borrowing hydrogen or hydrogen auto-transfer

• Mohd Farhan Ansari,
• Atul Kumar Maurya,
• Abhishek Kumar and
• Saravanakumar Elangovan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1111–1166, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.98

• to the scientific community [10][11][12]. In this process, first, the metal-catalyzed dehydrogenation of the alcohol provides a reactive substrate for coupling with nucleophiles and the active metal hydride species. Later, the borrowed hydrogen is used in the final step to reduce unsaturated

• achieving both selective dehydrogenation and hydrogenation is highly important. A typical BH process is demonstrated in Scheme 1. Several precious transition-metal catalysts have been used successfully in this area, including iridium, rhodium, ruthenium, and osmium [4]. However, these noble metals are toxic

• Milstein [17] in hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reactions with pincer-decorated manganese complexes, significant progress has been made in manganese catalysis [18][19][20]. Notably, well-defined low-valent diamagnetic manganese(I) complexes have been studied in many catalytic transformations, and

Green and sustainable approaches for the Friedel–Crafts reaction between aldehydes and indoles

• Periklis X. Kolagkis,
• Eirini M. Galathri and
• Christoforos G. Kokotos

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 379–426, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.36

Substitution reactions in the acenaphthene analog of quino[7,8-h]quinoline and an unusual synthesis of the corresponding acenaphthylenes by tele-elimination

• Ekaterina V. Kolupaeva,
• Narek A. Dzhangiryan,
• Alexander F. Pozharskii,
• Oleg P. Demidov and
• Valery A. Ozeryanskii

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 243–253, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.24

• pyridine rings, the naphthalene core at positions 5(8) and the CH2CH2 bridge (dehydrogenation) undergo chemical modifications under mild conditions, giving the corresponding acenaphthylenes. The latter can also be obtained in an unusual way by tele-elimination from 5,8-dibromodipyridoacenaphthene by

• effect of functional groups on the further chemistry and basicity of the newly synthesized derivatives is also considered. Results and Discussion Amination, dehydrogenation, and supramolecular aggregation Direct amination of quinoquinoline 5 could potentially lead to 2(11)-substituted amines 6 (Figure 1

• activity/inactivity in amination reactions. It is known that acenaphthylenes are usually readily formed from acenaphthenes by dehydrogenation with chloranil, dichlorodicyanobenzoquinone (DDQ) or active MnO2 on reflux in toluene/xylene and other inert solvents. However, attempts to obtain acenaphthylene 8

Biphenylene-containing polycyclic conjugated compounds

• Cagatay Dengiz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1895–1911, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.141

• reaction, followed by a Au(I)-catalyzed [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction to afford the target substrate 96 and its regioisomer 95 in a 2:1 ratio (Scheme 20). POA 87 was obtained on Au(111) at 610 K after Ullmann-type coupling and aromatic dehydrogenation of compound 96. Apart from these studies, the

Non-noble metal-catalyzed cross-dehydrogenation coupling (CDC) involving ether α-C(sp³)–H to construct C–C bonds

• Hui Yu and
• Feng Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1259–1288, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.94

• interest in developing novel methodologies in this field of organic chemistry. Keywords: alkylation; cross-dehydrogenation coupling; ether; non-noble metals; Introduction Since the 1970s, organic chemists have developed many selective cross-coupling methods for the construction of C–C bonds, such as the

• , tetrahydrofuran or tetrahydropyran can smoothly react with many methyl aryl ketones to obtain the desired coupling products (Scheme 6a) [54]. The mechanism of the dehydrogenation cross-coupling reaction may undergo a radical pathway. Initially, the tert-butoxy radical produced by the dissociation of t-BuOOH may

• synthesis of compounds with quaternary centers and natural products with high structural complexity. In 2014, Li et al. reported a CuCl2-catalyzed cross-dehydrogenation coupling reaction of C(sp3)–H bonds adjacent to an ether oxygen and the C(sp3)–H bonds at the α-position of a carbonyl functionality in the

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

• electrochemical hydrogenation methods might be more appropriate [41][42]. There is already work on electrochemical dehydrogenation of LOHCs [76][77]. In one example, DDQ was used to remove hydrogen from secondary amines by oxidizing them, followed by reoxidation of the hydrogenated DDQ at the electrode to