Visible-light-driven NHC and organophotoredox dual catalysis for the synthesis of carbonyl compounds

• Vasudevan Dhayalan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2584–2603, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.200

• , generating an N-centered radical species C. This species subsequently undergoes a rapid C–N cross-coupling with ketyl radical B. This cross-coupling method offers a transition-metal free route to highly substituted amides 3 from aldehydes 1 and imines 2, without the need for any external reductants or

• available starting materials, good functional group tolerance, and mild, transition-metal-free conditions. NHC-catalyzed radical approach furnishes access to substituted 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrroles 18, in good yields (Scheme 7) [57]. A novel strategy was discovered for 1,2-dicarbonylation of vinyl arenes 11

• development, mechanistic understanding, and obtained results are expected to expand the applicability of NHC-photoredox dual or triple catalysis, enabling the efficient and eco-friendly synthesis of increasingly complex molecular architectures. NHC-catalyzed umpolung strategy for the metal-free synthesis of

Pathway economy in cyclization of 1,n-enynes

• Hezhen Han,
• Wenjie Mao,
• Bin Lin,
• Maosheng Cheng,
• Lu Yang and
• Yongxiang Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2260–2282, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.173

• metal-free methodology delivered synthetically versatile iodinated homoallylic alcohols bearing piperidine motifs and pyrrolidine-fused cyclopropanes. Importantly, the reaction was carried out with high operational simplicity and environmental compatibility under mild reaction conditions. In 2024, Chan

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

• hydroxy group at the α-position of the carboxyl group (Scheme 10) [38]. Yang and his team reported a metal-free catalytic system for the conversion of LA to PA (Scheme 10a). The use of NaI as catalyst and PA itself as solvent allowed to simplify the product separation process, giving yields up to 99

• 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

• furfural to succinic acid in 88% yield under mild conditions using modified hydrophilic acidic metal-free graphene oxide (GO) as solid acid catalyst and H2O2 as an oxidant [151]. The suitable acidity of the SO3H group on the graphene oxide support is crucial for the selectivity of the oxidation. The use of

Aryl iodane-induced cascade arylation–1,2-silyl shift–heterocyclization of propargylsilanes under copper catalysis

• Rasma Kroņkalne,
• Rūdolfs Beļaunieks,
• Armands Sebris,
• Anatoly Mishnev and
• Māris Turks

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1984–1994, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.154

• the reagents of choice for arylation reactions, where an umpolung of reactivity is required [1]. Arylations employing diaryl-λ3-iodanes can be performed under metal-free [2] or metal-catalyzed conditions. For alkyne arylations [Cu] [3] or [Pd] catalysis [4][5][6] is typically employed. Internal

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

• the C(sp2)–C(sp2) bond-scission approach. A summary of known procedures for synthesizing these derivatives via C(sp2)–C(sp2) bond cleavage is presented in Scheme 1a. In 2015, Shah et al. documented the first two-component, metal-free approach for accessing 2,4-disubstituted quinolines [52]. They

Photoredox-catalyzed arylation of isonitriles by diaryliodonium salts towards benzamides

• Nadezhda M. Metalnikova,
• Nikita S. Antonkin,
• Tuan K. Nguyen,
• Natalia S. Soldatova,
• Alexander V. Nyuchev,
• Mikhail A. Kinzhalov and
• Pavel S. Postnikov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1480–1488, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.110

• of benzamides (Scheme 1A) [6]. Over the years, the basic reaction has been modified to imply various metal-containing catalysts [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], metal-free transformations that employ heteroarenes under harsh conditions [19], or using diazonium salts as arylating agents

Microwave-enhanced additive-free C–H amination of benzoxazoles catalysed by supported copper

• Andrei Paraschiv,
• Valentina Maruzzo,
• Filippo Pettazzi,
• Stefano Magliocco,
• Paolo Inaudi,
• Daria Brambilla,
• Gloria Berlier,
• Giancarlo Cravotto and
• Katia Martina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1462–1476, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.108

• amination reactions of benzoxazole, which, although metal-free, are still limited in versatility and require photocatalysts such as eosin Y and a tightly controlled O2 atmosphere [54]. The objective of the present study aims to provide a rapid, additive-free and convenient alternative to existing approaches

Reactions of acryl thioamides with iminoiodinanes as a one-step synthesis of N-sulfonyl-2,3-dihydro-1,2-thiazoles

• Vladimir G. Ilkin,
• Pavel S. Silaichev,
• Valeriy O. Filimonov,
• Tetyana V. Beryozkina,
• Margarita D. Likhacheva,
• Pavel A. Slepukhin,
• Wim Dehaen and
• Vasiliy A. Bakulev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1397–1403, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.104

• reaction did not occur. In the presence of metal catalyst PhINTs form a nitrenoid specie, containing electrophilic nitrogen. In metal-free conditions PhINTs participates in reactions as ylide with a nucleophilic nitrogen. We expected different reactivity of the two different forms of PhINTs. However, our

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

• metal-free annulation reaction between electron-rich 3-aryloxetan-3-ols 142 and 1,2-diols under Brønsted acid catalysis (Scheme 51) [105]. The resulting 1,4-dioxanes 218 were obtained mostly in moderate to high yields and high regio- and diastereoselectivities were achieved with unsymmetrical diols. The

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

• cycloalkenes and alcohols. To eliminate the need for noble metal photocatalysts in the system, Duan’s group employed 2,4,5,6-tetra-9H-carbazol-9-yl-1,3-benzenedicarbonitrile (4CzIPN) as a metal-free photocatalyst (Scheme 3) [71]. This system initiated the formation of amidyl radical 20 from HRP-3 through a

• transformation. Representative photocatalysts discussed in this review. Alkylation of C(sp3)–H catalyzed by amidyl radical under visible light. Direct heteroarylation of C(sp3)–H catalyzed by amidyl radical under visible light. Alkylation of C(sp3)–H catalyzed by amidyl radical and metal-free photocatalyst under

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

• transformations, (4) electrochemical approaches, and (5) metal-free or electron donor–acceptor (EDA)-driven systems. The substrate scope, limitations, and mechanistic aspects of these radical cascade cyclization strategies are critically examined. Review N-Arylalkenes: alkyl C(sp3)–H radicals Early investigations

• oxidant and initiator, enabling an efficient intermolecular cascade cyclization process (Scheme 5) [5]. In this strategy, a novel, selective, metal-free synthetic method was introduced for the synthesis of isoxazoline-featured oxindoles through iminoxyl radical-promoted cascade oxyalkylation

• cyclization and deprotonation to yield the desired cyclic product 40, with Umemoto’s reagent serving both as the trifluoromethyl source and the oxidant. In 2023, Li and Fu’s group reported a novel metal-free electrochemical oxidative difluoroethylation method for constructing azaheterocycles, using sodium

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

• compounds and N-acylbenzotriazole 97 (Scheme 36) [71]. In this work, the photoactive [FeCl4]− formed in situ triggered silyl radical 119 generation, leading to N-silylamine 120 as the active amine nucleophile. 2.1.4 Metal-free catalysis: Despite the wide applications of metal-based catalysts in developing O

• /N-acylation reactions, metal catalysts, particularly precious transition metals, are considered less sustainable due to their limited availability. Therefore, metal-free catalysis methods have emerged as an alternative to respond to the green chemistry agenda. For instance, Huy and Mbouhom (2019

• -abundant transition metal, Patel and Patel (2020) utilized a Ni salt of phosphomolybdic acid (NiHPMA) to synthesize methyl cinnamate (44) from cinnamaldehyde (162) via a reactive peroxo species 165 (Scheme 53) [94]. Beyond transition metals, metal-free oxidative esterifications, such as carbene-based

Harnessing tethered nitreniums for diastereoselective amino-sulfonoxylation of alkenes

• Shyam Sathyamoorthi,
• Appasaheb K. Nirpal,
• Dnyaneshwar A. Gorve and
• Steven P. Kelley

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 947–954, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.78

• are operationally very simple and only use commercial I(III) reagents and sulfonic acids, amounting to a metal-free protocol for alkene amino-oxygenation. No special precautions need be taken to exclude air or ambient moisture, and the products are amenable to further transformations. Keywords

• : alkene; amino-sulfonoxylation; metal-free; tethered nitrenium; Introduction Our laboratory has a programmatic focus on the development of metal-free oxidation reactions that avoid the use of toxic reagents such as osmium and chromium [1][2][3]. In line with this agenda, we recently explored a mild amino

• regioselective, diastereoselective, and metal-free protocol for alkene amino-hydroxylation, which compared favorably to prior art in this area [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. Naturally, we wondered if other O-nucleophiles were competent in the ring-opening of the aziridinium intermediate. Indeed, almost all

Recent advances in controllable/divergent synthesis

• Jilei Cao,
• Leiyang Bai and
• Xuefeng Jiang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 890–914, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.73

• -García and Fernández-Rodríguez reported on the practicality of metal-free BCl3-catalyzed borylation cyclization reactions in synthesis (Scheme 16) [45]. Biphenyl-embedded 1,3,5-trienes-7-yne compounds 58 react with BCl3 under catalyst-free and additive-free conditions to form novel polycyclic boronated

• for the time-controlled palladium-catalyzed divergent synthesis of silacycles [43]. Metal-free temperature-controlled regiodivergent borylative cyclizations of enynes [45]. Nickel-catalyzed switchable site-selective alkene hydroalkylation by temperature regulation [46]. Copper-catalyzed

Substituent effects in N-acetylated phenylazopyrazole photoswitches

• Radek Tovtik,
• Dennis Marzin,
• Pia Weigel,
• Stefano Crespi and
• Nadja A. Simeth

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 830–838, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.66

• %). Results and Discussion Synthesis The PAPs in this study were obtained in a straightforward, three-step metal-free synthesis from commercially available aniline derivatives adapting known procedures [31][38]. An overview of the compounds used in this study and their synthesis is displayed in Scheme 1

Recent advances in the electrochemical synthesis of organophosphorus compounds

• Babak Kaboudin,
• Milad Behroozi,
• Sepideh Sadighi and
• Fatemeh Asgharzadeh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 770–797, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.61

• electrochemical synthesis method for the transition-metal-free cyclization and selenation/halogenation of alkynyl phosphonates at 45 °C under N2. This method can chemoselectively convert these products into halogen-functionalized cyclic enol phosphonates. The reaction is carried out in an undivided cell using

Recent advances in allylation of chiral secondary alkylcopper species

• Minjae Kim,
• Gwanggyun Kim,
• Doyoon Kim,
• Jun Hee Lee and
• Seung Hwan Cho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 639–658, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.51

• performed poorly due to competitive transition-metal-free processes via α-borylcarbanion formation. The substituent of the boron atom proved equally important: neopentylglycolato groups (Bnep) outperformed pinacolato (Bpin) or propanediolato groups (Bpro) in stereoselectivity. The optimized conditions

Formaldehyde surrogates in multicomponent reactions

• Cecilia I. Attorresi,
• Javier A. Ramírez and
• Bernhard Westermann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 564–595, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.45

• ). Additionally, the Tiwari group developed a metal-free protocol using only K2S2O8 as an oxidant for the activation of DMSO to MMS (Scheme 8, path II) [38]. Under these conditions, an alternative mechanism arises in which the imine intermediate B, formed as previously stated through reaction between the aniline

• DMSO (Scheme 12) [45]. In this case, the reaction works well under metal-free conditions using iodine as the catalyst. Remarkably, the activation of DMSO was accomplished using Selectfluor, and in this case, DMSO is the source of a C-1 unit. It is important to note that the reaction could be performed

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

• , making it particularly suited for large-scale applications. Recent advances highlight the unique advantages of both metal-based and metal-free catalysts under red-light irradiation, broadening the range of possible reactions, from selective oxidations to complex polymerizations. In biological contexts

• that the photocatalytic efficiency of these molecules does not necessarily rely on the presence of a central metal atom. Free-base porphyrins, in particular, have demonstrated significant potential in red-light-driven transformations due to their versatile photophysical properties. These metal-free

Synthesis, characterization, and photophysical properties of novel 9‑phenyl-9-phosphafluorene oxide derivatives

• Shuxian Qiu,
• Duan Dong,
• Jiahui Li,
• Huiting Wen,
• Jinpeng Li,
• Yu Yang,
• Shengxian Zhai and
• Xingyuan Gao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3299–3305, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.274

• available 2-bromo-4-fluoro-1-nitrobenzene, featuring a noble-metal-free system, mild reaction conditions, and a good yield, especially for the final Cs2CO3-facilitated nucleophilic substitution (77–91% yield). The characterization data obtained from IR and NMR spectroscopy (1H, 13C, 19F, and 31P) as well as

• studies, revealing that their photophysical behavior can be affected by the different substituents in the donor carbazole group. Keywords: carbazole; D−A−D type; noble-metal-free system; 9‑phenyl-9-phosphafluorene oxide; photophysical properties; Introduction π-Conjugated molecular materials containing

• , starting from commercially available 2-bromo-4-fluoro-1-nitrobenzene under noble-metal-free conditions. The structures and photophysical properties of the desired molecules were also determined. Results and Discussion Synthesis and structural characterization The synthesis of the PhFlOP-based compounds 7

Giese-type alkylation of dehydroalanine derivatives via silane-mediated alkyl bromide activation

• Perry van der Heide,
• Michele Retini,
• Fabiola Fanini,
• Giovanni Piersanti,
• Francesco Secci,
• Daniele Mazzarella,
• Timothy Noël and
• Alberto Luridiana

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3274–3280, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.271

• building blocks like organohalides can be converted into alkyl radicals by means of photoinduced silane-mediated halogen-atom transfer (XAT) to offer a mild and straightforward methodology of alkylation. In this research, we present a metal-free strategy for the photochemical alkylation of dehydroalanine

•  3), obtaining a slightly elevated yield (67%) compared to compound 3, which was previously formed at a 0.5 mmol scale. Conclusion In conclusion, a photochemical methodology to promote the metal-free alkylation of dehydroalanine derivatives was developed, by means of silane-mediated alkyl bromide

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

• carbocycles can be synthesized mildly and effectively using HVI reagents. Nitrogen nucleophiles A metal-free synthesis of β-fluorinated piperidines was reported in 2012 by Meng, Li and co-workers (Scheme 1) [26]. The authors describe a reaction using PhI(OPiv)2 as oxidant with HF·pyridine as the source of

• and co-workers reported a mild, metal free-synthesis of fluorobenzoxazepines 30 in 2016 (Scheme 13) [37]. Using 1-fluoro-3,3-dimethylbenziodoxole (12) and 4 Å molecular sieves, a range of benzamides 29 were successfully cyclised in good yields. The sustainability of the reaction was improved by

• with subsequent nucleophilic attack by chloride to form the product. A metal-free chlorocyclisation of indole derivatives was reported by Yu and co-workers in 2019 (Scheme 25) [45]. The authors reported the use of 1-chloro-1,2-benziodoxol-3-one (45) as a single reagent to form 6- or 7-membered rings

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

• Mandeep K. Chahal School of Chemistry and Forensic Science, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NH, UK 10.3762/bjoc.20.257 Abstract This review provides an overview of recent progress made in the field of catalysis using metal-free tetrapyrrolic macrocycles, focusing on calix[4]pyrroles

• applied in various fields, including organometallic catalysis, dye-sensitized solar cells, sensing, artificial olfactory systems, photodynamic therapy (PDT), anticancer drugs, biochemical probes, and electrochemical devices. Relevant examples of these two pyrrolic macrocycles as metal-free organocatalysts

• two macrocycles as metal-free catalysts. Keywords: calix[4]pyrroles; electrocatalysis; free-base porphyrins; organocatalysis; photocatalysis; tetrapyrrolic macrocycles; Introduction Tetrapyrrolic macrocycles are a class of cyclic compounds that contain four pyrrolic units in their ring. Examples of

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

• peroxidation of 31 with the formation of products 32 can be achieved as both using Cu-catalysis and in metal-free conditions (Scheme 13). The metal-free peroxidation with TBHP was also demonstrated using 3,4-dihydro-1,4-benzoxazin-2-ones 33 as substrates (Scheme 13) [54]. The assumed mechanism of the target

• product 32 formation is similar to the metal-catalyzed peroxidation described in Scheme 12 in the case of using the Cu(II)/TBHP oxidation system. Under metal-free conditions the tert-butoxy radical A is probably formed via homolytic thermal decomposition of TBHP. Recently, the electrochemical generation

• in situ-generated Cu(I) complexes was developed (Scheme 23) [43]. 2-Phenylbutane (64) was converted into peroxide 65 in a 70% yield with 4% ee. A visible light-induced direct decarboxylative peroxidation of carboxylic acids 66 with the formation of peroxides 67 under metal-free conditions using Mes

Synthesis of fluorinated acid-functionalized, electron-rich nickel porphyrins

• Mike Brockmann,
• Jonas Lobbel,
• Lara Unterriker and
• Rainer Herges

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2954–2958, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.248

• Williamson ether synthesis to yield 22 (78%), 23 (44%), and 24 (44%). Compounds 22, 23, and 24 were used as aldehyde components in the Rothemund-type synthesis of metal-free porphyrins 26 (9%), 27 (18%), and 28 (21%) (see Scheme 3). Metalation was achieved with nickel acetylacetonate to obtain the ester

• ester-functionalized aldehydes 22, 23, and 24. Conditions: a) NIS, TFA, Na2CO3, MeCN, reflux, 18 h; b) Cu2O·H2O, 2-pyridinaldoxime, TBAB, CsOH, H2O, N2, rt, 18 h; c) Cs2CO3, DMAc, N2, rt, 3 h. Porphyrin synthesis. a) Rothemund porphyrin synthesis of metal-free porphyrins 26, 27, and 28; b) metalation of