Construction of CF₂ moieties in FDA-approved drugs (2016–2025): industrial routes, mechanisms, and scale-up considerations

• Wenyan Yao,
• Huanhuan Zhang,
• Xiaolong Yang and
• Feng Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 1122–1150, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.91

Controlled supramolecular assemblies of luminescent tridentate cyclometalated alkynylgold(III) amphiphiles in aqueous media

• Kelvin Sze-Yim Cai,
• Brian Boyan Liu and
• Franco King-Chi Leung

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 1097–1106, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.88

• cyclometalated gold(III) complex 2 was synthesized and further reacted with compound 1 in the presence of triethylamine and a catalytic amount of copper iodide to afford the amphiphile precursor 3. The nucleophilic substitution of compound 3 with trimethylamine enabled to afford GA. The chemical structures of

Amino acid-based surfactants: sustainable synthesis and antimicrobial mechanisms

• Rafaela Gomes Bezerra,
• Lourdes Pérez and
• Francisco Fábio Oliveira de Sousa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 1067–1085, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.85

• reactions. N-Alkylation is mainly achieved either by reductive amination with long-chain aldehydes followed by chemical reduction, or by direct nucleophilic substitution using activated alkyl halides or sulfonates [6][10][13]. Reductive amination generally affords improved control over mono-N-alkylation and

Synthesis of functionalized, 13-alkyl-substituted coralyne derivatives and investigation of their interactions with duplex and abasic site-containing DNA

• Laurin Beckmann,
• Jason Lennard Kunze,
• Hannah Karola Strunk,
• Maurice Michel and
• Heiko Ihmels

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 1057–1066, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.84

• ). Subsequent nucleophilic substitution of 3b with KCN furnished the nitrile-functionalized papaverine 3d in 56% yield. However, attempts to hydrolyze the nitrile 3d to the corresponding carboxylic acid failed both under mild and harsh alkaline conditions as well as under acidic conditions, as TLC and 1H NMR

Diastereodivergent electrophilic trapping of α-boryl lithium derivatives

• Tereza Pavlíčková,
• Noam Orbach and
• Ilan Marek

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 882–887, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.68

• confirmed due to the inability to obtain suitable crystals for X-ray analysis. In addition to the nucleophilic substitution of the boryl lithium species with R3SiCl, a small range of alternative electrophiles was examined (Scheme 3). Incorporation of a tin-based electrophile furnished stannane 6i in

Regioselective approach to 5-arylsulfonylisoxazoles and their antimicrobial activity

• Artem S. Sazonov,
• Dmitry A. Vasilenko,
• Denis V. Porfiriev,
• Yuri K. Grishin,
• Rimma A. Gazzaeva,
• Alisa P. Chernyshova,
• Maxim A. Kryakvin,
• Anna A. Baranova,
• Vera A. Alferova and
• Elena B. Averina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 592–602, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.45

• as promising antimicrobial agents and provide new insights into their mechanism of action. Keywords: antimicrobial activity; aromatic nucleophilic substitution; isoxazoles; oxidation; sulfonylisoxazoles; Introduction The isoxazole ring represents an important building block for the synthesis of

• -nucleophiles affording nucleophilic substitution products of the 5-nitro group in high yields [27] and we also demonstrated that this approach is a powerful tool to functionalize the isoxazole ring [28][29]. However, the synthesis of sulfones 3 is problematic using the nucleophilic aromatic substitution

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

• formation of 252. Next, conditions reported by Kishi and co-workers were applied for the nucleophilic substitution of the chloride by the oxygen from the tetrahydrofuran ring towards 253 [94], before an adjacent secondary alcohol group reopened the bicyclic cationic intermediate. Cleavage of the TBDMS

Synthesis and anti-cancer activity of naphthalimide–organylselanyl conjugates

• Rajkumar Ravi and
• Selvakumar Karuthapandi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 416–435, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.29

• Discussion Chemistry Scheme 1 illustrates the synthesis of naphthalimide-organylselanyl conjugates 7 and 8. The incorporation of the organoselenide moiety into the naphthalimide scaffold was achieved via a nucleophilic substitution reaction. The bromine atom in the bromonaphthalimide precursor 12, prepared

Dialkylaminoalkylation of β-ketosulfones via ring-opening of 3-sulfonylpyrrolidines

• Evgeny M. Buev,
• Alexander V. Pavlushin,
• Vladimir S. Moshkin and
• Vyacheslav Y. Sosnovskikh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 383–389, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.26

• commonly achieved by a classic nucleophilic substitution of a leaving group at the β-position relative to the N-protected nitrogen (Figure 2a). While this approach addresses most needs of targeted synthesis, developing alternative methods from inexpensive starting materials via domino-processes, allowing

Synthesis of tricyclic fused pyrrolidine nitroxides from 2-alkynylpyrrolidine-1-oxyls

• Mark M. Gulman,
• Yuliya F. Polienko,
• Sofia Yu. Trakhininа,
• Yuri V. Gatilov,
• Tatyana V. Rybalova,
• Sergey A. Dobrynin and
• Igor A. Kirilyuk

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 344–351, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.22

• literature data on reactivity of 5-azidopentyne derivatives in intramolecular Huisgen cycloaddition reactions are contradictory. Some authors successfully obtained 5-azidopentyne derivatives upon nucleophilic substitution at 80 °C in DMF, and additional heating at 170 °C was necessary for cyclization to

Screwing the helical chirality through terminal peri-functionalization

• Devesh Chandra,
• Sachin and
• Upendra Sharma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 205–212, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.14

• nucleophilic substitution reactions (Scheme 5). A stereochemical model was proposed for the phospha-Michael addition, indicating that enantioselectivity was primarily influenced by steric effects arising from hydrogen bonding and ion pairing between the peptide mimetic phosphonium salt (PPS)-activated

Circumventing Mukaiyama oxidation: selective S–O bond formation via sulfenamide–alcohol coupling

• Guoling Huang,
• Huarui Zhu,
• Shuting Zhou,
• Wanlin Zheng,
• Fangpeng Liang,
• Zhibo Zhao,
• Yifei Chen and
• Xunbo Lu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 158–166, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.9

• -bromosuccinimide to generate a highly electrophilic sulfilimidoyl bromide intermediate R–S(Br)=N–C(O)R’, along with succinimide. The resulting S(IV)–Br species is then attacked by the alcohol 2, and nucleophilic substitution at sulfur followed by proton transfer furnishes the sulfinimidate ester 3 and HBr. The

Highly electrophilic, gem- and spiro-activated trichloromethylnitrocyclopropanes: synthesis and structure

• Ilia A. Pilipenko,
• Mikhail V. Grigoriev,
• Olga Yu. Ozerova,
• Igor A. Litvinov,
• Darya V. Spiridonova,
• Aleksander V. Vasilyev and
• Sergey V. Makarenko

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 123–130, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.5

• to the bromonitroalkene afford the intermediate anion II, followed by tautomerization and formation of anion IV, which undergoes intramolecular nucleophilic substitution of the bromide along the C-alkylation pathway [37][38][39] (Scheme 6). The trans-configuration of the methine protons of the

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

Sustainable electrochemical synthesis of aliphatic nitro-NNO-azoxy compounds employing ammonium dinitramide and their in vitro evaluation as potential nitric oxide donors and fungicides

• Alexander S. Budnikov,
• Nikita E. Leonov,
• Michael S. Klenov,
• Andrey A. Kulikov,
• Igor B. Krylov,
• Timofey A. Kudryashev,
• Aleksandr M. Churakov,
• Alexander O. Terent’ev and
• Vladimir A. Tartakovsky

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2739–2754, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.211

• nucleophilic substitution of –ONO2 groups. To clarify the reaction mechanism, cyclic voltammetry (CV) studies were conducted. CV curves of cyclohexanone oxime (S1), 1-bromo-1-nitrosocyclohexane (S2), 1-chloro-1-nitrosocyclohexane (S3), 1-nitrosocyclohexyl acetate (S4), 1-nitro-1-nitrosocyclohexane (1c), 1

Recent advancements in the synthesis of Veratrum alkaloids

• Morwenna Mögel,
• David Berger and
• Philipp Heretsch

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2657–2693, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.206

• introduced by addition of 2-lithio-5-methylpyridine (94) to methyl ketone 93, with the major addition product 95 exhibiting the desired configuration at C20. Tosylation of the primary C18–OH in 95 (and secondary C3–OH) was followed by intramolecular nucleophilic substitution through the pyridine nitrogen

Recent advances in total synthesis of illisimonin A

• Juan Huang and
• Ming Yang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2571–2583, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.199

• , deprotonation, and intramolecular addition to ketone. Treatment of the silacycle with MeMgCl cleaved the Si–O bond and subsequent intramolecular nucleophilic substitution of the chloride with the adjacent hydroxy group yielded TMS-epoxide 41. Protonic acid-mediated opening of the TMS-epoxide, accompanied by TES

Assembly strategy for thieno[3,2-b]thiophenes via a disulfide intermediate derived from 3-nitrothiophene-2,5-dicarboxylate

• Roman A. Irgashev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2489–2497, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.191

• . Nucleophilic substitution of the nitro group with sulfur nucleophiles, including thioacetate or disulfide anions as well as thioacetamide, yielded bis(thiophen-3-yl)disulfide and sulfide derivatives. The disulfide served as a suitable precursor for the preparation of 3-alkylthio-substituted thiophene-2,5

• functionalized thieno[3,2-b]thiophenes with potential applications in pharmaceutical and materials chemistry. Keywords: aromatic nucleophilic substitution; disulfide derivative; 3-nitrothiophene; organic disulfides; thieno[3,2-b]thiophene; thiophene ring closure; Introduction Thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (TT

• K2CO3 in DMSO to give the desired product [26]. Route III, previously elaborated in our group, utilizes the nucleophilic substitution of the Cl atom in 3-chlorothiophene-2-carboxylates by methyl thioglycolate in the presence of KOt-Bu, followed by KOt-Bu-mediated cyclization to the 3-hydroxy-TTs [27

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

• formation proceeded through an SN2-type nucleophilic substitution mechanism (Scheme 1). In 2025, Li and co-workers reported a highly efficient rhodium-catalyzed enantioselective C–H selenylation reaction of 1-arylisoquinolines with diselenides, employing 3,5-(CF3)2C6H3CO₂Ag and AgSbF6 as additives [19

• phenyl-substituted benzoisoquinoline derivatives. Two plausible reaction mechanisms were proposed in the study: one involving oxidative addition of Int 4, a five-membered rhodium cyclic intermediate, followed by reductive elimination and the other proceeding via a bimolecular nucleophilic substitution

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

• converted by a series of synthetic transformations to (−)-spirochensilide A (228) with a total yield of 2.2% in 22 steps starting from acetylenic epoxide 229. 4.1 Wagner–Meerwein rearrangement The isomerization of terpenes via cleavage, addition or nucleophilic substitution reactions accompanied by a

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

• ; and subsequent conversion of the ketone in 20 to the vinyl iodide in 21 – via hydrazone formation, lithium–halogen exchange, and final nucleophilic substitution – secured the Norrish–Yang cyclization precursor 22. Following systematic optimization of reaction conditions, irradiation of 22 with 100 W

• blue LEDs at room temperature constructed a single diastereoisomer 23 in 90% yield. From 23, the ABCDE pentacyclic skeleton of phainanoids (27) was ultimately established via a Mitsunobu reaction, intramolecular nucleophilic substitution with in situ-generated aryllithium, and protecting group

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

• nucleophilic substitution of D afforded target indeno[1,2-c]pyrrole 40a along with eliminating I. Notably, this oxidant-free and catalyst-free approach could be potentially applied in the pharmaceutical manufacture. A Rh-promoted synthesis of pyrroles through annulation of alkynes and enamides was demonstrated

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

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

• ]quinazoline (13) was of particular interest, as the presence of a reactive chloromethyl group facilitates nucleophilic substitution with various amines. The compound 13 was synthesized according to a procedure described in the literature [28]. Subsequent displacement of the chloride in 13 with amines provided

• NH proton in the urea moiety (position N5) of indolo[1,2-c]quinazolin-6(5H)-one (1) enables efficient N-alkylation. Accordingly, alkylation of 1 with 1-bromo-3-chloropropane afforded intermediate 11, bearing a reactive chloropropyl side chain suitable for further derivatization. Nucleophilic

• substitution of the terminal chloride in 11 with various cyclic amines, including pyrrolidine, piperidine, and mono-tert-butoxycarbonyl (Boc)-protected piperazine, provided a set of aminoalkyl derivatives 12а–с (Scheme 4). This strategy enables the expansion of structural diversity within this scaffold and

Measuring the stereogenic remoteness in non-central chirality: a stereocontrol connectivity index for asymmetric reactions

• Ivan Keng Wee On,
• Yu Kun Choo,
• Sambhav Baid and
• Ye Zhu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1995–2006, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.155

• coupling of biaryls is designated as [30 20]. In addition to biaryls, axially chiral allenes are popular targets for asymmetric synthesis. Three examples of asymmetric reactions that form axially chiral allenes are shown in Scheme 4. For example, the enantioselective nucleophilic substitution to yield