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

• cyclization. Subsequently Zhong et al. reported a catalytic asymmetric variant, affording spirooxindoles in high yields with excellent enantioselectivity [8]. An alternative approach employing vinyl azides involves a Rh(II)-catalyzed olefination of diazo compounds, followed by annulation with vinyl azides to

Synthetic study toward vibralactone

• Liang Shi,
• Jiayi Song,
• Yiqing Li,
• Jia-Chen Li,
• Shuqi Li,
• Li Ren,
• Zhi-Yun Liu and
• Hong-Dong Hao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2376–2382, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.182

• ketal moiety was removed and the resulting intermediate underwent Wittig olefination to yield vinyl chloride 20. Subsequent hydrolysis and intramolecular esterification furnished intermediate 21, which was then subjected to C–H insertion [42][43][44]. To our disappointment, this ring closure still did

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

• known two-step sequence to 61, followed by Mitsunobu reaction, ester reduction, thioether oxidation, and silylation of the primary alcohol to furnish sulfone 64. The two key fragments – aldehyde 60 and sulfone 64 – were merged via Julia–Kocienski olefination to construct alkene 65. Treatment of 65 with

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

• –Crafts alkylation products were then converted into an intermediate tryptaldehyde that underwent intramolecular olefination to form the targeted product [34]. Glycolic acid (GA) The growing impact of fossil fuel consumption has heightened the need for advancing renewable energy technologies. One

• and hydroxyketones. The catalyst could be recovered and reused five times without decreasing its selectivity and activity. Mechanistically, the reaction involves a Heyns-type rearrangement and subsequent intramolecular olefination (Scheme 22) [96]. Arandia et al. reported the application of the

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

• –Wadsworth–Emmons (HWE) olefination with β-ketophosphonate 176 to produce trans-enone 177 as the sole product. Ester 178, prepared in three steps from 177, first underwent cyclization via hydrogenation to generate spiroketals as a 1:1 mixture. This intermediate was then isomerized under acidic conditions to

• steps. Treatment of 278 with (PMe3)AuCl and AgOTf, followed by p-TsOH·H2O, effected a Au-catalyzed cyclization to construct the bicyclic core. This intermediate was then transformed into enal 279 via epoxidation and Wittig olefination. Seven additional steps converted enal 279 to lactone 280, which then

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

• functionality in 63 allowed for versatile derivatizations, such as reduction, reductive amination, condensation, and olefination, which further expanded the structural diversity of the resulting products. Summary and Outlook The past few years have witnessed exciting progress in developing catalytic asymmetric

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

• prepared by a Wittig olefination of commercially available 3-oxetanone (Scheme 46) [97]. As for the furan formation, the methodology employs ambient reaction conditions, super-short reaction times and very low catalyst loadings. During the reaction, the oxetane is activated by BF3, opened by the carbonyl

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

• constructing Omura’s C1–C11 fragment Yadav and Yadav, in 2013, reported their work on preparing the C1–C11 fragment 61 of borrelidin. Their approach employed an iterative sequence of oxidation, Wittig olefination, hydrogenation, and asymmetric methylation for carbon homologation, alongside Sharpless

• acid, and protection of the secondary alcohol as a TBDMS ether (Scheme 9). Intermediate 63 was planned to be derived from Evans’ amide 64 by reducing the amide moiety to a primary alcohol, oxidizing it to an aldehyde, performing a Wittig olefination to install an unsaturated ester, reducing the ester

• to a primary alcohol, and then conducting asymmetric epoxidation of the double bond. Evan’s amide 64 would be synthesized from primary alcohol 65 through a sequence of oxidation to aldehyde, Wittig olefination to an unsaturated ester, hydrogenation of the olefin, conversion of the ester to Evans

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

• , Maulide and co-workers (2022) utilized a novel thiouronium ylide 396 and 2-(tert-butyl)-1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidine (395) for the olefination of aldehydes to generate the corresponding cinnamates 398 and 399 with excellent (Z)-selectivity (Scheme 85). Interestingly, exchanging aldehydes for tosylimines

• , Suryavanshi and co-workers (2020) utilized PhI(OAc)2 to mediate the oxidative olefination of amines and Wittig reagents 415 to give the corresponding cinnamate esters 416–419 via formation of imines 421 (Scheme 87B) [148]. In addition, a gram scale operation has been conducted smoothly. 3.1.3 Carbene

• -workers (2019) employed a non-metal Lewis acid tritylium salt (TrBF4) to catalyze the stereoselective olefination of α-diazocarbonyl compounds 438 to access Z-cinnamate esters 439–442 via 1,2-hydride migration (443) (Scheme 89) [151]. The ion pair of carbocation, BF4− anions, and the trityldiazene group

Emerging trends in the optimization of organic synthesis through high-throughput tools and machine learning

• Pablo Quijano Velasco,
• Kedar Hippalgaonkar and
• Balamurugan Ramalingam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 10–38, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.3

• various reaction categories. The system consists of a liquid–liquid separator and an in-line/online analytical tool to facilitate closed-loop autonomous optimization. The capability of the system was demonstrated in the optimization of C–C and C–N cross-coupling, olefination, reductive amination

Synthesis, structure and π-expansion of tris(4,5-dehydro-2,3:6,7-dibenzotropone)

• Yongming Xiong,
• Xue Lin Ma,
• Shilong Su and
• Qian Miao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1–7, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.1

•  1) featuring three heptagons and two pentagons, with its structure confirmed by X-ray crystallography. This π-expansion approach of compound 1 differs from the method reported by Müllen and co-workers, which involves Ramirez olefination and Suzuki coupling, resulting in the expansion of a seven

Synthesis of fluoroalkenes and fluoroenynes via cross-coupling reactions using novel multihalogenated vinyl ethers

• Yukiko Karuo,
• Keita Hirata,
• Atsushi Tarui,
• Kazuyuki Sato,
• Kentaro Kawai and
• Masaaki Omote

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2691–2703, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.226

• blocks. When using them as nucleophilic reagents [15][16][17][18][19][20], the reaction between anion species, such as fluorine-containing Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons reagents, and carbonyl compounds led to E-selective olefination (Scheme 1A) [15]. On the other hand, some reactions with electrophilic

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

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

Harnessing the versatility of hydrazones through electrosynthetic oxidative transformations

• Aurélie Claraz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1988–2004, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.175

• as pivotal element during the total synthesis of natural products. Therefore, the development of mild and efficient methods to access this motif from readily available starting materials is a never-ending quest. With the aim to propose an alternative to the classical olefination of carbonyls through

Chemo-enzymatic total synthesis: current approaches toward the integration of chemical and enzymatic transformations

• Ryo Tanifuji and
• Hiroki Oguri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1693–1712, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.151

• condensation of 73 and 74, followed by highly-diastereoselective vinylogous Mukaiyama aldol reaction and subsequent protecting group manipulations [81][82][83]. The separately synthesized left and right segments, 72 and 75, were then assembled via Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons (HWE) olefination to give carboxylic

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

(Bio)isosteres of ortho- and meta-substituted benzenes

• H. Erik Diepers and
• Johannes C. L. Walker

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 859–890, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.78

• cyclopropanation [44] (to (±)-66) of α-hydroxy silyl enol ethers (±)-65 followed by an acid-catalysed pinacol rearrangement to (±)-67. As exemplary derivatizations of 5-oxo-BCH (±)-67, 1,5-BCHs (±)-68, (±)-69 and (±)-70 were accessed by reductive amination, ketone reduction, and Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons olefination

• undergo chemical transformations in their synthesis of ketoprofen bioisostere 189 (Scheme 18B) [72]. 1,3-Cuneane 186 bearing two electron-withdrawing groups was accessible by oxidation of 1,3-cuneane 185a. The 1,3-cuneane scaffold was stable to Wittig olefination and Weinreb ester formation (to 187

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of macrocyclic peptides and polyketides via thioesterase-catalyzed macrocyclization

• Senze Qiao,
• Zhongyu Cheng and
• Fuzhuo Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 721–733, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.66

• and phosphonate 48, were synthesized, employing Evans’ vinylogous aldol and Myers’ auxiliary-mediated alkylation reactions as key steps. By utilizing these two fragments, a Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons olefination, followed by thioester formation and desilylation, produced several different activated

• 59, which was reacted with phosphonate 60 through Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons (HWE) olefination. Afterward, the coupling of 61 and 62, followed by removing the silyl groups, gave the desired linear precursors 63. The investigation of the enzymatic macrocyclization suggested that CrpTE is able to accept a

Multi-redox indenofluorene chromophores incorporating dithiafulvene donor and ene/enediyne acceptor units

• Christina Schøttler,
• Kasper Lund-Rasmussen,
• Line Broløs,
• Philip Vinterberg,
• Ema Bazikova,
• Viktor B. R. Pedersen and
• Mogens Brøndsted Nielsen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 59–73, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.8

• variety of reactions; that are, phosphite- or Lawesson’s reagent-mediated olefination reactions (to introduce DTF motifs), Ramirez/Corey–Fuchs dibromo-olefinations followed by Sonogashira couplings (to introduce enediynes motifs), and Knoevenagel condensations (to introduce the vinylic diester motif). By

• as a mixture of E and Z isomers (ca. 4:1). Further functionalization of the IF-DTF ketone 11 was obtained by Ramirez/Corey–Fuchs dibromo-olefination and Knoevenagel condensation to yield vinylic dibromide 14 and diester 15, respectively, as illustrated in Scheme 2. We noted that the dibromo

• -olefination reaction was first discovered by Ramirez and co-workers [22] and used in the first step of the Corey–Fuchs reaction that ultimately provides an alkyne [23]. To elucidate the properties of the donor part itself of the pyrrolo-annelated IF-DTF systems, we prepared compounds 16 and 17 containing a

Recent advancements in iodide/phosphine-mediated photoredox radical reactions

• Tinglan Liu,
• Yu Zhou,
• Junhong Tang and
• Chengming Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1785–1803, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.131

• NaI/PPh3 catalysis. Decarboxylative alkenylation mediated by NaI/PPh3 catalysis. NaI-mediated photoinduced α-alkenylation of Katritzky salts 7. n-Bu4NI-mediated photoinduced decarboxylative olefination. Proposed mechanism of the n-Bu4NI-mediated photoinduced decarboxylative olefination

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

• oxidative olefination of simple ethers might undergo the following three successive steps: (1) the formation of an α-carbon-centered radical A from simple ethers, (2) addition of the α-carbon-centered radical to olefins generating radical B. This step is one of the classical transformations of radicals and

• ether α-C–H bond. In the presence of Cu(II), the C(sp2)–C(sp3) coupling of pyridine N-oxides and coumarins with cyclic ethers could be achieved under mild conditions (Scheme 13) [63][64]. These reactions do not all follow the reaction mechanism of the oxidative olefination of simple ethers. The role of

Radical ligand transfer: a general strategy for radical functionalization

• David T. Nemoto Jr,
• Kang-Jie Bian,
• Shih-Chieh Kao and
• Julian G. West

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1225–1233, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.90

• elimination-like pathway to afford unsaturated C–C bonds in the presence of copper(II) sulfate, presumably via competitive RPC to the carbocation followed by E1 olefination. Kochi also demonstrated that RLT can be combined with other radical generation strategies to enable new, non-biomimetic reactions to be

Photoredox catalysis harvesting multiple photon or electrochemical energies

• Mattia Lepori,
• Simon Schmid and
• Joshua P. Barham

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1055–1145, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.81

Pyridine C(sp²)–H bond functionalization under transition-metal and rare earth metal catalysis

• Haritha Sindhe,
• Malladi Mounika Reddy,
• Karthikeyan Rajkumar,
• Akshay Kamble,
• Amardeep Singh,
• Anand Kumar and
• Satyasheel Sharma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 820–863, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.62

• Heck cross-coupling [69][70]. However, researchers have developed various methods for the transition-metal-catalyzed C(sp2)–H olefination using various types of alkenes as coupling partners [71][72][73]. This part of the review covers reports for the alkenylation of pyridine with terminal alkynes

• strong coordination of the pyridyl N-atom with Pd in the presence of a bidentate ligand was reported by Yu and co-workers [83]. They showcased the C3-selective olefination of pyridines using 1,10-phenanthroline, a bis-dentate ligand that weakens the coordination of the Pd catalyst with the pyridyl N-atom

• % yield. Further, Shi and co-workers reported the rhodium-catalyzed directed C–H olefination of pyridines using different directing groups in 2013 [88] (Scheme 20a) and 2014 [89] (Scheme 20c), respectively. In the former study, under optimized conditions of [RhCp*Cl2]2 (5 mol %), AgSbF6 (20 mol %) in DCE