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

• ) [194]. The Wittig reagent was prepared by reacting triphenylphosphine with formaldehyde in the presence of HCl, followed by treating the resulting alcohol 341 with thionyl chloride (Scheme 61A). The phosphonium salt was deprotonated with n-BuLi, and the corresponding phosphonium ylide was reacted with

• benzophenone or benzaldehyde to obtain the corresponding alkenyl chlorides 344 and 135. In 1978, Miyano reported an improved procedure that prepares the phosphonium salt in one step from chloroiodomethane and typically the products are obtained as mixtures of stereoisomers (Scheme 61B) [195]. Today, the

• phosphonium salt 342 is commercially available (CAS: 5293-84-5) and is frequently employed for the formation of alkenyl chlorides (e.g., Scheme 60C) [196]. It is noteworthy that a highly cis-selective variant, necessitating a sophisticated phosphonium salt, was reported by Schlosser in 1993 [197]. In 2006

Photochemically assisted synthesis of phenacenes fluorinated at the terminal benzene rings and their electronic spectra

• Yuuki Ishii,
• Minoru Yamaji,
• Fumito Tani,
• Kenta Goto,
• Yoshihiro Kubozono and
• Hideki Okamoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 670–679, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.53

• napthalene-1,5-dicarboxaldehyde was protected as an acetal, was prepared through a 5-step reaction sequence. Phosphonium salt 5 [39] and the partly protected o-phthalaldehyde 6 [47] were obtained by previously reported procedures. The reaction of phosphonium salt 5 with aldehyde 6 in the presence of KOH and

• compounds, F8PIC and F8FUL, were obtained through the Wittig-reaction and Mallory-photoreaction sequence (Scheme 2). Thus, reactions between phosphonium salt 5 and specific aldehydes, 10 and 13, followed by photolysis in the presence of I2 and O2, respectively, afforded F8PIC (57%) and F8FUL (52%). F87PHEN

Molecular diversity of the reactions of MBH carbonates of isatins and various nucleophiles

• Zi-Ying Xiao,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 286–295, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.21

• addition of Lewis base is needed. When triphenylphosphine or tri(n-butyl)phosphine were involved in the reaction, the similar SN2’ substitution of tri(n-butyl)phosphine with the elimination of carbon dioxide and tert-butoxide anion gives the phosphonium salt C. Then, the deprotonation of phosphonium salt C

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

Structure and thermal stability of phosphorus-iodonium ylids

• Andrew Greener,
• Stephen P. Argent,
• Coby J. Clarke and
• Miriam L. O’Duill

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2931–2939, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.245

• )triphenylphosphonium salt 6 and (iodomethyl)triphenyl-phosphonium salt 7. Homolytic or heterolytic scission of the I–C(ylid) bond with loss of ArI (path a) would result in a carbene, though it is unclear how this would transform to compound 6. Alternatively, scission of the I–C(Ar) bond with loss of benzyne (path b

The scent gland composition of the Mangshan pit viper, Protobothrops mangshanensis

• Jonas Holste,
• Paul Weldon,
• Donald Boyer and
• Stefan Schulz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2644–2654, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.222

• solvent and excess methyl iodide were removed in vacuo. Analytical data were identical to those reported [31]. Methyl 4,6-dimethyldodec-5-enoate (6): Phosphonium salt 5 (185 mg, 0.4 mmol) was dissolved in dry, degassed THF (10 mL). LiHMDS in hexane (1 M, 0.6 mL, 0.6 mmol) was added slowly at −10 °C and

Using the phospha-Michael reaction for making phosphonium phenolate zwitterions

• Matthias R. Steiner,
• Max Schmallegger,
• Larissa Donner,
• Johann A. Hlina,
• Christoph Marschner,
• Judith Baumgartner and
• Christian Slugovc

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 41–51, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.6

• similar phosphonium salt 2,4-di-tert-butyl-6-(triphenylphosphonium)phenolate features this particular signal at 6.27 ppm (4JHH = 2.7 Hz, 3JPH = 14.4 Hz [30]). In the 13C NMR spectra, the chemical shifts of the carbon atoms in positions 1 and 6 of the phenolate unit are particularly noteworthy. In the

• phosphonium phenolates are largely unaffected by changing a phenyl group for an alkyl group like in 2a–i. Also other similarly substituted phosphonium salt species give the phosphorus signal in the range of 26–19 ppm [28][37][38]. For comparison, the phosphine 1 exhibits a 31P NMR shift of −29.7 ppm [35]. In

Combretastatins D series and analogues: from isolation, synthetic challenges and biological activities

• Jorge de Lima Neto and
• Paulo Henrique Menezes

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 399–427, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.31

• formation of compound 92, which was reduced to the corresponding alcohol and then converted into the bromide 94. Ozonolysis followed by reaction with triphenylphosphine gave the corresponding phosphonium salt 96, which was subjected to different conditions for the intramolecular Wittig reaction. The best

Synthesis and electrochemical properties of 3,4,5-tris(chlorophenyl)-1,2-diphosphaferrocenes

• Almaz A. Zagidullin,
• Farida F. Akhmatkhanova,
• Mikhail N. Khrizanforov,
• Robert R. Fayzullin,
• Tatiana P. Gerasimova,
• Ilya A. Bezkishko and
• Vasili A. Miluykov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1338–1345, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.139

• ; electrochemical properties; phosphacyclopentadienide anion; phosphaferrocene; phosphonium salt; phosphorus heterocycle; Introduction Among the various heterometallocenes reported to date, phosphaferrocenes are by far the most investigated because of their structural and electronic features [1][2] and remain the

Asymmetric organocatalyzed synthesis of coumarin derivatives

• Natália M. Moreira,
• Lorena S. R. Martelli and
• Arlene G. Corrêa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1952–1980, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.128

• recently, the strategy via introducing secondary interactions for the design of the bifunctional catalysts achieved wide application in asymmetric reactions [74]. Wu et al. described a Mannich asymmetric addition of cyanocoumarins 39 to isatin imines 112 catalyzed by an amide-phosphonium salt 114. This

• %) providing excellent results, besides the use of only 0.1 mol % of amide-phosphonium salt for the synthesis of coumarin derivatives. Some methodologies have also proven to be highly efficient in one-pot and gram-scale procedures, which turns to be more environmentally benign. Nevertheless, studies are still

• of 2-hydroxycinnamaldehydes 109 with 4-hydroxycoumarins 1. Mannich asymmetric addition of cyanocoumarins 39 to isatin imines 112 catalyzed by the amide-phosphonium salt 114. Enantioselective total synthesis of (+)-scuteflorin A (119). Funding The authors gratefully acknowledge FAPESP (grants 2013

The preparation and properties of 1,1-difluorocyclopropane derivatives

• Kymbat S. Adekenova,
• Peter B. Wyatt and
• Sergazy M. Adekenov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 245–272, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.25

• reduction of dibromodifluoromethane was also used for the approach of Burton and Naae (Scheme 4), which is again suitable for electron-rich alkenes [19]. Dibromodifluoromethane reacted with triphenylphosphine to give a phosphonium salt, which then decomposed to difluorocarbene. The yields from this method

Facile synthesis of 7-alkyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,8-naphthyridines as arginine mimetics using a Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons-based approach

• Rhys A. Lippa,
• John A. Murphy and
• Tim N. Barrett

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1617–1626, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.134

• , GlaxoSmithKline disclosed a route to a fluoropyrrolidine 6 using a Wittig reaction between phosphonium salt 4 and aldehyde 5 [2]. The synthesis of phosphonium salt 4 (itself requiring 6 steps including partial saturation of a 1,8-naphthyridine moiety) and the formation of the triphenylphosphine oxide byproduct in

Azidophosphonium salt-directed chemoselective synthesis of (E)/(Z)-cinnamyl-1H-triazoles and regiospecific access to bromomethylcoumarins from Morita–Baylis–Hillman adducts

• Soundararajan Karthikeyan,
• Radha Krishnan Shobana,
• Kamarajapurathu Raju Subimol,
• J. Helen Ratna Monica and
• Ayyanoth Karthik Krishna Kumar

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1579–1587, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.130

• powerful synthetic tools. Keywords: halomethylcoumarin; Morita–Baylis–Hillman adducts; organocatalyst; phosphonium salt; triazolation; Introduction The presence of versatile functional groups in close proximity classifies Morita–Baylis–Hillman adducts as privileged key scaffolds for synthetic organic

• protection and elimination of the allylic hydroxy group. We believe that this crucial strategy could be primarily resolved by a quaternary phosphonium salt. After the initial screening of various quaternary phosphonium salts, the azidophosphonium salt [Ph3P+CBr3]N3−, reported by Blanco and co-workers, was

• hydroxy moiety at the carbonyl carbon of IIIb further drove the cyclisation to afford the bromomethylcoumarin 4a. Conclusion In summary, we reported the first protocol on the quaternary phosphonium salt-mediated direct synthesis of cinnamyltriazoles and 3-(bromomethyl)coumarins from Morita–Baylis–Hillman

N-(1-Phenylethyl)aziridine-2-carboxylate esters in the synthesis of biologically relevant compounds

• Iwona E. Głowacka,
• Aleksandra Trocha,
• Andrzej E. Wróblewski and
• Dorota G. Piotrowska

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1722–1757, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.168

• moiety (Scheme 13) [51]. Before conversion of the chloromethyl group into a phosphonium salt the chiral auxiliary was removed. The reaction of the ylide (R)-45 prepared from the chloride (R)-44 with benzaldehyde afforded (E)-alkene (S)-46 which after hydrogenation and basic hydrolysis gave ʟ

Introduction of an isoxazoline unit to the β-position of porphyrin via regioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction

• Xiujun Liu,
• Xiang Ma and
• Yaqing Feng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1434–1440, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.143

• derivative TPP-CH2Cl. Notably, this intermediate was labile on silica-gel column to give the precursor hydroxymethylporphyrin. Hence recrystallization was employed to purify it. Later, refluxing of the solution of TPP-CH2Cl and PPh3 in toluene gave the phosphonium salt 1 [44]. To introduce the vinyl group at

• the β-position, a Wittig reaction was performed, in which the porphyrin phosphonium salt 1 reacted with 4-MeCO2-benzaldehyde in the presence of DBU to furnish the double bond, followed by insertion of Zn ions into the porphyrin cavity to give compound 2. Nitrile oxides [45] as one of the most reactive

• enantiomers of 3a is present, which assembled to a dimeric structure with the fifth chelation of a Zn2+ ion by the carbonyl group of the other molecule. The self-dimerization property of 3a may be utilized in supramolecular chemistry [50][51][52][53]. Experimental 1: Porphyrin phosphonium salt 1 was prepared

Liquid-assisted grinding and ion pairing regulates percentage conversion and diastereoselectivity of the Wittig reaction under mechanochemical conditions

• Kendra Leahy Denlinger,
• Lianna Ortiz-Trankina,
• Preston Carr,
• Kingsley Benson,
• Daniel C. Waddell and
• James Mack

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 688–696, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.57

• , and 5 indicates that the carbonate bases deprotonated the phosphonium salt to form the ylide which then subsequently added to the benzaldehyde. However, the oxygen anion could not bind to the phosphorus cation to produce the stilbene product, presumably due to the mismatched counter ion pair. After

• reacted and is bound to the polymer and thus less production of the desired phosphonium salt. As expected, only 8.5% unreacted 4-nitrobenzyl bromide was recovered when ethanol was used as a LAG solvent, demonstrating that ethanol is an effective LAG solvent for the production of the phosphonium salt

• (Table 5). Because the formation of the phosphonium salt is the first step of the Wittig reaction, the question arose whether performing the reaction stepwise could influence our ability to select for both percent conversion and diastereoselectivity. Using a stepwise reaction approach with ethanol as the

Vinylphosphonium and 2-aminovinylphosphonium salts – preparation and applications in organic synthesis

• Anna Kuźnik,
• Roman Mazurkiewicz and
• Beata Fryczkowska

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 2710–2738, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.269

• triphenylphosphine with 1-bromoethylbenzene. The resulting phosphonium salt 11 was then deprotonated to the corresponding ylide 12, which in the last step was subjected to bromination to give the expected α-bromoethylphosphonium bromide 13 [10]. 1.3. Peterson olefination of α-trimethylsilylphosphonium ylides with

• -propynyltriphenylphosphonium bromide (24) involved propadienylphosphonium bromide (25) – the tautomeric form of the starting phosphonium salt. The same authors carried out a series of nucleophilic additions of amines and hydrazine derivatives to 24 to obtain products with the proposed structure of 2-aminovinylphosphonium

• triphenylphosphine to a triple bond of acetylenedicarboxylate followed by protonation of the adduct by the NH-acid gave the expected vinylphosphonium salt 92. The attack of the carbanion on the β-position of the phosphonium salt followed by two competitive intramolecular Wittig reactions of the intermediate ylide 93

Synthesis and photophysical properties of novel benzophospholo[3,2-b]indole derivatives

• Mio Matsumura,
• Mizuki Yamada,
• Atsuya Muranaka,
• Misae Kanai,
• Naoki Kakusawa,
• Daisuke Hashizume,
• Masanobu Uchiyama and
• Shuji Yasuike

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 2304–2309, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.226

• benzophosphole-fused indole derivative and its various functionalized analogs such as the corresponding phosphine oxide, phosphonium salt, and borane–phosphine complex. Results and Discussion The synthesis of the parent tetracyclic molecule 10-phenyl-[1]benzophospholo[3,2-b]-N-methylindole (3), is shown in

Chiral phase-transfer catalysis in the asymmetric α-heterofunctionalization of prochiral nucleophiles

• Johannes Schörgenhumer,
• Maximilian Tiffner and
• Mario Waser

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1753–1769, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.170

• substrate scope when using just 2 mol % of phosphonium salt F1 under liquid/liquid biphasic conditions (Scheme 3). As already stated before, the use of chiral anionic PTCs became increasingly important over the last years and especially asymmetric fluorine-transfer reactions have been very extensively

• conditions [90]. Key to success in this spectacular report was the use of the systematically optimized sulfonamide-containing phosphonium salt J1. With this catalyst, they were able to achieve high selectivities in the α-chlorination of 1 with N-chlorophthalimide (13) as the Cl-source under H2O-rich

• group then described the use of the bifunctional phosphonium salt-based catalyst J2 for the α-sulfanylation of β-ketoesters 1 [90]. Very impressively, only 0.1 mol % of the catalyst were sufficient to achieve high yields and high enantioselectivities for this transformation under base-free water-rich

1-Imidoalkylphosphonium salts with modulated C_α–P⁺ bond strength: synthesis and application as new active α-imidoalkylating agents

• Jakub Adamek,
• Roman Mazurkiewicz,
• Anna Węgrzyk and
• Karol Erfurt

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1446–1455, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.142

• was isolated in 73% yield accompanied by only trace amounts of the expected phosphonium salt 5o (Table 2, last entry). It is assumed that both the extraordinary effective resonance stabilization of the imide anion and the excessive steric congestion in the transition state make the splitting of the Cα

• conditions, the reaction had already started at about 130 °C (Table 3, entry 9). Again, the reaction of the same phosphonium salt with the much more reactive 1,3-dimethoxybenzene started at the same temperature (150 °C; Table 3, entry 20). This observation suggests that the generation of a 1-imidocarbenium

• (Table 3, entry 18). All attempts to carry out the imidoalkylation of 1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene with phosphonium salt 5e failed. In this case 1-(2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl)ethyltris(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)phosphonium tetrafluoroborate (10) was isolated from the reaction mixture in 73% yield as the only

Catalytic Wittig and aza-Wittig reactions

• Zhiqi Lao and
• Patrick H. Toy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2577–2587, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.253

• -catalysts. Prototypical Wittig reaction involving in situ phosphonium salt and phosphonium ylide formation. Bu3As-catalyzed Wittig-type reactions. Ph3As-catalyzed Wittig-type reactions using Fe(TCP)Cl and ethyl diazoacetate for arsonium ylide generation. Bu2Te-catalyzed Wittig-type reactions. Polymer

Total synthesis of leopolic acid A, a natural 2,3-pyrrolidinedione with antimicrobial activity

• Atul A. Dhavan,
• Rahul D. Kaduskar,
• Loana Musso,
• Leonardo Scaglioni,
• Piera Anna Martino and
• Sabrina Dallavalle

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 1624–1628, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.159

• DIBAL-H gave the corresponding primary alcohol, which was converted into bromide 5 by Appel reaction with PPh3 and CBr4. The phosphonium salt obtained from this bromide was subjected to a Wittig reaction with nonanal, to afford compound 6 [12]. Attempts to remove the PMB protecting group (CAN, DDQ, TFA

Synthesis of a deuterated probe for the confocal Raman microscopy imaging of squalenoyl nanomedicines

• Eric Buchy,
• Branko Vukosavljevic,
• Maike Windbergs,
• Dunja Sobot,
• Camille Dejean,
• Simona Mura,
• Patrick Couvreur and
• Didier Desmaële

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 1127–1135, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.109

• from the monoproduct, potassium carbonate treatment gave the expected diepoxide 7. Oxidative cleavage with periodic acid provided the corresponding dialdehyde 5 in 17% overall yield from squalene. The perdeuterated phosphonium salt 9 was obtained by simple condensation of commercially available 2

One-pot synthesis of enantiomerically pure N-protected allylic amines from N-protected α-amino esters

• Gastón Silveira-Dorta,
• Sergio J. Álvarez-Méndez,
• Víctor S. Martín and
• José M. Padrón

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 957–962, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.94

• -membered ring lactams [20]. Finally, a one-pot reduction-olefination involving an α-amino β-hydroxy ester and a phosphonium salt, both bearing free hydroxy groups, has been used in the synthesis of (−)-α-conhydrine [21]. In this work, our aim was to study in more detail this one-pot strategy. Similarly to

Hydroquinone–pyrrole dyads with varied linkers

• Hao Huang,
• Christoffer Karlsson,
• Maria Strømme,
• Martin Sjödin and
• Adolf Gogoll

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 89–96, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.10

• material, a Wittig reaction was chosen as an alternative. The Wittig reaction approach is shown in Scheme 2. In this reaction, phosphonium salt 7 was prepared in quantitative yield from 5 and triphenylphosphine by reflux in toluene, according to a procedure reported for dimethoxybenzyl chloride [21]. The

• work-up involved simple filtration and washing with toluene. Use of t-BuOK as a base to deprotonate the phosphonium salt resulted in a dark red phosphorous ylide, to which 1-(triisopropylsilyl)-1H-pyrrole-3-carbaldehyde was added, followed by heating at 80 °C. The desired product 4c was obtained in 40