Photomechanochemistry: harnessing mechanical forces to enhance photochemical reactions

• Francesco Mele,
• Ana M. Constantin,
• Andrea Porcheddu,
• Raimondo Maggi,
• Giovanni Maestri,
• Nicola Della Ca’ and
• Luca Capaldo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 458–472, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.33

• enables solvent-free conditions for this transformation (Scheme 11B). Here, the aggregation state of the substrate and the reductant proved to be crucial to establish a fully operative protocol. The third reaction tested under mechanophotocatalytic conditions was the well-established decarboxylative

The effect of neighbouring group participation and possible long range remote group participation in O-glycosylation

• Rituparna Das and
• Balaram Mukhopadhyay

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 369–406, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.27

• . performed glycosylations under solvent-free conditions with poorly reactive disarmed per-O-acetylated (15) and per-O-benzoylated (18) glycosyl donors on being activated in air aided by catalytic amounts of a mild promoter, methanesulphonic acid (Scheme 3) [92]. The ester group was capable of conjugating

• phenol 16 and acceptor 19 to the anomeric position, thereby, making it suitable for glycoconjugate formation. They also reported the glycosylations leading to disaccharide 20 formation in solvent free conditions in significant 1,2-trans selectivity. This study holds the potential in improving the various

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

• . The Mannich reaction with aromatic aldehydes and cyclic amines was performed efficiently on 2-naphthol, by using SiO2-supported copper triflate under solvent-free conditions, without an additional co-catalyst or additive (Scheme 3) [17]. The treatment of stoichiometric amounts of arylaldehydes

Recent advances in transition-metal-free arylation reactions involving hypervalent iodine salts

• Ritu Mamgain,
• Kokila Sakthivel and
• Fateh V. Singh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2891–2920, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.243

• this Li and Jiang, created an effective ball-milling process for the N-arylation of amines 38 with the assistance of diaryliodonium salts 16 (Scheme 15) [67]. The arylation of an amino group or nitrogen heterocycle occurred effectively when the reaction is performed under solvent-free conditions or

Synthesis of pyrrole-fused dibenzoxazepine/dibenzothiazepine/triazolobenzodiazepine derivatives via isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions

• Marzieh Norouzi,
• Mohammad Taghi Nazeri,
• Ahmad Shaabani and
• Behrouz Notash

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2870–2882, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.241

• with 1,10-phenanthroline as cyclic imine under solvent-free conditions for the synthesis of pyrrole-fused phenanthroline. This reaction proceeds via in situ formation of zwitterion I through reaction of the aldehyde and malononitrile followed by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (Scheme 1a) [41]. Chen and co

• reaction was also attempted under solvent-free conditions at different temperatures (Table 1, entries 10–13). Interestingly, the highest yield of 70% of the desired product was achieved by conducting the reaction at 100 °C without using any solvent (Table 1, entry 12). After having identified the optimal

• isocyanides, gem-diactivated olefins, and cyclic imines (dibenzoxazepines, dibenzothiazepine, and triazolobenzodiazepine) under catalyst- and solvent-free conditions. Furthermore, the other advantages of this reaction include the manufacturing premium pharmaceutical scaffolds, a wide range of substrates

Mechanochemical difluoromethylations of ketones

• Jinbo Ke,
• Pit van Bonn and
• Carsten Bolm

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2799–2805, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.235

• efficiently converted to the target products under solvent-free conditions. The reactions proceed at room temperature and are complete within 90 minutes, demonstrating both efficiency and experimental simplicity. Keywords: ball milling; difluorocarbene; difluoromethylations; difluoromethyl enol ether

• compounds [35][36][37][38]. Notably, also sterically hindered alcohols, which are typically less reactive in solution, could be applied under solvent-free conditions in a ball mill [39], which was attributed to a better accessibility of the difluorocarbene in the mechanochemical environment [40]. Motivated

O,S,Se-containing Biginelli products based on cyclic β-ketosulfone and their postfunctionalization

• Kateryna V. Dil and
• Vitalii A. Palchykov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2143–2151, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.184

• experimented with Lewis acids (Table 1, entries 10–12) to catalyze the reaction and observe low conversion with SrCl2. The reaction was significantly better with both La(NO2)3 and Yb(OTf)3 under solvent-free conditions (Table 1, entries 11 and 12, yield 61–65%). The most promising results were obtained by

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

• , it can be performed under solvent-free conditions [108] and is applicable to the synthesis of anellated pyrazoles [109]. In addition, arylsulfonate-substituted pyrazoles can be accessed using this protocol [110]. Due to their significance in pharmaceutical chemistry [11], the formation of

The Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé reaction in its maturity: innovation and improvements since its 21st birthday (2019–2023)

• Cristina Martini,
• Muhammad Idham Darussalam Mardjan and
• Andrea Basso

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1839–1879, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.162

• afforded a heterogeneous nanoreactor that could be employed in acid-catalyzed transformations. The GBB reactions were performed with 1 mol % catalyst at 35 °C under solvent-free conditions. A synergistic catalytic effect between polyoxometalate and LDH was evidenced by a higher catalytic activity of the

• composite compared to the individual constituents tested separately. Solvent-free conditions afforded better yields than traditional solvents (water, toluene, DCM, EtOH, MeOH) and 12 adducts were synthetized in 84–96% yield. Finally, the catalyst was recycled six times with a slight decrease in efficiency

• -free conditions. Although some new metal or Brønsted acid catalysts have been reported in the last few years, the main innovations can be found in the use of organic catalysts, enzymes, and compartmentations. A few reports on the in situ generation of reactants and on the reaction conducted under flow

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

• KSF clays as recyclable and heterogeneous catalysts to catalyze the Cannizzaro reaction by 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane under microwave irradiation and solvent-free conditions giving the products in excellent yields within seconds. The solid clay applied in the first cycle can be recovered and reused

• in subsequent reactions. Reddy and coworkers carried out the Cannizzaro reaction of aromatic aldehydes to the corresponding alcohols in high yields by crossed-Cannizzaro reactions employing solid-supported KF-Al2O3 as catalyst [26] under microwave irradiation using solvent-free conditions. The use of

• reaction of tetraethylene glycol (TEG) was accomplished by Vida et al. [29] using a barium compound. Different types of solvents were also applied for the Cannizzaro reactions. The use of aqueous or solvent-free conditions has played pivotal roles in terms of environmental consciousness and a greener

Auxiliary strategy for the general and practical synthesis of diaryliodonium(III) salts with diverse organocarboxylate counterions

• Naoki Miyamoto,
• Daichi Koseki,
• Kohei Sumida,
• Elghareeb E. Elboray,
• Naoko Takenaga,
• Ravi Kumar and
• Toshifumi Dohi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1020–1028, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.90

• increase in temperature facilitates the ligand coupling between the phenyl group and the carboxylate counterion. When heated at 140 °C for 2.5 h under solvent-free conditions, iodonium salt 7aa underwent carboxylate O-phenylation with complete phenyl group transfer, resulting in the formation of phenyl

Advancements in hydrochlorination of alkenes

• Daniel S. Müller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 787–814, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.72

• ex-situ as demonstrated very recently by De Borggraeve and co-workers (Figure 5A) [67]. In a first chamber (A) HCl (gas) was prepared from NaCl and H2SO4 which then was directed towards a second chamber (B) which contains the alkene under solvent-free conditions. The scope of this reaction (Figure 5B

HPW-Catalyzed environmentally benign approach to imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines

• Luan A. Martinho and
• Carlos Kleber Z. Andrade

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 628–637, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.55

• much greener as compared to methanol, it was chosen as the solvent to study the reaction scope. The use of water or solvent-free conditions resulted in much lower reaction yields (Table 1, entries 14–16). Next, the scope of the reaction was investigated with a range of 2-aminopyridines/2-aminothiazoles

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

• and viability of these synthetic protocols, organic chemists have been opting towards the use of greener catalysts and solvents in drug development. Chemists dream to perform reactions under solvent-free conditions, which provide a greener approach towards organic transformations. Nowadays, the use of

• of strong acidic sites that are on the carbon-based solid acids enhance their catalytic ability, compared to traditional Lewis and protic acids [41][42][43]. The most common examples in literature for the reaction of the synthesis of BIMs under solvent-free conditions utilize either protic acids

• :0.05, under solvent-free conditions at 50 °C for 50 min, the product was obtained in 90% yield. To emphasize the role of DBDMH, when the reaction was performed without DBDMH, no product was observed. The generality of this protocol was also tested by employing various aromatic aldehydes, which formed

Catalytic multi-step domino and one-pot reactions

• Svetlana B. Tsogoeva

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 254–256, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.25

• -aminopyrazoles with azlactones under solvent-free conditions, through subsequent elimination of a benzamide molecule in a superbasic medium, is described by the Fisyuk group [13]. A further facile one-pot process toward a new series of copper(II) benzo[f]chromeno[2,3-h]quinoxalinoporphyrin analogues is described

N-Sulfenylsuccinimide/phthalimide: an alternative sulfenylating reagent in organic transformations

• Fatemeh Doraghi,
• Seyedeh Pegah Aledavoud,
• Mehdi Ghanbarlou,
• Bagher Larijani and
• Mohammad Mahdavi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1471–1502, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.106

• cyclization and sulfenylation promoted by AlCl3. Dialkyl disulfides 47 were also well tolerated in this Lewis acid-mediated sulfenylation reaction in solvent-free conditions at room temperature. In the same year, a three-component reaction between highly substituted cyclopropanes 49, sulfonamides 25 and N

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

• 2010, Schnürch et al. utilized Fe(NO3)3 as the catalyst and TBHP (tert-butyl hydroperoxide) as the oxidant to realize the CDC of C(sp3)–H/C(sp2)–H bonds under solvent-free conditions (Scheme 21) [82]. However, the desired coupling products were obtained in low to moderate yields. The C–H oxidative

New one-pot synthesis of 4-arylpyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridin-6-ones based on 5-aminopyrazoles and azlactones

• Vladislav Yu. Shuvalov,
• Ekaterina Yu. Vlasova,
• Tatyana Yu. Zheleznova and
• Alexander S. Fisyuk

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1155–1160, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.83

• ) under solvent-free conditions, through subsequent elimination of a benzamide molecule in a superbasic medium (t-BuOK/DMSO). The fluorescent properties of the synthesized compounds were studied. 4-Arylpyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridin-6-ones luminesce in the region of 409–440 nm with a quantum yield of 0.09–0.23

• obtained under solvent-free conditions followed by the addition of t-BuOK in DMSO, the yield of pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridin-6-one 4a was higher (73%, Table 1, entry 5) than when performing the reaction in a solvent (60%, Table 1, entry 6). Therefore, this procedure was used for the synthesis of compounds 4b–i

Clauson–Kaas pyrrole synthesis using diverse catalysts: a transition from conventional to greener approach

• Dileep Kumar Singh and
• Rajesh Kumar

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 928–955, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.71

• -assisted reactions in water, solvent-free conditions and in other organic solvents. Clauson–Kaas reaction and its mechanism The Clauson–Kaas reaction refers to the synthesis of various N-substituted pyrroles via an acid-catalyzed reaction between aromatic or aliphatic primary amines and 2,5

• nanoorganocatalysts. Various solvent systems, such as aqueous conditions, different organic solvents, solvent-free conditions, ionic liquids, and DESs, have been reported in modified Clauson–Kaas reactions at room temperature, under thermal and microwave-assisted conditions. In the Clauson–Kaas reaction mechanism

• demonstrated the synthesis of polygonatine, an alkaloid natural product, using this protocol. (2) Reactions under solvent-free conditions In recent years, interest in organic reactions that do not use toxic organic solvents has increased due to environmental considerations. Ramesh et al. [71] in 2012 reported

Preparation of β-cyclodextrin-based dimers with selectively methylated rims and their use for solubilization of tetracene

• Konstantin Lebedinskiy,
• Volodymyr Lobaz and
• Jindřich Jindřich

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1596–1606, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.170

• methylated primary rim based on the remarkable methylation ability of methyl tosylate with relatively mild bases at solvent-free conditions has been developed. It has been proved that using Lewis acid in the phosphine imide reactions with CDs can increase the reactivity of some low-reactive compounds, giving

Lewis acid-catalyzed Pudovik reaction–phospha-Brook rearrangement sequence to access phosphoric esters

• Jin Yang,
• Dang-Wei Qian and
• Shang-Dong Yang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1188–1194, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.123

• catalyst through a similar transformation under solvent-free conditions [44]. Recently, Zhang’s group disclosed a cesium carbonate-catalyzed Pudovik reaction–phospha-Brook rearrangement sequence and extended the phosphorus source from phosphate to phosphonate [45]. Despite of these important advancements

Synthesis of odorants in flow and their applications in perfumery

• Merlin Kleoff,
• Paul Kiler and
• Philipp Heretsch

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 754–768, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.76

• ) to (+)-nootkatone (8) under catalyst and solvent-free conditions in a segmented flow. Enzyme-catalyzed acetylation of isoamyl alcohol (9) in a biphasic n-heptane/water mixture utilizing a CorningTM Low Flow reactor. Esterification of alcohols by transesterification, catalyzed by immobilized

Complementarity of solution and solid state mechanochemical reaction conditions demonstrated by 1,2-debromination of tricyclic imides

• Petar Štrbac and
• Davor Margetić

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 746–753, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.75

• conditions (temperature) and the inability to control the elimination process [17]. The objective of this work was to establish whether the 1,2-debromination with the Zn/Ag couple could be carried out under solvent-free conditions in a ball mill and whether the tedious Zn/Ag couple preparation procedure [18

Mechanochemical halogenation of unsymmetrically substituted azobenzenes

• Dajana Barišić,
• Mario Pajić,
• Ivan Halasz,
• Darko Babić and
• Manda Ćurić

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 680–687, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.69

• protocol for the ortho-halogenation of acetanilide with NXS (X = Cl, Br, I) using Pd(OAc)2 as precatalyst in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid (TsOH) as an additive under solvent-free conditions [49]. Recently, Mal and Bera reported the utilization of NXS (X = Br, Cl) as bifunctional reagents for the

DDQ in mechanochemical C–N coupling reactions

• Shyamal Kanti Bera,
• Rosalin Bhanja and
• Prasenjit Mal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 639–646, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.64

• mechanochemistry [5][6] mainly focuses on conducting synthetic transformations in solid-state or solvent-free conditions. Mechanochemistry is one of the emerging avenues in chemistry that can make the world more sustainable by following the “Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry” [2]. Mechanochemistry is one of the

• known, but limited reports are available for reactions carried out under solvent-free conditions [28][29]. However, improving environmentally benign methods [30][31] of C–N bond synthesis is of enormous significance [32][33][34]. In comparison to the metal-mediated C–N coupling reactions [35], the

• benzaldehyde under the solvent-free conditions (Table S1, Supporting Information File 1). Notably, the use of 1.0 equiv of DDQ as oxidant, afforded the product 2-phenylquinazolin-4(3H)-one (5a) in 98% yield within 1 h. However, when reducing the amount of DDQ to 0.5 equiv the of product 5a decreased to 48%. On