Ex-situ generation of gaseous nitriles in two-chamber glassware for facile haloacetimidate synthesis

• Nikolai B. Akselvoll,
• Jonas T. Larsen and
• Christian M. Pedersen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2465–2469, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.188

• donor; haloacetimidates; haloacetonitrile; two-chamber reactor; Introduction Trifluoroacetonitrile is an electrophilic reagent that has seen a variety of uses, mostly for incorporating trifluoromethyl groups into organic compounds [1]. As an example it has been successfully utilized for the synthesis

• of various trifluoromethyl-containing aza-heterocycles, such as pyridines [2], pyridinones and pyrimidinones [3], tetrazoles [4], tetrazapentalenes [5] and uracil [6]. In addition, it has also been used for the synthesis of fluoro-substituted ketones [7] and substituted trifluoroacetamides via the

Halogenated butyrolactones from the biomass-derived synthon levoglucosenone

• Johannes Puschnig,
• Martyn Jevric and
• Ben W. Greatrex

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2297–2301, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.175

• the trifluoromethyl group was established based on NOE interactions between H3endo and H7endo in the oxymethylene bridge. Subsequent Baeyer–Villiger oxidation of 19 gave lactone 20 in moderate yield. Attempts to improve the yield of 19 using base-promoted trifluoromethylation [38] of 6 gave only

• -position could mask the double bond when incorporating the trifluoromethyl group into 5. When enamine 15 was subjected to the same conditions established for the trifluoromethylation of enamine 9b, only trace amounts of the desired product were detected. It was found that generating the electrophilic CF3

Pd-catalyzed dehydrogenative arylation of arylhydrazines to access non-symmetric azobenzenes, including tetra-ortho derivatives

• Loris Geminiani,
• Kathrin Junge,
• Matthias Beller and
• Jean-François Soulé

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2234–2242, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.170

• , para-substituted hydrazines such as p-(trifluoromethyl)phenylhydrazine (1b) and p-chlorophenylhydrazine (1c) reacted efficiently with 2-bromotoluene to deliver the corresponding azobenezenes 4a and 4d in 78% and 37% yield, respectively. Notably, 2-tolylhydrazine (1d) exhibited good reactivity, yielding

• 4c in 63%. Additionally, 2-fluorophenylhydrazine provided the product in 55% yield, while 2-chloro-5-(trifluoromethyl)phenylhydrazine furnished the desired compound 4e in a moderate yield of 32%. The lower yields observed with substrates containing a C–Cl bond may be attributed to the competitive Pd

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

• trifluoromethylated oxazoles 36 in moderate to excellent yields. A proposed mechanism was established on basis of control experiments. Firstly, the anodic oxidation of NaSO2CF3 gave a trifluoromethyl radical, which was then added to 35a, affording alkenyl intermediate A. In the presence of TMEDA, oxidation of A

• rt for 9 h. The reaction was compatible with numerous amines such as substituted benzylamines 46b–d, 1-(2-naphthyl)methanamine 46e, 3,4-methylenedioxybenzylamine 46f, furfurylamine 46g and 2-thiophenemethylamine 46h. Alkynes with ester and trifluoromethyl groups worked well under this reaction

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

• 50% yield and 99% ee after kinetic resolution using Escherichia coli (Scheme 57) [189]. Other reactions: Yamamoto synthesized 6-hydroxy-2-(trifluoromethyl)-2H-pyran-3(6H)-ones from furfural via trifluoromethylation using the Ruppert–Prakash reagent (TMSCF3), followed by a photo-Achmatowicz reaction

• . Then, through acetylation and subsequent base-mediated oxidopyrylium [5 + 2] cycloaddition reactions, 1-(trifluoromethyl)-8-oxabicyclo[3.2.1]oct-3-en-2-ones were prepared (Scheme 58) [190]. Chu and Webster reported the photocatalyzed synthesis of furfural-derived diacids from furfural [191][192

Switchable pathways of multicomponent heterocyclizations of 5-amino-1,2,4-triazoles with salicylaldehydes and pyruvic acid

• Yana I. Sakhno,
• Oleksander V. Buravov,
• Kostyantyn Yu. Yurkov,
• Anastasia Yu. Andryushchenko,
• Svitlana V. Shishkina and
• Valentyn A. Chebanov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2030–2035, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.158

• behavior in this MCR. In the case of 3-carbomethoxy- and 3-(trifluoromethyl)-5-amino-1,2,4-triazoles the treatment with pyruvic acid and salicylaldehydes under thermal heating in different solvents (AcOH, DMF, n-butanol), instead of oxygen-bridged compounds gave a mixture of unidentified products with

Photochemical reduction of acylimidazolium salts

• Michael Jakob,
• Nick Bechler,
• Hassan Abdelwahab,
• Fabian Weber,
• Janos Wasternack,
• Leonardo Kleebauer,
• Jan P. Götze and
• Matthew N. Hopkinson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1973–1983, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.153

• representative substrate in two steps from benzoyl chloride, imidazole and methyl trifluoromethanesulfonate. In an initial reaction, this species was reacted under photoredox conditions in the presence of [Ir(dF(CF3)ppy)2(dtbpy)]PF6 (2 mol %, dF(CF3)ppy = 3,5-difluoro-2-[5-(trifluoromethyl)-2-pyridine, dtbpy

Synthesis of N-doped chiral macrocycles by regioselective palladium-catalyzed arylation

• Shuhai Qiu and
• Junzhi Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1917–1923, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.149

• introduced. In contrast, when bulky 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl groups were introduced, only inherent chiral macrocyclic products (MC3) were obtained in high yield. Their molecular structures are unambiguously characterized by NMR, mass spectra and X-ray crystallographic characterization. In addition

• . Interestingly, for the cyclization of 3b, only compound MC3 was obtained in 85% yield, which is probably attributed to larger steric hindrance deriving from bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl groups. These macrocycles show good solubility in common solvents, and their chemical structures have been unambiguously

• , respectively. Correspondingly, 3a exhibits a deep blue emission at 453 nm with a quantum yield (ΦF) of 0.79, while a hypsochromic shift of the signal for 3b to 424 nm is observed and the ΦF value is decreased to 0.22 due to the electron-deficient character of the 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl groups. The

Stereoselective electrochemical intramolecular imino-pinacol reaction: a straightforward entry to enantiopure piperazines

• Margherita Gazzotti,
• Fabrizio Medici,
• Valerio Chiroli,
• Laura Raimondi,
• Sergio Rossi and
• Maurizio Benaglia

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1897–1908, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.147

• tetrasubstituted piperazines 2b–j were obtained as a single, enantiopure diastereoisomer from diimines 1b–j, prepared from the enantiopure trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane and aromatic aldehydes, in good to excellent yields. Substrates bearing electron-withdrawing groups such as trifluoromethyl (2b,c) and bromine (2d

Photoswitches beyond azobenzene: a beginner’s guide

• Michela Marcon,
• Christoph Haag and
• Burkhard König

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1808–1853, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.143

Synthesis of chiral cyclohexane-linked bisimidazolines

• Changmeng Xi,
• Qingshan Sun and
• Jiaxi Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1786–1790, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.140

• -dimethylaminopyridine), affording (1S,2S)-N1,N2-bis((1R,2R)-2-(sulfonamido)-1,2-diphenylethyl)cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxamides 4 in 32–87% yields. Electron-deficient sulfonamides 2a, 2e and 2f with both electron-donating methyl and strong electron-withdrawing trifluoromethyl and 4-nitrophenyl groups showed low reactivity

• cyclized product 5e in a low yield of 30% due to its poor nucleophilicity. However, 1,2-cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxamide 4f with two very strong electron-poor trifluoromethyl groups did not undergo cyclization due to its very poor nucleophilicity. The results are collected in Table 1. Following the similar

Azide–alkyne cycloaddition (click) reaction in biomass-derived solvent Cyrene^TM under one-pot conditions

• Zoltán Medgyesi and
• László T. Mika

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1544–1551, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.117

• 1,2,3-triazole derivatives were generally obtained with good to excellent yields (50–96%). Both electron-withdrawing (fluoro (3b) or trifluoromethyl (3c)) and electron-donating (methoxy, phenoxy, and alkyl (3d–h)) groups were tolerated on the acetylene reaction partner species. In accordance with

High-pressure activation for the solvent- and catalyst-free syntheses of heterocycles, pharmaceuticals and esters

• Kelsey Plasse,
• Valerie Wright,
• Guoshu Xie,
• R. Bernadett Vlocskó,
• Alexander Lazarev and
• Béla Török

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1374–1387, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.102

• optimization of the reaction conditions, including substrate ratio, pressure, and reaction time. The cyclization of chalcone with 3-(trifluoromethyl)phenylhydrazine was selected as a test reaction. This reaction is relatively easy to follow even visually. Once the reaction mixture is subjected to 3.8 kbar

• HHP is somewhat diminished and only about 10% increase in yield was observed. In contrast, when using substituted phenylhydrazines of lower reactivity HHP results in more significant benefits, for example a nearly 70% higher yield in the case of the chalcone/3-(trifluoromethyl)phenylhydrazine reaction

• optimization experiments (Table 3). General procedure for the catalyst and solvent-free reactions of chalcone with hydrazines under HHP conditions To a 150 µL high-pressure FEP reaction tube was added chalcone (52.0 mg, 0.25 mmol) and 3-(trifluoromethyl)phenylhydrazine (65 mg, 0.37 mmol) which could just fill

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

• enantioselectivities. In 2018, Scheidt and colleagues disclosed the first N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalysed [2 + 2] annulation between trifluoromethyl ketones and γ-substituted allenoates (Scheme 25a) [68]. The resulting 2-alkylideneoxetane products 95 were generally obtained in >90% yields and good

• diastereomeric ratios favouring the trans-isomer, however, a reversed diastereoselectivity was observed for ortho-substituted aryls due to steric factors. The investigation of the substrate scope revealed that while the reaction shuts down in the absence of the trifluoromethyl group in the ketone component, it

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

• methoxy (-OMe) and halogens (-F, -Cl, -Br), as well as electron-withdrawing functionalities like trifluoromethyl (-CF₃) and ester groups (-CO₂Me). However, highly electron-deficient substrates, such as those bearing cyano (-CN) or nitro (-NO₂) groups, did not react. Additionally, the study explored

• incorporation of fluorinated motifs such as trifluoromethyl and difluoroalkyl groups offers unique physicochemical properties, and has become a burgeoning area of research. In 2018, Zeng’s group reported a novel electrochemical trifluoromethylation/cyclization reaction of N-arylacrylamides catalyzed by bromide

• catalysts for generating trifluoromethyl radicals, thereby eliminating the need for expensive transition-metal catalysts and external oxidants, which enhances both the economic and environmental benefits of the process. Furthermore, the research demonstrated the method's broad applicability across various N

Supramolecular assembly of hypervalent iodine macrocycles and alkali metals

• Krishna Pandey,
• Lucas X. Orton,
• Grayson Venus,
• Waseem A. Hussain,
• Toby Woods,
• Lichang Wang and
• Kyle N. Plunkett

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1095–1103, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.87

• lithium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate ethyl etherate LiBArF20 and sodium tetrakis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate NaBArF24. The electron-rich, outwardly projected carbonyl oxygens of the HIM co-crystalize with the cations into bent supramolecular architectures. Both crystal structures show a

• hypervalent iodine-based macrocyclic complex. Furthermore, we have experimentally and computationally compared the association constants of lithium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate ethyl etherate LiBArF20 and sodium tetrakis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate NaBArF24 in the phenylalanine HIM system

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

• using tris(2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl)phosphine (TMPP) to obtain methyl cinnamate (44) in good yield (Scheme 18) [50]. Herein, the phosphine group attacks the acid fluoride to give intermediate 55, fluoride attack then triggers methoxy group release. Toste and co-workers (2021) synthesized N-trifluoromethyl

Silver(I) triflate-catalyzed post-Ugi synthesis of pyrazolodiazepines

• Muhammad Hasan,
• Anatoly A. Peshkov,
• Syed Anis Ali Shah,
• Andrey Belyaev,
• Chang-Keun Lim,
• Shunyi Wang and
• Vsevolod A. Peshkov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 915–925, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.74

• trifluoromethyl and nitro groups. Furthermore, substrates 15m–o derived from aliphatic amines, also performed well, furnishing pyrazolodiazepines 16m–o in up to 89% yield. The structure of 16m, a representative compound of this series, was confirmed through single-crystal X-ray diffraction (scXRD) analysis

Regioselective formal hydrocyanation of allenes: synthesis of β,γ-unsaturated nitriles with α-all-carbon quaternary centers

• Seeun Lim,
• Teresa Kim and
• Yunmi Lee

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 800–806, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.63

• , ethyl, phenethyl, and allyl groups, also underwent smooth cyanation, resulting in α-quaternary nitriles 3f–i in yields of 85–94%. Furthermore, aryl-substituted allenes 1j–o, incorporating electron-donating or electron-withdrawing substituents such as methyl, fluoro, chloro, bromo, trifluoromethyl, or

• , bromo, trifluoromethyl, or methoxy groups on the phenyl ring, were smoothly converted into β,γ-unsaturated nitriles 3t–x with high efficiency. Particularly, allenes 1y and 1z containing benzodioxane or naphthalene moieties were well-tolerated under these reaction conditions, affording nitriles 3y and 3z

Origami with small molecules: exploiting the C–F bond as a conformational tool

• Patrick Ryan,
• Ramsha Iftikhar and
• Luke Hunter

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 680–716, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.54

• which has potentially useful chameleonic polarity (and also lipophilic H-bond-donor ability). Progressing to the trifluoromethyl system (45, Figure 6): now there is an even stronger tendency for the fluorinated group to be oriented orthogonal to the aryl plane [80]. This can be explained by two factors

• . First, π → σ*O–C(F) hyperconjugation is stronger in the trifluoromethyl case. Second, the steric demand of the trifluoromethyl group would cause a significant clash with the aryl moiety in the planar conformation. The increased accessibility of the orthogonal conformation of highly fluorinated ethers is

Asymmetric synthesis of fluorinated derivatives of aromatic and γ-branched amino acids via a chiral Ni(II) complex

• Maurizio Iannuzzi,
• Thomas Hohmann,
• Michael Dyrks,
• Kilian Haoues,
• Katarzyna Salamon-Krokosz and
• Beate Koksch

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 659–669, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.52

• -trifluoromethylphenylalanine ([2.3.5.6F]TfMePhe, 2) and bis(trifluoromethyl)phenylalanine (bisTfMePhe, 3) (Scheme 1). Neither amino acid has, to our knowledge, been described in the context of peptide chemistry yet. In general, fluorinated aromatic amino acids are essential building blocks that allow a modification of

• (d, J = 19.1 Hz), 125.98, 124.25, 71.38, 68.54, 63.06, 58.50, 37.65, 34.44 (d, J = 27.1 Hz), 34.08 (d, J = 26.7 Hz), 30.90, 24.12, 14.86 ppm; 19F NMR (565 MHz, CDCl3) δ −73.28 (d, J = 9.0 Hz) ppm. (S)-2-((((9H-Fluoren-9-yl)methoxy)carbonyl)amino)-3-(2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl

• )propanoic acid [tetrafluoro(trifluoromethyl)phenylalanine, [2.3.5.6F]TfMePhe] (2): At room temperature, aq HCl (3 M, 15.4 mL, 46.3 mmol, 5.0 equiv) was added to a stirring solution of 6 (7.70 g, 9.26 mmol, 1.0 equiv) in DME (30.9 mL). The resulting mixture was stirred at 60 °C for 2 h. After cooling to room

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

• with olefins bearing electronic directing groups (such as aryl, boryl, or trifluoromethyl substituents) that guide regioselective hydrocupration, unactivated alkyl-substituted alkenes pose a persistent challenge. The recent breakthrough in CuH-catalyzed enantioselective and diastereoselective allylic

Vinylogous functionalization of 4-alkylidene-5-aminopyrazoles with methyl trifluoropyruvates

• Judit Hostalet-Romero,
• Laura Carceller-Ferrer,
• Gonzalo Blay,
• Amparo Sanz-Marco,
• José R. Pedro and
• Carlos Vila

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 533–540, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.41

• between 4-alkylidene-5-aminopyrazoles and alkyl trifluoropyruvates leading to highly functionalized tertiary alcohols bearing a trifluoromethyl group and a pyrazole ring is presented. The corresponding trifluoromethyl alcohols are obtained in moderate to good yields (up to 80%) and high

• for the synthesis of tertiary trifluoromethyl carbinols [6][7]. In this context, trifluoromethyl carbinols constitute a key structural motif present in a wide range of molecules with important biological activities (Figure 1) [8][9][10], on account of the distinctive properties of organofluorine

• . Next, we evaluated the 5-aminopyrazole 3da prepared from tetrahydro-4H-pyran-4-one, and interestingly the corresponding trifluoromethyl carbinol 5daa was afforded, under both reaction conditions, in good yields (66% and 59% yield, respectively) but with a very low diastereoisomeric ratio (near to 1:1

Deep-blue emitting 9,10-bis(perfluorobenzyl)anthracene

• Long K. San,
• Sebastian Balser,
• Brian J. Reeves,
• Tyler T. Clikeman,
• Yu-Sheng Chen,
• Steven H. Strauss and
• Olga V. Boltalina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 515–525, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.39

• (trifluoromethyl)benzene (1,4-C6H4(CF3)2, Central Glass Co., 99%); dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, Fisher Scientific, ACS grade); anhydrous magnesium sulfate (MgSO4, Fisher Scientific); Cu powder (Strem Chemicals, 99%); dichloromethane (EMD Chemicals, ACS grade); acetone (technical grade); THF (Aldrich/Merck, ACS grade

Organocatalytic kinetic resolution of 1,5-dicarbonyl compounds through a retro-Michael reaction

• James Guevara-Pulido,
• Fernando González-Pérez,
• José M. Andrés and
• Rafael Pedrosa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 473–482, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.34

• without a co-catalyst but is slower, resulting in a lower enantiomeric ratio than in an acidic medium. The obtained results show that the diphenylprolinol derivative A provides a better enantiomeric ratio than that achieved with the α,α-bis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]prolinol derivative B (compare