Visible-light-driven NHC and organophotoredox dual catalysis for the synthesis of carbonyl compounds

• Vasudevan Dhayalan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2584–2603, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.200

• presence of NHC (10 mol %) and 4CzIPN (2 mol %) and Na2HPO4 in DMSO at rt for 10–24 h. The key to success lies in the photocatalytic dual system, which combines two organocatalysts (NHC/4CzIPN) and visible light irradiation to permit a novel umpolung single-electron reduction of respective imino ester 2

• development, mechanistic understanding, and obtained results are expected to expand the applicability of NHC-photoredox dual or triple catalysis, enabling the efficient and eco-friendly synthesis of increasingly complex molecular architectures. NHC-catalyzed umpolung strategy for the metal-free synthesis of

Pathway economy in cyclization of 1,n-enynes

• Hezhen Han,
• Wenjie Mao,
• Bin Lin,
• Maosheng Cheng,
• Lu Yang and
• Yongxiang Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2260–2282, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.173

• conditions, the authors attenuated the silver catalyst’s activity through ligand addition. This allowed for a umpolung addition of the substrate 87, affording six-membered spirocyclic intermediate 88. When the NFSI was used as ligand without nucleophiles, the tricyclic azepinoindole 89 was obtained via a

Aryl iodane-induced cascade arylation–1,2-silyl shift–heterocyclization of propargylsilanes under copper catalysis

• Rasma Kroņkalne,
• Rūdolfs Beļaunieks,
• Armands Sebris,
• Anatoly Mishnev and
• Māris Turks

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1984–1994, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.154

• the reagents of choice for arylation reactions, where an umpolung of reactivity is required [1]. Arylations employing diaryl-λ3-iodanes can be performed under metal-free [2] or metal-catalyzed conditions. For alkyne arylations [Cu] [3] or [Pd] catalysis [4][5][6] is typically employed. Internal

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

• transformations of carbonyl substrates with umpolung processes of aldehydes such as the benzoin condensation and Stetter reaction being particularly well studied [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. In these processes, addition of the NHC to the aldehyde followed by proton transfer generates the enamine-like Breslow

Photocatalyzed elaboration of antibody-based bioconjugates

• Marine Le Stum,
• Eugénie Romero and
• Gary A. Molander

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 616–629, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.49

• 2010s that the first publications on the subject emerged. An overview of reported photoredox approaches for the functionalization of antibodies is outlined below. Histidine In 2021, the group of Sato developed a selective functionalization method for histidine using an umpolung approach based on singlet

Reactivity of hypervalent iodine(III) reagents bearing a benzylamine with sulfenate salts

• Beatriz Dedeiras,
• Catarina S. Caldeira,
• José C. Cunha,
• Clara S. B. Gomes and
• M. Manuel B. Marques

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3281–3289, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.272

• in electrophilic transfer reactions, with emphasis on umpolung reactivity of usually nucleophilic functional groups. Thus constituting a powerful synthetic tool, opening room for new synthetic disconnections [10]. Within the benziodoxol(on)e class, a range of HIRs featuring nitrogen-containing groups

• a central theme of the work carried out by our research group in recent years, focusing on the formation of the S–N bond by applying the umpolung reactivity of HIRs, in particular in the preparation of sulfonamides and sulfonyl hydrazides [22][23]. In both approaches, a sulfonyl-containing

• transformations. The umpolung reactivity provided by these iodine reagents enables chemical transformations that would typically demand less environmentally friendly conditions. The investigations conducted in this work confirmed the ability of the novel hypervalent iodine(III) reagents 2 to transfer their amine

Divergent role of PIDA and PIFA in the AlX₃ (X = Cl, Br) halogenation of 2-naphthol: a mechanistic study

• Kevin A. Juárez-Ornelas,
• Manuel Solís-Hernández,
• Pedro Navarro-Santos,
• J. Oscar C. Jiménez-Halla and
• César R. Solorio-Alvarado

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1580–1589, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.141

• generated in situ simply by mixing PIFA with a Lewis acid, in this case AlCl3. The importance of this protocol arises from the oxidation of an AlCl3-based chlorine atom, which is an available and cheap reagent. Then it is used as an electrophile source in the chlorination process with an umpolung reactivity

Asymmetric synthesis of a stereopentade fragment toward latrunculins

• Benjamin Joyeux,
• Antoine Gamet,
• Nicolas Casaretto and
• Bastien Nay

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 428–433, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.32

• . Unfortunately, it was not possible to set up an appropriate nucleophile through the umpolung of aldehyde 8 to react with this epoxide, which led us to envisage the following aldol strategy through ketone 15. Attempts of Wacker reactions to produce 15 were unsuccessful on 12, presumably due to a competition

1,4-Dithianes: attractive C2-building blocks for the synthesis of complex molecular architectures

• Bram Ryckaert,
• Ellen Demeyere,
• Frederick Degroote,
• Hilde Janssens and
• Johan M. Winne

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 115–132, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.12

• 1,3-Dithianes are text book examples of versatile organic synthesis building blocks. They are familiar carbonyl protecting groups, but are more commonly known as ‘umpolung’ reagents, or acyl anion equivalents [1][2][3][4][5][6]. This is because they can be readily metalated and alkylated, allowing the

• synthesis starts from a carbonyl compound, wherein an aldehyde can undergo ‘umpolung’ into a cis-vinyl anion equivalent via a 1,3-dithiolane-to-1,4-dithiane rearrangement (Scheme 10b). The potential of the method is demonstrated by the synthesis of (Z)-9-tricosene or muscalure (59), which is the natural sex

Redox-active molecules as organocatalysts for selective oxidative transformations – an unperceived organocatalysis field

• Elena R. Lopat’eva,
• Igor B. Krylov,
• Dmitry A. Lapshin and
• Alexander O. Terent’ev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1672–1695, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.179

• a nucleophilic reacting center. In addition to umpolung reactions with electrophiles, Breslow intermediates can undergo oxidation with the formation of radical cations or electrophilic acylazolium cations. The acylazolium cation in turn can undergo nucleophilic attack resulting in C–O and C–N

Derivatives of benzo-1,4-thiazine-3-carboxylic acid and the corresponding amino acid conjugates

• Péter Kisszékelyi,
• Tibor Peňaška,
• Klára Stankovianska,
• Mária Mečiarová and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1195–1202, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.124

• intramolecular amination of aryl bromides [27]. Recently, Nguyen and Retailleau introduced a TFA-catalyzed umpolung strategy with 2-aminothiophenols, preparing several 2H-benzo-1,4-thiazine derivatives 5 in high yield [28]. 3-Phenyl-2H-benzo-1,4-thiazine, an earlier representative of this family, was found to

First example of organocatalysis by cathodic N-heterocyclic carbene generation and accumulation using a divided electrochemical flow cell

• Daniele Rocco,
• Ana A. Folgueiras-Amador,
• Richard C. D. Brown and
• Marta Feroci

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 979–990, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.98

• used as organocatalyst in two classical umpolung reactions of cinnamaldehyde: its cyclodimerization and its oxidative esterification. Keywords: Breslow intermediate; cathodic reduction; flow electrochemistry; N-heterocyclic carbene; oxidative esterification; Introduction Ionic liquids (ILs) are well

• atom is reversed (umpolung) from electrophilic to nucleophilic (Scheme 3). This approach can be exploited in many organic reactions, such as: the benzoin condensation [16][17], esterification and amidation of benzaldehydes and cinnamaldehydes [18][19], synthesis of γ-butyrolactones [20], synthesis of

• electrochemically generated NHC into the corresponding thione by its reaction with elemental sulfur. Umpolung of the aldehyde carbonyl carbon atom. Formation of the Breslow intermediate using NHCs. Electrogenerated NHC-catalyzed self-annulation of cinnamaldehyde. Byproduct obtained from the reaction between

Unexpected chiral vicinal tetrasubstituted diamines via borylcopper-mediated homocoupling of isatin imines

• Marco Manenti,
• Leonardo Lo Presti,
• Giorgio Molteni and
• Alessandra Silvani

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 303–308, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.34

• products, besides relying on performed control experiments, we also refer to the underdeveloped umpolung reactions of imines, considering, in particular, the copper-catalyzed process reported quite recently by Zhang, Hou and co-workers [29]. In our case, we presume the possible reaction mechanism shown in

• intermediate spontaneously turns into the carbanion C, thus realizing the imine umpolung and allowing the cross-coupling reaction with the remaining electrophilic ketimine 1. The complete diastereoselectivity would arise from the mutual approach of the two oxindole nuclei from the less hindered side, that is

Advances in mercury(II)-salt-mediated cyclization reactions of unsaturated bonds

• Sumana Mandal,
• Raju D. Chaudhari and
• Goutam Biswas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2348–2376, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.153

• temperature. It was an example of cycloisomerization of 2-ethynylaniline derivatives utilizing mild reaction conditions (Scheme 50) [110]. Rong et al. had demonstrated the Hg(II)-salt-catalyzed enolate umpolung reaction for the efficient synthesis of various 3-indolinones and 3-coumaranones 174. They had

Electron-rich triarylphosphines as nucleophilic catalysts for oxa-Michael reactions

• Susanne M. Fischer,
• Simon Renner,
• A. Daniel Boese and
• Christian Slugovc

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1689–1697, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.117

• reactions [17], or in umpolung [3 + 2] annulations [18]. In all these cases, the reactions were performed without protective gas indicating that electronically modified arylphosphines tolerate the presence of oxygen. Herein we wish to report the scope of three different triarylphosphine catalysts in the oxa

Benzothiazolium salts as reagents for the deoxygenative perfluoroalkylthiolation of alcohols

• Armin Ariamajd,
• Nils J. Gerwien,
• Benjamin Schwabe,
• Stefan Dix and
• Matthew N. Hopkinson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 83–88, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.8

• of an alkyl electrophile has been reported to date [35]. This process used an umpolung strategy with activation of typically electrophilic perfluoroalkylsulfenamide reagents by iodide, releasing −SC2F5 or −SC3F7 anions in situ, which could then react with a selection of alkyl halides (Scheme 1b). In

Metal-free nucleophilic trifluoromethylselenolation via an iodide-mediated umpolung reactivity of trifluoromethylselenotoluenesulfonate

• Kevin Grollier,
• Alexis Taponard,
• Arnaud De Zordo-Banliat,
• Emmanuel Magnier and
• Thierry Billard

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 3032–3037, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.252

• ). Even though this umpolung strategy is efficient, the use of the sensitive TDAE, a strong reducing agent, could constitute a drawback for some applications. Consequently, we decided to develop a new umpolung method in non-reductive conditions. Results and Discussion A few years ago, we have demonstrated

• reagent able to perform electrophilic, radical or nucleophilic reactions depending on the conditions. The iodide-mediated, metal-free method is complementary to the previous one using TDAE. Thus, the umpolung reactivity of trifluoromethylselenotoluenesulfonate can be performed under reductive or oxidative

Bifurcated synthesis of methylene-lactone- and methylene-lactam-fused spirolactams via electrophilic amide allylation of γ-phenylthio-functionalized γ-lactams

• Tetsuya Sengoku,
• Koki Makino,
• Ayumi Iijima,
• Toshiyasu Inuzuka and
• Hidemi Yoda

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2769–2775, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.227

• methylene-lactams (C) through zinc-catalyzed addition to N-carbonyl imides [13][14][16]. Meanwhile, we also developed an umpolung electrophilic allylation of 3-heterosubstituted oxindole D for the synthesis of lactam analog of A (Scheme 1c) [17]. The oxindole D readily reacted with 2-(acetoxy)methyl

• acrylamides 1 in the presence of a catalytic amount of Pd(PPh3)4 to give the corresponding adducts which could be delivered into an methylene-lactam-fused oxindole. On the basis of this umpolung strategy, spirolactams 4 and 5, which are N-alkyl or N-phenyl-substituted analogs of B and C and unable to be

When metal-catalyzed C–H functionalization meets visible-light photocatalysis

• Lucas Guillemard and
• Joanna Wencel-Delord

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1754–1804, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.147

• catalysts and further cross-coupling-type reactivity provides a unique tool to solve this critical issue. Besides, dual catalytic systems enable also umpolung-type reactivity, thus promoting unique bond-forming reactions, inaccessible via standard approaches due to the polarity mismatch. Finally, the

Distinctive reactivity of N-benzylidene-[1,1'-biphenyl]-2-amines under photoredox conditions

• Shrikant D. Tambe,
• Kwan Hong Min,
• Naeem Iqbal and
• Eun Jin Cho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1335–1342, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.114

• ]. Among these diverse applications, the Rueping group has reported excellent examples of the reductive umpolung homocoupling of imines and heterocoupling with α-amino radicals for the synthesis of symmetrical and unsymmetrical vicinal diamines (Scheme 1b) [23][26]. Notably, 1,2-diamines have widespread

Photocatalysis with organic dyes: facile access to reactive intermediates for synthesis

• Stephanie G. E. Amos,
• Marion Garreau,
• Luca Buzzetti and
• Jerome Waser

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1163–1187, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.103

Recent advances in Cu-catalyzed C(sp³)–Si and C(sp³)–B bond formation

• Balaram S. Takale,
• Ruchita R. Thakore,
• Elham Etemadi-Davan and
• Bruce H. Lipshutz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 691–737, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.67

• )-(DTBM)-Segphos as the active catalyst in THF for the formation of chiral, nonracemic α-alkoxyorganoboronate esters (up to 99% ee; 454–457). MeOH was used as the proton source. Further functionalization can be considered as an umpolung pathway for the formation of enantioenriched tertiary alcohols

Allylic cross-coupling using aromatic aldehydes as α-alkoxyalkyl anions

• Akihiro Yuasa,
• Kazunori Nagao and
• Hirohisa Ohmiya

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 185–189, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.21

• summary, we developed an umpolung strategy for catalytically formed α-alkoxyalkyl anions from aromatic aldehydes for the use in allylic cross-coupling reactions. The synergistic palladium/copper-catalyzed reaction of aromatic aldehydes, allylic carbonates, and a silylboronate delivered the homoallylic

Functionalization of 4-bromobenzo[c][2,7]naphthyridine via regioselective direct ring metalation. A novel approach to analogues of pyridoacridine alkaloids

• Benedikt C. Melzer,
• Alois Plodek and
• Franz Bracher

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2304–2310, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.222

• , phenolates), acyl anions (generated by umpolung of aldehydes with imidazolium salts) and by palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions (Suzuki, Stille) [10]. A related Stille cross coupling of a benzo[c][2,7]naphthyridine bearing a triflate group at C-5 gave an intermediate for the total synthesis of

The LANCA three-component reaction to highly substituted β-ketoenamides – versatile intermediates for the synthesis of functionalized pyridine, pyrimidine, oxazole and quinoxaline derivatives

• Tilman Lechel,
• Roopender Kumar,
• Mrinal K. Bera,
• Reinhold Zimmer and
• Hans-Ulrich Reissig

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 655–678, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.61

• corresponding Z-isomers occurs. It should be noted here that the protonation to the allenyl iminium species B implies an “umpolung of reactivity” of the alkoxyallene subunit converting the central allene carbon to an electrophilic center whereas this carbon is a nucleophilic center in the neutral compound. The