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

• . PPL-catalyzed desymmetrization of 10 with vinyl acetate yielded monoacetate (R)-11 in 41% yield (94% brsm) with 78% ee. Diene 12 was prepared from (R)-11 via a ten-step sequence. The following ring-closing metathesis (RCM) reaction catalyzed by Grubbs catalyst 13 converted 12 into the bicyclic

• 25 with vinyl butanoate and PPL delivered monoester 26 in 92% yield (99% ee). The axial chirality was transferred to the C7’ stereocenter through a Ag(I)-catalyzed cycloisomerization of the allenol, constructing the dihydrofuran ring. Lipase-catalyzed ester hydrolysis provided allylic alcohol 27

• transesterification. After substrates screening, diol 65 was selected and converted into monoester 66 in 95% yield with 98% ee using vinyl acetate and lipase PS from Pseudomonas cepacia. Four subsequent steps afforded sulfone 67, and the following alkylation with fragment 68 in the presence of butyllithium and HMPA

Chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of helically chiral, planarly chiral and inherently chiral molecules

• Wei Liu and
• Xiaoyu Yang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1864–1889, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.145

• acid substrates 43 which, upon treatment with ynamide 44, yielded the vinyl acetate intermediate INT-A (Scheme 13). Subsequently, the one-pot CPA-catalyzed intramolecular esterification of this intermediate afforded the planarly chiral macrocycles 45 with good yield and high enantioselectivity

Fe-catalyzed efficient synthesis of 2,4- and 4-substituted quinolines via C(sp²)–C(sp²) bond scission of styrenes

• Prafull A. Jagtap,
• Manish M. Petkar,
• Vaishnavi R. Sawant and
• Bhalchandra M. Bhanage

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1799–1807, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.142

• employed an I2/DMSO-facilitated C–C bond-scission strategy of styrenes, followed by C–N bond formation and subsequent [4 + 2] annulation. Jiang and co-workers developed a method for synthesizing 4-substituted quinolines using vinyl azides as dual synthons, facilitating both the C–C and C–N bond cleavage

Preparation of a furfural-derived enantioenriched vinyloxazoline building block and exploring its reactivity

• Madara Darzina,
• Anna Lielpetere and
• Aigars Jirgensons

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1737–1741, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.136

• electrosynthesis from the conjugate of two biobased starting materials furfural and valinol serves as an intermediate to prepare an enantioenriched vinyl oxazoline 6 with atom economy 24.5% over 5 steps (>75% average per step). The electrochemical oxidation of N-Alloc can be performed as a single step operation in

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

• reaction type and the chirality type of resulting products. Perspective Isocyanide-based transformations Palladium-catalyzed isocyanide insertion reactions In 2018, Luo, Zhu, and co-workers developed a palladium-catalyzed enantioselective reaction between ferrocene-derived vinyl isocyanides 1 and aryl

Formal synthesis of a selective estrogen receptor modulator with tetrahydrofluorenone structure using [3 + 2 + 1] cycloaddition of yne-vinylcyclopropanes and CO

• Jing Zhang,
• Guanyu Zhang,
• Hongxi Bai and
• Zhi-Xiang Yu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1639–1644, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.127

• decided to use the same approach to synthesize VI, but we planned to use a catalytic Heck reaction by using a stronger nucleophile. As can be seen below, stoichiometric Heck reaction for VI failed because the present vinyl group of the [3 + 2 + 1] product does not have a methyl group in the terminal

• is the retrosynthetic analysis for the key intermediate 1, which can reach the final compound VI via chlorination and demethylation [19]. Target molecule 1 can be accessed by decarboxylation reaction from compound 13, prepared by an intramolecular Heck reaction between the β-ketoester and the vinyl

• carbonyl group, giving 7 in 59% yield. Then, under basic conditions, the aldehyde group in 7 was converted into a vinyl group via Wittig reaction, affording yne-VCP substrate 8 in 90% yield. During this process, the TMS protecting group was lost. We then investigated the [3 + 2 + 1] reaction of 8 and CO

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

• and colleagues published a one-step synthesis of spirooxindole 2,2-disubstituted oxetanes 11 via an unprecedented addition/substitution cascade (Scheme 4) [39]. The protocol reacts readily available 3-hydroxyindolinones 9 with phenyl vinyl selenone (10) in aqueous KOH at room temperature and gives

• , vinyl, ethynyl or sulphide are sufficient if a superbase such as LIDAKOR or LICKOR is used (Scheme 16) [54][55]. The reaction tends to be remarkably regioselective (in terms of the epoxide opening) and stereoselective, however, it should be treated with caution in case of allyl ethers as they can also

• )aryloxetanes 146 in moderate yields. Investigation of the reaction scope identified electron-rich, -neutral and -poor arenes as well as vinyl bromides as viable coupling partners, and the authors also applied this methodology for a novel, simplified synthesis of two medicinally relevant oxetane precursors. The

Recent advances and future challenges in the bottom-up synthesis of azulene-embedded nanographenes

• Bartłomiej Pigulski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1272–1305, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.99

• alkenes: A bismuth-catalysed cyclization of alkenes has been demonstrated as an efficient synthetic tool for the creation of benzenoid PAHs [89]. Murai and co-workers applied this approach to the synthesis of azulene-embedded nanographenes (Scheme 18) [90]. Vinyl ethers 133a–d were cyclized using Bi(OTf)3

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

• . This alkyl radical then adds across the C–C double bond in the enyne, forming an alkyl radical intermediate B, which reacts with the C–C triple bond to generate a vinyl radical intermediate C. Depending on the substitution effect at the 3-position of the acrylamide moiety, the intermediate undergoes

Synthesis of β-ketophosphonates through aerobic copper(II)-mediated phosphorylation of enol acetates

• Alexander S. Budnikov,
• Igor B. Krylov,
• Fedor K. Monin,
• Valentina M. Merkulova,
• Alexey I. Ilovaisky,
• Liu Yan,
• Bing Yu and
• Alexander O. Terent’ev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1192–1200, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.96

• oxyphosphorylation of styrenes [40], this strategy was further extended [41] to phenylacetylenes [42][43][44], cinnamic [45][46][47][48] and α,β-alkynyl carboxylic acids [42], and vinyl azides [49][50] (Scheme 1a). As a rule, transition metal catalysts (Fe [42][44][51][52], Cu [42][44][46][51][53], Ag [54], Mn [55

• synthetic step distinguishes them from the less accessible substituted vinylarenes, alkynes, cinnamic and α,β-alkynyl carboxylic acids, as well as vinyl azides. In addition, compared to similar silyl and alkyl enol ethers, enol acetates are more resistant to solvolysis, which prevents unwanted side

• from diisopropyl H-phosphonate (2a) was confirmed by HRMS analysis of the crude reaction mixture. Finally, vinyl azide 4a and silyl enol ether 4b were introduced into standard reaction conditions (Scheme 4, reaction 3). However, no phosphorylation product 3a was observed. On the basis of the obtained

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

• with vinyl acetate as the acylating agent, Amano lipase AK (AKL) was identified as the most effective biocatalyst for achieving selective acetylation, converting diol 28 to the monoacetate 37 in 91% yield with >99.4% de (by HPLC). The diacetate byproduct 39 was formed in a small amount (9%). A similar

• alcohol as a THP ether. Yadav and Yadav commenced their synthesis with the enzymatic desymmetrization of meso-diol 67 to monoacetate 66, achieving a 47% yield with an enantiomeric excess greater than 95%, using porcine pancreatic lipase (PPL) and vinyl acetate in THF (Scheme 10). The remaining primary

• allyl ester (R)-120 via enzymatic kinetic resolution of readily available rac-118 using Novozyme 435 and vinyl acetate in pentane at 30 °C (Scheme 19). The reaction was halted at the conversion of 54%, yielding the remaining alcohol (S)-118 with >99% ee. The product (R)-119 was subsequently treated with

A versatile route towards 6-arylpipecolic acids

• Erich Gebel,
• Cornelia Göcke,
• Carolin Gruner and
• Norbert Sewald

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1104–1115, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.88

• column chromatography. The vinyl bromide 2 had been shown to undergo palladium-catalysed cross-coupling reactions, e.g., Suzuki–Miyaura or Sonogashira–Hagihara cross-coupling reactions [35]. Emphasis was placed on the Suzuki–Miyaura reaction to give a variety of arylated compounds, as previous attempts

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

• other hand, Fan and co-workers (2020) prepared α-amidoketone 71 by employing vinyl azide and cinnamic acid (7) in good yield via cascade reaction (Scheme 23B) [58]. The thermal decomposition of the azide led to the generation of the reactive azirine intermediate 72. Moreover, Li and co-workers (2020

• bond of cyclopropenone to give a cyclic intermediate 316 (Scheme 74A) [125]. On the other hand, Wu and co-workers (2022) developed a Pd-catalyzed selective ring-opening of cyclopropenones and vinyl epoxide 318 to give the corresponding esters 319–321 in good yields via a π–allyl palladium intermediate

Recent total synthesis of natural products leveraging a strategy of enamide cyclization

• Chun-Yu Mi,
• Jia-Yuan Zhai and
• Xiao-Ming Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 999–1009, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.81

• ring was then constructed via an intramolecular reductive Heck reaction from vinyl bromide 10 with exclusive regioselectivity. Considering the strain of forming the 7-membered ring, this highly efficient 7-endo-trig (vs 6-exo-trig) transannular Heck cyclization reaction was remarkable to be realized in

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

• activated alkyne in an endo-dig fashion, forming a 7-membered ring. The resulting intermediate B undergoes proton transfer from the second pyrazole nitrogen to the vinyl silver moiety yielding pyrazolo[1,5-a][1,4]diazepine 16a and regenerating the silver catalyst. Methylation of either pyrazole nitrogen

Recent advances in controllable/divergent synthesis

• Jilei Cao,
• Leiyang Bai and
• Xuefeng Jiang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 890–914, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.73

• N,N-disubstituted acrylamides [30]. Catalyst-tuned regio- and enantioselective C(sp3)–C(sp3) coupling [31]. Catalyst-controlled annulations of bicyclo[1.1.0]butanes with vinyl azides [32]. Solvent-driven reversible macrocycle-to-macrocycle interconversion [39]. Unexpected solvent-dependent

Recent advances in the electrochemical synthesis of organophosphorus compounds

• Babak Kaboudin,
• Milad Behroozi,
• Sepideh Sadighi and
• Fatemeh Asgharzadeh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 770–797, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.61

• anode and phosphonate anion at the cathode (Scheme 12). The C(sp2)–X in aryl and vinyl halides is suitable in organic coupling reactions that are usually active in electrochemical environments. The use of combined electrodes is one of the creative methods in electrosynthesis processes. Léonel et al. [57

• ] reported an electrochemical coupling reaction of aryl and vinyl bromides with different types of alkyl H-phenylphosphinates in the presence of NiBr2 as a catalyst. The reaction was carried out with an alloy of Ni-Fe as the anode and nickel as the cathode in an undivided cell at a constant current for 0.5–2

Synthesis of HBC fluorophores with an electrophilic handle for covalent attachment to Pepper RNA

• Raphael Bereiter and
• Ronald Micura

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 727–735, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.56

• (8), MsOc3HBC (14), and MsOc3HBC-vinyl (22)) as reported previously [11]. Nine more HBC derivatives with altered handle lengths and different electrophilic groups are introduced in this study. Furthermore, we include an evaluation of the efficiency of all reactive fluorophores (previously introduced

• provide fluorophore 19. Subsequent palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling with tributyl(vinyl)tin resulted in the installation of the vinyl group (compound 20). Finally, cleavage of the silyl ether gave the free alcohol 21, which was converted into the corresponding mesyloxypropyl HBC ligand 22. The

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

• styrenes with diverse electronic properties as well as those containing sensitive functional groups such as esters, amides, and vinyl halides, to yield the desired β-chiral olefins in high enantioselectivity. Notably, the methodology could even be applied to vinylferrocene and vinylsilane derivatives

• calculations. The first hydroboration catalytic cycle is initiated by L*CuH species (L* = a chiral ligand) formed in situ through the combination of CuBr, LiOMe, and HBpin in the presence of a chiral ligand. Subsequent alkyne migratory insertion provides a vinyl cuprate intermediate Int B, followed by σ-bond

Synthesis of N-acetyl diazocine derivatives via cross-coupling reaction

• Thomas Brandt,
• Pascal Lentes,
• Jeremy Rudtke,
• Michael Hösgen,
• Christian Näther and
• Rainer Herges

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 490–499, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.36

• switching efficiency in aqueous solutions. In order to investigate the chemistry of this promising photoswitch and to unlock further applications, we now investigate strategies for the synthesis of derivatives, which are based on cross-coupling reactions. Fourteen vinyl-, aryl-, cyano-, and amino

• provides good yields of 65% and 71%, respectively, for the vinyl N-acetyl diazocine 8 (Table 3). An alternative way of vinylating N-acetyl diazocines is the Pd-catalyzed vinylation with polyvinylsiloxanes and TBAF as activating agent following the method by Denmark et al. giving rise to even higher yields

Synthesis of disulfides and 3-sulfenylchromones from sodium sulfinates catalyzed by TBAI

• Zhenlei Zhang,
• Ying Wang,
• Xingxing Pan,
• Manqi Zhang,
• Wei Zhao,
• Meng Li and
• Hao Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 253–261, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.17

• which the thiosulfonate was cleaved and then dimerized to form the disulfide. The reaction of sodium p-toluenesulfinate and styrene resulted in the generation of the corresponding vinyl sulfone (Scheme 5, reaction 2), suggesting the formation of p-toluenesulfonyl iodide during the reaction [50][51

Dioxazolones as electrophilic amide sources in copper-catalyzed and -mediated transformations

• Seungmin Lee,
• Minsuk Kim,
• Hyewon Han and
• Jongwoo Son

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 200–216, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.12

• copper catalyst, providing the vinyl copper intermediate INT-30. This intermediate then undergoes oxidative addition to the N–O bond of the dioxazolone to generate INT-31. Subsequently, decarboxylative reductive elimination occurs, forming the copper imidate INT-32. The active copper species is

Recent advances in electrochemical copper catalysis for modern organic synthesis

• Yemin Kim and
• Won Jun Jang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 155–178, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.9

• (II)–N3 complex 60. The azidyl radical 62 then reacts with N-arylenamine 57 via radical addition. Thereafter, it undergoes oxidation to form a kinetically labile vinyl azide intermediate 64. This vinyl azide intermediate 64 dissociates, yielding Cu(II) iminyl complex 65 via denitrogenation

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

• and sulfur dioxide afforded vinyl sulfones with excellent regio- and stereoselectivity (Scheme 9) [22]. The authors used DABCO(SO2)2 to generate sulfur dioxide, and visible light irradiation and the mandatory presence of a photocatalyst for this transformation suggested a radical mechanism. The

• corresponding saturated compounds. Subsequent nucleophilic addition of the cyclic vinyl ether to the iminium salt generates an intermediate XXI susceptible of intramolecular electrophilic attack to give a tricyclic structure XXII. The final deprotonation provides the desired product 24. The multicomponent

• of α-substituted propargylamines 10. Synthesis of N-propargylcarbamates 11. Synthesis of (E)-vinyl sulfones 12. Synthesis of o-halo-substituted aryl chalcogenides 13. Synthesis of α-aminophosphonates 14. Synthesis of unsaturated furanones and pyranones 15–17. Synthesis of substituted

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