Catalytic enantioselective synthesis of selenium-containing atropisomers via C–Se bond formations

• Qi-Sen Gao,
• Zheng-Wei Wei and
• Zhi-Min Chen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2447–2455, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.186

• in this review. Axially chiral selenium-containing compounds also play an irreplaceable role in asymmetric catalysis, functional materials, pharmaceutical chemistry and other fields. However, little attention has been paid to these compounds, which led to slow development and a relative lack of

The high potential of methyl laurate as a recyclable competitor to conventional toxic solvents in [3 + 2] cycloaddition reactions

• Ayhan Yıldırım and
• Mustafa Göker

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2389–2415, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.184

• ) has led to limitations on the use of chlorinated solvents, toluene, DMF etc., with the implementation of particular prerequisites [89]. The double bond present in oleic acid and methyl oleate may be disadvantageous for these solvents in comparison to methyl laurate. The potential isomerization and

An Fe(II)-catalyzed synthesis of spiro[indoline-3,2'-pyrrolidine] derivatives

• Elizaveta V. Gradova,
• Nikita A. Ozhegov,
• Roman O. Shcherbakov,
• Alexander G. Tkachenko,
• Larisa Y. Nesterova,
• Elena Y. Mendogralo and
• Maxim G. Uchuskin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2383–2388, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.183

• = 1:10). Scaling up the reaction to a 4 mmol scale led to a decrease in yield to 55%. Under these conditions, we explored the substrate scope of the reaction (Scheme 3). In general, substituent effects were minimal, and most spirocyclic products were obtained in good to high yields. Nevertheless

Rotaxanes with integrated photoswitches: design principles, functional behavior, and emerging applications

• Jullyane Emi Matsushima,
• Khushbu,
• Zuliah Abdulsalam,
• Udyogi Navodya Kulathilaka Conthagamage and
• Víctor García-López

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2345–2366, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.179

• -bonded to a chiral peptide station. This rotaxane works as a chiroptical switch by light-induced macrocycle movement along the axle [65]. The need to understand the photochemistry of fumaramides to aid their usage in various applications led to the design of rotaxanes containing different axles. Both

• 2007 by Zhou and co-workers [74]. The spiropyran was positioned on the axle and served a dual purpose: as a recognition site and stopper. Photoisomerization led to the reversible shuttling of the macrocycle, which produced a visible absorption output signal that can be seen with the naked eye. Later

• the naphthalimide. Specifically, red fluorescence was observed when the merocyanine formed, and green fluorescence when the spiropyran was generated. Notably, this rotaxane was employed for the detection of sulfite, where the addition of sulfite led to the deactivation of FRET. This occurs due to a

Recent advances in Norrish–Yang cyclization and dicarbonyl photoredox reactions for natural product synthesis

• Peng-Xi Luo,
• Jin-Xuan Yang,
• Shao-Min Fu and
• Bo Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2315–2333, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.177

• . This transformation proceeded via sequential regio- and stereoselective Norrish−Yang annulation, followed by intramolecular lactonization mediated by 12a. Notably, when the ethyl ester in 12 was replaced with a methyl group to form 14 with R = Et (Scheme 3), photoreaction of 14 led to 15 in 95% yield

• manipulations. Notably, under Mitsunobu conditions, 23 – with its C9 ketal remaining intact – led to 28 and 29 in 40% total yield, with a 1:2.5 ratio favoring the undesired regioisomer 29 (Scheme 5a). These two isomers arise from SN2 and SN2' mechanisms, respectively. Furthermore, when 30 (bearing a saturated

• under blue LED irradiation. Solid-state reactions differ from solution-phase processes due to restraints on molecular motions imposed by the crystal lattice, thereby avoiding side reactions caused by unrestricted molecular motions in solution [41]. It has also been demonstrated that for crystalline 1,2

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

• in 22% yield. Fluorination of α,β-unsaturated ketones is a more challenging transformation than the halogenation reactions presented in Scheme 1 [33]. The previous reports of enamines as suitable substrates led us to prepare and examine enamine 15, which was generated from 5 with 3.0 equivalents of

Enantioselective radical chemistry: a bright future ahead

• Anna C. Renner,
• Sagar S. Thorat,
• Hariharaputhiran Subramanian and
• Mukund P. Sibi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2283–2296, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.174

• the 1990s. Since then, meticulous research by several research groups has led to significant advances in this area [4][5][6][7][8]. This perspective focuses on several important contributions to the science of asymmetric radical reactions. Pioneering work on chiral Lewis acid catalysis and iminium

• preparation of chiral β-aminoalcohols [63]. Chiral copper(I) complexes convert imidate radicals, formed transiently through energy-transfer catalysis, to oxazolines. The transformation includes a regioselective and enantioselective HAT process. Upon blue LED irradiation, oxime imidates (derived from alcohols

• , particularly involving photoredox catalysts, have led to the emerging area of photoenzymatic catalysis. Several new modes of activation successfully catalyzed by enzymes have been demonstrated [71][72][73][74]. Notable photoenzymatic reactions involving radical cyclizations have been reported. In one

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

• (THF) was used as solvent, the proton elimination and protodeauration led to the formation of dihydrophenanthrene 12 due to solvent effects (Scheme 3, path b). This pathway-controlled approach for the syntheses of phenanthrenes complemented the established protocols. In 2020, Mutra et al. achieved a

Research towards selective inhibition of the CLK3 kinase

• Vinay Kumar Singh,
• Frédéric Justaud,
• Dabbugoddu Brahmaiah,
• Nangunoori Sampath Kumar,
• Blandine Baratte,
• Thomas Robert,
• Stéphane Bach,
• Chada Raji Reddy,
• Nicolas Levoin and
• René L. Grée

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2250–2259, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.172

• living systems. It is important to classify the kinases regarding the level of knowledge that scientists have on their physiological and pathological roles. Oprea et al. defined a knowledge-based protein classification that led to the definition of four groups: from the more studied Tclin (clinic, with

A chiral LC–MS strategy for stereochemical assignment of natural products sharing a 3-methylpent-4-en-2-ol moiety in their terminal structures

• Rei Suo,
• Raku Irie,
• Hinako Nakayama,
• Yuta Ishimaru,
• Yuya Akama,
• Masato Oikawa and
• Shiro Itoi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2243–2249, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.171

• obtained suffered from co-evaporation during solvent removal under reduced pressure, which led us to consider that degradation of the natural product to obtain the corresponding fragment would be challenging. Accordingly, esterification of the hydroxy group at C3 in 3, and suitable acyl groups were then

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

• is apportioned among several minor by-products (and small handling losses), with no evidence for a favored competing pathway. Notably, this work led to the development of a reaction protocol that operates without the need for inert conditions and tolerates small amounts of water, simplifying

Thiadiazino-indole, thiadiazino-carbazole and benzothiadiazino-carbazole dioxides: synthesis, physicochemical and early ADME characterization of representatives of new tri-, tetra- and pentacyclic ring systems and their intermediates

• Gyöngyvér Pusztai,
• László Poszávácz,
• Anna Vincze,
• András Marton,
• Ahmed Qasim Abdulhussein,
• Judit Halász,
• András Dancsó,
• Gyula Simig,
• György Tibor Balogh and
• Balázs Volk

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2220–2233, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.169

• -dioxides, we aimed at elaborating a synthetic procedure for the preparation of their pyrrole-fused counterparts, 2,9-dihydro[1,2,3]thiadiazino[5,6-g]indole 1,1-dioxide derivatives. The simple and versatile process led, via Fischer indole cyclization of the corresponding hydrazones, to a wide structural

• synthetic process led, via Fischer indole cyclization of the corresponding hydrazones, to several novel 2,9-dihydro[1,2,3]thiadiazino[5,6-g]indole 1,1-dioxide derivatives, containing new tri-, tetra- and pentacyclic ring systems. The hydrazone intermediates and new target compounds were investigated

Synthesis of triazolo- and tetrazolo-fused 1,4-benzodiazepines via one-pot Ugi–azide and Cu-free click reactions

• Xiaoming Ma,
• Zijie Gao,
• Jiawei Niu,
• Wentao Shao,
• Shenghu Yan,
• Sai Zhang and
• Wei Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2202–2210, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.167

• , the reaction of 0.2 mmol each of 1a and 2a led to the formation of Int-I which then reacted with 0.2 mmol each of 9 and 4 to form 1,5-DS-T 5b which consequently underwent lactamization to form 6a followed by an intramolecular click reaction to afford highly condensed polycyclic product 8a in 92

• spectra are provided in Supporting Information File 1. To evaluate the scalability of this protocol, we performed the synthesis of diazepine 8a on a gram scale with 10 mmol of 1a, which led to the formation of product 8a in 91% yield (Scheme 8). Conclusion We have developed a new synthetic method to

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

• avoid side reactions and promoted exclusive transformation of formaldehyde into glycolic acid. The use of E. coli K-12 strains as host cells and paraformaldehyde as the starting material, led to production of GA with high conversion even at rather high concentrations (Scheme 8) [36]. Using a CuII-based

• groups through hydrogenolysis, neutralization with cyclohexylamine and treatment with ion-exchange resin led to dihydroxyacetone phosphate. This 4-step method was more efficient than the previously reported dismutation of fructose-1,6-diphosphate [84] and 3-chloro-1,3-propanediol [85] which required more

• HFO with benzoic acid amide or furan-2-carboxamide in 1:1 molar ratio at 70 °C for 4–8 h (Scheme 42, path c) [132]. The reaction of HFO with 2-methylfuran in a 1:2.2 molar ratio in diethyl ether solution at room temperature in the presence of catalytic amounts of perchloric acid for 5 hours led to the

The application of desymmetric enantioselective reduction of cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds in the total synthesis of terpenoid and alkaloid natural products

• Dong-Xing Tan and
• Fu-She Han

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2085–2102, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.164

• (Scheme 3) [31][32]. Oxidation state adjustment of 48 led to the ketone 49. Starting from this common intermediate, firstly, base-promoted double bond migration and oxidation at the γ-position gave tertiary alcohol 50. Deprotection of acetyl in 50 followed by selective oxidation delivered (−)-cyrneine B

• reduction of 72, affording the hydroxyketone 74 in 57% yield with 91% ee. Protection of the secondary alcohol in 74 followed by Beckmann rearrangement led to lactam 75. Oxidation state modifications and functional group transformations of 75 afforded ketone 76. Next, the 1,2-addition of 76 with vinyl iodine

Further elaboration of the stereodivergent approach to chaetominine-type alkaloids: synthesis of the reported structures of aspera chaetominines A and B and revised structure of aspera chaetominine B

• Jin-Fang Lü,
• Jiang-Feng Wu,
• Jian-Liang Ye and
• Pei-Qiang Huang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2072–2081, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.162

• (Scheme 3a). The optical rotation of this mixture is zero confirming that the reaction led to two enantiomers in almost equal quantities. To take advantage of this protocol, the enantiomeric excess (ee) of (+)-7, prepared in four steps from ʟ-Trp [63], was determined to be 98.7%. It is worth mentioning

Discovery of cytotoxic indolo[1,2-c]quinazoline derivatives through scaffold-based design

• Daniil V. Khabarov,
• Valeria A. Litvinova,
• Lyubov G. Dezhenkova,
• Dmitry N. Kaluzhny,
• Alexander S. Tikhomirov and
• Andrey E. Shchekotikhin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2062–2071, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.161

• towards all tested cancer cell lines. However, no clear correlation between structure and activity was observed. For example, elongation of the alkyl substituents (N,N-diethylamino derivative 9b) led to a complete loss of antiproliferative activity, while its cyclic analog 9c showed the lowest IC50 value

Solar thermal fuels: azobenzene as a cyclic photon–heat transduction platform

• Jie Yan,
• Shaodong Sun,
• Minghao Wang and
• Si Wu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2036–2047, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.159

• light-harvesting carbazole units with photoresponsive azobenzene units in a unique macromolecular architecture (Figure 4c) [48]. The resulting cross-linked polycarbazole structure led to a high solar thermal storage capacity of 179.9 J/g and an extended half-life at 60 °C, increasing from 7 min for the

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

• multicomponent reaction of the same starting materials led to the formation of only tetrahydrotriazolopyrimidine derivatives. Keywords: 5-amino-1,2,4-triazole; heterocyclization; multicomponent reaction; salicylaldehyde; ultrasonication; Introduction Multicomponent reactions (MCRs) are a powerful tool for the

• at reflux in acetic acid for 3 h for aminotriazole 1a or in n-BuOH for 7 h in case of aminotriazole 1b led to the formation of oxygen-bridged 2-(methylthio or methoxy)-11,12-dihydro-5H-5,11-methanobenzo[g][1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-c][1,3,5]oxadiazocine-5-carboxylic acids 4a–j (Scheme 2, Table 1). It should

• case of aldehyde 2b, the MCR always led to the formation of a mixture of products 5d and 6d. Attempts to synthesize 5d and 6d as individual compounds under various conditions were unsuccessful. In addition, it was found that compounds 5 can be converted into oxygen-bridged heterocycles 4 after 1 hour

α-Ketoglutaric acid in Ugi reactions and Ugi/aza-Wittig tandem reactions

• Vladyslav O. Honcharov,
• Yana I. Sakhno,
• Olena H. Shvets,
• Vyacheslav E. Saraev,
• Svitlana V. Shishkina,
• Tetyana V. Shcherbakova and
• Valentyn A. Chebanov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2021–2029, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.157

• biochemical processes [47]. However, there are only a few studies in the literature on multicomponent reactions based on KGA. In 1992, Gein et al. [48] reported a multicomponent reaction involving KGA, aromatic aldehydes, and aromatic amines. This led to the formation of pyrrolone derivatives I, which showed

• anti-inflammatory activity [49][50] (Scheme 1, pathway A). In an earlier study by our research group, Sakhno et al. [51] described a three-component Doebner-type reaction involving KGA, aromatic aldehydes, and 3-amino-5-methylisoxazole, which led to the formation of [2-aryl-4-hydroxy-1-(5

• isocyanide (4) in a molar ratio of 1:2:2:2 in MeOH and subsequent stirring at a temperature of 45 °C for 24 hours led to the formation of N1,N5-bis(2-(tert-butylamino)-1-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-oxoethyl)-N1,N5-bis(4-chlorophenyl)-2-oxopentanediamide (6a) in 55% yield (Scheme 2, pathway B; Table 2). Compounds 5

Understanding the origin of stereoselectivity in the photochemical denitrogenation of 2,3-diazabicyclo[2.2.1]heptene and its derivatives with non-adiabatic molecular dynamics

• Leticia A. Gomes and
• Steven A. Lopez

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2007–2020, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.156

• molecular dynamics (NAMD) simulations of a series of diazabicyclo[2.1.1]hexenes. The minimum energy path showed stepwise σCN bond breaking and led directly to a minimum energy crossing point, corresponding to the inversion product. We also performed NAMD simulations on halogenated derivatives to test the

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

• substrate (Figure 1b). This led to the successful development of a novel dual NHC/light-mediated reduction process using either the simple tertiary amine, NEt(iPr)2 (DIPEA) or the widely available silane HSiEt3, as the only reductant. Moreover, interesting insights into the reaction mechanism supported by

• reactions were carried out. As expected, conducting the reaction in the absence of the terminal reductant, DIPEA, led to a complex reaction mixture (Table 1, entry 2), while performing the reaction in the dark resulted only in recovered starting material (Table 1, entry 3). To our surprise, however

• , switching from MeCN to the chlorinated solvents DCM, DCE and chlorobenzene led to a decline in the formation of the fully reduced product 2 with O-benzoylated species 3 being obtained as the major product (38% in DCM, 35% in DCE, 38% in PhCl cf. 6–8% of 2, Table 1, entries 10–12). Significant reduction of 1

Asymmetric total synthesis of tricyclic prostaglandin D2 metabolite methyl ester via oxidative radical cyclization

• Miao Xiao,
• Liuyang Pu,
• Qiaoli Shang,
• Lei Zhu and
• Jun Huang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1964–1972, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.152

• stereoselectively access the syn-anti-cyclopentanol ring system with three vicinal stereogenic centers at C11, C12, and C8 via the oxidative radical cyclization that led to the asymmetric total synthesis of compound 4. Results and Discussion First generation asymmetric total synthesis of tricyclic-PGDM methyl ester

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

• enhanced the reaction performance. However, excessively bulky substituents at C4 and substitutions at both C4 and C5 hindered the coordination between substrate and catalyst, and led to reduced enantioselectivity. As to the structure of 128, the electronic effect of the bromo-substituted pyridine moiety

• 212. Four subsequent steps, including oxidation of propargylic alcohol and cyclization between the hydroxy group and ynone, provided compound 213 with a pyranone ring. Treatment of 213 with Me3SnOH hydrolyzed the methyl ester, and intramolecular Yamaguchi esterification then led to lactone 214, which

Rhodium-catalysed connective synthesis of diverse reactive probes bearing S(VI) electrophilic warheads

• Scott Rice,
• Julian Chesti,
• William R. T. Mosedale,
• Megan H. Wright,
• Stephen P. Marsden,
• Terry K. Smith and
• Adam Nelson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1924–1931, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.150

• exploited. A high-throughput synthetic approach was harnessed to identify substrate/co-substrate/catalyst combinations, which led to the productive formation of intermolecular reaction products. Overall, the approach enabled the synthesis of thirty diverse reactive probes. The probes were screened for