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

• electrocatalyst supported on nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets (Cu/NCNSs). This catalyst exhibits high activity for the oxidation of various substrates, including GLY, gluconic acid (GLU), 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), benzyl alcohol (BA), furfuryl alcohol (FA), and ethylene glycol (EG) (Scheme 7) [35]. Park et

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

• our third-generation strategy featuring the employment of benzyl ʟ-valinate as the coupling component [63], tripeptide derivative 28 was synthesized in three steps. Exposure of 28 to DMDO in acetone followed by treating the resulting intermediates with Na2SO3 produced the proposed structure of aspera

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

• electron to compound 3 could explain the formation of the fully reduced species 2. In this case, subsequent mesolysis would generate the benzyl radical cation G, which would deliver 2 following a HAT step with the DIPEA radical cation D. To confirm whether O-benzoylated species is indeed an intermediate in

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

• triflate 46, alkylation with sulfone 47 via treatment with butyllithium and hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPA) yielded the coupling product 48 as a mixture of diastereoisomers in 60% yield. Ultimately, single-electron reduction removed both the sulfone and benzyl groups of 48, furnishing (S)-α-tocotrienol (49

• , affording monobenzoate 169 in 97% yield with 96% ee. For 2-alkyl-substituted glycerols like triol 167, complex 168 is the most efficient catalyst as the BOX ligand with a benzyl substitution at C4 provided an appropriate size for the catalyst–substrate coordination [58]. The intermediate 169 was transformed

• removal of the benzyl group, chemoselective N-alkylation with fragment 196, and removal of the benzoyl group allowed the conversion of 195 into iodide 197. Sequential oxidation of the alcohol, HWE reaction, and reduction of the resulting ester then provided compound 198. In the presence of Pd(OAc)2, PPh3

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

• photocatalysts (Scheme 2). The combination of photoredox catalysis with imine activation enabled the reductive coupling of imines under mild reaction conditions, providing direct access to benzyl and aryl vicinal diamines with good to excellent yields. Organic electrochemistry represents an attractive and

• for different N-benzyl benzaldimines in moderate to good yields. In 1991, Shono’s research group described the electroreductive intramolecular coupling of aromatic diimines, carried out in DMF in the presence of methanesulfonic acid in a divided cell equipped with a lead cathode, a carbon rod anode

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

• the efficient asymmetric synthesis of inherently chiral eight-membered N-heterocycle 6,7-diphenyldibenzo[e,g][1,4]diazocines (DDDs), which displayed a rigid saddle-shaped configuration [16]. Starting from readily available [1,1'-biphenyl]-2,2'-diamines 62 and benzyl compounds 63, the asymmetric

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

• (37) followed by reduction with Zn/Ba(OH)2 and partial re-oxidation (Scheme 12A) [52]. They can also be obtained from o-halogenated benzyl bromides 40 by lithium–halogen exchange followed by nucleophilic substitution and a second lithium–halogen exchange with iodine (Scheme 12B) or by nickel-catalysed

• reductive cross-coupling of benzyl halides when substituents prone to reduction (CN, esters) are present (Scheme 12C). The Ullman–Goldberg coupling of 41b with Boc-hydrazine followed by deprotection and oxidation then affords 35 [55]. Asymmetric diazocines can be synthesised by Sonogashira cross-coupling

• molybdenum catalyst allows partial conversion of the recovered by-product to the final product 35b, while for the S-heterodiazocine lead was used for the reduction in neat conditions (Scheme 14) [53]. N-Heterodiazocines (Scheme 15) can be synthesised by coupling of monoprotected diamine 55 with benzyl

Convenient alternative synthesis of the Malassezia-derived virulence factor malassezione and related compounds

• Karu Ramesh and
• Stephen L. Bearne

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1730–1736, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.135

• . 20% (4 steps) relative to an overall yield of ca. 5% via the preparation of the isonitrile followed by the Fe hydride initiated isonitrile–olefin intramolecular coupling reaction [18]. Protection of the indole nitrogens with the Boc group was preferable to the use of benzyl protecting groups since

• removal of the benzyl groups by hydrogenation was problematic (vide infra). The NMR spectral characteristics of the resulting material were identical to those reported for malassezione either isolated from cultures [11][20] or prepared from the isonitrile [18]. To further demonstrate the utility of the

• intent of using the benzyl group to protect the indole nitrogen rather than the Boc group. However, Pd-catalyzed hydrogenation of 25d led to a mixture of products, of which some were consistent with reduction of the indole ring. With respect to the scalability of the synthesis, the reactions can be

Approaches to stereoselective 1,1'-glycosylation

• Daniele Zucchetta and
• Alla Zamyatina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1700–1718, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.133

• tetrabenzylated glucose lactol acceptor 2, resulting in the formation of the β,α-1,1-linked diglucoside 3 (Scheme 1) [49]. The application of a the 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-benzyl trichloroacetimidate donor 4 resulted in the same disaccharide product 3, albeit as part of a mixture with other diastereomers [51]. The

• (Scheme 2). Switching from “disarming” ester to “arming” benzyl protecting groups, as in the donor 21, enhanced the activation of the glycosidic center, resulting in the formation of a substantial amount of the methyl glycoside by-product and a reduced yield of the 1,1'-disaccharide 22. Securing the

• groups, as in the imidate donor 29, instead of benzyl ethers, was fully compatible and resulted in the exclusive formation of β-mannosyl-α-glucoside 30 [57]. This approach was successfully applied to the synthesis of a nonreducing disaccharide moiety of evernimicin, an octasaccharide antibiotic that

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

• transformation of 1.15 mmol benzyl azide (1a) and 1 mmol phenylacetylene (2a) in the presence of 0.01 mmol CuI and 0.1 mmol Et3N as a model reaction (Scheme 2) under typically used “click conditions” [7]. In common organic solvents, the yields of 1-benzyl-4-phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazole (3a) were moderate (DCM, 1,4

• ) were tested in the conversion of 1.15 mmol benzyl azide (1a) and 1 mmol phenylacetylene (2a) in 2.5 mL CyreneTM at 30 °C. All the selected Cu salts catalyzed the cycloaddition; however, Cu chlorides and oxides resulted in unexpectedly low product yields after 0.5 h. The solubility of Cu oxides was

• involving benzyl azide (1a) and various acetylenes 2b–h in CyreneTM at 30 °C for 12 h (Figure 3). It should be noted that all components readily dissolved in CyreneTM, resulting in clear, homogeneous reaction mixtures. With the exception of 3-(1-benzyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)pentan-3-ol (3g), the isolated

General method for the synthesis of enaminones via photocatalysis

• Paula Pérez-Ramos,
• Raquel G. Soengas and
• Humberto Rodríguez-Solla

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1535–1543, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.116

• phenantroline also resulted in a decrease in the efficiency of the process (Table 1, entries 4 and 5). The pyridinium salt has also a significant effect on reactivity; thus, when 1-benzyl-2,4,6-triphenylpyridin-1-ium (PS2) was used, enaminone 9a was isolated in only 34% yield (Table 1, entry 6). Replacing DMF

Ambident reactivity of enolizable 5-mercapto-1H-tetrazoles in trapping reactions with in situ-generated thiocarbonyl S-methanides derived from sterically crowded cycloaliphatic thioketones

• Grzegorz Mlostoń,
• Małgorzata Celeda,
• Marcin Palusiak,
• Heinz Heimgartner,
• Marta Denel-Bobrowska and
• Agnieszka B. Olejniczak

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1508–1519, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.113

• protonate this basic fragment, undergo 1,3-addition leading to corresponding products of S,S-, O,S-, or N,S-acetal type. For example, trapping of the in situ-generated adamantanethione S-methanide (1a) with tert-butylthiol or benzyl alcohol leads to the corresponding S,S-dithioacetal and O,S-thioacetal

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

• form of catalysis from simple acids to metal catalysts [46]. Similar to the previous examples, the first step was the optimization of the conditions using the esterification of benzyl alcohol (12a) with acetic anhydride (8) and acetic acid (13), respectively. The optimization data are summarized in

• ). Optimization of the high pressure-assisted catalyst- and additional solvent-free synthesis of acetylsalicylic acid (9). Optimization of the HHP-assisted catalyst-free esterification of benzyl alcohol (12a). Molecular volumes of the reactants and products and the reaction volume (ΔV) for the reaction of o

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

• benzotriazole-adduct formation proceeds poorly with sterically demanding secondary amines and fails with primary amines. However, the latter may be overcome by adding a temporary benzyl group on the amine which can be subsequently cleaved by hydrogenolysis as demonstrated by the authors. Finally, it was shown

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

• electron-withdrawing groups on the aromatic ring were well tolerated (19a–c), although substrates with strong electron-withdrawing groups, such as nitro (–NO₂), resulted in no product (19d). Additionally, alkyl, phenyl, and benzyl substituents on the nitrogen atom of N-arylacrylamides were compatible (19e

• benzyl methyl malonates (35d, 35e) and a malonate derived from (−)-borneol (35h), were all compatible with the reaction conditions, providing the final products in moderate to good yields. However, using the sterically hindered 2-fluoromalonate as a substrate led to a reduced yield of product 35f. A

• -substituted acrylamides. Compounds such as N-methyl, N-ethyl, N-isopropyl, N-phenyl, and N-benzyl-substituted acrylamides were efficiently transformed into products 37a–e under the optimized conditions. However, substrates with strong electron-withdrawing groups, such as those bearing nitro substituents (37f

Optimized synthesis of aroyl-S,N-ketene acetals by omission of solubilizing alcohol cosolvents

• Julius Krenzer and
• Thomas J. J. Müller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1201–1206, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.97

• ; condensation; Einhorn-type acylation; 2-methyl N-benzyl benzothiazolium salts; Introduction Aroyl-S,N-ketene acetals, in particular N-benzyl derivatives 1, are very short donor–acceptor chromophores that have recently found a renaissance due to their peculiar intense solid-state emission and significant turn

• ) and electron-donating (-OMe) substituents were used. Additionally, a heterocycle could be incorporated. Different benzyl substituents were employed, and substitution at the benzothiazole core was also tolerated (Table 1). As an alternative to 1,4-dioxane, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran was tested the solvent

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

• previously isolated in crystalline form in two different molecular conformations [18]. In conformer I (Figure 2, bottom), all three benzyl groups are oriented towards the interior of the macrocycle. In contrast, conformer II (Figure 2, top) features two benzyl groups projecting inward and one benzyl group

• projecting outward denoted by an asterisk. Furthermore, the resulting crystal structure reveals that 1 is also a distorted planar macrocyclic system consisting of the amino acids carbonyl oxygens facing inside the ring. All three benzyl groups are located above a single plane (more figures are provided in

• projected benzyl groups. For the 1/NaBArF24 complex, the repeating unit shows that both phenylalanine HIMs exhibit the same conformation (e.g., I) where all three benzyl groups are oriented toward the interior of the macrocycle (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S9). From the single crystal data set, we

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

• reactions, have also been explored, thus boosting sustainability value. For instance, Wang and co-workers (2019) synthesized benzyl cinnamate (166) from cinnamaldehyde (162) catalyzed by an NHC catalyst (cat 4) in the presence of the low-cost oxidant CCl3CN. The reaction involves formation of acyl azolium

• and using ylide 397 altered the stereoselectivity to E-isomeric products 400 and 401 [144]. Wu and co-workers (2020) employed Pd to mediate the cross-coupling reaction of sulfoxonium ylide 402 and benzyl bromides to give the corresponding (Z)-ethyl cinnamates 403–406 in good yields via carbene

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

• , probably due to the formation of a more acidic cationic gold complex. Following this annulation, reduction of the amide in 20, catalytic hydrogenation of the alkene and the N-benzyl group, and subsequent nitrogen acylation yielded chloride 21 in a 42% total yield, setting the stage for the Witkop

Studies on the syntheses of β-carboline alkaloids brevicarine and brevicolline

• Benedek Batizi,
• Patrik Pollák,
• András Dancsó,
• Péter Keglevich,
• Gyula Simig,
• Balázs Volk and
• Mátyás Milen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 955–963, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.79

• hydrogenation of the C=C double bond in the side chain gave brevicarine (2). The first total synthesis of brevicarine is shown in Scheme 3 [2][20][21]. Condensation of indole (11) with 1-methylpiperidone (12) gave compound 13 [22]. N-Alkylation of 13 with benzyl bromide, followed by treatment of the quaternary

Harnessing tethered nitreniums for diastereoselective amino-sulfonoxylation of alkenes

• Shyam Sathyamoorthi,
• Appasaheb K. Nirpal,
• Dnyaneshwar A. Gorve and
• Steven P. Kelley

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 947–954, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.78

• alkene side product, presumably arising from mesylate elimination (Table 4, entry 4). In general, the functional group tolerance of the reaction was good, and aryl halogens, aryl CF3 moieties, and benzyl ethers were fully compatible (Table 4, entries 7 and 8). Where applicable, stereoarrays could be

Dicarboxylate recognition based on ultracycle hosts through cooperative hydrogen bonding and anion–π interactions

• Wen-Hui Mi,
• Teng-Yu Huang,
• Xu-Dong Wang,
• Yu-Fei Ao,
• Qi-Qiang Wang and
• De-Xian Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 884–889, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.72

• reorganization likely involves the cleavage and re-formation of the dynamic Ctriazine–OAr bonds, and the presence of an excess of base could facilitate the formation of the thermodynamic-favored reorganized products [29][31]. The benzyl groups were subsequently removed under Pd/C and H2 conditions to afford the

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

• efficiently constructed α-all-carbon quaternary centers on β,γ-unsaturated nitriles with excellent >98% regioselectivity and >98% (E)-selectivity. 1,1-Disubstituted allenes bearing silyl ether- and benzyl ether-tethered propyl groups were successfully converted into the desired nitriles 3a–c in yields ranging

• regioselectivity (>98%). Functional groups such as silyl ether, benzyl ether, and chloro moieties on allenes 4d–f were well tolerated under the reaction conditions, producing nitrile-substituted tertiary carbon products 5d–f in yields ranging from 73% to 85%. Moreover, aryl-substituted allene 4g was efficiently

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

• mimics that of 2-benzyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran (overlaid in Figure 4), a structural motif that is commonly found within bioactive natural products. Having seen that the conformations of multivicinal fluoroalkanes can be altered by changing the stereochemistry, it follows that other physical properties can

Entry to 2-aminoprolines via electrochemical decarboxylative amidation of N‑acetylamino malonic acid monoesters

• Olesja Koleda,
• Janis Sadauskis,
• Darja Antonenko,
• Edvards Janis Treijs,
• Raivis Davis Steberis and
• Edgars Suna

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 630–638, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.50

• 13a,d,e in 71–83% yield (Scheme 4). Carboxylic acid 13a could be reacted with glycine benzyl ester in the presence of HATU and Et3N to form dipeptide 16 (66%). In contrast, N-unprotected 2-aminoprolines are unstable and could not be isolated. Thus, the cleavage of the N-Cbz protecting group in 6b

• ester moiety with LiBH4. In the meantime, the hydrogenolysis of the benzyl ester in dipeptide 16 proceeded smoothly and afforded carboxylic acid 17 in 81% yield (Scheme 4) [16]. Conclusion In summary, the developed electrochemical decarboxylative amidation of readily accessible malonic acid monoesters