Hydrogen-bonded macrocycle-mediated dimerization for orthogonal supramolecular polymerization

• Wentao Yu,
• Zhiyao Yang,
• Chengkan Yu,
• Xiaowei Li and
• Lihua Yuan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 179–188, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.10

• adopted a nonplanar conformation, with one aromatic residue protruding out of the macrocyclic skeleton plane. Adopting such a conformation rendered it possible for the π-electron-rich phenyl ring to interact strongly with π-electron-deficient guest molecules G1 by means of charge–transfer interactions and

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

• loading, providing an alternative strategy for 1,2-diamine synthesis (Figure 16) [71]. This reaction successfully expanded the substrate scope from electron-rich to electron-deficient alkenes, which were considered challenging substrates in previous diazidation reactions. A possible mechanism is proposed

• systems combining copper catalysis with electrocatalysis have been developed to avoid the use of chemical oxidants. Thus, the substrate scope was expanded to include electron-deficient arylboronic acids. In 2019, Gale-Day et al. developed electrocatalytic Chan–Lam couplings of arylboronic acids with

• primary anilines using a copper catalyst and dual Cu-electrode system to form C–N bonds (Figure 19) [79]. This catalytic system demonstrates a broad substrate scope, including electron-deficient boronic acids, which are typically regarded as challenging substrates because of their low reactivity in Chan

Nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling of 2-fluorobenzofurans with arylboronic acids via aromatic C–F bond activation

• Takeshi Fujita,
• Haruna Yabuki,
• Ryutaro Morioka,
• Kohei Fuchibe and
• Junji Ichikawa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 146–154, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.8

• are generated by treating 1,1-difluoroethylenes with a zirconocene equivalent (ZrCp2, Scheme 1a) [8]. The resulting 1-fluorovinylzirconocenes B then undergo palladium-catalyzed coupling with aryl iodides to produce arylated fluoroethylenes. Additionally, (ii) we observed that electron-deficient 2

• coupling between these components (Scheme 1b). Among aromatic fluorides, we have targeted 2-fluorobenzofurans 1 for C–F bond activation [19]. These compounds, which we prepared efficiently via 5-endo-trig cyclization of β,β-difluoro-o-hydroxystyrenes [20][21], possess a C–C double bond with an electron

• -deficient carbon atom owing to the nearby fluorine and oxygen atoms. We expected that 2-fluorobenzofurans 1 could form nickelacyclopropanes E upon treatment with zero-valent nickel species. Subsequent β-fluorine elimination from these intermediates E would facilitate the activation of aromatic C–F bonds

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

• axially chiral N-aryl succinimides 54. The tentative mechanism comprises the formation of the Breslow intermediate Int-31 from the catalyst carbene and aldehyde 52, which then adds to the electron-deficient double bond of maleimide giving rise to Int-32 (Scheme 17). Chi and co-workers developed an

Giese-type alkylation of dehydroalanine derivatives via silane-mediated alkyl bromide activation

• Perry van der Heide,
• Michele Retini,
• Fabiola Fanini,
• Giovanni Piersanti,
• Francesco Secci,
• Daniele Mazzarella,
• Timothy Noël and
• Alberto Luridiana

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3274–3280, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.271

• functionalization (LSF) of peptide scaffolds. α,β-Unsaturated amino acids like dehydroalanine (Dha) derivatives have emerged as particularly useful structures, as the electron-deficient olefin moiety can engage in late-stage functionalization reactions, like a Giese-type reaction. Cheap and widely available

• ; Introduction The construction of C(sp3)–C(sp3) bonds is a highly important target in synthetic organic chemistry. Historically, polar conjugate additions have been a benchmark method for constructing these bonds by functionalizing an electron-deficient olefin [1][2][3]. Recently, however, radical-based

• pathway for the functionalization of an electron-deficient olefin is the Giese reaction (Figure 1) [6][7]. This reaction involves the hydroalkylation of the olefin via radical addition (RA), followed by either hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT) or single-electron transfer (SET) and protonation. Traditionally

Non-covalent organocatalyzed enantioselective cyclization reactions of α,β-unsaturated imines

• Sergio Torres-Oya and
• Mercedes Zurro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3221–3255, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.268

• -workers reported a cinchona alkaloid-derived thiourea-catalyzed regio- and stereoselective cycloaddition of 3-isothiocyanatooxindoles and imines containing two or three electron-deficient unsaturated bonds [25]. Firstly, the (3 + 2) cycloaddition of 3-isothiocyanatooxindoles 4 and aldimines 5 was explored

Multicomponent reactions driving the discovery and optimization of agents targeting central nervous system pathologies

• Lucía Campos-Prieto,
• Aitor García-Rey,
• Eddy Sotelo and
• Ana Mallo-Abreu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3151–3173, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.261

• , and either sodium hydroxide or sodium hydrogen sulfide to obtain a cyclic imine. Subsequently, the U-3CR is performed, where the cyclic imine reacts with an electron-deficient 2-fluorobenzoic acid and an isocyanide to yield a bisamide. Then, the bisamide undergoes an intramolecular SNAr reaction to

Advances in the use of metal-free tetrapyrrolic macrocycles as catalysts

• Mandeep K. Chahal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3085–3112, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.257

• summarized. In 2014, Kadish and co-workers reported a series of planar and nonplanar metal-free tetraarylporphyrins, indicating the potential of these macrocycles for the generation of molecular hydrogen under acidic conditions [110]. Four years later, Villagrán and co-workers used electron-deficient metal

Enantioselective regiospecific addition of propargyltrichlorosilane to aldehydes catalyzed by biisoquinoline N,N’-dioxide

• Noble Brako,
• Sreerag Moorkkannur Narayanan,
• Amber Burns,
• Layla Auter,
• Valentino Cesiliano,
• Rajeev Prabhakar and
• Norito Takenaka

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3069–3076, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.255

• catalyst tolerated all p-, m-, o-Cl-substituted benzaldehydes in terms of both reactivity and selectivity, affording the essentially same results as benzaldehyde (2b–d). Other electron-deficient substituents CF3 (2e) and Br (2f) did not adversely affect the reaction. However, electron-donating substituents

Advances in radical peroxidation with hydroperoxides

• Oleg V. Bityukov,
• Pavel Yu. Serdyuchenko,
• Andrey S. Kirillov,
• Gennady I. Nikishin,
• Vera A. Vil’ and
• Alexander O. Terent’ev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2959–3006, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.249

• alkenes 214 (Scheme 67) [136]. Initially, I− promotes the decomposition of TBHP to generate the tert-butyloxy radical and the tert-butylperoxy radical A. The tert-butylperoxy radical A adds preferentially to the electron-deficient alkene 214 to give the electrophilic radical B, which undergoes iodination

The charge transport properties of dicyanomethylene-functionalised violanthrone derivatives

• Sondos A. J. Almahmoud,
• Joseph Cameron,
• Dylan Wilkinson,
• Michele Cariello,
• Claire Wilson,
• Alan A. Wiles,
• Peter J. Skabara and
• Graeme Cooke

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2921–2930, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.244

• dicyanomethylene-functionalised violanthrone derivatives (3a, 3b and 3c) featuring different alkyl substituents. It is found that the introduction of the electron-deficient dicyanomethylene groups significantly improves the optical absorption compared to their previously reported precursors 2a–c. All compounds are

• that molecular tailoring of violanthrone is simple and feasible. We have synthesised three soluble violanthrone derivatives with different side chains and found that due to the introduction of the electron-deficient dicyanomethylene groups, along with the extended π-conjugated framework, all compounds

Recent advances in transition-metal-free arylation reactions involving hypervalent iodine salts

• Ritu Mamgain,
• Kokila Sakthivel and
• Fateh V. Singh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2891–2920, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.243

• Cs2CO3 as shown in Scheme 1. The substrate scope exhibits that on using electron-deficient diaryliodonium salts as an arylating agent, α-fluoroacetamides 8 were obtained in moderate to good yields through a spontaneous arylation/deacylation cascade. The deacylation reaction is considered due to the

• presence of fluorine and a newly installed electron-deficient aryl group on α-carbon which increases electrophilicity of the α-carbon center [55]. The proposed reaction mechanism (Scheme 2) begins with the formation of one of two potential iodine intermediates, labeled as I or II. These intermediates arise

• reactions leads to the formation of the desired arylated α-aryl-α-fluoroacetoacetamides 7. The tetrasubstituted fluorocarbon center becomes more electrophilic in the presence of an electron-deficient aryl (Ar) group. This increased electrophilicity facilitates a base-mediated deacylation reaction, resulting

Synthesis of benzo[f]quinazoline-1,3(2H,4H)-diones

• Ruben Manuel Figueira de Abreu,
• Peter Ehlers and
• Peter Langer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2708–2719, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.228

• coefficients and bathochromically shifted absorption bands which might be a result of a certain intramolecular charge transfer between the donating N,N-dimethylamino group and the electron-deficient uracil moiety. Similar effects are observed for the emission spectra. The emission maxima of N,N-dimethylamino

Photoluminescence color-tuning with polymer-dispersed fluorescent films containing two fluorinated diphenylacetylene-type fluorophores

• Kazuki Kobayashi,
• Shigeyuki Yamada,
• Motohiro Yasui and
• Tsutomu Konno

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2682–2690, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.225

• short-axis direction of the electron-deficient aromatic ring significantly retards the internal conversion via the formation of H···F hydrogen bonds, leading to a marked blue fluorescence in the crystalline state (Figure 1b) [17][18][19][20]. Recently, the introduction of N,N-disubstituted amino groups

Anion-dependent ion-pairing assemblies of triazatriangulenium cation that interferes with stacking structures

• Yohei Haketa,
• Takuma Matsuda and
• Hiromitsu Maeda

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2567–2576, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.215

• . Moreover, the N-aryl-substituted TATA+ cations have been used as the building units of porous organic polymers for capturing CO2 [27]. Cations with characteristic electron-deficient planar triangular geometries were used as scaffolds for various supramolecular cage structures [28][29]. Although

• electron-deficient TATA+ core through the interactions of the methyl units. In fact, in 2+-Cl−, Cl− was located 3.43 Å above the TATA+ core and was interacted with the surrounding CH3 units, with C(–H)···Cl− distances of 3.74, 3.85, and 3.96 Å (Figure 3a, Figure 5a and Figure S17 in Supporting Information

A review of recent advances in electrochemical and photoelectrochemical late-stage functionalization classified by anodic oxidation, cathodic reduction, and paired electrolysis

• Nian Li,
• Ruzal Sitdikov,
• Ajit Prabhakar Kale,
• Joost Steverlynck,
• Bo Li and
• Magnus Rueping

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2500–2566, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.214

• C–H hydroxylation process by combining continuous flow chemistry and electrochemistry (Scheme 8) [16]. The surface modification of electrodes can lead to improved reactivity and selectivity. In this regard, Li and coworkers developed electron-deficient W2C nanocrystal-based electrodes to enhance the

• direct activation of C(sp3)–H bonds under mild conditions [17]. The pronounced electron-deficient W2C nanocatalysts greatly facilitate the direct deprotonation process, ensuring the longevity of the electrode by overcoming self-oxidation. The LSF of drug molecules such as ibuprofen methyl ester and

HFIP as a versatile solvent in resorcin[n]arene synthesis

• Hormoz Khosravi,
• Valeria Stevens and
• Raúl Hernández Sánchez

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2469–2475, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.211

• ]; and 3) access to larger macrocycles with n > 4 is not a trivial task usually leading to reaction yields <10% [21][38][42][60]. Herein, we report 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) as an efficient solvent to speed up reaction times and also capable of tolerating electron-deficient and halogenated

• synthon, which is used conveniently towards other applications, e.g., metal cluster synthesis, and halogen and hydrogen-bonded cavitands [77][78][79]. Our protocol works well with 2-methylresorcinol, as shown for products 1f and 1g, with significant yields around 80%. Electron-deficient and halogenated 2

• chloro species and flattened cone or boat for 1s [89]. Overall, access to electron-deficient and halogenated resorcin[4]arenes in one synthetic step provides building blocks to advance a wide range of chemical, physical, materials, and supramolecular applications. Future modifications of the protocol

Synthesis, electrochemical properties, and antioxidant activity of sterically hindered catechols with 1,3,4-oxadiazole, 1,2,4-triazole, thiazole or pyridine fragments

• Daria A. Burmistrova,
• Andrey Galustyan,
• Nadezhda P. Pomortseva,
• Kristina D. Pashaeva,
• Maxim V. Arsenyev,
• Oleg P. Demidov,
• Mikhail A. Kiskin,
• Andrey I. Poddel’sky,
• Nadezhda T. Berberova and
• Ivan V. Smolyaninov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2378–2391, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.202

• oxidation peak of the catechol fragment to the cathode region (Figure 7). This is due to the less acceptor nature of the thiazole ring compared to the more electron-deficient oxadiazole cycle, which contains three heteroatoms. In addition, according to NMR spectral data, one proton of the hydroxy group of

Asymmetric organocatalytic synthesis of chiral homoallylic amines

• Nikolay S. Kondratyev and
• Andrei V. Malkov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2349–2377, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.201

• a few dihydroisoquinolines, including 7-bromo-3,4-dihydroisoquinoline and 6,7-dimethoxy-3,4-dihydroisoquinoline leading to 24 and 25, respectively. The yields varied between 42–97% and were lower for the electron-rich substrates and higher for the electron-deficient substrates. The

Hydrogen-bond activation enables aziridination of unactivated olefins with simple iminoiodinanes

• Phong Thai,
• Lauv Patel,
• Diyasha Manna and
• David C. Powers

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2305–2312, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.197

• with the stability of the relevant iminoiodinane reagent, with higher yields attributed to more electron-rich sulfonamide substitution such as 2a. Relatively electron-deficient iminoiodinanes are less efficient but are also more prone to decomposition (see Supporting Information File 1, Figure S2 for

Metal-free double azide addition to strained alkynes of an octadehydrodibenzo[12]annulene derivative with electron-withdrawing substituents

• Naoki Takeda,
• Shuichi Akasaka,
• Susumu Kawauchi and
• Tsuyoshi Michinobu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2234–2241, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.191

• ] cycloaddition–retroelectrocyclization (CA-RE) between electron-rich alkynes and electron-deficient olefins [8]. The [2 + 2] CA-RE click reactions were employed to produce a variety of functional materials, such as nonlinear optical chromophores [9][10], super acceptors [11][12], ion sensing D–A systems [13

Heterocycle-guided synthesis of m-hetarylanilines via three-component benzannulation

• Andrey R. Galeev,
• Maksim V. Dmitriev,
• Alexander S. Novikov and
• Andrey N. Maslivets

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2208–2216, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.188

• -aminopyridine, provided N-hetarylaniline (3af) in moderate yield. Furthermore, it is possible to synthesize sterically hindered anilines such as arylamine 3ah, which was prepared from 2,6-di(isopropyl)aniline in 53% yield. However, in the case of an electron-deficient amine (4-trifluoromethylaniline), the

• of acetone and amines 2 leads to the formation of acetone imine/enamine (reaction 1, Scheme 6). Nucleophilic addition of an enamine to the most electron-deficient carbonyl group (C1=O, adjacent to the EWG) of the 1,3-diketones 1 gives the acyclic carbinol I (reaction 2, Scheme 6), followed by the

Efficacy of radical reactions of isocyanides with heteroatom radicals in organic synthesis

• Akiya Ogawa and
• Yuki Yamamoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2114–2128, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.182

• (R = EWG-C6H4, E = PhS and PhTe) in moderate to high yields [30]. Very few examples of intermolecular cascade reactions with imidoyl radicals as key intermediates have been reported. The intermolecular cascade reaction of diselenide, electron-deficient acetylene, and isocyanide under photoirradiation

Multicomponent syntheses of pyrazoles via (3 + 2)-cyclocondensation and (3 + 2)-cycloaddition key steps

• Ignaz Betcke,
• Alissa C. Götzinger,
• Maryna M. Kornet and
• Thomas J. J. Müller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2024–2077, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.178

• al. used this for the regioselective one-pot synthesis of pyrazoles 175 by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with electron-deficient alkenes (Scheme 59) [177]. The reaction is carried out in air to oxidize an intermediary

Regioselective alkylation of a versatile indazole: Electrophile scope and mechanistic insights from density functional theory calculations

• Pengcheng Lu,
• Luis Juarez,
• Paul A. Wiget,
• Weihe Zhang,
• Krishnan Raman and
• Pravin L. Kotian

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1940–1954, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.170

• similar to 6. They observed high N1-selectivity using NaH in THF with pentyl bromide and electron-deficient indazoles, postulating a coordination of the indazole N2-atom and an electron-rich oxygen atom in a C-3 substituent with the Na+ cation from NaH. Under anhydrous conditions the yields ranged from 44