Advancements in hydrochlorination of alkenes

• Daniel S. Müller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 787–814, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.72

• reaction, the protonation of the alkene is the rate-determining step. This process can be viewed as the reaction between a nucleophile (alkene) and an electrophile (proton). According to the Mayr–Patz equation log(k) = s(N + E), the second order reaction rate constant k at 20 °C for a reaction is related

• necessary [93]. In 2022, Liu reported a palladium-catalyzed chain walking–hydrochlorination reaction [94]. While the concept of chain walking is well-established [95], the subsequent reaction of terminal palladium metal with a chlorine electrophile can be considered innovative. This review specifically

Evaluation of the enantioselectivity of new chiral ligands based on imidazolidin-4-one derivatives

• Jan Bartáček,
• Karel Chlumský,
• Jan Mrkvička,
• Lucie Paloušová,
• Miloš Sedlák and
• Pavel Drabina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 684–691, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.62

• effective transition state includes the electrophile positioned in the equatorial site (strongly coordinated) and the nucleophile in the perpendicular site (weakly coordinated) [19]. The most favourable orientation of aldehyde should be out of the ligand’s molecular parts, thus forming E-configuration at

Green and sustainable approaches for the Friedel–Crafts reaction between aldehydes and indoles

• Periklis X. Kolagkis,
• Eirini M. Galathri and
• Christoforos G. Kokotos

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 379–426, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.36

• protocol significantly, with the drawback of needing conventional heating at 100 °C for the composite material to activate the reacting carbonyl group by lowering its LUMO orbital, rendering it a more potent electrophile so that the nucleophilic indole can attack it (Scheme 16) [101][102]. Both aliphatic

Mechanisms for radical reactions initiating from N-hydroxyphthalimide esters

• Carlos R. Azpilcueta-Nicolas and
• Jean-Philip Lumb

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 346–378, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.35

• of RAEs with organozinc reagents under Co-catalysis, effecting diverse arylation, alkenylation, and alkynylation reactions [92]. The second type of reaction is referred to as cross-electrophile coupling and involves the Ni-catalyzed reaction of NHPI esters with aryl- and vinyl halides under reducing

• enantioselective cross-electrophile coupling between NHPI esters and alkenyl bromides [100] (Scheme 26A). In addition, Jolit and Molander disclosed the decarboxylative arylation of NHPI esters derived from bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanes (BCPs) by combining Ni-catalysis and photoinduced EDA complex activation [101] (Scheme

• . Finally, single electron oxidation of 169 at the anode, followed by rearomatization via proton-transfer forms the alkylated heterocycle 170. As discussed in Scheme 25, the Ni-catalyzed cross-electrophile coupling between redox-active esters and aryl halides requires the addition of a stoichiometric

Nucleophilic functionalization of thianthrenium salts under basic conditions

• Xinting Fan,
• Duo Zhang,
• Xiangchuan Xiu,
• Bin Xu,
• Yu Yuan,
• Feng Chen and
• Pan Gao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 257–263, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.26

• engage in reactions with electrophilic reagents like thiophenol or amines under alkaline conditions, facilitating the formation of respective C–N/O bonds. The synthesis of alkylthianthrenium salts requires alkyl trifluoromethanesulfonate as a precursor, which can also act as an electrophile. However

Using the phospha-Michael reaction for making phosphonium phenolate zwitterions

• Matthias R. Steiner,
• Max Schmallegger,
• Larissa Donner,
• Johann A. Hlina,
• Christoph Marschner,
• Judith Baumgartner and
• Christian Slugovc

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 41–51, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.6

• the mentioned reactions, the first step of the catalytic cycle is the nucleophilic attack of the phosphine on the electrophile, in many cases an electron-deficient olefin. The zwitterion formed from this conjugate addition can subsequently act as a nucleophile or as a base [3][4][5]. The efficiency of

Anion–π catalysis on carbon allotropes

• M. Ángeles Gutiérrez López,
• Mei-Ling Tan,
• Giacomo Renno,
• Augustina Jozeliūnaitė,
• J. Jonathan Nué-Martinez,
• Javier Lopez-Andarias,
• Naomi Sakai and
• Stefan Matile

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1881–1894, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.140

• electrophile. To accelerate and direct this charge displacement, any electron-rich motif in transition states and reactive intermediates should be stabilizable by induced anion–π interactions with MWCNTs that are polarized by an electric field. Inversion of the applied voltage should allow to stabilize the

Recent advancements in iodide/phosphine-mediated photoredox radical reactions

• Tinglan Liu,
• Yu Zhou,
• Junhong Tang and
• Chengming Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1785–1803, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.131

• electrophile compared to other alkyl halides, such as related bromides and chlorides. As a result, an effective iododecarboxylation provides a versatile platform for a range of decarboxylative reactions. Shang and co-workers recently found that aliphatic carboxylates and lithium iodide could undergo

N-Sulfenylsuccinimide/phthalimide: an alternative sulfenylating reagent in organic transformations

• Fatemeh Doraghi,
• Seyedeh Pegah Aledavoud,
• Mehdi Ghanbarlou,
• Bagher Larijani and
• Mohammad Mahdavi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1471–1502, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.106

• article, we focus on the application of these alternative sulfenylating reagents in organic transformations. Keywords: electrophile; N-(sulfenyl)succinimides/phthalimides; organic transformations; organosulfur; sulfenylation; Introduction Sulfur-containing compounds are of high importance in organic

• , chalcogensuccinimide as an electrophile, and cyclopropane as a zwitterion component (Scheme 21) [58]. In 2020, a Lewis acid-mediated cyclization of β,γ-unsaturated oximes 51 and hydrazones 52 with N-(arylsulfenyl)succinimide 1 and N-(arylseleno)succinimide 1’’ was extended for the formation of isoxazoles 53 and

• construction of 4-chalcogenylated pyrazoles 57 and 59 was carried out starting from α,β-alkynic hydrazones 55 (Scheme 24) [60]. In the procedure, α,β-alkynic hydrazones were subjected to S- or Se-electrophiles 56 and cyclization reaction. Additionally, NCS and ArSH produced the S-electrophile for the

α-(Aminomethyl)acrylates as acceptors in radical–polar crossover 1,4-additions of dialkylzincs: insights into enolate formation and trapping

• Angel Palillero-Cisneros,
• Paola G. Gordillo-Guerra,
• Fernando García-Alvarez,
• Olivier Jackowski,
• Franck Ferreira,
• Fabrice Chemla,
• Joel L. Terán and
• Alejandro Perez-Luna

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1443–1451, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.103

• -addition and SH2 of the formed enoxyl radical facilitated by coordination of nitrogen to zinc. The zinc enolate thus formed evolves following different pathways according to the type of substrate and reaction conditions. In the absence of a carbonyl electrophile, enolates of substrates with trisubstituted

• chiral induction. It should be mentioned here that our attempts to trap the intermediate enolate with a carbon electrophile other than carbonyl acceptors (i.e., iodomethane) were not successful and protodemetalation of the enolate outcompeted methylation. Conclusion In conclusion, we have demonstrated

• of compounds 18–20, 21a–b, 22–24). In a Schlenk-tube under argon, the appropriate α-(aminomethyl)acrylate (0.2 mmol) was dissolved in the indicated reaction solvent (3 mL) and the solution was cooled to −33 °C. The carbonyl electrophile (1.0 mmol) and then Et2Zn (1 M in hexanes, 1.0 mL, 1.0 mmol

Visible-light-induced nickel-catalyzed α-hydroxytrifluoroethylation of alkyl carboxylic acids: Access to trifluoromethyl alkyl acyloins

• Feng Chen,
• Xiu-Hua Xu,
• Zeng-Hao Chen,
• Yue Chen and
• Feng-Ling Qing

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1372–1378, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.98

• light-induced charge transfer event to give trifluoroethoxyl radical B, followed by a 1,2-hydrogen atom transfer (HAT), producing the stable radical C. For the nickel cycle, it is initiated by oxidative addition of Ni(0) catalyst E to acyl electrophile D formed in situ from carboxylic acid 1 with

Synthesis of ether lipids: natural compounds and analogues

• Marco Antônio G. B. Gomes,
• Alicia Bauduin,
• Chloé Le Roux,
• Romain Fouinneteau,
• Wilfried Berthe,
• Mathieu Berchel,
• Hélène Couthon and
• Paul-Alain Jaffrès

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1299–1369, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.96

• tosylation of the primary alcohol produced 4.8. The epoxidation of 4.8 occurred by reaction with t-BuOK in THF, thus producing 4.9 as a chiral electrophile. The regioselective opening of the epoxide is achieved by adding the octadecanol sodium salt. The intermediate was debenzylated by catalytic

• was converted to the epoxide 7.5 by cyclisation in the presence of potassium carbonate in methanol, thus producing the interesting building block 7.5. A second option, optimized to avoid the formation of epoxide, used a hindered base and the reactive benzyltriflate as electrophile to achieve under

• iodomethane as electrophile produced 21.5 in 89% yield. The debenzylation of the sn-3 alcohol was achieved by catalytic hydrogenolysis to give 21.6. Then, the phosphocholine moiety was introduced by using 2-bromoethyl phosphorodichloridate as key reagent to give 21.7 that subsequently reacted with

Acetaldehyde in the Enders triple cascade reaction via acetaldehyde dimethyl acetal

• Alessandro Brusa,
• Debora Iapadre,
• Maria Edith Casacchia,
• Alessio Carioscia,
• Giuliana Giorgianni,
• Giandomenico Magagnano,
• Fabio Pesciaioli and
• Armando Carlone

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1243–1250, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.92

• as a reagent has always been challenging. The low boiling point and high volatility pose a problem with its handling and safety. The small steric hindrance gives rise to a high reactivity both as an electrophile and as a pro-nucleophile, hampering chemoselectivity (further to side reactions such as

Photoredox catalysis harvesting multiple photon or electrochemical energies

• Mattia Lepori,
• Simon Schmid and
• Joshua P. Barham

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1055–1145, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.81

Aromatic C–H bond functionalization through organocatalyzed asymmetric intermolecular aza-Friedel–Crafts reaction: a recent update

• Anup Biswas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 956–981, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.72

• performs as an H-bond donor towards the imidazoline nitrogen and the electrophile acts as H-bond acceptor from the OH group of the catalyst. These interactions rearrange the three molecules in a chiral pocket as shown by transition state 7, favoring stereoinduction in the products through C3

• . Stereoselectivity in the products 10/11 was achieved by using the chiral spirocyclic phosphoric acid catalyst P3 which, through H-bonding interactions with the nucleophile and the electrophile, forces the nucleophile to approach the C=N plane from the Re face. In general, enantiocontrol with pyrroles was better

• for the functionalization of the C3–H bond in indoles 9 in the presence of BINOL-derived chiral phosphoric acid P6 as the catalytic agent. They utilized trifluoromethyl ester-substituted N-unprotected imine 15 as the potential electrophile to install an aza-quaternary stereocenter in the C3 position

Synthesis of aliphatic nitriles from cyclobutanone oxime mediated by sulfuryl fluoride (SO₂F₂)

• Xian-Lin Chen and
• Hua-Li Qin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 901–908, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.68

• (SO2F2) [43], a kind of inexpensive (about 1 $/kg), abundant, and relatively inert electrophile and one of the major sulfur fluoride exchange (SuFEx) click chemistry reagents [44][45], has been successfully applied as an electrophile to react with hydroxy groups to generate fluorosulfonate esters, being

First synthesis of acylated nitrocyclopropanes

• Kento Iwai,
• Rikiya Kamidate,
• Khimiya Wada,
• Haruyasu Asahara and
• Nagatoshi Nishiwaki

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 892–900, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.67

• through an intramolecular aza-Wittig reaction, yielding cyclopropane-fused 2-quinolones [2]. A nitro group not only activates substrates and stabilizes the α-anion as an electron-withdrawing group but also acts as a nucleophile, electrophile, and leaving group, exhibiting diverse reactivities [3]. For

Asymmetric tandem conjugate addition and reaction with carbocations on acylimidazole Michael acceptors

• Brigita Mudráková,
• Renata Marcia de Figueiredo,
• Jean-Marc Campagne and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 881–888, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.65

• excellent in asymmetric conjugate additions of dialkylzincs to acylimidazoles [25]. The initial reaction conditions were inspired by literature precedence on conjugate additions. As the first electrophile for trapping of the chiral enolate, we have used tropylium bistriflimide (Scheme 2). Following our

• diastereoselectivity. The reaction was also carried out using 3.3 equiv of the electrophile added in one portion. The full conversion of the starting acylimidazole 1a was observed after 30 minutes (TLC monitoring), however, the diastereoselectivity remained low (Table 1, entry 6). Neither an increase nor decrease of

• reaction was stirred for 2 h, while it was slowly warmed up to rt. Then, the electrophile in anhydrous CH2Cl2 (1.0 mL) together with DMEU (20.2–40.4 µL, 75–150 mol %, to achieve homogeneity of the reaction mixture) were added to the reaction mixture followed by stirring at rt for 0.5–1 h. The reaction was

Enolates ambushed – asymmetric tandem conjugate addition and subsequent enolate trapping with conventional and less traditional electrophiles

• Péter Kisszékelyi and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 593–634, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.44

• . Short information on applications in total synthesis is also given. Keywords: asymmetric catalysis; conjugate addition; electrophile; enolate; tandem reaction; Introduction The formation of complex chiral molecules is a crucial task of organic synthesis that enables the synthesis of pharmaceuticals

• structurally different Michael acceptors were successfully applied. Their work also included a 3 mmol scale-up (62%, 87% ee, dr >20:1) and various derivatizations of the Mannich products. Furthermore, they have also attempted a multi-electrophile cascade reaction, which harnesses the nucleophilic nature of the

Transition-metal-catalyzed domino reactions of strained bicyclic alkenes

• Austin Pounder,
• Eric Neufeld,
• Peter Myler and
• William Tam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 487–540, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.38

• other π systems or can be intercepted by an electrophile. The introduction of a bridging heteroatom into the bicyclic scaffold can dramatically alter the reactivity (Figure 2c). Besides the apparent increase in the ring strain (vide supra), their potential propagation steps are more complex. After an

• intercepted by an electrophile to generate the difunctionalized system. This methodology has been applied several times to strained bicyclic alkenes with a variety of electrophiles. In 2015, Hirano and Miura developed a Cu-catalyzed aminoboration of bicyclic alkenes 1 with bis(pinacolato)diboron (B2pin2) (53

• –Fe(II) complex 82. Transmetalation with an organozinc produces 78a which can be trapped by an electrophile to generate the final product 79a. Cobalt-catalyzed reactions In 2014, the Yoshikai lab investigated the Co-catalyzed addition of arylzinc reagents 83 of norbornene derivatives 15 (Scheme 14

Computational studies of Brønsted acid-catalyzed transannular cycloadditions of cycloalkenone hydrazones

• Manuel Pedrón,
• Jana Sendra,
• Irene Ginés,
• Tomás Tejero,
• Jose L. Vicario and
• Pedro Merino

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 477–486, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.37

• inversion of the reagents and whereas in the classical cycloadditions with azomethine imines, they act as a nucleophile (involving their HOMO, interacting with the LUMO of the alkene), in our case, the protonated hydrazone acts as an electrophile (involving their LUMO, interacting now with the HOMO of the

Total synthesis of insect sex pheromones: recent improvements based on iron-mediated cross-coupling chemistry

• Eric Gayon,
• Guillaume Lefèvre,
• Olivier Guerret,
• Adrien Tintar and
• Pablo Chourreu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 158–166, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.15

• introduction of the C7–C8 linkage by a key iron-mediated cross-coupling sequence between the suitable α,ω-difunctionalized Grignard reagent and 1-bromopenta-1,3-diene as the electrophile (Scheme 6) [32]. A classic drawback of the use of dienyl halides as coupling partners is their intrinsic thermal instability

Synthetic study toward tridachiapyrone B

• Morgan Cormier,
• Florian Hernvann and
• Michaël De Paolis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1741–1748, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.183

• deprotonation of 2-(α’-methoxy-γ-pyrone)-1,3-dithiane. The resulting vinylogous enolate intermediate was trapped with the electrophile 3, amounting to the one-pot preparation of compound 4, having a masked carbonyl function connecting both key fragments [27][28]. Isolated and characterized by Schmitz [17], the

• temperature in contrast with the nucleophile 2-lithio-1,3-dithiane, and with acetic acid as electrophile (Scheme 3). Among the possible isomers that can be expected, a single one 6a’ was isolated in 49% yield after trituration, as it was found rather unstable on silica gel. While the addition of more reactive

• yield was actually noted with (PhSe)2 as electrophile, 5 being obtained in 62% yield, enabling thus an evaluation of the next desymmetrization step. An overview of the scientific literature revealed that, while the asymmetric desymmetrization of prochiral 2,5-cyclohexadienones is a rich topic of

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

• (Scheme 2). In the enamine type of catalysis (Scheme 2A) the key enamine intermediate can undergo one-electron oxidation (route 1), electrophilic radical attack (route 2), or electrophile attack (route 3). The one-electron oxidation leads to the electrophilic cation radical which can further undergo

• electrophile and the nucleophile with the specific preorganization of the substrates by the catalyst is crucial for high enantioselectivity [67] (as in example A in Scheme 4). However, in example B the transition state without specific interactions between the sulfide and the catalyst is proposed. In this case

Functionalization of imidazole N-oxide: a recent discovery in organic transformations

• Koustav Singha,
• Imran Habib and
• Mossaraf Hossain

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1575–1588, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.168

• to be a 1:1:1 ratio of 2-unsubstituted imidazole N-oxides as C-nucleophile, ethyl cyanoacetate as C–H acidic electrophile and 4-(methylsulfanyl)benzaldehyde as aldehyde catalyst, DMF as solvent at 100 °C for 5 h. Under the optimized conditions, malononitrile providing the products 4i,j (36–45%), 2