A novel recyclable organocatalyst for the gram-scale enantioselective synthesis of (S)-baclofen

• Gyula Dargó,
• Dóra Erdélyi,
• Balázs Molnár,
• Péter Kisszékelyi,
• Zsófia Garádi and
• József Kupai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1811–1824, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.133

• , acetonitrile, with 91–100% efficiency, and the catalyst was reused in five reaction cycles without the loss of activity and selectivity. Keywords: baclofen; catalyst recovery; lipophilic cinchona squaramide; organocatalysis; stereoselective catalysis; Introduction In today’s chemical industry, catalytic

• processes are of paramount importance. In particular, the application of asymmetric organocatalysts is receiving increased attention [1][2][3][4]. This is illustrated by the fact that in 2021 the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for the discovery of asymmetric organocatalysis [5]. The use of

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

• synthesis of chiral sulfides up to 97% ee was achieved in this method. A wide range of cyclic alkenes 138 and acyclic alkenes 52 and 9 were smoothly tolerated in this organocatalysis strategy. According to the proposed mechanism, initially, the organocatalyst activated the electrophilic sulfur species to

• reduction of II by silane. On the other hand, most of II were converted to intermediate III, which underwent hydride reduction to render product 140 (Scheme 61). Another organocatalysis system was disclosed by Liu and co-workers for sulfenylation of α-fluoro-β-ketoamides 143 and azlactones 145 (Scheme 62

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

• enantioselectivity. Keywords: acetaldehyde; acetaldehyde dimethyl acetal; cascade reaction; multicomponent reaction; organocatalysis; Introduction Multicomponent reactions (MCRs) are chemical processes that involve three or more compounds, in which the product contains all the atoms of the reagents, except for

Exploring the role of halogen bonding in iodonium ylides: insights into unexpected reactivity and reaction control

• Carlee A. Montgomery and
• Graham K. Murphy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1171–1190, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.86

• ][78][79][80][81][82]. Organocatalysis is also a common point of intersection for halogen- and hydrogen bonding, and this has been thoroughly explored using monovalent iodine catalysts [83][84][85]. 1.3 Halogen bonding in hypervalent iodine complexes Similar to monovalent iodine compounds, a diverse

• compounds have also played an active role in halogen bond-based organocatalysis [91][92][93][94][95][96][97]. 2 Halogen bonding in iodonium ylides 2.1 Quantification of σ-holes in iodonium ylides Until recently, there were no quantitative evaluations of σ-holes in iodonium ylides [98][99], even though

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

• stereoselectivity is also explained. Keywords: asymmetric; aza-Friedel–Crafts reaction; H-bonding; organocatalysis; stereoselectivity; Introduction The ease of a chemical transformation depends on the thermodynamic instability of a chemical bond owing to its fast cleavage under mild reaction conditions. A C–H

• the tremendous progress in organic chemistry over the last few decades, metal catalysis has been increasingly and successfully replaced by organocatalysis, i.e., accelerating the rate of chemical transformations by using small organic molecules as catalysts. Although being discovered more than 100

• years ago, the concept became increasingly accepted and popular only by the last decade of the last century [2][3]. Nowadays, organocatalysis is especially applied to asymmetric synthesis and a huge number of organocatalysts has been introduced in last three decades for the asymmetric synthesis of

Total synthesis: an enabling science

• Bastien Nay

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 474–476, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.36

• synthetic methodology developments and to natural product isolation or biosynthesis. Thus, thematic issues dealing with total synthesis in the Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry have naturally been published in these fields, such as "Transition-metal and organocatalysis in natural product synthesis

NaI/PPh₃-catalyzed visible-light-mediated decarboxylative radical cascade cyclization of N-arylacrylamides for the efficient synthesis of quaternary oxindoles

• Dan Liu,
• Yue Zhao and
• Frederic W. Patureau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 57–65, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.5

• advantage of circumventing the need for external redox additives and/or noble metals, using readily available and cost-effective NaI and PPh3 under mild reaction conditions. In a broader context, phosphine organocatalysis is probably still underappreciated in organic synthesis, and could lead to important

Two-step continuous-flow synthesis of 6-membered cyclic iodonium salts via anodic oxidation

• Julian Spils,
• Thomas Wirth and
• Boris J. Nachtsheim

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 27–32, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.2

• -established reagents for synthetic chemists. They are portrayed as an alternative to otherwise hazardous transition metals. This is due to their great reactivity in electrophilic group transfers [1][2][3][4], photo- or organocatalysis [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15], and their utility as building

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

• Elena R. Lopat'eva Igor B. Krylov Dmitry A. Lapshin Alexander O. Terent'ev N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Prospect 47, Moscow, 119991, Russia 10.3762/bjoc.18.179 Abstract Organocatalysis is widely recognized as a key synthetic methodology in

• organic chemistry. It allows chemists to avoid the use of precious and (or) toxic metals by taking advantage of the catalytic activity of small and synthetically available molecules. Today, the term organocatalysis is mainly associated with redox-neutral asymmetric catalysis of C–C bond-forming processes

• oxidative, catalyzed by redox-active organic molecules in the ground state (without light excitation). Unfortunately, many of such processes are not associated in the literature with the organocatalysis field and thus many achievements are not fully consolidated and systematized. The present article is

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of chiral thiophosphorus acids as organocatalysts

• Karen R. Winters and
• Jean-Luc Montchamp

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1471–1478, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.154

• asymmetric organocatalysis. In order to eliminate the need for C2-symmetry in common CPAs, various scaffolds containing C1-symmetrical thiophosphorus acids were chosen. These new compounds were synthesized and evaluated in the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of 2-phenylquinoline. Although the efficacy of

• the thiophosphorus acids was disappointing for this reaction, the work should be useful for developing structural design elements. Keywords: asymmetric; heterocycles; organocatalysis; phosphorus; synthesis; Introduction The importance of asymmetric organocatalysis was demonstrated by the 2021 Nobel

• SPINOL [4][5] (Figure 1). The great success of these CPAs in asymmetric organocatalysis, is demonstrated by the publication of thousands of articles and reviews [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. In all cases the C2-symmetry is required because of the prototropic tautomeric equilibrium in the

First example of organocatalysis by cathodic N-heterocyclic carbene generation and accumulation using a divided electrochemical flow cell

• Daniele Rocco,
• Ana A. Folgueiras-Amador,
• Richard C. D. Brown and
• Marta Feroci

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 979–990, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.98

• at the cathode is usually H2 evolution [29]. The use of divided cells is less common in organic electrosynthesis, mainly due to complications inherent with membranes. Useful cathodic processes are less exploited in organic electrochemistry. In the context of NHC organocatalysis in flow

• ). Therefore, the 32% chemical yield (with respect to starting IL) is comparable with the yield of the batch process. Electrogenerated NHC organocatalysis. Dimerization of trans-cinnamaldehyde: synthesis of 4-phenyl-5-styryldihydrofuran-2(3H)-one Having demonstrated that NHCs could be generated and accumulated

• anolyte, a lower amount of both diastereoisomers was observed (Table 2, entries 5 and 6). Thus the best yield (79%, 67:33 cis/trans ratio) was obtained using a charge of 2.0 F and a solution of MeCN–MeOH (9.5:0.5)/Et4NBF4 (0.1 M) as anolyte (Table 2, entry 3). Electrogenerated NHC organocatalysis

Continuous flow synthesis of azobenzenes via Baeyer–Mills reaction

• Jan H. Griwatz,
• Anne Kunz and
• Hermann A. Wegner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 781–787, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.78

• . Keywords: azobenzenes; Baeyer–Mills reaction; continuous flow; molecular switches; solar fuel; Introduction Although the red-colored azobenzenes (AB) have been known for years as dyes, their applications nowadays span from energy and information storage [1][2][3][4][5], organocatalysis [6], photobiology

BINOL as a chiral element in mechanically interlocked molecules

• Matthias Krajnc and
• Jochen Niemeyer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 508–523, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.53

• limited to) metal- and organocatalysis [30] and stereoselective chemosensing [31][32]. By introduction of an axially chiral BINOL unit into a MIM, it is possible to combine the unique applicability of the chiral BINOL unit with the special possibilities offered by interlocked molecules. In this minireview

A resorcin[4]arene hexameric capsule as a supramolecular catalyst in elimination and isomerization reactions

• Tommaso Lorenzetto,
• Fabrizio Fabris and
• Alessandro Scarso

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 337–349, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.38

• compared to many other strong Brønsted or Lewis acids. Keywords: cationic intermediates; encapsulation; organocatalysis; resorcin[4]arene hexamer; supramolecular catalysis; Introduction In enzymatic catalysis, the substrate is selected matching the size, shape and specific functional groups present in

New advances in asymmetric organocatalysis

• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 240–242, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.28

• Radovan Sebesta Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia 10.3762/bjoc.18.28 Keywords: asymmetric organocatalysis; covalent activation; noncovalent activation; Asymmetric catalysis is

• [12]. The recent culmination of the rapid advent of organocatalysis was the Nobel prize in 2021, which was awarded to Benjamin List and David MacMillan for their pioneering discoveries. Organocatalysis outgrew its initial inspiration by enzymatic catalysis, but the analogy with nature can be seen

• repertoire of chemical transformations that are amenable to organocatalysis [14]. Within the realm of covalent activation, chiral carbenes and phosphines are diverse and structurally rich groups of catalysts. The synthetic scope was greatly expanded by noncovalent activation via a range of proton-mediated

Asymmetric organocatalytic Michael addition of cyclopentane-1,2-dione to alkylidene oxindole

• Estelle Silm,
• Ivar Järving and
• Tõnis Kanger

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 167–173, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.18

• presence of a multifunctional squaramide catalyst. Michael adducts were obtained in high enantioselectivities and in moderate diastereoselectivities. Keywords: cyclopentane-1,2-dione; enantioselective catalysis; Michael addition; organocatalysis; squaramide; Introduction Diketones are generally very

The ethoxycarbonyl group as both activating and protective group in N-acyl-Pictet–Spengler reactions using methoxystyrenes. A short approach to racemic 1-benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids

• Marco Keller,
• Karl Sauvageot-Witzku,
• Franz Geisslinger,
• Nicole Urban,
• Michael Schaefer,
• Karin Bartel and
• Franz Bracher

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2716–2725, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.183

• arylacetaldimines of phenylethylamines [2] (Figure 1). Especially the Pictet–Spengler reaction has attracted considerable interest in chemistry and drug development in recent years, and modern methods like enantioselective approaches, organocatalysis, and enzymatic methods have been introduced by numerous groups [3

• enantioselective organocatalysis based on Jacobsen’s pioneering work [56]. Since we had recently identified substituted 1-benzyltetrahydroisoquinolines as truncated analogues of bioactive bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids (SG-005 and SG-094) as TPC2 blockers with antiproliferative activity, we tested our alkaloids

Solvent-free synthesis of enantioenriched β-silyl nitroalkanes under organocatalytic conditions

• Akhil K. Dubey and
• Raghunath Chowdhury

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2642–2649, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.177

• experiments reveal that the presence of a β-silyl group in the enones is crucial for high reactivity under the optimized reaction conditions. Keywords: β-silyl α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds; β-silyl nitroalkanes; chiral organosilanes; organocatalysis; solvent-free synthesis; Introduction

N-Sulfinylpyrrolidine-containing ureas and thioureas as bifunctional organocatalysts

• Viera Poláčková,
• Dominika Krištofíková,
• Boglárka Némethová,
• Renata Górová,
• Mária Mečiarová and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2629–2641, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.176

• aldehydes and hydrogen-bond activation of nitroalkenes. Keywords: asymmetric organocatalysis; hydrogen bond; Michael addition; pyrrolidine; thiourea; urea; Introduction Asymmetric organocatalysis became one of the strategic ways for the efficient synthesis of chiral compounds [1]. Bifunctional catalysis

• has proven to be a successful concept in asymmetric organocatalysis [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. An amine unit with a hydrogen-bond donating skeleton is highly efficient from among various possible combinations of catalytic moieties within an organocatalyst. This idea has been inspired by proline catalysis

• organocatalysis can benefit and accommodate many sustainability techniques [29]. Mechanochemistry can increase the sustainability profile of a chemical process by reducing potentially harmful organic solvents and bring other benefits such as substantially shortened reaction times. A handful of asymmetric

Recent advances in organocatalytic asymmetric aza-Michael reactions of amines and amides

• Pratibha Sharma,
• Raakhi Gupta and
• Raj K. Bansal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2585–2610, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.173

• organocatalysts in asymmetric aza-MR. Keywords: asymmetric aza-Michael reaction; covalent bonding catalysis; nitrogen heterocycles; non-covalent bonding catalysis; organocatalysis; Introduction The Michael reaction though discovered about 135 years ago [1][2] continues to attract attention of the chemists owing

• the non-covalent and covalent organocatalysis. It is intended to overview the literature of the last 10 years, i.e., from 2011 through 2020 only. Nevertheless, wherever necessary, earlier references may also be cited to maintain coherence. Furthermore, nitrogen nucleophiles comprise a large variety of

• -2,3-dihydro-4-quinolones 99 were obtained in good yields of up to 95% and good ee (58–72%) (Table 22) [61]. 2. Covalent-bonding organocatalysis of aza-Michael reactions This category of organocatalysts includes N-heterocyclic carbenes and pyrrolidine derivatives. 2.1 Catalysis by N-heterocyclic

Enantioselective PCCP Brønsted acid-catalyzed aminalization of aldehydes

• Martin Kamlar,
• Robert Reiberger,
• Martin Nigríni,
• Ivana Císařová and
• Jan Veselý

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2433–2440, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.160

• stereogenic carbon center with good enantioselectivity (ee up to 80%) and excellent yields (up to 97%). Keywords: aminalization; Brønsted acid; organocatalysis; PCCP; pentacarboxycyclopentadiene; Introduction Nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds are commonly occurring in nature and constitute the core

Halides as versatile anions in asymmetric anion-binding organocatalysis

• Lukas Schifferer,
• Martin Stinglhamer,
• Kirandeep Kaur and
• Olga García Macheño

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2270–2286, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.145

• development of the research area of asymmetric anion-binding organocatalysis. Key early elucidation studies with chloride as counter-anion confirmed this type of alternative activation, which was then exploited in several processes and contributed to the advance and consolidation of anion-binding catalysis as

• catalysts’ designs Basic/nucleophilic – H-donor bifunctional catalysts: Over the past decades, chiral bifunctional catalysts bearing a thiourea as HB-donor and a basic or nucleophilic group such as an amine have emerged as a powerful tool in organocatalysis by assisting to enhance the catalyst performance

Asymmetric organocatalyzed synthesis of coumarin derivatives

• Natália M. Moreira,
• Lorena S. R. Martelli and
• Arlene G. Corrêa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1952–1980, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.128

• , the advances in asymmetric organocatalyzed synthesis of coumarin derivatives are discussed in this review, according to the mode of activation of the catalyst. Keywords: asymmetric synthesis; green chemistry; 2H-chromen-2-one; organocatalysis; Introduction Coumarins are important naturally occurring

• a specific target, i.e., it gives access to a greater diversity of compounds to be explored [26]. In this work, a compilation of the enantioselective synthesis of coumarin derivatives using asymmetric organocatalysis is presented, highlighting the proposed mechanism pathways for the formation of the

• described by Herrera et al. for the first time using primary aromatic diamines 31 as organocatalysts. The application of this class of catalysts for the Michael asymmetric addition of 4-hydroxycoumarins 1 to enones 2 is interesting from the point of view of organocatalysis, since the presence of two primary

Electron-rich triarylphosphines as nucleophilic catalysts for oxa-Michael reactions

• Susanne M. Fischer,
• Simon Renner,
• A. Daniel Boese and
• Christian Slugovc

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1689–1697, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.117

• Susanne M. Fischer Simon Renner A. Daniel Boese Christian Slugovc Institute for Chemistry and Technology of Materials, Graz University of Technology, Stremayrgasse 9, 8010 Graz, Austria Christian Doppler Laboratory for Organocatalysis in Polymerization, Stremayrgasse 9, 8010 Graz, Austria

• chemistry; organocatalysis; phosphine; solvent-free synthesis; Introduction Phosphines are potent nucleophiles that are used as catalysts in many reactions, like Rauhut–Currier, Morita–Baylis–Hillman or Michael reactions [1][2][3]. The first step of these reactions is a conjugate addition of the phosphine

One-step synthesis of imidazoles from Asmic (anisylsulfanylmethyl isocyanide)

• Louis G. Mueller,
• Allen Chao,
• Embarek AlWedi and
• Fraser F. Fleming

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1499–1502, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.106

• etomidate [4] and the antileukemia agent nilotinib [5]. The outstanding and diverse bioactivity of imidazole-containing pharmaceuticals [6], as well as their role as ligands for transition metals [7], and organocatalysis [8], has stimulated an array of creative syntheses [9][10]. Among the numerous routes