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

• amino acids N-Boc-leucine, N-Boc-proline, and N-Boc-tryptophane were used. Overall, rotaxane 64a shows lower association constants (K = 138–2589 M−1) with preference for the (R)-isomers of the guest molecules (K(S)/K(R) = 0.29–0.66). In contrast, rotaxane 64b preferentially binds the (S)-isomers (K(S)/K

Synthesis of 3,4,5-trisubstituted isoxazoles in water via a [3 + 2]-cycloaddition of nitrile oxides and 1,3-diketones, β-ketoesters, or β-ketoamides

• Md Imran Hossain,
• Md Imdadul H. Khan,
• Seong Jong Kim and
• Hoang V. Le

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 446–458, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.47

• other solvents. The results are summarized in Table 1. In our first attempt, DBU or (S)-proline in 5% water, 95% methanol yielded a complex mixture of products that were not easy to distinguish (Table 1, entries 1 and 2). The use of NaHCO3 in 98% water, 2% methanol after 3 hours, produced 14% of the

New advances in asymmetric organocatalysis

• Radovan Šebesta

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

• been recognized as chiral organocatalysts as early as 1912, the concept was at the periphery of the attention of synthetic organic chemists. An initial flash of interest appeared in the 1970s when proline was shown to catalyze the Robinson annulation [1][2], but this seminal work seemed to come too

• disclosed important discoveries with proline and imidazolidinones as ample chiral catalysts for aldol [7][8], Diels–Alder [9], dipolar cycloaddition [10], and Mannich reactions [11]. The organic chemistry community this time took a tremendous interest in this concept, which led to many valuable developments

Organocatalytic asymmetric nitroso aldol reaction of α-substituted malonamates

• Ekta Gupta,
• Narendra Kumar Vaishanv,
• Sandeep Kumar,
• Raja Krishnan Purshottam,
• Ruchir Kant and
• Kishor Mohanan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 217–224, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.25

• metal-catalyzed reactions [31][32][33][34][35][36]. The most successful among them are the ʟ-proline-catalyzed reactions of enolizable aldehydes with nitrosoarenes [37][38][39][40][41][42][43]. Besides ʟ-proline and its derivatives, various secondary amines derived from BINOL and cinchona alkaloids were

• squaramide catalyst 3c, however, with low enantioselectivity (Table 1, entry 6). Disappointingly, the reaction catalyzed by ʟ-proline-derived catalysts gave very low enantioselectivity (Table 1, entries 7 and 8). Having identified Takemoto’s catalyst as the most efficient one for this transformation, our

Synthesis and late stage modifications of Cyl derivatives

• Phil Servatius and
• Uli Kazmaier

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 174–181, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.19

• , epimerization is prevented through deprotonation of amide NH bonds, as argued by Seebach for Li enolates [53][54]. Nevertheless, isoleucine was prone to epimerize under the reaction conditions due to its vicinity to proline and therewith lack of the “protecting” NH group. Since no full conversion was observed

Highly stereocontrolled total synthesis of racemic codonopsinol B through isoxazolidine-4,5-diol vinylation

• Lukáš Ďurina,
• Anna Ďurinová,
• František Trejtnar,
• Ľuboš Janotka,
• Lucia Messingerová,
• Jana Doháňošová,
• Ján Moncol and
• Róbert Fischer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2781–2786, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.188

• -methoxycinnamaldehyde (6). Thus, the reaction of 6 with N-Cbz-protected hydroxylamine 7 catalyzed by ᴅʟ-proline in chloroform gave racemic 5-hydroxyisoxazolidine 8 in 77% yield almost as a sole trans isomer (dr > 9:1). Its structure was confirmed by comparison with already reported NMR data for the known (3S,5S

• )-enantiomer [18]. We have used ᴅʟ-proline for three reasons: first, it provides the target compounds 1 and 2 in their racemic form, second, it is able to catalyze the conjugate addition between N-EWG-protected hydroxylamines and enals effectively, and third, based on our experience, the products obtained by

• the proline catalysis are of higher purity (after purification by silica gel column chromatography), than those synthesized by other methods [16]. Definitely, the effective asymmetric organocatalytic conjugate additions of hydroxylamines to enals using various catalysts provide access to

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

• 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

• sulfur stereogenic center does not play an important role in the Michael addition (Figure 3b). The stereochemical outcome of the Michael addition is dictated mainly by the configuration of the proline unit. The calculated transition states for the Michael addition with both diastereomeric catalysts (S,R

• . Sulfinylurea catalysts were more active than the corresponding thioureas. The additional stereogenic center on the sulfur plays only a minor role on the stereoselectivity of the reaction, which is governed mainly by the configuration of the proline moiety. DFT calculations elucidated the stereochemical action

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

• different approach for the use of cinchona-based organocatalysts. Instead of using the cinchona derivative alone, they employed a mixture of cinchona derivative and amino acid such as ᴅ-proline, termed as the modularly designed organocatalyst (MDO) for the synthesis of bridged tetrahydroisoquinoline

• (quinidinethiourea + ᴅ-proline), instead of the expected domino Mannich/Michael product, the bridged tetrahydroisoquinoline product 25a was obtained in high yield (90%) and excellent dr (94:6) and ee value (99%) (Table 5). The controlled reactions using 23 and 24 as the catalyst gave the product in very poor yield

• , i.e., to assist in 1,3-prototropic shift. 2.2 Catalysis by chiral pyrrolidine derivatives Chiral pyrrolidine derivatives, such as (S)-proline are widely used as organocatalysts [54][64]. Lee et al. synthesized bromopyrrole alkaloids 107 via aza-Michael addition of 4,5-dibromo-1H-pyrrole-2-carbonitrile

Constrained thermoresponsive polymers – new insights into fundamentals and applications

• Patricia Flemming,
• Alexander S. Münch,
• Andreas Fery and
• Petra Uhlmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2123–2163, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.138

Recent advances in the syntheses of anthracene derivatives

• Giovanni S. Baviera and
• Paulo M. Donate

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2028–2050, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.131

• reaction also included anthraquinones 173b and 173c, obtained in good yields (74–94%) [73]. In 2015, in a related approach, Lee et al. disclosed a direct one-pot synthesis of anthraquinones and tetracenediones by using ʟ-proline as organocatalyst and benzoic acid as additive (Scheme 40) [74]. They

• synthesized substituted anthraquinones bearing Me, Et, or hydroxy groups, such as compounds 176a–e, in moderate to good yields (45–94%) through a [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of 1,4-substituted naphthoquinones 174 and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes 175 catalyzed by ʟ-proline. During optimization studies, the

• -Proline-catalyzed [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of naphthoquinones and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes. Iridium-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition of a 1,2-bis(propiolyl)benzene derivative with alkynes. Synthesis of several anthraquinone derivatives by using InCl3 and molecular iodine. Indium-catalyzed

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

• stereogenic centers. Review A plethora of highly effective small‐molecule organocatalysts have enriched the field of organic synthesis [27], including chiral proline derivatives, N‐heterocyclic carbenes, chiral thioureas and Brønsted acids as well as phase‐transfer catalysts (PTC), such as the quaternary

• starting material in the asymmetric organocatalyzed reaction, the Enders group described the use of (S)-proline as catalyst in an intramolecular aldol reaction, enabling a new strategy to obtain coumarin natural products [34]. As for example, the total synthesis of (+)-smyrindiol (17), a linear

• dihydrofuranocoumarin isolated from the roots of Smyrniopsis aucheri, was developed [35]. The 5-enolexo aldol key step of this synthesis was performed using 40 mol % of (S)-proline and the desired product 14 was obtained in good yield (71%), and high diastereo- and enantioselectivities (Scheme 4). Moreover, the natural

On the application of 3d metals for C–H activation toward bioactive compounds: The key step for the synthesis of silver bullets

• Renato L. Carvalho,
• Amanda S. de Miranda,
• Mateus P. Nunes,
• Roberto S. Gomes,
• Guilherme A. M. Jardim and
• Eufrânio N. da Silva Júnior

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1849–1938, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.126

• amino acids and peptide scaffolds compatible with the transformation. The late-stage oxidation of proline 76 to 5-hydroxyproline furnished interesting intermediates, giving access to relevant motifs in peptide chemistry (Scheme 27C). Sesquiterpenes are known to present complex polycyclic structures with

Cationic oligonucleotide derivatives and conjugates: A favorable approach for enhanced DNA and RNA targeting oligonucleotides

• Mathias B. Danielsen and
• Jesper Wengel

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1828–1848, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.125

• relative to the downregulation of the reference ASO (Oblimersen) [91]. In an entirely different approach, the 2’-amino group of amino-LNA-thymine (amino-LNA-T) has been explored as an attachment point for various cationic groups. As one example, amino acids such as glycine, lysine, and proline in different

• out for the synthesis of stereochemically pure PS-ONs and one of these methods employs the proline-derived bicyclic oxazaphospholidine monomer [122] which was later used in the scalable synthetic process of therapeutic stereopure PS-ASOs [123]. When the modified ONs were hybridized with their

Natural products in the predatory defence of the filamentous fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus

• Jana M. Boysen,
• Nauman Saeed and
• Falk Hillmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1814–1827, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.124

• . They occur most often in Aspergillus and Penicillium species [160]. Fumitremorgin A (20), B (21) and C (22) can all be found in A. fumigatus (Figure 7). They are based on the precursers ʟ-tryptophan and ʟ-proline and are further derived from breviamide F, proposedly via tryprostatin B which is

Sustainable manganese catalysis for late-stage C–H functionalization of bioactive structural motifs

• Jongwoo Son

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1733–1751, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.122

• late-stage methylation of complex drug derivatives, such as of indoprofen (anti-inflammatory), tedizolid (antibiotic), and celecoxib (anti-inflammatory), successfully delivered methylated drug candidates 22f–h, respectively. In addition, methylation of proline-containing multipeptides was achieved via

A recent overview on the synthesis of 1,4,5-trisubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles

• Pezhman Shiri,
• Ali Mohammad Amani and
• Thomas Mayer-Gall

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1600–1628, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.114

• -modified MCM-41 (ClCH2-MCM-41). In the next step, ʟ-proline-modified MCM-41 (ʟ-proline-MCM-41) was produced by the treatment of ClCH2-MCM-41 with N-Boc-trans-4-hydroxy-ʟ-proline in THF in the presence of NaH as base, which was then deprotected using TFA in CH2Cl2. In the last step, the immobilized copper

• complex (ʟ-proline-MCM-41-CuCl) was obtained by the reaction of ʟ-proline-MCM-41 with CuCl in acetone at mild temperature (Scheme 21) [51]. A possible mechanism for this reaction is shown in Scheme 22. Initially, copper(I)-substituted acetylide intermediate 70 is produced via the reaction of copper

Methodologies for the synthesis of quaternary carbon centers via hydroalkylation of unactivated olefins: twenty years of advances

• Thiago S. Silva and
• Fernando Coelho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1565–1590, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.112

• ). Natural products like α and β-pinene that contain an olefinic moiety were also used as substrates, and these afforded ring-opened products like 89e, thereby corroborating a radical mechanism hypothesis [111]. Enantiopure substrates, like limonene oxide (88f) and the proline derivative 88h, afforded the

A comprehensive review of flow chemistry techniques tailored to the flavours and fragrances industries

• Guido Gambacorta,
• James S. Sharley and
• Ian R. Baxendale

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1181–1312, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.90

• as proline. However, a major drawbacks of these process are the long reaction times and high catalyst loading that often need to be used [101][102]. In 2009, Seeberger et al. described a version of an enantioselective aldol reaction in flow using a microreactor (Scheme 6) [103]. The approach allowed

• media was optimised by Gröger et al. using a modified proline catalyst. In this example, the authors employed tubular coiled reactors and, to enhance the mixing effect, high flow rates and long tube lengths were applied (Scheme 7). As biocatalysis is becoming more and more important, one of the major

• same year, the same group developed a polystyrene resin-supported proline, which was confirmed to be highly suitable for continuous-flow setup whose efficiency and selectivity was highly stable over 30 hours of continuous runtime, allowing to isolate roughly 5 grams of pure aldol 68 (Scheme 9) [107

N-tert-Butanesulfinyl imines in the asymmetric synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocycles

• Joseane A. Mendes,
• Paulo R. R. Costa,
• Miguel Yus,
• Francisco Foubelo and
• Camilla D. Buarque

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1096–1140, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.86

• described the diastereoselective synthesis of aziridines 42 in one-step using the Cu(I)/ʟ-proline complex as a catalyst and N-tert-butasulfinylamide in an aminotrifluoromethylation reaction of alkenes. All the aziridines 42 were obtained with high diastereoselectivity (dr > 25:1) and good yields (56–98

• hand, natural amino acids proline and hydroxyproline are functionalized pyrrolidines that have found great application in organic synthesis as chiral organocatalysts in stereoselective processes [93][94]. Cyclizations involving a position in the starting chiral imine Arylation of chiral sulfinyl imines

• corresponding methyl ester, to give compounds 101. Subsequent, reductive ammination with 3-phenyl-2-propynal led to reaction intermediates 102, which under typical Pauson–Khand reaction conditions gave cyclopenta[c]proline derivatives 103 in moderate yields, with high diastereoselectivities (Scheme 30

Effective microwave-assisted approach to 1,2,3-triazolobenzodiazepinones via tandem Ugi reaction/catalyst-free intramolecular azide–alkyne cycloaddition

• Maryna O. Mazur,
• Oleksii S. Zhelavskyi,
• Eugene M. Zviagin,
• Svitlana V. Shishkina,
• Vladimir I. Musatov,
• Maksim A. Kolosov,
• Elena H. Shvets,
• Anna Yu. Andryushchenko and
• Valentyn A. Chebanov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 678–687, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.57

• , reflux, 24 h; (b) (1) 4 Å MS, EtOH, rt, 20 h, (2) Base, rt, 30 min, (3) EtOH, reflux, 3 h; (c) (1) MeOH, 24–48 h, rt, (2) PhH, reflux, 4–18 h; (d) (1) MeOH, rt, 8 h; (2) NaN3, CuI, ʟ-proline, DMSO, 120 °C, 24 h; (e) (1) MeOH, rt, 24 h, (2) NaN3, CuI, DMSO, 100 °C, 3 h. Azide precursor synthesis

Biochemistry of fluoroprolines: the prospect of making fluorine a bioelement

• Vladimir Kubyshkin,
• Rebecca Davis and
• Nediljko Budisa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 439–460, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.40

• structure and distinct conformational profile, proline is unique in the repertoire of the 20 amino acids coded into proteins. Here, we summarize the biochemical work on the replacement of proline with (4R)- and (4S)-fluoroproline as well as 4,4-difluoroproline in proteins done mainly in the last two decades

• . We first recapitulate the complex position and biochemical fate of proline in the biochemistry of a cell, discuss the physicochemical properties of fluoroprolines, and overview the attempts to use these amino acids as proline replacements in studies of protein production and folding. Fluorinated

• proline replacements are able to elevate the protein expression speed and yields and improve the thermodynamic and kinetic folding profiles of individual proteins. In this context, fluoroprolines can be viewed as useful tools in the biotechnological toolbox. As a prospect, we envision that proteome-wide

Synthesis of legonmycins A and B, C(7a)-hydroxylated bacterial pyrrolizidines

• Wilfred J. M. Lewis,
• David M. Shaw and
• Jeremy Robertson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 334–342, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.31

• ]. Proteins coded by three of these genes (LgnA, LgnB, and LgnD) were shown to assemble legonindolizidines A (1) and B (2) – from proline, threonine, and a fatty acid component – which are then converted by LgnC, a flavin-dependent monooxygenase, into the corresponding legonmycins (3 and 4) via a sequence of

• electrophilic activation and hydrolysis of the resulting electron-rich pyrroles in an overall N-acylation/C(7a) hydroxylation. This transformation is central to a synthesis of legonmycins A and B that requires just three laboratory operations from commercially available proline derivative 15. It is noteworthy

• atmosphere, was added dropwise propionitrile (7.33 mL, 103 mmol). The mixture was stirred vigorously at −78 °C for 40 min, after which time a solution of proline derivative 15 (11.2 g, 48.8 mmol) in THF (60 mL) was added dropwise via syringe. The mixture was warmed to rt and stirred for 42 h. The mixture was

¹⁹F NMR as a tool in chemical biology

• Diana Gimenez,
• Aoife Phelan,
• Cormac D. Murphy and
• Steven L. Cobb

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 293–318, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.28

• tyrosine [16] (pFtBTyr, 9) and proline [17] (4R and 4S-pFtBHyp, 10 and 11, Figure 1) have also been utilised as 19F NMR probes, both showing promise as valuable tools for biomolecular studies. Particularly impressive is that by incorporating pFtBTyr (9) into a model peptide, Tressler and Zondlo were able

• thermodynamic equilibrium binding constants (K) and kinetic rates of association (kon) and dissociation (koff) in protein–ligand binding events [37]. In order to achieve this, they analysed the binding of four different proline-rich peptides to a 5-FTrp-labelled Src homology 3 (SH3) recognition protein domain

Molecular basis for protein–protein interactions

• Brandon Charles Seychell and
• Tobias Beck

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1–10, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.1

• interactions but have a high propensity to form interprotein interactions. In contrast, serine, threonine, asparagine (polar uncharged), alanine, valine, isoleucine (hydrophobic), cysteine, proline, and glycine are less likely to form interprotein interactions and bifurcated interactions. The binding mode in

Three-component reactions of aromatic amines, 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, and α-bromoacetaldehyde acetal to access N-(hetero)aryl-4,5-unsubstituted pyrroles

• Wenbo Huang,
• Kaimei Wang,
• Ping Liu,
• Minghao Li,
• Shaoyong Ke and
• Yanlong Gu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2920–2928, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.241

• , the transformations can generally be realized through the following three approaches (Scheme 1): (i) [1 + 1 + 3] annulation, in which (hetero)arylamines are reacted with a C3 donor and a C1 donor to construct pyrrole scaffolds. Kumar et al. [26] developed a proline-catalyzed Mannich reaction