New advances in asymmetric organocatalysis

• Radovan Šebesta

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

• catalyzed by cinchona-based thiourea catalysts [27]. As guest editor of this thematic issue, I am grateful to all authors for their excellent contributions. I thank the referees for providing their expertise and time, and the whole team at the Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry for their great level of

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

• 226031, India Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, Ghaziabad, 201002, India 10.3762/bjoc.18.25 Abstract A practical enantioselective N-selective nitroso aldol reaction of α-methylmalonamates with a nitrosoarene is reported. The reaction employs the Takemoto thiourea catalyst for the induction

• also found useful in catalyzing the nitroso aldol reaction [44][45][46][47][48]. Surprisingly, the utility of thiourea catalysts in nitroso aldol reactions remains far less developed. The scattered reports where bifunctional thiourea catalysis was found useful for this type of reaction, describe the

• reported a squaramide-catalyzed asymmetric nitroso aldol reaction of cyclic β-ketoesters and malonamate [61]. Inspired by this, we decided to investigate the use of malonamate in the asymmetric nitroso aldol reaction using thiourea catalysis. Herein, we report a novel nitroso aldol reaction of malonamates

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

• bifunctional hydrogen-bonding catalyst would activate both CPD via a tertiary amino group of a quinuclidine moiety acting as a base via anion-binding, and an oxindole through the squaramide or thiourea moieties of the catalyst as hydrogen bond donors (Figure 1) [29][30][31][32]. Therefore, squaramide and

• thiourea catalysts were screened in a model reaction between CPD 1 and Boc-protected benzylidene oxindole 2a at room temperature in the presence of 10 mol % of catalyst (Figure 2). First, the quinidine-derived squaramide A was used and the desired product was obtained as a mixture of chromatographically

• inseparable diastereoisomers in 53% yield but in low enantiomeric excess for both diastereomers (Table 1, entry 1). With the quinine-derived thiourea B, the reaction was slow and the yield was very low, 12% (Table 1, entry 2). For that reason, we focused on the screening of squaramides. Squaramides were found

Bifunctional thiourea-catalyzed asymmetric [3 + 2] annulation reactions of 2-isothiocyanato-1-indanones with barbiturate-based olefins

• Jiang-Song Zhai and
• Da-Ming Du

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 25–36, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.3

• Jiang-Song Zhai Da-Ming Du School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, No.5 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, People’s Republic of China 10.3762/bjoc.18.3 Abstract Bifunctional thiourea-catalyzed asymmetric [3 + 2] annulation reactions of 2

• conveniently and comprehensively. However, as we know, the construction of these compounds is mostly carried out through transition-metal-catalyzed cyclization reactions [11][12][13][14], whereas strategies using bifunctional chiral thiourea catalysts are rarely reported. In 2018, Du's group reported a novel

• bifunctional thiourea catalyst, a series of target products in excellent yields with excellent stereoselectivities can be obtained under mild conditions in this reaction. Notably, this protocol provides direct access to indanone-derived spirobarbiturates, which are difficult to access with other methods

Total synthesis of the O-antigen repeating unit of Providencia stuartii O49 serotype through linear and one-pot assemblies

• Tanmoy Halder and
• Somnath Yadav

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2915–2921, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.199

• , as a single isomer (Scheme 3). Then, the chloroacetyl group was selectively removed using thiourea and 2,4,6-collidine [47] to afford the 3’-OH acceptor 5 in 87% yield. Finally, NIS/TMSOTf-promoted coupling of donor 3 with disaccharide acceptor 5 provided the desired β-linked trisaccharide 2 in 89

Synthesis of a novel aminobenzene-containing hemicucurbituril and its fluorescence spectral properties with ions

• Qingkai Zeng,
• Qiumeng Long,
• Jihong Lu,
• Li Wang,
• Yuting You,
• Xiaoting Yuan,
• Qianjun Zhang,
• Qingmei Ge,
• Hang Cong and
• Mao Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2840–2847, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.195

• heterocalixarenes, which all comprised benzimidazol-2-one and 1,3-phenylene units in an alternate cyclic arrangement. In 2008, Kwit et al. [35] synthesized urea and thiourea derivatives of chiral triangular polyimine macrocycles. The macrocycles above mainly consisted of imidazole analogs and aromatic fragments

• . Šindelář and Lizal [36] also presented the synthesis of hybrid macrocycles containing glycoluril and aromatic units. In 2014, Keinan et al. [37] reported a series of macrocycles, consisting of alternating urea or thiourea and phenol units, namely, multifarenes. Hitherto, multifarenes and their derivatives

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

• Michael additions of aldehydes to nitroalkenes both under solvent-free conditions and in solution. The N-sulfinylurea catalyst was more efficient than the corresponding thiourea. For some substrates, enantioselectivities reached 98% ee. The stereogenic center on the sulfur did not have a considerable

• 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

• syntheses, including total syntheses of natural compounds [15]. The pyrrolidine moiety has been successfully combined with thiourea [16][17][18] and the squaramide unit [19][20]. Thioureas and squaramides often feature the electron-withdrawing group attached to one of the nitrogen atoms to increase the

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

• derivatives, phase-transfer catalysts and bifunctional thiourea derivatives. 1.1 Reactions catalyzed by chiral cinchona alkaloid derivatives Cai et al. prepared and used a number of organocatalysts from Cinchona alkaloids for the aza-MR of aniline (1) with chalcone (2) to obtain the adducts 4 in poor to very

• bifunctional thioureas Thioureas constitute one of the most important class of organocatalysts [49]. Wang et al. reported a cascade aza-Michael/Michael reaction of anilines 60 to nitroolefin enoates 61 using chiral bifunctional thiourea as catalyst (cat. 62). It provided a mild and efficient approach to the

• enantioselectivity (85% ee) was obtained with quinine-derived thiourea in dichloroethane as the solvent. The scope of the reaction was also investigated vis-a-vis the effect of the substitution on the isoxazolinone ring and p-quinone methide (p-QM) partner. (Table 15) [51]. Takemoto and co-workers investigated three

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

• (Table 2). Apart from model catalyst II, equipped with five (−)-menthol units, also the sterically less demanding amide-type catalyst III and the thiourea derivative IV were tested (Table 2). First, the diamide-type catalyst III was examined (Table 2, entry 4). Although complete conversion of 1a and 2a

• was achieved after a significantly prolonged time (7 days), the aminal 3a was isolated in a good yield of 60%. Unfortunately, the reaction proceeded nearly in a racemic fashion. An inefficient catalyst showed up to be the PCCP catalyst derivatized with thiourea functional units (IV); a formation of 3a

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

• The concept of anion-binding catalysis was first penned by Schreiner et al. in 2006, who realized the acetalization of benzaldehyde (1) with a thiourea catalyst (3, Scheme 1) [30][31]. They proposed the reaction to proceed via thiourea-catalyzed orthoester hydrolysis, leading to the formation of a

• -workers reported in 2004 an asymmetric Pictet–Spengler reaction of tryptamine-derived imines 4 in the presence of acetyl chloride and 2,6-lutidine, where the chiral thiourea catalyst 6 was employed to enable good yields and enantioselectivities (Scheme 2a) [32]. The initial motivation of their first

• , right). However, based on the freshly coined concept of anion-binding activation [30][31] and as the exact interaction mode of the catalyst remained elusive, Jacobsen’s group focused their attention towards mechanistic studies of thiourea-catalyzed reactions. In 2007, they reported a Pictet–Spengler

Catalyzed and uncatalyzed procedures for the syntheses of isomeric covalent multi-indolyl hetero non-metallides: an account

• Ranadeep Talukdar

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2102–2122, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.137

• (denoted as CuO@GO, 0.38 mol %) catalyzed S-arylation (C–S coupling) of 2-iodoindole (92) to synthesize diindol-2-ylsulfide (84) in 75% yield (Scheme 12) [79]. Here 1.5 equivalents of thiourea acted as the sulfur source. Bis(indol-3-yl)sulfides are also present as structural motifs in important organic

• with 5-iodoindole (182) in the presence of thiourea and a recyclable CuO nanoparticle catalyst (Scheme 26) [116]. This heterogeneous catalysis strategy bypasses the use of unpleasant aryl thiols, which are generally coupled with other aryl halides in the presence of transition-metal catalysts for

• )silanes reported by Han. Base-mediated syntheses of bis and tris(indol-2-yl)phosphines. Synthesis of bis(indol-2-yl)sulfides using SL2-type reagents. Synthesis of 2,3’- and 2,2’-bis(indolyl)sulfides using disulfides as substrates. Synthesis of diindol-2-ylsulfide (84) from 2-iodoindole (92) and thiourea

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

• , provides coumarin derivatives 3 with good to excellent yields and moderate to good enantiomeric excesses (Scheme 5). The authors highlighted that the employed organocatalyst 18 is an alternative to those of squaramide and thiourea commonly used with coumarins. In 2013, Lee et al. reported the

• Scheme 30. An asymmetric Michael addition of 4-hydroxycoumarin (1) to α,β-unsaturated ketones 2 promoted by chiral primary amine thiourea bifunctional catalyst 97 was reported by Mei et al. [66]. Using the optimized conditions, a series of Michael adducts 3 were obtained in excellent yields (up to 97

• %) and enantioselectivities (up to 95% ee) (Scheme 31). As a highlight, optically pure (S)-warfarin (3a) was obtained in 99% ee after simple and single recrystallization. Wang’s group developed a bifunctional thiourea and abietic acid catalyst for enantioselective synthesis. In this context, they applied

Synthesis of 1-indolyl-3,5,8-substituted γ-carbolines: one-pot solvent-free protocol and biological evaluation

• Premansh Dudhe,
• Mena Asha Krishnan,
• Kratika Yadav,
• Diptendu Roy,
• Krishnan Venkatasubbaiah,
• Biswarup Pathak and
• Venkatesh Chelvam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1453–1463, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.101

• alkaloid ingenine B [20]. The iodine-catalyzed [3 + 3] cycloaddition of indolyl alcohol to enaminones [21] and the thiourea-catalyzed iso-Pictet–Spengler reaction of isotryptamine with aldehydes [22], are some noteworthy contributions to the field. A cascade or domino reaction is an interesting approach

Organocatalytic asymmetric Michael/acyl transfer reaction between α-nitroketones and 4-arylidenepyrrolidine-2,3-diones

• Chandrakanta Parida and
• Subhas Chandra Pan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1447–1452, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.100

• reported. A bifunctional thiourea catalyst was found to be effective for this reaction. With 10 mol % of the catalyst, good results were attained for a variety of 1,5-dihydro-2H-pyrrol-2-ones under mild reaction conditions. Keywords: acyl transfer; enantioselectivity; Michael reaction; organocatalysis

• benzoyl-transfer reaction. However, only 20% enantiomeric excess was achieved. Then, the tert-leucine-derived squaramide catalyst II was employed and here both yield and ee slightly improved. Next, we turned our attention to bifunctional thiourea catalysts [26][27] that proved to be fruitful. Thus, the

• quinine and cinchonidine-derived bifunctional thiourea catalysts III and IV were employed in the reaction and moderate enantiomeric excesses were achieved. The yield and enantioselectivity further improved when using the tert-leucine-derived thiourea catalyst V. Also, Takemoto’s catalyst VI [28] was

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

Synthesis of functionalized imidazo[4,5-e]thiazolo[3,2-b]triazines by condensation of imidazo[4,5-e]triazinethiones with DMAD or DEAD and rearrangement to imidazo[4,5-e]thiazolo[2,3-c]triazines

• Alexei N. Izmest’ev,
• Dmitry B. Vinogradov,
• Natalya G. Kolotyrkina,
• Angelina N. Kravchenko and
• Galina A. Gazieva

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1141–1148, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.87

• derivatives consists in the condensation of acetylenedicarboxylic acid esters with heterocyclic compounds containing a thiourea fragment, e.g., pyrimidinethiones [18][19], 1,2,4-triazolethiols [20], and 1,2,4-triazinethiones [21][22]. An important feature of the reactions of dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates

Synthetic accesses to biguanide compounds

• Oleksandr Grytsai,
• Cyril Ronco and
• Rachid Benhida

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1001–1040, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.82

Stereoselective synthesis and transformation of pinane-based 2-amino-1,3-diols

• Ákos Bajtel,
• Mounir Raji,
• Matti Haukka,
• Ferenc Fülöp and
• Zsolt Szakonyi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 983–990, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.80

• ). The LAH reduction of oxazolidine 17 gave N-benzyl-N-methyl analogue 18 which, alternatively, was prepared directly from 2-oxazolidinone 9 via N-benzylation followed by LAH reduction in 2 steps. When compound 13 was reacted with phenylisothiocyanate, thiourea 20 was obtained, which underwent a

Microwave-assisted multicomponent reactions in heterocyclic chemistry and mechanistic aspects

• Shivani Gulati,
• Stephy Elza John and
• Nagula Shankaraiah

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 819–865, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.71

• construction of dihydropyrimidinones 78 utilizing a three-component reaction of acyclic 1,3-diketones 54, urea/thiourea (77) and aldehyde 5 exploring La2O3 as catalyst under microwave irradiation under solvent-free conditions with good functional group tolerance and excellent yields (Scheme 28). The reaction

The synthesis of chiral β-naphthyl-β-sulfanyl ketones via enantioselective sulfa-Michael reaction in the presence of a bifunctional cinchona/sulfonamide organocatalyst

• Deniz Tözendemir and
• Cihangir Tanyeli

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 494–503, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.43

• building blocks for the construction of more elaborate structures [7][8][9][10][11]. An outstanding class of quinine derived organocatalysts exhibits a bifunctional mode of activation by the incorporation of an acidic unit, such as urea, thiourea, squaramide or sulfonamide moieties, giving rise to the

• and thiourea–quinine organocatalysts both gave the target compound with only 41% ee, which was well below satisfactory (Table 1, entries 10 and 11). The best catalyst in terms of enantioselectivity proved to be the newly designed catalyst 5, which gave the desired product with 63% ee in 1 hour (Table

Chiral anion recognition using calix[4]arene-based ureido receptors in a 1,3-alternate conformation

• Tereza Horáčková,
• Jan Budka,
• Vaclav Eigner,
• Wen-Sheng Chung,
• Petra Cuřínová and
• Pavel Lhoták

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2999–3007, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.249

• . The shapes and geometries of anions are widely different, and therefore the design of corresponding tailor-made receptors is based mostly on more directional interactions, such as hydrogen bonds. Indeed, an incredible number of neutral receptors bearing amide, sulfonamide, urea, thiourea, pyrrole, or

• highly sophisticated molecules, including anionic receptors [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]. During our ongoing research on anion complexation, we have reported various calix[4]arene receptors based mainly on amide, urea, or thiourea groups [40][41], some of which are available in

Recent developments in enantioselective photocatalysis

• Callum Prentice,
• James Morrisson,
• Andrew D. Smith and
• Eli Zysman-Colman

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2363–2441, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.197

• enantioselectivity via triplet state intermediate 200, rather than proceeding via an enantioselective rearrangement. Bifunctional hydrogen bonding photocatalysts have been developed by other groups as well. Sivaguru developed an atropisomeric thiourea-based catalyst 201 and used it for the intramolecular

Access to highly substituted oxazoles by the reaction of α-azidochalcone with potassium thiocyanate

• Mysore Bhyrappa Harisha,
• Pandi Dhanalakshmi,
• Rajendran Suresh,
• Raju Ranjith Kumar and
• Shanmugam Muthusubramanian

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2108–2118, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.178

• existing alkaloids and a number of pharmaceutically active compounds [51][52][53]. 2-Aminothiazole has a thiourea-like character with a tendency to modulate promiscuously multiple biological targets. Thiazole derivatives also exhibit a broad spectrum of biological activities including antiviral, antiprion

Natural dolomitic limestone-catalyzed synthesis of benzimidazoles, dihydropyrimidinones, and highly substituted pyridines under ultrasound irradiation

• Kumar Godugu,
• Venkata Divya Sri Yadala,
• Mohammad Khaja Mohinuddin Pinjari,
• Trivikram Reddy Gundala,
• Lakshmi Reddy Sanapareddy and
• Chinna Gangi Reddy Nallagondu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1881–1900, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.156

• heteroaromatic aldehydes. To expand the scope of this method, thiourea (6) was also investigated (Table 6, entries 13–17). Benzaldehyde (2a) reacted with ethyl acetoacetate (4) and thiourea (6) to give the product 7m in an excellent isolated yield (96%, Table 6, entry 13). Benzaldehyde derivatives bearing

• electron-donating groups, such as 4-Me (2b) and 4-OMe (2c) exhibited a good reactivity with ethyl acetoacetate (4) and thiourea (6) to produce the products 7n (95%) and 7o (95%) in excellent yields, respectively (Table 6, entries 14 and 15). Benzaldehyde with electron-withdrawing groups, such as 4-NO2 (2f

• ) and 4-Cl (2i) at the para position reacted well with ethyl acetoacetate (4) and thiourea (6) to afford the corresponding products 7p and 7q in good isolated yields (94 and 95%) (Table 6, entries 16 and 17). Most of the synthesized compounds are known and were identified easily by comparison of the

Stereoselective Biginelli-like reaction catalyzed by a chiral phosphoric acid bearing two hydroxy groups

• Xiaoyun Hu,
• Jianxin Guo,
• Cui Wang,
• Rui Zhang and
• Victor Borovkov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1875–1880, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.155

• DHPMs becomes an urgent and paramount task. In connection with this, multicomponent Biginelli and Biginelli-like reactions of aldehydes, urea/thiourea, and enolizable carbonyls revealed as very efficient tools to prepare DHPMs [3]. Although the Biginelli reaction was firstly discovered over a century