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

• addition to the electron-rich C=C bond [58] or proton loss followed by β-functionalization [59][60][61]. The iminium cation catalysis is used in the activation of electrophilic properties of enones for the nucleophilic epoxidation by hydroperoxides (Scheme 2B). N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC) organocatalysis

• -organocatalysts. Organocatalysis classification used in the present perspective. Oxidative processes catalyzed by amines. N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalysis in oxidative functionalization of aldehydes. Examples of asymmetric oxidative processes catalyzed by chiral Brønsted acids. Asymmetric aerobic α

A novel spirocyclic scaffold accessed via tandem Claisen rearrangement/intramolecular oxa-Michael addition

• Anastasia Vepreva,
• Alexander Yanovich,
• Dmitry Dar’in,
• Grigory Kantin,
• Alexander Bunev and
• Mikhail Krasavin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1649–1655, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.177

• arylidene succinimides; intramolecular oxa-Michael addition; rhodium(II) carbene O–H insertion; spirocycles; Introduction Spirocycles undoubtedly occupy a special place in drug design [1] and, in general, spirocyclic compounds intended for the interrogation of biological targets have been associated with

• cyclohexanone (as well as other cyclic ketones) which delivered spiro-annulated 2-benzoxepines (such as 2a) along with a minor byproduct 3a identified by 1H NMR as the product of formal insertion of the rhodium(II) carbene species into the O–H bond of cyclohexanone enol form. This minor byproduct, on heating at

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

• generate an intermediate followed by immediate reaction with another 1.0 equiv CH-acids to form another reactive species which reacted with substituted imidazole N-oxide to produce desired products. Synthesis and trapping of optically active carbene In 2019, Grzegorz Mlostoń and co-workers disclosed an

• excellent synthetic route for the preparation of chiral 3-alkoxyimidazol-2-ylidene intermediates [22]. Optically active 2-unsubstituted imidazole N-oxides were converted to carbene intermediates with retaining their stereochemistry. The appearance of the carbene intermediate was verified by trapping

• salts 41. The latter underwent deprotonation in the presence of triethylamine in pyridine to generate the carbene intermediates 42 (Scheme 9). After that, the optically active imidazole-2-thiones 43 were obtained through the reaction with elemental sulfur. In CHCl3 solutions, the study of the optical

Synthesis and electrochemical properties of 3,4,5-tris(chlorophenyl)-1,2-diphosphaferrocenes

• Almaz A. Zagidullin,
• Farida F. Akhmatkhanova,
• Mikhail N. Khrizanforov,
• Robert R. Fayzullin,
• Tatiana P. Gerasimova,
• Ilya A. Bezkishko and
• Vasili A. Miluykov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1338–1345, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.139

• corresponding 1,2,3-cyclopropenium bromides was realized by a classical approach: combination of C1 and C2 building blocks, i.e., the addition of a carbene species to a triple bond of diarylacetylene, followed by treatment of the produced cyclopropene with HBr to convert it to the corresponding cyclopropenylium

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

• from the anodic electroactivity of the electrogenerated carbene. In order to have NHC accumulation in the catholyte, the Nafion membrane (cell separator) was pretreated with an alkaline solution. The formation of NHC was quantified as its reaction product with elemental sulfur. The NHC was successfully

• used as organocatalyst in two classical umpolung reactions of cinnamaldehyde: its cyclodimerization and its oxidative esterification. Keywords: Breslow intermediate; cathodic reduction; flow electrochemistry; N-heterocyclic carbene; oxidative esterification; Introduction Ionic liquids (ILs) are well

• can be modified by the presence of a base or by a single electron cathodic reduction of the C–H between nitrogen atoms of the imidazolium ring (Scheme 1), inducing the formation of a N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) [7][8]. In recent years, NHCs have achieved great success: they have been frequently used

Synthetic strategies for the preparation of γ-phostams: 1,2-azaphospholidine 2-oxides and 1,2-azaphospholine 2-oxides

• Jiaxi Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 889–915, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.90

• ) from the reaction of dimethyl 2-(methylamino)benzoylphosphonate (70) and trimethyl phosphite at 105 °C through an ylide intermediate D. The ylide D was generated via deoxygenation of benzoylphosphonate 70 with trimethyl phosphite to form a carbene intermediate B, and trimethyl phosphite nucleophilic

• attacking to the carbene B followed by an intramolecular displacement. The yield was not reported (Scheme 13) [33]. Synthesis via P–C bond formation In 1979, Coppola at Sandoz, Inc. reported an alternative strategy for the synthesis of tricyclic γ-phosphonolactams 74, 78, and 81 from N-(3-chloropropyl)-2

• 105 via the copper-catalyzed intramolecular carbene aromatic C–H bond insertion (Scheme 20) [44]. This is an efficient synthetic strategy for 3-benzoyl-2-ethoxy-1,3-dihydrobenzo[d][1,2]azaphosphole 2-oxides 106 through the formation of the C–C bond neighboring at the ring phosphorus atom. Synthesis

Inductive heating and flow chemistry – a perfect synergy of emerging enabling technologies

• Conrad Kuhwald,
• Sibel Türkhan and
• Andreas Kirschning

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 688–706, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.70

• , yielding a reduced arylation product 77 [86][87]. Mechanistically, either diazo or carbene intermediates can be proposed, as Barluenga has outlined, and migration of the aryl group leads to an alkylboronic acid, which is hydrolyzed by protodeboronation, yielding the arylation product 77. A two-step flow

Unusual highly diastereoselective Rh(II)-catalyzed dimerization of 3-diazo-2-arylidenesuccinimides provides access to a new dibenzazulene scaffold

• Anastasia Vepreva,
• Alexander S. Bunev,
• Andrey Yu. Kudinov,
• Grigory Kantin,
• Mikhail Krasavin and
• Dmitry Dar’in

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 533–538, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.55

• at the double bond underwent cyclization as the result of intramolecular interception of the rhodium carbene, which led to the formation of indolizine [6] or 2H-chromene [7] derivatives, respectively (Figure 1). At the same time, Rh2(esp)2-catalyzed reactions of DAS with nitriles and carbonyl

• analysis (see Supporting Information File 1). A plausible mechanism of the observed transformations of DAS (shown for 1a) is presented in Scheme 2. The initially formed rhodium carbene A undergoes 1,5-electrocyclization to form intermediate B which turns into indene C as the result of a 1,5-suprafacial

• hydrogen shift. Indene C can either convert into the final indene 3a via a slow 1,3-migration of the hydrogen atom, or is intercepted by carbene A with the formation of cyclopropane D. The relative rates of these competing processes likely determine the composition of the final product mixture. The

Recent advances and perspectives in ruthenium-catalyzed cyanation reactions

• Thaipparambil Aneeja,
• Cheriya Mukkolakkal Abdulla Afsina,
• Padinjare Veetil Saranya and
• Gopinathan Anilkumar

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 37–52, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.4

• metal. Ruthenium complexes have astonishing characteristics such as high electron transfer ability, low redox potentials, high Lewis acidity, and greater stabilities of the reactive metallic species like oxometals, metallacycles, and metal carbene complexes [27]. The wide availability of highly reactive

Ligand-dependent stereoselective Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reactions of β-enamido triflates

• Tomáš Chvojka,
• Athanasios Markos,
• Svatava Voltrová,
• Radek Pohl and
• Petr Beier

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2657–2662, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.179

• causes the tautomerization of complex 5 [30] to zwitterionic carbene 6 which can now isomerize through the C–C bond rotation to the thermodynamically more stable palladium complex 7, followed by reductive elimination to enamide 3. A possible isomerization of enamides 2 or 3 in the presence of a catalyst

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

• ][35][36]. In this context, Huang, Fu and co-workers reported carbene-catalyzed enantioselective formal [4 + 2] annulation reactions of β-silyl enones with enals and with active acetic esters (Scheme 1g) for the preparation of chiral organosilanes [34][35][36]. Very recently, during the final stage of

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

• chiral N-triflylphosphoramide. Aza-Michael addition of primary amines to β-trifluromethyl-β-phenylnitroolefin catalyzed nitrogen heterocyclic carbene. Asymmetric aza-Michael additions of pyrroles to protected (E)-4-hydroxybut-2-enals. Asymmetric aza-Michael addition of purine bases to aliphatic α,β

Advances in mercury(II)-salt-mediated cyclization reactions of unsaturated bonds

• Sumana Mandal,
• Raju D. Chaudhari and
• Goutam Biswas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2348–2376, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.153

• with high selectivity using this strategy. In these transformations, two Hg-carbene intermediates were proposed to be involved (Scheme 52). Mercury-catalyzed reactions were also well known for the formation of various complex scaffolds like tricyclic pyrazinones from the corresponding starting

A novel methodology for the efficient synthesis of 3-monohalooxindoles by acidolysis of 3-phosphate-substituted oxindoles with haloid acids

• Li Liu,
• Yue Li,
• Tiao Huang,
• Dulin Kong and
• Mingshu Wu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2321–2328, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.150

• disclosed the application of N-fluorobenzenesulfonimide (NFSI) and NBS (N-bromosuccinimide), respectively, as the halogen sources, with diazoacetamide under catalyst-free conditions via a carbene pathway, which constructed 3-fluorooxindoles and 3-bromooxindoles (Scheme 1, reaction 1) [20][21]. Then, the

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

• -hydroxycoumarin (1) with the chiral catalyst 48, as shown in Scheme 15 [48]. The enantioselective synthesis of dihydrocoumarins 51 from an inverse demand [4 + 2] cycloaddition of ketenes 50 with o-quinone methides 49 using carbene catalyst (NHC) 52 was described by Ye and co-workers [49].This transformation

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

• 184. Subsequently, oxidative coupling of the azide with the β-carbon atom of the 1-alkyltriazene gives the Ir–carbene intermediate 185. In continuation, intermediate 185 can be transferred to intermediate 186, leading to the triazole ligand being coordinated to the Ir center in 187. Finally, the

Fritsch–Buttenberg–Wiechell rearrangement of magnesium alkylidene carbenoids leading to the formation of alkynes

• Tsutomu Kimura,
• Koto Sekiguchi,
• Akane Ando and
• Aki Imafuji

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1352–1359, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.94

• –Wadsworth–Emmons (HWE) reaction of carbonyl compounds with organophosphorus reagents containing carbene sources and the 1,2-rearrangement of alkylidene carbenes and related species, referred to as Fritsch–Buttenberg–Wiechell (FBW) rearrangement [8][9]. While alkynes are synthesized from carbonyl compounds

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 bis(aryloxy)fluoromethanes using a heterodihalocarbene strategy

• Carl Recsei and
• Yaniv Barda

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 813–818, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.70

• (by direct attack of a aryl oxide nucleophile or deprotonation and loss of chloride in a second carbene generation followed by a second phenoxide attack) would be substantially greater than an aryloxydifluoromethane such as 5, with milder conditions allowing us to avoid the undesired isomer 7

[2 + 1] Cycloaddition reactions of fullerene C₆₀ based on diazo compounds

• Yuliya N. Biglova

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 630–670, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.55

• thermal addition of diazo compounds (the well-known carbene precursors), followed by N2 elimination. However, it occurs much more difficultly for diazo compounds than with singlet carbenes. This is due to the formation of a mixture of [5,6]-closed and [6,6]-open isomeric cyclic adducts. This phenomenon

• can be due to a number of reasons. First, two cyclopropanation mechanisms are equally likely in the thermal reaction of diazo compounds with C60 fullerene: a) preliminary carbene formation due to the thermal decomposition of diazo compounds, followed by synchronous addition to the double [6,6]-bond in

Valorisation of plastic waste via metal-catalysed depolymerisation

• Francesca Liguori,
• Carmen Moreno-Marrodán and
• Pierluigi Barbaro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 589–621, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.53

• temperature (35 °C) but toxic CH2Cl2 solvent (Scheme 1). The reaction using second-generation N-heterocyclic carbene ligands was faster and preferably yielded cyclododecatriene. Larger cyclic butadienes may be used in the production of flame retardants, lubricants and specialty polymers [149][150]. 3.1.3

• electronic effect of the ligand [267]. A reaction mechanism for PLA depolymerisation was proposed, consisting of two consecutive first-order steps, in which Me-La production follows the formation of chain-end groups intermediates [265]. A zinc–N-heterocyclic carbene complex was used as catalysts for the

Menthyl esterification allows chiral resolution for the synthesis of artificial glutamate analogs

• Kenji Morokuma,
• Shuntaro Tsukamoto,
• Kyosuke Mori,
• Kei Miyako,
• Ryuichi Sakai,
• Raku Irie and
• Masato Oikawa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 540–550, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.48

• challenging [15][16], and this was also the case for (rac)-13, since we first obtained the incomplete triene intermediate (rac)-15 as a result of only ring-opening metathesis (ROM) mediated by the Fischer carbene complex [Ru]=CH–OAc [6], generated by the reaction of Zhan catalyst-1B (14) with vinyl acetate

Synthesis of N-perfluoroalkyl-3,4-disubstituted pyrroles by rhodium-catalyzed transannulation of N-fluoroalkyl-1,2,3-triazoles with terminal alkynes

• Olga Bakhanovich,
• Viktor Khutorianskyi,
• Vladimir Motornov and
• Petr Beier

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 504–510, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.44

• -disubstituted pyrroles (minor products). The observed selectivities in the case of the reactions with aliphatic alkynes were high. Keywords: pyrrole; transannulation; rhodium carbene; triazole; Introduction Pyrroles are known to be important structural moieties appearing in natural products, synthetic drugs

Synthetic strategies of phosphonodepsipeptides

• Jiaxi Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 461–484, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.41

• dichlorophosphites followed by alcoholysis with hydroxy esters, the phosphinylation of hydroxy esters with phosphonochloridites followed by oxidation, and the carbene insertion of N-protected amino acids with 1-diazoalkylphosphonates. This review includes the synthesis of α-, β-, and γ-phosphonodepsipeptides and

• amino acids 206 to give the corresponding protected phosphonopeptides 207. After deprotection by hydrogenolysis and treatment with CF3CO2H, the phosphonodepsipeptides 208 were obtained (Scheme 38) [59]. Phosphonodepsipeptides with C-1-hydroxyalkylphosphonic acids are also accessible through carbene

• tetraacetate (Scheme 39) [60][61]. To develop novel bone-targeting prodrugs, a copper-catalyzed carbene insertion of tetraethyl diazomethyldiphosphonate (216) with N-Boc-protected amino acids 214 and 215 provided a simple method to synthesize phosphonodepsipeptides 217 and 218 containing a C-1

The preparation and properties of 1,1-difluorocyclopropane derivatives

• Kymbat S. Adekenova,
• Peter B. Wyatt and
• Sergazy M. Adekenov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 245–272, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.25

• difluorocyclopropane and its derivatives can be distinguished: carbene and non-carbene methods of cyclopropanation along with functional group transformations of existing cyclopropanes. The most popular route to prepare fluorocyclopropanes is to generate fluorine-containing carbenes (or carbenoids), which then react

• . The carbene-based methods typically give the highest yields when alkenes with electron-donating substituents are used. There are few examples in which the cyclopropanation by carbene methods of electron-deficient alkenes containing substituents with a large −M effect (for example, CO2R, COR, CN, SO2R

• Difluorocarbene methods with non-metal sources Difluorocarbene chemistry was first reported by Doering in 1954 [12]. The lone electron pairs on the fluorine substituents interact with the carbene center, making the structure stabilized [13]. Difluorocyclopropanes 4 were synthesized from the reaction of