Recent advances in amidyl radical-mediated photocatalytic direct intermolecular hydrogen atom transfer

• Hao-Sen Wang,
• Lin Li,
• Xin Chen,
• Jian-Li Wu,
• Kai Sun,
• Xiao-Lan Chen,
• Ling-Bo Qu and
• Bing Yu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1306–1323, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.100

• -Alkylbenzamide constitutes the primary structural unit of this class of compounds. The structures of these compounds are relatively simple and readily synthesizable. In these photocatalytic systems, direct single-electron oxidation of the amide HRP occurs in the presence of a photoredox catalyst and a base via a

• carbanion, which undergoes either solvent-mediated protonation or direct proton transfer from the acridiniumamide, ultimately delivering product 89 while regenerating the zwitterionic HRP-12 catalyst. This catalytic platform demonstrated exceptional site selectivity in aliphatic C–H bromination under

Recent advances and future challenges in the bottom-up synthesis of azulene-embedded nanographenes

• Bartłomiej Pigulski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1272–1305, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.99

• azulene-embedded PAHs. This approach requires a halogen-functionalized precursor and typically employs a palladium catalyst. Dou and co-workers reported a last-stage intramolecular C–H arylation of substituted indenofluorenes 61 and 62 (Scheme 10) [57]. The palladium-catalysed reaction yielded fused

• Pd catalyst pathway. Both 121 and 122 exhibit typical azulene-like red-shifted absorption due to almost forbidden S0→S1 transition. Liu and co-workers reported also an isomer of bischrysene containing two azulene subunits (Scheme 16) [79]. Precursor 125 was obtained through PtCl2-catalysed

Recent advances in oxidative radical difunctionalization of N-arylacrylamides enabled by carbon radical reagents

• Jiangfei Chen,
• Yi-Lin Qu,
• Ming Yuan,
• Xiang-Mei Wu,
• Heng-Pei Jiang,
• Ying Fu and
• Shengrong Guo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1207–1271, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.98

• equimolar amount of tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as the oxidant, with the reaction conducted at 100 °C under an argon atmosphere, resulting in a 79% yield of the desired product 7a without the requirement for any metal catalyst. In terms of substrate scope, the study explored various N-arylacrylamides

• the alkyl source was presented, providing a novel and efficient route to 3,3-dialkylated oxindoles [7]. In this system, Cu2O was used as the catalyst, combined with dicumyl peroxide (DCP) as the oxidant, in ethyl acetate (EtOAc) at 120 °C under an argon atmosphere. This reaction efficiently produced

• radical-mediated process. The necessity of Cp2Fe and Y(OTf)3 for the reaction was also confirmed, as the absence of either catalyst led to a dramatic decrease in product yield. These findings highlighted the critical role of electrochemically generated carbon-centered radicals in driving the cyclization

Synthesis of β-ketophosphonates through aerobic copper(II)-mediated phosphorylation of enol acetates

• Alexander S. Budnikov,
• Igor B. Krylov,
• Fedor K. Monin,
• Valentina M. Merkulova,
• Alexey I. Ilovaisky,
• Liu Yan,
• Bing Yu and
• Alexander O. Terent’ev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1192–1200, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.96

• , which generally employed stoichiometric amounts of oxidants or more expensive transition metal catalysts, the present protocol employs only cheap copper sulfate pentahydrate as a catalyst under mild reaction conditions. The achieved phosphorylation proceeds via the formation of P-centered radicals

• reaction times, and scope limitations. In the present work, the selective copper(II)-mediated phosphorylation of enol acetates with the formation of substituted β-ketophosphonates employing cheap copper sulfate as a catalyst and atmospheric oxygen as a terminal oxidant was carried out (Scheme 1c). Results

• the desired product only in trace amounts (Table 1, entry 3). The optimal loading of the catalyst was examined (Table 1, entry 4); the best results were obtained with 20 mol % of copper sulfate, slightly lower yield (64%) was observed with 10 mol % loading of the catalyst. Increased temperature was

Enhancing chemical synthesis planning: automated quantum mechanics-based regioselectivity prediction for C–H activation with directing groups

• Julius Seumer,
• Nicolai Ree and
• Jan H. Jensen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1171–1182, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.94

• . Nevertheless, the high prevalence of C–H bonds in organic compounds presents a substantial challenge in achieving site-specific functionalization. A principal strategy to circumvent this challenge leverages directing groups (DGs) within the substrate, which coordinate to the metal centre of the catalyst

• , thereby dictating the site of C–H activation. Common DGs include unsaturated heteroatoms and alkenyl groups, which have proven effective in guiding the regioselectivity of these reactions [4]. Mechanistic studies with palladium(II) acetate (Pd(OAc)2) as catalyst support the following mechanism of C–H

• activation, called concerted metal deprotonation (CMD) [5][6][7]. In a concerted mechanism, the Pd atom of the catalyst forms a sigma bond to an aromatic carbon, which increases the acidity of the adjacent (alpha) proton. This allows for the simultaneous abstraction of this proton by a carboxylate ligand. A

A multicomponent reaction-initiated synthesis of imidazopyridine-fused isoquinolinones

• Ashutosh Nath,
• John Mark Awad and
• Wei Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1161–1169, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.92

• initial GBB reaction of aminopyridines 1 (0.5 mmol), isocyanides 3 (1.2 equiv), and furfuraldehydes 2 (1.2 equiv) was conducted in 3:1 CH2Cl2/MeOH (4 mL) using Yb(OTf)3 (0.08 equiv) as a Lewis acid catalyst under microwave irradiation at 100 °C for 1 h (Scheme 2). Nineteen distinct adducts 4 were obtained

• isoquinolinones 8 was explored by conducting IMDA and spontaneous dehydrative re-aromatization reactions. The IMDA reaction using 6a as a model compound was systematically evaluated by varying catalysts, solvents, reaction temperatures and times (Table 1). The best conditions were found to use AlCl3 as a catalyst

• , indicating a smooth transition from the transition state to the product. The final dehydrative ring-opening gives products by decreasing the energy to 0.978 kJ/mol. Computational analysis indicates that the IMDA step has a high energy barrier which needs a catalyst, while the dehydrative re-aromatization

Synthetic approach to borrelidin fragments: focus on key intermediates

• Yudhi Dwi Kurniawan,
• Zetryana Puteri Tachrim,
• Teni Ernawati,
• Faris Hermawan,
• Ima Nurasiyah and
• Muhammad Alfin Sulmantara

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1135–1160, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.91

• -substituted acrylic acid 51 (Scheme 7). After optimization, the iridium complex (Ra)-50, in the presence of cesium carbonate, was identified as the most efficient catalyst, producing compound 52 in 97% yield with an enantiomeric excess of 97.6%. Subsequently, compound 52 was treated with Meldrum’s acid in the

• . Starting from ent-52, obtained via the asymmetric hydrogenation of 51 using the catalyst (Sa)-50, the previously developed three-steps reaction sequence was adopted and repeated three times, yielding polydeoxypropionic acid 57 in an overall yield of 54%. The iridium catalyst (Ra)-50 was chosen to ensure

• the syn-product 96a in 90% yield with a diastereomeric ratio of 98:2. Interestingly, substituting the catalyst with ent-94 delivered 96b in 89% yield and dr 95:5. Subsequently, 96a was subjected to a similar sequence of reduction, HWE olefination, asymmetric 1,4-addition, culminating in compound 98 in

A versatile route towards 6-arylpipecolic acids

• Erich Gebel,
• Cornelia Göcke,
• Carolin Gruner and
• Norbert Sewald

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1104–1115, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.88

• solvents. Table 1 provides an overview (a more detailed table can be found in Supporting Information File 1), which catalysts and bases are showing the best results. Most of the bases did not change the conversion drastically, apart from Et3N, which shows the least conversion regardless of the catalyst

• performance to Cs2CO3 including the lack of methyl ester hydrolysis, but a lower price. The catalyst's performance had a more significant influence on the reaction results than the base. Both phosphine catalysts as well as the second generation of the Buchwald–Hartwig catalyst [47][48] gave similar results

• , the best results were achieved with Pd(dppf)Cl2. The conversion was among the highest overall regardless of base and the removal of the catalyst afterwards was most straightforward. While the phosphine-based catalysts tend to be oxidised during the workup, resulting in the contamination of the

Salen–scandium(III) complex-catalyzed asymmetric (3 + 2) annulation of aziridines and aldehydes

• Linqiang Wang and
• Jiaxi Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1087–1094, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.86

• uses readily available components. On the basis of the experimental results and a previous report [16], a possible reaction mechanism is presented in Scheme 3. The catalyst (Cat) is first generated from salen L1 and Sc(OTf)3. Aziridines 1 coordinate to the Sc ion in the catalyst with their two

• of the catalyst for the next catalytic cycle. The electron-deficient aromatic aldehydes exhibit excellent stereoselectivity due to the π-stacking interaction between their aryl group and the electron-rich malonate group. Similar π-stacking interaction-controlled stereoselectivities were observed in

• method uses readily available salen as chiral ligand, which coordinates with scandium triflate to generate a salen–Sc complex acting as efficient catalyst. The catalytic asymmetric (3 + 2) annulation of dialkyl 3-aryl-1-sulfonylaziridine-2,2-dicarboxylates and aldehydes generated optically active

Recent advances in synthetic approaches for bioactive cinnamic acid derivatives

• Betty A. Kustiana,
• Galuh Widiyarti and
• Teni Ernawati

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1031–1086, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.85

• yield. The reaction proceeds via a CeO2-coordinated carboxylate mode (Scheme 31A) [67]. In addition, the catalyst also offered high reusability for up to 4 runs thus further promoting the eco-friendliness. Carbonyl activation via Lewis acid–O=C interaction has also been achieved using other transition

• group (2024) also investigated BH3·pyridine to catalyze amidation reactions with lower catalyst loading (Scheme 40B) [77]. Whiting and co-workers (2019) also used boranes to catalyze the direct amidation of carboxylic acids. In this work, they co-polymerized styrene, divinylbenzene and

• vinylphenylboronic acid to synthesize the solid-supported phenylboronic acid catalyst (cat 1) which was used to convert cinnamic acid (7) to its corresponding amide 12 in moderate yield. The reaction involves dicarboxylate complex 135 formed through Lewis acid B–O=C interaction (Scheme 41A) [23]. The catalyst could

Pd-Catalyzed asymmetric allylic amination with isatin using a P,olefin-type chiral ligand with C–N bond axial chirality

• Natsume Akimoto,
• Kaho Takaya,
• Yoshio Kasashima,
• Kohei Watanabe,
• Yasushi Yoshida and
• Takashi Mino

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1018–1023, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.83

• the resulting product (S)-13a in the presence of FeCl3 as the catalyst, the corresponding malononitrile derivative (S)-16 was obtained without any loss in optical purity. Keywords: asymmetric allylic amination; axial chirality; isatin; palladium catalysis; P,olefin-type chiral ligand; Introduction

• applications of this product, we treated (S)-13a (94% ee) with malononitrile in the presence of FeCl3 as a catalyst [36] and obtained the corresponding malononitrile derivative (S)-16 without any loss of optical purity (Scheme 3). Conclusion In this study, N-propyl-N-cinnamoylamide 7 was synthesized in three

Synthesis of pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine-2,4(3H)-diones by domino C–N coupling/hydroamination reactions

• Ruben Manuel Figueira de Abreu,
• Robin Tiedemann,
• Peter Ehlers and
• Peter Langer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1010–1017, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.82

• optimized for the reaction of 3a with p-toluidine to give pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine-2,4(3H)-dione 4a (Table 1). For the first experiment, we chose Pd(OAc)2 (5 mol %) as the catalyst, XPhos (5 mol %) as the ligand and K3PO4 (3 equiv) as the base in DMA (100 °C, 15 hours), which previously proved to be

Recent total synthesis of natural products leveraging a strategy of enamide cyclization

• Chun-Yu Mi,
• Jia-Yuan Zhai and
• Xiao-Ming Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 999–1009, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.81

• was utilized to transform enamine 18 and propargyl ester 19 into 1-azaspiro[4.4]nonane 20 with high diastereoselectivity. Notably, the combination of an N-heterocyclic carbene gold catalyst and a silver salt AgSbF6 was found to be essential in guaranteeing the reactivity of the alkyne partner

• column chromatography was required during this process, the synthetic route is highly practical. The enantioselective annulation of tertiary enamide 28 with enoldiazoacetate 29 was then explored under the catalysis of a chiral dirhodium catalyst. While Doyle and co-workers had previously reported an

• elegant [2 + 3] cycloaddition of secondary enecarbamates [28], the extension of this reaction to enamides lacking an N–H group is a notable advancement. After extensive optimization, the chiral dirhodium catalyst cat. 1 was found to be most capable in terms of both stereocontrol and efficiency. The use of

Studies on the syntheses of β-carboline alkaloids brevicarine and brevicolline

• Benedek Batizi,
• Patrik Pollák,
• András Dancsó,
• Péter Keglevich,
• Gyula Simig,
• Balázs Volk and
• Mátyás Milen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 955–963, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.79

• catalyst, overreduced product 31, i.e., the tetrahydro derivative of racemic brevicolline ((±)-1) was obtained in 91% yield. Structure determination of 31 was supported by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, as well (Figure 2). Changing the catalyst [Pd(OH)2, Ru, Rh], did not alter the course of the reaction

Silver(I) triflate-catalyzed post-Ugi synthesis of pyrazolodiazepines

• Muhammad Hasan,
• Anatoly A. Peshkov,
• Syed Anis Ali Shah,
• Andrey Belyaev,
• Chang-Keun Lim,
• Shunyi Wang and
• Vsevolod A. Peshkov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 915–925, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.74

• heteroannulation leading to the pyrazolo[1,5-a][1,4]diazepine scaffold. Our initial choice was to investigate the use of silver(I) triflate (AgOTf) as a catalyst in toluene, given its previously demonstrated efficiency in various transformations involving the activation of triple bonds towards nucleophilic attack

• temperature to 90 °C and the catalyst loading to 10 mol % enabled full conversion of 15a and improved the yield of product 16a (Table 1, entries 2 and 3). The use of other silver salts including AgBF4, Ag(NTf)2 and AgNO3 did not lead to improved results, with Ag(NTf)2 being particularly ineffective (Table 1

• , entries 4–6). Next, various solvents were screened with TFE, DCE, acetonitrile, and chlorobenzene providing low to moderate yields, whereas dioxane emerged as the preferred solvent allowing to bring the yield of pyrazolodiazepine 16a to 66% (Table 1, entries 7–11). Finally, further increasing the catalyst

Recent advances in controllable/divergent synthesis

• Jilei Cao,
• Leiyang Bai and
• Xuefeng Jiang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 890–914, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.73

• utilizing in situ-generated π-allylpalladium complexes to capture strained cyclic allene intermediates (Scheme 4) [22]. By modulating the ligands in the reaction system, two distinct polycyclic scaffolds, 13 or 14, could be synthesized with high selectivity. Mechanistically, the Pd(0) catalyst coordinates

• represents a highly challenging direct C(sp3)–H asymmetric amination. Mechanistic insights: When using a bulky, electron-rich chiral bisphosphine ligand L6, the glycine ester substrate coordinates with the copper catalyst to form a key intermediate complex Int-26. The sterically hindered and electron-rich

• the anionic cyano-substituted bisoxazoline ligand L7, the glycine ester and copper catalyst form a distinct intermediate complex Int-28. The ligand’s reduced steric bulk and altered electronic properties facilitate direct interaction with alkyl radicals, forming a high-valent Cu(III) intermediate Int

Cu–Bpin-mediated dimerization of 4,4-dichloro-2-butenoic acid derivatives enables the synthesis of densely functionalized cyclopropanes

• Patricia Gómez-Roibás,
• Andrea Chaves-Pouso and
• Martín Fañanás-Mastral

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 877–883, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.71

• (1) and B2pin2 (Table 1). By using NaOt-Bu as base and toluene as solvent, the Cu/SIMes catalyst provided compound 2 as single reaction product, albeit in low yield and with low diastereoselectivity (Table 1, entry 1). Lowering the amount of B2pin2 to 1 equivalent was found to be beneficial (Table 1

Light-enabled intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition via photoactivation of simple alkenylboronic esters

• Lewis McGhie,
• Hannah M. Kortman,
• Jenna Rumpf,
• Peter H. Seeberger and
• John J. Molloy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 854–863, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.69

• energy sensitizers, would represent an attractive platform for future reaction design. Here, we disclose the photoactivation of simple alkenylboronic esters established using alkene scrambling as a rapid reaction probe to identify a suitable catalyst and boron motif. Cyclic voltammetry, UV–vis analysis

• high excited state energies and short lifetimes [29]. However, with notable strides in catalyst design, leading to catalysts with high excited state energies [30][31][32][33], in combination with concomitant advances in machine learning excited state predictions [34], it is anticipated that perhaps

• identify a suitable catalyst and boron residue, while control reactions and mechanistic studies support the proposed sensitization. The platform enables direct access to mono- and vicinal cyclobutylboronic esters that could be effectively derivatized to demonstrate their potential in synthesis. Results and

Chitosan-supported CuI-catalyzed cascade reaction of 2-halobenzoic acids and amidines for the synthesis of quinazolinones

• Xuhong Zhao,
• Weishuang Li,
• Mengli Yang,
• Bojie Li,
• Yaoyao Zhang,
• Lizhen Huang and
• Lei Zhu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 839–844, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.67

• 10.3762/bjoc.21.67 Abstract A chitosan-supported CuI (CS@CuI) catalyst was developed for the synthesis of quinazolinones from 2-halobenzoic acids (including iodine and bromine) and amidines. The reaction proceeds under mild reaction conditions, demonstrating a broad substrate scope (30 examples) and good

• catalytic efficiency (up to 99% yield). Keywords: chitosan-supported CuI catalyst; cyclization reaction; mild conditions; quinazolinone; Introduction Quinazolinones are not only a key core of nitrogen-containing benzo heterocyclic compounds found in many natural products and bioactive molecules [1][2][3

• developed a magnetically recoverable and reusable Fe3O4 nanoparticle-supported copper(I) catalyst with excellent catalytic efficiency for quinazolinone synthesis [11]. In addition, Cai et al. reported that MCM-41-immobilized tridentate nitrogen-supported copper(I) [MCM-41-3N–CuI] served as a highly

Synthesis and photoinduced switching properties of C₇-heteroatom containing push–pull norbornadiene derivatives

• Daniel Krappmann and
• Andreas Hirsch

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 807–816, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.64

• corresponding to either N-NBD2 and N-UnS2. Addition of the previously used CoII-catalyst POR did not result in regeneration of the parent N-NBD2 species strongly excluding the presence of N-QC2. Given the challenges in generating heterocyclic QC derivatives – successfully achieved only for oxa derivatives – the

• from the respective QC derivative was accomplished by addition of a CoII-porphyrin catalyst. For the nitrogen containing NBDs N-NBD1 and N-NBD2 photoinduced generation of an unidentified species was observed, followed by complete photodecomposition upon extended irradiation. The formation of N-QC2 was

• absorption maximum and onset was observed for the heterocyclic derivatives in relation to their isocyclic analogues. Basic principle of the NBD to QC conversion and vice versa. The bridge-atom at position 7 was varied to carbon, oxygen or nitrogen. The back-conversion induced via heat or a catalyst can

Regioselective formal hydrocyanation of allenes: synthesis of β,γ-unsaturated nitriles with α-all-carbon quaternary centers

• Seeun Lim,
• Teresa Kim and
• Yunmi Lee

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 800–806, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.63

• centers [30][31][32][33]. Herein, we report a mild and efficient method for the regio- and (E)-stereoselective formal hydrocyanation of di- and trisubstituted allenes. Using DIBAL-H as the hydride source and TsCN as a readily available and bench-stable cyanating agent in the presence of a copper catalyst

• , the hydride addition of DIBAL-H to allene 1a catalyzed by 5 mol % IPrCuCl as the optimal catalyst selectively generated the allylaluminum intermediate 2a with >98% conversion [30]. Subsequent addition of one equivalent of TsCN to 2a in a single vessel at room temperature proceeded regioselectively

• , achieving yields of 93% and 87%, respectively. When the catalyst loading was reduced to 3 mol % for the reaction of allene 4b, the hydroalumination did not reach full conversion even with an extended reaction time (6 h vs 3 h). As a result, the incomplete hydroalumination led to a side reaction between the

Recent advances in the electrochemical synthesis of organophosphorus compounds

• Babak Kaboudin,
• Milad Behroozi,
• Sepideh Sadighi and
• Fatemeh Asgharzadeh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 770–797, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.61

• . Studies showed that a Mn catalyst is critical for synthesizing derivatives of phenanthridine-based diarylphosphine oxides. The reaction yield decreased in the absence of the ligand, and eliminating both the ligand and manganese salt suppressed the reaction. Moreover, a slight decrease in the reaction

• derivatives of glycine with diarylphosphine oxide (R2P(O)–H) for the synthesis of 1-aminoalkylphosphine oxides without the use of any transition metal catalyst or external oxidant. In this conversion, 1-aminoalkylphosphine oxides were formed in an undivided cell using a carbon electrode as the anode and

• dialkyl phosphonates at carbon and platinum electrodes as the anode and cathode in the presence of a silver catalyst in a divided cell (Scheme 3). According to the report, the silver catalyst is central to the coupling reaction. The study of the effect of alternating current (a.c.) electrolysis parameters

New advances in asymmetric organocatalysis II

• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 766–769, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.60

• prominent Hayashi–Jørgensen catalyst. This prolinol silyl ether was independently discovered by the respective Hayashi and Jørgensen research teams in 2005 [13][14]. Interestingly, the use of prolinol alkyl ethers for asymmetric Michael additions, although at the time added in a stoichiometric manner, has

• ]. The enantioselective addition of propargyltrichlorosilane to aldehydes was studied by Prabhakar, Takenaka, and co-workers. This transformation was catalyzed by a biisoquinoline N,N’-dioxide catalyst, which acted as a chiral Lewis base [26]. Torres-Oya and Zurro reviewed the recent developments in

• organocatalytic cycloaddition reactions of unsaturated imines. A broad variety of activation modes, as well as catalyst structures, was covered and found to be useful in affording a diverse array of chiral N-heterocycles [27]. In my group, we recently became interested in atroposelective catalytic syntheses

Development and mechanistic studies of calcium–BINOL phosphate-catalyzed hydrocyanation of hydrazones

• Carola Tortora,
• Christian A. Fischer,
• Sascha Kohlbauer,
• Alexandru Zamfir,
• Gerd M. Ballmann,
• Jürgen Pahl,
• Sjoerd Harder and
• Svetlana B. Tsogoeva

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 755–765, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.59

• . Trimethylsilyl cyanide (TMSCN) has been used as a sacrificial cyanide source. We found that isocyanide (rather than cyanide) is a preferred coordination to calcium during the catalytic cycle, while the active catalyst prefers a side-on coordination of cyanide. The configuration-determining step is a

• hydrocyanation via a calcium isocyanide complex, whereas the rate-limiting step is that which recovers the calcium catalyst and replaces the TMS-bound product from the catalyst. While our experimental data demonstrate enantioselectivity values as high as 89% under certain conditions, the overall

• enantioselectivity achieved with the calcium catalyst remains modest, mainly due to competing pathways for the Z- and E-hydrazone isomers leading to opposite enantiomers. The experimental results confirm these computational proposals. Keywords: asymmetric synthesis; calcium–BINOL phosphate catalysis; hydrocyanation

Copper-catalyzed domino cyclization of anilines and cyclobutanone oxime: a scalable and versatile route to spirotetrahydroquinoline derivatives

• Qingqing Jiang,
• Xinyi Lei,
• Pan Gao and
• Yu Yuan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 749–754, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.58

• into tetrahydroquinoline (THQ)-based 6-6-4-membered ring systems through a combination of nucleophilic addition and borate-mediated [2 + 2] photocycloaddition, offering a catalyst-free approach to construct conformationally constrained 2D/3D frameworks with high functional group compatibility and

• ) trifluoroacetate (Cu(TFA)2) as the catalyst (20 mol %) under ambient air at 80 °C for 12 hours; the product 3aa was isolated by chromatographic purification (Table 1, entry 1). The use of other solvents, including acetonitrile (MeCN), tetrahydrofuran (THF), toluene, acetone and methanol (MeOH), resulted in

• significantly lower yields of 3aa (Table 1, entry 2). Replacing the Cu(TFA)2 catalyst with other copper sources, such as cuprous chloride (CuCl), cuprous thiocyanate (CuSCN), copper bromide (CuBr2), copper trifluoromethanesulfonate (Cu(OTf)2), and copper powder resulted in diminished reaction efficiency (Table