Formaldehyde surrogates in multicomponent reactions

• Cecilia I. Attorresi,
• Javier A. Ramírez and
• Bernhard Westermann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 564–595, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.45

The effect of neighbouring group participation and possible long range remote group participation in O-glycosylation

• Rituparna Das and
• Balaram Mukhopadhyay

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 369–406, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.27

• referred to as α-glycosides are mostly also termed as 1,2-cis glycosides (except in the case of glycosides such as ᴅ-altrose, ᴅ-mannose, ᴅ-iodose, and ᴅ-talose with axial C-2 position), while the equatorial or β-glycosides are termed as 1,2-trans-glycosides with the glycosides mentioned above as exceptions

• [48]. The review will primarily be referring to axial or α-glycosides as 1,2-cis glycosides except for mannosides where the term β-mannosides will be used for 1,2-cis-mannoside configuration, respecting the complexity and novelty they bring to the world of synthetic glycochemistry. The spanning of the

• -benzylcarbamoyl group helped in the formation of 1,2-trans glycosides only without the formation of an acetoxonium ion, although it renders neighbouring group participation to stabilise the 1,2-cis triflate intermediate enabling the formation of 1,2-trans glycosides. This mechanistic protocol was suitably

Molecular diversity of the reactions of MBH carbonates of isatins and various nucleophiles

• Zi-Ying Xiao,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 286–295, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.21

• successfully promoted reaction of tri(tert-butyl)phosphine and MBH carbonates of isatins in toluene at 80 °C for three hours. These conditions resulted in mixtures of conjugated triene cis/trans-isomers 7a–d and 8a–d with nearly 4:1 ratios (Table 2). It should be pointed out that similar conjugated trienes

Effect of substitution position of aryl groups on the thermal back reactivity of aza-diarylethene photoswitches and prediction by density functional theory

• Misato Suganuma,
• Daichi Kitagawa,
• Shota Hamatani and
• Seiya Kobatake

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 242–252, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.16

• -withdrawing substituents on the N-aryl moieties enhanced the thermal stability of the Z-isomers while maintaining the advantageous photoswitching properties upon irradiation with red light [52]. The effect of substituents on the thermal cis–trans isomerization of azobenzenes has also been widely studied, and

Hypervalent iodine-mediated intramolecular alkene halocyclisation

• Charu Bansal,
• Oliver Ruggles,
• Albert C. Rowett and
• Alastair J. J. Lennox

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3113–3133, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.258

• fluoride ion to displace PhI. In pathway B (bottom), the nitrogen is oxidised by the iodane, generating an electrophilic intermediate B. Nucleophilic attack by the double bond subsequently forms the 6-membered ring intermediate C, which is either immediately attacked by fluoride to form both cis and trans

• products or stabilised by the tosyl group and subsequently attacked to form only the cis product in an SN2 reaction. Liu and co-workers reported a palladium-catalysed intramolecular aminofluorination of unactivated alkenes [27] (Scheme 2) in the presence of PhI(OPiv)2, AgF and MgSO4 as an oxidant, source

• C‒F bond to give predominantly the trans product, but this pathway competes with a less favourable SN2 nucleophilic attack by fluorine to form the cis product. However, a mechanism entirely mediated by the I(III) HVI reagent, with the Pd(OAc)2 only acting as a Lewis acid to activate the HVI reagent

Cyclodextrin-based rotaxanes for polymer materials: challenge on simultaneous realization of inexpensive production and defined structures

• Yosuke Akae

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3026–3049, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.252

• (Figure 5A) [56]. In the structure, α-CD was located on the trans-azobenzene moiety before ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, after which it moved to the methylene moiety based on the cis-isomerization of the azobenzene by UV irradiation. After the azobenzene moiety was moved back to the trans-isomer via

• α-CD-based rotaxane comprising a stilbene axle that was synthesized by the Suzuki coupling reaction to light irradiation (Figure 6, right) [58]. In this structure, α-CD was first located on the trans-stilbene moiety, after which it moved to the benzene ring moiety via the cis-isomerization of the

gem-Difluorovinyl and trifluorovinyl Michael acceptors in the synthesis of α,β-unsaturated fluorinated and nonfluorinated amides

• Monika Bilska-Markowska,
• Marcin Kaźmierczak,
• Wojciech Jankowski and
• Marcin Hoffmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2946–2953, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.247

• substituent at nitrogen located in the opposite direction to the carbonyl group, while cisoid (cis 15a’ (16a’)) isomers featured a smaller substituent at nitrogen located in the opposite direction to the carbonyl group. We determined the quantitative ratio as well as the cis/trans configuration of isomers by

N-Glycosides of indigo, indirubin, and isoindigo: blue, red, and yellow sugars and their cancerostatic activity

• Peter Langer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2840–2869, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.240

• isatin-N-glycosides derived from β-ᴅ-galactose, β-ᴅ-glucose, and β-ᴅ-xylose which might be due to their 1,2-trans configuration. An identical relative configuration (1,2-trans; 1,3-cis) is observed for the first three carbon atoms of β-ᴅ-galactose, β-ᴅ-glucose, and β-ᴅ-xylose. In contrast, for β-ᴅ

• -mannose and β-ʟ-rhamnose, the first three C-atoms possess a different relative configuration (1,2-cis; 1,3-cis). This difference cannot be explained at the moment. A possible explanation is based on the assumption that, during dimerization, the acetate group of the 1,2-trans-configured sugars interacts

Copper-catalyzed yne-allylic substitutions: concept and recent developments

• Shuang Yang and
• Xinqiang Fang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2739–2775, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.232

• proceed smoothly, resulting in spiroindolenine derivatives with high yields and ee values (Scheme 45, 45a–j). They also conducted mechanism studies and believed that the designed cyclic cis-yne-allylic esters are crucial for the progress of the reaction. The distal yne-allylic substitution is considered

Photoredox-catalyzed intramolecular nucleophilic amidation of alkenes with β-lactams

• Valentina Giraldi,
• Giandomenico Magagnano,
• Daria Giacomini,
• Pier Giorgio Cozzi and
• Andrea Gualandi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2461–2468, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.210

• , entry 1). Assignment of the relative configurations as cis or trans was achieved by 1H NMR analysis, considering the chemical shifts of the proton in the α-position of the β-lactam nitrogen atom and the geminal protons in the benzylic position (see Supporting Information File 1). The difference in the

• the cis-isomer. The optimal PC for the reaction was acridinium salt IV (Table 1, entry 1), while the Fukuzumi catalyst (I), commonly employed by Nicewicz et al., was less effective (Table 1, entry 9). 3CzClIPN, an organic dye belonging to the class of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF

• intramolecular photoredox reaction. Photoredox-catalyzed intramolecular N-alkylation reactions of various β-lactams. The trans/cis dr was determined by 1H NMR analysis of the crude reaction mixture. Synthesis of the model substrate 14 and its photoredox-catalyzed intramolecular N-alkylation reaction. The trans

Hypervalent iodine-mediated cyclization of bishomoallylamides to prolinols

• Smaher E. Butt,
• Konrad Kepski,
• Jean-Marc Sotiropoulos and
• Wesley J. Moran

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2455–2460, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.209

• . Installing a geminal dimethyl group on the alkyl linker was anticipated to lead to an improvement in cyclization, however, very low conversion was observed and the product 7p was isolated in 10% yield. We then investigated the cyclization of cis-disubstituted alkene 3q and were delighted to observe that only

Synthesis and conformational analysis of pyran inter-halide analogues of ᴅ-talose

• Olivier Lessard,
• Mathilde Grosset-Magagne,
• Paul A. Johnson and
• Denis Giguère

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2442–2454, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.208

• approach from levoglucosan 1 (Figure 1a) [23]. Allopyranose inter-halides 4 incorporating the 2,3-cis, 3,4-cis relationship for the halogens were prepared via intermediates 2 and 3 from levoglucosan (1). Compounds 4 were the starting point to complex 2,3,4-trihalohexanetriols and 2,3,4,5

• ][25][26][27][28][29][30], such as the solution-state conformation of diastereomeric polyfluorohexitols [31]. Herein, we report the synthesis of pyran inter-halide analogues of ᴅ-talopyranose 6, integrating also the 2,3-cis, 3,4-cis relationship for the halogens, from known intermediate 5 (Figure 1b

• −200.55 ppm for 15. Talopyranose analogues 12–15 incorporate a 2,3-cis, 3,4-cis relationship for the halogens. We previously prepared a small set of trihalogenated allopyranose analogues that also included the 2,3-cis, 3,4-cis relationship for the halogens (Figure 1a) [23]. 19F NMR analysis of halogenated

Facile preparation of fluorine-containing 2,3-epoxypropanoates and their epoxy ring-opening reactions with various nucleophiles

• Yutaro Miyashita,
• Sae Someya,
• Tomoko Kawasaki-Takasuka,
• Tomohiro Agou and
• Takashi Yamazaki

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2421–2433, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.206

• products was concluded by the observed NOESY cross peaks between H2-H4 and H3-H4, clearly demonstrating the relationship between these three hydrogen atoms as cis. Formation of syn,syn-7a and -7b by the above tertiary amines would be mechanistically elucidated by the deprotonation of the most acidic H2

Asymmetric organocatalytic synthesis of chiral homoallylic amines

• Nikolay S. Kondratyev and
• Andrei V. Malkov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2349–2377, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.201

• high (9:1 and >20:1), along with impressive enantioselectivity levels (92% and 98% ee). A slight loss of diastereoselectivity in the reaction of the PMP-imine with (Z)-crotyldioxaborinane 30 was attributed to the spontaneous isomerisation of the imine to the cis-isomer. The crotylboronates were

• synthesised from the respective cis and trans-butenes by deprotonation followed by reaction with triisopropylborate [27], therefore the presence of E isomer in the Z-product 30 cannot be excluded. Chiral BINOL-derived phosphoric acids have been known since the 1970s as industrially relevant chiral counterions

Hydrogen-bond activation enables aziridination of unactivated olefins with simple iminoiodinanes

• Phong Thai,
• Lauv Patel,
• Diyasha Manna and
• David C. Powers

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2305–2312, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.197

• unprotected alcohol is tolerated in our procedure, with product 3l delivered at 50% NMR yield; 3l is sensitive to column chromatography, and thus aziridine-opening to a cyclic ether was observed (31% isolated yield) during purification. Aziridination of cis- or trans-4-octene afforded aziridine 3m as a 1.3

• :1.0 trans/cis mixture in 72% and 64% yield, respectively. While many styrene derivatives polymerize in HFIP [44], 1,2-disubstituted styrene derivatives were sufficiently stable to engage in the developed aziridination reaction, with cis- or trans-β-methylstyrene 1n furnishing aziridine 3n as

• diastereomeric mixtures with comparable yields of 38% (1.0:2.0 trans/cis, from cis-1n) and 35% (1.7:1.0 trans/cis, from trans-1n). Olefins containing N-heteroaromatics such as phthalimide and pyridine underwent aziridination to give 3o (32% yield) and 3p (26% yield). Similarly, 1,4-cyclohexadiene was compatible

Diastereoselective synthesis of highly substituted cyclohexanones and tetrahydrochromene-4-ones via conjugate addition of curcumins to arylidenemalonates

• Deepa Nair,
• Abhishek Tiwari,
• Banamali Laha and
• Irishi N. N. Namboothiri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2016–2023, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.177

• compound 4a (Figure 2). These studies confirmed that R and Ar in the cyclohexane ring of compounds 3 and 4 are trans to each other and the Ar in the dihydropyran ring of 4 is trans to R and cis to Ar in the cyclohexane ring. The diastereoselectivity observed in the above cascade double Michael reaction of

Understanding X-ray-induced isomerisation in photoswitchable surfactant assemblies

• Beatrice E. Jones,
• Camille Blayo,
• Jake L. Greenfield,
• Matthew J. Fuchter,
• Nathan Cowieson and
• Rachel C. Evans

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2005–2015, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.176

• molecules to create photosurfactants (PS), whose molecular shape and polarity can be modified using light [4][5][6]. Of the PS studied, most use an azobenzene (Azo) photoswitch that undergoes trans-to-cis (E-to-Z) isomerization on irradiation with UV light, typically forming a photostationary state (PSS

1,2-Difluoroethylene (HFO-1132): synthesis and chemistry

• Liubov V. Sokolenko,
• Taras M. Sokolenko and
• Yurii L. Yagupolskii

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1955–1966, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.171

• ], respectively, while reference [68] provides UV-spectral data of both isomers. 1H, 19F, and 13C NMR data [69][70] are given in Table 2. Chemistry of HFO-1132 Isomerization Iodine-catalyzed cis–trans isomerization of 1,2-difluoroethylene and corresponding equilibrium measurements were described in the 1960s [47

• ]. Along with this, photoisomerization is described in patent literature [71][72][73][74]. It was shown that the experimentally observed enthalpy of isomerization (0.928 kcal/mol [47]) is in agreement with the calculated difference in the total energy of the two isomers (0.959 kcal/mol [65][75]). Cis-1,2

• cis-isomer decreases, i.e., the cis-isomer of 1,2-difluoroethylene is thermodynamically favored [47]. Deuteration The stereospecific reaction of (E/Z)-1,2-difluoroethylene with a 1–2 M solution of NaOD in D2O (90–120 °C, 2 d) led to the formation of CDF=CDF with high isotopic purity (Scheme 8) [76][77

Regioselective alkylation of a versatile indazole: Electrophile scope and mechanistic insights from density functional theory calculations

• Pengcheng Lu,
• Luis Juarez,
• Paul A. Wiget,
• Weihe Zhang,
• Krishnan Raman and
• Pravin L. Kotian

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1940–1954, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.170

• subsequently set to 0 kcal/mol leading to the energy diagram in Figure 5. Two TSs leading to each product were found, all four of which utilized a coordinating Cs+ cation. The N1-s-cis and N1-s-trans TSs were the lowest in energy (27.5 kcal/mol and 29.1 kcal/mol, respectively), leading to two conformations of

• the N1-product with highly similar energy (averaging −16.8 kcal/mol). The N2-s-cis and N2-s-trans TSs leading to the N2-product were higher in energy and led to the higher energy N2 products. The critical difference between N1-s-cis and N2-s-cis is the presence of the N2–Cs+–O non-covalent interaction

• (NCI) in N1-s-cis, which accounts for the 2.1 kcal/mol difference in energy. Calculations showed that the sulfonate oxygens also chelate the cesium ion in both TSs. Thus, nitrogen NCIs with cesium, or lack thereof, seem to drive N1-product formation, which is both kinetically and thermodynamically

Access to 2-oxoazetidine-3-carboxylic acid derivatives via thermal microwave-assisted Wolff rearrangement of 3-diazotetramic acids in the presence of nucleophiles

• Ivan Lyutin,
• Vasilisa Krivovicheva,
• Grigory Kantin and
• Dmitry Dar’in

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1894–1899, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.164

• two diastereomers, lying in the intervals 5.5–6.0 Hz and 1.5–2.5 Hz for the cis and trans forms, respectively [33][34]. This makes it easy to assign the stereochemistry of the products obtained. Additional confirmation was gained from X-ray analysis data for structure 3t (Scheme 2). In some cases, we

Oxidative fluorination with Selectfluor: A convenient procedure for preparing hypervalent iodine(V) fluorides

• Samuel M. G. Dearman,
• Xiang Li,
• Yang Li,
• Kuldip Singh and
• Alison M. Stuart

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1785–1793, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.157

• to a trans-configuration because of the bicyclic carbon skeleton. Trifluoroiodane 3, on the other hand, has both trans- and cis-configurations of the fluorine ligands which could play a key role in the reductive elimination step in the fluorination of phenylmagnesium bromide. Trifluoroiodane 3 also

Syntheses and medicinal chemistry of spiro heterocyclic steroids

• Laura L. Romero-Hernández,
• Ana Isabel Ahuja-Casarín,
• Penélope Merino-Montiel,
• Sara Montiel-Smith,
• José Luis Vega-Báez and
• Jesús Sandoval-Ramírez

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1713–1745, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.152

• their antiproliferative activity against a panel of cancer cells, in which the activity of some compounds was close to that of cis-platinum in some cell lines. It should be noted that N-propylamide derivatives showed low cytotoxicity on cancer cells. Additionally, 167c did not present cytotoxic activity

A fiber-optic spectroscopic setup for isomerization quantum yield determination

• Anouk Volker,
• Jorn D. Steen and
• Stefano Crespi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1684–1692, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.150

• ]. Among the different switches known in the literature, azobenzene is a textbook example of a photoswitch operating via a double bond isomerization mechanism, with the first reports of its trans-to-cis interconversion under direct sunlight dating back to the work of Hartley in 1937 [2]. Over the decades

• spectra of the two isomers each show distinct bands, as shown in Figure 1. For trans-azobenzene, there is a π→π* band around 320 nm and a very weak (symmetry-forbidden) n→π* band around 440 nm. cis-Azobenzene shows two bands at 240 and 280 nm, and the n→π* transition is slightly more allowed than for

• trans-azobenzene [15]. As the bands of cis- and trans-azobenzene overlap, irradiation results in a photostationary state (PSS) which is a mixture of the isomers. The distribution of the isomers at the PSS differs for irradiations at different wavelengths [16]. Irradiation at 340–350 nm, where the ratio

Divergent role of PIDA and PIFA in the AlX₃ (X = Cl, Br) halogenation of 2-naphthol: a mechanistic study

• Kevin A. Juárez-Ornelas,
• Manuel Solís-Hernández,
• Pedro Navarro-Santos,
• J. Oscar C. Jiménez-Halla and
• César R. Solorio-Alvarado

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1580–1589, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.141

• the cis transition state TS4–Br (ΔG‡ = 16.1 kcal/mol), which yields the brominated nonaromatic intermediate I-6–Br in a highly exothermic step (ΔG = −52.3 kcal/mol). Finally, I-6–Br undergoes spontaneous aromatization, converting it into the experimentally observed 1-bromo-2-naphthol (P–Br), which is

Regio- and stereochemical stability induced by anomeric and gauche effects in difluorinated pyrrolidines

• Ana Flávia Candida Silva,
• Francisco A. Martins and
• Matheus P. Freitas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1572–1579, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.140

• envelope of cyclopentane, with an NH unit occupying either a pseudoaxial or pseudoequatorial position (Figure 1a). When a hydrogen atom of the pyrrolidine at C-3 is replaced with fluorine, a conformational interconversion can occur within the cis- and trans-isomers, as illustrated in Figure 1b. The

• interactions [4]. Protonation of 3-fluoropyrrolidine generates the 3-fluoropyrrolidinium cation, and this typically results in a highly favored conformation in both the gas phase and solution where the fluorine and nitrogen atoms are cis, mirroring the behavior observed in analagous 4- and 6-membered ring

• delocalization is considered to be secondary [7]. However, stabilization via intramolecular hydrogen bonding does not seem to significantly impact the conformational stability of 3-fluoropiperidine. In this context, the cis-conformer, with the axial fluorine atom facing the N-hydrogen atom, is either equally or