Origami with small molecules: exploiting the C–F bond as a conformational tool

• Patrick Ryan,
• Ramsha Iftikhar and
• Luke Hunter

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 680–716, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.54

• progress from ethers (section 2) to a closely related class of molecules, namely, the alcohols. The focus here in section 3 will be mostly on simple examples; more complex poly-ol examples will be discussed in section 4 (sugars). Taking the example of a simple alcohol such as ethanol, consider what happens

• ., to generate an ester), the gauche O–C–C–F conformation is favoured over anti more strongly than was seen for the parent alcohol (e.g., energy difference between gauche and anti = 1.0 kcal·mol−1 for esters; 0.3 kcal·mol−1 for alcohols) [109]. This is likely due to enhanced hyperconjugation effects in

Entry to 2-aminoprolines via electrochemical decarboxylative amidation of N‑acetylamino malonic acid monoesters

• Olesja Koleda,
• Janis Sadauskis,
• Darja Antonenko,
• Edvards Janis Treijs,
• Raivis Davis Steberis and
• Edgars Suna

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 630–638, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.50

• under Pd-catalyzed hydrogenolysis afforded diamino acid ester 14 (75% yield) that was likely formed by ring-opening of the unstable N-unprotected 2-aminoproline followed by the reduction of the open-chain imine tautomer. Likewise, the open-chain amino alcohol 15 was formed also upon the reduction of the

Total synthesis of (±)-simonsol C using dearomatization as key reaction under acidic conditions

• Xiao-Yang Bi,
• Xiao-Shuai Yang,
• Shan-Shan Chen,
• Jia-Jun Sui,
• Zhao-Nan Cai,
• Yong-Ming Chuan and
• Hong-Bo Qin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 601–606, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.47

• -position to the carbonyl group in 18 was achieved by using LDA, followed by the addition of 4-bromobenzyl bromide for alkylation, giving compound 16 with 69% isolated yield. Compound 16 was then reduced to alcohol 19 with 2 equiv LAH at 0 °C. The reaction was completed within 10 minutes and the desired

• alcohol 19 was isolated in 89% yield. The copper-catalyzed replacement of the bromine substituent in 19 with a hydroxy group was achieved in the presence of a catalytic amount of oxalamide ligand I [13]. This transformation is critical for enabling further functionalization and the reaction conditions

Sequential two-step, one-pot microwave-assisted Urech synthesis of 5-monosubstituted hydantoins from L-amino acids in water

• Wei-Jin Chang,
• Sook Yee Liew,
• Thomas Kurz and
• Siow-Ping Tan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 596–600, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.46

• exceptional functional group tolerance, accommodating phenyl, aliphatic, phenol, alcohol, heterocyclic, and sulfide groups. This scalable, rapid, and eco-friendly strategy offers a promising avenue for the efficient synthesis of hydantoins, aligning with green chemistry principles and expanding the

• acids as precursors and achieves yields of 34–89%, with a broad functional group tolerance for phenyl, aliphatic, phenol, alcohol, heterocyclic, and sulfide groups. By eliminating highly reactive and moisture-sensitive reagents, our method improves practicality and safety, while microwave irradiation

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

• reactions [10]. Oxidation of the alcohol is done in situ to avoid problems regarding the isolation and instability of the aldehyde produced, although undesirable reactions, such as oxidation of the amines or isocyanides or overoxidation of the alcohol, could also be problematic [11][12]. In this regard

• , several efforts have been made to improve the chemoselectivity of the oxidation step. Among the most relevant examples, o-iodoxybenzoic acid (IBX) has been used in Ugi and Passerini reactions to oxidize the suitable alcohol to the desired aldehyde [13]. Alternatively, catalytic amounts of a ternary system

Vinylogous functionalization of 4-alkylidene-5-aminopyrazoles with methyl trifluoropyruvates

• Judit Hostalet-Romero,
• Laura Carceller-Ferrer,
• Gonzalo Blay,
• Amparo Sanz-Marco,
• José R. Pedro and
• Carlos Vila

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 533–540, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.41

• ), reduced the reaction time obtaining similar yields for compound 5aaa. When the reaction was performed at 70 °C in toluene (Table 1, entry 6), after 24 hours, a full conversion of compound 3aa was observed, affording the corresponding alcohol 5aaa in 66% yield and 7:1 dr. Other solvents such as

• dichloroethane, chloroform or ethyl acetate gave lower yields but similar diastereoselectivity. More polar solvents such THF and CH3CN afforded the corresponding alcohol 5aaa with lower diastereoselectivity. When acetone was used as solvent, product 5aaa was not detected in the 1H NMR of crude reaction mixture

• ). Later, we evaluated the effect of the carbocyclic ring size, observing a high yield (up to 80%) when the 5-aminopyrazole 3ga prepared from cycloheptanone was used, while 5-aminopyrazole 3fa bearing a cyclopentenyl ring afforded alcohol 5faa with lower yield (27–44% yield). Unfortunately, in the case of

Synthesis of the aggregation pheromone of Tribolium castaneum

• Biyu An,
• Xueyang Wang,
• Ao Jiao,
• Qinghua Bian and
• Jiangchun Zhong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 510–514, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.38

• of (R)-2-methyloxirane ((R)-2) with allylmagnesium bromide (3) catalyzed by CuI produced a mixture of (R)-hex-5-en-2-ol ((R)-4) and (S)-2-methylpent-4-en-1-ol ((S)-4’) (ratio 8:1, determined by 1H NMR spectroscopy) [25][26]. The primary alcohol (S)-4’ could be easily removed by a selective TEMPO

• oxidation. The optical purity of the chiral secondary alcohol (R)-4 was more than 99% ee, determined by 1H NMR spectrum of its Mosher ester [27][28]. The subsequent tosylation with p-tosyl chloride gave (R)-hex-5-en-2-yl 4-methylbenzenesulfonate ((R)-5) in 88% yield [29]. The reaction of (R)-5 with the

• , geminal acid (S)-7 was decarboxylated with DMSO to yield chiral acid (S)-8 [33], followed by TiCl4-catalyzed reduction with ammonia-borane to obtain the chiral alkenyl alcohol (S)-9 [34]. The final tosylation with p-tosyl chloride provided (S)-3-methylhept-6-en-1-yl 4-methylbenzenesulfonate ((S)-10) [29

Synthesis of electrophile-tethered preQ₁ analogs for covalent attachment to preQ₁ RNA

• Laurin Flemmich and
• Ronald Micura

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 483–489, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.35

• was observed, and the alcohol intermediate was isolated in pure form. In both cases, quantitative bromination was achieved by heating the compounds in concentrated aqueous hydrobromic acid, which after evaporation afforded the pure compounds 4b–d. To generate iodide 4e, alcohol 11 was isolated and

• methanol (1.3 mL). Anhydrous magnesium sulfate (340 mg, 2.82 mmol, 10 equiv) and the respective amino alcohol (2.82 mmol, 10 equiv) were added. The mixture was sonicated for 30 minutes and subsequently stirred at room temperature for 16 h. After cooling to 0 °C, sodium borohydride (96.1 mg, 2.54 mmol, 9

Beyond symmetric self-assembly and effective molarity: unlocking functional enzyme mimics with robust organic cages

• Keith G. Andrews

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 421–443, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.30

• , enthalpically stabilizing the rate-limiting attack of alcohol by 7.3 kcal/mol. The highly ordered transition state in this example, thought to prevent charge buildup through a concerted/synchronous proton-transfer mechanism between bifunctional acid units, highlights a key design criteria differing from the

• triad (red) was hoped to activate the benzyl alcohol nucleophile, but it does not activate (polarize) the electrophile (substrate ester group). (B) One of Rebek’s “clefts” [108][109]. The rigidly organized carboxylic acids both bind the substrate and the transition state for hydrolysis of an acetal. (A

Identification and removal of a cryptic impurity in pomalidomide-PEG based PROTAC

• Bingnan Wang,
• Yong Lu and
• Chuo Chen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 407–411, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.28

• synthesis of iVeliparib-AP6 [5] starts with a nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) reaction wherein 4-fluorothalidomide (1) reacts with amino-PEG7-OH 2 to give alcohol 3 (Scheme 1). Subsequent alcohol oxidation followed by reductive amination of the resulting aldehyde 4 with veliparib [6][7] provides

• product on HPLC even for the reaction of diethylene glycolamine and 1. Capping the free hydroxy group with a methyl group improved the separation on HPLC marginally. However, incorporating a clickable propargyl group greatly benefited separation. Similar to the alcohol, amino-PEG5-acid also reacted with 1

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

Synthesis of new condensed naphthoquinone, pyran and pyrimidine furancarboxylates

• Kirill A. Gomonov,
• Vasilii V. Pelipko,
• Igor A. Litvinov,
• Ilya A. Pilipenko,
• Anna M. Stepanova,
• Nikolai A. Lapatin,
• Ruslan I. Baichurin and
• Sergei V. Makarenko

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 340–347, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.24

• (2c) or 4-hydroxy-2H,5H-pyrano[3,2-c][1]benzopyran-2,5-dione (2d) in yields up to 51% (Scheme 6). Furopyrimidines 7a–f were obtained by reacting bromonitroacrylates 1a,b with representatives of substituted pyrimidines 2e–g. The reactions proceed successfully by refluxing in a water–alcohol (in the

• case of 2e) or alcohol (in the case of 2f,g) solution for 1–3 h (ratio of acrylate/CH-acid/AcOK = 1:1:1.5) with a yield of 43–64% (Scheme 7). The structures of the obtained condensed furans 3–7 were characterized by a set of physicochemical methods, including X-ray diffraction analysis. Analysis of the

Red light excitation: illuminating photocatalysis in a new spectrum

• Lucas Fortier,
• Corentin Lefebvre and
• Norbert Hoffmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 296–326, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.22

Three-component reactions of conjugated dienes, CH acids and formaldehyde under diffusion mixing conditions

• Dmitry E. Shybanov,
• Maxim E. Kukushkin,
• Eugene V. Babaev,
• Nikolai V. Zyk and
• Elena K. Beloglazkina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 262–269, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.18

• alcohol 2. Its 1H NMR spectrum contained a triplet with a coupling constant of 5.1 Hz at 5.52 ppm and a doublet at 4.30 ppm. In methanol, ethanol and petroleum ether, with an increasing reaction time, a significant amount of product 3 was observed in the 1H NMR spectra of the mixtures, as identified by

• keto alcohol 2 and 35% of diketone 1 (Table 1, entry 5), and only trace amounts of CH2O were present. This meant that formaldehyde introduction into the reaction mixture was very limited. Therefore, the condensation rate was the limiting step of the diffusion mixing. The rapid formation of compound 3

Dioxazolones as electrophilic amide sources in copper-catalyzed and -mediated transformations

• Seungmin Lee,
• Minsuk Kim,
• Hyewon Han and
• Jongwoo Son

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 200–216, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.12

• were tolerated, while a dioxazolone containing bromobenzene displayed lower reactivity (26c). The enamide 26d, derived from lobatamide, was successfully produced without altering the stereochemistry of the oxime ether. Terminal alkynes with linear alkyl group, protected alcohol, and sulfonamide

Cu(OTf)₂-catalyzed multicomponent reactions

• Sara Colombo,
• Camilla Loro,
• Egle M. Beccalli,
• Gianluigi Broggini and
• Marta Papis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 122–145, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.7

• directly to the alkene, then reacts with the nucleophile to afford product 7. The regioselective 1,2-difunctionalization of allyl alcohol has been developed as a three-component cascade reaction using arenes and sulfonamides as nucleophiles to achieve arylation/hydroamination processes. The reaction

• involves a Friedel–Crafts alkylation of the arene followed by hydroamination (Scheme 6) [5]. The mechanism plausibly starts with the in situ formation of triflic acid from Cu(OTf)2 which leads to protonation of the oxygen atom of the alcohol with generation of the activated allyl alcohol. This latter gives

Recent advances in organocatalytic atroposelective reactions

• Henrich Szabados and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 55–121, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.6

• reported. The configurational stability and rotational barrier were also investigated. The enantioselectivity gradually decreased at 70 °C for 12 h in isopropyl alcohol and the calculated value was 28.5 kcal/mol. Control experiments proved the importance of N–H bonds during the reaction and methylation of

• -arylbenzenediamines 201 and β-ketoesters. Testing many different substrates, oxocyclopentane carboxylates 202 consistently provided the highest yields and enantioselectivities. The authors observed no racemization of 203 below 90 °C in toluene, isopropyl alcohol, or DCE. Based on these results, the rotational barrier

Facile one-pot reduction of β-nitrostyrenes to phenethylamines using sodium borohydride and copper(II) chloride

• Laura D’Andrea and
• Simon Jademyr

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 39–46, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.4

• ); 13C NMR (151 MHz, D2O) δ 122.41, 124.77, 129.01, 133.06; ESI-MS m/z: [M + 1]+ 171.0; found, 171.1; mp 190–191 °C. Benzyl alcohol (9b): The product formation was monitored by TLC using Hex/EtOAc (6:1). Once cooled to room temperature, the mixture was acidified with 20% HCl solution and extracted with

Non-covalent organocatalyzed enantioselective cyclization reactions of α,β-unsaturated imines

• Sergio Torres-Oya and
• Mercedes Zurro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3221–3255, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.268

• alcohol E isomer and it coordinated to the squaramide in an effective orientation, a stepwise mechanism is taking place. Firstly, the dienolate adds to the azadiene which is followed by cyclization with formation of the C–N bond. Finally, protonation leads to the formation of the desired derivative. The

• reaction between 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds 68 and azoalkenes 53 (Scheme 26) [48]. This methodology provides access to C1-symmetric biarylamino alcohol derivatives (NPNOL) 69 in a wide scope with good yields (45–89%) and good to excellent atroposelectivities (64–99% ee). In order to explain the reaction

• palladium on carbon led to free alcohol derivative 72 in a 98% yield. Next, a urea 73 and various thioureas 74–77 were obtained in good yields and with retention of the enantioselectivity, demonstrating the usefulness of the novel methodology for the synthesis of new organocatalysts. In April 2023, Huang

Synthesis of 2H-azirine-2,2-dicarboxylic acids and their derivatives

• Anastasiya V. Agafonova,
• Mikhail S. Novikov and
• Alexander F. Khlebnikov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3191–3197, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.264

• a 4 mmol scale gave dimethyl ester 11a in 99% yield. Unexpectedly, the reaction of branched alcohols with diacyl chloride 2a failed. For example, the reaction with benzyl alcohol resulted in the formation of an overly complex mixture of products. Adding bases to trap HCl did not improve the

Synthesis of extended fluorinated tripeptides based on the tetrahydropyridazine scaffold

• Thierry Milcent,
• Pascal Retailleau,
• Benoit Crousse and
• Sandrine Ongeri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3174–3181, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.262

• has become an essential structural motif in medicinal chemistry due to its hydrogen-bond donor capacity, its lipophilic character, and as a bioisostere for alcohol, thiol, or amine groups [16][17][18][19]. Thus, the contribution of fluorinated compounds to pharmaceuticals has been crucial for more

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

• internal oxygen nucleophile and fluoride then sequentially attack the activated alkene, to either form 5- or 6-membered furan or pyran heterocycles depending on the chain length in the substrate. The pyran ring is only formed from the alcohol starting material, presumably because the oxygen is reactive

• regeneration of 1-fluoro-3,3- dimethylbenziodoxole (12) in 91% yield from isolated benzyl alcohol after the fluorination reaction. A mechanism of the reaction was proposed (Scheme 13) in which the iodane-activated alkene is attacked by fluoride and the aromatic ring, to form a fluorinated phenonium

Enantioselective regiospecific addition of propargyltrichlorosilane to aldehydes catalyzed by biisoquinoline N,N’-dioxide

• Noble Brako,
• Sreerag Moorkkannur Narayanan,
• Amber Burns,
• Layla Auter,
• Valentino Cesiliano,
• Rajeev Prabhakar and
• Norito Takenaka

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3069–3076, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.255

• % yield with 61:39–92:8 enantiomeric ratios. Furthermore, possible mechanisms of propargyl–allenyl isomerization of propargyltrichlorosilane were computationally investigated. Keywords: α-allenic alcohol; computational chemistry; Lewis base catalysis; organocatalysis; propargyltrichlorosilane

Chemical structure metagenomics of microbial natural products: surveying nonribosomal peptides and beyond

• Thomas Ma and
• John Chu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3050–3060, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.253

• to fully understand the determinant(s) of NRP topology. There are many ways to classify NRPs when topology and chemical structural features are considered simultaneously. For example, a macrocycle may be a lactam or a lactone depending on whether the internal nucleophile is an amine or an alcohol

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

• the hydrogen bonding by the primary- or secondary-alcohol groups, as confirmed by theoretical analyses. This structure was consistent with a previously reported X-ray crystal structure analysis of the complex structure comprising α-CD, polyion, and Li+ or Cd2+ [45]. Regarding the small rotaxane

• primary alcohol at the sixth position (the narrower rim side), the further reaction on the narrower rim side of the CD was disturbed, while the secondary alcohol groups on the wider rim side of the CD could not react owing to their low reactivities (Figure 16B). Thus, the introduction of the methacryl