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

• reaction occurred at the ortho position relative to the ester group. Also, after a few hours, the reaction yield decreased when the reactants were pre-mixed with HBF4. A series of analyses revealed that P(OEt)3 decomposes into various phosphorus species without H2O. Additionally, the studies showed that P

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

• demonstrated excellent compatibility with the protocol, affording the desired products 3ba–ea in good yields. However, the introduction of strong electron-withdrawing groups, such as trifluoromethoxy, ester, and acetyl, at the para-position of the benzene ring (1f–h) led to a noticeable decrease in the yields

• to be compatible substrates, affording cyclo-O/S-containing STHQ derivatives 3ab and 3ac in good yields. Additionally, ester-functionalized cyclobutanones exhibited smooth reactivity with aniline, enabling the synthesis of substituted STHQ motifs 3ad and 3ae in satisfactory yields. Notably, when

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

• ., 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

• the ester case (i.e., σC–H → σ*C–F and σC–H → σ*C–O, III, Figure 8). Examples of this phenomenon are seen in the crystal structures of compounds 59 and 60 (Figure 8), which are synthetic precursors of β-fluorinated amphetamines; both of 59 and 60 feature a gauche O–C–C–F alignment regardless of other

• that features both an ester moiety and an amino group will be discussed later, in section 5 of this review [112]. 4 Sugars We have examined several classes of molecules of gradually increasing complexity, progressing from alkanes (section 1) to ethers (section 2) and then alcohols (section 3

Recent advances in allylation of chiral secondary alkylcopper species

• Minjae Kim,
• Gwanggyun Kim,
• Doyoon Kim,
• Jun Hee Lee and
• Seung Hwan Cho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 639–658, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.51

• electronegativity, reaching 1.648 Å in the reactive alkoxytrialkyl complex D and 1.659 Å in the tetraalkyl "ate" complex E. The B–C bond lengths in amido- and alkyl-substituted boronic ester complexes B and C fell between these extremes, suggesting an intermediate level of activation. These findings prompted

• metathesis with HBpin to afford a vinylboronic ester intermediate 45 alongside the regenerated L*CuH catalyst, completing the first catalytic cycle. Subsequently, a ligand-controlled regioselective migratory insertion of L*CuH into the vinylboronic ester 18 delivers the corresponding chiral alkylcopper

• -diborylalkanes 47 using an H8-BINOL-derived phosphoramidite ligand L5, achieving exceptional enantiocontrol (Scheme 16) [59]. Their studies revealed the critical role of both the alkali metal cation and boronic ester moiety. While LiOt-Bu provided excellent enantioselectivity (er = 95:5), NaOt-Bu and KOt-Bu

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

• , NaOAc) did not improve the efficiency of the anodic decarboxylation/cyclization reaction (Table 1, entries 2–4). Even though the amount of hemiaminal 10a was slightly reduced, the formation of amino acid ester 11a as side product was observed in the crude reaction mixture (Table 1, entries 2–4). The

• NMR methods, and all attempts to obtain crystals suitable for X-ray crystallographic analysis were unsuccessful. N-Protected 2-aminoproline derivatives 6 are relatively stable under basic conditions as evidenced by successful hydrolysis of the ester moiety in 6a,d,e using aqueous LiOH to provide acids

• 13a,d,e in 71–83% yield (Scheme 4). Carboxylic acid 13a could be reacted with glycine benzyl ester in the presence of HATU and Et3N to form dipeptide 16 (66%). In contrast, N-unprotected 2-aminoprolines are unstable and could not be isolated. Thus, the cleavage of the N-Cbz protecting group in 6b

Semisynthetic derivatives of massarilactone D with cytotoxic and nematicidal activities

• Rémy B. Teponno,
• Sara R. Noumeur and
• Marc Stadler

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 607–615, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.48

• -carbonyl group was linked through an ester bond and the only hydroxy group available for this esterification was the one at C-7. This compound was finally elucidated as massarilactone D 3,4-di-O-methacryloyl-7-O-(6-chloro-3,4-dihydro-2,5-dimethyl-2H-pyran-2-carbonyl). For the formation of compound 2, an

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

• that the isocyanide component decomposes to an arylimine, which undergoes a cycloaddition with another isocyanide molecule to this byproduct. However, if an amino acid is exchanged for an amino ester, the reaction affords the corresponding product 43e (Scheme 40) as an amino acid derivative

• . Application of glyoxylate derivatives in post-cyclization reactions as a C1 building block Glyoxylate derivatives have been used in Ugi- and Passerini-type reactions, since the adduct generated in both cases has two reactive centers for post-cyclization possibilities: the ester moiety and the α-carbon to the

• peptide carbonyl group. Both moieties result from the glyoxylate compound (Scheme 43). There are many examples in which the ester moiety opens the possibility of a further intramolecular cyclization with a nucleophile (for example, a protected amine in an Ugi/deprotection/cyclization sequence [98][99][100

Asymmetric synthesis of β-amino cyanoesters with contiguous tetrasubstituted carbon centers by halogen-bonding catalysis with chiral halonium salt

• Yasushi Yoshida,
• Maho Aono,
• Takashi Mino and
• Masami Sakamoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 547–555, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.43

• tetrasubstituted carbon stereogenic centers [42][43][44][45][46]. In 2011, Shibasaki, Matsunaga and co-workers reported strontium or magnesium-catalyzed stereodivergent asymmetric Mannich reactions of an α-isothiocyanato ester with ketimines, which provided the products in excellent yields and

• reaction; the stereoselectivity of product 17j drastically dropped. The scope for the pre-nucleophile showed that phenyl-substituted 16b provided 17k in 94% yield with high diastereoselectivity, albeit with decreased enantioselectivities. Methyl ester 16c and tert-butyl ester 16d were also applied to the

Binding of tryptophan and tryptophan-containing peptides in water by a glucose naphtho crown ether

• Gianpaolo Gallo and
• Bartosz Lewandowski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 541–546, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.42

• in water [21]. Crown ether 1 is particularly suited for the sensing of Trp methyl ester, which it binds with a higher affinity than the Phe and Tyr esters. Additionally, the binding of Trp-OMe results in a highly efficient fluorescence quenching of the naphthalene unit in the receptor. Herein, we

• report that receptor 1 can be used for the binding and fluorescent sensing of tryptophan as well as tryptophan residues in short peptides in water. Results and Discussion Having previously demonstrated that 1 binds tryptophan methyl ester in water [21] we wanted to investigate whether it is also suitable

Cryptophycin unit B analogues

• Thomas Schachtsiek,
• Jona Voss,
• Maren Hamsen,
• Beate Neumann,
• Hans-Georg Stammler and
• Norbert Sewald

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 526–532, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.40

• of N-alkylation on the non-chlorinated unit B derivatives. Results and Discussion For the synthesis of unit B derivatives with amino groups instead of the naturally occurring methoxy group ᴅ-phenylalanine served as the fundamental substrate (Scheme 1). Nitration [23] followed by methyl ester

• macrolactamisation [21]. The syntheses of required unit A [28], C [29][30], and D [31] building blocks were accomplished as described previously. tert-Butyl-protected leucic acid 14 and Fmoc-β-aminopivalic acid (15) were connected by Steglich esterification (Scheme 2) and after cleavage of the tert-butyl ester group

• indicate the major presence of a fully deprotected and trifluoroacetylated seco-cryptophycin, most likely a TFA ester of one of the free hydroxy groups, a finding which might reason the comparably low yields (21–25%) of structurally similar unit B analogues reported earlier [21]. Contrary, diol 25 was

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

• -amine reduction and tosylation from diethyl (S)-2-(hex-5-en-2-yl)malonate ((S)-6). The stereocenter in geminal ester (S)-6 could be derived from (R)-2-methyloxirane ((R)-2) via a ring-opening reaction and a stereospecific inversion of the chiral secondary tosylate (R)-5. Following the similar procedure

• 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

• enolate of diethyl malonate yielded (S)-2-(hex-5-en-2-yl)malonate ((S)-6), and realized a stereospecific inversion of chiral secondary tosylate (R)-5 [30][31]. The geminal ester (S)-6 was next treated with NaOH in methanol to afford (S)-2-(hex-5-en-2-yl)malonic acid ((S)-7) in 96% yield [32]. Then

Unprecedented visible light-initiated topochemical [2 + 2] cycloaddition in a functionalized bimane dye

• Metodej Dvoracek,
• Brendan Twamley,
• Mathias O. Senge and
• Mikhail A. Filatov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 500–509, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.37

• , syn-(ethoxycarbonyl,methyl)bimane (Me2B) and syn-(methyl,methyl)bimane (Me4B), were also examined for this phenomenon but did not undergo the reaction. Results and Discussion Synthesis Bimanes are typically synthesized through a three-step process, as outlined in Figure 3. First, a β-keto ester 1

• in P-1 and the molecules pack in a different arrangement, where the double bonds are neither coplanar nor parallel. This product was obtained from propan-2-ol, which may have influenced the crystallization kinetics. The reactive packing mode of Cl2B is enhanced by the hydrogen bonding where the ester

Synthesis of N-acetyl diazocine derivatives via cross-coupling reaction

• Thomas Brandt,
• Pascal Lentes,
• Jeremy Rudtke,
• Michael Hösgen,
• Christian Näther and
• Rainer Herges

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 490–499, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.36

• with bis(pinacolato)diboron did not lead to the formation of the pinacolborane-substituted N-acetyl diazocine 18. Accordingly, the Suzuki–Miyaura reaction with inversed roles between N-acetyl diazocine boronic acid pinacol ester and aryl or alkyl halides could not be investigated. The Buchwald–Hartwig

Photomechanochemistry: harnessing mechanical forces to enhance photochemical reactions

• Francesco Mele,
• Ana M. Constantin,
• Andrea Porcheddu,
• Raimondo Maggi,
• Giovanni Maestri,
• Nicola Della Ca’ and
• Luca Capaldo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 458–472, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.33

• traditional solution-phase synthesis. In fact, in the latter case, almost complete recovery of the starting material was observed. Second, the authors found that the replacement of diisopropylethylamine (DIPEA) with Hantzsch ester in the role of sacrificial reductant for the pinacol coupling of benzaldehyde

Electrochemical synthesis of cyclic biaryl λ³-bromanes from 2,2’-dibromobiphenyls

• Andrejs Savkins and
• Igors Sokolovs

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 451–457, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.32

• an electrochemical synthesis of cyclic diaryl λ3-bromanes under anodic oxidation conditions. Results and Discussion Symmetric 2,2'-dibromo-1,1'-biphenyl 4a possessing ethoxycarbonyl groups ortho to the bromine was chosen as a model compound for our study. We anticipated that the presence of the ester

• ester moieties is critical for the synthesis of Br(III) species: the removal of one ester group (4i–k), or its replacement by NO2 (4l) or SO2t-Bu (4m) substituents in 2,2'-dibromo-1,1'-biphenyls resulted in starting material degradation with no formation of the desired product (for a complete list of

• developed method represents a safe and inexpensive alternative to the commonly used thermal decomposition of potentially explosive diazonium salts. The successful electrochemical oxidation requires the presence of two chelating ester groups that stabilize the formed Br(III) species. Further work towards

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

• work simply by bringing substrates arbitrarily close to a potentially reactive group [99][100]. One rare but important exception is Breslow’s use of two tethered cyclodextrins to locate hydrophobic ester substrates next to a metal ion. Breslow’s catalyst accelerates the hydrolysis of esters and

• phosphodiesters by 105–107 by electrophilic activation of ester and nucleophilic activation of water or peroxide at the metal ion [101][102]. The takeaway message is that polarization is most effective when it is bifunctional. In enzymes, there is never just a nucleophile – there is always a metal, “oxyanion hole

• typically not possible for imine [314] or metal-coordination cages [156][202][365]. Further, the robust amide cages could withstand harsh conditions such as ester hydrolysis, allowing access to the key acid-functionalized cages [38] that mimic aspartyl proteases and glycoside hydrolases. Otte has employed

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

• groups interact with the anomeric carbon and thereby help in the formation of a specific stereocentre. So, modulating the neighbouring protecting group in the C-2 position of glycosyl donors helps in improving the stereoselectivity of the produced glycoside bonds. Ester-type participating protecting

• the cases (exception depicted for perbenzoylated SBox glycosides exhibiting superarmament [79] proving to be more reactive than the analogous perbenzylated donors) thereby reducing the reactivity of the glycosyl donors. The challenge is to activate the ester-protected glycosyl donor and to implement

• will do injustice to all the numerous other works with acetyl groups. An ester group similar to the acetyl building block, i.e., the benzoyl group, has also been extensively used for the same purpose. Although the use of a benzoyl group in comparison to the acetyl group deviates from the principle of

Synthesis, characterization, antimicrobial, cytotoxic and carbonic anhydrase inhibition activities of multifunctional pyrazolo-1,2-benzothiazine acetamides

• Ayesha Saeed,
• Shahana Ehsan,
• Muhammad Zia-ur-Rehman,
• Erin M. Marshall,
• Sandra Loesgen,
• Abdus Saleem,
• Simone Giovannuzzi and
• Claudiu T. Supuran

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 348–357, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.25

• were evaluated for their antimicrobial, cytotoxic, and human carbonic anhydrase (hCA) inhibition potential. Results and Discussion Chemistry The targeted compounds were synthesized using the general scheme shown in Scheme 1. The ester group was introduced at the nitrogen of saccharine sodium (1) using

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

• frequency values (1725–1731 cm−1). This observation may be due to the position of the ester fragment relative to the heterocyclic system. The analysis of the results of X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the torsion angle C(10)–C(3)–C(16)–O(17) of methyl esters 5a and 6c is −0.8(2), and 5(2)°, and of

• . In turn, in the IR spectra (KBr) of compounds 7a–f, absorption bands of the ester fragment in the region of 1714–1750 cm−1 and absorption bands of the carbonyl group of the amide fragment in the region of 1674–1688 cm−1 are observed, which suggests the existence of these compounds in the solid phase

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

• the substrate, an activated ester 25, subsequently generating carbon-centered radicals without the need for sacrificial electron donors via a decarboxylation process. In reacting with electron-deficient alkenes or alkynes 26, these radicals further yield tetralin and dialin moieties 27, respectively

• hydrogen-atom-transfer mechanisms with a Hantzsch ester 34 as presented in Scheme 12. Moreover, the study has explored the impact of substrate steric hindrance and halogen bond strength on catalytic efficiency, revealing that bromo- and iodo-substrates react more efficiently, while chloro-substrates

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

• conditions, we studied the possibility of generating active methylidene derivatives from malonic ester, Meldrum's acid, cyanoacetic acid ester, acetoacetic ester, acetylacetone and 1,3-diphenylpropane-1,3-dione (1). We found that, with the exception of malonic ester, all compounds reacted with formaldehyde

• acetylacetone from the inner vial into the outer vessel containing formaldehyde, which affected the yield of all [4 + 2]-cycloaddition adducts involving this CH acid, regardless of the choice of diene. For acetoacetic ester and 1,3-diphenylpropane-1,3-dione, it was found that in addition to the main products 5

• cyanoacetic ester and acetylacetone. The configuration of the products 4 and 5 was established by bromination of a small amount of these isomeric compounds in CDCl3 (Scheme 6) and subsequent analysis of the mixture by 1H NMR spectroscopy. For the stereoisomers 4, the main product was lactone 22, identified by

Recent advances in electrochemical copper catalysis for modern organic synthesis

• Yemin Kim and
• Won Jun Jang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 155–178, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.9

• enantioselectivity. First, the reaction of ketimine ester 33 and 2,3-dimethylhydroquinone at 10 °C provided the chiral 1,4-addition product 35 via dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformation (DyKAT). Conversely, when the reaction was performed at −10 °C, the reaction pathway switched from DyKAT to kinetic resolution

• (KR) of the racemic ketimine ester, providing the same chiral product 35 with recovered enantioenriched starting material. Additionally, when a 1-naphthyl ester was used instead of a methyl ester at −10 °C, 1,4-addition followed by intramolecular tandem annulation generated the corresponding chiral

• product 36. Finally, using 1-naphthyl ester and relatively bulkier 2,6-dimethylhydroqunone as starting materials produced chiral 1,6-addition products 37. In mechanistic studies, using quinone 38 instead of hydroquinone 34 in the electrochemical-free process produced the desired product 36, with a similar

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

• radical mechanisms. Synthesis of α-aminonitriles 1. Synthesis of β-amino ketone or β-amino ester derivatives 3. Synthesis of 1-(α-aminoalkyl)-2-naphthol derivatives 4. Synthesis of thioaminals 5. Synthesis of aryl- or amine-containing alkanes 6 and 7. Synthesis of 1-aryl-2-sulfonamidopropanes 8. Synthesis

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

• -naphthols, new atroposelective reactions of quinones and iminoquinones were developed [63]. The reaction of quinones with an ester group 109 and indoles with alkyl substituents 110 catalyzed by CPA C29 provided products 112 with regioselectivity on the pyrrole ring of indole (Scheme 35). On the contrary

• arylpyrrole derivatives (R)-235 and 237 [101]. In the first case, arylpyrroles 235 reacted with either diethyl 2-oxomalonate or dihydroxymalonate ester derivatives 236 (Scheme 69). A kinetic resolution was done with arylpyrroles 235 and diethyl 2-oxomalonate. The possibility of the kinetic resolution was

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

• -nitrostyrene (4a), precursor of most of the hallucinogenic 2C-X family (Table 1). This method was also tested on other types of scaffolds to investigate its potential general applications and effects on other substituents. As sodium borohydride per se does not reduce ester nor nitro functionalities [15][16][17

• ][18][19][20][21][22][28][29], the presence of the copper salt results in overcoming this issue and leads to isolated yields above 90% (7–9) (Scheme 2). Therefore, the NaBH4/CuCl2 system was proved to work on aromatic ester, nitro, and α,β-unsaturated nitroalkene functionalities. Our work demonstrates

• reductive methods used to date for the synthesis of substituted phenethylamines from their α,β-unsaturated nitroalkene analogues. Furthermore, the NaBH4/CuCl2 system is effective at reducing nitro and ester functionalities on aromatic structures, while leaving intact benzoic acid, amido- and halogenated