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

• -lactone motif on an estradiol backbone [17]. Beginning with the 7α-alkanamidoestrone derivative 17, a nucleophilic addition by the anion of the THP propargyl ether occurred stereoselectively and provided the alkyne 18 in a 75% yield. Afterwards, the catalytic hydrogenation of the alkyne with a 1:1 mixture

• steroidal 17-ketones were first alkylated in the presence of the lithium derivative of ethyl propiolate. After stereoselective formation of the corresponding adduct, the triple bond was chemoselectively reduced under catalytic hydrogenation using 5% palladium on charcoal. As a final step, a p

• process, the carbonyl group at C-17 was stereoselectively attacked by α-lithio-α-methoxyallene at −78 °C to produce allene 25. A further cyclization reaction was induced by potassium tert-butoxide in the presence of catalytic dicyclohexyl-18-crown-6. The final 17-spirodihydro-(2H)-furan-3-one 27 was

Chemo-enzymatic total synthesis: current approaches toward the integration of chemical and enzymatic transformations

• Ryo Tanifuji and
• Hiroki Oguri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1693–1712, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.151

• "catalytic promiscuity" would enhance the utility of enzymes as synthetic tools and facilitate rapid access to a diverse array of natural product analogs through integration with chemical synthesis [108]. Conclusion In this review, recent advancements in the field of chemo-enzymatic total synthesis were

Methyltransferases from RiPP pathways: shaping the landscape of natural product chemistry

• Maria-Paula Schröder,
• Isabel P.-M. Pfeiffer and
• Silja Mordhorst

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1652–1670, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.147

• (Mg2+-dependent, metal-independent, cobalamin-dependent), common structural folds (class I–V, with class I being the largest group, characterised by the Rossmann fold) [58], or catalytic mechanism (SN2 mechanism, radical mechanism, Figure 3) [59]. This review categorises RiPP MTs based on the acceptor

• oxygen-independent coproporphyrinogen-III oxidase (CPO). B) Catalytic mechanisms of rSAM-mediated methylation are depicted exemplary for class B (TsrM) and class C (TbtI) RiPP MTs. The three-dimensional structures of the rSAM C-MTs TsrM with bound cobalamin and [4Fe-4S] cluster (PDB ID: 6WTE (https

Polymer degrading marine Microbulbifer bacteria: an un(der)utilized source of chemical and biocatalytic novelty

• Weimao Zhong and
• Vinayak Agarwal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1635–1651, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.146

• and cloned from deep-sea-derived Microbulbifer sp. JAMB-A94 with pH and temperature optima being 7.0 and 55 °C, respectively [26]. The recombinant enzyme was likewise produced using a B. subtilis host. The crystal structure of the catalytic domain was determined to show a β-jelly roll fold with

• exochitinases. Genomic analysis of a marine Microbulbifer degradans 2-40 revealed three chitin depolymerases (ChiA, ChiB, and ChiC) [117]. ChiB was cloned and expressed in E. coli [22]. It is a modular protein that is predicted to contain two GH-18 catalytic domains, two polyserine domains, and an acidic repeat

• domain. It functions as an exochitinase. The two catalytic domains have different activities on chitooligosaccharides. Each domain was maximally active from 30 °C to 37 °C and from pH 7.2 to 8.0. Both domains function cooperatively to degrade chitin [22]. It should be noted that M. degradans 2-40 was

Generation of multimillion chemical space based on the parallel Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé reaction

• Evgen V. Govor,
• Vasyl Naumchyk,
• Ihor Nestorak,
• Dmytro S. Radchenko,
• Dmytro Dudenko,
• Yurii S. Moroz,
• Olexiy D. Kachkovsky and
• Oleksandr O. Grygorenko

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1604–1613, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.143

• by Blackburn and coauthors [20]), HClO4, and TsOH. We wanted to avoid the use of HClO4 in our parallel reaction set-up, so that only two remaining catalytic systems were evaluated. 580 library members were deliberately selected for both reaction conditions, and the corresponding experiments were

Electrocatalytic hydrogenation of cyanoarenes, nitroarenes, quinolines, and pyridines under mild conditions with a proton-exchange membrane reactor

• Koichi Mitsudo,
• Atsushi Osaki,
• Haruka Inoue,
• Eisuke Sato,
• Naoki Shida,
• Mahito Atobe and
• Seiji Suga

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1560–1571, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.139

• anilines were obtained. The quinoline reduction was efficiently promoted by adding a catalytic amount of p-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA) or pyridinium p-toluenesulfonate (PPTS). Pyridine was also reduced to piperidine in the presence of PTSA. Keywords: cyanoarene; nitroarene; PEM reactor; pyridine

• by the equilibrium (Figure 2). Based on this hypothesis, we examined several acids and found that the addition of a catalytic amount (0.10 equiv) of p-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA) was sufficient (Figure 3). The first run gave 7a in 88% yield and the second run with the MEA gave 7a in 85% yield. MEA

• low and 8a·PTSA was obtained as the major product (60% yield), suggesting that the catalytic amount of PTSA was not sufficient because it would be completely trapped with 9a. These results suggest that stoichiometric amount of PTSA was required to liberate 8a from the membrane. As expected, the yield

Benzylic C(sp³)–H fluorination

• Alexander P. Atkins,
• Alice C. Dean and
• Alastair J. J. Lennox

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1527–1547, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.137

• secondary and tertiary substrates too. In 2012, Lectka reported a fluorination of mostly aliphatic C–H bonds that used a molecularly defined copper catalyst with a bis imine ligand, along with co-catalytic N-hydroxyphthalimide and a phase-transfer catalyst [51]. Although only a few benzylic substrates were

• fluorides. In 2013, Inoue and co-workers demonstrated the use of catalytic N,N-dihydroxypyromellitimide (NDHPI) as a precursor for N-oxyl radicals that serve as the HAT reagent. Selectfluor was employed as the FAT reagent, generating an N-centred radical on the spent Selectfluor that can regenerate the N

• disclosed the use of catalytic amounts of the organic dye Acr+-Mes under visible-light irradiation in combination with stoichiometric amounts of Selectfluor to achieve benzylic fluorination (Figure 29) [74]. It was proposed that a SET between Selectfluor and the photoexcited catalyst liberated fluoride and

Primary amine-catalyzed enantioselective 1,4-Michael addition reaction of pyrazolin-5-ones to α,β-unsaturated ketones

• Pooja Goyal,
• Akhil K. Dubey,
• Raghunath Chowdhury and
• Amey Wadawale

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1518–1526, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.136

• [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. Among the developed organocatalyzed enantioselective 1,4-addition reactions of pyrazolin-5-ones, the catalytic asymmetric reactions of pyrazolin-5-ones with α,β-unsaturated ketones are comparatively less studied. In 2009, Zhao’s group were the first

• metal catalytic conditions. In continuation of our work in the field of organocatalysis [26][27][28][29], herein, we present the Michael addition reaction of 4-unsubstituted pyrazolin-5-ones with arylidene/heteroarylideneacetones using cinchona alkaloid-derived primary amine catalysts. The developed

• the optimization studies mentioned above, the catalytic system I (15 mol %)/A5 (30 mol %) in CHCl3 (1 mL) at room temperature (30–32 °C) was selected as the optimum reaction conditions (Table 1, entry 12). Under identical optimized reaction conditions, the catalytic system II (15 mol %)/A5 (30 mol

Tetrabutylammonium iodide-catalyzed oxidative α-azidation of β-ketocarbonyl compounds using sodium azide

• Christopher Mairhofer,
• David Naderer and
• Mario Waser

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1510–1517, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.135

• lead to any noteworthy levels of product formation (Table 2, entries 1–4). In sharp contrast, the use of Bu4NOH + I2, which is known to give Bu4NIO in situ [41][42][43][44], results in the formation of 2a in a yield comparable to the above-described catalytic system. Accordingly, and in strong analogy

• the presence of a catalytic amount of tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI). Control experiments support a mechanistic scenario proceeding via in situ formation of a catalytically competent quaternary ammonium hypoiodite first. This higher oxidation state species then facilitates the α-iodination of the

Towards an asymmetric β-selective addition of azlactones to allenoates

• Behzad Nasiri,
• Ghaffar Pasdar,
• Paul Zebrowski,
• Katharina Röser,
• David Naderer and
• Mario Waser

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1504–1509, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.134

• in a straightforward manner. Conclusion The development of novel catalytic methods for the asymmetric synthesis of non-natural amino acid derivatives is a contemporary task and we herein introduce an organocatalytic protocol for the β-selective addition of various azlactones 1 to allenoates 3. Upon

Electrophotochemical metal-catalyzed synthesis of alkylnitriles from simple aliphatic carboxylic acids

• Yukang Wang,
• Yan Yao and
• Niankai Fu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1497–1503, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.133

• , the incorporation of pyridyl groups that are commonly found in pharmaceutically active compounds are also possible (8). In general, the catalytic efficiency of this new electrophotochemical protocol was found to be relatively independent of the electronic properties of the aryl substituents and the

• radicals are more challenging substrates. To our delight, both cyclic and acyclic secondary carboxylic acids performed well in our catalytic system, albeit with slightly reduced reaction efficiency (19–24). We also attempted simple primary carboxylic acids and got promising results. As outlined at the

• catalytic cycles. Reaction discovery and optimization.a Supporting Information Supporting Information File 18: Experimental procedures, mechanistic studies, analytical data and copies of NMR spectra. Funding We thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22071252) and the Chinese Academy

Bioinformatic prediction of the stereoselectivity of modular polyketide synthase: an update of the sequence motifs in ketoreductase domain

• Changjun Xiang,
• Shunyu Yao,
• Ruoyu Wang and
• Lihan Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1476–1485, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.131

• from 17 modular cis-AT PKSs [8]. In addition, Keatinge–Clay reported a conserved “H” motif in the sequence of A2-type KRs and a “P” motif in B2-type KRs as markers to distinguish them from the non-epimerizing A1/B1-type KRs [9]. The presence of the catalytic "Y" motif and the absence of the NADPH

• domain. Among actinobacterial KRs from β-modules, A-type KRs (52%) are the most abundant, followed by B-type KRs (36%), and C-type KRs (12%). Comparison between KRS and KRC subdomains KR domains are structurally divided into two subdomains: a catalytic subdomain (KRC) with an intact Rossmann fold where

• stereoselectivity of KR is controlled solely by KRC, and KRS does not influence its catalytic selectivity. Moreover, A2- and B2-type KRCs formed a separatable clade from A1- and B1-type KRC, respectively, suggesting that phylogenetic analysis can be used for stereochemical prediction. It is noteworthy that A0- (0

Synthesis of 2-benzyl N-substituted anilines via imine condensation–isoaromatization of (E)-2-arylidene-3-cyclohexenones and primary amines

• Lu Li,
• Na Li,
• Xiao-Tian Mo,
• Ming-Wei Yuan,
• Lin Jiang and
• Ming-Long Yuan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1468–1475, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.130

• could be easily carried out by catalytic hydrogenation to produce 6 (Scheme 6a). On the other hand, 4ax could smoothly undergo N-methylation with MeI to give product 7 in quantitative yield (Scheme 6b). Conclusion In conclusion, we have developed an efficient method to rapidly synthesize 2-benzyl-N

Challenge N- versus O-six-membered annulation: FeCl₃-catalyzed synthesis of heterocyclic N,O-aminals

• Giacomo Mari,
• Lucia De Crescentini,
• Gianfranco Favi,
• Fabio Mantellini,
• Diego Olivieri and
• Stefania Santeusanio

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1412–1420, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.123

• content of the reaction environment during the time. Then, to explain the related formation of 5 and 6, we hypothesized a plausible reaction mechanism in which iron is involved in two concomitant catalytic cycles (Scheme 4). Initially, FeCl3 forms an acid–base complex with one of the alkoxy groups of 4

• providing intermediate A. The latter, by loss of a trichloro(alkoxy)ferrate(III) anion, generates a strong electrophile such as the oxocarbenium cation intermediate B. The released trichloro(alkoxy)ferrate(III) splits into FeCl3, which enters the catalytic cycle, and a free alkoxide, which acts as a base

• catalytic cycle. Similar to what was previously observed, the elimination of the trichloro(alkoxy)ferrate(III) anion from intermediate C provides the iminium ion D, susceptible to nucleophilic attack by a water molecule present in the reaction medium, leading to the carbinolamines 6. This latter synthesis

Hypervalent iodine-catalyzed amide and alkene coupling enabled by lithium salt activation

• Akanksha Chhikara,
• Fan Wu,
• Navdeep Kaur,
• Prabagar Baskaran,
• Alex M. Nguyen,
• Zhichang Yin,
• Anthony H. Pham and
• Wei Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1405–1411, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.122

• catalysis, which often involves the catalytic use of an iodoarene with stoichiometric oxidants such as MCPBA, Selectfluor, etc. [18][19][20]. Earlier and recent hypervalent iodine-catalyzed olefin halofunctionalizations by several groups have predicated on the use of intramolecular olefin substrates

• α-phenylstyrene produced the respective oxazoline products with high regioselectivity and reasonable yields using iodoanisole as the catalyst precursor (Figure 3, products 24 and 25). The proposed catalytic cycle (Figure 4) begins with iodotoluene A which is oxidized by Selectfluor salt into the

• , 16 h. b) Iodoanisole (20 mol %). Alkene substrate scope studies. a) Standard conditions: alkene (0.25 mmol), iodotoluene (20 mol %), LiBF4 (100 mol %), Selectfluor (150 mol %), 3,4-dimethylbenzamide (400 mol %), MeNO2 (0.25 M), rt, 16 h. b) Iodoanisole (20 mol %), MeCN (0.25 M). Proposed catalytic

Synthetic applications of the Cannizzaro reaction

• Bhaskar Chatterjee,
• Dhananjoy Mondal and
• Smritilekha Bera

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1376–1395, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.120

• synthesized via the Cannizzaro reaction. Proposed catalytic cycle for the dehydrogenation of alcohols. Intramolecular Cannizzaro reaction of aryl glyoxal hydrates using TOX catalysts. Intramolecular Cannizzaro reaction of aryl methyl ketones using ytterbium triflate/selenium dioxide. Intramolecular Cannizzaro

Generation of alkyl and acyl radicals by visible-light photoredox catalysis: direct activation of C–O bonds in organic transformations

• Mithu Roy,
• Bitan Sardar,
• Itu Mallick and
• Dipankar Srimani

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1348–1375, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.119

• . Different photocatalysts, such as transition metal complexes [23][24], organic dyes [25], and semiconductors [26], can be employed for visible-light-induced chemical processes. The choice of photocatalyst depends on the specific requirements of the catalytic process, including the type of reaction, the

• thiocarbonyl derivatives were prepared by reaction of thiocarbonyldiimidazole (TCDI, 15) with alcohols in the presence of a catalytic amount of DMAP (0.4 equiv). TCDI is a very popular substrate for such reaction types and was first introduced by Barton and McCombie (Scheme 6) [20]. In this process, the

• final reductive elimination gives the desired alkene and Ni(I). The two catalytic cycles are finally completed by single-electron reduction of [Ni(I)] by [Ir(II)], which regenerates [Ni(0)] and ground-state [Ir(III)]. Cyclic oxalates readily form the corresponding alkyl radicals under iridium

Synthesis of 1,2,3-triazoles containing an allomaltol moiety from substituted pyrano[2,3-d]isoxazolones via base-promoted Boulton–Katritzky rearrangement

• Constantine V. Milyutin,
• Andrey N. Komogortsev and
• Boris V. Lichitsky

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1334–1340, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.117

• obtained in three steps from allomaltol by a previously described method [27][28] Earlier, we have shown that hydrazone 3a can be synthesized by reaction of compound 1a with phenylhydrazine (5) in ethanol using a catalytic amount of p-TsOH (Scheme 2). Next, we supposed that hydrochlorides of arylhydrazines

Transition-metal-catalyst-free electroreductive alkene hydroarylation with aryl halides under visible-light irradiation

• Kosuke Yamamoto,
• Kazuhisa Arita,
• Masami Kuriyama and
• Osamu Onomura

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1327–1333, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.116

• -light-mediated alkene hydroarylation commonly requires external reductants and/or hydrogen atom sources to complete the catalytic cycle [21][22][23][24][25]. Over the past few decades, electrochemistry has proven to be an environmentally benign and convenient approach for accessing open-shell

Phenotellurazine redox catalysts: elements of design for radical cross-dehydrogenative coupling reactions

• Alina Paffen,
• Christopher Cremer and
• Frederic W. Patureau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1292–1297, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.112

• substitution patterns on the redox catalytic activity. Keywords: cross-dehydrogenative coupling; O2 activation; phenotellurazine; redox catalysis; Te catalysis; Introduction Tellurium catalysis has become increasingly important in recent years. This is due to its unique chalcogen bonding ability, thus

• reaction [6][7], and Gabbaï yet another in a different cyclization reaction [8][9], among other catalytic chalcogen bonding activation examples [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. In contrast, we have reported recently some redox-active Te-based catalysts

• ]. In the present study, we decided to revisit the design of the phenotellurazine redox catalyst, in the hope of improving it as well as enabling new catalytic reactivity. In particular, we wished to investigate and optimize the level of electronic cooperativity between the Te- and N-centers, the effect

Oxidative hydrolysis of aliphatic bromoalkenes: scope study and reactivity insights

• Amol P. Jadhav and
• Claude Y. Legault

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1286–1291, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.111

• utilizing a hypervalent iodine-catalyzed oxidative hydrolysis reaction. This catalytic process provides both symmetrical and unsymmetrical dialkyl bromoketones with moderate yields across a broad range of bromoalkene substrates. Our studies also reveal the formation of Ritter-type side products by an

• ). We then explored catalytic conditions for the generation of the iodine(III) reagent. Remarkably, when catalytic PhI (0.2 equiv) was employed for in situ generation of Koser’s reagent by using m-CPBA (1.2 equiv) as an oxidant, almost similar results were obtained (Table 2, entry 1) with those obtained

• by stoichiometric use of HTIB. Attempt to perform the reaction using a catalytic amount of 2-iodobenzoic acid (0.2) under similar oxidizing conditions resulted in slightly diminished yield for the desired α-bromoketone (Table 2, entry 2). Notably, the direct use of HTIB as the catalyst, with a

Mechanistic investigations of polyaza[7]helicene in photoredox and energy transfer catalysis

• Johannes Rocker,
• Till J. B. Zähringer,
• Matthias Schmitz,
• Till Opatz and
• Christoph Kerzig

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1236–1245, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.106

• increased when the triplet efficiently reacts in a catalytic cycle such that turnover numbers exceeding 4400 are achievable with this organocatalyst. Keywords: energy transfer; laser spectroscopy; organocatalyst; photoredox; time-resolved spectroscopy; Introduction The emergence of photoredox chemistry in

• 0.34, is essentially non-reactive under our conditions. Cyanopyridine- and sulfinate-derived radicals are produced in equal concentrations in the catalytic cycle, suggesting that radical coupling is indeed the final reaction step to give the stable sulfonylation/arylation product. The triplet of Aza-H

• chromophores and their roles in catalytic cycles have been extensively studied leading to numerous findings and novel reaction pathways [55][58][59][60][61]. Lately, polyazahelicenes have gained some attention by synthetic groups [62][63][64][65][66]. However, this chromophore class is underexplored concerning

Competing electrophilic substitution and oxidative polymerization of arylamines with selenium dioxide

• Vishnu Selladurai and
• Selvakumar Karuthapandi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1221–1235, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.105

• , regioselective aromatic electrophilic substitution is often difficult. Various synthetic strategies have evolved to address such problems and expand the scope of SeO2 beyond the oxidizing capability. Ren et al. adopted potassium-iodide-mediated catalytic selenation of aromatic compounds using SeO2 (Scheme 1) [33

• derivatives was almost exclusively promoted via aromatic electrophilic substitution. All of these reactions reveal the importance of using catalytic processes, preactivated substrates, or of blocking ortho or para sites to obtain the desired arylchalcogen compounds in good yield. To our surprise, Bhat et al

Cofactor-independent C–C bond cleavage reactions catalyzed by the AlpJ family of oxygenases in atypical angucycline biosynthesis

• Jinmin Gao,
• Liyuan Li,
• Shijie Shen,
• Guomin Ai,
• Bin Wang,
• Fang Guo,
• Tongjian Yang,
• Hui Han,
• Zhengren Xu,
• Guohui Pan and
• Keqiang Fan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1198–1206, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.102

• -dependent reactions of AlpJ-family oxygenases. Furthermore, the AlpJ- and JadG-catalyzed reactions of CR1 could be quenched by superoxide dismutase, supporting a catalytic mechanism wherein the substrate CR1 reductively activates molecular oxygen, generating a substrate radical and the superoxide anion O2

• •−. Our findings illuminate a substrate-controlled catalytic mechanism of AlpJ-family oxygenases, expanding the realm of cofactor-independent oxygenases. Notably, AlpJ-family oxygenases stand as a pioneering example of enzymes capable of catalyzing oxidative reactions in either an FADH2/FMNH2-dependent or

• contraction reactions, yielding a benzofluorene intermediate 4 and the dimer 5, both featuring a kinamycin skeleton (Scheme 1) [11][12]. Recent investigations unveiled the catalytic activity of the O-methyltransferase-like protein AlpH, which catalyzes a unique SAM-independent coupling of ʟ-glutamylhydrazine

Manganese-catalyzed C–C and C–N bond formation with alcohols via borrowing hydrogen or hydrogen auto-transfer

• Mohd Farhan Ansari,
• Atul Kumar Maurya,
• Abhishek Kumar and
• Saravanakumar Elangovan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1111–1166, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.98

• Milstein [17] in hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reactions with pincer-decorated manganese complexes, significant progress has been made in manganese catalysis [18][19][20]. Notably, well-defined low-valent diamagnetic manganese(I) complexes have been studied in many catalytic transformations, and

• methanol was achieved at 100 °C with one equivalent of t-BuOK. In all the cases, the catalytic system selectively yielded mono-N-alkylated and N-methylated products under mild conditions. Noteworthy, high functional group tolerance, such as alkenes, halogens, thioethers, and benzodioxane derivatives was

• -methylation of amines with methanol was achieved with lower catalyst and base loading. Sortais et al. reported an elegant example of a manganese-catalyzed N-methylation of primary amines with methanol using catalytic amounts of base. They synthesized a novel Mn(I) complex bearing a bis(diaminopyridine