Synthesis of π-conjugated polycyclic compounds by late-stage extrusion of chalcogen fragments

• Aissam Okba,
• Pablo Simón Marqués,
• Kyohei Matsuo,
• Naoki Aratani,
• Hiroko Yamada,
• Gwénaël Rapenne and
• Claire Kammerer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 287–305, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.30

• derivative 21 was synthesized in six steps in 14% overall yield from 3-bromothiophene (17, Scheme 7). In the first step, the sulfur atom embedded in the final thiepine ring was introduced via a palladium-catalyzed S-arylation of 3-bromothiophene in the presence of potassium thioacetate, to afford the

Unveiling the regioselectivity of rhodium(I)-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition reactions for open-cage C₇₀ production

• Cristina Castanyer,
• Anna Pla-Quintana,
• Anna Roglans,
• Albert Artigas and
• Miquel Solà

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 272–279, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.28

• holds significant promise for applications in the fields of medicinal chemistry, materials science, and photovoltaics. In this study, we investigate the regioselectivity of the rhodium(I)-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition reactions between diynes and C70 as a novel procedure for generating C70 bis

• to be able to produce meaningful changes in the reactivity of the cage [28][29][30][31][32]. In 2018, our group reported a catalytic process to transform C60 in bis(fulleroid) derivatives [33][34][35]. This transformation encompassed a partially intermolecular Rh-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition

• reaction between diynes and C60, followed by a cage-opening through a Rh‐catalyzed di‐π‐methane rearrangement (Scheme 1). It is well-known that [6,6]-bonds (the bonds at the junction between two six-membered rings, Figure 1, left) are more reactive than [5,6]-bonds in C60 [36][37][38], and, not

Nucleophilic functionalization of thianthrenium salts under basic conditions

• Xinting Fan,
• Duo Zhang,
• Xiangchuan Xiu,
• Bin Xu,
• Yu Yuan,
• Feng Chen and
• Pan Gao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 257–263, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.26

• regioselectivity. Significant advancements in the synthesis of arylthianthrenium salts have prompted a growing interest in their utilization as versatile precursors for the conversion of C–H bonds in arenes into C–C/X bonds through transition-metal-catalyzed cross-coupling processes [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19

• -metal-catalyzed cross-coupling [32][33] and aminofunctionalization [34] of alkenes were achieved, benefiting from the unique reactivity of organothianthrenium species that are generated through the reaction of alkenes and thianthrene sulfoxide (TT=O) or thianthrene (TT) (Scheme 1b). Alcohols are widely

• generation of alkyl radicals [39]. After that, a series of methods for the modification of alkylthianthrenium salts have been developed, including the transition-metal-catalyzed cross-coupling with terminal alkynes [40], sulfonylation with DABCO·(SO2)2 [41][42][43], or alkylation of active alkenes [44][45

Catalytic multi-step domino and one-pot reactions

• Svetlana B. Tsogoeva

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 254–256, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.25

• advances in the field. A Review article by Pounder, Tam, and co-authors summarizes new transition-metal-catalyzed domino reactions of strained bicyclic alkenes, including both homo- and heterobicyclic alkenes highly useful for the construction of biologically significant compounds with multiple

• of transannular cycloadditions of cycloalkenone hydrazones catalyzed by BINOL-derived phosphoric acid are reported in the Full Research Paper by Vicario, Merino, and co-workers [10]. Their methodologies can now be used to predict the reactivity of different substrates in other cycloaddition reactions

• through concerted or stepwise mechanisms. An enantioselective palladium-catalyzed three-component reaction of glyoxylic acid, sulfonamides, and aryltrifluoroborates toward synthetically useful α-arylglycine compounds is described by the Manolikakes group [11]. Moreover, Šebesta and co-workers report a

Optimizations of lipid II synthesis: an essential glycolipid precursor in bacterial cell wall synthesis and a validated antibiotic target

• Milandip Karak,
• Cian R. Cloonan,
• Brad R. Baker,
• Rachel V. K. Cochrane and
• Stephen A. Cochrane

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 220–227, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.22

• , followed by in situ re-acetylation of the C2-amino group and C6-alcohol with acetic anhydride, resulting in the formation of disaccharide 4 in a one-pot fashion. The anomeric benzyl protecting group in disaccharide 4 was then removed via a Pd/C-catalyzed hydrogenation reaction, producing a mixture of α/β

Copper-catalyzed multicomponent reaction of β-trifluoromethyl β-diazo esters enabling the synthesis of β-trifluoromethyl N,N-diacyl-β-amino esters

• Youlong Du,
• Haibo Mei,
• Ata Makarem,
• Ramin Javahershenas,
• Vadim A. Soloshonok and
• Jianlin Han

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 212–219, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.21

• -catalyzed conditions has been developed, which affords various unsymmetrical β-trifluoromethyl N,N-diacyl-β-amino esters in good to excellent yields. The reaction features mild conditions, a wide scope of β-amino esters and carboxylic acids, and also applicability to large-scale synthesis, thus providing an

• example, Wan and co-workers developed a cascade reaction of α-diazo esters, nitriles, and carboxylic acids via the generation of nitrile ylides and Mumm rearrangement affording unsymmetric diacyl α-amino acid esters as products (Scheme 1a) [39]. In 2017, Zhang, Hu, and co-workers developed a Cu-catalyzed

• , 76–86% yields) provided better chemical yields in this reaction compared with those containing electron-donating groups (4b–e, 31–84% yields). For the case with a strong electron-donating group (methoxy, 3g) only traces of 4g were produced. Besides benzoic acid, the current Cu-catalyzed reaction was

Chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of 3,3-difluoro-3H-indoles

• Yumei Wang,
• Guangzhu Wang,
• Yanping Zhu and
• Kaiwu Dong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 205–211, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.20

• synthesis of optically active difluoro-substituted indoline derivatives starting from the corresponding 3H-indoles by chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation was developed. Using Hantzsch ester as the hydrogen source under mild reaction conditions, the target products can be obtained with

• -catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of indoles to synthesize chiral indolines has been widely studied (Scheme 1a) [21][22]. Representative examples include Ir- or Ru-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of 2,3,3-trisubstituted 3H-indole [23][24]. Generally, these methods employ precious metals and/or

• relatively strict reaction conditions (up to 150 bar H2). In 2022, Liu’s group reported an asymmetric hydrogenation of 3H-indoles catalyzed by a chiral Mn complex, which showed good yield and enantioselectivity [25]. In addition to metal catalysis for the enantioselective reduction, asymmetric

Metal-catalyzed coupling/carbonylative cyclizations for accessing dibenzodiazepinones: an expedient route to clozapine and other drugs

• Amina Moutayakine and
• Anthony J. Burke

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 193–204, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.19

• (DBDAPs) is disclosed in this article through a palladium and copper-catalyzed amination (Buchwald–Hartwig (B–H) or Chan–Lam (C–L)) followed by a palladium-catalyzed intramolecular aminocarbonylation with Mo(CO)6 as CO surrogate (to avoid toxic CO handling) of readily available o-phenylenediamines and

• diverse dibenzodiazepinones via a copper-catalyzed C–N bond coupling between 2-halobenzoates and o-phenylenediamines leading to a key intermediate that undergoes an intramolecular N-acylation to afford the corresponding dibenzodiazepinone structure in high yields (Scheme 1b) [14]. Another innovative

• was disclosed that DMF, the reaction solvent, could act as a potential carbon monoxide surrogate under certain circumstances, notably, in metal-catalyzed aminocarbonylation procedures [19][20]. Unfortunately, no DBDAP was obtained and we only observed the formation of intermediate 3a in 25% yield

Tandem Hock and Friedel–Crafts reactions allowing an expedient synthesis of a cyclolignan-type scaffold

• Viktoria A. Ikonnikova,
• Cristina Cheibas,
• Oscar Gayraud,
• Alexandra E. Bosnidou,
• Nicolas Casaretto,
• Gilles Frison and
• Bastien Nay

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 162–169, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.15

• –Crafts reactions, rather than an oxocarbenium. Keywords: 1-aryltetralines; Friedel–Crafts reaction; Hock rearrangement; oxidative cleavage; tandem reactions; Introduction The Hock cleavage [1] consists in the acid-catalyzed rearrangement of organic hydroperoxides, leading to the oxidative cleavage of a

• ), successively involving a Schenck-ene photooxygenation of an alkene A, an acid-catalyzed Hock cleavage of hydroperoxide B generating an aldehyde derivative C, and an acid-catalyzed Friedel–Crafts reaction in the presence of an aromatic nucleophile leading to D [17]. In principle, a second Friedel–Crafts

Copper-promoted C5-selective bromination of 8-aminoquinoline amides with alkyl bromides

• Changdong Shao,
• Chen Ma,
• Li Li,
• Jingyi Liu,
• Yanan Shen,
• Chen Chen,
• Qionglin Yang,
• Tianyi Xu,
• Zhengsong Hu,
• Yuhe Kan and
• Tingting Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 155–161, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.14

• -scale use. Therefore, novel bromination reagents and simple bromination approaches are still required to be established. Very recently, we reported a copper-catalyzed C5-bromination and difluoromethylation reaction of 8-aminoquinolines using ethyl bromodifluoroacetate as bifunctional reagent [30] and

Perspectives on push–pull chromophores derived from click-type [2 + 2] cycloaddition–retroelectrocyclization reactions of electron-rich alkynes and electron-deficient alkenes

• Michio Yamada

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 125–154, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.13

• wormlike nanoparticles. In rotaxanes, the utilization of metal–ligand bonding involving CuI is a common strategy for immobilizing a thread moiety within a macrocycle. However, the efficacy of such a bonding is compromised when catalysts are used in stoppering reactions, e.g., the copper-catalyzed azide

Visible-light-induced radical cascade cyclization: a catalyst-free synthetic approach to trifluoromethylated heterocycles

• Chuan Yang,
• Wei Shi,
• Jian Tian,
• Lin Guo,
• Yating Zhao and
• Wujiong Xia

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 118–124, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.12

• their biological activity and potential applications, continuous efforts have been dedicated to the synthesis of DHPI derivatives. Various synthetic strategies have been explored (Scheme 1), including transition-metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions [8][9][10], annulation reaction of carbenoids [11

Photoinduced in situ generation of DNA-targeting ligands: DNA-binding and DNA-photodamaging properties of benzo[c]quinolizinium ions

• Julika Schlosser,
• Olga Fedorova,
• Yuri Fedorov and
• Heiko Ihmels

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 101–117, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.11

• properties, so far. Therefore, we have synthesized selected benzo[c]quinolizinium derivatives and studied their DNA-binding and DNA-photodamaging properties. Results and Discussion Synthesis The styrylpyridine derivatives 2a,c,d,f were synthesized by a piperidine- or Ca(OTf)2-catalyzed condensation reaction

Cycloaddition reactions of heterocyclic azides with 2-cyanoacetamidines as a new route to C,N-diheteroarylcarbamidines

• Pavel S. Silaichev,
• Tetyana V. Beryozkina,
• Vsevolod V. Melekhin,
• Valeriy O. Filimonov,
• Andrey N. Maslivets,
• Vladimir G. Ilkin,
• Wim Dehaen and
• Vasiliy A. Bakulev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 17–24, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.3

• and Molecules, Department of Chemistry, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium 10.3762/bjoc.20.3 Abstract A novel and efficient base-catalyzed, transition-metal-free method for the synthesis of diheterocyclic compounds connected by an amidine linker, including apart from the common

• experimentally observed. The base-catalyzed cycloaddition of 3,3-diaminoacrylonitriles 1 to azides 2, thus proceeds in a Cornforth-type fashion, which involves a triazole–triazole isomerization through ring opening, rotation of the amidine substituent around the single bond, and cyclization. Cytotoxic activity

• embryonic cells. Identification of the cause of the registered selective toxicity of the tested compounds requires further study. Conclusion Thus, we have introduced an effective base-catalyzed tandem reaction including a Cornforth-type rearrangement of 1-heteroaryl-1,2,3-triazole-4-carboximidamides and

Synthesis of N-acyl carbazoles, phenoxazines and acridines from cyclic diaryliodonium salts

• Nils Clamor,
• Mattis Damrath,
• Thomas J. Kuczmera,
• Daniel Duvinage and
• Boris J. Nachtsheim

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 12–16, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.2

• , this new method creates two C–N bonds simultaneously based on a mono-halogenated starting material, thus allowing heterocycle formation with diminished halogen waste. Keywords: carbazoles; heteroaromatics; iodanes; metal-catalyzed; one-pot reaction; Introduction N-Acyl carbazoles are effective

Identification of the p-coumaric acid biosynthetic gene cluster in Kutzneria albida: insights into the diazotization-dependent deamination pathway

• Seiji Kawai,
• Akito Yamada,
• Yohei Katsuyama and
• Yasuo Ohnishi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1–11, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.1

• biosynthesis by heterologous expression of the cma cluster and in vitro enzyme assays using recombinant Cma proteins. The ATP-dependent diazotase CmaA6 catalyzed the diazotization of both 3-aminocoumaric acid and 3-aminoavenalumic acid using nitrous acid in vitro. In addition, the high efficiency of the CmaA6

• diazotization catalyzed by CmaA6 was much higher than that of AvaA6; almost 100% of 3-ACA and 3-AAA were converted to corresponding aromatic diazo compounds 4 and 8, respectively (Figure 3C). Kinetic analysis of AvaA7 catalyzing denitrification of 3-DAA The high conversion efficiency of 3-AAA (7) to 3-DAA (8

• ) catalyzed by CmaA6 motivated us to perform the kinetic analysis of AvaA7, which we could not achieve in our previous study. First, we attempted to determine the kinetic values toward NADH and NADPH using compound 8 synthesized by CmaA6. The absorbance at 435 nm (A435) exhibited by 8 was measured during the

Aldiminium and 1,2,3-triazolium dithiocarboxylate zwitterions derived from cyclic (alkyl)(amino) and mesoionic carbenes

• Nedra Touj,
• François Mazars,
• Guillermo Zaragoza and
• Lionel Delaude

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1947–1956, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.145

• -disubstituted-1,2,3-triazole derivatives is readily achieved via the copper(I)-catalyzed [3 + 2] cycloaddition of an azide and a terminal alkyne (CuAAC) [63][64][65]. A further alkylation of the N3 position with an alkyl halide is an equally straightforward procedure that ultimately affords a large assortment

Construction of diazepine-containing spiroindolines via annulation reaction of α-halogenated N-acylhydrazones and isatin-derived MBH carbonates

• Xing Liu,
• Wenjing Shi,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1923–1932, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.143

• sequentially underwent a [4 + 3] cycloaddition reaction (reaction 1 in Scheme 1) [54]. Recently, Chen and co-workers reported a chiral tertiary amine-catalyzed asymmetric γ-regioselective [4 + 3] annulation reaction of isatin-derived MBH carbonates and cyclic 2-benzylidenebenzo[b]thiophen-3-ylidene

• satisfactory yields and with good diastereoselectivity (reaction 3, Scheme 1) [57]. Very recently, we found that the base-catalyzed [4 + 3] cycloaddition reaction of isatin-derived MBH carbonates with various α,β-unsaturated N-arylaldimines affords spiro[indoline-3,5'-pyrrolo[3,4-b]azepine] derivatives

Biphenylene-containing polycyclic conjugated compounds

• Cagatay Dengiz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1895–1911, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.141

• . In this context, Xia and co-workers drew inspiration from their prior investigations on palladium-catalyzed annulation reactions concerning ladder polymers [37]. They envisioned that by making minor modifications to the starting materials, they could readily access structurally complex POAs. The

• researchers efficiently conducted palladium-catalyzed C–H activated annulation reactions, involving oxanorbornadiene derivative 26 and aryl bromides including dibromoanthracene 27 [38]. Subsequent aromatization reactions were then carried out, resulting in the successful synthesis of the target POAs with high

• 34a-TIPS showed hole mobilities of 0.075 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 0.19 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively, while the highest value was noted with 34a-TIBS at 0.52 cm2 V−1 s−1. Later on, Xia and his colleagues demonstrated that curved PAH structures can be synthesized by employing their own developed palladium-catalyzed

Anion–π catalysis on carbon allotropes

• M. Ángeles Gutiérrez López,
• Mei-Ling Tan,
• Giacomo Renno,
• Augustina Jozeliūnaitė,
• J. Jonathan Nué-Martinez,
• Javier Lopez-Andarias,
• Naomi Sakai and
• Stefan Matile

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1881–1894, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.140

• derivatives. In fullerene 8, this is an amide with a short ethylene tether for the tertiary amine (Figure 3). Fullerene 8 catalyzed the formation of the addition product 6 with high selectivity over the decarboxylation product 7 [12]. The experimental product ratio A/D8 was divided by the product ratio A/D9

• intermediate XIV [24][25]. Thus, this reaction can be considered as the anion–π catalysis counterpart of the steroid cyclizations catalyzed in nature with the charge inverted, conventional cation–π interactions [15]. Anion–π catalysis on fullerene dimers The strength of anion–π interactions increases with face

• deprotonate the substrate 4 and produce the conjugate bases I and II as the first reactive intermediates directly on the active π surface (Figure 2 and Figure 7) [80]. Calibrated against triethylamine 23, fullerene dimer 37 catalyzed enolate addition with an A/D37/23 = 12.5. This is more than twice the A/D22

N-Boc-α-diazo glutarimide as efficient reagent for assembling N-heterocycle-glutarimide diads via Rh(II)-catalyzed N–H insertion reaction

• Grigory Kantin,
• Pavel Golubev,
• Alexander Sapegin,
• Alexander Bunev and
• Dmitry Dar’in

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1841–1848, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.136

• component into a glutarimide framework employing a Rh2(esp)2-catalyzed N–H insertion with the involvement of N-Boc-α-diazo glutarimide. The new diazo reagent is more stable, soluble and convenient to prepare than the previously suggested one. The approach permits the application of diverse heterocycles

• )-catalyzed N–H insertion reactions involving NH-heterocycles. The proposed method enables the synthesis of multigram quantities of diazo compound 5 rapidly. Furthermore, it can be stored up to several weeks in the refrigerator (5 °C) without any observable alterations. A diverse array of NH-heterocycles with

• will be reported in the following works. Conclusion In summary, a new diazo reagent for the convenient incorporation of heterocyclic substituents at the alpha-position of glutarimide by Rh(II)-catalyzed insertion of carbene into the N–H bond of nitrogen heterocycles has been proposed. The method allows

Substituent-controlled construction of A₄B₂-hexaphyrins and A₃B-porphyrins: a mechanistic evaluation

• Seda Cinar,
• Dilek Isik Tasgin and
• Canan Unaleroglu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1832–1840, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.135

• screened in the literature. To the best of our knowledge, hexaphyrin synthesis from the least substituted aryls appears to be not much studied. In the following study, we focused on the use of less hindered variety of precursors in hexaphyrin and porphyrin synthesis via the Cu(OTf)2-catalyzed reaction of

• reaction of 4-fluorophenyl-substituted tosylimine 2d and tripyrrane 1 and lower yields of the A4B2-hexaphyrins and A3B-porphyrins were obtained compared to the reaction catalyzed by Cu(OTf)2 (Table S2 in Supporting Information File 1). The synthesis of A3B-porphyrins is effortful and only few studies have

• -hexaphyrins and A3B-porphyrins were selectively synthesized through the Cu(OTf)2-catalyzed reactions of N-tosylimines and tripyrranes under mild reaction conditions. With these reactions, it has been shown that the C6F5 group led to the formation of hexaphyrin and porphyrins as well as the monosubstituted

Synthetic approach to 2-alkyl-4-quinolones and 2-alkyl-4-quinolone-3-carboxamides based on common β-keto amide precursors

• Yordanka Mollova-Sapundzhieva,
• Plamen Angelov,
• Danail Georgiev and
• Pavel Yanev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1804–1810, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.132

• of methods for their synthesis is a very active area of research. Recent contributions to the synthesis of 4-quinolones made use of phosphine-mediated redox cyclization of 1-(2-nitroaryl)prop-2-ynones [39], palladium-catalyzed carbonylative cyclization of 2-bromonitrobenzenes and alkynes [40], TsCl

• -mediated domino reaction of chromone-3-carboxaldehydes and amines [41], Pd-catalyzed redox-neutral C–N coupling reaction of iminoquinones with electron-deficient alkenes [42], NH3 insertion into o‑haloarylynones [43], gold(III)-catalyzed azide-yne cyclization [44], Michael/Truce-Smiles rearrangement

• get reduced to quinolones 5/8, which were isolated in good yields (Table 3 and Table 4). In the case of the Pd-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of intermediates 3 the yields of products 5 in most cases were lower than those obtained with Zn/AcOH, regardless of the reaction duration. On the other hand

Recent advancements in iodide/phosphine-mediated photoredox radical reactions

• Tinglan Liu,
• Yu Zhou,
• Junhong Tang and
• Chengming Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1785–1803, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.131

• , providing a structured and systematic analysis of each category. Review Iodide/phosphine-catalyzed photoredox transformations Since the seminal work of Shang and Fu, the established NaI/PPh3 combined system has paved the way for a wide range of photoredox reactions. These reactions encompass diverse

• construction of these scaffolds [28][29][30][31], and one of the most efficient approaches is the cascade cyclization strategy [29][30][31]. Xu, Li, Wei and their co-workers successfully devised a series of highly regioselective iodide/phosphine synergistically catalyzed photocatalytic cascade annulations for

• -heterocycles. Recently, independent research groups led by Li, Yang, and Patureau separately disclosed a novel approach to 3,3-disubstituted oxindoles 43 through an iodide/phosphine-catalyzed visible-light-mediated decarboxylative radical cascade cyclization of N-arylacrylamides 42 (Scheme 18) [35][36

Active-metal template clipping synthesis of novel [2]rotaxanes

• Cătălin C. Anghel,
• Teodor A. Cucuiet,
• Niculina D. Hădade and
• Ion Grosu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1776–1784, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.130

• of the final [2]rotaxanes by active template copper(I)-catalyzed alkyne–azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) as key step of the synthesis. HRMS and NMR experiments have been performed to confirm the formation of the interlocked structures. Keywords: active-metal template; clipping; copper(I)-catalyzed alkyne

• the reaction used to complete rotaxane synthesis, hence the name “active template”. This strategy was first applied by Saito and co-workers [35], using a Cu(I) template to catalyze a Glaser coupling reaction. The method has been extended for other reactions, for example Ni-catalyzed homocoupling of

• primary alkyl bromides [36] and cooper(I)-catalyzed alkyne–azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) click chemistry [37]. In all these cases a templated metal ion–macrocycle complex is used to catalyze the rotaxane formation by connecting two components of the dumbbell-shaped molecule (Figure 1a). In this context, we