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

• acids feature as the most prolific catalytic structure. The last part of the article discusses hydrogen-bond-donating catalysts and other catalyst motifs such as phase-transfer catalysts. Keywords: asymmetric organocatalysis; atropoisomers; atroposelective synthesis; axial chirality; stereogenic axis

• intermediate Int-53. Control experiments confirmed that this structure could undergo successive reduction and oxidation through intermediate Int-54 to give benzylimine intermediate Int-55. Alternatively, a direct [1,5]-H migration of Int-53 also leads to Int-55. The stereoselectivity of the product is

• astounding enantioselectivities. Both, light and organocatalyst proved crucial for the reaction. The photochemical aspect isomerizes the double bond to (Z)-configuration, and CPA stabilizes the structure whilst mediating the cyclization. The wavelength of 405 nm was chosen so that only the starting material

Hot shape transformation: the role of PSar dehydration in stomatocyte morphogenesis

• Remi Peters,
• Levy A. Charleston,
• Karinan van Eck,
• Teun van Berlo and
• Daniela A. Wilson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 47–54, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.5

• yield and low polydispersity index (PDI), crucial for effective self-assembly [29]. Previous studies on PEG-PS vesicles demonstrated a solvent-exchange method for vesicle formation, followed by a shape transformation induced by osmotic pressure from PEG addition [18]. The structure was then frozen by

•  1, Figure S21). For the shape transformation experiments only the vesicles assembled in DMF were used. To validate the structure of the self-assembly, cryo-TEM was conducted, revealing that the obtained vesicles exhibited a wrinkled appearance, differing from the typically round vesicles observed in

• . However, when the membrane gets too stiff, the deformation is prevented regardless of the increased force that is applied. For further affirmation of the mechanism circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy was employed to give more insight on the morphological changes in the polymers secondary structure

Emerging trends in the optimization of organic synthesis through high-throughput tools and machine learning

• Pablo Quijano Velasco,
• Kedar Hippalgaonkar and
• Balamurugan Ramalingam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 10–38, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.3

• of suggested optimization results. Through an examination of methodologies, algorithms, and various case studies, this article offers our perspective on the state-of-the-art techniques for optimizing the synthesis of organic molecules, highlighting both challenges and prospects. The structure of this

• conventional photopolymerization reactions but also helps to identify structure–property relationships for copolymer libraries. We have generated a segmented flow pattern (Figure 3b) by alternating the infusion of organic components and degassed water to create nine different compositions [53]. The organic

• 16 microreactors capable of executing diverse conditions in parallel, including photochemistry. The temperature of the capillary reactors can be controlled independently, providing flexibility in experimentation. The reservoir-type distributor, featuring a baffle structure, not only ensures uniform

Chemical glycobiology

• Elisa Fadda,
• Rachel Hevey,
• Benjamin Schumann and
• Ulrika Westerlind

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 8–9, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.2

• methods that underlie modern glycobioinformatics approaches [15]. Validation of glycoprotein structure is an important aspect of contemporary structural biology, and Dialpuri et al. present the Privateer database to allow for facile quality control of such structures [16]. Finally, Barillot et al. bridge

Synthesis, structure and π-expansion of tris(4,5-dehydro-2,3:6,7-dibenzotropone)

• Yongming Xiong,
• Xue Lin Ma,
• Shilong Su and
• Qian Miao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1–7, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.1

• recently showed that polymerizing negatively curved polycyclic arenes produced an amorphous covalent network. This network was able to mimic the structure and function of carbon schwarzites, serving as an anode material in lithium-ion batteries with high capacity [21]. Further exploration of bottom-up

•  1) featuring three heptagons and two pentagons, with its structure confirmed by X-ray crystallography. This π-expansion approach of compound 1 differs from the method reported by Müllen and co-workers, which involves Ramirez olefination and Suzuki coupling, resulting in the expansion of a seven

• Scholl reaction conditions. The structure of 3 was confirmed with single crystal X-ray crystallography, as detailed later. In addition, another product with a molecular ion peak of 1695.9115 in the high-resolution mass spectrum (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S6) was isolated in trace amounts

Synthesis, characterization, and photophysical properties of novel 9‑phenyl-9-phosphafluorene oxide derivatives

• Shuxian Qiu,
• Duan Dong,
• Jiahui Li,
• Huiting Wen,
• Jinpeng Li,
• Yu Yang,
• Shengxian Zhai and
• Xingyuan Gao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3299–3305, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.274

• HRMS spectrometry were in full agreement with the expected structures, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis was conducted to confirm the structure of compound 7-H. Moreover, the photophysical properties of these PhFlOP derivatives were determined by UV–vis absorption and photoluminescence

• ]. Compared to the traditional PO-containing moieties, PhFlOP possesses an enhanced rigid structure to reduce the possibility of nonradiative decay processes, which would improve optoelectronic properties [17][27]. Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials and devices have emerged rapidly in

• 2–7 was performed by NMR spectroscopy, which confirmed the synthetic outcomes (Figures S1–S11, Supporting Information File 1). The structures of compounds 7 were further confirmed by HRMS and IR analyses (Figures S12–S18, Supporting Information File 1). In addition, the chemical structure of 7-H was

Reactivity of hypervalent iodine(III) reagents bearing a benzylamine with sulfenate salts

• Beatriz Dedeiras,
• Catarina S. Caldeira,
• José C. Cunha,
• Clara S. B. Gomes and
• M. Manuel B. Marques

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3281–3289, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.272

• benziodoxolone, 2d) were obtained with quantitative yields, as white solids on the gram-scale, easy to manipulate and long-term stable below 0 °C. Crystals of compound 2d were successfully obtained and its molecular structure was confirmed through single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The X-ray analysis revealed a

Efficient synthesis of fluorinated triphenylenes with enhanced arene–perfluoroarene interactions in columnar mesophases

• Yang Chen,
• Jiao He,
• Hang Lin,
• Hai-Feng Wang,
• Ping Hu,
• Bi-Qin Wang,
• Ke-Qing Zhao and
• Bertrand Donnio

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3263–3273, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.270

• derivatives and the antiparallel stacking mode into columnar structures stabilized by arene–perfluoroarene intermolecular interactions were confirmed by the single-crystal structure of the alkoxy-free side chain analog, i.e., 1,2,4-trifluoro-3-(perfluorophenyl)triphenylene (F). UV–vis absorption and

• analysis (Figures S1–S32, Supporting Information File 1), and all the results agree with the proposed molecular structures. Single-crystal structure of F Suitable single crystals of compound F for X-ray analysis were obtained by slow evaporation of an ethyl acetate/ethanol solution (Figure 2, and

• Supporting Information File 1, Figures S33, S34 and Tables S1–S3). The crystal structure unequivocally confirms that the reaction pattern between 2Li-BP and perfluorobiphenyl, effectively yielded the desired 1,2,4-trifluoro-3-(perfluorophenyl)triphenylene and that the annulation occurred at the expected

Intramolecular C–H arylation of pyridine derivatives with a palladium catalyst for the synthesis of multiply fused heteroaromatic compounds

• Yuki Nakanishi,
• Shoichi Sugita,
• Kentaro Okano and
• Atsunori Mori

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3256–3262, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.269

• fused structure toward a phenanthroline diamide (Phen-2,9-diamide) [23] can be achieved by employing a palladium-catalyzed intramolecular C–H arylation [24][25][26][27][28]. One of the thus obtained products exhibited a remarkable extraction performance for a lanthanide ion, in which a metal-specific

• arylation precursors 1a–c. Palladium-catalyzed intramolecular direct arylation for synthesizing 8a and 8b and the X-ray crystallographic structure of 8a. Studies on the reaction conditions for 2a from 1a. Pd-catalyzed C–H arylation of heteroarenes. Supporting Information Accession code CCDC 2227450

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

• materials [1][2]. Due to their importance, different synthetic routes involving stoichiometric and catalytic approaches have been developed. The α,β-unsaturated imines, also known as conjugated imines or 1-azadienes, are useful precursors for the construction of aza-heterocycles. Due to their structure

• construction of carbon–carbon bonds [5][6][7][8][9][10]. The hetero-Diels–Alder reaction is therefore an attractive strategy for the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds. It involves the reaction of dienes or dienophiles which possess a heteroatom in their structure. In this reaction, the HOMO of the diene and

• the field, other dienes bearing two nitrogen atoms in their structure such as 1,3-azadienes or azo-alkenes are also included. On the contrary, asymmetric cyclizations involving aza-ortho-quinone intermediates and in situ-formed 1-azadienes were excluded as they have been discussed in other recent

Ceratinadin G, a new psammaplysin derivative possessing a cyano group from a sponge of the genus Pseudoceratina

• Shin-ichiro Kurimoto,
• Kouta Inoue,
• Taito Ohno and
• Takaaki Kubota

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3215–3220, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.267

• /bjoc.20.267 Abstract A new psammaplysin derivative, ceratinadin G (1), was obtained from the Okinawan marine sponge Pseudoceratina sp., and the gross structure was clarified through spectroscopic and spectrometric analyses. The absolute configuration of compound 1 was established by comparing its NMR

• , H-1/C-3, H-1/C-6, H2-5/C-3, H2-5/C-4, H2-5/C-6, H-5a/C-7, H-7/C-8, and 3-OCH3/C-3) supported the presence of the 8,10-dibromo-9-methoxy-1,6-dioxa-2-azaspiro[4.6]undeca-2,7,9-trien-4-ol unit (partial structure a in Figure 2). While the existence of the 11-N-methylmoloka'iamine unit (partial structure

• were linked via a carbonyl group at C-9. Therefore, the gross structure of 1 was elucidated. The absolute configuration of ceratinadin G (1) was assigned by comparing its NMR and ECD data with those of psammaplysin F (2), whose absolute configuration has already been established [10][11][12]. The NMR

Discovery of ianthelliformisamines D–G from the sponge Suberea ianthelliformis and the total synthesis of ianthelliformisamine D

• Sasha Hayes,
• Yaoying Lu,
• Bernd H. A. Rehm and
• Rohan A. Davis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3205–3214, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.266

• describe the large-scale extraction, isolation, and structure elucidation of four new metabolites, ianthelliformisamines D–G (4–7). Additionally, we report the isolation of the known natural products, aplysterol (8) and ianthelliformisamines A–C (1–3). Owing to the novelty of ianthelliformisamine D (4) we

• from the amide proton linked the propyl-2-pyrrolidine moiety to the brominated acrylamide fragment and thus the full chemical structure of 4 was elucidated and assigned to ianthelliformisamine D. A refined literature search using Scifinder Scholar [16] revealed that compound 4 contains a novel scaffold

• [18], thus enabling the full chemical structure of ianthelliformisamine F to be determined. The TFA salt of ianthelliformisamine G (7) was also purified as a stable brown gum. In a similar manner to compound 6, the LRESIMS indicated the presence of two bromine atoms; these data also indicated that 7

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

• from isoxazole 1a and primary and secondary amines according to the conditions described in entries 9 and 10 in Table 2, with yields of up to 78% (Scheme 4). An experiment with benzylamine and isoxazole 1a on a 1.5 mmol scale gave diamide 10a in 84% yield. The structure of compound 10h was confirmed by

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

• stabilizes their secondary structure and their metabolic stability, which is useful for numerous applications [3][4][5]. Indeed, the cyclic structure considerably reduces the number of possible rotational conformers, allowing a rational control of the 3D conformational space. Among these cyclic structures

• tetrahydropyridazine scaffold is also found in numerous natural linear or cyclic peptides such as svetamycins or antrimycins as dehydropiperazic acid (Figure 2) [10]. Whereas many publications have been devoted to the synthesis and structure of piperazic acid derivatives (dehydro, chloro, hydroxy, …) [11][12], nothing

• configuration of compounds 7e and 7e’ and consequently of tripeptides 8e and 8e’ (see Supporting Information File 1). Next, some preliminary conformational studies were performed. Firstly, the X-ray crystallographic analysis of compound 8f did not show any hydrogen-bond pattern and the global structure of the

Multicomponent reactions driving the discovery and optimization of agents targeting central nervous system pathologies

• Lucía Campos-Prieto,
• Aitor García-Rey,
• Eddy Sotelo and
• Ana Mallo-Abreu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3151–3173, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.261

• , nucleic acids, polysaccharides, and lipids. These modifications can impact the structure and biological functions of these molecules, ultimately leading to neuronal death, as observed in conditions like AD [30][31]. Recent studies highlight OS as an early event in AD pathogenesis, and mitochondria

• improved biological activities. Employing this approach, Kushwaha et al. [34] synthesized a series of compounds containing benzofuran, tetrazole, and pyrazole within a single structure (Scheme 2). Benzofurans and tetrazole pharmacophores have demonstrated potential anti-Alzheimer activity by inhibiting

• , among others. Ugi reaction: The D2 dopamine receptor (DRD2) is the target of different drugs, including antipsychotics, antiparkinsonian agents, and addiction-related disorders. Aripiprazole and cariprazine are prototypes of newer antipsychotic drugs with a bitopic ligand structure, which includes both

Controlled oligomerization of [1.1.1]propellane through radical polarity matching: selective synthesis of SF₅- and CF₃SF₄-containing [2]staffanes

• Jón Atiba Buldt,
• Wang-Yeuk Kong,
• Yannick Kraemer,
• Masiel M. Belsuzarri,
• Ansh Hiten Patel,
• James C. Fettinger,
• Dean J. Tantillo and
• Cody Ross Pitts

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3134–3143, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.259

• initial measurement of 3 at 90 K revealed an unusually large unit cell (a = 7.14 Å, b = 21.38 Å, and c = 44.04 Å). Following structure solution and refinement [76], we found that 3 crystallizes in an orthorhombic space group P212121 with five symmetry independent moieties (Z' = 5) and with no solvent

• , we confirmed that a phase transition had occurred following structure determination at 240 K [78][79]. The X-ray data revealed that 3 crystallizes in the centrosymmetric orthorhombic space group Pnma in the high temperature phase (HTP) with cell axes a = 21.56 Å, b = 8.95 Å, and c = 7.28 Å, in

• temperature, it was rapidly cooled to 100 K under a stream of N2 and the larger, disordered cell was observed once more [80]. (These observations also prompted us to measure a structure of 2 at 240 K; in this case, the unit cell is virtually identical at both high and low temperatures, indicating no phase

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

• pyrrolidine intermediates A can undergo further transformations (Scheme 10), depending on their structure and the iodane reagent being used. For example, higher yields of 3-fluoropiperidine products 6 were observed when using cyclic iodane reagents 21 and 22 (Scheme 10), which was suggested to be because a

Advances in the use of metal-free tetrapyrrolic macrocycles as catalysts

• Mandeep K. Chahal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3085–3112, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.257

• (aromatic) organic heterocyclic systems, excluding calix[4]pyrroles, which are colorless and non-aromatic, as well as norcorroles, isophlorins, and the 16π oxidized form of porphyrin that exhibits anti-aromatic character (Figure 1a). Calix[4]pyrroles possess a nonplanar structure and a high degree of

• that function as hydrogen-bond donors and acceptors. Additionally, the nitrogen atoms in the pyrrole units of the porphyrin structure can also act as Lewis bases, capable of donating electron pairs. These properties enable tetrapyrrolic macrocycles to act as effective binding sites or catalytically

• , with TBAI as a co-catalyst, up to 74% yields (Table 1). The inactivity of porphyrin 18 was attributed to the inaccessibility of the inner core imine due to its planar structure. The mechanism of the epoxide ring-opening reaction was elucidated by DFT calculations, which suggested that the macrocycle

Synthesis of the 1,5-disubstituted tetrazole-methanesulfonylindole hybrid system via high-order multicomponent reaction

• Cesia M. Aguilar-Morales,
• América A. Frías-López,
• Nadia V. Emilio-Velázquez,
• Alejandro Islas-Jácome,
• Angelica Judith Granados-López,
• Jorge Gustavo Araujo-Huitrado,
• Yamilé López-Hernández,
• Hiram Hernández-López,
• Luis Chacón-García,
• Jesús Adrián López and
• Carlos J. Cortés-García

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3077–3084, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.256

• compounds that elicited proliferation inhibition are ordered below from the highest to lowest effect on MCF-7 cell line: 18d, 18j, 18h, 18i, 18b, 18f, 18a, 18g, 18c, and 18e. Compounds 18c, and 18e did not affect MCF-7 cell proliferation inhibition. Regarding the structure–activity relationship, the

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

• systematic catalyst structure–reactivity and selectivity relationship study. The observed catalyst structure–enantioselectivity relationship of the present allenylation reaction was found exactly opposite to that of the analogous allylation reaction. The method provided eleven α-allenic alcohols in 22–99

• stable allenyltrichlorosilane that affords undesired homopropargylic alcohols [35][36] (Scheme 2b). Furthermore, Iseki [35] and Nakajima [36] evaluated only one chiral catalyst in their independent studies (i.e., no catalyst structure–reactivity and selectivity relationship study). In this context, we

• structure–enantioselectivity relationship is exactly opposite to that for the analogous allylation reaction reported by Nakajima [47], thus it raises a possibility that the asymmetric induction mechanism could be fundamentally different between the present allenylation with propargyltrichlorosilane and the

Extension of the π-system of monoaryl-substituted norbornadienes with acetylene bridges: influence on the photochemical conversion and storage of light energy

• Robin Schulte,
• Dustin Schade,
• Thomas Paululat,
• Till J. B. Zähringer,
• Christoph Kerzig and
• Heiko Ihmels

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3061–3068, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.254

• UV range [30]. Therefore, we aimed at further modification of the core structure of bis-and tris-norbornadienes, which may lead to a more pronounced red shift of the absorption while maintaining the high energy density. As this has been shown in other cases already [34], we anticipated that the

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

• recent years and new methods capable of exploring the natural product chemical space more broadly and more efficiently is in urgent need. Chemical structure metagenomics as one such method is the theme of this Perspective. It emphasizes a chemical-structure-centered viewpoint toward natural product

• research. Key to chemical structure metagenomics is the ability to predict the structure of a natural product based on its biosynthetic gene sequences, which facilitated the discovery of numerous new bioactive molecules and helped uncover oversampled/underexplored niches of decades of BGF based discovery

• . While microbial nonribosomal peptides have been the focus of chemical structure metagenomics efforts thus far, it is in principle applicable to other natural product families. The future outlook of this new approach will also be discussed. Keywords: bioinformatics; chemical structure metagenomics

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

• -0083 Tokyo, Japan 10.3762/bjoc.20.252 Abstract Owing to their dynamic natures, rotaxane-based polymers are attractive motifs for developing stimuli-responsive materials. However, the accurate control of the rotaxane structure, which can be achieved via multistep synthesis, is key to utilizing the

• . Keywords: cyclodextrin; defined structure; precise synthesis; rotaxanes; stimuli-responsive material; Introduction Stimuli-responsive materials can satisfy the existing high demands on such materials owing to their multiple functionalities (e.g., for effective energy storage or as decomposables under mild

• rough structural control. Ideally, the accurate control of the structure of a small-molecule system is directly transferred to the corresponding polymer framework to implement a defined rotaxane structure on the latter for precise property control, although an existing huge gap between the studies on

Tunable full-color dual-state (solution and solid) emission of push–pull molecules containing the 1-pyrindane moiety

• Anastasia I. Ershova,
• Sergey V. Fedoseev,
• Konstantin V. Lipin,
• Mikhail Yu. Ievlev,
• Oleg E. Nasakin and
• Oleg V. Ershov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3016–3025, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.251

• the facile preparation of molecular libraries with an emphasis on skeletal diversity for the development of new push–pull molecules. Results and Discussion Synthesis and structure determination A two-step procedure was used to obtain the target compounds (Scheme 1). Cyclopenta[b]pyridine derivative 2

• File 1). Moreover, it was found that the emission band could be adjusted by about 200 nm in solution and by 270 nm in the solid state through directed protonation of the dimethylamino group. Structure of previously synthesized stilbazoles А and arylidene derivatives of pyrindane 1 reported herein. 1H

Tailored charge-neutral self-assembled L₂Zn₂ container for taming oxalate

• David Ocklenburg and
• David Van Craen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3007–3015, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.250

• hazard for metallocages and metallocontainers. The dianion is capable of competing with the ligands used for self-assembled metal-based receptors instead of being bound inside the host structure as intended. Oxalate can strip off metal centers from the designed receptor causing a full or partial

• disassembly of the host structure. Guest-driven decomplexation events can also be utilized as detection method [65][68][69][70][71][72][73] but such processes are generally not desired for containers or cages because guest binding is anticipated to take place by encapsulation while the structure of the

• well as metalla-bowls [76][77][78][79] resulting in binding constants of log K = 3.60 [76], 4.60 [77], and 3.48 [78] for oxalate binding in methanol. Additionally, a crystal structure of a positively charged copper(II) helicate with encapsulated oxalate was reported in a study with the focus on