Electrochemical cyclization of alkynes to construct five-membered nitrogen-heterocyclic rings

• Lifen Peng,
• Ting Wang,
• Zhiwen Yuan,
• Bin Li,
• Zilong Tang,
• Xirong Liu,
• Hui Li,
• Guofang Jiang,
• Chunling Zeng,
• Henry N. C. Wong and
• Xiao-Shui Peng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2173–2201, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.166

• vinyl radical intermediate D. The radical in D reacted with the pyridyl N atom regioselectively to form a tricyclic radical E, which proceeded one-electron oxidation/hydrolysis afforded 49. Additionally, the imidazopyridines could be constructed through electrochemical intramolecular [3 + 2] annulation

C2 to C6 biobased carbonyl platforms for fine chemistry

• Jingjing Jiang,
• Muhammad Noman Haider Tariq,
• Florence Popowycz,
• Yanlong Gu and
• Yves Queneau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2103–2172, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.165

3-Aryl-2H-azirines as annulation reagents in the Ni(II)-catalyzed synthesis of 1H-benzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-b]pyrroles

• Julia I. Pavlenko,
• Pavel A. Sakharov,
• Anastasiya V. Agafonova,
• Derenik A. Isadzhanyan,
• Alexander F. Khlebnikov and
• Mikhail S. Novikov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1595–1602, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.123

• arenes with azirines. These include the [3 + 2] cycloaddition of azirines to arynes (Scheme 1, reaction 1) [10][11][12], Pd-catalyzed reaction of azirines with iodoarenes (Scheme 1, reaction 2) [13], and reaction of 2-aroylazirines with naphthols (Scheme 1, reaction 3) [8]. The [3 + 2] annulation

• . Synthesis of fused pyrroles and azoles by [3 + 2] annulation reactions of azirines. Synthesis of benzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-b]pyrroles 3. Plausible mechanism for the formation of compounds 3. Post-modifications of 1H-benzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-b]pyrrole (3b). Synthesis of pyrrolo[3,2-b]indole 10. IPrCuCl-catalyzed

Oxetanes: formation, reactivity and total syntheses of natural products

• Peter Gabko,
• Martin Kalník and
• Maroš Bella

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1324–1373, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.101

• -catalysed heterocycle synthesis, specifically a [3 + 2] annulation of 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)oxetan-3-ol (211) with β-naphthylamines or phenols 210 to give benzoindolines and 2,3-dihydrobenzofurans 212, respectively (Scheme 50) [104]. The reaction gave moderate to high yields and control experiments indicated

Recent advances and future challenges in the bottom-up synthesis of azulene-embedded nanographenes

• Bartłomiej Pigulski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1272–1305, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.99

• CHCl3, AcOH and o-DCB [44]. The resulting mixture of brominated PAHs 30 and 31 was then subjected to single or double [3 + 2] annulation with various alkynes, leading to the extended structures 32 and 33. Notably, compound 33d can undergo Pd-catalysed dimerization, resulting in the formation of a chiral

• characteristics to most azulene-embedded PAHs obtained via Scholl oxidation – specifically, the azulene subunit does not exhibit aromaticity, and the surrounding benzenoid rings predominantly determine the electronic structure of 49. [3 + 2] Annulation of alkynes accompanied by a phenyl ring expansion: The

• and co-workers [55]. A palladium-catalysed variation of [3 + 2] annulation, accompanied by ring expansion [56], was used for the intermolecular reaction between acenes bearing alkyne substituents 55a–d and di-n-butylacetylene (56). The reaction gave a series of azulene-embedded isomers of linear

Salen–scandium(III) complex-catalyzed asymmetric (3 + 2) annulation of aziridines and aldehydes

• Linqiang Wang and
• Jiaxi Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1087–1094, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.86

• moieties of biologically active compounds. A salen–scandium triflate complex-catalyzed asymmetric (3 + 2) annulation of dialkyl 1-sulfonylaziridine-2,2-dicarboxylates and aldehydes generated optically active functionalized oxazolidine derivatives in moderate to good yields and good to excellent

• method uses readily available salen as chiral ligand, which coordinates with scandium triflate to generate a salen–Sc complex acting as efficient catalyst. The catalytic asymmetric (3 + 2) annulation of dialkyl 3-aryl-1-sulfonylaziridine-2,2-dicarboxylates and aldehydes generated optically active

Recent total synthesis of natural products leveraging a strategy of enamide cyclization

• Chun-Yu Mi,
• Jia-Yuan Zhai and
• Xiao-Ming Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 999–1009, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.81

• cyclization modes that provide entries to various N-heterocycles, some of which serve as key structural motifs in natural alkaloids. This review highlights recent advancements in enamide-based cyclization reactions, including enamide–alkyne cycloisomerization, [3 + 2] annulation, and polycyclization, with a

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

• followed by lactonization to Int-21 and Int-22 (Scheme 11c). Chi and co-workers showed that desymmetrization of urazoles can lead to axially chiral derivatives [31]. The NHC-catalyzed (3 + 2) annulation between α,β-unsaturated aldehydes 36 and urazoles 37 generates atropoisomers 38 with a C–N stereogenic

Copper-catalyzed yne-allylic substitutions: concept and recent developments

• Shuang Yang and
• Xinqiang Fang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2739–2775, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.232

• -ethynylthiophene esters. Proposed mechanism. [4 + 1] annulation of yne-allylic esters and cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyls. Asymmetric [4 + 1] annulation of yne-allylic esters. Proposed mechanism. Asymmetric [3 + 2] annulation of yne-allylic esters. Postulated annulation step. [4 + 1] Annulations of vinyl ethynylethylene

Transition-metal-catalyzed domino reactions of strained bicyclic alkenes

• Austin Pounder,
• Eric Neufeld,
• Peter Myler and
• William Tam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 487–540, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.38

• -catalyzed [3 + 2] annulation/ring-opening/dehydration domino reaction of oxabicyclic alkenes 30 with 2-(1-methylhydrazinyl)pyridine (MHP) directed arenes 87 for the synthesis of benzo[b]fluorenones 88 (Scheme 16) [52]. C–H bond functionalization with heterobicyclic alkenes as annulation partners has

Molecular diversity of the base-promoted reaction of phenacylmalononitriles with dialkyl but-2-ynedioates

• Hui Zheng,
• Ying Han,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 991–998, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.99

• furnished a chiral thiosquaramide-catalyzed tandem Michael–Henry reaction of phenacylmalononitriles and nitroolefins for the enantioselective synthesis of cyclopent-3-ene-1-carboxamides [32] (reaction 2 in Scheme 1). Mohanan and co-workers reported a PBu3-catalyzed [3 + 2] annulation of

Synthetic strategies for the preparation of γ-phostams: 1,2-azaphospholidine 2-oxides and 1,2-azaphospholine 2-oxides

• Jiaxi Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 889–915, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.90

• 1,2-azaphospholidine 2-oxides and their fused derivative, [4 + 1] annulations and more occasionally a [3 + 2] annulation. [4 + 1] Annulation via formations of both C–N and N–P bonds Miles and Street prepared 2-aryl/dimethylamino-1-ethoxy-2-hydrobenzo[c][1,2]azaphosphol-3-one 1-oxides 201 from 2

• )acetates 247 in moderate yields of 53–71% with diastereomeric ratios of 1:1.7 to 1:3. The synthetic strategy is more versatile (Scheme 39) [60]. [3 + 2] Annulation via formations of both C–C and P–N bonds After oxidation with K3Fe(CN)6, diphenyl 3,5-di(tert-butyl)-4-hydroxybenzylphosphonate (248) was

• + 1] Annulations have been mainly utilized in the construction of the 1,2-azaphospholidine ring, while the [3 + 2] annulation has been seldomly used in the synthesis of pyridine-fused 1,2-azaphospholidine 2-oxide only. Few asymmetric synthetic methods have been developed to date. Thus, highly

New advances in asymmetric organocatalysis

• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 240–242, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.28

• nitromethane to β-silyl α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds catalyzed by bifunctional squaramide catalysts are effective under solvent-free conditions [26]. Zhai and Du demonstrated that asymmetric [3 + 2] annulation reactions of 2-isothiocyanato-1-indanones with barbiturate-based olefins are efficiently

Bifunctional thiourea-catalyzed asymmetric [3 + 2] annulation reactions of 2-isothiocyanato-1-indanones with barbiturate-based olefins

• Jiang-Song Zhai and
• Da-Ming Du

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 25–36, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.3

• Jiang-Song Zhai Da-Ming Du School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, No.5 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, People’s Republic of China 10.3762/bjoc.18.3 Abstract Bifunctional thiourea-catalyzed asymmetric [3 + 2] annulation reactions of 2

Recent advances in the asymmetric phosphoric acid-catalyzed synthesis of axially chiral compounds

• Alemayehu Gashaw Woldegiorgis and
• Xufeng Lin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2729–2764, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.185

• ]. Zhou and co-workers published an excellent paper in 2019 on the conversion of central to axial chirality in an enantioselective [3 + 2] annulation of 1-styrylnaphthols 32 with azonaphthalenes 33. Under defined conditions, the cycloaddition product 34 was prepared in high yield (99%) with exclusive

A recent overview on the synthesis of 1,4,5-trisubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles

• Pezhman Shiri,
• Ali Mohammad Amani and
• Thomas Mayer-Gall

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1600–1628, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.114

• converted to fused sultams (Scheme 30) [56]. Anand et al. reported a Cu-catalyzed one-pot method for the preparation of 1,2,3-triazole-fused tricyclic heterocycles 106 via an intramolecular [3 + 2]-annulation. This strategy includes the 1,6-conjugate addition of Me3SiN3 to o-alkynylated p-quinone methides

N-tert-Butanesulfinyl imines in the asymmetric synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocycles

• Joseane A. Mendes,
• Paulo R. R. Costa,
• Miguel Yus,
• Francisco Foubelo and
• Camilla D. Buarque

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1096–1140, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.86

• -pyrrolines 82 were formed as single diastereomers [101]. The whole process could be considered a [3 + 2] annulation, and aziridines were not observed as competing reaction products (see above Scheme 11). In addition, hindered imines, ethers, sulfonates, heteroaryl substituents, and conjugated imines were all

All-carbon [3 + 2] cycloaddition in natural product synthesis

• Zhuo Wang and
• Junyang Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 3015–3031, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.251

• natural product syntheses featuring all-carbon [3 + 2] annulation are elaborated. Lastly, we discuss future directions and opportunities for the all-carbon [3 + 2] cycloaddition. Review In 1981, Little and co-workers utilized a trimethylenemethane (TMM) cycloaddition as the key reaction to synthesize the

• rearrangement product 99 in 85% yield. The synthesis of daphenylline (11) was completed by a seven-step synthesis from benzofuran 99. Phosphine-catalyzed enantioselective [3 + 2] annulation In 2019, Lu and co-workers disclosed a novel chiral-phosphine-catalyzed enantioselective [3 + 2] annulation of allenes and

• isoindigos to give an enantioenriched annulation adduct bearing vicinal quaternary stereocenters [46] (Scheme 7A). Both symmetric and unsymmetric isoindigos can undergo enantioselective [3 + 2] annulation with an allene and produced a chiral adduct with high yield and high ee value. When unsymmetric

Photocatalysis with organic dyes: facile access to reactive intermediates for synthesis

• Stephanie G. E. Amos,
• Marion Garreau,
• Luca Buzzetti and
• Jerome Waser

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1163–1187, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.103

• opening of nitrogen-containing small rings was also exploited by our group in 2019 (Scheme 36) [154]. Starting from the aminocyclopropanes 36.1 and the cyclopropenes 36.2, a [3 + 2] annulation led to the bicyclo[3.1.0]hexanes 36.3. Under visible-light irradiation, the excited-state photocatalyst OD7

• performs an SET oxidation of an cyclopropylaniline 36.1, leading to an N-centred radical cation after ring opening. The latter undergoes a [3 + 2] annulation with cyclopropenes 36.2, affording a bicyclic product 36.3. The key to the broad substrate tolerance relied on using 4DPAIPN (OD7), which is a mild

Switchable selectivity in Pd-catalyzed [3 + 2] annulations of γ-oxy-2-cycloalkenones with 3-oxoglutarates: C–C/C–C vs C–C/O–C bond formation

• Yang Liu,
• Julie Oble and
• Giovanni Poli

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1107–1115, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.107

• Yang Liu Julie Oble Giovanni Poli Sorbonne Université, Faculté des Sciences et Ingénierie, CNRS, Institut Parisien de Chimie Moléculaire, IPCM, 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France 10.3762/bjoc.15.107 Abstract Two complementary [3 + 2] annulation protocols between 3-oxoglutarates and cyclic γ-oxy

• success of this bis-nucleophile/bis-electrophile [3 + 2] annulation is its well-defined step chronology in combination with the total chemoselectivity of the former step. This [3 + 2] C–C/O–C bond forming annulation protocol could be also extended to 1,3,5-triketones as well as 1,3-bis-sulfonylpropan-2

• nucleophile is chemoselectivity control. Herein we disclose two chemodivergent [3 + 2] annulation reactions taking place between dialkyl-3-oxoglutarates I and α,β-unsaturated-γ-oxycarbonyl derivatives II that differ simply by the reaction temperature adopted. These methods allow the exclusive [3 + 2] C–C/C–C

Dirhodium(II)-catalyzed [3 + 2] cycloaddition of N-arylaminocyclopropane with alkyne derivatives

• Wentong Liu,
• Yi Kuang,
• Zhifan Wang,
• Jin Zhu and
• Yuanhua Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 542–550, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.48

• . Experimental General procedure for the [3 + 2] annulation of cyclopropylanilines: An oven-dried Schlenk tube equipped with a stirring bar was charged with Rh2(5S,R-MenPY)4 (0.1 mol %), alkyne (5.0 mmol), and dry DCE (5 mL). The tube was degassed through three freeze–pump–thaw cycles. After evacuating and

Oxidative radical ring-opening/cyclization of cyclopropane derivatives

• Yu Liu,
• Qiao-Lin Wang,
• Zan Chen,
• Cong-Shan Zhou,
• Bi-Quan Xiong,
• Pan-Liang Zhang,
• Chang-An Yang and
• Quan Zhou

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 256–278, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.23

• another molecule Mn(OAc)3 [48]. Later, Shi et al. demonstrated an oxidative annulation of MCPs 1 with 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds 7 using manganese(III) catalysis under room temperature conditions, which afforded 4,5-dihydrofuran derivatives 8 as [3 + 2] annulation products (cyclopropyl retained adducts) in

• moderate to good yields [49]. This transformation also gave another six-membered cyclic compounds 9 (cyclopropyl opened adducts) via ring-opening and cyclization process (Scheme 3). However, the [3 + 2] annulation reaction did not occur under the standard conditions when the MCPs 1 was without an aromatic

• . Finally, the intermediate 136 underwent oxidation and deprotonation to give the desired product 132. In this year, Melchiorre’s group reported the ring-opening and [3 + 2]-annulation of cyclopropanols 91 with α,β-unsaturated aldehydes 138 for the synthesis of stereochemically dense cyclopentanols 139 with

Synthesis of chiral 3-substituted 3-amino-2-oxindoles through enantioselective catalytic nucleophilic additions to isatin imines

• Hélène Pellissier

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1349–1369, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.114

• asymmetric formal [3 + 2] annulation reaction between N-Boc-isatin imines 3 and 1,4-dithiane-2,5-diol (53) as equal equivalent of 2-mercaptoacetaldehyde [78]. The domino reaction catalyzed by chiral tertiary amine-squaramide catalyst 54 began with the addition of 2-mercaptoacetaldehyde to isatin imine 3

Synergistic chiral iminium and palladium catalysis: Highly regio- and enantioselective [3 + 2] annulation reaction of 2-vinylcyclopropanes with enals

• Haipan Zhu,
• Peile Du,
• Jianjun Li,
• Ziyang Liao,
• Guohua Liu,
• Hao Li and
• Wei Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 1340–1347, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.127

• enals and a transition metal promoting to open the 2-vinylcyclopropanes for highly regio- and enantioselective [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of 2-vinylcyclopropanes with α,β-unsaturated aldehydes has been developed. Keywords: [3 + 2] annulation; enals; synergistic catalysis; vinylcyclopropanes

• acid [56]. Herein we wish to disclose the first synergistic catalytic enantioselective [3 + 2] annulation reaction between 2-vinylcyclopropanes and enals via 1,4-addition (Scheme 1, reaction 2). The process proceeds highly regio- and enantioselectively with C=C bonds in enals. Notably, a synergistic

• catalytic system is implemented and makes this previously inaccessible [3 + 2] annulation transformation possible. Results and Discussion To render the [3 + 2] annulation reaction to selectively act on the C=C double bond rather than on the aldehyde in enals 1, we proposed a new cooperative iminium and

Enantioselective [3 + 2] annulation of α-substituted allenoates with β,γ-unsaturated N-sulfonylimines catalyzed by a bifunctional dipeptide phosphine

• Huanzhen Ni,
• Weijun Yao and
• Yixin Lu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 343–348, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.37

• Huanzhen Ni Weijun Yao Yixin Lu Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, Singapore, 117543 10.3762/bjoc.12.37 Abstract The first enantioselective [3 + 2] annulation of α-substituted allenoates with β,γ-unsaturated N-sulfonylimines is described. In the presence

• of a dipeptide phosphine catalyst, a wide range of highly functionalized cyclopentenes bearing an all-carbon quaternary center were obtained in moderate to good yields and with good to excellent enantioselectivities. Keywords: [3 + 2] annulation; α-substituted allenoate; dipeptide phosphine

• ; enantioselective; Introduction Over the past decade, chiral phosphine catalysts have been utilized extensively for the construction of a broad range of synthetically useful molecular structures [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Since the initial discovery of phosphine-catalyzed [3 + 2] annulation of