Synthesis of heterocycles based on azomethine ylides from α-amino acids (or amines) and carbonyl compounds

• Ekaterina V. Berezhnaya,
• Alexander I. Ponyaev,
• Vitali M. Boitsov and
• Alexander V. Stepakov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 705–741, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.55

• derivatives with multiple chiral centers under high regio- and stereocontrol. Currently, strategies using azomethine ylides based on imino esters or α-amino acids with a variety of cyclic and acyclic carbonyl compounds dominate. Enantioselective (3 + 2) cycloaddition reactions of azomethine ylides obtained

• from imino esters, catalyzed by chiral Cu(I,II) and Ag(I) complexes, are widely used. Reactions using α-amino acids proceed, in most cases, without the use of catalysts, with high yields and high stereoselectivity. Electrophilic alkenes of various structures, (hetero)aromatic olefins and benzofulvenes

• , cyclic and acyclic unsaturated substrates, and fullerenes are useful dipolarophiles. This reaction method allows for the single-step creation of a wide variety of complex polyheterocyclic systems that may be useful for practical applications. Keywords: alkenes; α-amino acids; azomethine ylides; carbonyl

Spirobarbiturates with a pyrrolizidine moiety: synthesis, structure and biological evaluation

• Arthur A. Puzyrkov,
• Andrew S. Drachuk,
• Ekaterina A. Popova,
• Alexander V. Stepakov and
• Vitali M. Boitsov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 274–288, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.20

• azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane and cyclopropa[a]pyrrolizine moieties can be synthesized via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between cyclopropene derivatives and azomethine ylides generated in situ from alloxan and α-amino acids [43]. In [43], a mechanism was proposed for the formation of azomethine ylides from alloxan

• and α-amino acids, which includes a stage of decarboxylation of the intermediate lactone. It is worth noting that generating azomethine ylides via decarboxylation of α-amino acid derivatives is a common practice in synthetic chemistry [44][45][46]. It was shown in our recent works that spirocyclopropa

• alloxan and α-amino acids) reacted with N-methylmaleimide was published by Ronald Grigg’s group in 1994 (Scheme 3) [52]. The authors reported the synthesis of spirobarbiturates containing various substituents: R’ = iPr (67%), Bn (61%), and Ph (66%). In this work, which is a continuation of studies on the

Highly electrophilic, gem- and spiro-activated trichloromethylnitrocyclopropanes: synthesis and structure

• Ilia A. Pilipenko,
• Mikhail V. Grigoriev,
• Olga Yu. Ozerova,
• Igor A. Litvinov,
• Darya V. Spiridonova,
• Aleksander V. Vasilyev and
• Sergey V. Makarenko

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 123–130, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.5

• carboxylic acids [4]. The trichloromethyl group is a convenient precursor of the carboxylic function, which determines their use in the synthesis of α-amino acids [5]. A number of natural trichloromethyl-containing compounds are metabolites of symbionts of marine sponges – cyanobacteria [6][7][8] – and have

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

Deuterated reagents in multicomponent reactions to afford deuterium-labeled products

• Kevin Schofield,
• Shayna Maddern,
• Yueteng Zhang,
• Grace E. Mastin,
• Rachel Knight,
• Wei Wang,
• James Galligan and
• Christopher Hulme

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2270–2279, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.195

• Strecker reaction [44][45] where a cyanide, aldehyde, and amine react to afford α-aminonitriles. Compound 5c was converted to the deuterated amino acid 5d under acidic conditions. This finding opens up the possibility of scale-production of deuterium-labeled α-amino acids. Deuterated Strecker products are

• . No deuterium scrambling observed. Ugi-azide reaction products, no deuterium scrambling observed. Passerini products, no deuterium scrambling observed. aWater was used as solvent. Strecker reaction products (precursors to [D1]-α-amino acids), no deuterium scrambling was observed. aThe cyano-group was

Negishi-coupling-enabled synthesis of α-heteroaryl-α-amino acid building blocks for DNA-encoded chemical library applications

• Matteo Gasparetto,
• Balázs Fődi and
• Gellért Sipos

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1922–1932, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.168

• crucial function in many biological processes. Due to their bifunctional character, they have been also used for combinatorial chemistry purposes, such as the preparation of DNA-encoded chemical libraries. We developed a practical synthesis for α-heteroaryl-α-amino acids starting from an array of small

• -amino acids as primary diversity elements [10]. The pursuit of achieving the efficient synthesis of α-amino acids has been an ongoing challenge since 1850, marked by the initial report of the Strecker condensation [11]. The Strecker synthesis and the related Bucherer−Bergs hydantoin formation remains

• overall applicability. A different approach for the synthesis of α-amino acids involves the formation of dehydroamino acids and subsequent hydrogenation [13][14]. More recently, there have been reports of techniques that utilize phase transfer catalysts (PTCs) to alkylate glycine derivatives [15][16]. A

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

• different functional groups at the 5-position. The Shi group reported the use of Pd(II) and Selectfluor to enable the enantioselective β-fluorination of α-amino acids (Figure 6) [40]. The presence of 2-(pyridin-2-yl)isopropylamine (PIP) as directing group was essential for the formation of a four-coordinate

• ; however, the methodology was only shown on secondary benzylic positions. The stereoselective benzylic monofluorination of α-amino acids was also reported by Yu and co-workers, employing a similar directing group strategy (Figure 7) [41]. The use of the monodentate directing group 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-4

• -(trifluoromethyl)aniline in conjunction with external ligand 5 facilitated the formation of a series of fluorinated α-amino acids. Xu and co-workers also disclosed a palladium-catalysed protocol for the fluorination of simple benzylic substrates bearing a bidentate directing group (Figure 8) [42]. Yields varied

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

• , a broad variety of conceptually orthogonal strategies to access differently functionalized non-natural α-amino acids (α-AA) [2][3][4][5][6][7] as well as β-amino acids (β-AA) [8][9][10][11][12][13] have been introduced and there is still considerable interest in the development of new concepts and

Mechanisms for radical reactions initiating from N-hydroxyphthalimide esters

• Carlos R. Azpilcueta-Nicolas and
• Jean-Philip Lumb

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 346–378, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.35

• with aryl thiols [70]. Further studies showed that 4-(trifluoromethyl)thiophenol (97) could act as a catalytic reductant in the aminodecarboxylation reaction of NHPI esters derived from α-amino acids [71] (Scheme 19). Accordingly, visible light irradiation of a mixture consisting of N-Boc-alanine NHPI

• forming an iminium intermediate 101. Finally, nucleophilic addition of phthalimide anion 102 afforded the amination product 103. Bosque and Bach reported the use of 3-acetoxyquinuclidine (q-Ac) as a catalytic donor for the activation of TCNHPI esters derived from α-amino acids [72] (Scheme 20). Treatment

• reported in recent years, including decarboxylative alkynylations [76][77][78] and the C(sp3)–H alkylation of α-amino acids [79]. The ability of NHPI esters to act as dual reagents was also investigated by Glorius and co-workers in the context of a photoinduced Pd-catalyzed aminoalkylation of 1,4-dienes

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

• compatibility and efficiency of a diverse range of redox-active esters 3, deriving from various aliphatic carboxylic acids (including primary, secondary, and tertiary acids), as well as α-amino acids. Impressively, these redox-active esters exhibited exceptional compatibility, high effectiveness, and remarkable

Decarboxylative 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of amino acids for the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds

• Xiaofeng Zhang,
• Xiaoming Ma and
• Wei Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1677–1693, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.123

• Pharmacy, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China 10.3762/bjoc.19.123 Abstract The [3 + 2] cycloadditions of stabilized azomethine ylides (AMYs) derived from amino esters are well-established. However, the reactions of semi-stabilized AMYs generated from decarboxylative condensation of α-amino acids

• with arylaldehydes are much less explored. The [3 + 2] adducts of α-amino acids could be used for a second [3 + 2] cycloaddition as well as for other post-condensation modifications. This article highlights our recent work on the development of α-amino acid-based [3 + 2] cycloaddition reactions of N–H

• aldehydes and α-amino esters (via dehydration) or α-amino acids (via decarboxylation) could be classified based on the substitution groups on the N atom to: 1) N-substituted (N–R type), 2) hydrogen containing (N–H type), and 3) metal complexes (N–M type) (Figure 1) [16][17]. These AMYs could also be

Visible-light-induced nickel-catalyzed α-hydroxytrifluoroethylation of alkyl carboxylic acids: Access to trifluoromethyl alkyl acyloins

• Feng Chen,
• Xiu-Hua Xu,
• Zeng-Hao Chen,
• Yue Chen and
• Feng-Ling Qing

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1372–1378, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.98

• challenging, and to the best of our knowledge, only Kawase's group [26] reported the preparation of such compounds starting from α-hydroxy acids or α-amino acids in the presence of trifluoroacetic anhydride and pyridine with very limited substrate scope (Scheme 1c). Therefore, the development of a more

Photoredox catalysis enabling decarboxylative radical cyclization of γ,γ-dimethylallyltryptophan (DMAT) derivatives: formal synthesis of 6,7-secoagroclavine

• Alessio Regni,
• Francesca Bartoccini and
• Giovanni Piersanti

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 918–927, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.70

• requires a multistep process in conventional chemical synthesis [39][40][41]. Among the various widely available and abundant substrates for photocatalyzed reactions, natural and unnatural α-amino acids play a very important role, given their paramount importance across several chemistry fields as well as

• their ability to participate in either redox step of the catalytic cycle [42][43][44][45]. For example, the main use of α-amino acids in syntheses via photoredox catalysis is as readily available precursors of regioselective α-amino radicals by decarboxylative transformations, by oxidation of the

Palladium-catalyzed enantioselective three-component synthesis of α-arylglycine derivatives from glyoxylic acid, sulfonamides and aryltrifluoroborates

• Bastian Jakob,
• Nico Schneider,
• Luca Gengenbach and
• Georg Manolikakes

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 719–726, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.52

• products. Keywords: amino acids; asymmetric catalysis; multicomponent reaction; palladium catalysis; Petasis reaction; sulfonamides; Introduction α-Amino acids play a crucial role in every aspect of our human life [1]. They are important synthetic intermediates in the chemical industry and used for the

• production of drugs, fertilizers, (biodegradable) polymers or nutritional supplements [2]. More importantly, α-amino acids form the backbone of all proteins and enzymes are therefore essential for almost all biological processes. In the last twenty years non-proteinogenic and chemically synthesized unnatural

NaI/PPh₃-catalyzed visible-light-mediated decarboxylative radical cascade cyclization of N-arylacrylamides for the efficient synthesis of quaternary oxindoles

• Dan Liu,
• Yue Zhao and
• Frederic W. Patureau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 57–65, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.5

• is mediated by visible light irradiation. A wide range of substrates bearing different substituents and derived from ubiquitous carboxylic acids, including α-amino acids, were synthesized and examined under this very mild, efficient, and cost effective transition-metal-free synthetic method. These

On Reuben G. Jones synthesis of 2-hydroxypyrazines

• Pierre Legrand and
• Yves L. Janin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 935–943, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.93

• would be the hydrolysis of the α-aminoamides and the resulting α-amino acids would also be water-soluble. For these reasons, a low temperature as well as a plausibly softer base (i.e., tetraalkylammonium hydroxides) would be key parameters to alleviate the impact of these side reactions. These would

Synthesis of bis-spirocyclic derivatives of 3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane via cyclopropene cycloadditions to the stable azomethine ylide derived from Ruhemann's purple

• Alexander S. Filatov,
• Olesya V. Khoroshilova,
• Anna G. Larina,
• Vitali M. Boitsov and
• Alexander V. Stepakov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 769–780, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.77

• been explored [19][20][21][22][23][24]. To generate azomethine ylides, we used a classical method based on the reaction of cyclic carbonyl compounds with α-amino acids. Μono-, bi-, and tetracyclic carbonyl compounds were utilized in these studies. 1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition of cyclopropenes to

• azomethine ylides generated from primary or secondary α-amino acids and carbonyl compounds such as alloxan, isatin, tryptanthrin, and 11H-indeno[1,2-b]quinoxalin-11-one were performed in a multicomponent fashion [19][20][21][24]. In these reactions, the azomethine ylides generated in situ are highly reactive

Menadione: a platform and a target to valuable compounds synthesis

• Acácio S. de Souza,
• Ruan Carlos B. Ribeiro,
• Dora C. S. Costa,
• Fernanda P. Pauli,
• David R. Pinho,
• Matheus G. de Moraes,
• Fernando de C. da Silva,
• Luana da S. M. Forezi and
• Vitor F. Ferreira

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 381–419, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.43

• outcome, although electronic effects can be considered to play a role, especially with substituted α-amino acids. Lanfranchi and co-workers also studied the menadione (10) alkylation by oxidative decarboxylation using carboxylic acids containing nitrogenous heterocycles as substituents, and achieved very

Synthesis of piperidine and pyrrolidine derivatives by electroreductive cyclization of imine with terminal dihaloalkanes in a flow microreactor

• Yuki Naito,
• Naoki Shida and
• Mahito Atobe

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 350–359, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.39

• time, extremely fast molecular diffusion, and expelling the reaction product to avoid over-oxidation or over-reduction. We have previously reported the electrochemical carboxylation of several imines in a flow microreactor to afford the corresponding α-amino acids in good to moderate yields [33][34][35

Regioselective synthesis of methyl 5-(N-Boc-cycloaminyl)-1,2-oxazole-4-carboxylates as new amino acid-like building blocks

• Jolita Bruzgulienė,
• Greta Račkauskienė,
• Aurimas Bieliauskas,
• Vaida Milišiūnaitė,
• Miglė Dagilienė,
• Gita Matulevičiūtė,
• Vytas Martynaitis,
• Sonata Krikštolaitytė,
• Frank A. Sløk and
• Algirdas Šačkus

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 102–109, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.11

• nonproteinogenic α-amino acids, have been used as excitatory amino acid receptor agonists [10][11][12][13]. For example, (S)-AMPA (III) and (S)-ACPA (IV) are specific agonists of an AMPA receptor that mimic the effects of the neurotransmitter glutamate [14][15][16]. Unnatural heteroarene amino acids have also been

Recent advances and perspectives in ruthenium-catalyzed cyanation reactions

• Thaipparambil Aneeja,
• Cheriya Mukkolakkal Abdulla Afsina,
• Padinjare Veetil Saranya and
• Gopinathan Anilkumar

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 37–52, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.4

• natural product synthesis, pigments and dyes. Different variety of α-amino carbonyls [2], α-amino acids [3] and 1,2-diamines were prepared from the nitriles using homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis [4][5][6]. One of the astonishing aspects of nitriles is that it can be easily converted to amines

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

• important tool in the asymmetric synthesis of aziridines [25][26], α-amino acids [27][28], β-amino acids [23][29] and branched α-amines [30][31]. The Darzens-type asymmetric synthesis of N-(p-toluenesulfinyl)aziridine 2-carboxylate esters (7 and 8) was described through the addition of lithium α

• ) [105]. Li and Xu reported a method for the enantioselective synthesis of β,γ-unsaturated α-amino acids 100, by a Lewis acid-promoted diastereoselective Petasis reaction of vinylboronic acids 98, (R)-N-tert-butanesulfinamide and glyoxylic acid (99). They found that the best results were obtained working

Microwave-assisted multicomponent reactions in heterocyclic chemistry and mechanistic aspects

• Shivani Gulati,
• Stephy Elza John and
• Nagula Shankaraiah

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 819–865, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.71

• co-workers [50] demonstrated an aqueous phase, diastereoselective, multicomponent reaction involving substituted isatins 35, β-nitrostyrene 36 and benzylamine (20) or α-amino acids 37 using microwave irradiation to afford a library of spirooxindoles 38 in good yields under catalyst-free conditions

Synthetic reactions driven by electron-donor–acceptor (EDA) complexes

• Zhonglie Yang,
• Yutong Liu,
• Kun Cao,
• Xiaobin Zhang,
• Hezhong Jiang and
• Jiahong Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 771–799, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.67

• synthesis of unnatural α-amino acids 129 and precise alkylation modification of peptides in the later stage (Scheme 45). Even in the presence of other amino acid residues, this protocol has excellent regio- and chemoselectivity, providing a sequence of novel corresponding dipeptides with good yield. The

Recent developments in enantioselective photocatalysis

• Callum Prentice,
• James Morrisson,
• Andrew D. Smith and
• Eli Zysman-Colman

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2363–2441, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.197

•  18b) [65]. Jiang et al. also reported a series of radical coupling reactions using different CPAs 135a–g and DPZ, with the first examples using α-bromoketones 136 and α-amino acids 137 as radical precursors (Scheme 19a) [66]. The proposed mechanism proceeds through a reductive quenching cycle to

• 139 (Scheme 19b). As previously mentioned, photoredox catalysis has been widely used for the generation of imines. The Jiang group applied this to the synthesis of substituted tetrahydroquinolines (THQs) 144 from α-amino acids 145 to give racemic products in good yields and found that the addition of