New advances in asymmetric organocatalysis II

• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 766–769, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.60

• transformation was catalyzed by a calcium complex of BINOL phosphate [29]. As can be seen from the summary above, the articles in this thematic issue cover a diverse array of topics in contemporary asymmetric organocatalysis. Moreover, they also reflect the diversity of our scientific community, as researchers

Development and mechanistic studies of calcium–BINOL phosphate-catalyzed hydrocyanation of hydrazones

• Carola Tortora,
• Christian A. Fischer,
• Sascha Kohlbauer,
• Alexandru Zamfir,
• Gerd M. Ballmann,
• Jürgen Pahl,
• Sjoerd Harder and
• Svetlana B. Tsogoeva

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 755–765, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.59

• hydrocyanation of hydrazones, catalyzed by a calcium–BINOL phosphate complex, has been studied for the first time both experimentally and computationally with DFT methods. A full catalytic cycle for the enantioselective synthesis of α-hydrazinonitriles is proposed based on insights gained from DFT calculations

• enantioselectivity achieved with the calcium catalyst remains modest, mainly due to competing pathways for the Z- and E-hydrazone isomers leading to opposite enantiomers. The experimental results confirm these computational proposals. Keywords: asymmetric synthesis; calcium–BINOL phosphate catalysis; hydrocyanation

• in elucidating the mechanism by which these bifunctional compounds act as powerful catalysts [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. Since Ishihara disclosed the crucial role of calcium in many purportedly purely organocatalytic BINOL phosphate-catalyzed reactions [30][31], several asymmetric synthesis

Group 13 exchange and transborylation in catalysis

• Dominic R. Willcox and
• Stephen P. Thomas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 325–348, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.28

• achieved. When AgOTf was replaced with silver (R)-BINOL phosphate, the asymmetric allylation proceeded in a moderate yield (60%) and enantioselectivity (40% ee). The structure of the ‘GaIOTf’ species was explored in more detail by Slattery, and a monovalent [GaI(18-crown-6)OTf] complex was isolated and

β-Hydroxy sulfides and their syntheses

• Mokgethwa B. Marakalala,
• Edwin M. Mmutlane and
• Henok H. Kinfe

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1668–1692, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.143

• ranged from –78 °C to room temperature. The use of amines, alcohols as well as alkyl and arylthiols as nucleophiles failed to provide the corresponding products. A year later, Antilla and co-workers found lithium-binol phosphate 64 to be an efficient catalyst for the desymmetrization of meso-epoxides

• complex. Enantioselective ring-opening reaction of stilbene oxides with ArSH catalyzed by a C2-symmetric chiral bipyridyldiol–titanium complex. Asymmetric desymmetrization of meso-epoxides using BINOL-based Brønsted acid catalysts. Lithium-BINOL-phosphate-catalyzed desymmetrization of meso-epoxides with

Asymmetric Brønsted acid-catalyzed aza-Diels–Alder reaction of cyclic C-acylimines with cyclopentadiene

• Magnus Rueping and
• Sadiya Raja

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2012, 8, 1819–1824, doi:10.3762/bjoc.8.208

• optically active aza-tetracycles in good yields with high diastereo- and enantioselectivities under mild reaction conditions. Keywords: BINOL phosphate; [4 + 2] cycloaddition; Diels–Alder reaction; organocatalysis; Introduction The enantioselective aza-Diels–Alder reaction is an important method for the