Enantioselective desymmetrization strategy of prochiral 1,3-diols in natural product synthesis

• Lihua Wei,
• Rui Yang,
• Zhifeng Shi and
• Zhiqiang Ma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1932–1963, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.151

• in intramolecular [7-exo] and [8-endo] cyclization, furnishing the 7-membered cyclic ether 40 and 8-membered cyclic ether 41, respectively. Finally, MOM deprotection produced (−)-heliannuol D (42) and (+)-heliannuol A (43). In 2002, Chênevert and co-workers completed the total synthesis of (S)-α

• Takabe and co-workers in their synthesis of (E)-3,7-dimethyl-2-octene-1,8-diol (isolated from Danaus chrysippus) (Scheme 10) [42]. Prepared from geraniol (61) in eight steps, diol 62 was converted to enantioenriched compound 63 in 75% yield with 90% ee in the presence of PSA. This intermediate was

• further advanced to (E)-3,7-dimethyl-2-octene-1,8-diol (64) over three steps. Later in 2004, Takabe and co-workers accomplished the asymmetric synthesis of variabilin, a marine-derived furanosesterterpene (Scheme 11) [43]. The key C18 chiral center was established through lipase-mediated asymmetric

Rhodium-catalysed connective synthesis of diverse reactive probes bearing S(VI) electrophilic warheads

• Scott Rice,
• Julian Chesti,
• William R. T. Mosedale,
• Megan H. Wright,
• Stephen P. Marsden,
• Terry K. Smith and
• Adam Nelson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1924–1931, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.150

• diverse co-substrates. A high-throughput approach was used to identify promising substrate/co-substrate/catalyst combinations which were then prioritised for purification by mass-directed HPLC to yield a total of thirty reactive probes. The structural diversity of the probe set was increased by the

• multiplicity of reaction types between rhodium carbenoids and the many different co-substrate classes, and the catalyst-driven selectivity between these pathways. The probes were screened for activity against Trypanosma brucei, and four probes with promising anti-trypanosomal activity were identified

• the reactive probes would be prepared by dirhodium-catalysed reactions between pairs of building blocks: an α-diazoamide 2 bearing a S(VI) electrophile and a suitable co-substrate (→ 3) (Figure 1). Here, metal-catalysed carbenoid chemistry was chosen because of the wide range of potentially reactive

Synthesis of N-doped chiral macrocycles by regioselective palladium-catalyzed arylation

• Shuhai Qiu and
• Junzhi Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1917–1923, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.149

• University of Hong Kong (HKU) and ITC to the SKL. The work described in this paper was partially supported by a grant from the Co-funding Mechanism on Joint Laboratories with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) sponsored by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

Stereoselective electrochemical intramolecular imino-pinacol reaction: a straightforward entry to enantiopure piperazines

• Margherita Gazzotti,
• Fabrizio Medici,
• Valerio Chiroli,
• Laura Raimondi,
• Sergio Rossi and
• Maurizio Benaglia

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1897–1908, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.147

• -diimines. Later, in 2001, Yudin and co-workers described the parallel reductive coupling of aldimines using a spatially addressable electrosynthesis platform, which employed a stainless steel cathode, a sacrificial aluminum anode and a procedure adapted from Torii's earlier work including the use of PbBr2

• co-workers [44], the presence of a strong protic acid, such as methanesulfonic acid, MsOH, is essential to promote the intramolecular coupling. A control experiment revealed that when the electroreduction of 1a was performed in the absence of MsOH (Table 1, entry 3), no formation of the desired

Preparation of spirocyclic oxindoles by cyclisation of an oxime to a nitrone and dipolar cycloaddition

• Beth L. Ritchie,
• Alexandra Longcake and
• Iain Coldham

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1890–1896, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.146

• ][10][11][12][13]. Of note, Cook and co-workers described an elegant approach using tryptophan as a starting material and an oxidative rearrangement of an indole that allows access to a variety of spirooxindole alkaloids from the Alstonia genus [14]. An efficient way to construct cyclic nitrogen

Chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of helically chiral, planarly chiral and inherently chiral molecules

• Wei Liu and
• Xiaoyu Yang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1864–1889, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.145

• , the application of CPA catalysis in the asymmetric synthesis of other forms of molecular chirality has received less attention. While List and co-workers reported the first CPA-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of helically chiral azahelicenes through the Fischer indole synthesis back in 2014 [12], the

• approaches [20]. In 2014, List and co-workers reported the pioneering CPA-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of helically chiral molecules, which also marked the first organocatalyzed asymmetric synthesis of such compounds [12]. By employing a CPA-catalyzed asymmetric Fischer indolization reaction of hydrazine 1

• , while utilizing MnO2 as an oxidant selectively yielded heterohelicenes 20 with bisamido substitution at the peri-positions. In 2024, Zhou, Chen and co-workers disclosed an efficient method for the asymmetric synthesis of indolohelicenoids through a sequential enantioselective annulation, followed by an

Systematic pore lipophilization to enhance the efficiency of an amine-based MOF catalyst in the solvent-free Knoevenagel reaction

• Pricilla Matseketsa,
• Margret Kumbirayi Ruwimbo Pagare and
• Tendai Gadzikwa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1854–1863, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.144

• catalytic performance and/or systematically investigate the influence of a particular chemical or structural property on catalyst efficiency [23]. For examples of tailoring the pore environment in MOF-based catalysts to modulate catalytic performance, we can refer to the elegant work of Telfer and co

Photoswitches beyond azobenzene: a beginner’s guide

• Michela Marcon,
• Christoph Haag and
• Burkhard König

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1808–1853, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.143

• the protein-binding site than the bent Z-isomer. However, it would be more desirable to have an inactive molecule in its most stable state which can be activated by irradiation [51][59]. Hernando and co-workers were able to design photoswitchable neurotransmitters of ionotropic kainate receptors by

•  14, box) and repulsion between the aryl and the carbonyl group in the E-isomer. Some studies on N-acylindigo derivatives reported, besides the expected spectral blue-shift, also a decrease in the fatigue resistance due to photochemical rearrangements [68][69]. Dube and co-workers reported a series of

• racemised upon irradiation. For further details about bridged indigos, we refer the reader to the work of Tsubaki and co-workers [71]. Although less pronounced, substituents in the phenyl ring also change the absorption properties of indigos. Considering only the resonance structures that involve the phenyl

Fe-catalyzed efficient synthesis of 2,4- and 4-substituted quinolines via C(sp²)–C(sp²) bond scission of styrenes

• Prafull A. Jagtap,
• Manish M. Petkar,
• Vaishnavi R. Sawant and
• Bhalchandra M. Bhanage

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1799–1807, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.142

• employed an I2/DMSO-facilitated C–C bond-scission strategy of styrenes, followed by C–N bond formation and subsequent [4 + 2] annulation. Jiang and co-workers developed a method for synthesizing 4-substituted quinolines using vinyl azides as dual synthons, facilitating both the C–C and C–N bond cleavage

Research progress on calixarene/pillararene-based controlled drug release systems

• Liu-Huan Yi,
• Jian Qin,
• Si-Ran Lu,
• Liu-Pan Yang,
• Li-Li Wang and
• Huan Yao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1757–1785, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.139

• , such as tacrine. Therefore, this vesicle system may be suitable for the controlled release of Alzheimer's disease drugs. Extensive research has been conducted on MSN carriers fitted with supramolecular nano valves. Yang and co-workers [121] designed an enzyme-responsive supramolecular nanovalve

Convenient alternative synthesis of the Malassezia-derived virulence factor malassezione and related compounds

• Karu Ramesh and
• Stephen L. Bearne

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1730–1736, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.135

• added dropwise at 0 °C. The reaction was then stirred for 2 h as the temperature rose from 0 °C to room temperature. The solution was then concentrated in vacuo to yield an oily residue that was co-evaporated with diethyl ether (3 × 10 mL) under vacuum to produce the desired compound 1 as a beige

Approaches to stereoselective 1,1'-glycosylation

• Daniele Zucchetta and
• Alla Zamyatina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1700–1718, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.133

• product from co-migrating monosaccharide by-products. To synthesize fully orthogonally protected 1,1'-linked diglucosamines, the influence of specific combinations of protecting groups on the nucleophilicity of the lactol acceptor and the reactivity of the glycosyl donor was taken into consideration. To

Continuous-flow-enabled intensification in nitration processes: a review of technological developments and practical applications over the past decade

• Feng Zhou,
• Chuansong Duanmu,
• Yanxing Li,
• Jin Li,
• Haiqing Xu,
• Pan Wang and
• Kai Zhu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1678–1699, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.132

• Industrial & Energy Engineering Group Huanghe Construction Co., Ltd., 7 Yandong Xinlu, Lixia District, Jinan 250000, P. R. China China Construction Industrial & Energy Engineering Group Co., Ltd., Nanjing 210023, P. R. China 10.3762/bjoc.21.132 Abstract Flow chemistry technology has demonstrated significant

Catalytic asymmetric reactions of isocyanides for constructing non-central chirality

• Jia-Yu Liao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1648–1660, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.129

• reaction type and the chirality type of resulting products. Perspective Isocyanide-based transformations Palladium-catalyzed isocyanide insertion reactions In 2018, Luo, Zhu, and co-workers developed a palladium-catalyzed enantioselective reaction between ferrocene-derived vinyl isocyanides 1 and aryl

• ) and aryl iodide 6a as the reactants, diastereomeric products 9a and 9b, each containing two distinct stereogenic axes (C–C and C–N), were obtained in 93% and 89% ee, respectively. Very recently, Luo and co-workers implemented an efficient palladium-catalyzed atroposelective C(sp2)–H imidoylative

• for Pd-catalyzed isocyanide insertion reactions, organocatalytic isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions have been explored for the synthesis of axially chiral compounds. In 2024, Yang and co-workers reported a catalytic asymmetric version of the Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé reaction [32][33][34

Photocatalysis and photochemistry in organic synthesis

• Timothy Noël and
• Bartholomäus Pieber

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1645–1647, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.128

• catalysis, and this arsenal of catalysts is constantly expanding. In this thematic issue, the Dell’Amico group describes the development of a new class of organic donor–acceptor photocatalysts that show promising activity for several transformations [18]. Additionally, Hoffmann and co-workers contributed a

• of alkenylboronic esters using energy transfer catalysis [26]. Gualandi and co-workers leveraged a combination of photoredox and HAT catalysis to realize the intramolecular nucleophilic amidation of alkenes with β-lactams [27]. Further, Luridiana and colleagues developed a method for the alkylation

• catalysis that does not require exogenous photocatalysts has emerged as a new paradigm in photochemical synthesis [33]. Here, a transition metal complex plays a dual role by harnessing photon energy to facilitate bond-breaking and bond-forming events. For example, Sipos and co-workers demonstrate in this

Formal synthesis of a selective estrogen receptor modulator with tetrahydrofluorenone structure using [3 + 2 + 1] cycloaddition of yne-vinylcyclopropanes and CO

• Jing Zhang,
• Guanyu Zhang,
• Hongxi Bai and
• Zhi-Xiang Yu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1639–1644, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.127

• University, Beijing, 100871, China 10.3762/bjoc.21.127 Abstract A formal synthesis of product VI with tetrahydroflurenone structure as selective estrogen receptor modulator has been realized. The Rh-catalyzed [3 + 2 + 1] reaction of yne-vinylcyclopropanes and CO (20 mmol scale, in 87% yield) for building

• annulation to construct the C ring (cyclohexenone ring), and an intramolecular SN2 reaction to build the D ring (five-membered ring) [15][16][17][18]. In 2013, Wallace and co-workers disclosed the second route for this molecule (Scheme 2B) [19], in which the five-membered ring B was formed by utilizing

• group in compound 10. Compound 10 can be realized by introducing an ester group in 9, which is the [3 + 2 + 1] cycloadduct from 8 and CO using a Rh catalyst. The [3 + 2 + 1] substrate of yne-vinylcyclopropane (yne-VCP) 8 can be synthesized by Wittig reaction from cyclopropyl aldehyde 7, in which the

Transition-state aromaticity and its relationship with reactivity in pericyclic reactions

• Israel Fernández

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1613–1626, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.125

• Cope rearrangements [20]. More recently, Alabugin and co-workers reported that the gold(I)-catalyzed propargyl rearrangement depicted in Scheme 1b also follows a concerted oxonia Claisen pathway (via an aromatic TS) rather than through a higher barrier 6-endo-dig cyclization [21], which provides

Chemical synthesis of glycan motifs from the antitumor agent PI-88 through an orthogonal one-pot glycosylation strategy

• Shaokang Yang,
• Xingchun Sun,
• Hanyingzi Fan and
• Guozhi Xiao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1587–1594, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.122

• trials for post-resection hepatocellular carcinoma [26]. Interestingly, Ferro and co-workers revised the structure of PI-88 to I and II in 2017 via successful separation of oligosaccharide phosphate fractions by preparative ion-exchange chromatography (Scheme 1A) [27]. Besides the major components α(1→3

Thermodynamic equilibrium between locally excited and charge transfer states in perylene–phenothiazine dyads

• Issei Fukunaga,
• Shunsuke Kobashi,
• Yuki Nagai,
• Hiroki Horita,
• Hiromitsu Maeda and
• Yoichi Kobayashi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1577–1586, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.121

• : Experimental and computational details, synthesis and characterization of compounds, additional spectroscopic results, and theoretical calculations. Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge Dr. Tatsuo Nakagawa, UNISOKU Co., Ltd., for nanosecond transient absorption measurements Funding This work was supported

Azide–alkyne cycloaddition (click) reaction in biomass-derived solvent Cyrene^TM under one-pot conditions

• Zoltán Medgyesi and
• László T. Mika

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1544–1551, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.117

• = 6.3 Hz, 1H, CH), 2.73–2.02 (m, 4H, CH2); 13C NMR (75 MHz, CDCl3, TMS) δ 200.3 (CO), 101.5 (CH), 73.1 (CH), 67.6 (CH2), 31.1 (CH2), 29.9 (CH2). The NMR data correspond to the published results. Methyl 4-methoxyvalerate and ethyl 4-ethoxyvalerate were prepared using the published method [47]. The

General method for the synthesis of enaminones via photocatalysis

• Paula Pérez-Ramos,
• Raquel G. Soengas and
• Humberto Rodríguez-Solla

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1535–1543, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.116

• presence of amines and CuI as catalyst, as reported by Zhang and co-workers (Scheme 1B) [32]. On the other hand, Li et al. disclosed a silver-catalyzed amination of propargyl alcohols to afford enaminones (Scheme 1C) [33]. Although these new methods provide a wide variety of enaminones, there are

Ambident reactivity of enolizable 5-mercapto-1H-tetrazoles in trapping reactions with in situ-generated thiocarbonyl S-methanides derived from sterically crowded cycloaliphatic thioketones

• Grzegorz Mlostoń,
• Małgorzata Celeda,
• Marcin Palusiak,
• Heinz Heimgartner,
• Marta Denel-Bobrowska and
• Agnieszka B. Olejniczak

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1508–1519, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.113

• ]. Thiocarbonyl S-methanides (thiocarbonyl ylides) 1, which were first reported in the 1980s by R. Huisgen and co-workers contributed to a substantial extension of mechanistic interpretations of cycloaddition reactions and to rapid development of methods applied not only for the synthesis of sulfur heterocycles

Heterologous biosynthesis of cotylenol and concise synthesis of fusicoccane diterpenoids

• Ye Yuan,
• Zhenhua Guan,
• Xue-Jie Zhang,
• Nanyu Yao,
• Wenling Yuan,
• Yonghui Zhang,
• Ying Ye and
• Zheng Xiang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1489–1495, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.111

• biosynthetic pathway for brassicicenes, which share the same carbon skeleton and similar oxidation and unsaturation states as cotylenol and cotylenin A [36]. In a previous study, Oikawa and co-workers reported the identification of brassicicene BGC in Pseudocercospora fijiensis [37]. By heterologous expression

• the homologous gene abnABCDE. As expected, compound 5 was produced at a titer of 8 mg/L (Figure 2c). By co-fermenting with Amberlite XAD-16, an enhanced yield of 30 mg/L was achieved, thus allowing further transformation into other natural products. We next carried out the formal synthesis of

• cotylenin A by Nakada and co-workers [21]. However, installing the C9 hydroxy group requires the use of stoichiometric MoOPH [39], which raises toxicity and safety issues. Therefore, we sought an enzymatic method to selectively oxidize 5 at the C9 position. Dairi and co-workers reported that Orf7 oxidizes

Copper catalysis: a constantly evolving field

• Elena Fernández and
• Jaesook Yun

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1477–1479, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.109

• substitution pattern on the regioselectivity and stereoselectivity of the reactions. A Review article by Papis and co-workers discusses various copper(II) triflate-catalyzed multicomponent reaction types [2]. Therein, the synthesis of cyclic and acyclic compounds, as well as three-component and four-component

• by Son and co-workers illustrates recent advancements in the use of dioxazolones in synthetic transformations with copper salts [4]. The authors remark that these catalytic systems, which employ dioxazolones as electrophilic amide sources, were applied for the preparation of diverse amidated products

• . In their contribution, Son et al. focus on transformations via the formation of copper nitrenoids, particularly amidations via oxidative insertion to N–O bonds and reductive elimination, and a small number of other reactions. The final Review by Cho, Lee, and co-workers is useful for the scientific

Microwave-enhanced additive-free C–H amination of benzoxazoles catalysed by supported copper

• Andrei Paraschiv,
• Valentina Maruzzo,
• Filippo Pettazzi,
• Stefano Magliocco,
• Paolo Inaudi,
• Daria Brambilla,
• Gloria Berlier,
• Giancarlo Cravotto and
• Katia Martina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1462–1476, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.108

• devoted to benzoxazoles. When applied to benzoxazole, the reaction is catalysed by transition metals such as Ag(I) [20], Mn(II) [21], Fe(III) [22][23], Co [24], Ni(II) [25] and Fe(III) [26]. However, the use of Cu(II) has increased thanks to its high tolerance towards several functional groups, high

• being applied when reacting amides to achieve their decarbonylation. In 2014, Cao et al. [47] reported the amination of benzoxazole with a secondary amine either in air or an O2 atmosphere, lowering the catalyst amount and the reaction temperature. In 2020, a study by De Vos and co-workers [48] focused

• to identify mild conditions for the Cu-catalysed aerobic C–H amination in absence of acid, base or co-catalyst additives. As described in Table 1, we explored the effects of different solvents and copper species, and preliminary reactions were conducted with Cu(II) salts, with reference to reaction