Visible-light-driven NHC and organophotoredox dual catalysis for the synthesis of carbonyl compounds

• Vasudevan Dhayalan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2584–2603, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.200

• used for late-stage modification of bioactive compounds, including natural products. These developments will find suitable applications in medicinal chemistry for introducible organosilyl groups (Scheme 5) [55]. A visible-light-induced Friedel–Crafts acylation of arenes and heteroarenes was reported by

• regioselective acylation products, but heteroarene substrates produced a mixture of products, for example, furan, thiophene, and benzothiophene. Compared to the traditional LAs-mediated Friedel–Crafts acylation, the described radical method offers a regiodivergent result with good functional group tolerance. The

• Lewis acid-mediated traditional Friedel–Crafts acylation of 2-methoxynaphthalene typically proceeds at the ortho positions relative to the methoxy group due to the electron-rich nature of these sites, while the meta position remains deactivated under the ionic mechanism. Notably, the present work

Transformation of the cyclohexane ring to the cyclopentane fragment of biologically active compounds

• Natalya Akhmetdinova,
• Ilgiz Biktagirov and
• Liliya Kh. Faizullina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2416–2446, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.185

• reported a stereospecific reduction of an acyloin ring controlled by the chirality of a glucose fragment at position C5, and suggested a possible mechanism for hydrogen migration during the conversion of C5 (sp2) to C5 (sp3). The key 3,4,6-trihydroxycyclohexadienone 76 was obtained by a sequence of Friedel

• –Crafts-type glucosylation reactions of 2,4,6-trihydroxy-3-methylacetophenone (74) with glucosyl acetate 75 in the of presence Sc(OTf)3 (0.4 equiv) as a Lewis acid promoter and oxidative dearomatization of the C-glucoside precursor by O2 in the presence of pyridine in CH3OH. The key step in the acyloin

Conformational effects on iodide binding: a comparative study of flexible and rigid carbazole macrocyclic analogs

• Guang-Wei Zhang,
• Yong Zhang,
• Le Shi,
• Chuang Gao,
• Hong-Yu Li and
• Lei Xue

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2369–2375, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.181

• ) and WDG (rigid fluorene backbone), were synthesized via Friedel–Crafts reactions. Their iodide (I−) recognition properties were systematically explored using 1H NMR, UV–vis absorption, and fluorescence spectroscopy. Quantitative analysis via the Benesi–Hildebrand equation and nonlinear fitting

• order to solve the above problems, in this study, carbazole macrocyclics were used as models [21][22], and the structural analogs of phenyl group (PBG, flexible) and fluorene group (WDG, rigid) were introduced by Friedel–Crafts reaction. It should be emphasized that since the two single bonds in WDG are

• . Experimental PBG (CCDC Number: 2070280) and WDG were synthesized from phenyl- and fluorenyl-substituted precursors, respectively, via Friedel–Crafts alkylation (Scheme 1) according to our previous work [22]. Structural characterization was performed using 1H NMR (Figures S1 and S2) and mass spectrometry

Pathway economy in cyclization of 1,n-enynes

• Hezhen Han,
• Wenjie Mao,
• Bin Lin,
• Maosheng Cheng,
• Lu Yang and
• Yongxiang Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2260–2282, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.173

• cyclopropanation of 1,6-enyne initiated a cascade involving 1,5-enyne addition, consecutive 1,2-alkyl migrations, and Friedel–Crafts alkylation, efficiently constructing the pentacyclic fused benzofuran framework 21 (Scheme 5, path b). Above two analogues were prepared on a gram scale, converted into valuable

• constraints promoted intramolecular Friedel–Crafts cyclization via intermediate 84 to form spiro-polycycle 86 (Scheme 18, path b). The ligand-dependent gold(I)-catalyzed cyclization provided modular access to therapeutically significant fused polycyclic heterocyclic scaffolds via regioselective ring expansion

• /AgSbF6 system, ultimately resulting in the formation of dihydrobenzo[a]fluorenes 123 via Friedel–Crafts alkylation (Scheme 25, path b). In 2018, the Shi research group developed an innovative intramolecular cyclization strategy using 1,6-enynes as substrates for the synthesis of 1,2-dihydroquinoline

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

• oxygen in alcoholic medium has also been reported (Scheme 37) [121][122]. Riguet synthesized γ-lactams through a Ugi 4-center 3-component reaction (U-4C-3CR) protocol. HFO was used as the electrophile in the Friedel–Crafts (FC) alkylation reactions of indole catalyzed by diphenylprolinol silyl ether. The

• high reactivity of HFO permitted that a limited loading of catalyst could be employed. The reduction of the Friedel–Crafts adduct gave the targeted indoyl lactones with good yield (Scheme 38) [123]. Bos and Riguet reported the one pot synthesis of α,γ-substituted chiral γ-lactones from HFO. The

• ) system can be recycled without significant loss of activity (Scheme 5) [33]. α-Bromoacetaldehyde derivatives (Scheme 6, structures a–d) and 2-phenylindoles were used to synthesize benzo[a]carbazoles. The reaction reported by the Gu research group was speeded up by bismuth trichloride (BiCl3). The Friedel

The application of desymmetric enantioselective reduction of cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds in the total synthesis of terpenoid and alkaloid natural products

• Dong-Xing Tan and
• Fu-She Han

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2085–2102, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.164

• group [35][36][37]. This catalytic system efficiently overcame the challenge and furnished the coupling product 46 in high yield. Oxidative cleavage of the double bond in 46 followed by Mg(II)-mediated chelation-controlled Friedel–Crafts cyclization delivered secondary alcohol 47, which was elaborated

Bioinspired total syntheses of natural products: a personal adventure

• Zhengyi Qin,
• Yuting Yang,
• Nuran Yan,
• Xinyu Liang,
• Zhiyu Zhang,
• Yaxuan Duan,
• Huilin Li and
• Xuegong She

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2048–2061, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.160

• reduction of ketone using SmI2 and propionaldehyde provided 15 diastereoselectively. Friedel–Crafts cyclization using trimethyl orthoformate and TMSOTf provided the cyclic acetal moiety to be oxidized with PDC, delivering the isocoumarin skeleton in 16. Chemoselective removal of the ester with the lactone

• Friedel–Crafts reaction. Next, the cyclohexadienone moiety could be activated by an acid to undergo a rearrangement reaction to provide eupomatilone. The exocyclic THF ring might exist as diverse forms such as hemiacetal, acetal, lactone or acetal-linked dimer. The (hemi)acetal moiety could generate an

• oxa-carbenium cation triggered by an acid to proceed a Friedel–Crafts reaction to afford the dibenzocyclooctene skeleton. On the other hand, eupomatilone would undergo redox transformations to generate another oxa-carbenium cation to undergo a Friedel–Crafts reaction to form a spirocyclic skeleton

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

• sequence including oxidation and subsequent hydrogenation. The Huang group reported their synthesis of (+)-brazilin and its racemic form in 2022 (Scheme 5) [34]. They first evaluated the feasibility of the Prins/Friedel–Crafts tandem reaction in the construction of the 6/6/5/6 tetracyclic skeleton

• 62% ee. A two-step conversion of 34 gave diol 35, which underwent Prins/Friedel–Crafts tandem cyclization to construct tetracyclic compound 36. Final deprotection delivered (+)-brazilin (37). Candida antarctica lipase (CAL) CAL is a type of lipase originating from the yeast Candida antarctica and

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

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

• a hot topic [75]. PAs can be prepared via the Friedel–Crafts condensation, which involves combining 1,4-dimethoxybenzene with paraformaldehyde in the presence of a Lewis acid. The central axis of these aromatic hydrocarbon molecules possesses n fold rotational symmetry [76]. PAs possess highly

High-pressure activation for the solvent- and catalyst-free syntheses of heterocycles, pharmaceuticals and esters

• Kelsey Plasse,
• Valerie Wright,
• Guoshu Xie,
• R. Bernadett Vlocskó,
• Alexander Lazarev and
• Béla Török

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1374–1387, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.102

• Mannich reactions [20], lipase-catalyzed esterification [21], nitro-aldol [22], Michael [23], and aza-Michael reactions [24][25], Diels–Alder reactions [26][27] and Friedel–Crafts alkylation of indoles [28]. Many high pressure reactions were applied in natural product synthesis [29]. The high pressure

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

• unprecedented Fe–Ni dual catalysis (Scheme 36) [86], which constitutes a more versatile alternative to Minisci or Friedel–Crafts alkylations. The reaction couples mono-, di- and trisubstituted olefins with (hetero)aryl halides, and it was used to prepare a relatively large library of 3-alkyl-3-(hetero

• 2020, Bull et al. published a short synthesis of 3-aryloxetan-3-carboxylic acids 152 employing a Friedel–Crafts alkylation (which builds on their previous alkylation of phenols [87]) and a selective furan oxidative cleavage (Scheme 37) [88]. The oxidation protocol uses a catalytic amount of a high

• 178 from 3-aryloxetan-3-ols through a tandem Friedel–Crafts alkylation/intramolecular ring opening (Scheme 45) [87]. The reaction was mostly high yielding and best results were obtained for electron-rich para-substituted phenols, while substituents in the ortho/meta-positions diverted the

Selective monoformylation of naphthalene-fused propellanes for methylene-alternating copolymers

• Kenichi Kato,
• Tatsuki Hiroi,
• Seina Okada,
• Shunsuke Ohtani and
• Tomoki Ogoshi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1183–1191, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.95

• interactions between the naphthalene units. The monoformyl products are reduced to corresponding alcohols, which are then reacted under Friedel–Crafts conditions. Amorphous methylene-alternating copolymers are obtained without particular macrocyclic oligomers. Due to the 3D components, the linear copolymers

• -fused propellanes simply by reduction into the corresponding alcohols followed by acid-mediated Friedel–Crafts-type reactions (Figure 2a and Figure S201 in Supporting Information File 1) [67][68]. Reduction by NaBH4 proceeded well for both monoaldehydes [4.3.3]_CHO and [3.3.3]_CHO resulting in over 90

Recent advances in controllable/divergent synthesis

• Jilei Cao,
• Leiyang Bai and
• Xuefeng Jiang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 890–914, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.73

• Friedel–Crafts-type addition and protonation to complete ortho-position cyclization. In contrast, para-position cyclization was exclusively achieved through π–π interactions between the electron-rich X-phos ligand and the substrate, compensating for the electron-deficient nature of the aromatic system and

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

• through calcium catalysis [8][9][10]. Asymmetric synthesis has also been achieved via, e.g., 1,4-addition and [3 + 2] cycloaddition of 3-tetrasubstituted oxindoles with a calcium Pybox catalyst [11][12], or through enantioselective Friedel–Crafts and carbonyl–ene reactions [13]. Since the pioneering

Cu(OTf)₂-catalyzed multicomponent reactions

• Sara Colombo,
• Camilla Loro,
• Egle M. Beccalli,
• Gianluigi Broggini and
• Marta Papis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 122–145, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.7

• involves a Friedel–Crafts alkylation of the arene followed by hydroamination (Scheme 6) [5]. The mechanism plausibly starts with the in situ formation of triflic acid from Cu(OTf)2 which leads to protonation of the oxygen atom of the alcohol with generation of the activated allyl alcohol. This latter gives

• the allyl carbenium ion VI through the loss of a molecule of water, then undergoes a Friedel–Crafts alkylation by attack of the aromatic partner. The outcome of the reaction proceeds through a Markovnikov protonation of the allylated arene VII by triflic acid, which generates the carbocation

Synthesis of acenaphthylene-fused heteroarenes and polyoxygenated benzo[j]fluoranthenes via a Pd-catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura/C–H arylation cascade

• Merve Yence,
• Dilgam Ahmadli,
• Damla Surmeli,
• Umut Mert Karacaoğlu,
• Sujit Pal and
• Yunus Emre Türkmen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3290–3298, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.273

• ][27], as well as Friedel–Crafts [28] and Prins-type [29] reactions have been developed to date [2]. However, methods that enable access to the analogous acenaphthylene-fused heteroarenes are less common [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]. In one such study, Würthner and co-workers reported a Pd

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

• authors proposed a possible mechanism for the reaction which is depicted in Scheme 20. The chiral phosphoric acid activates both the azoalkene acting as a Brønsted acid and the indole acting as a Lewis base promoting a Friedel–Crafts-type 1,4-addition of the indole to the azoalkene. In this manner, a

N-Glycosides of indigo, indirubin, and isoindigo: blue, red, and yellow sugars and their cancerostatic activity

• Peter Langer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2840–2869, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.240

• described above, glycosides 81 were inactive against cancer and melanoma cell lines. 3,3-Diaryloxindole-N-glycosides The Friedel–Crafts acylation of isatin-N-rhamnoside β-16a with benzene (82a) afforded 3,3-diphenyloxindole-N-rhamnoside β-83a in 94% yield (Scheme 44) [63]. Deprotection of the latter

• afforded β-84a in 88% yield. Friedel–Crafts acylation of isatin-N-glycosides β-16c–e with benzene, toluene, anisole, and N,N-dimethylaniline and subsequent deprotection afforded 3,3-diaryloxindole-N-glycosides β-84b–l (Scheme 45) [63]. Some of the products showed antiproliferative activity against

Transition-metal-free decarbonylation–oxidation of 3-arylbenzofuran-2(3H)-ones: access to 2-hydroxybenzophenones

• Bhaskar B. Dhotare,
• Seema V. Kanojia,
• Chahna K. Sakhiya,
• Amey Wadawale and
• Dibakar Goswami

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2655–2667, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.223

• reported over the years (Figure 2) [2]. Conventionally, benzophenones are synthesized by Friedel–Crafts acylation of benzoyl halides and aromatic compounds. However, the regioselectivity of Friedel–Crafts benzoylation at the desired position is difficult to control [9]. On the other hand, 2

• synthetic route. Results and Discussion Initially, 3-arylbenzofuran-2(3H)-ones 3aa–ma were prepared following a SbCl3-catalyzed Friedel–Crafts alkylation of phenols 1a–m with benzylic alcohols 2a–d, earlier reported by us (Scheme 1) [21][22][23]. All the synthesized 3-arylbenzofuran-2(3H)-ones were

Catalysing (organo-)catalysis: Trends in the application of machine learning to enantioselective organocatalysis

• Stefan P. Schmid,
• Leon Schlosser,
• Frank Glorius and
• Kjell Jorner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2280–2304, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.196

• descriptors, Asahara and Miyao [108] considered different CPA-catalysed nucleophilic additions to imines, comprising aza-Mannich reactions and Friedel–Crafts reactions among others. Different reactions were also combined by Liles et al. [124]. For a transfer hydrogenation reaction, the authors used a workflow

Selective hydrolysis of α-oxo ketene N,S-acetals in water: switchable aqueous synthesis of β-keto thioesters and β-keto amides

• Haifeng Yu,
• Wanting Zhang,
• Xuejing Cui,
• Zida Liu,
• Xifu Zhang and
• Xiaobo Zhao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2225–2233, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.190

• ][62][63][64], we conducted research on their organic reactions in water and reported some good results, such as thioacetalization using ketene dithioacetals as odorless thiol equivalent [65], Friedel–Crafts alkylation of cyclic ketene dithioacetals with alcohols [66], the hydrolysis of chain α-oxo

Novel truxene-based dipyrromethanes (DPMs): synthesis, spectroscopic characterization and photophysical properties

• Shakeel Alvi and
• Rashid Ali

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2163–2170, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.186

• for diverse applications in future studies. Keywords: condensation; co-timerization; dipyrromethane; Friedel–Crafts acylation; heterocycles; pyrrole; truxene; Introduction The scaffold of truxene (10,15‐dihydro‐5H‐diindeno[1,2‐a;1′,2′‐c]fluorene) and its congeners comprises three fluorene subunits

• derivatives (12, 15, and 17) in controlled manner (with appropriate equivalents of acetyl chloride and aluminium chloride) using one-to-threefold Friedel–Crafts acylation reaction(s) at 0 °C to rt in dichloromethane (DCM) solvent (Scheme 1 and Scheme 2). Subsequent condensation of thus prepared acetylated

The Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé reaction in its maturity: innovation and improvements since its 21st birthday (2019–2023)

• Cristina Martini,
• Muhammad Idham Darussalam Mardjan and
• Andrea Basso

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1839–1879, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.162

Chemo-enzymatic total synthesis: current approaches toward the integration of chemical and enzymatic transformations

• Ryo Tanifuji and
• Hiroki Oguri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1693–1712, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.151

• bisorbicillinoid family. Substrate 33 for SorbC-catalyzed enzymatic transformation was synthesized in 3 steps from phenol 35 via formylation and subsequent reduction to introduce a methyl group, followed by a Friedel–Crafts acylation with 36 (Scheme 4B) [39][40]. The in vitro enzymatic transformation of 33 by

• -workers [65][66][67], facilitated an intramolecular Friedel–Crafts-type homo-dimerization and led to the efficient construction of the 22-membered paracyclophane scaffold. Of several sophisticated chemo-enzymatic strategies, this review highlights the total syntheses of tylactone (4) and juvenimicins