Organocatalytic kinetic resolution of 1,5-dicarbonyl compounds through a retro-Michael reaction

• James Guevara-Pulido,
• Fernando González-Pérez,
• José M. Andrés and
• Rafael Pedrosa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 473–482, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.34

• organometallic catalysis [15], enzymatic catalysis [16], aminocatalysis [17][18][19], and hydrogen-bonding catalysis [20][21][22]. The Michael addition reaction is a versatile synthetic methodology that allows the formation of new carbon–carbon and carbon–heteroatom bonds through the coupling of electron-poor

• organocatalytic synthesis of 2-cyclohexen-1-ones via a Michael/Michael/retro-Michael cascade reaction [31]. Our research has shown that the Jørgensen–Hayashi catalyst [32][33] is a highly promising organocatalyst, facilitating enantioselective Michael addition reactions with high yields and excellent levels of

• conditions tested. Similarly, the resolution of nitro aldehydes 16 and 17, prepared by Michael addition of nitromethane to α,β-unsaturated aldehydes (entries 16 and 17, Table 5), was tested, and the same results were obtained as in the cases of the malonate derivatives. These results indicate that dicarbonyl

Electrochemical synthesis of cyclic biaryl λ³-bromanes from 2,2’-dibromobiphenyls

• Andrejs Savkins and
• Igors Sokolovs

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 451–457, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.32

• ]. In addition, cyclic diaryl λ3-bromanes have been successfully employed as halogen-bonding organocatalysts in Michael addition [8] and their chiral variants were efficient in catalyzing enantioselective Mannich reactions of ketimines with cyanomethyl coumarins [9] and malonic esters [10]. These

Molecular diversity of the reactions of MBH carbonates of isatins and various nucleophiles

• Zi-Ying Xiao,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 286–295, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.21

• used in the reaction, a direct Michael addition of the arylamine to the C=C bond of the maleimide unit and sequential elimination of carbon dioxide and tert-butoxide ion gives the intermediate B, which in turn undergoes an allylic rearrangement to afford the product 5. In this process, no extra

• by the tert-butoxide anion affords the zwitterionic intermediate D. In the case of triphenylphosphine, the similar zwitterionic intermediate D is stable and could be isolated as the product 6. In the case of tri(n-butyl)phosphine, Michael addition of the more activated zwitterionic intermediate D to

Three-component reactions of conjugated dienes, CH acids and formaldehyde under diffusion mixing conditions

• Dmitry E. Shybanov,
• Maxim E. Kukushkin,
• Eugene V. Babaev,
• Nikolai V. Zyk and
• Elena K. Beloglazkina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 262–269, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.18

• formaldehyde at room temperature in the absence of strong acids and bases. These adducts are highly reactive intermediates capable of reacting with dienes in three-component reactions, leading to the formation of Diels–Alder main products or hetero-Diels–Alder adducts. In some cases, Michael addition products

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

• organocatalytic Michael addition to alkynals 2 (Scheme 1) [18]. The authors identified the Jørgensen–Hayashi-type catalyst C1 as the most efficient organocatalyst. In this way, a range of axially chiral styrenes were obtained in high yields and enantiomeric purities. The reaction was based on an iminium

• activation, atroposelective aza-Michael addition, and intramolecular aldol reaction to form the cationic intermediate Int-6. Release of the catalyst C2, reduction with NaBH4, and dehydration with acetic acid leads to the desired product 6. Recently, an organocatalytic atroposelective intramolecular (4 + 2

• ]. Hayashi realized an organocatalytic domino sequence that afforded axially chiral biaryls [24]. The transformation relied on an organocatalytic Michael/Henry cascade. The enamine-type Michael addition was catalyzed by the Hayashi–Jørgensen organocatalyst C7 (Scheme 6). Then, a series of one-pot reactions

Facile one-pot reduction of β-nitrostyrenes to phenethylamines using sodium borohydride and copper(II) chloride

• Laura D’Andrea and
• Simon Jademyr

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 39–46, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.4

• towards the nitro group, which makes them highly susceptible to Michael addition [34]. While being stirred with the borohydride, the substrate progressively forms an α-carbanion in the newly formed nitroalkane, which ultimately leads to Michael addition to the nitrostyrene. Furthermore, studies to

Reactivity of hypervalent iodine(III) reagents bearing a benzylamine with sulfenate salts

• Beatriz Dedeiras,
• Catarina S. Caldeira,
• José C. Cunha,
• Clara S. B. Gomes and
• M. Manuel B. Marques

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3281–3289, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.272

• lengths and angles fall within the expected range for similar compounds [31]. Later, the β-sulfinyl esters 4 were prepared by Michael addition reaction of thiols and α,β-unsaturated esters [32], followed by oxidation of the corresponding sulfides 3 using two different oxidizing agents (oxone and m-CPBA

• ) [32][33]. To investigate the reactivity of the BBXs in this electrophilic amination reaction, the generated compound 4 was subjected to a retro-Michael addition to produce the sulfenate anion intermediate, followed by the addition of BBX 2. Based on our experience with HIRs, the reaction of 2 with

• nucleophiles is more effective when a pre-formed nucleophile is used [4]. Thus, HIR 2 was added to the reaction mixture after the in situ formation of the sulfenate anion (by retro-Michael addition). First experiments were carried out under the previously described conditions for BBX electrophilic amination

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

• Michael addition product was obtained with low diastereoselectivity. The mechanism is described in Scheme 4: the bifunctional squaramide activates the azadiene through hydrogen bonding while the malononitrile is deprotonated by the tertiary amine present in the backbone of the catalyst, establishing

• hydrogen bonding with the protonated tertiary amine. Then, a Michael addition of malononitrile to the azadiene takes place to obtain exclusively the (S)-intermediate A. Subsequently an intramolecular nucleophilic addition of the nitrile leads to the intermediate B, which undergoes tautomerization to

• the bifunctional squaramide enables a stereoselective Michael addition of the azlactone to the azadiene forming intermediate A which transforms into intermediate B, which then undergoes an intramolecular cyclization to give the desired product 20. In 2020, Ni, Song and co-workers described a

Direct trifluoroethylation of carbonyl sulfoxonium ylides using hypervalent iodine compounds

• Radell Echemendía,
• Carlee A. Montgomery,
• Fabio Cuzzucoli,
• Antonio C. B. Burtoloso and
• Graham K. Murphy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3182–3190, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.263

• reported the α-alkylation of carbonyl sulfoxonium ylides via a Michael addition approach that occurred without any competition from cyclopropanation [30]. While this reaction represented the first direct alkylation of sulfoxonium ylides, it was nonetheless limited to the more reactive ester ylide variants

Synthesis of extended fluorinated tripeptides based on the tetrahydropyridazine scaffold

• Thierry Milcent,
• Pascal Retailleau,
• Benoit Crousse and
• Sandrine Ongeri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3174–3181, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.262

• intramolecular Michael addition. Preliminary conformational studies on tripeptides including this scaffold in the central position show an extended conformation in solution (NMR) and in the solid state (X-ray). Keywords: fluoroalkyl groups; heterocycles; hydrazino acids; peptides; tetrahydropyridazines

• on an intramolecular Michael addition carried out in DMF and catalyzed by 10% of potassium carbonate. As previously observed [37], under these conditions, the 5-endo-trig cyclization was selective and the lactam resulting from the 5-exo-trig cyclization was not observed. Furthermore, in the case of

• strategy, the control of the stereoselectivity of the intramolecular aza-Michael addition could be envisaged with various chiral catalysts in further studies. These heterocyclic hydrazino acids, when incorporated into the peptidic structure, appear to confer an extended conformation. These interesting

Multicomponent reactions driving the discovery and optimization of agents targeting central nervous system pathologies

• Lucía Campos-Prieto,
• Aitor García-Rey,
• Eddy Sotelo and
• Ana Mallo-Abreu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3151–3173, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.261

• benzodioxepinones 12 in all cases (Scheme 11). The synthesized compounds demonstrated excellent drug-like features. Parkinson disease (PD) Knoevenagel–Michael addition/cyclization (MCR 3 + 2): Sirtuins, a group of enzymes that rely on NAD+ to function as protein deacetylases, have garnered attention across multiple

• a multicomponent reaction to obtain SIRT2 inhibitors (Scheme 12). The authors suggest a Knoevenagel condensation approach between isatin derivatives and ethyl cyanoacetate, followed by a Michael addition with C–H activated carbonyl compounds and intramolecular cyclization [50]. They synthesized 45

Advances in the use of metal-free tetrapyrrolic macrocycles as catalysts

• Mandeep K. Chahal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3085–3112, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.257

• different electronic properties (18, 25–41, Figure 6) were screened as catalysts for the sulfa-Michael addition of tert-butyl benzylmercaptan 42 to phenyl vinyl sulfone (43). Without the addition of a porphyrin, no product was formed. Among the non-alkylated porphyrins (18, 25–32) only the ones containing

• 1,4-conjugate addition (Michael addition) of 2,4-pentanedione (51) to β-nitrostyrene (50) (Figure 9) [63]. The OxP-macrocycles turned out to combine the advantages of porphyrins and calix[4]pyrroles. Due to their nonplanar geometry, OxPs have easily accessible inner –NH groups, similarly to calix[4

gem-Difluorovinyl and trifluorovinyl Michael acceptors in the synthesis of α,β-unsaturated fluorinated and nonfluorinated amides

• Monika Bilska-Markowska,
• Marcin Kaźmierczak,
• Wojciech Jankowski and
• Marcin Hoffmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2946–2953, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.247

• , we observed a striking illustration of this phenomenon. A Michael addition involving gem-difluorovinyl and trifluorovinyl acceptors was successfully achieved, demonstrating high stereoselectivity. This selectivity was further elucidated through theoretical calculations. Using this methodology, a

• series of new α,β-unsaturated amides, both fluorinated and nonfluorinated, were synthesized. Keywords: gem-difluorovinyl Michael acceptors; Michael addition; trifluorovinyl Michael acceptors; α,β-unsaturated amides; Introduction The Michael reaction, characterized by the addition of stable carbon

• acceptors [13][14][15][16][17]. The Michael addition with fluorinated acceptors finds application in the synthesis of, among others, fluorinated amino acids, which can be a structural motif in many biologically active compounds [18]. There are also known studies on the incorporation of highly reactive

Synthesis and antimycotic activity of new derivatives of imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidines

• Dmitriy Yu. Vandyshev,
• Daria A. Mangusheva,
• Khidmet S. Shikhaliev,
• Kirill A. Scherbakov,
• Oleg N. Burov,
• Alexander D. Zagrebaev,
• Tatiana N. Khmelevskaya,
• Alexey S. Trenin and
• Fedor I. Zubkov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2806–2817, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.236

• polyfunctional precursors 1, 2, and 3, two pathways are theoretically possible (Scheme 2 and Scheme 3). The first one involves the N-nucleophilic Michael addition to the activated multiple bond of the imide, leading to the formation of linear intermediates 6 or 8 (pathways A1 and B1) at the expense of the endo

• 6a, which undergoes subsequent cyclization steps more favorably, leading to the formation of the target product 4a (∆G = −3.02 kcal/mol). This suggests that the first step of intermediate formation is the critical one. It is also noteworthy that the Michael addition via intermediate 6a is an

5th International Symposium on Synthesis and Catalysis (ISySyCat2023)

• Anthony J. Burke and
• Elisabete P. Carreiro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2704–2707, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.227

• novel lipophilic cinchona squaramide organocatalyst. This organocatalyst was evaluated in a benchmark Michael addition of acetylacetone to trans-β-nitrostyrene, yielding the Michael adduct with high yield and enantioselectivity. The hydrophobic chain of the catalyst allowed the organocatalyst to be

Synthesis, electrochemical properties, and antioxidant activity of sterically hindered catechols with 1,3,4-oxadiazole, 1,2,4-triazole, thiazole or pyridine fragments

• Daria A. Burmistrova,
• Andrey Galustyan,
• Nadezhda P. Pomortseva,
• Kristina D. Pashaeva,
• Maxim V. Arsenyev,
• Oleg P. Demidov,
• Mikhail A. Kiskin,
• Andrey I. Poddel’sky,
• Nadezhda T. Berberova and
• Ivan V. Smolyaninov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2378–2391, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.202

• , imidazole, thiadiazole, or other fragments [44][45][46][47][48]. Previously, we obtained a series of sterically hindered catechols linked through a sulfide bridge with various polar or low-polar groups [36][49][50][51] and heterocyclic fragments [52] via the Michael addition reaction. Also, we have

Stereoselective mechanochemical synthesis of thiomalonate Michael adducts via iminium catalysis by chiral primary amines

• Michał Błauciak,
• Dominika Andrzejczyk,
• Błażej Dziuk and
• Rafał Kowalczyk

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2313–2322, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.198

• proved ineffective in facilitating the Michael addition of bisthiomalonates to conjugated ketones, whereas DABCO enabled the formation of desired products under mild conditions [30]. However, reports of highly stereoselective protocols utilizing hydrogen bonding catalysis have mainly focused on

• -chlorobenzylideneacetone (E5). In contrast to previous examples, where the use of 1.5 equiv of the electrophile was a necessary step to ensure product formation in a ball mill (see Schemes 2–4), an equimolar mixture of acceptor E5 and nucleophile 1–4 was subjected to Michael addition reaction using system A (Scheme 6

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

• carbocation of I produces intermediate II, which converts into intermediate III through a deprotonation–protonation process. Finally, the elimination of PhNH2 from intermediate III occurs to afford the desired product 2a. In the presence of NaOH, the Michael addition between 1a and base initially occurs to

Factors influencing the performance of organocatalysts immobilised on solid supports: A review

• Zsuzsanna Fehér,
• Dóra Richter,
• Gyula Dargó and
• József Kupai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2129–2142, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.183

• spaces. The confinement of the heterogeneous version of cinchona amine and thiourea catalysts was reported, leading to improved enantioselectivity values in the Michael addition of nitromethane (5) to chalcone (6) through modification of the pore size of mesoporous silica 8 or 9 (Scheme 2) [63]. Thus

• lead to a decrease in selectivity. Connon and co-workers have attached a cinchona thiourea organocatalyst to magnetic nanoparticles 13 for the Michael addition of dimethyl malonate (10) to trans-β-nitrostyrene (11) (Scheme 3) [31]. To explore the potential impact of nanoparticles on catalyst efficiency

• organocatalyst. To validate this hypothesis, the Michael addition was repeated in the presence of both unsupported thiourea 14 and the nanoparticles. The resulting product was isolated with only 84% ee, indicating that the nanoparticles compete with the thiourea catalyst 14 for the substrate under these

Multicomponent syntheses of pyrazoles via (3 + 2)-cyclocondensation and (3 + 2)-cycloaddition key steps

• Ignaz Betcke,
• Alissa C. Götzinger,
• Maryna M. Kornet and
• Thomas J. J. Müller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2024–2077, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.178

• regioselectivity, with 3,4-fused pyrazoles being accessible when cyclic β-oxodithioesters are employed as substrates. However, aromatic amines cannot be successfully employed in the sequence. Alkenoyl derivatives as key intermediates The Michael addition and cyclocondensation of hydrazines and α,β-unsaturated

• phosphane ligands is crucial for the selectivity in this reaction. Suzuki coupling can also serve for the functionalization of iodochromones 55, which, as α,β-unsaturated ketones, undergo ring opening under the reaction conditions, followed by Michael addition–cyclocondensation. Xie et al. devised a method

• hindrances. α,β-Unsaturated ketones embedded and tethered in chromene systems 58 were successfully employed in a pseudo-five-component reaction with hydrazine in boiling acetic acid to give the corresponding 4-acylpyrazolinylpyrazoles 59 (Scheme 17) [76]. The Michael addition–cyclocondensation of the α,β

Diastereoselective synthesis of highly substituted cyclohexanones and tetrahydrochromene-4-ones via conjugate addition of curcumins to arylidenemalonates

• Deepa Nair,
• Abhishek Tiwari,
• Banamali Laha and
• Irishi N. N. Namboothiri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2016–2023, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.177

• double Michael addition of γ,δ-unsaturated-β-keto esters or Nazarov reagents with suitable acceptors such as nitroalkenes or alkylideneazalactones [7][8][9][10]. From the perspective of an active methylene containing organic moiety, curcumin and its analogs serve as inexpensive and readily available

• , curcumin showcases its Michael donor–acceptor ability in different ways, such as simple Michael addition, [4 + 2] annulation, Michael addition followed by cyclization or one-pot multicomponent reactions (MCR), etc. (Scheme 1) [25]. In 2011, our group reported the reactivity of curcumin as a Michael donor

• –acceptor with nitroalkenes, resulting in multi-substituted cyclohexanones through a cascade inter–intramolecular double Michael addition process with high diastereoselectivity [26][27]. Subsequently, the enantioselective versions of the above reaction and a similar diastereoselective cascade Michael

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

• aza-Michael addition, leading to the benzoxazepinium triflate salt 89. To broaden the scope of the reaction, 2-aminopyrazine and 2-aminoquinoline were also introduced to the one-pot process, furnishing 6-7-5-6 and 6-7-5-6-6 polycycles, respectively (not shown). Chen et al. [63] developed an

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

• dearomatization of 33 via enantioselective hydroxylation using molecular oxygen and generates cyclohexadienone 34. As demonstrated by Corey [36] and Nicolaou [37], highly reactive intermediate 34 likely dimerizes non-enzymatically through stepwise reactions involving (1) an initial intermolecular Michael addition

• synthesized 33 generated the highly reactive intermediate 34 in aqueous solvents under mild conditions [37][42]. In this process, the co-solvent (cs) allowed control of the dimerization modes via either Michael addition or Diels–Alder reactions, facilitating the systematic total synthesis of the

• experimental results, Gulder and co-workers devised a strategy to control the dimerization modes by adjusting the polarity of the organic co-solvent to establish the divergent synthesis of dimeric scaffolds. Indeed, with 20% DMF in the SorbC-catalyzed enzymatic oxidative dearomatization, the Michael addition

Primary amine-catalyzed enantioselective 1,4-Michael addition reaction of pyrazolin-5-ones to α,β-unsaturated ketones

• Pooja Goyal,
• Akhil K. Dubey,
• Raghunath Chowdhury and
• Amey Wadawale

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1518–1526, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.136

• structurally diverse pyrazole derivatives [4][5][6][7][10][11][12]. 4-Unsubstituted pyrazolin-5-ones are well known precursors for the construction of optically active structurally diverse pyrazoles [10][11][12]. In this context, the organocatalyzed asymmetric Michael addition of 4-unsubstituted pyrazolin-5

• who reported a chiral amine-catalysed aza-Michael addition reaction of pyrazolin-5-ones with α,β-unsaturated ketones to access β-(3-hydroxypyrazol-1-yl)ketones (Scheme 1a) [22]. The developed reaction was restricted to α,β-unsaturated ketones with aliphatic substituents (Scheme 1a) [22]. Ji and Wang

• disclosed organocatalyzed [5 + 1] double Michael additions between pyrazolones and dienones (Scheme 1b) [23]. Very recently, the Chimni group reported a cinchona-derived squaramide-catalyzed 1,4-Michael addition reaction of pyrazolin-5-ones with 2-enoylpyridines (Scheme 1c) [24]. Recently, we developed an

Phenotellurazine redox catalysts: elements of design for radical cross-dehydrogenative coupling reactions

• Alina Paffen,
• Christopher Cremer and
• Frederic W. Patureau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1292–1297, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.112

• enabling the activation of small yet highly relevant organic substrates. For example, Huber and co-authors recently designed a Te-based catalyst in an indole Michael addition reaction [1][2][3][4][5]. Pale and Mamane utilized another Te-based catalyst in an electrophilic bromine-mediated cyclization