Photocatalyzed elaboration of antibody-based bioconjugates

• Marine Le Stum,
• Eugénie Romero and
• Gary A. Molander

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 616–629, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.49

• sulfhydryls can be conjugated by several means, including alkylation with α-halo carbonyls (in which case Lys may compete), and Michael additions (e.g., to maleimide, which is reversible and therefore may lead to incomplete conversion). The Michael adducts also present chemical instability in plasma and

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

• ones with secondary amine side arm (48d, 48g, h) were catalytically active for Michael additions, providing 60–71% yields (Table 3), whereas tetraalkylated analogues (49a–g) and dialkylated OxPs without a secondary amine side arm (48a–c, 48e and 48i) were not. Based on these results, the authors have

• activation of both substrates via hydrogen-bonding interactions. Additionally, these macrocycles showed excellent activity for sulfa-Michael additions, as well as a moderate activity for Henry and aza-Henry reactions. These results are consistent with the observation reported by Senge and co-workers

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

• novel approach based on iminium catalysis employing chiral primary amines under ball milling conditions. Ball milling induces localized and transient temperature and pressure increases which could influence changes in the free activation volume [32][33][34], favoring Michael additions [35]. Furthermore

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

• 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

A novel recyclable organocatalyst for the gram-scale enantioselective synthesis of (S)-baclofen

• Gyula Dargó,
• Dóra Erdélyi,
• Balázs Molnár,
• Péter Kisszékelyi,
• Zsófia Garádi and
• József Kupai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1811–1824, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.133

• , application, and recycling of a new lipophilic cinchona squaramide organocatalyst. The synthesized lipophilic organocatalyst was applied in Michael additions. The catalyst was utilized to promote the Michael addition of cyclohexyl Meldrum’s acid to 4-chloro-trans-β-nitrostyrene (quantitative yield, up to 96

• organocatalysts is well-established in several organic reactions, including but not limited to aldol reactions [6], Michael additions [9], Mannich reactions [10], aza-Henry reactions [11], and Diels–Alder cycloadditions [12][13]. Although the benefits of organocatalysts are undoubted, their synthesis is often a

• (Figure 1). Results and Discussion Synthesis of the lipophilic cinchona squaramide organocatalyst Previously, we successfully applied quinine-derived squaramide (SQ) organocatalyst 1 in stereoselective Michael and aza-Michael additions with excellent enantiomeric excess values [26]. Our aim was to recycle

New advances in asymmetric organocatalysis

• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 240–242, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.28

• variety of enantioenriched 1,5-dihydro-2H-pyrrol-2-ones [20]. The development of any area is critically dependent on the understanding of underlying features and relationships. Slugovc and co-workers provide such mechanistic investigation of phosphine-catalyzed Michael additions [21]. Chiral

• possibilities in combination of covalent and noncovalent activation, our group designed and synthesized N-sulfinylpyrrolidine-containing ureas and thioureas and applied them in Michael additions of aldehydes to heterocycle containing nitroalkenes [25]. Dubey and Chowdhury showed that 1,4-conjugate additions of

Asymmetric organocatalytic Michael addition of cyclopentane-1,2-dione to alkylidene oxindole

• Estelle Silm,
• Ivar Järving and
• Tõnis Kanger

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 167–173, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.18

• malonates [25]. Herein, we report the results of an asymmetric organocatalytic Michael addition of CPD to alkylidene oxindoles. Results and Discussion Chiral multifunctional thioureas [26][27] and squaramides [28] are extensively used as catalysts in asymmetric Michael additions. We believed that a

N-Sulfinylpyrrolidine-containing ureas and thioureas as bifunctional organocatalysts

• Viera Poláčková,
• Dominika Krištofíková,
• Boglárka Némethová,
• Renata Górová,
• Mária Mečiarová and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2629–2641, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.176

• Michael additions of aldehydes to nitroalkenes both under solvent-free conditions and in solution. The N-sulfinylurea catalyst was more efficient than the corresponding thiourea. For some substrates, enantioselectivities reached 98% ee. The stereogenic center on the sulfur did not have a considerable

• organocatalytic transformations were successfully performed under solvent-free ball-milling conditions [30][31]. In this context, we describe the synthesis of new pyrrolidine appended sulfinylurea and thiourea organocatalysts and their assessment in Michael additions of aldehydes to nitroalkenes. Furthermore, we

• ). Michael additions under solvent-free reaction conditions To evaluate the applicability of the new catalysts C1 and C2, we decided to test them in the Michael addition under solvent-free conditions. Ball-milling experiments were conducted in a mixer mill, in which the milling vessels perform radial

Recent advances in organocatalytic asymmetric aza-Michael reactions of amines and amides

• Pratibha Sharma,
• Raakhi Gupta and
• Raj K. Bansal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2585–2610, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.173

• -1,2,3-triazoles 35 in good yields (up to ≈72%) and excellent enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee) (Table 7) [41]. In an interesting study, Wu et al. screened a number of cinchona derivatives and squaramides for their relative catalytic efficacies for the enantioselective aza-Michael additions between

• -quinolones 92 in very good yields (67–95%) with high ee (82–97%) (Table 20) [59]. Following a similar approach, Yang et al. reported asymmetric aza-Michael additions of anilines 94 to β-nitrostyrenes 93 using a chiral binol-derived phosphoric acid diester catalyst (cat. 95). They succeeded in preparing β

• chiral N-triflylphosphoramide. Aza-Michael addition of primary amines to β-trifluromethyl-β-phenylnitroolefin catalyzed nitrogen heterocyclic carbene. Asymmetric aza-Michael additions of pyrroles to protected (E)-4-hydroxybut-2-enals. Asymmetric aza-Michael addition of purine bases to aliphatic α,β

Electron-rich triarylphosphines as nucleophilic catalysts for oxa-Michael reactions

• Susanne M. Fischer,
• Simon Renner,
• A. Daniel Boese and
• Christian Slugovc

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1689–1697, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.117

• triphenylphosphine (TPP) in catalyzing oxa-Michael additions. A matrix consisting of three differently strong Michael acceptors and four alcohols of varying acidity was used to assess the activity of the three catalysts. All test reactions were performed with 1 mol % catalyst loading, under solvent-free conditions

• TPP (618.7 kJ/mol) [37]. However, for PMe3, discussed as a model for aliphatic phosphines, a distinctly lower MCA of 604.2 kJ/mol was calculated. This is in contrast to experimental data as PMe3 is known as a more active catalyst for oxa-Michael additions than arylphosphines [8][14]. Apparently, the

• resulted in using B3LYP-D3 /TZVPPD + Δsolv (B3LYP-D3) + ZPE,temp (PBE-D3/def2-SVPD). General procedure for oxa-Michael additions The alcohol (2.0 equiv for mono-functionalized Michael acceptors, 3.0 equiv for 3) and the catalyst (0.01 equiv) were added to a 4 mL-sealed tube. Then, the Michael acceptor was

Chemical approaches to discover the full potential of peptide nucleic acids in biomedical applications

• Nikita Brodyagin,
• Martins Katkevics,
• Venubabu Kotikam,
• Christopher A. Ryan and
• Eriks Rozners

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1641–1688, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.116

A comprehensive review of flow chemistry techniques tailored to the flavours and fragrances industries

• Guido Gambacorta,
• James S. Sharley and
• Ian R. Baxendale

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1181–1312, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.90

The synthesis of chiral β-naphthyl-β-sulfanyl ketones via enantioselective sulfa-Michael reaction in the presence of a bifunctional cinchona/sulfonamide organocatalyst

• Deniz Tözendemir and
• Cihangir Tanyeli

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 494–503, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.43

• sulfa-Michael additions of thiols to chalcones with sulfonamide-type organocatalysts in the literature [30][31], in this study, a new quinine sulfonamide organocatalyst derivative was developed to catalyze the enantioselective SMA of naphthalene-1-thiol to trans-chalcones under mild conditions and with

Facile preparation and conversion of 4,4,4-trifluorobut-2-yn-1-ones to aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds

• Takashi Yamazaki,
• Yoh Nakajima,
• Minato Iida and
• Tomoko Kawasaki-Takasuka

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 132–138, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.14

• notable features of this method, which is worthy of attention. Furthermore, the high electrophilicity of ynones 2 obtained was nicely demonstrated through two representative reactions, namely 1) Michael additions of β-keto carbonyl compounds and 2) amidines and guanidine for the construction of aromatic

Metal-free synthesis of phosphinoylchroman-4-ones via a radical phosphinoylation–cyclization cascade mediated by K₂S₂O₈

• Qiang Liu,
• Weibang Lu,
• Guanqun Xie and
• Xiaoxia Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1974–1982, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.164

• oxa-Michael additions of 2’-hydroxychalcones [9][10], or through condensation cyclization reactions of o-hydroxyacetophenones with ketones/aldehydes [11][12], in addition to other alternative transformations [13][14]. Moreover, radical cascade cyclizations of o-allyloxybenzaldehydes by employing

KOt-Bu-promoted selective ring-opening N-alkylation of 2-oxazolines to access 2-aminoethyl acetates and N-substituted thiazolidinones

• Qiao Lin,
• Shiling Zhang and
• Bin Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 492–501, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.44

• -containing enoate derivatives 1i and 1j were easily transferred to the corresponding ring-opened N-alkylated triesters 3i and 3j containing two C=C bonds which could be important as precursors for double Michael additions, and were isolated in 71% and 58% yields. The above described synthetic system has been

Ugi reaction-derived prolyl peptide catalysts grafted on the renewable polymer polyfurfuryl alcohol for applications in heterogeneous enamine catalysis

• Alexander F. de la Torre,
• Gabriel S. Scatena,
• Oscar Valdés,
• Daniel G. Rivera and
• Márcio W. Paixão

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1210–1216, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.118

• diastereoselectivity remains constantly high in all solvents [19]. Unfortunately, the enantioselectivity of the Michael additions remained moderate with both catalysts in all tested solvents and conditions, only rising to 84% ee when using catalyst 3 in toluene. The reason of the better catalytic performance of PFA

An efficient synthesis of the guaiane sesquiterpene (−)-isoguaiene by domino metathesis

• Yuzhou Wang,
• Ahmed F. Darweesh,
• Patrick Zimdars and
• Peter Metz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 858–862, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.83

• (−)-Isoguaiene was prepared from (S)-citronellal in only 9–10 steps with good overall yields. Either a trienyne or a dienediyne metathesis and highly diastereoselective organocatalytic Michael additions of aldehydes derived from (S)-citronellal served as the key transformations. Keywords: domino reactions

• sesquiterpene (−)-isoguaiene (1) using either a trienyne or a dienediyne metathesis and highly diastereoselective organocatalytic Michael additions of aldehydes derived from 5 as the key steps. Structures of the sesquiterpene (−)-isoguaiene (1) and the trisnorsesquiterpene clavukerin A (2). Retrosynthetic

New α- and β-cyclodextrin derivatives with cinchona alkaloids used in asymmetric organocatalytic reactions

• Iveta Chena Tichá,
• Simona Hybelbauerová and
• Jindřich Jindřich

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 830–839, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.80

• enantioselective reactions (mainly because of the nucleophilic center on the chiral quinuclidine skeleton) [20]. More importantly, they are a privileged class of chiral catalysts, which are well known for their use in Michael additions [21], Morita–Baylis–Hillman reactions [22], and aldol reactions [23], among

Diastereoselective auxiliary- and catalyst-controlled intramolecular aza-Michael reaction for the elaboration of enantioenriched 3-substituted isoindolinones. Application to the synthesis of a new pazinaclone analogue

• Romain Sallio,
• Stéphane Lebrun,
• Frédéric Capet,
• Francine Agbossou-Niedercorn,
• Christophe Michon and
• Eric Deniau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 593–602, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.46

• previously observed in other Michael-additions involving chiral auxiliaries on the nucleophile and on the Michael acceptor [62]. As for (S)-6a, catalyst 18c bearing a bulky tert-butyl group at the benzyl para-position gave the best results in term of stereoselectivity (80% de, Table 2, entry 7). However, the

Investigations towards the stereoselective organocatalyzed Michael addition of dimethyl malonate to a racemic nitroalkene: possible route to the 4-methylpregabalin core structure

• Denisa Vargová,
• Rastislav Baran and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 553–559, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.42

• medicines and can be obtained by organocatalytic Michael additions. We show here the stereoselective synthesis of 4-methylpregabalin stereoisomers using a Michael addition of dimethyl malonate to a racemic nitroalkene. The key step of the synthesis operates as a kinetic resolution with a chiral squaramide

• numerous Michael additions, as well as other reactions [11][12][13][14]. In this way, chiral thioureas, and squaramides were used to synthesize various GABA derivatives [15][16][17][18][19]. Interestingly, hydrogen-bonding activation of this kind of Michael additions worked well also in aqueous media [20

• addition of dimethyl malonate. An initial catalyst screening was performed in dichloromethane, based on our previous experiences with this type of Michael additions [18]. We have employed a range of squaramide and thiourea organocatalysts C1–C7 [18][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34], as well as two newly

Addition of dithi(ol)anylium tetrafluoroborates to α,β-unsaturated ketones

• Yu-Chieh Huang,
• An Nguyen,
• Simone Gräßle,
• Sylvia Vanderheiden,
• Nicole Jung and
• Stefan Bräse

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 515–522, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.37

• building blocks. Herein we investigate the scope and limitations of dithi(ol)anyl TFBs for a fast generation of masked 1,5-dicarbonyl compounds similar to Michael additions using ketene dithioacetals without the use of stoichiometric amounts of metals or additional catalysts which have been proposed in

Dialkyl dicyanofumarates and dicyanomaleates as versatile building blocks for synthetic organic chemistry and mechanistic studies

• Grzegorz Mlostoń and
• Heinz Heimgartner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 2235–2251, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.221

• reactions; electron-deficient ethenes; heterocyclization reactions; Michael additions; SET mechanism; Review Introduction Electron-deficient alkenes form an important class of organic compounds, which are of key importance in organic synthesis. The best known representative of this class is

Conjugated nitrosoalkenes as Michael acceptors in carbon–carbon bond forming reactions: a review and perspective

• Yaroslav D. Boyko,
• Valentin S. Dorokhov,
• Alexey Yu. Sukhorukov and
• Sema L. Ioffe

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 2214–2234, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.220

• strategy shown in Scheme 6 [28]. This general synthetic scheme opens access to a variety of substituted bicyclo[2.2.1]heptanes 16 via cyclization of α-chlorooxime TBS ethers 15 as shown in Scheme 7. The stereoselectivity of Michael additions to conjugated nitrosoalkenes is an important issue considering

Chiral phase-transfer catalysis in the asymmetric α-heterofunctionalization of prochiral nucleophiles

• Johannes Schörgenhumer,
• Maximilian Tiffner and
• Mario Waser

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1753–1769, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.170

• C–C bond forming reactions like, e.g., α-alkylations, Michael additions, Mannich reactions, or aldol reactions, to mention the most prominent examples only, also asymmetric α-heterofunctionalizations like hydroxylations, halogenations, or aminations have become increasingly important over the last