Salen–scandium(III) complex-catalyzed asymmetric (3 + 2) annulation of aziridines and aldehydes

• Linqiang Wang and
• Jiaxi Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1087–1094, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.86

• excesses were determined using chiral HPLC analysis using an Agilent 1260 LC instrument (Santa Clara, CA, USA) with Daicel Chiralcel AD-H column (Hyderabad, India) with a mixture of isopropyl alcohol and hexane as eluents. All liquid aldehydes were washed with saturated aqueous sodium bicarbonate solution

Recent advances in synthetic approaches for bioactive cinnamic acid derivatives

• Betty A. Kustiana,
• Galuh Widiyarti and
• Teni Ernawati

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1031–1086, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.85

• with a catalytic base has also been applied to prepare cinnamate esters. For example, Heller and co-workers (2021) synthesized the ester 141 catalyzed by DBU which functioned as a Brønsted base for the alcohol (Scheme 43A) [81]. Impressively, the method could be scaled up to a multigram scale

• with nucleophilic cinnamonitrile 149 to give benzocyclooctene 150 via iodonium intermediate 151 (Scheme 46) [86]. 2.2 Oxidative acylations Cinnamic ester or amide preparation could also be achieved by oxidizing cinnamyl alcohol, aldehyde, imine, and ketone as an alternative to the traditional O/N

• -acylation of cinnamic acid above. 2.2.1 Alcohol oxidation: Kapdi and co-workers (2019) reported Pd-colloids-catalyzed esterification via Ag2O-catalyzed alcohol oxidation. Herein, cinnamyl alcohols were oxidized to the corresponding cinnamaldehydes catalyzed by Ag2O, followed by oxidative addition to Pd via

Recent total synthesis of natural products leveraging a strategy of enamide cyclization

• Chun-Yu Mi,
• Jia-Yuan Zhai and
• Xiao-Ming Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 999–1009, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.81

• a fragmentation process for the total synthesis of (−)-phlegmariurine B. A one-pot epoxidation/nucleophilic epoxide opening introduced both a hydroxy group and a chloride across the cyclopentene, producing 14 in 57% yield. After oxidation of alcohol 14 to ketone 15, the Mukaiyama hydration then

• -catalyzed asymmetric [2 + 3] annulation of tertiary enamides with enoldiazoacetates, enabling highly efficient total syntheses of Cephalotaxus alkaloids (Scheme 4) [27]. In their recent study, the homopiperonyl alcohol 26 was transformed into tricyclic enamide 28 in five steps in a decagram scale. As no

Harnessing tethered nitreniums for diastereoselective amino-sulfonoxylation of alkenes

• Shyam Sathyamoorthi,
• Appasaheb K. Nirpal,
• Dnyaneshwar A. Gorve and
• Steven P. Kelley

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 947–954, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.78

• trace of amino-alcohol product [34][35]. These transformations are likely difficult or even impossible in a single step with the products from our previously reported amino-trifluoroacetoxylation reaction, highlighting the utility of the present transformation. Conclusion In summary, we have developed a

A convergent synthetic approach to the tetracyclic core framework of khayanolide-type limonoids

• Zhiyang Zhang,
• Jialei Hu,
• Hanfeng Ding,
• Li Zhang and
• Peirong Rao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 926–934, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.75

• the benzylic alcohol, a 1,2-Grignard addition and an AcOH-interrupted Nazarov cyclization. Keywords: enantioselective synthesis; interrupted Nazarov cyclization; khayanolide-type limonoids; tetracyclic framework; Introduction Limonoids, a class of tetranortriterpenoids derived biosynthetically from

• essential tertiary alcohol at C1. The β-hydroxylactone moiety (D ring) in 11 could be introduced through an intramolecular aldol condensation [35] of acetate 12. Ultimately, the preparation of 12 could be traced back to aldehyde 14 through 1,2-Grignard addition with an organomagnesium reagent [36] prepared

• promoted by LiHMDS gave alcohol 17 with high regioselectivity (14:1 dr at C17) after an extensive screening of bases (LDA, NaHMDS, KHMDS, etc.). Drawing inspiration from the pioneering work of Birman [38], as well as Newhouse’s applications [18][19], an acylative kinetic resolution of the alcohol was

Light-enabled intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition via photoactivation of simple alkenylboronic esters

• Lewis McGhie,
• Hannah M. Kortman,
• Jenna Rumpf,
• Peter H. Seeberger and
• John J. Molloy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 854–863, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.69

• excitation [66][67], product derivatization was explored (Scheme 2A). While initial efforts for oxidation proved challenging, due to a competing retro-aldol ring-opening reaction, employing a buffered system enabled access to β-alcohol 5. Given the previous power of trifluoroborates in cross-coupling

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

• industrial production (Table 2, entries 4, 8, and 9). All these experiments gave only low ee values (4–19% ee, Table 2, entries 4–9), with a preference for the S-enantiomer. Use of aromatic alcohol or (R)-1-phenylethanol as additives did not improve either yields or enantioselectivities (Table 2, entries 5

Synthesis of HBC fluorophores with an electrophilic handle for covalent attachment to Pepper RNA

• Raphael Bereiter and
• Ronald Micura

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 727–735, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.56

• and iodine, respectively, were applied to compound 5 to give the chloropropyl and iodopropyl HBC dyes 12 and 13 (Scheme 4). In addition, the HBC alcohol 5 was reacted under basic conditions with methanesulfonyl chloride to give the N-(3-mesyloxypropyl) HBC derivative 14, or with tosyl chloride to give

• provide fluorophore 19. Subsequent palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling with tributyl(vinyl)tin resulted in the installation of the vinyl group (compound 20). Finally, cleavage of the silyl ether gave the free alcohol 21, which was converted into the corresponding mesyloxypropyl HBC ligand 22. The

• Exactive Orbitrap. General procedure A. 4-Fluorobenzaldehyde, the corresponding N-methylated amino alcohol and potassium carbonate were suspended in dimethyl sulfoxide and stirred for 30 hours at 120 °C. The resulting suspension was poured on crushed ice and extracted four times with chloroform, dried over

Origami with small molecules: exploiting the C–F bond as a conformational tool

• Patrick Ryan,
• Ramsha Iftikhar and
• Luke Hunter

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 680–716, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.54

• progress from ethers (section 2) to a closely related class of molecules, namely, the alcohols. The focus here in section 3 will be mostly on simple examples; more complex poly-ol examples will be discussed in section 4 (sugars). Taking the example of a simple alcohol such as ethanol, consider what happens

• ., to generate an ester), the gauche O–C–C–F conformation is favoured over anti more strongly than was seen for the parent alcohol (e.g., energy difference between gauche and anti = 1.0 kcal·mol−1 for esters; 0.3 kcal·mol−1 for alcohols) [109]. This is likely due to enhanced hyperconjugation effects in

Entry to 2-aminoprolines via electrochemical decarboxylative amidation of N‑acetylamino malonic acid monoesters

• Olesja Koleda,
• Janis Sadauskis,
• Darja Antonenko,
• Edvards Janis Treijs,
• Raivis Davis Steberis and
• Edgars Suna

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 630–638, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.50

• under Pd-catalyzed hydrogenolysis afforded diamino acid ester 14 (75% yield) that was likely formed by ring-opening of the unstable N-unprotected 2-aminoproline followed by the reduction of the open-chain imine tautomer. Likewise, the open-chain amino alcohol 15 was formed also upon the reduction of the

Total synthesis of (±)-simonsol C using dearomatization as key reaction under acidic conditions

• Xiao-Yang Bi,
• Xiao-Shuai Yang,
• Shan-Shan Chen,
• Jia-Jun Sui,
• Zhao-Nan Cai,
• Yong-Ming Chuan and
• Hong-Bo Qin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 601–606, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.47

• -position to the carbonyl group in 18 was achieved by using LDA, followed by the addition of 4-bromobenzyl bromide for alkylation, giving compound 16 with 69% isolated yield. Compound 16 was then reduced to alcohol 19 with 2 equiv LAH at 0 °C. The reaction was completed within 10 minutes and the desired

• alcohol 19 was isolated in 89% yield. The copper-catalyzed replacement of the bromine substituent in 19 with a hydroxy group was achieved in the presence of a catalytic amount of oxalamide ligand I [13]. This transformation is critical for enabling further functionalization and the reaction conditions

Sequential two-step, one-pot microwave-assisted Urech synthesis of 5-monosubstituted hydantoins from L-amino acids in water

• Wei-Jin Chang,
• Sook Yee Liew,
• Thomas Kurz and
• Siow-Ping Tan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 596–600, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.46

• exceptional functional group tolerance, accommodating phenyl, aliphatic, phenol, alcohol, heterocyclic, and sulfide groups. This scalable, rapid, and eco-friendly strategy offers a promising avenue for the efficient synthesis of hydantoins, aligning with green chemistry principles and expanding the

• acids as precursors and achieves yields of 34–89%, with a broad functional group tolerance for phenyl, aliphatic, phenol, alcohol, heterocyclic, and sulfide groups. By eliminating highly reactive and moisture-sensitive reagents, our method improves practicality and safety, while microwave irradiation

Formaldehyde surrogates in multicomponent reactions

• Cecilia I. Attorresi,
• Javier A. Ramírez and
• Bernhard Westermann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 564–595, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.45

• reactions [10]. Oxidation of the alcohol is done in situ to avoid problems regarding the isolation and instability of the aldehyde produced, although undesirable reactions, such as oxidation of the amines or isocyanides or overoxidation of the alcohol, could also be problematic [11][12]. In this regard

• , several efforts have been made to improve the chemoselectivity of the oxidation step. Among the most relevant examples, o-iodoxybenzoic acid (IBX) has been used in Ugi and Passerini reactions to oxidize the suitable alcohol to the desired aldehyde [13]. Alternatively, catalytic amounts of a ternary system

Vinylogous functionalization of 4-alkylidene-5-aminopyrazoles with methyl trifluoropyruvates

• Judit Hostalet-Romero,
• Laura Carceller-Ferrer,
• Gonzalo Blay,
• Amparo Sanz-Marco,
• José R. Pedro and
• Carlos Vila

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 533–540, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.41

• ), reduced the reaction time obtaining similar yields for compound 5aaa. When the reaction was performed at 70 °C in toluene (Table 1, entry 6), after 24 hours, a full conversion of compound 3aa was observed, affording the corresponding alcohol 5aaa in 66% yield and 7:1 dr. Other solvents such as

• dichloroethane, chloroform or ethyl acetate gave lower yields but similar diastereoselectivity. More polar solvents such THF and CH3CN afforded the corresponding alcohol 5aaa with lower diastereoselectivity. When acetone was used as solvent, product 5aaa was not detected in the 1H NMR of crude reaction mixture

• ). Later, we evaluated the effect of the carbocyclic ring size, observing a high yield (up to 80%) when the 5-aminopyrazole 3ga prepared from cycloheptanone was used, while 5-aminopyrazole 3fa bearing a cyclopentenyl ring afforded alcohol 5faa with lower yield (27–44% yield). Unfortunately, in the case of

Synthesis of the aggregation pheromone of Tribolium castaneum

• Biyu An,
• Xueyang Wang,
• Ao Jiao,
• Qinghua Bian and
• Jiangchun Zhong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 510–514, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.38

• of (R)-2-methyloxirane ((R)-2) with allylmagnesium bromide (3) catalyzed by CuI produced a mixture of (R)-hex-5-en-2-ol ((R)-4) and (S)-2-methylpent-4-en-1-ol ((S)-4’) (ratio 8:1, determined by 1H NMR spectroscopy) [25][26]. The primary alcohol (S)-4’ could be easily removed by a selective TEMPO

• oxidation. The optical purity of the chiral secondary alcohol (R)-4 was more than 99% ee, determined by 1H NMR spectrum of its Mosher ester [27][28]. The subsequent tosylation with p-tosyl chloride gave (R)-hex-5-en-2-yl 4-methylbenzenesulfonate ((R)-5) in 88% yield [29]. The reaction of (R)-5 with the

• , geminal acid (S)-7 was decarboxylated with DMSO to yield chiral acid (S)-8 [33], followed by TiCl4-catalyzed reduction with ammonia-borane to obtain the chiral alkenyl alcohol (S)-9 [34]. The final tosylation with p-tosyl chloride provided (S)-3-methylhept-6-en-1-yl 4-methylbenzenesulfonate ((S)-10) [29

Synthesis of electrophile-tethered preQ₁ analogs for covalent attachment to preQ₁ RNA

• Laurin Flemmich and
• Ronald Micura

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 483–489, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.35

• was observed, and the alcohol intermediate was isolated in pure form. In both cases, quantitative bromination was achieved by heating the compounds in concentrated aqueous hydrobromic acid, which after evaporation afforded the pure compounds 4b–d. To generate iodide 4e, alcohol 11 was isolated and

• methanol (1.3 mL). Anhydrous magnesium sulfate (340 mg, 2.82 mmol, 10 equiv) and the respective amino alcohol (2.82 mmol, 10 equiv) were added. The mixture was sonicated for 30 minutes and subsequently stirred at room temperature for 16 h. After cooling to 0 °C, sodium borohydride (96.1 mg, 2.54 mmol, 9

Beyond symmetric self-assembly and effective molarity: unlocking functional enzyme mimics with robust organic cages

• Keith G. Andrews

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 421–443, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.30

• , enthalpically stabilizing the rate-limiting attack of alcohol by 7.3 kcal/mol. The highly ordered transition state in this example, thought to prevent charge buildup through a concerted/synchronous proton-transfer mechanism between bifunctional acid units, highlights a key design criteria differing from the

• triad (red) was hoped to activate the benzyl alcohol nucleophile, but it does not activate (polarize) the electrophile (substrate ester group). (B) One of Rebek’s “clefts” [108][109]. The rigidly organized carboxylic acids both bind the substrate and the transition state for hydrolysis of an acetal. (A

Identification and removal of a cryptic impurity in pomalidomide-PEG based PROTAC

• Bingnan Wang,
• Yong Lu and
• Chuo Chen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 407–411, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.28

• synthesis of iVeliparib-AP6 [5] starts with a nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) reaction wherein 4-fluorothalidomide (1) reacts with amino-PEG7-OH 2 to give alcohol 3 (Scheme 1). Subsequent alcohol oxidation followed by reductive amination of the resulting aldehyde 4 with veliparib [6][7] provides

• product on HPLC even for the reaction of diethylene glycolamine and 1. Capping the free hydroxy group with a methyl group improved the separation on HPLC marginally. However, incorporating a clickable propargyl group greatly benefited separation. Similar to the alcohol, amino-PEG5-acid also reacted with 1

The effect of neighbouring group participation and possible long range remote group participation in O-glycosylation

• Rituparna Das and
• Balaram Mukhopadhyay

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 369–406, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.27

Synthesis of new condensed naphthoquinone, pyran and pyrimidine furancarboxylates

• Kirill A. Gomonov,
• Vasilii V. Pelipko,
• Igor A. Litvinov,
• Ilya A. Pilipenko,
• Anna M. Stepanova,
• Nikolai A. Lapatin,
• Ruslan I. Baichurin and
• Sergei V. Makarenko

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 340–347, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.24

• (2c) or 4-hydroxy-2H,5H-pyrano[3,2-c][1]benzopyran-2,5-dione (2d) in yields up to 51% (Scheme 6). Furopyrimidines 7a–f were obtained by reacting bromonitroacrylates 1a,b with representatives of substituted pyrimidines 2e–g. The reactions proceed successfully by refluxing in a water–alcohol (in the

• case of 2e) or alcohol (in the case of 2f,g) solution for 1–3 h (ratio of acrylate/CH-acid/AcOK = 1:1:1.5) with a yield of 43–64% (Scheme 7). The structures of the obtained condensed furans 3–7 were characterized by a set of physicochemical methods, including X-ray diffraction analysis. Analysis of the

Red light excitation: illuminating photocatalysis in a new spectrum

• Lucas Fortier,
• Corentin Lefebvre and
• Norbert Hoffmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 296–326, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.22

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

• alcohol 2. Its 1H NMR spectrum contained a triplet with a coupling constant of 5.1 Hz at 5.52 ppm and a doublet at 4.30 ppm. In methanol, ethanol and petroleum ether, with an increasing reaction time, a significant amount of product 3 was observed in the 1H NMR spectra of the mixtures, as identified by

• keto alcohol 2 and 35% of diketone 1 (Table 1, entry 5), and only trace amounts of CH2O were present. This meant that formaldehyde introduction into the reaction mixture was very limited. Therefore, the condensation rate was the limiting step of the diffusion mixing. The rapid formation of compound 3

Dioxazolones as electrophilic amide sources in copper-catalyzed and -mediated transformations

• Seungmin Lee,
• Minsuk Kim,
• Hyewon Han and
• Jongwoo Son

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 200–216, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.12

• were tolerated, while a dioxazolone containing bromobenzene displayed lower reactivity (26c). The enamide 26d, derived from lobatamide, was successfully produced without altering the stereochemistry of the oxime ether. Terminal alkynes with linear alkyl group, protected alcohol, and sulfonamide

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

• directly to the alkene, then reacts with the nucleophile to afford product 7. The regioselective 1,2-difunctionalization of allyl alcohol has been developed as a three-component cascade reaction using arenes and sulfonamides as nucleophiles to achieve arylation/hydroamination processes. The reaction

• 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

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

• reported. The configurational stability and rotational barrier were also investigated. The enantioselectivity gradually decreased at 70 °C for 12 h in isopropyl alcohol and the calculated value was 28.5 kcal/mol. Control experiments proved the importance of N–H bonds during the reaction and methylation of

• -arylbenzenediamines 201 and β-ketoesters. Testing many different substrates, oxocyclopentane carboxylates 202 consistently provided the highest yields and enantioselectivities. The authors observed no racemization of 203 below 90 °C in toluene, isopropyl alcohol, or DCE. Based on these results, the rotational barrier