Recent advances in oxidative radical difunctionalization of N-arylacrylamides enabled by carbon radical reagents

• Jiangfei Chen,
• Yi-Lin Qu,
• Ming Yuan,
• Xiang-Mei Wu,
• Heng-Pei Jiang,
• Ying Fu and
• Shengrong Guo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1207–1271, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.98

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

• moieties of biologically active compounds. A salen–scandium triflate complex-catalyzed asymmetric (3 + 2) annulation of dialkyl 1-sulfonylaziridine-2,2-dicarboxylates and aldehydes generated optically active functionalized oxazolidine derivatives in moderate to good yields and good to excellent

• alcohols and aldehydes [11] and through [2 + 3] cycloaddition of azomethine ylides and carbonyl dipolarophiles [12]. Recently, the [2 + 3] annulation of aldehydes and donor–acceptor dialkyl 2-aryl-1-sulfonylaziridine-2,2-dicarboxylates, which generate azomethine ylides, has been developed for the synthesis

• -dicarboxylates from aldehydes and dialkyl 2-aryl-1-sulfonylaziridine-2,2-dicarboxylates under the catalysis of the readily available salen–Sc(OTf)3 complex (Scheme 1d). The salen ligand can be prepared in one step from enantiopure cyclohexane-1,2-diamines and substituted salicylaldehydes. Results and Discussion

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

• advancements in this area have recently been demonstrated to access conjugated alkenes, particularly cinnamic acid derivatives, with high stereoselectivity. For instance, Reeves and co-workers (2023) performed a Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons reaction of triethyl 2-fluoro-2-phosphonoacetate (390) and aldehydes to

• , Maulide and co-workers (2022) utilized a novel thiouronium ylide 396 and 2-(tert-butyl)-1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidine (395) for the olefination of aldehydes to generate the corresponding cinnamates 398 and 399 with excellent (Z)-selectivity (Scheme 85). Interestingly, exchanging aldehydes for tosylimines

• catalytic Wittig reaction using phosphetane oxide 412 as redox cycling catalyst using silanes as the reductant to convert aldehydes and α-bromoesters into the corresponding cinnamate esters 44, 154, and 413. The reaction proceeds via formation of nucleophilic phosphane 414 (Scheme 87A) [147]. Moreover

Regioselective formal hydrocyanation of allenes: synthesis of β,γ-unsaturated nitriles with α-all-carbon quaternary centers

• Seeun Lim,
• Teresa Kim and
• Yunmi Lee

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 800–806, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.63

• are important intermediates in organic syntheses because of the versatility of the cyano group, which can be readily transformed into a wide range of functional groups, including amides, carboxylic acids, amines, aldehydes, ketones, and N-heterocycles [6][7][8]. However, the synthesis of all-carbon

Recent advances in the electrochemical synthesis of organophosphorus compounds

• Babak Kaboudin,
• Milad Behroozi,
• Sepideh Sadighi and
• Fatemeh Asgharzadeh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 770–797, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.61

• Cp₂Fe is lower than that of other substances, it is most likely oxidized first. In 2023, Ma et al. [60] reported an electrochemically oxidative/metal catalyst-free method for the synthesis of the α-hydroxyphosphine oxides through the reaction of diphenylphosphine as a phosphine source with aldehydes

• desired products were obtained with moderate yields for aldehydes containing strong electron-withdrawing groups, indicating that this method is suitable for forming P–C bonds. Products with nitro, chlorine, or bromine groups at the para position had higher yields compared to those with the groups at the

New advances in asymmetric organocatalysis II

• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 766–769, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.60

• ]. The enantioselective addition of propargyltrichlorosilane to aldehydes was studied by Prabhakar, Takenaka, and co-workers. This transformation was catalyzed by a biisoquinoline N,N’-dioxide catalyst, which acted as a chiral Lewis base [26]. Torres-Oya and Zurro reviewed the recent developments in

Copper-catalyzed domino cyclization of anilines and cyclobutanone oxime: a scalable and versatile route to spirotetrahydroquinoline derivatives

• Qingqing Jiang,
• Xinyi Lei,
• Pan Gao and
• Yu Yuan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 749–754, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.58

• remains a formidable challenge, primarily due to the inherent ring strain and the difficulties associated with achieving high diastereoselectivity during cyclization [4]. Recently, Chen and co-workers developed a chiral phosphoric acid (CPA)-catalyzed multicomponent reaction of anilines, aldehydes, and

Photochemically assisted synthesis of phenacenes fluorinated at the terminal benzene rings and their electronic spectra

• Yuuki Ishii,
• Minoru Yamaji,
• Fumito Tani,
• Kenta Goto,
• Yoshihiro Kubozono and
• Hideki Okamoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 670–679, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.53

• compounds, F8PIC and F8FUL, were obtained through the Wittig-reaction and Mallory-photoreaction sequence (Scheme 2). Thus, reactions between phosphonium salt 5 and specific aldehydes, 10 and 13, followed by photolysis in the presence of I2 and O2, respectively, afforded F8PIC (57%) and F8FUL (52%). F87PHEN

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

• –Alder reaction between an imine and an alkene (Scheme 6). Very successfully, the multicomponent version of the Povarov reaction using aldehydes, anilines, and alkenes has been explored in a three-component cascade reaction to quinolines [28][29][30][31] (Scheme 6). Furthermore, protocols have been

• available from the reaction between aldehydes and amines (primary or secondary), the reaction is called AAA coupling: amine–aldehyde–alkyne coupling (Scheme 19). In this context, the use of formaldehyde as a C1 building block is suitable despite the unstable aminol intermediate. There are several examples

• reaction has been reported to proceed with a wide variety of aliphatic aldehydes, in particular formaldehyde, under different reaction conditions with or without solvent or catalysis [72][74][75][76]. However, a significant problem with the Kabachnik–Fields reaction arises from the fact that dialkyl

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

• of the electrophile. We thus identified aldehydes 9 and 10 as suitable branching points, which were easily derivatized to their aminomethyl-modified preQ1 analogs by reductive amination (Scheme 3). Their syntheses by Raney-Ni reduction of nitriles 7 and 8, previously described by Gangjee and co

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

• -functionalized aldehydes with at least one stereocenter in the C3 position. The results, which are collected in Table 5, show that the kinetic resolution depends on the characteristics of the substituents. The best results were achieved for the Michael adduct 12, derived from acetylacetone, with R1 = Ph (entry

• 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

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

• -based porous organic cages have been a popular choice for study [377][379][406][407][408], as have MOCs [208][376][386]. Much focus remains on the prediction (and automation) [409] of the formation of cavities by probing combinations of, e.g., amines/aldehydes or metals/ligands to identify structures

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

• role in most cases is to generate highly reactive species in situ from the nucleophilic reaction component. This can subsequently interact with other reaction components to form target products. Compared to the crotonic condensation products of other aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes, methylidene

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

• reactions conducted step by step. Providing acyclic compounds A three-component Strecker-type condensation of aromatic aldehydes, amines, and cyanides under mild reaction conditions furnishes α-aminonitriles 1 in good to high yields (Scheme 1) [15]. The reaction failed only in the case of acetophenone

• . The Mannich reaction with aromatic aldehydes and cyclic amines was performed efficiently on 2-naphthol, by using SiO2-supported copper triflate under solvent-free conditions, without an additional co-catalyst or additive (Scheme 3) [17]. The treatment of stoichiometric amounts of arylaldehydes

• ]. Three-component coupling of amines, aldehydes or ketones, and terminal alkynes catalyzed by Cu(OTf)2 is a fruitful tool for the production of α-substituted propargylamines 10 (Scheme 7) [20]. The reaction involves the alkynylation of the corresponding imines formed in situ and provides higher yields

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

• activation of propargylic aldehydes with catalyst Int-1. Another critical feature was the ability of the organocatalyst to promote the Z-selective isomerization of Int-2 to Int-3. In a related fashion, Wang and co-workers developed an atroposelective heterocycloaddition [19]. The iminium-activated alkynals 4

• are of interest and have been recently investigated by Jørgensen and co-workers. The authors employed an enantioselective aminocatalytic cycloaddition between 5H-benzo[a]pyrrolizine-3-carbaldehydes 22 and naphthyl-substituted nitroalkenes, α,β-unsaturated ketoesters, or α,β-unsaturated aldehydes 23

• -catalysis recently led to an array of intriguing transformations. Axially chiral styrenes 26 were assembled via the NHC-catalyzed reaction of propargylic aldehydes 25, sulfinic acids, and phenols [28]. The crucial step of this transformation is the 1,4-addition of the sulfinic anion to the triple bond of

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

• reported, providing a novel methodology for the construction of α,β-unsaturated imines [4]. There are different types of α,β-unsaturated imines, such as the acyclic imines aldimines, ketimines, or dienimines, depending on whether they are derived from aldehydes, ketones, or doubly unsaturated ketones

Synthesis of 2H-azirine-2,2-dicarboxylic acids and their derivatives

• Anastasiya V. Agafonova,
• Mikhail S. Novikov and
• Alexander F. Khlebnikov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3191–3197, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.264

• included oxidation of aldehydes 4 with Oxone to acids 5 and the conversion of the latter into acid chlorides with thionyl chloride. The first reaction sequence was suitable for obtaining compounds 1a–c,e,f with substituents tolerant to radical reaction conditions. A significant advantage of the method is

• separate impurities. In these cases, as well as in reactions giving low aldehyde yields in the first step (4b,d), the second developed reaction sequence turned out to be more effective. In the second approach, the oxidation of aldehydes 4 with Oxone to acids 5 occurs with yields close to quantitative, and

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

• AChE, while pyrazole scaffolds possess the ability to reduce the tau and β-amyloid dual aggregation. Benzofuran-pyrazole aldehydes were employed in the Ugi azide reaction to give the desired hybrids. From the screened compounds, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, and 2f demonstrated notable efficacy in regulating the

• quinazolinone scaffold. They have obtained new benzochromenopyrimidinones, abbreviated as BCPOs, whose synthesis has been accomplished in two steps. First, a microwave-assisted reaction of ethyl cyanoacetate, selected aromatic aldehydes, and 2-naphthol was performed. The second step was the condensation of the

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

• addition of furan-based silyloxydiene synthons to a variety of achiral aldehydes using four different calix[4]pyrrole macrocycles (3, 4, 11, and 12) as organocatalysts (Figure 3) [38]. These calixpyrrole macrocycles acted as hydrogen-bond donors, activating substrate aldehydes through hydrogen-bonding

• -workers reported using metal-free planar H2TPP (18) as a photocatalyst for the photoredox-α-alkylation of aldehydes with ethyl diazoacetate [91]. This reaction achieved an impressive product yield up to 84%. Control experiments showed that omitting any one of the reaction components – such as the

• the electrochemical and photochemical properties of the catalyst was crucial for facilitating photoelectron transfer (PET) processes in these photoredox systems. De Oliveira and co-workers reported metal-free porphyrins as photoredox catalysts for the synthesis of α-arylketones/aldehydes by arylation

Enantioselective regiospecific addition of propargyltrichlorosilane to aldehydes catalyzed by biisoquinoline N,N’-dioxide

• Noble Brako,
• Sreerag Moorkkannur Narayanan,
• Amber Burns,
• Layla Auter,
• Valentino Cesiliano,
• Rajeev Prabhakar and
• Norito Takenaka

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3069–3076, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.255

• , University of Miami, 1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, Florida 33146-0431, USA 10.3762/bjoc.20.255 Abstract Distilled propargyltrichlorosilane with >99% isomeric purity was prepared for the first time, and its asymmetric catalytic regiospecific addition reaction to aldehydes was developed through a

• . Accordingly, the development of efficient access to optically active chiral α-allenic alcohols continues to be of significant interest in organic chemistry [11][12][13]. The asymmetric catalytic addition of allenylation reagents to aldehydes provides direct access to chiral α-allenic alcohols in an

• extensively investigated allylation with allyltrichlorosilane [58][59]. In light of the excellent reactivity and promising selectivity displayed by catalyst 8 for the model reaction, we proceeded to evaluate its ability to enantioselectively promote the allenylation of various aldehydes (Scheme 5). The

Tunable full-color dual-state (solution and solid) emission of push–pull molecules containing the 1-pyrindane moiety

• Anastasia I. Ershova,
• Sergey V. Fedoseev,
• Konstantin V. Lipin,
• Mikhail Yu. Ievlev,
• Oleg E. Nasakin and
• Oleg V. Ershov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3016–3025, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.251

• [58] was prepared in the first step via three-component reaction between tetracyanoethylene, cyclopentanone, and hydrogen chloride. Then, multiacceptor compound 2 was involved in the condensation with aromatic aldehydes bearing electron-donor groups. As a result, a series of new push–pull molecules

• containing various numbers of substituents at the donor site, which differed in their electron-donating strength, was obtained. It was found that the reaction of pyridine 2 with aromatic aldehydes occurred with complete stereoselectivity – only the E-isomer was obtained as the reaction product. The

Advances in radical peroxidation with hydroperoxides

• Oleg V. Bityukov,
• Pavel Yu. Serdyuchenko,
• Andrey S. Kirillov,
• Gennady I. Nikishin,
• Vera A. Vil’ and
• Alexander O. Terent’ev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2959–3006, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.249

• Fe-catalyzed decarbonylative alkylation–peroxidation of alkenes 130 with aliphatic aldehydes 131 and TBHP to provide chain elongated peroxides 132 was developed (Scheme 44a) [103]. Aliphatic aldehyde 131 were used as the sources of 1°, 2°, 3° alkyl moieties via decarbonylation strategy. The proposed

• and 134 with TBHP and aldehydes as alkyl sources, producing long-chain ketones 136 via intermediate peroxide 135 formation (Scheme 44b) [104]. Acyl fragment: A breakthrough on difunctionalization of C=C double bonds using TBHP and aldehyde has been achieved in 2011 by Li and co-workers (Scheme 45a

• ) [105]. A three-component reaction of alkenes 137, aldehydes 138, and hydroperoxides catalyzed by FeCl2 to β-peroxy ketones 139 has been realized. The authors proposed the involvement both as acyl and tert-butylperoxy radicals into the reaction pathway. The tert-butoxy radical A and tert-butylperoxy

Synthesis of fluorinated acid-functionalized, electron-rich nickel porphyrins

• Mike Brockmann,
• Jonas Lobbel,
• Lara Unterriker and
• Rainer Herges

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2954–2958, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.248

• –CH2–(CF2)n–COOCH3 (n = 2,4,6, Tf = triflate) were synthesized. The triflates were reacted with 2-hydroxy-3,4,5-trimethoxybenzaldehyde via Williamson ether syntheses. The resulting electron-rich compounds were used as aldehydes in the Rothemund reaction with pyrrole to form ester-substituted porphyrins

• ester-functionalized aldehydes 22, 23, and 24. Conditions: a) NIS, TFA, Na2CO3, MeCN, reflux, 18 h; b) Cu2O·H2O, 2-pyridinaldoxime, TBAB, CsOH, H2O, N2, rt, 18 h; c) Cs2CO3, DMAc, N2, rt, 3 h. Porphyrin synthesis. a) Rothemund porphyrin synthesis of metal-free porphyrins 26, 27, and 28; b) metalation of

Recent advances in transition-metal-free arylation reactions involving hypervalent iodine salts

• Ritu Mamgain,
• Kokila Sakthivel and
• Fateh V. Singh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2891–2920, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.243

C–H Trifluoromethylthiolation of aldehyde hydrazones

• Victor Levet,
• Balu Ramesh,
• Congyang Wang and
• Tatiana Besset

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2883–2890, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.242

• ). Hydrazones derived from aromatic aldehydes (1a–p) were first investigated. It turned out that para-substituted compounds with electron-rich groups (e.g., OMe, OBn), halogens (Cl, Br, I), and electron-withdrawing groups (e.g., CF3) were smoothly trifluoromethylthiolated. In the same vein, meta- and ortho