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

• Zi-Ying Xiao Jing Sun Chao-Guo Yan College of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225002, China 10.3762/bjoc.21.21 Abstract In this paper, the nucleophilic substitution reactions of various N- and P-containing nucleophiles to MBH carbonates of isatins were investigated

• . Diverse functionalized 3-substituted oxindole derivatives were successfully prepared in satisfactory yields and with high diastereoselectivity. In addition, the base-promoted dimerization of MBH carbonates of isatin afforded the ethylene-bridged bis(3-methylene)oxindole derivatives with nearly 4:1

• , the readily available Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) carbonates of isatins have been recognized as one of the most powerful synthons for the construction of various spirooxindole skeletons [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. MBH carbonates of isatins can be easily obtained via base-promoted MBH

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

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

• /16) aldol products with up to 82% yield in a 70:30 diastereoisomeric ratio. A decade after, Ema, Maeda and co-workers investigated using of calix[4]pyrrole macrocyclic organocatalysts for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates 21 from epoxides 20 (1,2-epoxyhexane) and CO2 [39]. For this purpose, they

Copper-catalyzed yne-allylic substitutions: concept and recent developments

• Shuang Yang and
• Xinqiang Fang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2739–2775, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.232

• :1 (Scheme 3, 3e). Carbonates with aryl or styryl residue can undergo the reaction smoothly (Scheme 3, 3f–k), but alkyl-substituted substrates showed low yields (Scheme 3, 3l and 3m). Moreover, secondary amines with various substituents, acyclic amines, primary amines, or even the amine moieties in

• drug molecules were all suitable nucleophiles (Scheme 4, 5a–k). When R2 is an H atom, the reactions occur at the γ-position, resulting in the formation of 1,4-enynes (Scheme 4, 6a–d). Acyclic 1,3-dicarbonyls could also react with yne-allylic carbonates 1 at the γ-position because of the possible

• that the dinuclear copper complex is the precursor of the active monocopper species which is involved in the turnover-limiting step (Scheme 27). Subsequently, Zhu and Xu et al. [73] also achieved the distal enantioselective heteroarylation of yne-thiophene carbonates by applying a simpler p-OMe

Computational design for enantioselective CO₂ capture: asymmetric frustrated Lewis pairs in epoxide transformations

• Maxime Ferrer,
• Iñigo Iribarren,
• Tim Renningholtz,
• Ibon Alkorta and
• Cristina Trujillo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2668–2681, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.224

• strategy to mitigate rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Despite extensive research on the CO2 insertion into epoxides to form cyclic carbonates, the stereochemical implications of this reaction have been largely overlooked, despite the prevalence of racemic epoxide solutions. This study introduces

• into readily available substrates such as epoxides, resulting in the formation of polycarbonates or monomeric cyclic carbonates [22]. Depending on the substitution pattern in the epoxide, a chiral centre is present in the product. The insertion of CO2 into epoxides has been the subject of numerous

• enantiomerically pure product from a racemic mixture. Conclusion Carbon capture and utilisation technologies represent a promising avenue for addressing increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. The reaction involving the insertion of CO2 into epoxides to form cyclic carbonates is a key focus within this

A review of recent advances in electrochemical and photoelectrochemical late-stage functionalization classified by anodic oxidation, cathodic reduction, and paired electrolysis

• Nian Li,
• Ruzal Sitdikov,
• Ajit Prabhakar Kale,
• Joost Steverlynck,
• Bo Li and
• Magnus Rueping

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2500–2566, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.214

Phenylseleno trifluoromethoxylation of alkenes

• Clément Delobel,
• Armen Panossian,
• Gilles Hanquet,
• Frédéric R. Leroux,
• Fabien Toulgoat and
• Thierry Billard

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2434–2441, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.207

• trifluoromethoxylations of (hetero)aromatics [47][48][49][50][51][52], enol carbonates [53] or silyl enol ethers and allyl silanes [54] have been reported. Most of the methods described have used the trifluoromethoxide anion (CF3O−) [45]. Many sources of the CF3O− anion have been described, but with certain drawbacks

Efficient one-step synthesis of diarylacetic acids by electrochemical direct carboxylation of diarylmethanol compounds in DMSO

• Hisanori Senboku and
• Mizuki Hayama

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2392–2400, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.203

• diarylacetic acids from diarylmethanol species and carbon dioxide without transformation of the hydroxy group into appropriate leaving groups, such as halides and esters including carbonates. Keywords: C(sp3)–O bond cleavage; diarylacetic acid; diarylmethanol; electrochemical reduction; fixation of carbon

• presence of carbon dioxide to give the corresponding phenylacetic acids [12]. We found that alkyl benzyl carbonates and benzal diacetates (benzylidene diacetates) were also applicable to electrochemical carboxylation with C(sp3)–O bond cleavage at the benzylic position, yielding phenylacetic acids [13] and

• in the recovery of 98% of the starting material 1a. This result indicated that carbon dioxide played an important role not only as a carboxy source but also in the electroreductive C(sp3)–O bond cleavage. From these and our previous results for the electrochemical carboxylation of benzyl carbonates

Asymmetric organocatalytic synthesis of chiral homoallylic amines

• Nikolay S. Kondratyev and
• Andrei V. Malkov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2349–2377, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.201

• products 131 [43]. Chiral organocatalysed addition of 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl ketimines to isatin-derived Morita–Baylis–Hilman carbonates [44]. Chiral chinchona-derived amine-catalysed reaction between isatin-based Morita–Baylis–Hilman carbonate and benzothiophene-2-one α-trifluoromethylimine [44]. (R)-VAPOL

Sustainable tandem acylation/Diels–Alder reaction toward versatile tricyclic epoxyisoindole-7-carboxylic acids in renewable green solvents

• Ayhan Yıldırım

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1308–1319, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.114

• importance in intramolecular Diels–Alder reactions, the effects of solvents such as glycerol, polyethylene glycol, organic carbonates, deep eutectic solvents, supercritical CO2 and H2O have recently been extensively studied [65][66][67]. Recently, attention has also been drawn to photoinduced oxidative [4

Using the phospha-Michael reaction for making phosphonium phenolate zwitterions

• Matthias R. Steiner,
• Max Schmallegger,
• Larissa Donner,
• Johann A. Hlina,
• Christoph Marschner,
• Judith Baumgartner and
• Christian Slugovc

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 41–51, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.6

• synthesis of carbonates from CO2 [24][25][26] and the synthesis of oxazolidines from isocyanates and epoxides [27]. Furthermore, their application in primary hydroxy group selective acylation of diols [28] and their use as organophotoredox catalysts [29][30] is known. The latter mentioned catalysts are

Construction of diazepine-containing spiroindolines via annulation reaction of α-halogenated N-acylhydrazones and isatin-derived MBH carbonates

• Xing Liu,
• Wenjing Shi,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1923–1932, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.143

• and proceeds through a by base-promoted annulation reaction of α-halogenated N-acylhydrazones and isatin-derived MBH carbonates. The reaction mechanism of this formal [4 + 3] annulation includes the in situ generated allylic ylide, nucleophilic substitution, Michael additon, and elimination processes

• the synthesis of spirooxindole derivatives continues to be a highly active subject in organic synthesis [31][32][33][34][35]. In recent years, the readily available isatin-derived Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) carbonates have become one of the most powerful reagents for the construction of diverse

• spirooxindoles [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]. In the presence of Lewis bases, isatin-derived MBH carbonates usually undergo [3 + 2] and [3 + 3] cycloaddition reactions with a broad range of active C–C and C–N double bonds and 1,3-dipolarpohiles to give various five- or six-membered cyclic spirooxindoles [44

N-Sulfenylsuccinimide/phthalimide: an alternative sulfenylating reagent in organic transformations

• Fatemeh Doraghi,
• Seyedeh Pegah Aledavoud,
• Mehdi Ghanbarlou,
• Bagher Larijani and
• Mohammad Mahdavi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1471–1502, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.106

• Morita–Baylis–Hillman carbonates from isatins by using a Lewis base catalytic system (Scheme 52) [84]. Screening several organocatalysts showed that the 1,3-oxo-ethynylation of starting materials with silylethynyl-1,2-benziodoxol-3(1H)-ones 123 was obtained by using catalyst N, while 1,3

• conjugate Lewis base Brønsted acid catalyst. Sulfenylation of deconjugated butyrolactams. Intramolecular sulfenofunctionalization of alkenes with phenols. Organocatalytic 1,3-difunctionalizations of Morita–Baylis–Hillman carbonates. Organocatalytic sulfenylation of β‑naphthols. Acid-promoted

Application of N-heterocyclic carbene–Cu(I) complexes as catalysts in organic synthesis: a review

• Nosheen Beig,
• Varsha Goyal and
• Raj K. Bansal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1408–1442, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.102

• –Cu(I) complexes 12 (Scheme 5). A variety of bases, namely metal alkoxides, alkali metal carbonates, n-butyllithium, and lithium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide have been employed for this purpose. In 2010, Diez-González et al. synthesized a variety of NHC–Cu(I) complexes 14 from imidazolium salts 13 using

• + 2] cycloaddition of azides with alkynes as will be discussed later. Jin Zhang et al. used the same base, namely KOt-Bu in the presence of CuCl to obtain the thiazolylidene–Cu(I) complex 20 (Scheme 10) [23]. In 2012, Zhu and co-workers synthesized NHC–CuCl complexes using alkali carbonates (Na2CO3

Selective construction of dispiro[indoline-3,2'-quinoline-3',3''-indoline] and dispiro[indoline-3,2'-pyrrole-3',3''-indoline] via three-component reaction

• Ziying Xiao,
• Fengshun Xu,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1234–1242, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.91

• [12][13][14][15]. On the other hand, Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) carbonates of isatins, which could be easily prepared by the MBH reactions of isatins with acrylonitrile or alkyl acrylates also became valuable synthons [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. The active 3-methyleneoxindoles could act

Group 13 exchange and transborylation in catalysis

• Dominic R. Willcox and
• Stephen P. Thomas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 325–348, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.28

• esters, lactones, and carbonates with HBpin under microwave irradiation (Scheme 13) [57]. When HBpin and boric acid were reacted together, BH3-coordinated HBpin and O(Bpin)2 were detected by 11B NMR spectroscopy. Supported by computational analysis and single-turnover experiments, the reaction was

• carbonates and the proposed mechanism. H-B-9-BBN-catalysed reductive aldol-type reaction and the proposed mechanism. H-B-9-BBN-catalysed diastereoselective allylation of ketones and the Ph-BBD-catalysed enantioselective allylation of ketones and the proposed mechanism. H-B-9-BBN-catalysed C–F arylation of

Synthetic study toward tridachiapyrone B

• Morgan Cormier,
• Florian Hernvann and
• Michaël De Paolis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1741–1748, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.183

• allyltitanocene reagents to carbonyl compounds was described by Sato which were prepared from the corresponding allyl carbonates exposed to the combination of [Cp2TiCl2]/n-BuLi [40]. Pleasingly, conducting the coupling of carbonate 20 to 5 in conditions inspired from Carreira’s study (Scheme 7b) led to the

A trustworthy mechanochemical route to isocyanides

• Francesco Basoccu,
• Federico Cuccu,
• Federico Casti,
• Rita Mocci,
• Claudia Fattuoni and
• Andrea Porcheddu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 732–737, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.73

• mg of NaCl as a grinding auxiliary (0.5 h, 36 Hz, Table S1 in Supporting Information File 1). So, we then looked for a solid base to use in place of triethylamine, avoiding the use of further additives. Unluckily, neither solid inorganic bases such Na, K, and Cs carbonates [37], Mg and Ba oxides, nor

Synthesis of sulfur karrikin bioisosteres as potential neuroprotectives

• Martin Pošta,
• Václav Zima,
• Lenka Poštová Slavětínská,
• Marika Matoušová and
• Petr Beier

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 549–554, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.57

• was treated with triethylamine in order to obtain the eliminated product exclusively. The second elimination over C4–C5 resulted in a low yield of 26 (41%) (not shown in Scheme 5) and a high (Ph3P)4Pd catalyst load (10%) was necessary, despite the fact that allylic carbonates are good substrates in

Cs₂CO₃-Promoted reaction of tertiary bromopropargylic alcohols and phenols in DMF: a novel approach to α-phenoxyketones

• Ol'ga G. Volostnykh,
• Olesya A. Shemyakina,
• Anton V. Stepanov and
• Igor' A. Ushakov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 420–428, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.44

• highly selective hydration/acylation of tertiary bromopropargylic alcohols with carboxylic acids promoted by alkali metal carbonates [24]. The reaction proceeds via the ring-opening of 1,3-dioxolan-2-one intermediates formed with hydroxy and alkynyl groups of bromopropargylic alcohol and alkali metal

Regioselectivity of the S_EAr-based cyclizations and S_EAr-terminated annulations of 3,5-unsubstituted, 4-substituted indoles

• Jonali Das and
• Sajal Kumar Das

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 293–302, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.33

• constructing carbon–carbon and carbon–heteroatom bonds in organic synthesis [8][9][10]. In the course of their diversity-oriented synthesis of indole-based peri-annulated compounds, You and co-workers in 2013 reported the intramolecular Tsuji–Trost reaction of indolyl allyl carbonates 1 under the catalysis of

• or annulation of: (A) substituted arenes/heteroarenes and (B) 3,5-unsubstituted, 4-substituted indoles. Indole C3 regioselective intramolecular alkylation of indolyl allyl carbonates. Indole C3 regioselective Michael-type cyclization in the total synthesis of (−)-indolactam V. Synthesis of azepino

Direct C(sp³)–H allylation of 2-alkylpyridines with Morita–Baylis–Hillman carbonates via a tandem nucleophilic substitution/aza-Cope rearrangement

• Siyu Wang,
• Lianyou Zheng,
• Shutao Wang,
• Shulin Ning,
• Zhuoqi Zhang and
• Jinbao Xiang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2505–2510, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.167

• (sp3)–H allylic alkylation of 2-alkylpyridines with Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) carbonates is described. A plausible mechanism of the reaction might involve a tandem SN2’ type nucleophilic substitution followed by an aza-Cope rearrangement. Various alkyl substituents on 2-alkylpyridines were tolerated

• ; Morita–Baylis–Hillman carbonates; Introduction Pyridines are among the most important heterocyclic structural moieties in many biologically active natural products, pharmaceuticals, and agrochemicals [1][2][3]. Therefore, the development of efficient strategies for functionalized pyridine derivatives

• synergistic catalyzed allylic alkylation between electron-deficient 2-ethyl benzoxazoles and MBH carbonates by the combination of a Lewis base and a metal salt [24]. In their studies, although pyridine derivatives were also applicable in the reaction, the presence of a strong electron-withdrawing NO2 group

Copper-catalyzed monoselective C–H amination of ferrocenes with alkylamines

• Zhen-Sheng Jia,
• Qiang Yue,
• Ya Li,
• Xue-Tao Xu,
• Kun Zhang and
• Bing-Feng Shi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2488–2495, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.165

• ferrocenes with alkynes by using an unprecedented half-sandwich Sc catalyst [36]. Very recently, Shi and Zhang demonstrated a Cp*Co-catalyzed ortho-C–H allylation of ferrocenes assisted by thioamide using allyl carbonates and vinylcyclopropanes as allylating partners [37]. Meanwhile, Zhang and co-authors

Recent advances in the syntheses of anthracene derivatives

• Giovanni S. Baviera and
• Paulo M. Donate

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2028–2050, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.131

• propargylic carbonates 113 with terminal alkynes 114. The scope of this reaction consisted of 12 examples that were synthesized in moderate to good yields (40–87%). The authors obtained the best yields by using electron-deficient aryl alkynes or secondary carbonates with electron-rich arene substituents (115a

• anthracenes from a bifunctional organomagnesium alkoxide. Palladium-catalyzed tandem C–H activation/bis-cyclization of propargylic carbonates. Ruthenium-catalyzed C–H arylation of acetophenone derivatives with arenediboronates. Pd-catalyzed intramolecular cyclization of (Z,Z)-p-styrylstilbene derivatives

Asymmetric organocatalyzed synthesis of coumarin derivatives

• Natália M. Moreira,
• Lorena S. R. Martelli and
• Arlene G. Corrêa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1952–1980, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.128

• described an allylic alkylation reaction between 3-cyano-4-methylcoumarins 39 and Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) carbonates 40 [45]. In this case, the catalyst (DHQ)2PYR 42 activates the MBH substrate and generates the dienolate in the vinylogous coumarin moiety, acting as a base. After the nucleophilic

• reaction between 3-cyano-4-methylcoumarins 39 and MBH carbonates 40. Enantioselective synthesis of cyclopropa[c]coumarins 45. NHC-catalyzed lactonization of 2-bromoenals 46 with 4-hydroxycoumarin (1). NHC-catalyzed enantioselective synthesis of dihydrocoumarins 51. Domino reaction of enals 2 with