Photomechanochemistry: harnessing mechanical forces to enhance photochemical reactions

• Francesco Mele,
• Ana M. Constantin,
• Andrea Porcheddu,
• Raimondo Maggi,
• Giovanni Maestri,
• Nicola Della Ca’ and
• Luca Capaldo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 458–472, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.33

• zinc cations to align 1.1 through the formation of hydrogen-bonded coordination complexes. Thus, when a single crystal of the [Zn(bpe)2(H2O)4](NO3)2·8/3H2O·2/3bpe complex was exposed to UV irradiation (dark blue phosphor lamps, λ = 350 nm) for 25 h, only 46% conversion to 1.2 was observed via 1H NMR

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

• catalysis has fared best using approaches such as destabilizing ground states by constrictive binding, guiding molecular collisions to reduce large entropic costs (e.g., pericyclic reactions), and broad, undirected coulombic stabilization of charged transition states [36], for example of cations by

• versions. Recent advances using hexameric resorcin[4]arene-based capsules [122][123][124] (Figure 4B and C), notably by Tiefenbacher [105][125][126][127][128][129][130][131][132][133], have demonstrated substrate-controlled selectivities that vary from the bulk phase due to the stabilization of cations in

• ) Self-assembling capsules can perform hydrophobic catalysis [116][117]. (B) Resorcin[4]arene building block. (C) Hexameric resorcin[4]arene-based capsules [122] include structural water. The cavity can stabilize cations (substrates or transition states) and perform catalysis using dual activation of a

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, structure, ionochromic and cytotoxic properties of new 2-(indolin-2-yl)-1,3-tropolones

• Yurii A. Sayapin,
• Eugeny A. Gusakov,
• Inna O. Tupaeva,
• Alexander D. Dubonosov,
• Igor V. Dorogan,
• Valery V. Tkachev,
• Anna S. Goncharova,
• Gennady V. Shilov,
• Natalia S. Kuznetsova,
• Svetlana Y. Filippova,
• Tatyana A. Krasnikova,
• Yanis A. Boumber,
• Alexey Y. Maksimov,
• Sergey M. Aldoshin and
• Vladimir I. Minkin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 358–368, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.26

• sensitivity of in situ obtained complexes 9 and 10 with CN− to different cations. It appeared that the addition of an equivalent amount of Hg(ClO4)2 to an acetonitrile solution selectively and completely restores the initial absorption and fluorescence spectra (Scheme 3). Thus, the obtained compounds

Oxidation of [3]naphthylenes to cations and dications converts local paratropicity into global diatropicity

• Abel Cárdenas,
• Zexin Jin,
• Yong Ni,
• Jishan Wu,
• Yan Xia,
• Francisco Javier Ramírez and
• Juan Casado

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 277–285, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.20

• radical cations and dications of linear and angular [3]naphthylenes, consisting of fused aromatic naphthalenoid and antiaromatic cyclobutadienoid moieties and containing different degrees of paratropicity. Electronic absorption and vibrational Raman spectroscopies were used to describe the more relevant

• report that compounds 1 and 2 can both be easily oxidized to form relatively stable radical cations (1•+, 2•+) and dications (12+, 22+). Interestingly, oxidation reverses local antiaromaticity to aromaticity, a transition that is particularly noticeable in 1 → 1•+ → 12+, where stabilization of the

• dication is associated to the appearance of a global diatropic ring current which stabilizes the whole molecule. On the contrary, 22+ can be better viewed as two segregated radical cations with slight, but high enough, local diatropic character in each. Here, we use electronic UV–vis–NIR absorption and

Quantifying the ability of the CF₂H group as a hydrogen bond donor

• Matthew E. Paolella,
• Daniel S. Honeycutt,
• Bradley M. Lipka,
• Jacob M. Goldberg and
• Fang Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 189–199, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.11

• -methylpyridinium cations and related analogs (Figure 2). We anticipated that such cationic constructs would enhance the Brønsted acidity of the CF2–H bond by stabilizing the conjugate base of the CF2H group, in turn, increasing the hydrogen bond donation ability. Additionally, to minimize the effects of

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

• secondary amine 57. They have hypothesized that the organocatalytic activity of the aggregates is based on two types of interactions, i.e., electrostatic interactions of α,β-unsaturated iminium cations derived from cinnamaldehyde and the cyclic secondary amine with anionic sulfonate groups and π–π

Chemical structure metagenomics of microbial natural products: surveying nonribosomal peptides and beyond

• Thomas Ma and
• John Chu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3050–3060, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.253

• , they serve as ligands for chelating iron in siderophores. Because ferric cations (Fe3+) mostly exist as insoluble solids in the Earth crust, most microorganisms produce and secrete siderophores to scavenge this scarce resource from their surroundings [67]. Whereas siderophores do not always contain

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

Investigation of a bimetallic terbium(III)/copper(II) chemosensor for the detection of aqueous hydrogen sulfide

• Parvathy Mini,
• Michael R. Grace,
• Genevieve H. Dennison and
• Kellie L. Tuck

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2818–2826, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.237

• ), was incrementally spiked with a standard solution of 1 mM Na2S(aq). The time-gated luminescence emission spectrum (λex = 250 nm) of the solution was recorded after each addition. Competition assay with anions and cations: The time-gated luminescence emission change of a solution of [Tb.1·3Cu]3+ (5 μM

Anion-dependent ion-pairing assemblies of triazatriangulenium cation that interferes with stacking structures

• Yohei Haketa,
• Takuma Matsuda and
• Hiromitsu Maeda

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2567–2576, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.215

• at the top of TATA+ and bulkier counteranions displaced from the TATA+ plane to interact with the surrounding TATA+. Keywords: charged π-electronic systems; ion pairs; single-crystal X-ray analysis; solid-state assemblies; triazatriangulenium cation; Introduction Triangulenium cations [1][2] have

• electronic and electrooptical properties, various derivatives have been synthesized via peripheral modifications of the triangulenium cations. In particular, various functional units can be introduced at the N-positions of azatriangulenium cations. For example, N-alkyl-substituted triazatriangulenium (TATA

• +) cations, used as visible light fluorescent dyes, have been synthesized via a nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) reaction with primary alkylamines (e.g., 1a+; Figure 1) [15][16]. The highly planar geometry of the TATA+ core unit induces π–π stacking structures in single-crystal and film states, as

Evaluating the halogen bonding strength of a iodoloisoxazolium(III) salt

• Dominik L. Reinhard,
• Anna Schmidt,
• Marc Sons,
• Julian Wolf,
• Elric Engelage and
• Stefan M. Huber

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2401–2407, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.204

• ]. For all catalyst systems, decomposition of the −BArF24 anion was observed via 1H and 19F NMR spectroscopy, which is known to happen in the presence of activated gold complexes [29]. The stability of the DAI cations was checked with 1H NMR: the characteristic doublets belonging to the respective

• signals belonging to the core structure of the cations was observed. These results indicate that the DAI cations are still intact and do not decompose in the presence of the gold complex. In previous works, the mode of activation by several XB donors including DAI salts was investigated, suggesting that

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

• conceptually different methodology was reported by Rueping and co-workers [41] that was based on the aza-Cope rearrangement of in situ-formed N-α,α’-diphenyl-(α’’-allyl)methyliminium cations catalysed by the BINOL-derived chiral phosphoric acid 112 (Scheme 23). The amine 113 acting as the allyl donor source

• situ-generated N-acylquinolinium ions, catalysed by a tetrakis-triazole HBD catalyst [40]. Chiral phosphoric acid-catalysed aza-Cope rearrangement of in situ-formed N-α,α’-diphenyl-(α’’-allyl)methyliminium cations reported by Rueping et al. 2008 [41]. Tandem (R)-VANOL-triborate-catalysed asymmetric aza

Efficacy of radical reactions of isocyanides with heteroatom radicals in organic synthesis

• Akiya Ogawa and
• Yuki Yamamoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2114–2128, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.182

• radical; isocyanide; radical addition; radical cyclization; Introduction Carbon monoxide is a very important C1 resource in both synthetic and industrial chemistry and is not only capable of reacting with a variety of active species such as carbon cations, carbon anions, and carbon radicals (Figure 1

Development of a flow photochemical process for a π-Lewis acidic metal-catalyzed cyclization/radical addition sequence: in situ-generated 2-benzopyrylium as photoredox catalyst and reactive intermediate

• Masahiro Terada,
• Zen Iwasaki,
• Ryohei Yazaki,
• Shigenobu Umemiya and
• Jun Kikuchi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1973–1980, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.173

• , initiating further radical reactions through the formation of radical cations B. Nucleophilic arylmethyl radicals C, which are generated from radical cations B by desilylation, undergo an addition reaction with 2-benzopyrylium intermediates A, giving rise to the corresponding radical cation. Catalytic cycle

• II is completed through a SET from D, a reduced form of the photoredox catalyst 2-benzopyrylium intermediates A, to the generated radical cation, affording 1H-isochromene derivatives 3. The photoredox cycle is also completed with the regeneration of cations A through SET from D. The most distinctive

• system is an excellent method for improving the efficiency of the present sequential transformation, avoiding product degradation under photochemical reaction conditions. Further investigation of other flow photochemical reactions using in situ-generated organic cations is in progress in our laboratory

Novel oxidative routes to N-arylpyridoindazolium salts

• Oleg A. Levitskiy,
• Yuri K. Grishin and
• Tatiana V. Magdesieva

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1906–1913, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.166

• oxidation of both N-centers was demonstrated in [19]. The wide variety of the subsequent reaction channels for the radical cations formed under chemical or electrochemical oxidation of diarylamines, as well as availability of variously substituted diarylamines make them perspective starting compounds for

• containing electron-donating and electron-withdrawing groups were taken as the starting compounds (Scheme 2). As an oxidant, bis(trifluoroacetoxy)iodobenzene (PIFA) was used. It allowed obtaining the targeted heterocyclic cations in practical 49–54% yield for all starting diarylamines. Notably, a minor

• make oxidation of amines less anodic (due to the H-bonding and facilitation of deprotonation of the radical cations), thus narrowing the potential gap. Preparative experiments were performed under the same conditions as described above: A one-compartment cell, DMF, 0.25 mol equiv of a mediator was

Electrochemical radical cation aza-Wacker cyclizations

• Sota Adachi and
• Yohei Okada

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1900–1905, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.165

• cations that offer unique reactivities as intermediates in various bond-formation processes. Such intermediates can potentially take part in both radical and ionic bond formation; however, the mechanisms involved are complicated and not fully understood. Herein, we report electrochemical radical cation

• aza-Wacker cyclizations under acidic conditions, which are expected to proceed via radical cations generated by single-electron oxidation of alkenes. Keywords: alkene; aza-Wacker cyclization; electrochemistry; radical cation; sulfonamide; Introduction Activating bench-stable substrates is the first

• organic chemistry [11][12][13][14][15]. Single-electron oxidation of bench-stable substrates can generate radical cations that offer unique reactivities as intermediates for various bond-formation processes (also true for reduction). Because the reactivities of radicals and ions are fundamentally

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

• of chalcogen-based noncovalent organocatalysts. In 2023, Bolotin et al. published another article on the same subject [15], reporting a general improvement of electrophilic activation of carbonyl and imino groups by synergetic effect of aryl iodonium salts and silver cations. However, when similar

Synthesis of polycyclic aromatic quinones by continuous flow electrochemical oxidation: anodic methoxylation of polycyclic aromatic phenols (PAPs)

• Hiwot M. Tiruye,
• Solon Economopoulos and
• Kåre B. Jørgensen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1746–1757, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.153

• cations B and C which have only one Clar sextet with two alternative positions. Conclusion The electrochemical oxidation of polycyclic aromatic phenols to quinones represents a green alternative to chemical oxidants. Hydrogen gas evolution can be handled by recycling of the reaction mixture through the

Regio- and stereochemical stability induced by anomeric and gauche effects in difluorinated pyrrolidines

• Ana Flávia Candida Silva,
• Francisco A. Martins and
• Matheus P. Freitas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1572–1579, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.140

• -fluoroalkylamines and the respective cations [6]. Intramolecular hydrogen bonds involving either the carboxy or hydroxy group of 4R- and 4S-hydroxyproline have been identified as key factors in stabilizing the favored conformations in the gas phase. Therein, the contribution of a gauche effect due to electron

Benzylic C(sp³)–H fluorination

• Alexander P. Atkins,
• Alice C. Dean and
• Alastair J. J. Lennox

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1527–1547, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.137

• the relative stability of primary, secondary and tertiary benzylic radicals and cations. As a result, the presence of benzylic C(sp3)–H bonds in bioactive molecules can be problematic as they are particularly labile to enzymatic oxidation [16], and hence, their functionalisation has become a strategy

• and oxidation potentials. Electrochemical methods Synthetic electrochemistry is a powerful tool offering excellent control over reaction kinetics and selectivity [86]. Electrochemical oxidation has been demonstrated as an efficient means for generating benzylic cations, allowing for the introduction

• prolonged reaction times or upon increasing the applied cell potentials. In 2024, Lennox and co-workers reported their investigation in exploring how alternative electrolysis waveforms might assist in the generation of reactive primary benzylic cations for nucleophilic fluorination (Figure 43) [104]. The

Predicting bond dissociation energies of cyclic hypervalent halogen reagents using DFT calculations and graph attention network model

• Yingbo Shao,
• Zhiyuan Ren,
• Zhihui Han,
• Li Chen,
• Yao Li and
• Xiao-Song Xue

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1444–1452, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.127

• heterolytic BDEs are performed using M06-2X/def2-TZVPP in the SMD (acetonitrile) Implicit solvent model at 298.15 K. Due to the instability of some transfer group cations, such as +OCH3, +OCF3, +OCOCF3, +OCOPh, +OTf and +SCF3, it is difficult for us to investigate their heterolytic BDEs. From Table 2, it can

A comparison of structure, bonding and non-covalent interactions of aryl halide and diarylhalonium halogen-bond donors

• Nicole Javaly,
• Theresa M. McCormick and
• David R. Stuart

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1428–1435, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.125

• work (Scheme 2). Given the similarities drawn between hypervalent and halogen bonding [20], we considered the association of the diarylhalonium cations 1–8 with chloride anion as well as the association of the monovalent subunits 25–36 with chloride anion (Scheme 3). We also considered the association

• , whereas the association of chloride with pentafluorophenyl(mesityl)bromonium (6) was ΔG = −13.2 kcal/mol. The overall charge on the halogen-bond donor also has an impact on the energy of association. The association of chloride with the diarylhalonium cations 1–8 had ΔG values that ranged from −5.9 to

• −23.1 kcal/mol (see Supporting Information File 1 for exact values). Likewise, the association of chloride with imidazolium halides 37–40 ranged from −3.7 to −14.3 kcal/mol, which overlaps with the range observed for the diarylhalonium cations. We delved deeper into the periodic trends related to the X

Generation of alkyl and acyl radicals by visible-light photoredox catalysis: direct activation of C–O bonds in organic transformations

• Mithu Roy,
• Bitan Sardar,
• Itu Mallick and
• Dipankar Srimani

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1348–1375, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.119

• triggered to carry out energy transfer and electron transfer or proton-coupled electron transfer when it absorbs light of an appropriate wavelength (Figure 2). These processes generate highly reactive species, such as radical cations or anions, which can initiate the desired organic transformations

Transition-metal-catalyst-free electroreductive alkene hydroarylation with aryl halides under visible-light irradiation

• Kosuke Yamamoto,
• Kazuhisa Arita,
• Masami Kuriyama and
• Osamu Onomura

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1327–1333, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.116

• alkene 2 to provide alkyl radical species B. Further single-electron reduction by 1,3-DCB•− or at the cathode followed by protonation of B provides hydroarylation product 3. Meanwhile, the sacrificial anode is oxidized to form Al cations. Although the exact role of visible-light irradiation in the