Rotaxanes with integrated photoswitches: design principles, functional behavior, and emerging applications

• Jullyane Emi Matsushima,
• Khushbu,
• Zuliah Abdulsalam,
• Udyogi Navodya Kulathilaka Conthagamage and
• Víctor García-López

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2345–2366, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.179

• CC BY 4.0. (a) Structure of the [2]rotaxane and (b) mechanism for K+ cations transport across lipid bilayers. Figure 6 was adapted from [51], C. Wang et al., “A Light-Operated Molecular Cable Car for Gated Ion Transport”, Angew. Chem., with permission from John Wiley and Sons. Copyright © 2021 Wiley

Insoluble methylene-bridged glycoluril dimers as sequestrants for dyes

• Suvenika Perera,
• Peter Y. Zavalij and
• Lyle Isaacs

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2302–2314, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.176

• cucurbit[n]uril (CB[n]) molecular containers [21][22]. Macrocyclic CB[n] display ultratight binding toward hydrophobic cations in water which renders them an attractive new class of sequestrants [23][24][25][26]. For example, Buschmann and Jekel demonstrated the use of CB[6] (Figure 1) for the removal of

• ][37]. Previously, we showed that the water-soluble methylene-bridged glycoluril dimer (G2M2, Figure 1)-based host displayed highest affinity and selectivity for planar aromatic cations (e.g., dyes) [38]. Most recently, we synthesized a series of water-insoluble catechol-walled acyclic cucurbit[n]uril

• found that the water-soluble naphthalene-walled glycoluril dimer G2M2 (Figure 1) – with its roughly co-planar aromatic walls – is selective for planar aromatic cations as guests [38]. In order the complement the tricyclic ring system present in the panel of dyes (Figure 2), we envisioned the use of even

Enantioselective radical chemistry: a bright future ahead

• Anna C. Renner,
• Sagar S. Thorat,
• Hariharaputhiran Subramanian and
• Mukund P. Sibi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2283–2296, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.174

• reducing ability of copper(I), substrates can be reduced to radicals and oxidize copper(I) to copper(II) in the process. Copper(II) can oxidize other organic radicals to cations by SET or reversibly react with other radicals to form copper(III) species that can undergo fundamental organometallic steps such

Aryl iodane-induced cascade arylation–1,2-silyl shift–heterocyclization of propargylsilanes under copper catalysis

• Rasma Kroņkalne,
• Rūdolfs Beļaunieks,
• Armands Sebris,
• Anatoly Mishnev and
• Māris Turks

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1984–1994, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.154

• can arylate propargylsilanes and induce a 1,2-silyl shift to generate β-Si-stabilized allyl cations. Compared to the previously employed two-step halocyclization–cross-coupling sequence [22], this approach offers a shorter, [Pd]-free synthetic sequence to the modified styryl-containing tetrahydrofuran

Influence of the cation in hypophosphite-mediated catalyst-free reductive amination

• Natalia Lebedeva,
• Fedor Kliuev,
• Olesya Zvereva,
• Klim Biriukov,
• Evgeniya Podyacheva,
• Maria Godovikova,
• Oleg I. Afanasyev and
• Denis Chusov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1661–1670, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.130

• . The remedy for Parkinson’s disease, piribedil, was obtained in high yield. The plausible mechanism of the elaborated process was proposed and supported by DFT calculations. Keywords: amines; DFT; hypophosphites; reductive amination; role of cations; Introduction Sodium hypophosphite, NaH2PO2, is one

• fertilizers in agrochemistry phosphates [20]. Multiple literature reports indicate that changing the alkali metal cations can strongly affect diverse chemical processes including radical reactions [27], electrochemical processes [28], and biomass pyrolysis [29]. However, hypophosphites derived from alkali

• to fundamentally study the influence of the cations in hypophosphites on this process. In this work, the hypophosphites of Li, K, Rb, and Cs were obtained in situ, the influence of alkali metal cations on the efficiency of reductive amination was assessed and the obtained results were compared with

On the aromaticity and photophysics of 1-arylbenzo[a]imidazo[5,1,2-cd]indolizines as bicolor fluorescent molecules for barium tagging in the study of double-beta decay of ¹³⁶Xe

• Eric Iván Velazco-Cabral,
• Fernando Auria-Luna,
• Juan Molina-Canteras,
• Miguel A. Vázquez,
• Iván Rivilla and
• Fernando P. Cossío

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1627–1638, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.126

• Abstract In this paper, the behavior of a bicolor fluorescent indicator for the detection of barium cations formed by double-beta decay of 136Xe is analyzed by means of computational tools. Both DFT and TDDFT permit to understand the origin of the bicolor fluorescent signal emitted by 1-arylbenzo[a]imidazo

• fluorescent moieties constitute promising candidates to detect Ba2+ cations [8][9] (Figure 2). Another essential component is an aza-crown ether of appropriate dimensions to capture the barium cation. In addition, one para-disubstituted phenyl (or aryl) group is installed to generate selective cation–π

• -311+G** (S0) and using TDDFT (S1). Hydrogen atoms have been omitted for clarity. Fully optimized geometries (B3LYP-D3BJ/6ccrow-311++G**&DefTZVPP(Ba) level of theory) of Ba2+·crown ethers 15a–d (A) and phenyl·Ba2+·crown ether complexes 17a–d (B). Barium cations are represented in dark blue. Descriptors

Photoredox-catalyzed arylation of isonitriles by diaryliodonium salts towards benzamides

• Nadezhda M. Metalnikova,
• Nikita S. Antonkin,
• Tuan K. Nguyen,
• Natalia S. Soldatova,
• Alexander V. Nyuchev,
• Mikhail A. Kinzhalov and
• Pavel S. Postnikov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1480–1488, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.110

• differs from the ones with electron-rich aryls with 0.36 eV gap between (4-NO2C6H4)2I+ and (4-OMeC6H4)2I+ iodonium cations. If unsymmetric iodonium cations are considered where one of the aryls is phenyl and the other is a 4-substituted phenyl the bond-dissociation energy is 4.0 kcal/mol lower in case of

Advances in nitrogen-containing helicenes: synthesis, chiroptical properties, and optoelectronic applications

• Meng Qiu,
• Jing Du,
• Nai-Te Yao,
• Xin-Yue Wang and
• Han-Yuan Gong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1422–1453, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.106

• | value of 1.6 × 10−3. In addition, both 29a and 29b demonstrate redox activity, undergoing reversible formation of radical anions, dianions, and radical cations. The radical cation 29b•+, in particular, exhibits a broad near-infrared (NIR) absorption band extending to 3000 nm, highlighting its potential

Gold extraction at the molecular level using α- and β-cyclodextrins

• Susana Santos Braga

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1116–1125, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.89

• trace amounts (<3%). Investigations on the role of both the halogen in KAuX4 (X = Br, Cl) [37], as well as of different alkali cations (Na, K, Rb, Cs) [40] upon the ability to form a co-precipitate in the presence of α-CD were undertaken. The possibility of using different cyclodextrins (α-CD, β-CD or γ

• cations, the geometry is different from that observed in {α-CD·[K(OH2)6]+[AuBr4]−}n, because coordination of Rb+ and Cs+ takes place both at OH groups and at the O atoms of the glucopyranosyl ring in the CD tori (Figure 2, right). This strong coordination, in cooperation with the geometrically favourable

• diffraction of single crystals (Figure 3), showing, for both 1:1 and 2:1 stoichiometries, cyanoaurate anions inside the host cavity and potassium cations interacting with hydroxy groups of adjacent cyclodextrins. The strong host–guest affinity and complex stability in the solution phase has been studied by

Supramolecular assembly of hypervalent iodine macrocycles and alkali metals

• Krishna Pandey,
• Lucas X. Orton,
• Grayson Venus,
• Waseem A. Hussain,
• Toby Woods,
• Lichang Wang and
• Kyle N. Plunkett

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1095–1103, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.87

• at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, United States 10.3762/bjoc.21.87 Abstract This study explores the solution- and solid-state assembly of phenylalanine-based hypervalent iodine macrocycles (HIMs) with lithium and sodium cations. The metal cation binding of HIMs was evaluated by addition of

• lithium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate ethyl etherate LiBArF20 and sodium tetrakis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate NaBArF24. The electron-rich, outwardly projected carbonyl oxygens of the HIM co-crystalize with the cations into bent supramolecular architectures. Both crystal structures show a

• macrocycle is electrophilic in nature. In addition, DFT results show the three outwardly projected carbonyl oxygens (formerly the carbonyl of benzoic acid) are negatively charged and can potentially bind or interact with metal cations. Figure 3 (right) shows the calculated electrostatic potential map with

Recent advances in controllable/divergent synthesis

• Jilei Cao,
• Leiyang Bai and
• Xuefeng Jiang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 890–914, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.73

• the fluorosulfonyl imide to form sulfonyliminium cations Int-95. These then add to the activated phenylacetylene to construct the S–C bond, followed by intramolecular 1,5-hydrogen migration and aqueous workup to remove benzaldehyde, yielding the target sulfonylimine products. Both original

Cu–Bpin-mediated dimerization of 4,4-dichloro-2-butenoic acid derivatives enables the synthesis of densely functionalized cyclopropanes

• Patricia Gómez-Roibás,
• Andrea Chaves-Pouso and
• Martín Fañanás-Mastral

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 877–883, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.71

• different diastereoselectivity observed when other bases featuring different metal cations were used (Table 1, entry 2 vs entry 5), and the absence of any significant stereochemical influence from the copper complex (Table 1, entries 9–14). Lithium enolate C would then undergo a diastereoselective conjugate

Unraveling cooperative interactions between complexed ions in dual-host strategy for cesium salt separation

• Zhihua Liu,
• Ya-Zhi Chen,
• Ji Wang,
• Qingling Nie,
• Wei Zhao and
• Biao Wu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 845–853, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.68

• /bjoc.21.68 Abstract The dual-host strategy offers a straightforward approach to ion separation, yet the nature of cooperative interactions between receptor-complexed cations and anions remains poorly understood. In this study, we utilize 18-crown-6 as a cation receptor and a tripodal hexaurea receptor

• cations within a single molecule, have facilitated advancements in ion-pair recognition. This progress has led to the development of ion separation utilizing ion-pair receptors [16][17][18][19][20], which eliminate the need for auxiliary reagents to balance overall charges compared to the use of

• and making new receptors, thereby saving considerable time. However, the selectivity of ion separation achieved through the dual-host strategy may not match that of ion-pair receptors, possibly due to less defined interactions between the receptor-complexed anions and cations. Early studies employing

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