Recent advances in electrochemical copper catalysis for modern organic synthesis

• Yemin Kim and
• Won Jun Jang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 155–178, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.9

• quinine as a chiral ligand under standard conditions, the chiral product was obtained with a high yield and 79% ee. Enantioselective C(sp3)–H functionalization is an attractive strategy for synthesizing chiral molecules. Significant progress has been achieved in transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric C–H

• asymmetric electrocatalytic cyanophosphinoylation of vinylarenes (Figure 14) [69]. In the presence of a copper catalyst and the chiral ligand sBOX(iPr) (L8) in an electrochemical cell, these three component reactions using styrene derivatives 27, TMSCN (21), and diarylphosphine oxide 80 as starting materials

• tolerance. Moreover, asymmetric transformations are possible when arylalkenes are used as starting materials in the presence of copper and chiral ligand L3, yielding the corresponding chiral products. Based on mechanistic studies, the catalytic cycle begins with anodic oxidation of N3− to generate an azide

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

• a CPA to be used as an organocatalyst or to a phosphoramidite to be used as a chiral ligand. Testing these new structures on known stereoselective transformations, the authors achieved high yields and enantioselectivities (up to 98% yield and 97% ee). Wang et al. performed asymmetric (4 + 3

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

• product (Scheme 34). To date, only a few enantioselective reactions using metal catalysis and electrochemistry have been reported. Very recently, Ackermann and coworkers employed Co(OAc)2 as a catalyst and a salicyloxazoline derivative as a chiral ligand to achieve the electrochemical atroposelective C–H

Evaluation of the enantioselectivity of new chiral ligands based on imidazolidin-4-one derivatives

• Jan Bartáček,
• Karel Chlumský,
• Jan Mrkvička,
• Lucie Paloušová,
• Miloš Sedlák and
• Pavel Drabina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 684–691, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.62

• ; Introduction The application of chiral metal complexes as enantioselective catalysts is among the fundamental strategies for preparing compounds in non-racemic forms [1][2][3][4]. These complexes typically comprise a chelating chiral ligand capable of coordinating with a metal ion; otherwise, a metal atom

• itself constitutes a stereocentre [4]. The specific pairing of a chiral ligand and a metal ion is essential for the catalytic characteristics and its effectiveness of the complex in asymmetric syntheses [1][2][3]. In recent years, our research group has synthesised a series of chiral ligands based on 2

Photoredox catalysis harvesting multiple photon or electrochemical energies

• Mattia Lepori,
• Simon Schmid and
• Joshua P. Barham

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1055–1145, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.81

Asymmetric tandem conjugate addition and reaction with carbocations on acylimidazole Michael acceptors

• Brigita Mudráková,
• Renata Marcia de Figueiredo,
• Jean-Marc Campagne and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 881–888, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.65

• , the configuration at the position C-3 is determined by the chiral ligand L1 and was determined previously as (R) [19]. To gain insight into the reactivity of enolates formed in this transformation, we evaluated properties of Zn enolates by DFT calculations (Figure 2). The corresponding (E) and (Z

Pyridine C(sp²)–H bond functionalization under transition-metal and rare earth metal catalysis

• Haritha Sindhe,
• Malladi Mounika Reddy,
• Karthikeyan Rajkumar,
• Akshay Kamble,
• Amardeep Singh,
• Anand Kumar and
• Satyasheel Sharma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 820–863, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.62

• metals inhibits the metal–chiral ligand coordination, thus making the C–H alkylation of pyridine substrates challenging. In addition, transition-metal-catalyzed enantioselective C–H alkylation reactions of pyridine still remain a great challenge. In this regard, in 2022, Ye and co-workers [60] reported

Enolates ambushed – asymmetric tandem conjugate addition and subsequent enolate trapping with conventional and less traditional electrophiles

• Péter Kisszékelyi and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 593–634, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.44

• well as ketones were compatible with this process. The chiral ligand L12 afforded the highest enantioselectivities of up to 98% ee (Scheme 12). Conjugate addition of Grignard reagents to coumarin (49) generated the corresponding magnesium enolates 50 [43]. In one instance, this enolate was trapped by

• NMR experiments (Hα coupling constants ≈ 6.4–8.6 Hz), the high level of diastereocontrol can be associated with the preferred Z-configuration of the cyclic copper enolate intermediate. In the presence of the chiral ligand (R,S)-L17, the tandem reaction was accomplished in a highly enantioselective way

• enantioselective methods for the synthesis of cyclobutylboronates which could serve as important building blocks [86]. Utilizing high-throughput (HTS) chiral ligand screening, they have presented the highly asymmetric conjugate borylation of disubstituted cyclobutenones. Next, they thoroughly studied the

A new oxidatively stable ligand for the chiral functionalization of amino acids in Ni(II)–Schiff base complexes

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

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 566–574, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.41

• and the reaction scope, making possible new types of transformations [32][33][34][35]. On the other hand, it puts additional requirements on the design of the chiral ligand. Another important structurally tunable parameter comprises the oxidation or reduction potential of the complex. Additionally, as

• . Results and Discussion Synthesis The synthetic approach to the chiral ligand L7 as well as to its Ni–Schiff base derivatives containing glycine, serine, dehydroalanine, and cysteine is given in Scheme 2. Commercially available (S)-proline was used as the starting material. To obtain the starting t-Bu

• )L1 is given for comparison. Selected examples of the chiral ligands used for synthesis of the Ni(II)–Schiff base complexes. Synthesis of the chiral ligand L7 and its Ni(II) complexes with glycine, serine, dehydroalanine, and cysteine derivatives. The yields and the thermodynamically controlled

Transition-metal-catalyzed domino reactions of strained bicyclic alkenes

• Austin Pounder,
• Eric Neufeld,
• Peter Myler and
• William Tam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 487–540, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.38

• used directly which showed comparable yields. The authors also reported preliminary results for an asymmetric variant of the reaction using (R,R)-Ph-BPE as a chiral ligand. Although the use of the chiral phosphine ligand resulted in slightly diminished yields, the authors were able to achieve ees up to

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

• AlMe3 to 4,4-dimethyl-2,5-cyclohexadienone in the presence of a copper salt/chiral ligand and silylating reagent [37][38]. The racemic conjugate addition of nucleophiles to 5 was first investigated, starting with the Gilman reagent which was used in Takemoto and Iwata study (Scheme 6). In addition, a

Electrocatalytic C(sp³)–H/C(sp)–H cross-coupling in continuous flow through TEMPO/copper relay catalysis

• Bin Guo and
• Hai-Chao Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2650–2656, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.178

• reaction of tetrahydroisoquinolines with terminal alkynes (Scheme 1C) [10]. The chiral ligand was found to be critical for the stereoinduction as well as product formation for these electrochemical reactions that are conducted in batch. Continuous-flow electrochemical microreactors offer several advantages

• electrochemical microreactors can be a viable tool for developing efficient transition-metal electrocatalysis. C(sp3)–H alkynylation of tetrahydroisoquinolines. L* = chiral ligand. TEMPO = 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine 1-oxyl. DDQ = 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone. BPO = benzoyl peroxide. Substrate

Photoredox catalysis in nickel-catalyzed C–H functionalization

• Lusina Mantry,
• Rajaram Maayuri,
• Vikash Kumar and
• Parthasarathy Gandeepan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2209–2259, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.143

•  41) [124]. Here, dimethyl dicarbonate (DMDC) was the choice of activator to convert the carboxylic acid to a mixed anhydride in situ. In this protocol, the bisoxazoline-based chiral ligand 83 enabled the synthesis of α-amino ketones in high enantioselectivities under mild reaction conditions. Good

On the application of 3d metals for C–H activation toward bioactive compounds: The key step for the synthesis of silver bullets

• Renato L. Carvalho,
• Amanda S. de Miranda,
• Mateus P. Nunes,
• Roberto S. Gomes,
• Guilherme A. M. Jardim and
• Eufrânio N. da Silva Júnior

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1849–1938, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.126

A comprehensive review of flow chemistry techniques tailored to the flavours and fragrances industries

• Guido Gambacorta,
• James S. Sharley and
• Ian R. Baxendale

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1181–1312, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.90

Selective and reversible 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of 6-aryl-1,5-diazabicyclo[3.1.0]hexanes with 1,3-diphenylprop-2-en-1-ones under microwave irradiation

• Alexander P. Molchanov,
• Mariia M. Efremova,
• Mariya A. Kryukova and
• Mikhail A. Kuznetsov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2679–2686, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.218

• earlier that the electronic properties of the substituted aryl group of diaziridines and chalcones showed a profound influence on the yields of a catalytic reaction (scandium triflate with a chiral ligand); when a phenyl or p-chloro/methylphenyl-substituted diaziridine was employed, the cycloaddition

Recent developments in enantioselective photocatalysis

• Callum Prentice,
• James Morrisson,
• Andrew D. Smith and
• Eli Zysman-Colman

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2363–2441, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.197

• gadolinium catalyst and chiral ligand L2 (Scheme 43b) [108]. By altering the radical precursor to α-silyl amines 277 and using α,β-unsaturated amides 278, Yoon et al. found that the reactions could be stopped at the RCA step to give enantioenriched 1,4-addition products 279 using a scandium catalyst and

• chiral ligand L3 (Scheme 44a) [109]. The putative mechanism proceeds via a reductive quenching cycle to give nucleophilic α-amino radicals 277•, which can add to the β-position of Lewis acid complex 280 to give the α-carbonyl radical 280•. Instead of a cyclisation, this radical is then reduced by the

Hierarchically assembled helicates as reaction platform – from stoichiometric Diels–Alder reactions to enamine catalysis

• David Van Craen,
• Jenny Begall,
• Johannes Großkurth,
• Leonard Himmel,
• Oliver Linnenberg,
• Elisabeth Isaak and
• Markus Albrecht

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2338–2345, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.195

• Diels–Alder reaction [21][22] and (2) a chiral ligand 2-H2 for the stereocontrol [13]. Cleaving the complex under acidic conditions resulted in the desired enantiomerically enriched product 9 and enabled the recovery of the chiral ligand 2-H2 (Scheme 2) [13]. The solvent choice allowed on/off-switching

• auxiliary, Lewis acid or catalyst. In the previously reported system two different induction pathways were conceivable: (1) A chiral ligand is located close to the diene and controls the stereochemistry of the cycloaddition. (2) The chiral ligand controls the helicity of the helicate (ΔΔ or ΛΛ) and the

• reaction yielded the racemic product after purification. Scheme 3 is showing that the induction of stereochemistry of the Diels–Alder reaction depends on the chirality at the chiral ligand and not at the helix. This allows improvement of the stereoselectivity by using more appropriate sterically hindered

Copper-catalysed alkylation of heterocyclic acceptors with organometallic reagents

• Yafei Guo and
• Syuzanna R. Harutyunyan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1006–1021, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.90

• the total synthesis of the natural product (+)-myrtine with 14% overall yield (Scheme 1B) [17]. For this application, the highest yield (73%) and enantioselectivity (96% ee) were obtained using the chiral ligand L3 and a copper salt as the catalyst. Despite the fact that examples of high yield and

Copper-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate reduction of α,β-unsaturated esters with chiral phenol–carbene ligands

• Shohei Mimura,
• Sho Mizushima,
• Yohei Shimizu and
• Masaya Sawamura

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 537–543, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.50

• systems, while the observation of a higher enantioselectivity for the (Z)-isomer substrate 1a was characteristic for the phenol–NHC chiral ligand [4][6][8]. The result suggested that the chiral catalyst may mainly discriminate the hydrogen atom and the ethoxycarbonyl group at the α-position rather than

Copper-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate addition of organometallic reagents to challenging Michael acceptors

• Delphine Pichon,
• Jennifer Morvan,
• Christophe Crévisy and
• Marc Mauduit

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 212–232, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.24

• , and triorganoaluminium reagents to α,β-unsaturated aldehydes (Scheme 5). With diethyl- and dimethylzinc, and in the presence of the most efficient chiral ligand (R)-H8-BINAP (L7), moderate to excellent regioselectivities (1,4:1,2 ratios up to 100:0) were observed, and the desired 1,4-products were

• enantiomers of the chiral ligand, either anti- or syn-1,3-deoxypropionate units were produced in good yields and excellent enantioselectivities (85–92% ee). Furthermore, an iterative procedure was also performed leading to all-syn or anti/syn-5,7,9-stereotriads, with high yields and stereoselectivity. This

A review of asymmetric synthetic organic electrochemistry and electrocatalysis: concepts, applications, recent developments and future directions

• Munmun Ghosh,
• Valmik S. Shinde and
• Magnus Rueping

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2710–2746, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.264

• ). Constant current electrolysis of 89 in a single compartment cell using a sacrificial Mg anode was conducted in the presence of a Ni catalyst and chiral ligand 90. After esterification and purification, 91 was isolated in a good yield and with moderate enantioselectivity [70]. In another recent report, Guo

Self-assembled coordination thioether silver(I) macrocyclic complexes for homogeneous catalysis

• Zhen Cao,
• Aline Lacoudre,
• Cybille Rossy and
• Brigitte Bibal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2465–2472, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.239

• the presence of commercially available inexpensive salts (AgOTf, AgNO3) and eventually a (chiral) ligand. Such silver(I) complexes were prepared by using (bi)pyridine [19][23][24][25][26], phosphine [22][27][28][29][30], ditopic N/P [22] ligands and a few S/P and S/N ones [31][32][33][34]. None of the

α-Photooxygenation of chiral aldehydes with singlet oxygen

• Dominika J. Walaszek,
• Magdalena Jawiczuk,
• Jakub Durka,
• Olga Drapała and
• Dorota Gryko

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2076–2084, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.205

• ’ = ΔA/c × d, where c is the molar concentration of the chiral ligand, assuming 100% complexation (A = absorption; d = path length of the cell). Δε’ is expressed in [M−1 cm−1] units. Conformational analysis and ECD calculations The conformational search was performed with ComputeVOA [35] using the MMFF94

Recent developments in the asymmetric Reformatsky-type reaction

• Hélène Pellissier

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 325–344, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.21

• ]. In this case, the ZnMe2-mediated reaction employed N-methylephedrine as chiral ligand which provided the corresponding chiral β-amino esters with enantioselectivities of up to 94% ee. Later in 2008, Feringa introduced the first catalytic enantioselective version of the Reformatsky reaction involving

• aldehydes as electrophiles [38]. Enantioselectivities of up to 84% ee were achieved by using a BINOL derivative as chiral ligand. Ever since, other types of chiral ligands including chiral Schiff bases [39], bisoxazolidines [40], 1,2-amino alcohols [41], indolinylmethanols [42], and diarylprolinols have

• in this process was essential for the effective C−C bond formation. They proposed the catalytic cycle depicted in Scheme 20 which begins with the reaction between chiral ligand 51, ZnEt2 and ethyl bromoacetate (9b) to give complex G. Addition of the aldehyde to the latter results in the formation of