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

• substrates, both dicarbonylation and monocarbonylation processes occurred simultaneously with Cu(OAc)2, favoring the dicarbonylation process. In contrast, using CuBr(Me2S) the monocarbonylation process was favored. Possible reaction mechanisms: First, CO coordinates with copper salts to form (carbonyl)copper

Recent advances in allylation of chiral secondary alkylcopper species

• Minjae Kim,
• Gwanggyun Kim,
• Doyoon Kim,
• Jun Hee Lee and
• Seung Hwan Cho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 639–658, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.51

• stereospecific transmetalation of configurationally stable organometallic reagents, initially employing stoichiometric copper salts with chiral secondary organolithium species. The field then advanced through the development of more practical systems using configurationally stable chiral organoboron compounds

Dioxazolones as electrophilic amide sources in copper-catalyzed and -mediated transformations

• Seungmin Lee,
• Minsuk Kim,
• Hyewon Han and
• Jongwoo Son

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 200–216, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.12

• advancements in the synthetic transformations of dioxazolones, with particular examples of copper salts. Keywords: amidation; copper salts; dioxazolones; electrophilic nitrogen; N-acyl nitrene; Introduction Dioxazolones, first synthesized and reported by Beck and co-workers [1], have been employed as

• increasing interest as affordable, versatile, and sustainable catalytic systems. These catalysts are extensively employed in organic synthesis owing to their cost-effectiveness, reduced toxicity, and natural abundance [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. The use of copper salts has enabled a variety of

• recent progress in the chemical transformation of dioxazolones using copper salts. This review provides an overview of the recent achievements in the use of copper salts as sustainable metal systems for the transformation of dioxazolones. This review also discusses several related proposed mechanisms

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

• possible to exclude its action also as Lewis acid. Confirming this dual activity, it should be noted that copper triflate can rarely be replaced by other copper salts or complexes to obtain the same results. In general, catalyst switching does not work with copper triflate, thus supporting its unique

Synthesis of 1,2,3-triazoles containing an allomaltol moiety from substituted pyrano[2,3-d]isoxazolones via base-promoted Boulton–Katritzky rearrangement

• Constantine V. Milyutin,
• Andrey N. Komogortsev and
• Boris V. Lichitsky

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1334–1340, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.117

• reaction of hydrazones of 1,2,4-oxadiazoles leads to the corresponding 1,2,3-triazoles containing an amide fragment. Generally, the considered rearrangement proceeds under action of acidic or basic reagents [3][4][5][6][7]. Other options for this process are based on the application of copper salts or

Copper-promoted C5-selective bromination of 8-aminoquinoline amides with alkyl bromides

• Changdong Shao,
• Chen Ma,
• Li Li,
• Jingyi Liu,
• Yanan Shen,
• Chen Chen,
• Qionglin Yang,
• Tianyi Xu,
• Zhengsong Hu,
• Yuhe Kan and
• Tingting Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 155–161, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.14

• ·H2O (Table 1, entries 2–9). To our delight, copper salts were effective, giving the desired product 3aa in excellent yields of 88–95% (Table 1, entries 7–9). Cuprous salts, cobalt chloride, and nickel acetate were partially efficient for the reaction, providing product 3aa in 85% yield (Table 1

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

• , CoCl2, NiCl2, MnCl2, FeCl2, Fe(acac)3 and copper salts such as Cu(OAc)2, CuBr2, CuBr, CuCl2, and CuCN·2LiCl were evaluated in this coupling reaction, in which Cu(OAc)2 showed highest product yields. Moreover, phthalimides with SCF3, SCN, and SePh groups also worked well in this approach. Because of the

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

• and copper salts in the presence of NaOt-Bu in THF [15]. All attempts to prepare the corresponding iodide-containing compounds resulted in the formation of [(NHC)2Cu]+ species [15]. The copper complexes bearing ICy and It-Bu ligands were found to be sensitive to the excess of base and hence could not

• the respective ligand with the copper salts in THF [43]. In the same year, Sanford and co-workers [44] synthesized the first isolable NHC–Cu(I)–difluoromethyl complexes 91 (Scheme 31). Owing to the low stability of [Cu(CHF2)] species, larger/bulky ligands like IPr, SiPr, etc. were used to obtain

• addition of Et2Zn to cyclohexenone employing NHC–Cu(I) complex as catalyst. After trying a number of copper salts and benzimidazolium salts, the combination of Cu(OTf)2 with the salt 120 (R1 = R2 = t-Bu) was found to give the best results with 96% yield and 63% ee (Scheme 45). Sakaguchi and co-workers [65

Non-noble metal-catalyzed cross-dehydrogenation coupling (CDC) involving ether α-C(sp³)–H to construct C–C bonds

• Hui Yu and
• Feng Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1259–1288, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.94

• involved in the activation of DDQ by coordinating the carbonyl oxygen atom which leads to an increase in the oxidation activity of DDQ. Subsequently, Li et al. improved the above method, using a mixture of indium and copper salts as a catalyst, NHPI (N-hydroxyphthalimide) as a co-catalyst to achieve the

Copper-catalyzed N-arylation of amines with aryliodonium ylides in water

• Kasturi U. Nabar,
• Bhalchandra M. Bhanage and
• Sudam G. Dawande

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1008–1014, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.76

• tuning of the ligand and base combinations [18][19]. Thereafter, copper-catalyzed C–N bond-formation reactions have experienced unprecedented development due to mild reaction conditions and the low cost of copper salts [20][21][22]. On the other hand, hypervalent iodine reagents serve as versatile tools

• ) with iodonium ylide 2-(phenyl-λ3-iodaneylidene)cyclohexane-1,3-dione (2a) obtained from 1,3-cyclohexanedione in the presence of copper salts as catalysts. The detailed optimization studies are described in Table 1. Initially, we treated aniline (1a, 0.2 mmol) with iodonium ylide 2a (0.24 mmol) in the

Transition-metal-catalyzed C–H bond activation as a sustainable strategy for the synthesis of fluorinated molecules: an overview

• Louis Monsigny,
• Floriane Doche and
• Tatiana Besset

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 448–473, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.35

• ]. Trifluoromethylthiolation of azacalix[1]arene[3]pyridines using copper salts and a nucleophilic SCF3 source reported by Wang and co-workers [100]. aA mixture of CHCl3/MeOH 1:1 was used as solvent. Working hypothesis for the palladium-catalyzed C–H trifluoromethylthiolation reaction. Trifluoromethylthiolation of 2

Direct C–H amination reactions of arenes with N-hydroxyphthalimides catalyzed by cuprous bromide

• Dongming Zhang,
• Bin Lv,
• Pan Gao,
• Xiaodong Jia and
• Yu Yuan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 647–652, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.65

• and 3). Different copper salts were tested and the reactions proved to be less efficient (Table 1, entries 4 and 5). Except for triethyl phosphite, the reaction could not be carried out with other phosphorus species (Table 1, entries 6–8). The optimum result was obtained when benzene was employed as

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

• copper salts such as Cu(acac)2 (Table 1, entry 7), Cu(TFA)2, (Table 1, entry 8), Cu(OAc)2 (Table 1, entry 9) and replacing TFE with other protic additives including MeOH (Table 1, entry 10), EtOH (Table 1, entry 11), HFIP (Table 1, entry 12) and H2O (Table 1, entry 13). The scope of the continuous-flow

Visible-light-mediated copper photocatalysis for organic syntheses

• Yajing Zhang,
• Qian Wang,
• Zongsheng Yan,
• Donglai Ma and
• Yuguang Zheng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2520–2542, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.169

• discourage development of ruthenium and iridium-based catalysts [21]. Copper salts have become popular materials for photoredox catalysts due to their abundance, low cost, and ability to provide strong photoexcited reducing power [21][22][23][24]. In this review, the different catalysis mechanisms between

• alkylation Under mild conditions, copper salts are able to catalyze olefinic C–H functionalization or allylic alkylation, thus allow introducing alkenyl or allyl groups into organic molecules. Alkenylation and allylation reactions have been extensively investigated under thermal conditions. However, only few

• absence of organic halide, the copper salts catalyzed the hydroamination of the alkene [59]. Mechanistic studies showed that the copper–amido complex coordinated with alkenes, which then acted as a primary photocatalyst. After light irradiation, the excited alkene–copper–amido species offered a benzyl

A visible-light-induced, metal-free bis-arylation of 2,5-dichlorobenzoquinone

• Pieterjan Winant and
• Wim Dehaen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2315–2320, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.149

• , aryldiazonium salts have long played an essential role as radical precursors [20]. Their use in CH-arylation reactions of olefins, catalyzed by copper salts, was first published by Meerwein in 1939 [21]. Recently, we published a Meerwein arylation/cyclization sequence to benzofuropyridine derivatives in this

Synthetic accesses to biguanide compounds

• Oleksandr Grytsai,
• Cyril Ronco and
• Rachid Benhida

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1001–1040, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.82

• reagent to prepare biguanides dates back to the 1880s at the time of the first historical syntheses. During the decade following the biguanide discovery, three different techniques were investigated: a) the reaction of cyanoguanidine with an aqueous solution of an amine in the presence of copper salts [13

• ], b) the direct fusion of cyanoguanidine with amine hydrochlorides [14], and c) heating a mixture of these components in alcohol (Scheme 1) [15]. Surprisingly, these methods are still largely popular nowadays. Reaction of cyanoguanidine with amines in the presence of copper salts: Cyanoguanidine was

• are similar to those used for unsubstituted cyanoguanidines, namely a) the use of copper salts with free amines, b) direct fusion of the hydrochloride salts, and c) the heating of aminium salts in the appropriate solvent. Reaction of substituted cyanoguanidines with amines in the presence of copper

Catalytic trifluoromethylation of iodoarenes by use of 2-trifluoromethylated benzimidazoline as trifluoromethylating reagent

• Tatsuhiro Uchikura,
• Nanami Kamiyama,
• Taisuke Ishikawa and
• Takahiko Akiyama

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2442–2447, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.198

• , trifluoromethylacetophenone and phenylenediamine derivatives (Figure 1b). Herein we report a catalytic trifluoromethylation of iodoarenes by use of benzimidazoline derivatives in the presence of a catalytic amount of copper salts and a bipyridyl ligand (Figure 1c). Results and Discussion We first investigated the reaction

When metal-catalyzed C–H functionalization meets visible-light photocatalysis

• Lucas Guillemard and
• Joanna Wencel-Delord

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1754–1804, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.147

• concerned the development of “classical” C–H activation reactions, while a photoredox cycle was implemented to reoxidize the metal catalyst, thus obviating the need for a stoichiometric amount of metal-based oxidants, such as silver or copper salts. In parallel, dual synergistic catalysis has emerged. In

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

• could also activate the leaving group. After testing several kinds of phosphoramidite ligands with copper salts, the catalyst system L17/CuTc was selected for further studies. The solvent was found to play a crucial role in this reaction, with MTBE as the solvent of choice. Various organoaluminium

Copper catalysis with redox-active ligands

• Agnideep Das,
• Yufeng Ren,
• Cheriehan Hessin and
• Marine Desage-El Murr

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 858–870, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.77

• iminosemiquinone redox-active ligand which was oxidized to iminobenzoquinone. The Canary group [30] reported a redox-reconfigurable copper catalyst that exhibits reversal of its helical chirality through redox stimuli (Scheme 8). Combining ʟ-methionine and catalytic urea groups with two different copper salts as

A systematic review on silica-, carbon-, and magnetic materials-supported copper species as efficient heterogeneous nanocatalysts in “click” reactions

• Pezhman Shiri and
• Jasem Aboonajmi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 551–586, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.52

• oxidized to Cu(II) species. Without using a ligand or a reducing agent, Cu(II) can oxidize alkynes to produce an undesired byproduct. Active copper catalysts can be prepared by reducing copper(II) sources, oxidizing copper metal, comproportionation of Cu(II) and Cu(0), or combination of copper salts and

• suitable ligands [14]. Ligands serve to increase and modulate the reactivity of copper salts. In the first attempt, tris((1-benzyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl)amine (TBTA) considerably speds up the copper-catalyzed cyclization [15]. Many structurally diverse ligands, such as nitrogen-, phosphorus-, carbon

Controlling alkyne reactivity by means of a copper-catalyzed radical reaction system for the synthesis of functionalized quaternary carbons

• Goki Hirata,
• Yu Yamane,
• Naoya Tsubaki,
• Reina Hara and
• Takashi Nishikata

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 502–508, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.45

• produce 3g and 3h, respectively. An arylalkyne 1 possessing an electron-withdrawing group (ester) yielded 3i without affecting the reactivity of 2. Sulfur functional groups tend to decrease the catalytic activity of copper salts, but thienyl-substituted alkyne 1 reacted with 2a to produce 3j in 48% yield

KOt-Bu-promoted selective ring-opening N-alkylation of 2-oxazolines to access 2-aminoethyl acetates and N-substituted thiazolidinones

• Qiao Lin,
• Shiling Zhang and
• Bin Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 492–501, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.44

• without copper salts and decreasing the temperature to 50 °C in CH3CN, still a 99% GC yield of the desired product 3a was obtained (Table 1, entries 4 and 5). These results revealed that the copper salt is not necessary for this ring-opening N-alkylation reaction to take place. Next we evaluated several

Combination of multicomponent KA² and Pauson–Khand reactions: short synthesis of spirocyclic pyrrolocyclopentenones

• Riccardo Innocenti,
• Elena Lenci,
• Gloria Menchi and
• Andrea Trabocchi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 200–211, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.23

• following the reported method [48] employing copper catalysis, and tested on our starting material upon variation of copper salts, solvents and temperature, resulting in the neat reaction under CuI catalysis being optimal when carried out for 2 h at 100 °C under microwave irradiation (see Supporting

Synthesis of 3-alkenylindoles through regioselective C–H alkenylation of indoles by a ruthenium nanocatalyst

• Abhijit Paul,
• Debnath Chatterjee,
• Srirupa Banerjee and
• Somnath Yadav

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 140–148, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.16

• was diluted with ethyl acetate, and then water was added to it, which resulted in the dissolution of the soluble copper salts. Then, the mixture was centrifuged at 17000 rpm, and the supernatant liquid was decanted. The residue was successively washed thrice more with water, and finally the centrifuge