Efficient solid-phase synthesis and structural characterization of segetalins A–H, J and K

• Liangyu Liu,
• Wanqiu Lu,
• Quanping Guo and
• Zhaoqing Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2612–2617, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.202

• (Caryophyllaceae), are head-to-tail cyclic oligopeptides comprising 5–9 amino acid residues [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. These natural products exhibit a significant diversity of pharmacological activities [14][15][16], including estrogen-like activity (1, 2, 7, 8), antitumor effects (5), and antimicrobial

• , successful macrocyclization was achieved by employing benzotriazol-1-yloxytripyrrolidinophosphonium hexafluorophosphate (PyBOP) as the coupling reagent in DMF at a concentration of 10−3 M. After cleavage from the resin and global side-chain deprotection, the crude cyclic peptides were purified by preparative

• electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HRESIMS) data for all compounds matched the calculated exact masses for their respective molecular formulas. NMR spectroscopic analysis in appropriate deuterated solvents (e.g., DMSO-d6, D2O) fully corroborated the amino acid sequence and cyclic connectivity

Ni-promoted reductive cyclization cascade enables a total synthesis of (+)-aglacin B

• Si-Chen Yao,
• Jing-Si Cao,
• Jian Xiao,
• Ya-Wen Wang and
• Yu Peng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2548–2552, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.197

• the tropical rain forests of the Kalimantan region (Indonesia) [1][2]. These cyclic ether natural products belong to the typical aryltetralin lignans, which have already attracted broad attention from the synthetic community [3][4][5]. Zhu and co-workers disclosed a concise synthesis of (±)-aglacins B

Synthesis and characterization of a isothiouronium-calix[4]arene derivative: self-assembly and anticancer activity

• Giuseppe Granata,
• Loredana Ferreri,
• Claudia Giovanna Leotta,
• Giovanni Mario Pitari and
• Grazia Maria Letizia Consoli

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2535–2541, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.195

• [7], cyclic peptides [8], cucurbiturils [9], resorcinarenes [10], pillarenes [11], prismarenes [12], and calix[n]arenes have proven to be particularly valuable. Calix[n]arenes, a family of polyphenolic macrocyclic oligomers, are widely utilized in applications ranging from materials science to life

Catalytic enantioselective synthesis of selenium-containing atropisomers via C–Se bond formations

• Qi-Sen Gao,
• Zheng-Wei Wei and
• Zhi-Min Chen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2447–2455, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.186

• phenyl-substituted benzoisoquinoline derivatives. Two plausible reaction mechanisms were proposed in the study: one involving oxidative addition of Int 4, a five-membered rhodium cyclic intermediate, followed by reductive elimination and the other proceeding via a bimolecular nucleophilic substitution

Transformation of the cyclohexane ring to the cyclopentane fragment of biologically active compounds

• Natalya Akhmetdinova,
• Ilgiz Biktagirov and
• Liliya Kh. Faizullina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2416–2446, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.185

• [52] achieved high regioselectivity and stereospecific construction of contiguous all-carbon quaternary centers through an oxidative ring contraction of cyclic α-formyl ketones by the action of H2O2. This reaction is easy to perform, environmentally friendly, and does not require expensive catalysts

• ], the mechanism and factors controlling the selectivity of the oxidative ring contraction in cyclic α-formyl ketones under the action of H2O2 were studied in detail. Due to their complex architecture and diverse biological activities, including antiviral, antitumor, antimalarial, and antifungal activity

• formation of a mixture of ketone 194 and cyclic diene 195. Regio- and stereoselectivity was observed in the case of the epoxide 189. The cyclopentane derivative 194 was obtained stereoselectively and in high yield during the reaction with BF3·Et2O. An alternative example of the tandem epoxide rearrangement

The high potential of methyl laurate as a recyclable competitor to conventional toxic solvents in [3 + 2] cycloaddition reactions

• Ayhan Yıldırım and
• Mustafa Göker

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2389–2415, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.184

• for the preparation of such cyclic compounds and/or their fused cyclic systems typically necessitate the use of toxic solvents, including chloroform, benzene, toluene etc. [32][53][54][55][56][57][58][59]. Indeed, the selection of conventional organic solvents, including benzene, toluene and

Recent advances in Norrish–Yang cyclization and dicarbonyl photoredox reactions for natural product synthesis

• Peng-Xi Luo,
• Jin-Xuan Yang,
• Shao-Min Fu and
• Bo Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2315–2333, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.177

• (C6F5)3B triggered a Meinwald rearrangement, generating aldehyde 66. Nucleophilic addition, oxidation of the resulting alcohol, and base-promoted epimerization at C6 of 67' delivered 67. Subsequent dihydroxylation of the alkene in 67 and protection of the resulting 1,2-diol as a cyclic carbonate

• protection as ketal and nitrile reduction. The two building blocks (76 and 81) were then merged through the desired formal [3 + 3]-cycloaddition to generate N-desmethyl-α-obscurine (82), presumably via in situ-generated intermediates 76a and 81a, respectively. Subsequent Boc protection of the cyclic amine in

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

• discern the effect of smaller aromatic sidewalls. The synthesis of acyclic CB[n]-type receptors follows a building block approach involving the reaction of a glycoluril bis(cyclic) ether with an activated aromatic wall by a double electrophilic aromatic substitution process [30]. Scheme 2 shows the

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

• isomerization reactions of cyclic meso-epoxides as part of a bimetallic titanium/cobalt catalytic system [64]. Photoredox catalysis in radical reactions The ability of a photocatalyst (organic small molecule or transition-metal complex) to undergo single electron transfer (SET) to a variety of organic

• . Melchiorre and co-workers reported a dual catalytic system that involves photoredox and chiral organocatalysts for the construction of all-carbon quaternary centers. The authors studied radical additions to β,β-disubstituted cyclic enones (Scheme 7) [29]. The dual catalytic system of tetrabutylammonium

• decatungstate (TBADT) and chiral amine 33 was able to catalyze the reaction between benzodioxoles 32 and cyclic β,β-disubstituted enones 31. Cyclic ketones 34 bearing all-carbon quaternary stereocenters at the β-position were obtained in good yields and high enantioselectivity. Enzyme-catalyzed radical

Pathway economy in cyclization of 1,n-enynes

• Hezhen Han,
• Wenjie Mao,
• Bin Lin,
• Maosheng Cheng,
• Lu Yang and
• Yongxiang Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2260–2282, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.173

• allene intermediate 141, which subsequently underwent 5-exo-trig cyclization to construct polysubstituted furan compounds 142. Liu et al. discovered that the regioselectivity of cyclization could be completely altered by introducing a cyclic structure to modify the bond angle of the enol ether

• , affording the eight-membered benzo[b]azocin-2-one product 165. This methodology was distinguished by operational simplicity, high efficiency, and scalable synthesis. Moreover, temperature modulation achieved rapid access to cyclic compounds with distinct ring sizes. In 2022, biphenyl-embedded 1,3,5-trien-7

Synthesis of triazolo- and tetrazolo-fused 1,4-benzodiazepines via one-pot Ugi–azide and Cu-free click reactions

• Xiaoming Ma,
• Zijie Gao,
• Jiawei Niu,
• Wentao Shao,
• Shenghu Yan,
• Sai Zhang and
• Wei Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2202–2210, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.167

• ) to obtain triazolobenzodiazepine which in turn can serve as a cyclic imine for a modified Joullié–Ugi 3-CR with isocyanide and trimethylsilyl azide (TMSN₃) in the synthesis of tetrazole-tethered triazolobenzodiazepines (Scheme 3B). We envisioned that the reaction conditions may need to be modified to

Electrochemical cyclization of alkynes to construct five-membered nitrogen-heterocyclic rings

• Lifen Peng,
• Ting Wang,
• Zhiwen Yuan,
• Bin Li,
• Zilong Tang,
• Xirong Liu,
• Hui Li,
• Guofang Jiang,
• Chunling Zeng,
• Henry N. C. Wong and
• Xiao-Shui Peng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2173–2201, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.166

• and sustainability [95][96][97][98][99][100]. Numerous electrochemical constructions of cyclic compounds from alkynes have been developed. For examples, 2-aryl-3-sulfonyl-functionalized quinoline was formed by an electrochemical annulation of benzoxazinanone and p-arylsulfonyl hydrazide [101]. The

• synthesis of cyclic compounds have emerged. The electrochemical functionalization of alkynes was highlighted by Ahmed in 2019 [109], Zhang described radical annulation of 1,n-enynes under photo/electrochemical reaction conditions in 2023 [110], the electrochemical formation of heterocycles was summarized by

• -exo-dig N-radical addition into the C≡C bond to generate the cyclic species C. The radical anion D was then obtained via single electron reduction of C at the cathode. The subsequent protonation of D gave α-aminyl radical E [215][216][217], which was converted into the anion F by further cathodic

C2 to C6 biobased carbonyl platforms for fine chemistry

• Jingjing Jiang,
• Muhammad Noman Haider Tariq,
• Florence Popowycz,
• Yanlong Gu and
• Yves Queneau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2103–2172, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.165

• a C1 building block for the N-formylation of secondary amines to formamides under catalyst-free conditions and air as oxidant. This method was applied to different aromatic and aliphatic (both cyclic and acyclic) amines (Scheme 3) [31]. Already in 1955, Parham and Reiff reported the synthesis and

• evolves towards cyclic acetals (Scheme 4) [32]. Exploring methods for the conversion of glycolaldehyde (GCA) to 3-(indol-3-yl)-2,3-dihydrofurans in organic solvents, Gu et al. reported a three-component reaction combining GCA, ethyl acetoacetate as 1,3-dicarbonyl component and indole. Using glycolaldehyde

• yield [83]. In their synthesis the cyclic acetal (2,5-diethoxy-1,4-dioxane-2,5-diyl)dimethanol or its dimethoxy analog was esterified with diphenyl phosphorochloridate in pyridine to give (2,5-diethoxy-1,4-dioxane-2,5-diyl)bis(methylene) tetraphenyl bis(phosphate). Subsequent removal of the phenyl

The application of desymmetric enantioselective reduction of cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds in the total synthesis of terpenoid and alkaloid natural products

• Dong-Xing Tan and
• Fu-She Han

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2085–2102, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.164

• The desymmetric enantioselective reduction of cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds is a powerful tool for the construction of ring systems bearing multiple stereocenters including all-carbon quaternary stereocenters, which are widely useful chiral building blocks for the total synthesis of structurally

• synthesized utilizing a desymmetric enantioselective reduction strategy of cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds as a key transformation. This review will summarize the application of this strategy in the total synthesis of terpenoid and alkaloid natural products from the year 2016 to 2025. We first focus on the

• synthesis of several terpenoids and alkaloids through the desymmetric enantioselective reduction of five-membered cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds. Subsequently, the utilization of six-membered cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds for the synthesis of some terpenoids natural products is described. Keywords

Discovery of cytotoxic indolo[1,2-c]quinazoline derivatives through scaffold-based design

• Daniil V. Khabarov,
• Valeria A. Litvinova,
• Lyubov G. Dezhenkova,
• Dmitry N. Kaluzhny,
• Alexander S. Tikhomirov and
• Andrey E. Shchekotikhin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2062–2071, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.161

• substitution of the terminal chloride in 11 with various cyclic amines, including pyrrolidine, piperidine, and mono-tert-butoxycarbonyl (Boc)-protected piperazine, provided a set of aminoalkyl derivatives 12а–с (Scheme 4). This strategy enables the expansion of structural diversity within this scaffold and

• towards all tested cancer cell lines. However, no clear correlation between structure and activity was observed. For example, elongation of the alkyl substituents (N,N-diethylamino derivative 9b) led to a complete loss of antiproliferative activity, while its cyclic analog 9c showed the lowest IC50 value

• in the series for the HCT116 cell line. Incorporation of an additional aminoalkyl moiety in the structure of cyclic amine (compounds 9e, 9f) does not result in any meaningful changes of potency. The same modification of 6-methylindolo[1,2-c]quinazoline scaffold yielding derivatives 10a–c also gave

Bioinspired total syntheses of natural products: a personal adventure

• Zhengyi Qin,
• Yuting Yang,
• Nuran Yan,
• Xinyu Liang,
• Zhiyu Zhang,
• Yaxuan Duan,
• Huilin Li and
• Xuegong She

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2048–2061, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.160

• reduction of ketone using SmI2 and propionaldehyde provided 15 diastereoselectively. Friedel–Crafts cyclization using trimethyl orthoformate and TMSOTf provided the cyclic acetal moiety to be oxidized with PDC, delivering the isocoumarin skeleton in 16. Chemoselective removal of the ester with the lactone

Solar thermal fuels: azobenzene as a cyclic photon–heat transduction platform

• Jie Yan,
• Shaodong Sun,
• Minghao Wang and
• Si Wu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2036–2047, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.159

• challenges in large-scale fabrication are inherent limitations. Conjugated azobenzene polymers undergo photoisomerization and thermally triggered back-isomerization, enabling cyclic "charging–discharging" of energy. However, their solid-state phase transition behavior is inherently governed by molecular

Understanding the origin of stereoselectivity in the photochemical denitrogenation of 2,3-diazabicyclo[2.2.1]heptene and its derivatives with non-adiabatic molecular dynamics

• Leticia A. Gomes and
• Steven A. Lopez

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2007–2020, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.156

• ][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78] mechanisms of cyclic azoalkenes have been studied with experimental and computational techniques for more than six decades, in solution [51][55][59][60][61][64][67][69][70][73][74][75][76][78][79], gas phase [50][55][62][64][65], and solid state [60][63

• calculations have provided valuable insights into the photochemical stereoselectivities of cyclic azoalkenes. In 1998, Yamamoto and co-workers investigated the reaction paths for α-C–N and β-C–C bond cleavage during the direct and sensitized photolysis of DBH [81]. The minimum energy geometries in S0, S1, T1

Enantioselective desymmetrization strategy of prochiral 1,3-diols in natural product synthesis

• Lihua Wei,
• Rui Yang,
• Zhifeng Shi and
• Zhiqiang Ma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1932–1963, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.151

• in intramolecular [7-exo] and [8-endo] cyclization, furnishing the 7-membered cyclic ether 40 and 8-membered cyclic ether 41, respectively. Finally, MOM deprotection produced (−)-heliannuol D (42) and (+)-heliannuol A (43). In 2002, Chênevert and co-workers completed the total synthesis of (S)-α

Stereoselective electrochemical intramolecular imino-pinacol reaction: a straightforward entry to enantiopure piperazines

• Margherita Gazzotti,
• Fabrizio Medici,
• Valerio Chiroli,
• Laura Raimondi,
• Sergio Rossi and
• Maurizio Benaglia

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1897–1908, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.147

• methodology, the trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane was replaced with (S)-1,1′-binaphthyl-2,2′-diamine. Under the optimized conditions, the corresponding cyclic product 2k was obtained in 34% yield, consistent with previous observations reporting reduced efficiency as the ring size increases [44]. To confirm the

• precedents involving electroreduction of activated imines and diiminium species [19]. Furthermore, control experiments conducted in the absence of methanesulfonic acid (Table 1, entry 3) resulted in no observable product formation, highlighting the acid activation in driving this transformation. Cyclic

• voltammetry measurements were also carried out in order to evaluate the electrochemical redox properties of the species involved in the process and to provide evidence for the behavior of the monoprotonated and the bisprotonated diimines, 3a and 4a (Scheme 8). The cyclic voltammogram of the starting diimine

Preparation of spirocyclic oxindoles by cyclisation of an oxime to a nitrone and dipolar cycloaddition

• Beth L. Ritchie,
• Alexandra Longcake and
• Iain Coldham

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1890–1896, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.146

• ][10][11][12][13]. Of note, Cook and co-workers described an elegant approach using tryptophan as a starting material and an oxidative rearrangement of an indole that allows access to a variety of spirooxindole alkaloids from the Alstonia genus [14]. An efficient way to construct cyclic nitrogen

Chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of helically chiral, planarly chiral and inherently chiral molecules

• Wei Liu and
• Xiaoyu Yang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1864–1889, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.145

• chirality originating from the rigid conformation of molecules lacking symmetry, which do not fit into the aforementioned four categories, are termed inherent chirality. Notable examples include inherently chiral calix[4]arenes and saddle-shaped medium-sized cyclic compounds. Catalytic asymmetric synthesis

• reaction mechanisms and applications of the chiral products for selected examples. Review Helical chirality Helicenes are a group of rigid polycyclic aromatic compounds composed of ortho-fused aromatic (hetero)cyclic rings, with their helically twisted conformation enforced by steric hindrance between

• chiral molecules that do not fit into conventional categories of central, axial, planar or helical chirality, such as saddle-shaped, medium-sized cyclic compounds [45] and others [46]. These structurally distinct chiral molecules have received considerable research attention due to their broad range of

Photoswitches beyond azobenzene: a beginner’s guide

• Michela Marcon,
• Christoph Haag and
• Burkhard König

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1808–1853, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.143

• coefficient of the closed form [131]. Regarding the ethene bridge, several cyclic and acyclic solutions have been extensively reported and reviewed [132][133]. Some of the most common bridges are pentene, perfluoropentene, maleic anhydride, and maleimide. An interesting study correlated the ring size of the

• bridge to the photophysical properties of four different perfluoroalkenylated diarylethene derivatives [134]. Unsurprisingly, the acyclic 128a turned out to be the worst-performing in terms of fatigue resistance due to the competing E–Z photoisomerisation reaction. The fatigue resistance of the cyclic

[3 + 2] Cycloaddition of thioformylium methylide with various arylidene-azolones in the synthesis of 7-thia-3-azaspiro[4.4]nonan-4-ones

• Daniil I. Rudik,
• Irina V. Tiushina,
• Anatoly I. Sokolov,
• Alexander Yu. Smirnov,
• Alexander R. Romanenko,
• Alexander A. Korlyukov,
• Andrey A. Mikhaylov and
• Mikhail S. Baranov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1791–1798, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.141

• authors have shown that arylidene-azolones are very promising substrates for these transformations, since their exo-cyclic double bond easily reacts with various 1,3-dipoles [16][17][18][19][20]. Thioformylium methylide is a well known 1,3-dipole, which is readily generated from chloromethyl

Preparation of a furfural-derived enantioenriched vinyloxazoline building block and exploring its reactivity

• Madara Darzina,
• Anna Lielpetere and
• Aigars Jirgensons

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1737–1741, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.136

• -wise process [22]. The first step involves addition of the oxazoline nitrogen to TsNCO leading to a zwitterionic intermediate A, which undergoes 1,4-conjugate addition forming a cyclic intermediate B. Subsequently, the electron-rich double bond in intermediate B reacts with a second equivalent of TsNCO