Asymmetric synthesis of β-amino cyanoesters with contiguous tetrasubstituted carbon centers by halogen-bonding catalysis with chiral halonium salt

• Yasushi Yoshida,
• Maho Aono,
• Takashi Mino and
• Masami Sakamoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 547–555, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.43

• equivalent of 7a and 5.0 equivalents of 16a in the presence of stoichiometric potassium carbonate and 1.0 mol % of 9. When bromonium salt 9a was applied to the reaction, the desired product was obtained in 83% yield with 77% ee but almost no diastereoselectivity. The iodonium salt 9b also worked well and the

• found to be optimal in enantioselectivity, and iodonium salt 9b was superior in terms of diastereoselectivity. These results can be explained by the strength of halogen bonding: generally, iodo-substituted compounds form stronger halogen bonding with Lewis bases than chloro-substituted ones [1]. Notably

• formed 17g in good yield and diastereoselectivity with decreased enantioselectivity, likely due to electronic effects. 6-Bromo- and 7-chloro-substituted substrates also provided 17h and 17i in good yields with moderate to good stereoselectivities. Next, Cbz-protected imine 7j was employed in the present

Vinylogous functionalization of 4-alkylidene-5-aminopyrazoles with methyl trifluoropyruvates

• Judit Hostalet-Romero,
• Laura Carceller-Ferrer,
• Gonzalo Blay,
• Amparo Sanz-Marco,
• José R. Pedro and
• Carlos Vila

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 533–540, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.41

• diastereoselectivity (up to 7:1). Keywords: alcohols; diastereoselectivity; nitrogen heterocycles; pyrazoles; vinylogous reaction; Introduction Vinylogy refers to the transmission of electronic effects through a conjugated π-system, enabling the extension of a functional group's nucleophilic or electrophilic

• (Table 1). First, we tried several solvents (dichloromethane, toluene and dichloroethane, entries 1–3 in Table 1) at room temperature, obtaining product 5aaa in yields around 50% with high diastereoselectivity (up to 6:1) after several days. Increasing the temperature to 50 °C (Table 1, entries 4 and 5

• dichloroethane, chloroform or ethyl acetate gave lower yields but similar diastereoselectivity. More polar solvents such THF and CH3CN afforded the corresponding alcohol 5aaa with lower diastereoselectivity. When acetone was used as solvent, product 5aaa was not detected in the 1H NMR of crude reaction mixture

Organocatalytic kinetic resolution of 1,5-dicarbonyl compounds through a retro-Michael reaction

• James Guevara-Pulido,
• Fernando González-Pérez,
• José M. Andrés and
• Rafael Pedrosa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 473–482, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.34

• -Michael (ReM) reaction occurs, its enantio- and diastereoselectivity, and the influence of different experimental parameters on its scope and stereoselectivity. The reaction was studied on a 1:2 mixture of the racemic diastereoisomers syn-1 and anti-1 (prepared according to our previous protocol) [25

• reactions and their impact on the enantioselectivity and diastereoselectivity of the products. The results show that Michael adducts can evolve from enantioenriched mixtures to racemic ones in the crude reaction while in contact with the chiral organocatalyst. Conclusion The first example of the

Molecular diversity of the reactions of MBH carbonates of isatins and various nucleophiles

• Zi-Ying Xiao,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 286–295, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.21

• . Diverse functionalized 3-substituted oxindole derivatives were successfully prepared in satisfactory yields and with high diastereoselectivity. In addition, the base-promoted dimerization of MBH carbonates of isatin afforded the ethylene-bridged bis(3-methylene)oxindole derivatives with nearly 4:1

• investigated nucleophilic substitution reactions of various N- and P-containing nucleophiles to MBH carbonates of isatins. It is interesting to find that diverse functionalized 3-substituted oxindole derivatives were successfully prepared in satisfactory yields and with high diastereoselectivity. In addition

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

• and isatin-derived 3-indolylmethanols 135. Over 90% diastereoselectivity, mostly very good yields, and consistently high enantioselectivities were reported. Testing the practicality of the protocol, the gram-scale experiment provided representative product 136 in 93% yield and an excellent

Giese-type alkylation of dehydroalanine derivatives via silane-mediated alkyl bromide activation

• Perry van der Heide,
• Michele Retini,
• Fabiola Fanini,
• Giovanni Piersanti,
• Francesco Secci,
• Daniele Mazzarella,
• Timothy Noël and
• Alberto Luridiana

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3274–3280, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.271

• -protected Michael acceptor, derived from proline, allowed for preparation of compound 27 with a 35% yield in 4 hours without control of diastereoselectivity (dr = 1:1). Finally, to prove that the optimized reaction also works at a larger scale, the model reaction was carried out on a 2.2 mmol scale (Figure

Non-covalent organocatalyzed enantioselective cyclization reactions of α,β-unsaturated imines

• Sergio Torres-Oya and
• Mercedes Zurro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3221–3255, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.268

• Michael addition product was obtained with low diastereoselectivity. The mechanism is described in Scheme 4: the bifunctional squaramide activates the azadiene through hydrogen bonding while the malononitrile is deprotonated by the tertiary amine present in the backbone of the catalyst, establishing

• with high diastereoselectivity (Scheme 5). In 2019, Shi and co-workers established a guanidine-catalyzed enantioselective (4 + 1) cyclization of benzofuran-derived azadienes 11 with 3-chlorooxindoles 18 [28]. This work provides a useful strategy for the synthesis of chiral spirooxindole derivatives 19

• product 24f. To show the applicability of this novel methodology, a gram-scale reaction was carried out obtaining comparable results as in a small scale. Besides, an α-bromination of the product 24f was performed obtaining 25 in 73% yield and complete diastereoselectivity (Scheme 9). In 2021, Zhao and co

Multicomponent reactions driving the discovery and optimization of agents targeting central nervous system pathologies

• Lucía Campos-Prieto,
• Aitor García-Rey,
• Eddy Sotelo and
• Ana Mallo-Abreu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3151–3173, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.261

• -carboxamide-1,4-benzodiazepin-5-ones when enantiopure (S)-(−)-α-methylbenzylamine and arylglyoxals were used. Thus, a reversal of diastereoselectivity was observed depending on the cyclization methodology employed, the reduction of a nitro group or the Staudinger/aza-Wittig on azide derivatives. This

Hypervalent iodine-mediated intramolecular alkene halocyclisation

• Charu Bansal,
• Oliver Ruggles,
• Albert C. Rowett and
• Alastair J. J. Lennox

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3113–3133, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.258

• cyclisation of alkenyl N-tosylamides using BF3-activated aryl iodane(III) carboxylates to create 3-fluoropiperidines [35]. The challenges faced relate to selectivity due to competing carboxyaminations (18, 18’), rather than fluoroamination (17, 17’), and difficulties in controlling the diastereoselectivity

• aminofluorination using BF3·Et2O with a chiral aryliodide 16 catalyst (Scheme 20) [44]. The study successfully obtained various chiral fluorinated oxazine products 38 with high enantioselectivity (up to >99% ee) and diastereoselectivity (up to >20:1 dr). Control experiments showed that using Py·9HF or Et3N·3HF as

• HVI reagent has also shown to dictate the regioselectivity of the reaction. Future research efforts should focus on further developing access to new heterocycles, as well as designing better systems to incorporate high levels of diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity into chiral halogenated

Copper-catalyzed yne-allylic substitutions: concept and recent developments

• Shuang Yang and
• Xinqiang Fang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2739–2775, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.232

• to be the determining step for the enantioselectivity, while the diastereoselectivity is mainly induced by the chiral alkylated naphthol intermediate in the second annulation step (Scheme 46). Xu et al. [80] realized asymmetric [4 + 1] cyclization of yne-allylic esters with pyrazolones. This

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

• oxidation strategy to obtain α-chlorosulfoxides from sulfides using hydrochloric acid as a bifunctional reagent [22]. This strategy accommodates a broad range of substrates and offers high diastereoselectivity and regioselectivity. Several LSF modifications of amino acids and pharmaceutical derivatives

• . Additionally, pyrrolidine, anazepane, and morpholine scaffolds successfully underwent the reaction. Another notable feature of this method is its high diastereoselectivity. All products were ultimately obtained as p-toluenesulfonic acid salts (Scheme 27). In 2021, Zhang et al. developed an electrochemical

Photoredox-catalyzed intramolecular nucleophilic amidation of alkenes with β-lactams

• Valentina Giraldi,
• Giandomenico Magagnano,
• Daria Giacomini,
• Pier Giorgio Cozzi and
• Andrea Gualandi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2461–2468, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.210

• 8d exhibited an enhancement in reaction diastereoselectivity, resulting in the isolation of product 11d with a dr of 6.7:1 in favor of the trans-diastereoisomer. Remarkably, the formation of a fully substituted quaternary center was possible, as observed for the product 11g, where the trans

• the diastereoselectivity of the nucleophilic attack of the β-lactam on the radical cationic intermediate was influenced by stereoelectronic factors. Compounds unsubstituted at position C-3 of the β-lactam ring, 11d–h, showed modest stereoselectivity with a higher dr (6.7:1) for compound 11d, which has

• an electron-donating methoxy group on the phenyl substituent. Derivatives with a 3-OTBS side chain, 12c–e, displayed moderate diastereoselectivity, except for the higher diastereoselectivity achieved for 12f (dr 20:1), probably due to steric effects, albeit at the expense of a reduced isolated yield

Facile preparation of fluorine-containing 2,3-epoxypropanoates and their epoxy ring-opening reactions with various nucleophiles

• Yutaro Miyashita,
• Sae Someya,
• Tomoko Kawasaki-Takasuka,
• Tomohiro Agou and
• Takashi Yamazaki

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2421–2433, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.206

• indicated DMSO as the best for the attainment of high yields and diastereoselectivity (entries 1–5 vs 6 in Table 4), we further examined bases in this solvent to find out that t-BuOK behaved nicely, and the reaction of 2b with 2.0 equiv of diethyl malonate for 0.5 h at room temperature furnished 93% yield

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

• were achieved exclusively (dr > 20:1) in good yields (83% and 89%) and enantioselectivity (96% and 90%). On the other hand, the reactions with (Z)-crotyldioxaborinane 30 resulted in lower yields (33% for 32 and 61% for 34). However, the diastereoselectivity towards the syn products remained notably

• high (9:1 and >20:1), along with impressive enantioselectivity levels (92% and 98% ee). A slight loss of diastereoselectivity in the reaction of the PMP-imine with (Z)-crotyldioxaborinane 30 was attributed to the spontaneous isomerisation of the imine to the cis-isomer. The crotylboronates were

• (DHQ)2PHAL catalyst 138 has been identified as the most efficient that afforded high yield and enantioselectivity with a 10 mol % loading. The diastereoselectivity was 20:1 or better in most cases and was found to be independent of the reaction conditions. The optimised protocol involved stirring 1

Catalysing (organo-)catalysis: Trends in the application of machine learning to enantioselective organocatalysis

• Stefan P. Schmid,
• Leon Schlosser,
• Frank Glorius and
• Kjell Jorner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2280–2304, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.196

• of interest is the selectivity (either enantio- or diastereoselectivity), which is predicted as the difference in energies between the selectivity-governing transition states ∆∆G‡ (Figure 3). Whereas the application of the above described representations and models to such problems is rather modern

Electrochemical allylations in a deep eutectic solvent

• Sophia Taylor and
• Scott T. Handy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2217–2224, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.189

• more substituted end (gamma addition) was the major product in both cases, although alpha addition was also observed. In the case of crotyl bromide, no diastereoselectivity was noted for the gamma product. Non-allylic halides such as benzyl bromide, propargyl bromide, and ethyl bromoacetate (Table 3

Diastereoselective synthesis of highly substituted cyclohexanones and tetrahydrochromene-4-ones via conjugate addition of curcumins to arylidenemalonates

• Deepa Nair,
• Abhishek Tiwari,
• Banamali Laha and
• Irishi N. N. Namboothiri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2016–2023, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.177

• from curcumins and arylidenemalonates is reported. This strategy works in the presence of aqueous KOH using TBAB as a suitable phase transfer catalyst at room temperature. The functionalized cyclohexanones are formed as major products in moderate to excellent yields with complete diastereoselectivity

• in most cases. A triple Michael adduct, tetrahydrochromen-4-one, is also formed as a side product in a few cases with excellent diastereoselectivity. Keywords: arylidenemalonates; curcumins; cyclohexanones; diastereoselective synthesis; Michael reaction; tetrahydrochromenones; Introduction There is

• –acceptor with nitroalkenes, resulting in multi-substituted cyclohexanones through a cascade inter–intramolecular double Michael addition process with high diastereoselectivity [26][27]. Subsequently, the enantioselective versions of the above reaction and a similar diastereoselective cascade Michael

Harnessing unprotected deactivated amines and arylglyoxals in the Ugi reaction for the synthesis of fused complex nitrogen heterocycles

• Javier Gómez-Ayuso,
• Pablo Pertejo,
• Tomás Hermosilla,
• Israel Carreira-Barral,
• Roberto Quesada and
• María García-Valverde

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1758–1766, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.154

• considering the diastereoselectivity observed when enantiopure (S)-α-methylbenzylamine was used as chiral component in the two-step syntheses from amine surrogates [22], we assayed our new strategy to achieve a one-pot diastereoselective synthesis of benzodiazepinones 6 (Scheme 2, Table 2). Interestingly, the

• single diastereomer (Scheme 5, Table 3), while N-phenylglycine afforded the enamine derivative 10 (Scheme 6, Table 4). Both structures were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction of compounds 9a and 10a (Figure 2). The diastereoselectivity observed in the hemiaminals and their stability can be

• , without purification, was treated with caesium carbonate (1 equiv) and heated to reflux for an hour. Gratefully, the dipyrrolopiperazinone derivatives 12 were obtained with high yields and complete diastereoselectivity in an efficient and simple way (Scheme 11, Table 6). The structure of these systems was

Syntheses and medicinal chemistry of spiro heterocyclic steroids

• Laura L. Romero-Hernández,
• Ana Isabel Ahuja-Casarín,
• Penélope Merino-Montiel,
• Sara Montiel-Smith,
• José Luis Vega-Báez and
• Jesús Sandoval-Ramírez

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1713–1745, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.152

• phosphine-based ligand (L). This methodology was applied to the alkynol moiety of ethinylestradiol (8) (86% yield), and alkynols derived from ethisterone, levonorgestrel, lynestrenol, and epiandrosterone (epi-ADT), obtaining excellent yields (85–93%) and high diastereoselectivity (dr > 20:1) in all cases. α

Chemo-enzymatic total synthesis: current approaches toward the integration of chemical and enzymatic transformations

• Ryo Tanifuji and
• Hiroki Oguri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1693–1712, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.151

• the total synthesis of saframycin A (5) and jorunnamycin A (103), the application of a non-standard NRPS module to the synthetic substrate analogs realized the rapid construction of an appropriately functionalized complex scaffold in one pot, with precise control of regio- and diastereoselectivity

Ring opening of photogenerated azetidinols as a strategy for the synthesis of aminodioxolanes

• Henning Maag,
• Daniel J. Lemcke and
• Johannes M. Wahl

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1671–1676, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.148

• the 54% and 63% yield, respectively (Table 1, entries 3 and 4). We observed an increase in Norrish II fragmentation in these cases. The observed diastereoselectivity was poor, supporting the radical character of the ring-closing event. A similar trend was observed when studying the methanesulfonyl (Ms

Rapid construction of tricyclic tetrahydrocyclopenta[4,5]pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine via isocyanide-based multicomponent reaction

• Xiu-Yu Chen,
• Ying Han,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1436–1443, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.126

• -3,4b,5,6,7(1H)-pentacarboxylates in high yields and with high diastereoselectivity. The reaction was finished by in situ generation of activated 5-(alkylimino)cyclopenta-1,3-dienes from addition of alkyl isocyanide to two molecules of but-2-ynedioates and sequential formal [3 + 2] cycloaddition

• -aza-1,3-butadienes [40][41][42][43][44]. Recently, we have found that the three-component reaction of isoquinolines, dialkyl but-2-ynediaotes and 5,6-unsubstituted 1,4-dihydropyridines afforded functionalized isoquinolino[1,2-f][1,6]naphthyridines in good yields and with high diastereoselectivity via

• diastereoselectivity of the reaction, the concerted addition process is much more likely. However, it is difficult to distinguish between these two reaction processes at present. Conclusion In summary, we investigated the three-component reaction of alkyl isocyanides, dialkyl but-2-ynedioates and 5,6-unsubstituted 1,4

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

• , epiandrosterone, hecogenin, rockogenin, and tigogenin. All of them were successfully converted into boronic esters with high diastereoselectivity. In 2021, Cook and co-workers [45] unveiled the photomediated trifluoromethylation of alcohols by converting alcohols into thiocarbonates (Scheme 8). This copper

Domino reactions of chromones with activated carbonyl compounds

• Peter Langer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1256–1269, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.108

• benzophenones 22a,b in moderate yields (Scheme 8) [38]. Again, no trend was observed depending on the structure of the chromones. 1,3-Bis(silyloxy)-1,3-butadienes The reaction of 11a–c with 1,3-bis(silyloxy)-1,3-butadienes 6a–h, catalyzed by Me3SiOTf, afforded products 23a–j with excellent diastereoselectivity

• -(trifluoroacetyl)chromone (14a) with 1,3-bis(silyloxy)-1,3-butadienes proved not to be successful in our hands. However, reaction of 3-(trifluoroacetyl)thiochromone (31) with 1,3-bis(silyloxy)-1,3-butadienes 6a,b, in the presence of Me3SiOTf, afforded products 32a,b with excellent diastereoselectivity (Scheme 16

Synthesis of spiropyridazine-benzosultams by the [4 + 2] annulation reaction of 3-substituted benzoisothiazole 1,1-dioxides with 1,2-diaza-1,3-dienes

• Wenqing Hao,
• Long Wang,
• Jinlei Zhang,
• Dawei Teng and
• Guorui Cao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 280–286, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.29

• spiropyridazine-benzosultam 3aa with 10% yield and high diastereoselectivity (Table 1, entry 2). Encouraged by this result, we tested several solvents to determine their effect on the [4 + 2] annulation reaction. Acetonitrile showed the best result, providing the highest yield (Table 1, entries 3–7). We also

• was tested, resulting in the expected spiropyridazine-benzosultams 3ab–al in good to excellent yields with high diastereoselectivity. For N-benzoyl hydrazones 2b–g, the electronic effect of R3 group on the [4 + 2] annulation reaction was significant. Electron-withdrawing groups gave relatively higher