Acyclic cucurbit[n]uril bearing alkyl sulfate ionic groups

• Christian Akakpo,
• Peter Y. Zavalij and
• Lyle Isaacs

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 717–726, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.55

• biomedical applications including as a solubilizing excipient for anticancer agents and as an in vivo sequestrant to reverse the biological activity of neuromuscular blocking agents, anesthetics, and drugs of abuse (e.g., methamphetamine and fentanyl) [54][55][56][57][58][59][60]. As a result of their

Origami with small molecules: exploiting the C–F bond as a conformational tool

• Patrick Ryan,
• Ramsha Iftikhar and
• Luke Hunter

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 680–716, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.54

• ]. This molecule is a ring-expanded analogue of proline, and derivatives of it are found within several natural products and drugs. The pucker of the six-membered ring of 96 is quite important for bioactivity, because different puckers project the carboxyl substituent in different orientations (equatorial

• –C–N alignment is anti, the effect is stronger and the pKaH will be lowered by ≈2 log units. Clearly it is important to bear this in mind when utilising fluorine to optimise the properties of nitrogen-containing drugs. Having concluded our examination of fluorinated amines, let us now focus upon some

Asymmetric synthesis of fluorinated derivatives of aromatic and γ-branched amino acids via a chiral Ni(II) complex

• Maurizio Iannuzzi,
• Thomas Hohmann,
• Michael Dyrks,
• Kilian Haoues,
• Katarzyna Salamon-Krokosz and
• Beate Koksch

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 659–669, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.52

• -natural amino acids are pivotal in protein engineering and drug development. Over 30% of approved small‑molecule drugs today contain non‑canonical amino acid building blocks [1][2]. In peptide and protein engineering, non‑natural amino acids significantly increase the respective range of tools used to

Entry to 2-aminoprolines via electrochemical decarboxylative amidation of N‑acetylamino malonic acid monoesters

• Olesja Koleda,
• Janis Sadauskis,
• Darja Antonenko,
• Edvards Janis Treijs,
• Raivis Davis Steberis and
• Edgars Suna

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 630–638, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.50

• cyclic amino acids are common structural motifs in the design of small-molecule drugs and peptidomimetics [1]. For example, the clinically used anesthetics carfentanil (1) and remifentanil (2), the FDA-approved antipruritic medication defelikefalin (3), and the arginase inhibitor 4 [2] possess cyclic α,α

Photocatalyzed elaboration of antibody-based bioconjugates

• Marine Le Stum,
• Eugénie Romero and
• Gary A. Molander

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 616–629, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.49

• , combining the specificity of antibodies with the potency of cytotoxic drugs to enhance therapeutic efficacy while minimizing off-target effects. The development of new chemical methods for bioconjugation is essential to generate ADCs and to optimize their stability, efficacy, and safety. Traditional

• designed in the context of cancer therapy [1], which combines the precision targeting of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with the therapeutic effects of cytotoxic drugs [2]. The ADCs are thus designed to deliver potent cytotoxic agents selectively and directly to cancer cells while minimizing damage to

• , systemic cancer chemotherapies often involve combinations of drugs. Combination regimens improve treatment outcomes by producing synergistic anticancer effects and slowing the development of drug-resistant cell populations. Researchers aim to replicate combination regimens by developing techniques for

Semisynthetic derivatives of massarilactone D with cytotoxic and nematicidal activities

• Rémy B. Teponno,
• Sara R. Noumeur and
• Marc Stadler

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 607–615, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.48

• Remy B. Teponno Sara R. Noumeur Marc Stadler Department Microbial Drugs, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Inhoffenstraße 7, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany and Institute of Microbiology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Spielmannstraße 7, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany Department of Chemistry

Cryptophycin unit B analogues

• Thomas Schachtsiek,
• Jona Voss,
• Maren Hamsen,
• Beate Neumann,
• Hans-Georg Stammler and
• Norbert Sewald

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 526–532, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.40

• ongoing challenge. Cryptophycins are a class of cyclic depsipeptides renowned for their high cytotoxicity in the picomolar range often combined with efficacy against multidrug-resistant tumour cell lines. However, cryptophycins failed as stand-alone drugs in cancer treatment, and their naturally occurring

Synthesis of N-acetyl diazocine derivatives via cross-coupling reaction

• Thomas Brandt,
• Pascal Lentes,
• Jeremy Rudtke,
• Michael Hösgen,
• Christian Näther and
• Rainer Herges

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 490–499, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.36

• ). The reverse effect was observed with amino-substituted 21. The photophysical properties of photoswitchable drugs in photopharmacology are usually determined in organic solvents. Their natural environment, however, is the aqueous phase. There is a risk of overestimating the performance of photochromic

• drugs because photoconversion to the active state usually drops considerably in water, and also half-lives are different. Light-activatable drugs based on N-acetyl diazocines are more hydrophilic than those derived from the parent system diazocine and corresponding azobenzenes. They retain their

Synthesis of electrophile-tethered preQ₁ analogs for covalent attachment to preQ₁ RNA

• Laurin Flemmich and
• Ronald Micura

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 483–489, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.35

• our research program to tailor non-covalent RNA–small molecule ligands to their covalent counterparts. While “covalent drugs” have become a leading principle in medicinal chemistry in the “protein world” [35][36] – approximately 30% of all FDA-approved drugs form a covalent bond with their target

• protein – this concept is underexplored in the field of RNA drugging [37]. Recent studies suggest that the validation of RNA–small molecule interactions [38][39][40], drug efficacy or the identification of off-target effects of approved drugs on the transcriptome [41][42] could greatly benefit from

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

• huge interest in the study of ‘Glycomics’ or ‘Carbohydrate Chemistry.’ These truly elevated the recognition of carbohydrates from being mere building blocks to a frontier research topic towards the development of drugs and pharmaceuticals [12][13], diagnostic tools [14], artificial sweeteners [15

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

• possibility of carrying out subsequent stages of research and selecting promising compounds for the further development of anticancer drugs [30]. The study showed that the IC50 inhibitory concentration of 2-(1,1-dimethyl-1H-benzo[e]indolin-2-yl)-5,6,7-trichloro-1,3-tropolone (7a) against the A431 skin cancer

Synthesis, characterization, antimicrobial, cytotoxic and carbonic anhydrase inhibition activities of multifunctional pyrazolo-1,2-benzothiazine acetamides

• Ayesha Saeed,
• Shahana Ehsan,
• Muhammad Zia-ur-Rehman,
• Erin M. Marshall,
• Sandra Loesgen,
• Abdus Saleem,
• Simone Giovannuzzi and
• Claudiu T. Supuran

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 348–357, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.25

• progressing for decades. Reasons behind this issue include over-prescribing of FDA-approved drugs, agricultural use, rapid resistance development, and declining rates of novel antibiotic discovery [1]. In fact, the rate of discovery of new classes of antibiotics is low compared to the development of

• biologically active useful candidates. NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) currently approved like piroxicam [12], meloxicam [13], and other derivatives of these two are well known for their activities [5]. 1,2-Benzothiazines are highly bioactive moieties and have been explored as antibacterial [14

• to inhibit p38α MAPK and 0.5 µM for TNF-α [10]. Pyrazolobenzothiazines containing a triazole moiety have also been studied as potential antibacterial drugs [7]. Other applications of N-substituted benzyl/phenyl acetamide pyrazolobenzothiazines include superoxide anion and DPPH radical scavenging

Antibiofilm and cytotoxic metabolites from the entomopathogenic fungus Samsoniella aurantia

• Rita Toshe,
• Syeda J. Khalid,
• Blondelle Matio Kemkuignou,
• Esteban Charria-Girón,
• Paul Eckhardt,
• Birthe Sandargo,
• Kunlapat Nuchthien,
• J. Jennifer Luangsa-ard,
• Till Opatz,
• Hedda Schrey,
• Sherif S. Ebada and
• Marc Stadler

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 327–339, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.23

• Rita Toshe Syeda J. Khalid Blondelle Matio Kemkuignou Esteban Charria-Giron Paul Eckhardt Birthe Sandargo Kunlapat Nuchthien J. Jennifer Luangsa-ard Till Opatz Hedda Schrey Sherif S. Ebada Marc Stadler Department of Microbial Drugs, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research GmbH (HZI) and German

Red light excitation: illuminating photocatalysis in a new spectrum

• Lucas Fortier,
• Corentin Lefebvre and
• Norbert Hoffmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 296–326, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.22

Visible-light-promoted radical cyclisation of unactivated alkenes in benzimidazoles: synthesis of difluoromethyl- and aryldifluoromethyl-substituted polycyclic imidazoles

• Yujun Pang,
• Jinglan Yan,
• Nawaf Al-Maharik,
• Qian Zhang,
• Zeguo Fang and
• Dong Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 234–241, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.15

• properties that can modify the activity and pharmacokinetic profiles of drugs [7]. Prominent examples include pantoprazole, a widely used proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) featuring a CF2H group; deracoxib, another drug that also incorporates a CF2H moiety in its structure; and a MET inhibitor specifically

Heteroannulations of cyanoacetamide-based MCR scaffolds utilizing formamide

• Marios Zingiridis,
• Danae Papachristodoulou,
• Despoina Menegaki,
• Konstantinos G. Froudas and
• Constantinos G. Neochoritis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 217–225, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.13

• , they are used in a variety of commercially available drugs (Figure 1). Results and Discussion Design and strategy We envisioned applying the Niementowski quinazoline synthesis [25][39][40][41] (Scheme 1A) by employing three different heterocyclic systems as precursors, which have both an orthogonally

• utilized numerous times in medicinal chemistry campaigns as hits, leads and eventually even drugs, such as 2-aminothiophenes, -quinolines and -indoles [42][43][44][45]. Synthetic exploitation The synthesis of the key cyanoacetamide building blocks was our primary objective. In a parallel setup, a variety

• obtained 15 diversely substituted heteroannulated pyrimidones, employing privileged thiophene, quinoline and indole scaffolds in a rapid fashion, without the need of column chromatography, in a parallel setup. Heteroannulated pyrimidones in drug discovery: blockbuster drugs that are based on the privileged

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

• yields (16a–c). Moreover, alkyl groups were tolerated during the formation of N-acyl iminophosphoranes (16d, 16f). It is noteworthy that dioxazolones derived from bioactive motifs, such as peptides, natural products, and commercially available drugs were also compatible with this transformation

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

• products and drugs has proven to be useful in these reactions. As shown in Figure 7, the photocatalyst sodium anthraquinone-2,7-disulfonate (AQDS) is excited by 395 nm light to form AQDS* and undergoes electron transfer with arylalkanes 20 to generate an ion-radical pair (AQDS•−, 20•+). This ion radical

Reactivity of hypervalent iodine(III) reagents bearing a benzylamine with sulfenate salts

• Beatriz Dedeiras,
• Catarina S. Caldeira,
• José C. Cunha,
• Clara S. B. Gomes and
• M. Manuel B. Marques

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3281–3289, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.272

• , commonly referred to as sulfa drugs. These include top seller drugs, e.g., antimicrobials, anti-inflammatories, antihypertensives, and antitumor agents [24][25][26]. Particularly, the sulfonamide motif can act as a bioisostere of carboxylic acids, establishing a set of hydrogen bonds similar to those

Direct trifluoroethylation of carbonyl sulfoxonium ylides using hypervalent iodine compounds

• Radell Echemendía,
• Carlee A. Montgomery,
• Fabio Cuzzucoli,
• Antonio C. B. Burtoloso and
• Graham K. Murphy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3182–3190, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.263

• or fluoroalkyl motifs into organic molecules or key frameworks stands out as a crucial and appealing approach in uncovering and crafting innovative drugs, agrochemicals, and functional materials (Figure 1) [1][2][3][4]. Fluorinated functional groups can positively alter the electronic characteristics

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

• acetylcholinesterase (AChE) on ACh. Among the five drugs prescribed for AD, four (donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine, and tacrine) are built upon the cholinergic hypothesis [26]. In contrast, memantine emerges as the only drug available that targets the glutamatergic system for AD, functioning as a non-competitive

• concentrations in the later stages of this pathology, has been gaining attention for the treatment of this disease. In 2021, Brandão et al. [33] developed a series of molecules inspired by the oxoindole-β-lactam core, a structural motif, present in many acetylcholinesterase inhibitor drugs, through the Ugi

• (IC50 = 1.28 μM), and non-toxicity in liver HepG2 cells. Hantzsch-based strategies: As mentioned before, in response to the challenges posed by the multifactorial nature of AD, the MTDL approach has emerged as a promising strategy. This approach involves designing drugs capable of binding simultaneously

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

• cost effective and selective, one-pot transformation. Pharmaceutical uses for bio-active cyclic molecules accessible by I(III) reagents are plentiful; anticancer drugs can be formed from the basis of pyrrolo[2,3-b]indoles 1 [3][4], 2-oxazolines 2 [5][6], dihydrofuran 3 [7][8], and spirocyclic scaffolds

• activity of biologically relevant molecules [22], and compounds containing fluorine have seen huge success in medicine and agrochemicals, with over 30% of small molecule drugs [23][24] and 16% of pesticides [25] now containing fluorine atoms. A range of synthetically important fluorinated hetero- and

• Although less common than fluorine in biologically active compounds, chlorine-containing molecules have interest in drug discovery, with over 250 chloro-containing drugs presently available [43]. The introduction of a chlorine atom into biologically active compounds for use in pharmaceuticals and

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

• applied in various fields, including organometallic catalysis, dye-sensitized solar cells, sensing, artificial olfactory systems, photodynamic therapy (PDT), anticancer drugs, biochemical probes, and electrochemical devices. Relevant examples of these two pyrrolic macrocycles as metal-free organocatalysts

Synthesis of the 1,5-disubstituted tetrazole-methanesulfonylindole hybrid system via high-order multicomponent reaction

• Cesia M. Aguilar-Morales,
• América A. Frías-López,
• Nadia V. Emilio-Velázquez,
• Alejandro Islas-Jácome,
• Angelica Judith Granados-López,
• Jorge Gustavo Araujo-Huitrado,
• Yamilé López-Hernández,
• Hiram Hernández-López,
• Luis Chacón-García,
• Jesús Adrián López and
• Carlos J. Cortés-García

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3077–3084, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.256

• are found in a plethora of compounds with significant biological and pharmacological relevance [1][2][3][4]. These moieties are indispensable in the design and synthesis of novel drugs aimed at overcoming drug resistance, which is a global health threat [5][6][7]. To date, a strategy to access novel

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

• traditional medicine formulations [2]. Modern science has found that natural products are uniquely suited as the starting point for the development of new drugs [3][4]. They may serve as chemical probes and help confirm laboratory findings [5]; furthermore, entirely new physical and chemical principles are