Advances in nitrogen-containing helicenes: synthesis, chiroptical properties, and optoelectronic applications

• Meng Qiu,
• Jing Du,
• Nai-Te Yao,
• Xin-Yue Wang and
• Han-Yuan Gong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1422–1453, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.106

• , emphasizing their potential as next-generation chiral optoelectronic materials and outlining future directions toward multifunctional integration and quantum technological applications. Keywords: azahelicene; chiroptical properties; circularly polarized luminescence (CPL); heteroatom containing

• in applications such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) [8], circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) [9], and chiral photocatalysis [10]. In the past decade, heteroatom-containing helicenes have attracted increasing attention due to their tunable optoelectronic properties and potential

Recent advances and future challenges in the bottom-up synthesis of azulene-embedded nanographenes

• Bartłomiej Pigulski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1272–1305, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.99

• scaffolds of this type. Given the rapid progress in this field, with nearly half of the cited works published since 2020, this review focuses primarily on purely hydrocarbon structures, with less emphasis on heteroatom-containing molecules. Typically, only the final synthetic steps leading to the fused

Synthesis and photoinduced switching properties of C₇-heteroatom containing push–pull norbornadiene derivatives

• Daniel Krappmann and
• Andreas Hirsch

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 807–816, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.64

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

• macrocycle [74][75]. 2 Ethers We now turn our attention from alkanes to what is arguably the simplest heteroatom-containing functional group: the ether. The presence of oxygen within a carbon chain offers several new opportunities for engagement by an introduced fluorine atom. First, we will consider what

Quantifying the ability of the CF₂H group as a hydrogen bond donor

• Matthew E. Paolella,
• Daniel S. Honeycutt,
• Bradley M. Lipka,
• Jacob M. Goldberg and
• Fang Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 189–199, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.11

• oxygen, nitrogen, or sulfur, and a positively charged hydrogen atom, which interacts with a lone pair on the acceptor. Apart from these common heteroatom-containing hydrogen bond donors, certain carbon–hydrogen moieties can also act in this way, although in a substantially weaker capacity [5][6][7][8][9

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

• macrocycles as photocatalysts in organic synthesis, involving both single electron transfer (SET) and energy transfer (ET) mechanistic approaches [84]. This review does not only focus on the metal-free porphyrin macrocycles, but it also covers the area of different porphyrinoid systems, such as heteroatom

• -containing macrocycles and metalloporphyrins. Despite the impressive progress in photoredox catalysis, due to their most intensive electronic absorption band at 420 nm (Soret band, extinction coefficient of 105 M−1 cm−1), most porphyrin photocatalysts reported so far have been mainly utilized under blue

Synthesis of π-conjugated polycyclic compounds by late-stage extrusion of chalcogen fragments

• Aissam Okba,
• Pablo Simón Marqués,
• Kyohei Matsuo,
• Naoki Aratani,
• Hiroko Yamada,
• Gwénaël Rapenne and
• Claire Kammerer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 287–305, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.30

• , this class of compounds is prone to valence isomerization via 6π-electrocyclization leading to the formation of heteroatom-containing norcaradiene, and oxepine has been shown to exist in equilibrium with its valence isomer benzene oxide [37]. In contrast with the parent oxepine, which is isolable at

Facile access to pyridinium-based bent aromatic amphiphiles: nonionic surface modification of nanocarbons in water

• Lorenzo Catti,
• Shinji Aoyama and
• Michito Yoshizawa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 32–40, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.5

• PA-OCH3 to solubilize not only conventional nanocarbons but also heteroatom-containing ones. To obtain direct structural information of the encircled (g-C3N4)m, dry-state AFM measurements (on mica) were conducted using an aqueous solution of (PA-OCH3)n·(g-C3N4)m. The obtained AFM images showed large

Recent advancements in iodide/phosphine-mediated photoredox radical reactions

• Tinglan Liu,
• Yu Zhou,
• Junhong Tang and
• Chengming Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1785–1803, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.131

• facilitated by the process of photoexcited radical decarboxylation. On the other hand, the copper catalytic cycle involved the capture of alkyl radicals by the copper complex B, the activation of heteroatom-containing substrates 30 by a base-mediated proton transfer, and the subsequent reductive elimination

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

• source played a key role, with lower yields or no product obtained when the reaction was performed without water or under other light source conditions such as 19 W CFL or irradiation with blue or green LEDs. This method is applicable to various heteroatom-containing compounds such as quinolines

Modular synthesis of 2-furyl carbinols from 3-benzyldimethylsilylfurfural platforms relying on oxygen-assisted C–Si bond functionalization

• Sebastien Curpanen,
• Per Reichert,
• Gabriele Lupidi,
• Giovanni Poli,
• Julie Oble and
• Alejandro Perez-Luna

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1256–1263, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.131

• on the SiMe(OSiMe3)2 unit, which were readily converted through Pd- or Cu-catalyzed electrophilic substitution reactions into an array of furfurals decorated at C3 with carbon- or heteroatom-containing substituents (Scheme 1). Conversely, all of our subsequent efforts to achieve cross-coupling

Mechanochemical bottom-up synthesis of phosphorus-linked, heptazine-based carbon nitrides using sodium phosphide

• Blaine G. Fiss,
• Georgia Douglas,
• Michael Ferguson,
• Jorge Becerra,
• Jesus Valdez,
• Trong-On Do,
• Tomislav Friščić and
• Audrey Moores

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1203–1209, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.125

• heptazine subunits. The introduction of phosphorus linkages reduced photoluminescent recombination and improved exciton lifetimes, when compared to nitrogen-linked g-CN. Overall, this supports future investigations of the room-temperature mechanochemical synthesis of heteroatom containing carbons as well as

Lewis acid-catalyzed Pudovik reaction–phospha-Brook rearrangement sequence to access phosphoric esters

• Jin Yang,
• Dang-Wei Qian and
• Shang-Dong Yang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1188–1194, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.123

• , all of the above transformations were carried out under basic conditions, and thus impose barriers for substrates that bear base-sensitive functional groups. More importantly, heteroatom-containing ketones and aldehydes have been proven to be challenging substrates for all of these existing systems

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters: sensing and boosting spin-flipping by aggregation

• Ashish Kumar Mazumdar,
• Gyana Prakash Nanda,
• Nisha Yadav,
• Upasana Deori,
• Upasha Acharyya,
• Bahadur Sk and
• Pachaiyappan Rajamalli

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1177–1187, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.122

• in designing heteroatom-containing (N, O, S, etc.) chromophores [26]. The lone-pair electrons of heteroatoms can possess a certain degree of basicity, which results in sensitivity to acid. Consequently, the lone pair may be protonated and deprotonated by consecutively adding acid and base. The

Photocatalysis with organic dyes: facile access to reactive intermediates for synthesis

• Stephanie G. E. Amos,
• Marion Garreau,
• Luca Buzzetti and
• Jerome Waser

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1163–1187, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.103

• for the synthesis of the arylated heteroarenes 12.3 via an intermolecular process [79]. Alemán and co-workers used PHTH (OD16) for the synthesis of various heteroatom-containing bicycles 12.4 through a tethered electrophile approach [80]. For the second strategy, König and co-workers developed an

• fragmentation is not favored, these charged radicals can be intercepted and lead to different selectivities when compared to a traditional two-electron chemistry (e.g., anti-Markovnikov vs Markovnikov or ipso-SNAr reactions). Heteroatom-containing radical anions, such as ketyl radicals, constitute a special

Recent advances in transition-metal-catalyzed incorporation of fluorine-containing groups

• Xiaowei Li,
• Xiaolin Shi,
• Xiangqian Li and
• Dayong Shi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2213–2270, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.218

• achieved using Et3N·3HF as the fluorine source with a high catalyst loading (20–30 mol %) affording the products in 45–92% yield [70]. The heteroatom-containing functional group (R1) is necessary for good reactivity and regioselectivity. α-Fluorination of acidic carbonyl compounds: In 2011, Shibatomi and

Recent advances in hypervalent iodine(III)-catalyzed functionalization of alkenes

• Xiang Li,
• Pinhong Chen and
• Guosheng Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1813–1825, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.154

• the stereodifferentiation step. Other functionalizations of alkenes In addition to heteroatom-containing nucleophiles, electron-rich aromatic groups were also reported as nucleophiles to form the C–C bonds [69][70]. In this context, Lupton, Hutt and co-workers reported an iodobenzene-catalyzed 1,2

Three-component coupling of aryl iodides, allenes, and aldehydes catalyzed by a Co/Cr-hybrid catalyst

• Kimihiro Komeyama,
• Shunsuke Sakiyama,
• Kento Iwashita,
• Itaru Osaka and
• Ken Takaki

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1413–1420, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.118

• -selectivity because of meta- and ortho-substituted aryl iodides also being well tolerated in the reaction. The protocol was not only limited to the coupling of simple allenes; it was also used with heteroatom-containing functionalized allenes to afford the syn-homoallylic alcohols 4u, 4u’ and 4w in reasonably

The selective electrochemical fluorination of S-alkyl benzothioate and its derivatives

• Shunsuke Kuribayashi,
• Tomoyuki Kurioka,
• Shinsuke Inagi,
• Ho-Jung Lu,
• Biing-Jiun Uang and
• Toshio Fuchigami

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 389–396, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.27

• , Rozhkov and Laurent reported an electrochemical partial fluorination of naphthalene and olefins about 30 years ago [5][6]. However, at that time, there has been no report on the anodic fluorination of heteroatom-containing compounds. At almost the same time, we found that the anodic α-methoxylation of

Transition-metal-catalyzed synthesis of phenols and aryl thiols

• Yajun Liu,
• Shasha Liu and
• Yan Xiao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 589–611, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.58

• other hand, the C–H hydroxylation, either with heteroatom-containing directing groups or without directing groups, has provided various methods for the synthesis of phenols. Compared with traditional methods, the transition-metal-catalyzed phenol synthesis has several advantages: broad substrate scope

Recent advances in copper-catalyzed asymmetric coupling reactions

• Fengtao Zhou and
• Qian Cai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 2600–2615, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.280

• construction of heteroatom-containing ring systems. This review summarizes the recent progress in copper-catalyzed asymmetric coupling reactions for the formation of C–C and carbon–heteroatom bonds. Keywords: asymmetric; carbon–heteroatom bond; copper; coupling; Introduction Copper-mediated coupling

A comprehensive study of olefin metathesis catalyzed by Ru-based catalysts

• Albert Poater and
• Luigi Cavallo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 1767–1780, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.192

• Table 2), is due to the coordination of the O atom of the substrate in 14–19. In other words, with a heteroatom containing substrate the heteroatom can coordinate to the Ru center, as in the Hoveyda-type precatalysts [6], maybe stabilizing the active species, see Figure 3a. In any case, coordination of

Deproto-metallation of N-arylated pyrroles and indoles using a mixed lithium–zinc base and regioselectivity-computed CH acidity relationship

• Mohamed Yacine Ameur Messaoud,
• Ghenia Bentabed-Ababsa,
• Madani Hedidi,
• Aïcha Derdour,
• Floris Chevallier,
• Yury S. Halauko,
• Oleg A. Ivashkevich,
• Vadim E. Matulis,
• Laurent Picot,
• Valérie Thiéry,
• Thierry Roisnel,
• Vincent Dorcet and
• Florence Mongin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 1475–1485, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.160

• -substituents such as 2-thienyl, 3-pyridyl, 4-methoxyphenyl and 4-bromophenyl, the reactions all took place on the substituent, at the position either adjacent to the heteroatom (S, N) or ortho to the heteroatom-containing substituent (OMe, Br). The CH acidities of the substrates were determined in THF solution

Highly selective electrochemical fluorination of dithioacetal derivatives bearing electron-withdrawing substituents at the position α to the sulfur atom using poly(HF) salts

• Bin Yin,
• Shinsuke Inagi and
• Toshio Fuchigami

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 85–91, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.12

• using ionic liquid poly(HF) salts such as Et3N·nHF and Et4NF·nHF (n = 3–5) as supporting electrolyte and fluorine source [9][10][11], and we have systematically studied the anodic fluorination of various heteroatom-containing compounds including heterocycles and macromolecules so far [12][13][14][15][16

• ][17][18][19][20]. More than 20 years ago, we reported the first successful example of the electrochemical selective fluorination of heteroatom-containing compounds such as α-(phenylthio)ester and its analogues as shown in Scheme 1 [21][22]. Furthermore, anodic fluorodesulfurization of dithioacetals

A tandem Mannich addition–palladium catalyzed ring-closing route toward 4-substituted-3(2H)-furanones

• Jubi John,
• Eliza Târcoveanu,
• Peter G. Jones and
• Henning Hopf

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 1462–1470, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.150

• closure of the primary adduct to form the furanone. In this paper, we report our investigations that extend the reaction to heteroatom-containing electrophiles such as imines and diazo esters. Results and Discussion Following the work on nitrostyrenes, Yan et al. also reported a two-step asymmetric route