High-pressure activation for the solvent- and catalyst-free syntheses of heterocycles, pharmaceuticals and esters

• Kelsey Plasse,
• Valerie Wright,
• Guoshu Xie,
• R. Bernadett Vlocskó,
• Alexander Lazarev and
• Béla Török

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1374–1387, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.102

• broad agreement that a decrease in the activation volume (ΔV‡) and reaction volume (ΔV) is the driving force for these reactions [14][15][16]. A recent computational analysis of high pressure reactions by the extreme pressure polarizable continuum model (XP-PCM) improved the theoretical understanding of

• Mannich reactions [20], lipase-catalyzed esterification [21], nitro-aldol [22], Michael [23], and aza-Michael reactions [24][25], Diels–Alder reactions [26][27] and Friedel–Crafts alkylation of indoles [28]. Many high pressure reactions were applied in natural product synthesis [29]. The high pressure

• theoretical models briefly discussed in the introduction, the negative ΔV values suggest that these reactions respond well to pressurized conditions by improved yields, and increased reaction rates. One must note, however, that ΔV is just one of the characteristic descriptors of high pressure reactions, and

Emerging trends in the optimization of organic synthesis through high-throughput tools and machine learning

• Pablo Quijano Velasco,
• Kedar Hippalgaonkar and
• Balamurugan Ramalingam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 10–38, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.3

• laboratory (ASL) was designed and built by Eli Lilly [33]. This state-of-the-art facility allowed for heating, cryogenic conditions, microwaving, high-pressure reactions, evaporation, and workup, empowering researchers to conduct an extensive array of chemical reactions. The ASL comprises of three bench

Hetero-Diels–Alder reactions of hetaryl and aryl thioketones with acetylenic dienophiles

• Grzegorz Mlostoń,
• Paulina Grzelak,
• Maciej Mikina,
• Anthony Linden and
• Heinz Heimgartner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 576–582, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.63

• sulfones. Keywords: dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate (DMAD); hetero-Diels–Alder reactions; high pressure reactions; methyl propiolate; thioketones; thiopyrans; Introduction A series of recent publications evidence that, in contrast to earlier opinions, thioketones are useful building blocks for the