Unprecedented visible light-initiated topochemical [2 + 2] cycloaddition in a functionalized bimane dye

• Metodej Dvoracek,
• Brendan Twamley,
• Mathias O. Senge and
• Mikhail A. Filatov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 500–509, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.37

• bimanes studied: a) Cl2B (B), representing 90% of the disordered asymmetric unit, b) Me2B, not disordered with dotted line representing an intramolecular hydrogen bond, and c) Me4B showing the majority occupied (55%) N–N moiety. View of the molecular structure in the crystal of a) symmetry generated by

Photomechanochemistry: harnessing mechanical forces to enhance photochemical reactions

• Francesco Mele,
• Ana M. Constantin,
• Andrea Porcheddu,
• Raimondo Maggi,
• Giovanni Maestri,
• Nicola Della Ca’ and
• Luca Capaldo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 458–472, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.33

• obtained as a single stereoisomer and in quantitative yield after 80 h of irradiation. The role of 2.2 is to create a close-packed environment via hydrogen-bond interactions where the [2 + 2] photodimerization can occur stereoselectively. Next, the authors evaluated the possibility of using the template

Beyond symmetric self-assembly and effective molarity: unlocking functional enzyme mimics with robust organic cages

• Keith G. Andrews

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 421–443, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.30

• constriction (ground-state destabilization) are also possible [140][168][169][170]. The metals can sometimes participate in redox catalysis [171], and may be stabilized by the cage structure [160][172][173][174]. The organic part of the MOC has also been levied as a hydrogen-bond donor to activate an

• [329][330][331], superbases [332][333][334][335][336], or non-specific arrays of hydrogen-bond donors [337]/acceptors [338]. Advances in post-assembly modifications [339] have recently allowed stable organic cages featuring endohedral (internally directed) functionality [340][341], or metals [342][343

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

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

• tropolone ring proton, which appears at 6.9 ppm. A characteristic specificity of the 1H NMR spectra of compounds 7 and 8 is the presence of signals of hydroxy group protons forming a strong hydrogen bond with the indoline nitrogen atom, which closes the six-membered chelate cycle. These signals are observed

• increase in the intramolecular hydrogen bond length NH···O of the (NH) isomers and a decrease in the magnitude of hydrogen bond N···HO of the (OH) forms (Figure 1). On the other hand, the position of the benzoannelated fragment does not significantly affect the structural and energetic parameters of the

• the previously obtained 2-(indolin-2-yl)-1,3-tropolone)). The angle between the planes C(2)C(3)C(6)C(7) and (3)C(4)C(5)C(6) is equal to 27.6° (34°). In compound 7b, as in 2-(indolin-2-yl)-1,3-tropolone, an intramolecular hydrogen bond N(1)–H(1)···O(2) was realized with parameters: distances N–H = 0.86

Streamlined modular synthesis of saframycin substructure via copper-catalyzed three-component assembly and gold-promoted 6-endo cyclization

• Asahi Kanno,
• Ryo Tanifuji,
• Satoshi Yoshida,
• Sota Sato,
• Saori Maki-Yonekura,
• Kiyofumi Takaba,
• Jungmin Kang,
• Kensuke Tono,
• Koji Yonekura and
• Hiroki Oguri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 226–233, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.14

• - and E- rings serve as hydrogen bond (HB) donors/acceptors to facilitate DNA alkylation at C21. UV–vis absorption (gray solid line), the emission spectrum (blue solid line), and the corresponding excitation spectrum (blue dashed line) of the imidate 18 in CHCl3 (c = 100 μM). aQuantum yield (Φfl

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

• was observed at an average wavelength of 384 nm for 5a–e, 439 nm for 6a–e and 430 nm for 7a–e (see Supporting Information File 1 for detailed information). In support of the proposed scaffold 7b, we were able to solve its crystal structure (Figure 3). An intermolecular bifurcated hydrogen bond network

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

• group can act as a hydrogen bond donor, serving as a potential surrogate for OH or SH groups but with a weaker hydrogen bond donation ability. Here, we describe a series of CF2H group-containing moieties that facilitate hydrogen bond interactions. We survey hydrogen bond donation ability using several

• established methods, including 1H NMR-based hydrogen bond acidity determination, UV–vis spectroscopy titration with Reichardt's dye, and 1H NMR titration using tri-n-butylphosphine oxide as a hydrogen bond acceptor. Our experiments reveal that the direct attachment of the CF2H group to cationic aromatic

• systems significantly enhances its hydrogen bond donation ability, a result consistent with theoretical calculations. We anticipate that this chemistry will be valuable for designing functional molecules for chemical biology and medicinal chemistry applications. Keywords: bioisostere; difluoromethyl

Hydrogen-bonded macrocycle-mediated dimerization for orthogonal supramolecular polymerization

• Wentao Yu,
• Zhiyao Yang,
• Chengkan Yu,
• Xiaowei Li and
• Lihua Yuan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 179–188, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.10

• and G1. The brown dotted lines show the hydrogen bond distance between H2 and the positively charged region of G1 (d[C–H···O] = 2.2–3.5 Å). The red dotted lines show the hydrogen bond distance between H2 and the proton of the phenyl group of G1 (d[C–H···O] = 2.7–2.9 Å). c) Dimeric structure showing

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

• acids feature as the most prolific catalytic structure. The last part of the article discusses hydrogen-bond-donating catalysts and other catalyst motifs such as phase-transfer catalysts. Keywords: asymmetric organocatalysis; atropoisomers; atroposelective synthesis; axial chirality; stereogenic axis

• to NHC-catalyzed reactions. The major part is devoted to chiral Brønsted acid catalysis as it seems so far the most widely used activation principle for the generation of axially chiral compounds. Hydrogen-bond-donating catalysts and various other activation modes complete the discussion of recent

• and di-tert-butyl azodicarboxylate (Scheme 22) [45]. An added benefit to these products is that they possess an intramolecular hydrogen bond acting as a stabilizing factor and products 68 were prepared in good to very good yields and excellent enantiomeric purities. Based on the authors’ design

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

• nitrogen atom which is prone to interacting with hydrogen-bond donors or Brønsted acids decreasing the LUMO energy of the diene. This review article aims to give an overview of the non-covalent organocatalyzed cyclization reactions involving α,β-unsaturated imines. Although most of the cyclization

• covered in this review are hydrogen-bond donors such as thioureas and squaramides, Brønsted bases such as tertiary amines, and Brønsted acids such as chiral phosphoric acids. As depicted in Figure 4, a bifunctional squaramide is able to activate both an α,β-unsaturated imine through hydrogen bonding with

• reviews [17][18]. Review Hydrogen bond donors: bifunctional thioureas and squaramides The use of bifunctional catalysts is commonplace in organocatalyzed transformations [19][20][21][22][23]. These catalysts are able to activate an electrophile and a nucleophile simultaneously and in IEDADA reactions they

Synthesis of extended fluorinated tripeptides based on the tetrahydropyridazine scaffold

• Thierry Milcent,
• Pascal Retailleau,
• Benoit Crousse and
• Sandrine Ongeri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3174–3181, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.262

• groups (CF3 or CF2H) in organic molecules can modulate their physicochemical (pKa, lipophilicity), structural (additional hydrophobic and hydrogen-bond interactions), and biological properties (metabolic stability, membrane permeability) [14][15]. Alongside the very well-known CF3 group, the CF2H group

• has become an essential structural motif in medicinal chemistry due to its hydrogen-bond donor capacity, its lipophilic character, and as a bioisostere for alcohol, thiol, or amine groups [16][17][18][19]. Thus, the contribution of fluorinated compounds to pharmaceuticals has been crucial for more

• configuration of compounds 7e and 7e’ and consequently of tripeptides 8e and 8e’ (see Supporting Information File 1). Next, some preliminary conformational studies were performed. Firstly, the X-ray crystallographic analysis of compound 8f did not show any hydrogen-bond pattern and the global structure of the

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

• oxazepane scaffold 11 (Scheme 11). Replacing the nitrogen in the bioactive lactam 11 (γ-secretase inhibitor in AD therapy) with an oxygen should reduce the hydrogen bond donating (HBD) ability of the compounds. The method employs readily available starting materials, resulting in the desired compounds in a

• single step. The oxazepine scaffold can be easily accessed using the Ugi four-component reaction. By modifying this scaffold, the researchers aimed to reduce the hydrogen-bond donating properties. The Passerini reaction, employing bifunctional salicylaldehydes and isocyanides successfully yielded

• of the nitrogen in lactams 11 with an oxygen in 12 to influence hydrogen-bond donating properties and synthesis of the benzodioxepinone derivatives via Passerini reaction. MCR 3 + 2 reaction to develop spirooxindole, spiroacenaphthylene, and bisbenzo[b]pyran compounds. Synthesis of ML192 analogs

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

• that function as hydrogen-bond donors and acceptors. Additionally, the nitrogen atoms in the pyrrole units of the porphyrin structure can also act as Lewis bases, capable of donating electron pairs. These properties enable tetrapyrrolic macrocycles to act as effective binding sites or catalytically

• addition of furan-based silyloxydiene synthons to a variety of achiral aldehydes using four different calix[4]pyrrole macrocycles (3, 4, 11, and 12) as organocatalysts (Figure 3) [38]. These calixpyrrole macrocycles acted as hydrogen-bond donors, activating substrate aldehydes through hydrogen-bonding

• concluded that both the presence of hydrogen-bond donor moieties (pyrrolic –NH groups) and a basic β-substituent are necessary to make the compound catalytically active. Further, authors have performed 1H NMR binding and kinetic studies and suggested that the reaction mechanism involves a simultaneous

Enantioselective regiospecific addition of propargyltrichlorosilane to aldehydes catalyzed by biisoquinoline N,N’-dioxide

• Noble Brako,
• Sreerag Moorkkannur Narayanan,
• Amber Burns,
• Layla Auter,
• Valentino Cesiliano,
• Rajeev Prabhakar and
• Norito Takenaka

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3069–3076, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.255

• (Figure 1a). This suggests that the isomerization is not energetically feasible on its own. However, in the presence of N,N-diisopropylethylamine this process can occur readily. In the reactant (Rprop in Figure 1b), the nitrogen atom of N,N-diisopropylethylamine forms a hydrogen bond with the H1 proton of

Structure and thermal stability of phosphorus-iodonium ylids

• Andrew Greener,
• Stephen P. Argent,
• Coby J. Clarke and
• Miriam L. O’Duill

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2931–2939, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.245

• Information File 1, Figure S6), the Kamlet–Taft hydrogen bond acceptor ability (β) (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S7) [37], the pKa of the conjugate acid HX (Figure S8), or the anion’s position (axial vs equatorial). The main stabilising factor we identified was the torsion angle φ between the

N-Glycosides of indigo, indirubin, and isoindigo: blue, red, and yellow sugars and their cancerostatic activity

• Peter Langer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2840–2869, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.240

• not visible, E/Z < 2:98). The configurations were determined by comparison of chemical shifts of our products with those of non-glycosylated indirubin, by the presence of an intramolecular hydrogen bond N–H···O and by crystal structure analysis. In fact, the chemical shifts of the H-4 proton signals

• with those of non-glycosylated indirubin, by the presence of an intramolecular hydrogen bond N–H···O and by crystal structure analysis. As mentioned above for the indirubins and thioindirubins, the chemical shifts of the H-4 proton signals are strongly influenced by the anisotropic effect of the

• coumaranone carbonyl group resulting in a downfield shift in case of the Z-isomers. The different E/Z-selectivity in case of oxoindirubins as compared to other indirubin derivatives can be explained, on the one hand, by the absence of the favorable intramolecular hydrogen bond which is present in case of

Deciphering the mechanism of γ-cyclodextrin’s hydrophobic cavity hydration: an integrated experimental and theoretical study

• Stiliyana Pereva,
• Stefan Dobrev,
• Tsveta Sarafska,
• Valya Nikolova,
• Silvia Angelova,
• Tony Spassov and
• Todor Dudev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2635–2643, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.221

• guest water molecule at the expense of destroying one hydrogen bond from the initial γ-CD structure. It should be noted that coordination of water to the wide rim (construct d) creates two new H-bonds between the CD host and the guest water molecule and one H-bond between secondary OH-groups of γ-CD

• cavity is quite full with 7 water molecules incorporated into it. It can be assumed that the number of H-bonds is optimal in γ-CD–7H2O (the complex with seven water molecules) and that when further water molecules are added, not all of them find a suitable position to form a hydrogen bond with the host

Applications of microscopy and small angle scattering techniques for the characterisation of supramolecular gels

• Connor R. M. MacDonald and
• Emily R. Draper

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2608–2634, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.220

• may be assumed to provide an in situ environment. While D2O is chemically identical to H2O, it does exhibit differences in properties including density, viscosity, hydrogen-bond strength, a more pronounced hydrophobic effect. As hydrogen bonding and hydrophobicity are critical to hydrogel

Base-promoted cascade recyclization of allomaltol derivatives containing an amide fragment into substituted 3-(1-hydroxyethylidene)tetronic acids

• Andrey N. Komogortsev,
• Constantine V. Milyutin and
• Boris V. Lichitsky

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2585–2591, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.217

• formation of an intramolecular hydrogen bond and the double bond is located in the furanone ring. In contrast to the aforementioned example the considered compounds 4 have an exocyclic enol fragment and the intramolecular hydrogen bond is connected to the carbonyl oxygen atom. Thus, the absence of

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

• sulfamidyl radicals via a concerted proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET). This process occurs after the formation of a hydrogen bond between dibenzenesulfonimide and n-Bu4NOAc. The formed sulfamidyl radical can directly react with the (hetero)aromatic ring. Subsequent anodic oxidation produces a

Synthesis and conformational analysis of pyran inter-halide analogues of ᴅ-talose

• Olivier Lessard,
• Mathilde Grosset-Magagne,
• Paul A. Johnson and
• Denis Giguère

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2442–2454, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.208

• halogenated pyrans reveals deviation in the intra-annular torsion angles arising from repulsion between the axial fluorine at C2 and the axial halogen at C4, which increases with the size of the halogen at C4 (F < Cl < Br < I). Crystal packing arrangements of pyran inter-halides show hydrogen bond acceptor

• 15: d = 2.356 Å) and with F3 and H4 (13: d = 2.867 Å, 14: d = 2.849 Å, and 15: d = 2.886 Å). Does the halogen at C4 contribute to the stabilization within the crystal lattice? To answer this question, we have to look at the behavior of halogens as hydrogen bond acceptors (X···H) and nonbonding

• electropositive halogen bond ability along the σ-hole (C–X···O/N/S, a ≈ 180°) and an electronegative hydrogen bond acceptor perpendicular to the C–X bond (C–X···H, a ≈ 90°) [57][58][59][60]. Such halogen bonds have been detrimental in the understanding interactions of organic halogens in biological systems [61

Evaluating the halogen bonding strength of a iodoloisoxazolium(III) salt

• Dominik L. Reinhard,
• Anna Schmidt,
• Marc Sons,
• Julian Wolf,
• Elric Engelage and
• Stefan M. Huber

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2401–2407, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.204

• ) Å, 84% of Σr, and C1–I1···Br1 = 176.08(9)°]. The bond distances indicate that the hydrogen bond is noticeably weaker than the two XBs and thus constitutes merely an assisting interaction. The XB interactions in this crystal structure were compared to the ones in the literature-known co-crystal of

Synthesis, electrochemical properties, and antioxidant activity of sterically hindered catechols with 1,3,4-oxadiazole, 1,2,4-triazole, thiazole or pyridine fragments

• Daria A. Burmistrova,
• Andrey Galustyan,
• Nadezhda P. Pomortseva,
• Kristina D. Pashaeva,
• Maxim V. Arsenyev,
• Oleg P. Demidov,
• Mikhail A. Kiskin,
• Andrey I. Poddel’sky,
• Nadezhda T. Berberova and
• Ivan V. Smolyaninov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2378–2391, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.202

• , the catechol molecules in the crystal are located in such a way that catechol hydroxy fragments look at each other and, in addition to intra-molecular hydrogen bond O–H···O between the two hydroxy groups, the intermolecular hydrogen interactions are also being realized between the catechol fragments

• 121.6°). In addition, the intermolecular H-bonding is observed between group O2–H2 of molecule A and the thione group C=S of molecule B (the distance H2A···S1B is 2.42(1) Å, the angle O2A–H2A–S1B is 161°). At the same time, for molecule B, there is a hydrogen bond between the O2B–H2B group with the

• neighbouring group O2–H2, and there is no intramolecular hydrogen bond between hydroxy groups in molecule 8 (Figure 2(b)). A π-stalking was found between the pyridine groups in molecules belonging to the neighbouring pairs with the corresponding distance of 3.45(1) Å. Electrochemical properties The study of

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

• , encompassing cutting-edge advances in hydrogen-bond catalysis and non-classical approaches. Furthermore, practical examples showcasing the application of these innovative methodologies in total synthesis are presented. Keywords: asymmetric catalysis; asymmetric synthesis; chiral amines; organicatalysis

• attributed to the chair-like transition state where the organoboron reagent 1 exchanges one isopropoxy group for one of the BINOL 3 oxygen atoms, whereas the free OH group of the BINOL forms a hydrogen bond to the carbonyl of substrate 2. The flanking phenyl groups on the BINOL facilitate recognition between

• 11. It was proposed, that the internal hydrogen bond between the catalyst 11 and the P=O fragment of the protecting group of imine 9 is responsible for the observed high enantioselectivities (76–98% ee). The scope included a wide range of substrates, such as aromatic, heteroaromatic, aliphatic, and α