Thiazolidinones: novel insights from microwave synthesis, computational studies, and potentially bioactive hybrids

• Luan A. Martinho,
• Victor H. J. G. Praciano,
• Guilherme D. R. Matos,
• Claudia C. Gatto and
• Carlos Kleber Z. Andrade

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2618–2636, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.203

• heterocyclic aldehydes such as furfural (3v), thiophene (3w) and indole (3x) carboxaldehydes. Application of the optimized EDA-catalyzed Knoevenagel conditions to thiazolidine-2,4-dione (2b) afforded the expected product 4a in moderate yield (Supporting Information File 1, Table S1). Adding excess thiazolidine

Palladium-catalyzed regioselective C1-selective nitration of carbazoles

• Vikash Kumar,
• Jyothis Dharaniyedath,
• Aiswarya T P,
• Sk Ariyan,
• Chitrothu Venkatesh and
• Parthasarathy Gandeepan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2479–2488, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.190

• 2s (36%) and 2s' (15%). It is worth noting that under the standard reaction conditions, indole substrates 1t and 1u failed to afford the desired products 2t and 2u. Encouraged by these results, and to further demonstrate the synthetic utility of the established reaction protocol, we carried out a

Synthesis of the tetracyclic skeleton of Aspidosperma alkaloids via PET-initiated cationic radical-derived interrupted [2 + 2]/retro-Mannich reaction

• Ru-Dong Liu,
• Jian-Yu Long,
• Zhi-Lin Song,
• Zhen Yang and
• Zhong-Chao Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2470–2478, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.189

• intense substrate decomposition (Table 1, entries 6–8). These results showed that MeCN is the best solvent for the reaction. Finally, we investigated the effects of an alternative N-substituent in the indole moiety, and the reaction time and temperature on the photocyclization results. Boc-substituted

• 62% and 58%, respectively. Computational study The synthesis of (±)-aspidospermidine (1) and (±)-limaspermidine (2) showcased the effectiveness of our strategy for constructing complex monoterpene indole alkaloids [26]. In this work, we turned our attention to investigating the mechanistic

• the formation of benzyl radical IN2, which has a boat-like seven-membered ring. This structural feature may facilitate formation of the C19–C12 bond, even in the presence of critical steric hindrance between the C5 quaternary carbon and the indole moiety. Further DFT investigation proved challenging

Transformation of the cyclohexane ring to the cyclopentane fragment of biologically active compounds

• Natalya Akhmetdinova,
• Ilgiz Biktagirov and
• Liliya Kh. Faizullina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2416–2446, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.185

• [96] used the semipinacol rearrangement as a key step in converting indole 219 to spirooxindole 221. The spirooxindole alkaloids, (−)-citrinadin A and (+)-citrinidin B, exhibit notable activity against murine leukemia L1210 (217, IC50 6.2 μg/mL; 229, 10 μg/mL) and human epidermoid KB cells (218, IC50

• 10 μg/mL). Sequential interaction of indole 219 with pyridinium p-toluenesulfonate (PPTS) and excess of Davis’ oxaziridine 222, an effective oxidizing agent for synthesis of spirooxindole alkaloids, led to epoxide 220. Labile oxirane 220, without isolation, was subjected to a semipinacol

An Fe(II)-catalyzed synthesis of spiro[indoline-3,2'-pyrrolidine] derivatives

• Elizaveta V. Gradova,
• Nikita A. Ozhegov,
• Roman O. Shcherbakov,
• Alexander G. Tkachenko,
• Larisa Y. Nesterova,
• Elena Y. Mendogralo and
• Maxim G. Uchuskin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2383–2388, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.183

• -unsaturated ketone; dearomatization; indole; spirocyclization; spiro[indoline-3,2'-pyrrolidine]; Introduction Spiro[indoline-3,2'-pyrrolidine] derivatives represent an important class of organic compounds found in both natural products (e.g., coerulescine [1], horsfiline [2], and elacomine [3]) and synthetic

• . Third, the introduction of an ortho-methyl substituent on the ketone moiety (3m) likewise suppressed product formation, likely due to steric hindrance interfering with cyclization at the C3 position of the indole ring. Based on literature precedents [15][16], we propose a mechanism involving a radical

Pathway economy in cyclization of 1,n-enynes

• Hezhen Han,
• Wenjie Mao,
• Bin Lin,
• Maosheng Cheng,
• Lu Yang and
• Yongxiang Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2260–2282, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.173

• , the Liu group developed a gold-catalyzed tandem cycloisomerization, offering controllable synthesis of either indolo[2,3-a]quinolizine or indolizino[8,7-b]indole derivatives (Scheme 10) [17]. When the indole nitrogen of the substrate was substituted with electron-donating groups (EDGs) and the alkyne

• of propiolamide was equipped with a bulky substituent, the 6-exo-dig cyclization was initially triggered under gold(I)-catalysis, leading to intermediate 43. Then the indolizino[8,7-b]indole skeleton 44 ultimately was constructed via a tandem 5-exo-dig cyclization (Scheme 10, path a). When the indole

• controllable cyclization of tryptamine-derived ynamides to synthesize two types of indole alkaloid skeletons (Scheme 13) [20]. For alkyl-substituted alkynes, the ynamide activated by BiCl3 was attacked by indole's C3-position to form spirocyclic intermediate 58. Subsequent 1,2-migration then exclusively

Thiadiazino-indole, thiadiazino-carbazole and benzothiadiazino-carbazole dioxides: synthesis, physicochemical and early ADME characterization of representatives of new tri-, tetra- and pentacyclic ring systems and their intermediates

• Gyöngyvér Pusztai,
• László Poszávácz,
• Anna Vincze,
• András Marton,
• Ahmed Qasim Abdulhussein,
• Judit Halász,
• András Dancsó,
• Gyula Simig,
• György Tibor Balogh and
• Balázs Volk

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2220–2233, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.169

• -dioxides, we aimed at elaborating a synthetic procedure for the preparation of their pyrrole-fused counterparts, 2,9-dihydro[1,2,3]thiadiazino[5,6-g]indole 1,1-dioxide derivatives. The simple and versatile process led, via Fischer indole cyclization of the corresponding hydrazones, to a wide structural

• metabolic stability of the most promising derivatives was also determined using human liver microsomes. Keywords: early ADME characterization; Fischer indole cyclization; heterocycles; indoles; lead-likeness; new ring systems; physicochemical characterization; Introduction Considering the published

• -dioxides and their 3,4-dihydro derivatives 2 (R3 = Me) were found to have remarkable in vivo anxiolytic activity [12], we aimed to prepare further congeners exhibiting a higher potency in this field. It is well known that synthetic as well as naturally occurring compounds containing an indole moiety

Electrochemical cyclization of alkynes to construct five-membered nitrogen-heterocyclic rings

• Lifen Peng,
• Ting Wang,
• Zhiwen Yuan,
• Bin Li,
• Zilong Tang,
• Xirong Liu,
• Hui Li,
• Guofang Jiang,
• Chunling Zeng,
• Henry N. C. Wong and
• Xiao-Shui Peng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2173–2201, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.166

• characteristics. Electrochemical construction of five-membered rings from alkynes attracted increasing attention due to the notable advantages of electrochemical transformations and facile access of alkynes. Indole skeletons were constructed successfully through electrochemical intramolecular coupling of ethynyl

• ][126][127][128][129][130][131][132][133][134][135][136]. Recently, Shi has disclosed the synthesis or transformation of indoles and developed indole-derived platform molecules [137][138][139][140][141][142][143][144][145][146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154][155][156][157][158][159][160][161

• the indole frame (Scheme 2) [185]. In the presence of KPF6 and NaOAc, subjection of alkyne 3 and aniline 4 to [RuCl2(p-cyneme)]2-catalyzed electrochemical annulation formed the titled indole 5 successfully. After studying the reaction in details, the best reaction conditions were acquired as following

C2 to C6 biobased carbonyl platforms for fine chemistry

• Jingjing Jiang,
• Muhammad Noman Haider Tariq,
• Florence Popowycz,
• Yanlong Gu and
• Yves Queneau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2103–2172, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.165

• evolves towards cyclic acetals (Scheme 4) [32]. Exploring methods for the conversion of glycolaldehyde (GCA) to 3-(indol-3-yl)-2,3-dihydrofurans in organic solvents, Gu et al. reported a three-component reaction combining GCA, ethyl acetoacetate as 1,3-dicarbonyl component and indole. Using glycolaldehyde

• oxygen in alcoholic medium has also been reported (Scheme 37) [121][122]. Riguet synthesized γ-lactams through a Ugi 4-center 3-component reaction (U-4C-3CR) protocol. HFO was used as the electrophile in the Friedel–Crafts (FC) alkylation reactions of indole catalyzed by diphenylprolinol silyl ether. The

The application of desymmetric enantioselective reduction of cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds in the total synthesis of terpenoid and alkaloid natural products

• Dong-Xing Tan and
• Fu-She Han

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2085–2102, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.164

• (−)-aspidospermidine (−)-Hunterine A (14) and (−)-aspidospermidine (15) are monoterpene indole alkaloids, which were isolated from Hunteria zeylanica and Apocynaceae plants, respectively [56][57]. Structurally, these two natural products both contain the fused polycyclic skeleton core bearing four consecutive

Discovery of cytotoxic indolo[1,2-c]quinazoline derivatives through scaffold-based design

• Daniil V. Khabarov,
• Valeria A. Litvinova,
• Lyubov G. Dezhenkova,
• Dmitry N. Kaluzhny,
• Alexander S. Tikhomirov and
• Andrey E. Shchekotikhin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2062–2071, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.161

• heterocyclic scaffolds are widely used in the treatment of various diseases, making them a common focus of research [1]. A substantial part of these compounds incorporate five- or six-membered nitrogen heterocycles. The indole and quinazoline cores represent two pharmacologically significant heterocyclic

• systems, exhibiting a wide range of biological activity, high level of druglikeness and broad opportunities for derivatizations, that make them privileged scaffolds in drug discovery [2][3]. The pharmaceutical significance of indole and quinazoline rings is evident by numerous FDA-approved drugs across

• structural fusion of indole and quinazoline pharmacophores offers exceptional opportunities for designing new therapeutic agents, combining the proven bioactivities of both privileged scaffolds. Chemical ways for the synthesis of indolo[1,2-c]quinazolines (Figure 1, top) are numerous and cover different

Bioinspired total syntheses of natural products: a personal adventure

• Zhengyi Qin,
• Yuting Yang,
• Nuran Yan,
• Xinyu Liang,
• Zhiyu Zhang,
• Yaxuan Duan,
• Huilin Li and
• Xuegong She

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2048–2061, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.160

• , bioinspired total synthesis of three types of natural products, namely diterpenoids (chabranol, and monocerin), alkaloids (indole, hydroquinoline, and monoterpenoid−indolidinoid hybrid), and gymnothelignans are discussed. Based on these achievements on bioinspired total synthesis, we provide some information

• with an acid and base-promoted saponification inversed the C12 alcohol stereochemistry, which ultimately provided (12R)-hydroxymonocerin. Total synthesis and bioinspired skeletal diversification of (12-MeO)-tabertinggine In 2013, Kam and co-workers reported the discovery of two novel indole alkaloids

• skeletons are of great interests to synthetic chemists, since the biological studies are limited due to material scarcity in the nature. Structurally, tabertinggine contains an aza-[3.2.1] bridged skeleton linked to indole C2 position. To rationalize how this unique structure is generated in nature (Scheme

Enantioselective desymmetrization strategy of prochiral 1,3-diols in natural product synthesis

• Lihua Wei,
• Rui Yang,
• Zhifeng Shi and
• Zhiqiang Ma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1932–1963, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.151

• ]. Snyder and co-workers applied this method to synthesize arboridinine, an indole alkaloid isolated from a Malaysian Kopsia species (Scheme 24) [66]. The synthesis commenced with tert-butyloxycarbonyl (Boc)-protected tryptamine 181, which was converted into diol 182 in two steps. Initial attempts to forge

• indole derivatives mediated by 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) is an efficient strategy that the Cook group utilized in the total synthesis of several indole alkaloids [75][76][77]. In 2005, they reported the synthesis of vincamajine-related indole alkaloids, among which

Rhodium-catalysed connective synthesis of diverse reactive probes bearing S(VI) electrophilic warheads

• Scott Rice,
• Julian Chesti,
• William R. T. Mosedale,
• Megan H. Wright,
• Stephen P. Marsden,
• Terry K. Smith and
• Adam Nelson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1924–1931, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.150

• estimation of the yield of each product (Figure 2, panel B). It was found that many reactions involving alcohol- (e.g., C1–5, C8, C11 and C14) and indole- (e.g., C3, C12 and C15) containing co-substrates yielded intermolecular products, whilst those involving nitrile-containing co-substrates (C9 and 10) and

• reaction modes of dirhodium carbenoids that were possible [14]. Overall, products were formed via O–H insertion into an alcohol (to give 14 products) or phenol (→ 2-4 and 3-4a); N–H insertion into an indole (→ 1-3a, 1-15b, 2-3a, 2-15b and 4-3), sulfonamide (→ 2-6), aminopyrimidine (→ 2-13 and 4-13) or

• amine (→ 4-18); cyclopropanation (→ 2-7); and formal C–H insertion into an indole (→ 1-15a and 2-15a) or naphthol (→ 2-4 and 3-4b). In the case of 4 (2-naphthol) and 15 (5-methoxyindole), co-substrates containing functional groups with more than one potentially reactive site, two regioisomeric products

Preparation of spirocyclic oxindoles by cyclisation of an oxime to a nitrone and dipolar cycloaddition

• Beth L. Ritchie,
• Alexandra Longcake and
• Iain Coldham

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1890–1896, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.146

• , sore throats, toothache, ulcers, and snake bites [1]. The medicinal qualities of these plants are ascribed to the presence of alkaloids, and they are rich in many different indole and oxindole alkaloids [2]. About 100 Alstonia alkaloids are known, with more being isolated on a regular basis [3][4

• ][10][11][12][13]. Of note, Cook and co-workers described an elegant approach using tryptophan as a starting material and an oxidative rearrangement of an indole that allows access to a variety of spirooxindole alkaloids from the Alstonia genus [14]. An efficient way to construct cyclic nitrogen

Chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of helically chiral, planarly chiral and inherently chiral molecules

• Wei Liu and
• Xiaoyu Yang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1864–1889, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.145

• , the application of CPA catalysis in the asymmetric synthesis of other forms of molecular chirality has received less attention. While List and co-workers reported the first CPA-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of helically chiral azahelicenes through the Fischer indole synthesis back in 2014 [12], the

• , resulting in kinetic resolution with an exceptional performance. In 2025, Zhou and co-workers disclosed the asymmetric synthesis of planarly chiral macrocycles via CPA-catalyzed atroposelective macrocyclization [42]. The authors devised and prepared a series of indole-based hydroxy-substituted carboxylic

• . Investigations of the substrate scope revealed the compatibility of the method with various substitutions on the indole moiety and modifications to the length of the ansa chain, which produced planarly chiral macrocycles with up to 99% ee. In addition, this method was successfully employed for the catalytic

Photoswitches beyond azobenzene: a beginner’s guide

• Michela Marcon,
• Christoph Haag and
• Burkhard König

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1808–1853, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.143

• , pyridine, and indole, alongside with less common oxygen and sulphur-based heterocycles such as thiophene, thiazole, oxazole. At the end of the section, we will also briefly discuss heteroarylimines which, although not being azo-switches, resemble the geometry of azo-compounds and possess similar

• photoswitches (Figure 6) [5]. N-Methylation of indole 2b increases the lifetime due to a preference for the inversion with respect to the rotation mechanism. Interestingly, the isomerisation of the non-methylated 2a is also strongly influenced by protic solvents, by the pH of the solution, and by the

• solvents, causing a slower thermal isomerisation. The photoswitch is suitable for aqueous buffers and biological environments and is resistant to glutathione oxidase [90]. Phenyliminoindolinone 73 was designed to improve the features of iminothioindoxyl [63]. Substitution at the indole nitrogen of

Unique halogen–π association detected in single crystals of C–N atropisomeric N-(2-halophenyl)quinolin-2-one derivatives and the thione analogue

• Mai Uchibori,
• Nanami Murate,
• Kanako Shima,
• Tatsunori Sakagami,
• Ko Kanehisa,
• Gary James Richards,
• Akiko Hori and
• Osamu Kitagawa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1748–1756, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.138

• diverse C–N atropisomeric compounds possessing carboxamide, imide, lactam, sulfonamide, indole, pyrrole, imidazole, carbazole and amine skeletons have been reported by many groups [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. C–N atropisomers are attractive compounds from the viewpoint of not only synthetic organic

Convenient alternative synthesis of the Malassezia-derived virulence factor malassezione and related compounds

• Karu Ramesh and
• Stephen L. Bearne

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1730–1736, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.135

• receptor agonist and potential glucokinase activator, we developed a convenient synthetic route from commercially available indole-3-acetic acid. Treatment of the N-Boc-protected indole-3-acetic acid with N-ethyl-N′-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC) in the presence of DMAP generates the N,N′-Boc

• . 5%. Furthermore, the present method may also be used to prepare related compounds. Keywords: bis(aryl/heteroaryl)ketones; EDC; indole alkaloids; malassezione; Introduction Lipophilic yeasts of the genus Malassezia are commensal fungi that constitute the normal skin microbiota; however, when they

• ]. Unfortunately, testing of malassezione is limited by the lack of a convenient synthesis. Indeed, beyond isolating the compound from cultured M. furfur [11][20], the only reported synthetic route to malassezione is via an iron-catalyzed Fukuyama-type indole synthesis, which afforded the compound in low yield [18

Catalytic asymmetric reactions of isocyanides for constructing non-central chirality

• Jia-Yu Liao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1648–1660, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.129

• cyclization of functionalized phenyl isocyanides, guided by DFT calculations (Scheme 2b) [29]. Three types of isocyanides (10–12) were evaluated in reactions with aryl iodides, affording indole-fused N-heteroaryl scaffolds 13–15, featuring either a C–C or C–N stereogenic axis, in moderate-to-high yields with

3-Aryl-2H-azirines as annulation reagents in the Ni(II)-catalyzed synthesis of 1H-benzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-b]pyrroles

• Julia I. Pavlenko,
• Pavel A. Sakharov,
• Anastasiya V. Agafonova,
• Derenik A. Isadzhanyan,
• Alexander F. Khlebnikov and
• Mikhail S. Novikov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1595–1602, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.123

• . Heating of indole 9a with azirine 2a in the presence of 5 mol % of Ni(hfacac)2 afforded the desired annulation product 10 in 41% yield (Scheme 5). Unfortunately, we were unable to find conditions that allowed a similar reaction of NH-indole 9b to occur. At the same time, when Ni(hfacac)2 was replaced with

• intermediate formation of free radical species [9]. A similar reaction of N-acetyl substituted indole 9c produced [3 + 2] cycloaddition products 12 in even lower yield (4%). However, the main reaction product turned out to be unstable compound 13, which, nevertheless, was isolated in 40% yield as a single

• diastereomer and characterized by NMR and HRMS data. Compound 13 is likely formed from aziridine 14 via the N→N acetyl group transfer and subsequent isomerization of the acetylaziridinyl substituent. The constitutional isomer of indole 9a, indole 15, having a nucleophilic reaction center in the β-position of

Oxetanes: formation, reactivity and total syntheses of natural products

• Peter Gabko,
• Martin Kalník and
• Maroš Bella

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1324–1373, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.101

• highly cytotoxic agent inhibiting IDO1 (indole-amine 2,3-dioxygenase) which possesses an excellent pharmacokinetic profile and is suitable for both oral and parenteral dosing [16]. Compound 3, called ziresovir, is a promising candidate for treatment of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in

• oxidation state ruthenium, allowing for a facile purification (simple acidic/basic workup) and is very mild, scalable and high-yielding. However, the yield tends to get rather low (below 25%), if the oxetane bears a heterocycle (e.g., indole or thiophene), most likely due to competing oxidations of the

• to a potentially even larger library of amide isosteres. The scope of the carbon nucleophiles is very broad and includes alkyls, alkenyls, alkynyls, aryls and heteroaryls (e.g., pyridine, indole, thiophene), as well as (poly)substituted phenyls bearing a nitrile or halogen(s). On the other hand, the

Investigations of amination reactions on an antimalarial 1,2,4-triazolo[4,3-a]pyrazine scaffold

• Henry S. T. Smith,
• Ben Giuliani,
• Kanchana Wijesekera,
• Kah Yean Lum,
• Sandra Duffy,
• Aaron Lock,
• Jonathan M. White,
• Vicky M. Avery and
• Rohan A. Davis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1126–1134, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.90

• synchronisation, as previously described [16]. Puromycin, chloroquine, pyrimethamine, and dihydroartemisinin were used as reference compounds. Following incubation of assay plates for 72 h at 37 °C, and 5% CO2 and 5% O2, parasites were stained with 2-(4-amidinophenyl)-1H-indole-6-carboxamidine (DAPI) and imaged

Pd-Catalyzed asymmetric allylic amination with isatin using a P,olefin-type chiral ligand with C–N bond axial chirality

• Natsume Akimoto,
• Kaho Takaya,
• Yoshio Kasashima,
• Kohei Watanabe,
• Yasushi Yoshida and
• Takashi Mino

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1018–1023, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.83

• Isatin is a well-known natural indole derivative. Due to the broad biological activities of its derivatives, extensive research has been conducted on their synthesis. Furthermore, the isatin framework is a versatile starting material for various transformations, including multicomponent reactions and the

Studies on the syntheses of β-carboline alkaloids brevicarine and brevicolline

• Benedek Batizi,
• Patrik Pollák,
• András Dancsó,
• Péter Keglevich,
• Gyula Simig,
• Balázs Volk and
• Mátyás Milen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 955–963, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.79

• hydrogenation of the C=C double bond in the side chain gave brevicarine (2). The first total synthesis of brevicarine is shown in Scheme 3 [2][20][21]. Condensation of indole (11) with 1-methylpiperidone (12) gave compound 13 [22]. N-Alkylation of 13 with benzyl bromide, followed by treatment of the quaternary