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

• [16][17]. Indole derivatives, including those with conjugated aromatic and alicyclic rings, are of considerable interest because of their diverse biological activities (antibacterial, antimicrobial, anticancer, antidiabetic, etc.) [18][19][20][21][22]. For this reason, the synthetic goal of this work

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

• of aliphatic and aromatic substituents (Scheme 4). Pyrimidines and pyrimidone-bearing indole derivatives are crucial in organic chemistry because of their extensive use as bioactive compounds with a wide array of significant biological activities (DB03074, DB03304, DB08131) [70][71][72]. In a similar

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

• reported. However, the reaction did not tolerate a variety of substitutions on the amide group, probably because of its involvement in hydrogen bonding with the organocatalyst (R)-C23. Expanding on earlier methodologies of Chen et al. [60][61] and Wang et al. [62] utilizing indole derivatives instead of β

Synthesis of acenaphthylene-fused heteroarenes and polyoxygenated benzo[j]fluoranthenes via a Pd-catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura/C–H arylation cascade

• Merve Yence,
• Dilgam Ahmadli,
• Damla Surmeli,
• Umut Mert Karacaoğlu,
• Sujit Pal and
• Yunus Emre Türkmen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3290–3298, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.273

• -catalyzed annulation reaction between bromo-chloronaphthalene dicarboximides 6 and heteroarylboronic esters that enabled the syntheses of acenaphthylene-fused thiophene and indole derivatives 7 having donor-acceptor units (Scheme 1a) [40]. In 2021, Jin and co-workers developed an elegant Pd-catalyzed

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

• with subsequent nucleophilic attack by chloride to form the product. A metal-free chlorocyclisation of indole derivatives was reported by Yu and co-workers in 2019 (Scheme 25) [45]. The authors reported the use of 1-chloro-1,2-benziodoxol-3-one (45) as a single reagent to form 6- or 7-membered rings

• PhI(OAc)2, which formed a range of 5- and 6-membered bromomethyl cyclic imines 56 in good yields from unsaturated imines 57. Xia and co-workers reported the bromocyclisation of indole derivatives 58 (Scheme 31) using PIDA and CuBr2 as the oxidant and bromide source, respectively [52]. Racemic pyrrolo

• [2,3-b]indoles 59 were synthesised in up to quantitative yields under mild reaction conditions at room temperature. A range of other indole derivatives were cyclised in similarly good yields demonstrating the scope of the reaction. Li and Liu reported the bromoamidation of alkenes in 2014 (Scheme 32

Synthesis of spiroindolenines through a one-pot multistep process mediated by visible light

• Francesco Gambuti,
• Jacopo Pizzorno,
• Chiara Lambruschini,
• Renata Riva and
• Lisa Moni

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2722–2731, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.230

• cyclization of the indole derivatives is the most popular (Scheme 1a). For instance, the efficient synthesis of spiro[indoline-3,2′-pyrrolidines] [8][9][10] or spiro-isoxazoles [11] through different dearomatization processes has been reported. Recently, Ramana and Dothe have proposed an elegant gold

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

• involves building a ring onto a preexisting system, whether cyclic or non-cyclic. The Lei group developed an electrooxidative annulation reaction that facilitates LSF [28]. A regio- and stereoselective protocol was established for the [4 + 2] annulation of indole derivatives, allowing access to highly

• cyclization of 2-ethynylanilines has been proven to be one of the most effective strategies for synthesizing indole derivatives. In this regard, Wang and coworkers developed the electrosynthesis of 3-iodoindoles from 2-ethynylanilines under mild and straightforward conditions [31]. The functionalization of

Efficacy of radical reactions of isocyanides with heteroatom radicals in organic synthesis

• Akiya Ogawa and
• Yuki Yamamoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2114–2128, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.182

• reaction of o-ethenylaryl isocyanides with disulfides in the presence of diphenyl ditelluride yields the corresponding dithiolated indole derivatives 23 (Scheme 16) [60]. Initially, the thiotelluration products via 5-exo cyclization are formed in situ. The subsequent aromatization followed by photoinduced

Carbonylative synthesis and functionalization of indoles

• Alex De Salvo,
• Raffaella Mancuso and
• Xiao-Feng Wu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 973–1000, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.87

• recent achievements on the synthesis and functionalization of indole derivatives via carbonylative approaches. Keywords: carbonylation; functionalization; indole; metal catalyst; organometallic chemistry; Introduction Indole is a heterocyclic compound consisting of a benzene ring fused with a pyrrole

• selective cyclization to the indole derivative in the presence of Pd(OAc)2 and AlCl3. A variety of indole derivatives were synthetized in good isolated yields (Scheme 3). Synthesis of indoles by Pd(II)-catalyzed carbonylation reaction Oxidative carbonylation reactions, as well as all other types of

• heterocyclization reactions by exploiting the electrophilic character of Pd(II) species. Starting from substrates bearing a triple bond and a nucleophile in the appropriate position, a versatile process of heterocyclization can be initiated, resulting in indole derivatives with important properties. Gabriele et al

Green and sustainable approaches for the Friedel–Crafts reaction between aldehydes and indoles

• Periklis X. Kolagkis,
• Eirini M. Galathri and
• Christoforos G. Kokotos

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 379–426, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.36

• pharmaceutical and biological activities. Among indole derivatives, bis(indolyl)methanes (BIMs) are profoundly interesting, due to their wide range of pharmaceutical properties. The most common approach involves the electrophilic substitution of various aldehydes and ketones by indoles, utilizing either protic

• of 20 mg of the P4VPy–CuO nanocompound at 80 °C proved sufficient, under solvent-free conditions, at providing an optimum isolated product yield of 92% after 5 minutes. Various indole derivatives and carbonyl compounds were explored, where it was found that ketones were less reactive, due to their

Chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of 3,3-difluoro-3H-indoles

• Yumei Wang,
• Guangzhu Wang,
• Yanping Zhu and
• Kaiwu Dong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 205–211, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.20

• asymmetric reduction studies focused on alkyl or aryl-substituted 3H-indoles whereas the synthesis of chiral difluorinated indole derivatives could have potential applications in pharmaceutical chemistry. Herein, an organocatalyzed transfer hydrogenation of 3,3-difluoro-3H-indoles to obtain fluorinated 3H

• (2p). However, when using 3,3-difluoro-2-(naphthalen-2-ylethynyl)-3H-indole or 3,3-difluoro-2-phenyl-3H-indole as the substrate, the generated indoles underwent fast HF elimination/aromatization and finally gave indole derivatives (2q and 2r) in almost quantitative yields. To examine the efficiency

• spectroscopy and the ee values were determined by chiral HPLC. Structures of bioactive fluorinated indole derivatives. Proposed mechanism for the transfer hydrogenation reaction. Synthesis of chiral indolines via asymmetric reduction. Substrate scope of 3,3-difluoro-3H-indoles. Experiment at 2 mmol scale

Visible-light-induced radical cascade cyclization: a catalyst-free synthetic approach to trifluoromethylated heterocycles

• Chuan Yang,
• Wei Shi,
• Jian Tian,
• Lin Guo,
• Yating Zhao and
• Wujiong Xia

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 118–124, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.12

• radicals. This method allows the efficient synthesis of various indole derivatives without the need of photocatalysts or transition-metal catalysts. Mechanism experiments indicate that the process involves a radical chain process initiated by the homolysis of Umemoto's reagent. This straightforward method

• enables a rapid access to heterocycles containing a trifluoromethyl group. Keywords: cascade reaction; indole derivatives; photocatalysis; radical chain process; trifluoromethylation; Introduction Dihydropyrido[1,2-a]indolone (DHPI) skeletons are commonly found in natural products and pharmaceutical

• (Table 1, entry 16). With the optimized conditions in hand, we started to explore the scope of this photoinduced transformation. Various alkene-tethered indole derivatives were subjected to the reaction. Remarkably, a range of dihydropyrido[1,2-a]indolones bearing a trifluoromethyl group were obtained in

N-Sulfenylsuccinimide/phthalimide: an alternative sulfenylating reagent in organic transformations

• Fatemeh Doraghi,
• Seyedeh Pegah Aledavoud,
• Mehdi Ghanbarlou,
• Bagher Larijani and
• Mohammad Mahdavi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1471–1502, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.106

• the HNO species, the pyrroline structure could oxidize and aromatize to the pyrrole ring 61 (Scheme 26). In 2021, Anbarasan and co-workers were able to obtain a diverse range of sulfenylated products 64 in a Co-catalyzed C2-sulfenylation and C2,C3-disulfenylation of indole derivatives with N

• . Co-catalyzed C2-sulfenylation and C2,C3-disulfenylation of indole derivatives. Plausible catalytic cycle for Co-catalyzed C2-sulfenylation and C2,C3-disulfenylation of indoles. C–H thioarylation of electron-rich arenes by iron(III) triflimide catalysis. Difunctionalization of alkynyl bromides with

Consecutive four-component synthesis of trisubstituted 3-iodoindoles by an alkynylation–cyclization–iodination–alkylation sequence

• Nadia Ledermann,
• Alae-Eddine Moubsit and
• Thomas J. J. Müller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1379–1385, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.99

• [9][10][11] and their preparation is an evergreen in organic synthesis [12][13][14][15]. Although the classical Fischer indole synthesis provides a very reliable and broadly applicable access to indole derivatives [16][17][18], striving for new indole syntheses is ongoing. In particular, metal

• -trisubstitued indoles 8 in good yield (Scheme 4). The 1,2,3-trisubstitued indoles 8 were unambiguously confirmed by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, as well as by mass spectrometry and elemental analysis. Miura et al. could show that 1-alkyl-2,3-diarylindoles constitute a class of blue-emissive indole derivatives

Aromatic C–H bond functionalization through organocatalyzed asymmetric intermolecular aza-Friedel–Crafts reaction: a recent update

• Anup Biswas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 956–981, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.72

• process was achieved through the C3–H functionalization of indole derivatives 4. The nucleophile favors the attack at the imine carbon included in the seven-membered ring of compound 8 to generate an aza-quaternary stereocenter containing trifluoromethyl, pyrrole/indole, and benzoazepinoindole moieties

• products 23 framed with an aza-quaternary stereocenter. Indole derivatives without any substitution in the heterocyclic ring participated in the reaction through the C3 position smoothly providing the products with appreciable yields and enantiocontrol. Two examples were demonstrated with 3-alkyl

• -derived chiral phosphoric acid catalysts P17 and P18. The electrophile was the α-trifluoromethyl-containing imine 52 which directed the C2 functionalization in the pyrrole moiety with catalyst P17 and a C3 substitution in indole derivatives using catalyst P18 forming the trifluoromethylated aza-quaternary

Transition-metal-catalyzed domino reactions of strained bicyclic alkenes

• Austin Pounder,
• Eric Neufeld,
• Peter Myler and
• William Tam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 487–540, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.38

Morita–Baylis–Hillman reaction of 3-formyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indoles and fluorescence studies of the products

• Nisha Devi and
• Virender Singh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 926–934, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.92

• transformation than 6e. It is noteworthy here that all the products were purified by column chromatography. A small library of C-3-substituted pyrido[3,4-b]indole derivatives was designed and synthesized which is presented in Figure 4. All the products were characterized using NMR, FTIR and mass spectrometry

• . Fluorescence studies Fluorescence studies of these C-3-substituted pyrido[3,4-b]indole derivatives were examined and various parameters (contact time, concentration and solvent) were optimized for obtaining the best results using 7dA as a model substrate. Fluorescence emission spectra for optimizing the

• min; concentration: 5 × 10−6 M; solvent: CHCl3. The results of the fluorescence studies of all the C-3 substituted pyrido[3,4-b]indole derivatives are presented in Table 1. Structure–fluorescence activity relationships From the results presented in Table 1, some structure–fluorescence activity

Copper-catalyzed multicomponent reactions for the efficient synthesis of diverse spirotetrahydrocarbazoles

• Shao-Cong Zhan,
• Ren-Jie Fang,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 796–808, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.80

• developed the practical synthetic values of the well-known Levy reaction by using inactivated indole derivatives. The outcome of diastereoselectivity of the reaction was clearly elucidated by determination of the several single crystal structures and the analysis of the reaction mechanism. The experimental

Synthesis of 5-unsubstituted dihydropyrimidinone-4-carboxylates from deep eutectic mixtures

• Sangram Gore,
• Sundarababu Baskaran and
• Burkhard König

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 331–336, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.37

• reaction, synthesis of glycosylurea, dihydropyrimidinones, pyrimidopyrimidinediones, and functionalized indole derivatives in this novel and green reaction medium [34][35][36][37][38]. We have also developed an efficient method for the synthesis of trisubstituted hydantoin derivatives from β,γ-unsaturated

Chemoselective N-acylation of indoles using thioesters as acyl source

• Tianri Du,
• Xiangmu Wei,
• Honghong Xu,
• Xin Zhang,
• Ruiru Fang,
• Zheng Yuan,
• Zhi Liang and
• Yahui Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 89–94, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.9

• of the N(sp2)–H bond by using a catalytic amount of DBU for the preparation of indoleamides [14] (Scheme 1, A2). Subsequently, Sundén reported an efficient chemoselective method for the synthesis of indoleamide by oxidative organocatalytic reaction of indole derivatives and conjugated aldehydes under

Iron-catalyzed domino coupling reactions of π-systems

• Austin Pounder and
• William Tam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2848–2893, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.196

• -carbonyl alkyl bromides 147 and indole derivatives 146 (Scheme 30) [124]. Although the reaction operated in the absence of the iron catalyst, its use is crucial for high yielding reactions. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggest the reaction proceeds through a radical addition of the carbon-centered alkyl

Recent advances in organocatalytic asymmetric aza-Michael reactions of amines and amides

• Pratibha Sharma,
• Raakhi Gupta and
• Raj K. Bansal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2585–2610, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.173

• high enantioselectivities (up to 65–91%) [40]. Rajasekar et al. developed an efficient one-pot tandem rhodium(II)/chiral squaramide relay catalysis for the enantioselective construction of dihydro-β-carbolines 37 from the Michael reaction of suitably substituted indole derivatives 34 with N-sulfonyl

Efficient synthesis of polyfunctionalized carbazoles and pyrrolo[3,4-c]carbazoles via domino Diels–Alder reaction

• Ren-Jie Fang,
• Chen Yan,
• Jing Sun,
• Ying Han and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2425–2432, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.159

• with benzylideneacetone gave the desired carbazoles 6m and 6n albeit in significantly lower yields. Thus, this one-pot domino reaction successfully constructed carbazoles with four substituents on the benzene ring from the corresponding indole derivatives with two molecules of chalcones. It should be

Advances in mercury(II)-salt-mediated cyclization reactions of unsaturated bonds

• Sumana Mandal,
• Raju D. Chaudhari and
• Goutam Biswas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2348–2376, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.153

• -methylenepiperidine 169 initially, which further isomerizes to form 2-methyl-1,2-dehydropiperidine (170, Scheme 49) [109]. Similarly, in 2007 Kurisaki et al. had also prepared indole derivatives 172 with excellent yields from 2-ethynylaniline derivatives 171 upon the treatment of catalytic amounts of Hg(OTf)2 at room

• ]. Recently, a Hg(OTf)2-catalyzed one-pot cyclization of nitroalkyne 175 and alkyne had been reported to synthesize indole derivatives 176. Based on this strategy, the one-pot method to synthesize indole derivatives had been developed [112]. Similarly, benzo[c]isoxazole was also formed in excellent yields

• -methylenepiperidine. a) Preparation of indole derivatives through cycloisomerization of 2-ethynylaniline and b) its mechanism. a) Hg(OTf)2-catalyzed synthesis of 3-indolinones and 3-coumaranones and b) simplified mechanism. a) Hg(OTf)2-catalyzed one pot cyclization of nitroalkyne and b) its plausible mechanism

On the application of 3d metals for C–H activation toward bioactive compounds: The key step for the synthesis of silver bullets

• Renato L. Carvalho,
• Amanda S. de Miranda,
• Mateus P. Nunes,
• Roberto S. Gomes,
• Guilherme A. M. Jardim and
• Eufrânio N. da Silva Júnior

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1849–1938, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.126

• C-2 position of indole derivatives bearing peptide units in the C-3 position (Scheme 35A). This process led to several activated products in good yields, including one whose basic structure is already known to present important biological activities (106) [187] (Scheme 35B). Still in this work