Recent advances in synthetic approaches for bioactive cinnamic acid derivatives

• Betty A. Kustiana,
• Galuh Widiyarti and
• Teni Ernawati

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1031–1086, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.85

• to perform the carboxylation of alkenylpyrazole 194 to the corresponding cinnamic ester 195 catalyzed by Rh(III) via a pyrazole-directed oxidative addition of the alkenyl C–H (196) accompanied by CO2 insertion to give Rh(I) carboxylate intermediate 197 (Scheme 60A) [103]. A gram scale operation has

• via oxidative Pd insertion into the Cu-activated thioester followed by transmetalation with alkenylboronic acid to give complex 210 (Scheme 61A) [105]. The method has been scaled up to a gram scale. Similarly, Hu and co-workers (2021) utilized alkenylboronic ester 211 and Boc2O to synthesize methyl

• fluoroalkenyl radical 233, followed by Pd insertion (234) and carboxylation (235) (Scheme 63A) [109]. Recently, Wang and co-workers (2024) reported a photoredox-promoted carboxylation of gem-difluoroalkene 236 by using formate salts, which also involves formation of a fluoroalkenyl radical intermediate 238

Recent advances in controllable/divergent synthesis

• Jilei Cao,
• Leiyang Bai and
• Xuefeng Jiang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 890–914, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.73

• , thereby offering unprecedented control over chemo-, regio-, and stereoselectivity parameters in catalytic manifolds. In 2015, the Jiang group developed a palladium-catalyzed regioselective three-component C1 insertion reaction (Scheme 1) [19]. In this reaction, an o-iodoaniline 1, phenylacetylene, and

• , tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI), and water significantly accelerated aryne generation, thereby increasing its local concentration. This favored aryne coordination to the palladium center, followed by CO insertion and reductive elimination to furnish phenanthridinones. In contrast, when dppm was introduced

• preferentially occupied the palladium coordination site. Sequential insertion of CO and aryne, followed by reductive elimination, culminated in acridone formation. This ligand-dependent mechanistic dichotomy underscores the critical interplay between aryne availability, steric modulation, and electronic effects

Cu–Bpin-mediated dimerization of 4,4-dichloro-2-butenoic acid derivatives enables the synthesis of densely functionalized cyclopropanes

• Patricia Gómez-Roibás,
• Andrea Chaves-Pouso and
• Martín Fañanás-Mastral

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 877–883, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.71

• (Scheme 3a). Based on the well accepted metathesis reaction of Cu(I) alkoxides with B2pin2 and the reactivity of the resulting Cu–Bpin complex towards α,β-unsaturated esters and hydrocarbons [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15], we hypothesized that the first step of the reaction may deal with the insertion of

• the copper–boron bond into 1. The dual functionality of this substrate imposed a question related to the regioselectivity of the Cu–Bpin insertion since it can potentially behave as an α,β-unsaturated ester or an allylic substrate [16][17][18][19]. To shed some light into this issue, we ran the

• ). This result suggests that Cu–Bpin insertion into 1 generates a copper enolate which may engage in further steps for the formation of the dimerization product. The presence of the two chlorine atoms was found to be key for the outcome of the reaction. No dimerization product was observed when the

Recent advances in the electrochemical synthesis of organophosphorus compounds

• Babak Kaboudin,
• Milad Behroozi,
• Sepideh Sadighi and
• Fatemeh Asgharzadeh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 770–797, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.61

• and the overall structure of the complex highly influence the oxidation potential of Pd(II). At first, a complex of phenylpyridine with palladium (including insertion of Pd to C–H bond) and dialkyl phosphonate was formed, followed by anodic oxidation to give the final coupling product. In 2023, Zhou

Recent advances in allylation of chiral secondary alkylcopper species

• Minjae Kim,
• Gwanggyun Kim,
• Doyoon Kim,
• Jun Hee Lee and
• Seung Hwan Cho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 639–658, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.51

• copper complex formation and subsequent selective olefin insertion results in the high levels of enantioselectivity (98:2 er) observed experimentally. DFT calculations further elucidated the origin of the high diastereoselectivity (up to 96:4 dr) in the allylic substitution step (Scheme 13b). Analysis of

• bearing various functionalities. Notably, no erosion of enantiomeric excess was observed during any of the transformations. Double CuH insertion into alkynes for regiodivergent allylic substitution Generating chiral secondary alkylcopper species in situ through sequential hydrocupration of terminal

• calculations. The first hydroboration catalytic cycle is initiated by L*CuH species (L* = a chiral ligand) formed in situ through the combination of CuBr, LiOMe, and HBpin in the presence of a chiral ligand. Subsequent alkyne migratory insertion provides a vinyl cuprate intermediate Int B, followed by σ-bond

Dioxazolones as electrophilic amide sources in copper-catalyzed and -mediated transformations

• Seungmin Lee,
• Minsuk Kim,
• Hyewon Han and
• Jongwoo Son

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 200–216, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.12

• depicted in Figure 2. The reaction is initiated by formation of the five-membered copper-containing intermediate INT-5 through coordination of Cu(OAc)2 with the N-iminoquinolinium ylide species 5. This process is followed by decarboxylative N–O bond insertion into 4, yielding the N-acyl copper(III

• ) nitrenoid intermediate INT-7. Subsequent nitrene insertion, protodemetalation, and intramolecular cyclization furnish the desired 1,2,4-triazole. 1.3 Three-component formation of N-acyl amidines In 2019, N-acyl amidines were prepared from dioxazolones using a copper catalyst with terminal alkynes and

• dioxazolone 7. Subsequently, nitrene insertion of INT-12 into the Cu–C bond, forms INT-13, which then undergoes isomerization and protodemetalation, followed by catalyst regeneration, as suggested by the DFT calculations. Finally, the nucleophilic addition of the amine to the electrophilic intermediate INT-15

Synthesis of 2H-azirine-2,2-dicarboxylic acids and their derivatives

• Anastasiya V. Agafonova,
• Mikhail S. Novikov and
• Alexander F. Khlebnikov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3191–3197, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.264

• situation. Dibenzyl ester 11c was prepared using traditional activation of carboxylic acid 6a, although the yield was only 23%. A higher yield of the branched ester 11d (86%, as a mixture of diastereomers) was obtained by carbene insertion, generated by blue LED irradiation of methyl 2-diazo-2-phenylacetate

• reaction of more branched alcohols failed. Such esters could be prepared from the dicarboxylic acids using traditional activation or OH-insertion reaction of carbenes formed by irradiation of the appropriate diazo compound. Approaches to 2H-azirine-2,2-dicarboxylic acid derivatives. Synthesis of 2H-azirine

Direct trifluoroethylation of carbonyl sulfoxonium ylides using hypervalent iodine compounds

• Radell Echemendía,
• Carlee A. Montgomery,
• Fabio Cuzzucoli,
• Antonio C. B. Burtoloso and
• Graham K. Murphy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3182–3190, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.263

• reaction could be easily performed on a 1 mmol scale, which gave the desired product 3a in 71% yield (Scheme 3a). Lastly, product 3a was subjected to our previously developed S–H insertion reaction protocol with sulfoxonium ylides [36], which generated a new 2,2,2-trifluoroethylcoumarine-based compound 4

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

• feature results will be further confirmed by the insertion of these cyclic β-dehydropiperazic acids in longer peptide sequences. Examples of bioactive tetrahydropyridazine derivatives. Linear and cyclic peptides incorporating the dehydropiperazic acid moiety. Piperazic acid and analogues and target

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

Advances in radical peroxidation with hydroperoxides

• Oleg V. Bityukov,
• Pavel Yu. Serdyuchenko,
• Andrey S. Kirillov,
• Gennady I. Nikishin,
• Vera A. Vil’ and
• Alexander O. Terent’ev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2959–3006, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.249

Multicomponent synthesis of α-branched amines using organozinc reagents generated from alkyl bromides

• Baptiste Leroux,
• Alexis Beaufils,
• Federico Banchini,
• Olivier Jackowski,
• Alejandro Perez-Luna,
• Fabrice Chemla,
• Marc Presset and
• Erwan Le Gall

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2834–2839, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.239

• Paris, France 10.3762/bjoc.20.239 Abstract The use of alkylzinc bromides in the multicomponent Mannich reaction is described. Heteroleptic organozinc compounds were obtained in THF or 2-MeTHF by direct insertion of zinc dust into the C–Br bond of alkyl bromides. It was found that the presence of a

• organolithium reagents, thus limiting functional-group tolerance [11][12][13]. By contrast, heteroleptic (mixed) alkylzinc species (i.e., RZnX) are readily available and can typically be prepared from alkyl halides by direct insertion of metallic zinc into the carbon–halogen bond [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21

• ]. Thus, whereas Rieke et al. reported the insertion of activated zinc into alkyl bromides in THF at room temperature [16][17], Knochel et al. described the direct metalation of alkyl iodides in THF at 30 °C [18]. More recently, Knochel et al. improved their original method by the use of zinc dust in the

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

• simultaneous insertion of an isocyanide into the N–H bond. This evidence shows that 5 was able to be oxidized but the iminium ion formed was not stable enough to take part in the subsequent reaction, preferring to hydrolytically open. In order to test the synthetic utility of this procedure we also carried out

Computational design for enantioselective CO₂ capture: asymmetric frustrated Lewis pairs in epoxide transformations

• Maxime Ferrer,
• Iñigo Iribarren,
• Tim Renningholtz,
• Ibon Alkorta and
• Cristina Trujillo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2668–2681, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.224

• strategy to mitigate rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Despite extensive research on the CO2 insertion into epoxides to form cyclic carbonates, the stereochemical implications of this reaction have been largely overlooked, despite the prevalence of racemic epoxide solutions. This study introduces

• into readily available substrates such as epoxides, resulting in the formation of polycarbonates or monomeric cyclic carbonates [22]. Depending on the substitution pattern in the epoxide, a chiral centre is present in the product. The insertion of CO2 into epoxides has been the subject of numerous

• studies, but the stereochemical aspects of this reaction, particularly through the use of FLP catalysts, have been largely overlooked, despite the prevalence of racemic epoxide solutions. Only one study has addressed the asymmetric insertion of CO2 into propylene oxide (PO) using a transition-metal

Transition-metal-free decarbonylation–oxidation of 3-arylbenzofuran-2(3H)-ones: access to 2-hydroxybenzophenones

• Bhaskar B. Dhotare,
• Seema V. Kanojia,
• Chahna K. Sakhiya,
• Amey Wadawale and
• Dibakar Goswami

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2655–2667, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.223

• insertion of the hydroperoxide into the substrate leading to the decrease in the –O–OH peak. An increase in the peak at δ 9.6 ppm indicated the formation of a phenolic moiety over time. Based on these observations, a plausible reaction mechanism is proposed (Figure 5). Proton abstraction followed by

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

• the γ-CD cavity, i.e., what is the saturation point of the γ-CD internal hydration as determined by DFT modeling of possible γ-CD–nH2O complexes? In general, the gas-phase calculations at the two levels of theory (and in aqueous media at the M062X/6-31G(d,p) level) show that the sequential insertion

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

• mechanism. Initially, C–H activation occurs, resulting in the formation of a cyclometalated Ir(III) intermediate. Ligand exchange with the alkyne substrate, followed by migratory insertion, leads to the formation of a seven-membered 18-electron Ir(III) complex. This complex then undergoes reductive

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

• hindrance. However, several examples of isocyanide insertion reactions into B–H and B–B bonds are known. For example, isocyanides coordinate to diborane (B2H6) or trialkylboranes (BR'3) to form Lewis acid–base complexes (RNC→BH3 or RNC→BR'3), but these complexes are thermally labile, and hydrogen or alkyl

• groups on boron are 1,2-shifted to the isocyanide carbon, yielding the compounds (H2B-C(=NR)-H or R'2B-C(=NR)-R') with the isocyanide inserted between the B–H or B–alkyl bond [45][46]. The insertion products easily underwent dimerization to afford 2,5-diboradihydropyrazine derivatives 16 (Scheme 10a

• -membered cyclic diboron compounds 18 undergo an insertion reaction of isocyanides into the boron–boron single bond of 18 under mild conditions without the addition of any additives (Scheme 11a) [48]. The reaction is thought to proceed by an ionic mechanism. Recently, several insertion-type reactions of

Multicomponent syntheses of pyrazoles via (3 + 2)-cyclocondensation and (3 + 2)-cycloaddition key steps

• Ignaz Betcke,
• Alissa C. Götzinger,
• Maryna M. Kornet and
• Thomas J. J. Müller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2024–2077, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.178

Negishi-coupling-enabled synthesis of α-heteroaryl-α-amino acid building blocks for DNA-encoded chemical library applications

• Matteo Gasparetto,
• Balázs Fődi and
• Gellért Sipos

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1922–1932, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.168

• halides. One compound from each subclass of medicinal chemistry-relevant substrates (thiazoles, pyrazoles, etc.) was used for the preparation of α-heteroaryl-α-amino esters via the insertion of an oxime group and subsequent reduction step. The procedure relies solely on readily available and widely used

• acids. Reformatsky reagent production. Scope of ethyl heteroarylacetates. Isolated yields are given. *Dark reactions were carried out for 4 h. Telescoped flow synthesis of heteroarylacetates. Potential routes for the preparation of oximes. Oxime group insertion step. Amino ester production: general

Access to 2-oxoazetidine-3-carboxylic acid derivatives via thermal microwave-assisted Wolff rearrangement of 3-diazotetramic acids in the presence of nucleophiles

• Ivan Lyutin,
• Vasilisa Krivovicheva,
• Grigory Kantin and
• Dmitry Dar’in

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1894–1899, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.164

• cyclization [15][16]. Additionally, the manganese(III)-promoted cyclization of N-alkenyl malonamides [17][18] and the Cu(I)-catalyzed reaction of propiolic acid derivatives with nitrones (Kinugasa reaction) [19][20][21] should also be mentioned, as well as intramolecular C–H insertion using

The Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé reaction in its maturity: innovation and improvements since its 21st birthday (2019–2023)

• Cristina Martini,
• Muhammad Idham Darussalam Mardjan and
• Andrea Basso

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1839–1879, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.162

Syntheses and medicinal chemistry of spiro heterocyclic steroids

• Laura L. Romero-Hernández,
• Ana Isabel Ahuja-Casarín,
• Penélope Merino-Montiel,
• Sara Montiel-Smith,
• José Luis Vega-Báez and
• Jesús Sandoval-Ramírez

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1713–1745, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.152

• -Methylene spirolactones at C-3 11a and 11b derived from dihydrocholesterol and stanolone were also obtained in 41% and 52% yields, respectively (dr > 20:1) (Scheme 3). More recently, a functionalized spiro-β-lactone was obtained via a metal-free procedure involving photoinduced carbene C–H insertion in a

• C–H insertion to produce the spiro-β-lactone was accomplished by simply exposing the diazo derivative to 440 nm blue LEDs (Kessil lamp) at 50 °C, that favored the formation of a singlet carbene that reacted selectively by insertion into the C(3)–H bond. Spiro-lactones 14 were obtained in 80% yield

• final CO insertion to release the ester. After an acid hydrolysis which produced 36, a basic treatment induced the condensation reaction to yield the heterocycle 37 in 99% yield. This reaction sequence was also applied to the acetates of ethisterone and ethynylestradiol, resulting in similar yields in

Methyltransferases from RiPP pathways: shaping the landscape of natural product chemistry

• Maria-Paula Schröder,
• Isabel P.-M. Pfeiffer and
• Silja Mordhorst

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1652–1670, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.147

• on ᴅ-asparagine compared to ʟ-asparagine. PoyE exhibits a degree of tolerance towards precursor variations. The insertion of a GNINVN motif into the precursor, which represents one turn of the helical structure, did not affect the activity of PoyE: this elongated precursor was methylated by PoyE with

• towards the C-terminus, named "axial amphipathicity". Thus, this methylation is thought to play an important role in correct target membrane insertion and the associated cytotoxic effect [125]. TsrM is another cob(II)alamin-dependent C-MT (Figure 10). This enzyme is involved in the biosynthesis of

Benzylic C(sp³)–H fluorination

• Alexander P. Atkins,
• Alice C. Dean and
• Alastair J. J. Lennox

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1527–1547, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.137

• pervasive in organic synthesis and can also be used to efficiently fluorinate benzylic C(sp3)–H bonds. The general blueprint for this transformation follows a metal insertion into the C(sp3)–H bond followed by C–F reductive elimination [11][22][38]. In 2006, Sanford and co-workers published a seminal and