Highly distinguishable isomeric states of a tripodal arylazopyrazole derivative on graphite through electron/hole-induced switching at ambient conditions

• Himani Malik,
• Sudha Devi,
• Debapriya Gupta,
• Ankit Kumar Gaur,
• Sugumar Venkataramani and
• Thiruvancheril G. Gopakumar

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1496–1507, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.112

• intermediates. (c) All 8 states are accessible reversibly even at lower sample voltages, indicating that switching can be performed between any given state at a low threshold voltage. That is, all states are accessible and are remarkably stable at all sample voltages. It is concluded that the high energy

Photoredox-catalyzed arylation of isonitriles by diaryliodonium salts towards benzamides

• Nadezhda M. Metalnikova,
• Nikita S. Antonkin,
• Tuan K. Nguyen,
• Natalia S. Soldatova,
• Alexander V. Nyuchev,
• Mikhail A. Kinzhalov and
• Pavel S. Postnikov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1480–1488, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.110

• that bulky isonitriles effectively shield the radical or cationic centers in intermediates X1 or X2, thereby preventing multiple additions of isonitrile to give the highest yields for benzamides 2be and 2ge among the scope of isonitriles. In the final step of the reaction, the addition of a water

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

• transfer. In the second protocol, the β-lactone intermediates 7 are reduced to a diol and a subsequent Williamson etherification affords the oxetanes. Since both protocols consist of two steps and give only moderate yields, the overall oxetane yield and synthetic efficiency are rather low. In 2019, Marini

• -, particularly 2-methylideneoxetanes have become valuable intermediates in oxetane chemistry as they readily undergo a variety of chemical transformations, including ring-opening reactions with nucleophiles, epoxidations, cyclopropanations and [3 + 2] cycloadditions with nitrile oxides [51][52]. In addition

• potentially reactive functional groups such as alkenes, alkynes, halides or azides. In 2023, Coote et al. developed a synthetic approach to functionalised spirocyclic oxetanes 83 by combining a Paternò–Büchi reaction with succinic anhydride opening and esterification (Scheme 22) [63]. The key intermediates 82

Recent advances in amidyl radical-mediated photocatalytic direct intermolecular hydrogen atom transfer

• Hao-Sen Wang,
• Lin Li,
• Xin Chen,
• Jian-Li Wu,
• Kai Sun,
• Xiao-Lan Chen,
• Ling-Bo Qu and
• Bing Yu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1306–1323, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.100

• structurally diversified target molecules 65–68 under optimized reaction conditions. In these cases, the high polarity of the radical intermediates of CF3CH2OH and 4-methylbenzonitrile, combined with the poor solubility of adamantane, may explain the possible reasons behind the reaction process [91]. Amidyl

Recent advances in oxidative radical difunctionalization of N-arylacrylamides enabled by carbon radical reagents

• Jiangfei Chen,
• Yi-Lin Qu,
• Ming Yuan,
• Xiang-Mei Wu,
• Heng-Pei Jiang,
• Ying Fu and
• Shengrong Guo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1207–1271, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.98

• single-electron-transfer (SET) process, leading to the formation of hybrid alkyl–Pd radical intermediates. The optimized conditions employed cesium carbonate as the base in 1,4-dioxane, under blue LED irradiation at room temperature, affording the desired products in moderate to good yields. The

Optimized synthesis of aroyl-S,N-ketene acetals by omission of solubilizing alcohol cosolvents

• Julius Krenzer and
• Thomas J. J. Müller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1201–1206, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.97

• from in the process. For suppressing the formation of side products by self-condensation of S,N-ketene acetal intermediates the reaction temperature has to be kept as low as possible for assuring kinetic control. Therefore, in contrast to the standard protocol [5][6] (Scheme 2), reacting aroyl

Enhancing chemical synthesis planning: automated quantum mechanics-based regioselectivity prediction for C–H activation with directing groups

• Julius Seumer,
• Nicolai Ree and
• Jan H. Jensen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1171–1182, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.94

• be predicted by calculation and comparison of the relative energies of the proceeding palladacycle intermediate, as postulated in the Bell–Evans–Polanyi (BEP) principle [10][11]. Focussing on the intermediates allows for easier automation of the calculations since a minimum instead of a saddle point

• electrophilic aromatic substitution and a proton abstraction mechanism via CMD, where they calculated the relative energies of the intermediates. Using their workflow, they were able to predict correctly the regioselectivity for 18 tested substrates. The main limitation of this work is the computational cost

• module [18]. Similarly to previous works [9][14], we focus on the CMD step, the first and commonly the rate-determining step in C–H activation, and consider the prototypical Pd(OAc)2 catalyst. Using a selective approach, we calculate the relative energies of all relevant palladacycle intermediates using

A multicomponent reaction-initiated synthesis of imidazopyridine-fused isoquinolinones

• Ashutosh Nath,
• John Mark Awad and
• Wei Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1161–1169, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.92

• -donating group in 6o (R2 = 5-methyl) lowers the dienophilic nature and gave no product 8o. The R3 substituent from isocyanides is an important factor in forming intermediates 7 and promoting dehydrative aromatization for making products 8. The reactions with R3 = n-butyl resulted in the high yielding

• group on the imidazopyridine moiety have direct electronic impact on the IMDA reaction. This integrated reaction process provided a new avenue for the preparation of heterocyclic scaffolds with potential biological activity. Experimental General procedure for the synthesis of intermediates 4 and 6 The

Synthetic approach to borrelidin fragments: focus on key intermediates

• Yudhi Dwi Kurniawan,
• Zetryana Puteri Tachrim,
• Teni Ernawati,
• Faris Hermawan,
• Ima Nurasiyah and
• Muhammad Alfin Sulmantara

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1135–1160, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.91

• alcohols, 34 and ent-34, after recrystallization from hot hexane (100% ee by chiral phase HPLC, yield not reported). These alcohols were then treated with triphenylphosphine and iodine in the presence of imidazole to yield the iodides 35 and ent-35 (Scheme 2). The iodide intermediates were subsequently

• simple impurity removal from the key chiral intermediates through recrystallization, from which their exact structures could be elucidated by XRD crystallography. Zhou’s approach for constructing Omura’s C3–C11 fragment In 2018, Zhou and co-workers developed an efficient, high-yielding iterative

• synthesis of polydeoxypropionate based on iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of α-substituted acrylic acid [40]. This method was subsequently applied to the synthesis of a promising vaccine candidate (+)-phthioceranic acid, as well as key intermediates for two natural products, ionomycin and

Salen–scandium(III) complex-catalyzed asymmetric (3 + 2) annulation of aziridines and aldehydes

• Linqiang Wang and
• Jiaxi Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1087–1094, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.86

• carboxylate groups followed by a ring opening of the aziridine ring, forming azomethine ylide intermediates A. The intermediates A further undergo a [2 + 3] annulation (or cycloaddition) with aldehydes 2 through endo transition state TS to generate intermediates B, which release products 3 with regeneration

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

• active acid fluorides 48 by utilizing hypervalent iodine(III) of PhI(OPiv)2 and py·HF as the fluoride source to afford the corresponding amides 49 and 50 in excellent yields (Scheme 16) [48]. Herein, the hypervalent iodine(III) reagent reacted with the phenol group to give intermediates 51 and 52

• amide 57 from the corresponding acid chloride 46 by employing isothiocyanate in the presence of AgF (Scheme 19) [51]. Herein, fluoride ions attack the isothiocyanate to afford the reactive N-trifluoromethylated secondary amine intermediates 58. Xiao and co-workers (2019) prepared cinnamamide 13 from

• ) employed N-formylpyrrolidine (FPyr) and trichlorotriazine (TCT) to catalyze the amidation of cinnamic acid derivative 121. The reaction proceeds via formation of the reactive acid chloride 36 through cascade reaction involving reactive intermediates 123 and 124 (Scheme 37) [72]. Zeng and co-workers (2019

Recent total synthesis of natural products leveraging a strategy of enamide cyclization

• Chun-Yu Mi,
• Jia-Yuan Zhai and
• Xiao-Ming Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 999–1009, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.81

• iminium intermediates can serve as electrophiles. Due to the presence of an amide, the resulting iminiums from the enamides can be stabilized to take part in the second nucleophilic addition, though direct isomerization of the iminiums to the enamides is also possible (Figure 1). Guided by these

• various cyclization reactions that play a pivotal role in the total synthesis of natural alkaloids. The nucleophilicity of enamides and the electrophilicity of the resulting acyliminium intermediates can be strategically manipulated in numerous ways to design cyclization and annulation reactions. Notably

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

• utilizing in situ-generated π-allylpalladium complexes to capture strained cyclic allene intermediates (Scheme 4) [22]. By modulating the ligands in the reaction system, two distinct polycyclic scaffolds, 13 or 14, could be synthesized with high selectivity. Mechanistically, the Pd(0) catalyst coordinates

• ligand-controlled regioselective migratory insertion process, reaction of Int-21 and Int-22 leads to the formation of π-allylpalladium intermediates Int-23 or Int-24, depending on the ligand employed. Finally, cyclization of Int-23 or Int-24 yields the tricyclic product 13 or the tetracyclic product 14

• -29. This intermediate undergoes reductive elimination via an inner-sphere mechanism to generate the C(sp3)–N-coupled chiral product 22. Notably, benzoic acid acts as a critical additive, likely by stabilizing key intermediates and modulating the steric/electronic environment for enhanced

Dicarboxylate recognition based on ultracycle hosts through cooperative hydrogen bonding and anion–π interactions

• Wen-Hui Mi,
• Teng-Yu Huang,
• Xu-Dong Wang,
• Yu-Fei Ao,
• Qi-Qiang Wang and
• De-Xian Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 884–889, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.72

• cellular metabolism; they regulate the activity of numerous enzyme receptors, and serve as intermediates in the synthesis of more complex biomolecules [21]. However, excessive consumption or production, as well as insufficient clearance of dicarboxylates, can lead to various health problems [22

Light-enabled intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition via photoactivation of simple alkenylboronic esters

• Lewis McGhie,
• Hannah M. Kortman,
• Jenna Rumpf,
• Peter H. Seeberger and
• John J. Molloy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 854–863, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.69

• activate organic molecules has had a profound impact on contemporary synthesis, enabling the practitioner to strategically construct molecules that are higher in energy from simple feedstock commodities [1][2][3][4][5]. Indeed, the unique ability to access high energy intermediates leveraging light, has

Chitosan-supported CuI-catalyzed cascade reaction of 2-halobenzoic acids and amidines for the synthesis of quinazolinones

• Xuhong Zhao,
• Weishuang Li,
• Mengli Yang,
• Bojie Li,
• Yaoyao Zhang,
• Lizhen Huang and
• Lei Zhu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 839–844, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.67

• ], but can also be readily converted into other functional compounds under specific conditions [4][5]. Due to their significant biological relevance and potential applications, numerous synthetic methods have been recently developed to synthesize these useful intermediates [6][7][8][9]. Among these

4-(1-Methylamino)ethylidene-1,5-disubstituted pyrrolidine-2,3-diones: synthesis, anti-inflammatory effect and in silico approaches

• Nguyen Tran Nguyen,
• Vo Viet Dai,
• Luc Van Meervelt,
• Do Thi Thao and
• Nguyen Minh Thong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 817–829, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.65

• , Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), Hanoi 10072, Vietnam 10.3762/bjoc.21.65 Abstract Pyrrolidine-2,3-diones are important intermediates in the synthesis of numerous nitrogen-containing heterocycles which possess a broad spectrum of biological and pharmacological activities. In this article

• intermediates in the synthesis of 2-pyrrolidinone ring containing bioactive medicinal compounds [18]. In this article, we report the accidental synthesis of 4-(1-methylamino)ethylidene-1,5-disubstituted pyrrolidine-2,3-dione derivatives via the transimination reaction between 4-[1-(4-methoxybenzyl)amino

Synthesis and photoinduced switching properties of C₇-heteroatom containing push–pull norbornadiene derivatives

• Daniel Krappmann and
• Andreas Hirsch

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 807–816, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.64

• intermediates in total [29][30] and bio-synthesis protocols [31], e.g., in inositol chemistry [32] or towards aminocyclitols [33]. The potential of these compounds as functional photoswitches was primarily assessed in the 1960s and 1970s by Prinzbach and co-workers, who identified a variety of rearrangement

Regioselective formal hydrocyanation of allenes: synthesis of β,γ-unsaturated nitriles with α-all-carbon quaternary centers

• Seeun Lim,
• Teresa Kim and
• Yunmi Lee

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 800–806, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.63

• are important intermediates in organic syntheses because of the versatility of the cyano group, which can be readily transformed into a wide range of functional groups, including amides, carboxylic acids, amines, aldehydes, ketones, and N-heterocycles [6][7][8]. However, the synthesis of all-carbon

• -system configuration promotes selective functionalization, enabling the synthesis of various complex products through a single transformation [17][18][19]. Therefore, allenes have become versatile intermediates in numerous transition-metal-catalyzed reactions [20][21]. Despite extensive studies on 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

• efficiency of reactions [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. Organophosphorous compounds are essential materials with broad applications in medicinal chemistry, synthesis, agriculture, as ligands, and intermediates to prepare complex compounds. Due to their importance, scientists have introduced many studies in

• can lead to lower reaction yields because various reaction pathways, including those involving unstable metal-organic intermediates, may become involved. Cyclic voltammetry analysis in both solution and solid phases, using a carbon paste electrode (CPE), revealed that the nature of the bridging ligand

• phosphorus-centered radical intermediates was confirmed. The importance of Cp2Fe and the amount of diphenylphosphine oxide became evident when a significant decrease in reaction yield was observed both in the absence of Cp2Fe (Table 5) and when a lower amount of diphenylphosphine oxide was used. Both

Development and mechanistic studies of calcium–BINOL phosphate-catalyzed hydrocyanation of hydrazones

• Carola Tortora,
• Christian A. Fischer,
• Sascha Kohlbauer,
• Alexandru Zamfir,
• Gerd M. Ballmann,
• Jürgen Pahl,
• Sjoerd Harder and
• Svetlana B. Tsogoeva

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 755–765, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.59

• provides (together with the similarly exothermic complexation of calcium complex 7 with hydrazone) driving force for the catalytic cycle, but, on the other hand, may impede enantioselectivity, because of a "backwater" effect equaling out outcomes from different reaction pathways before intermediates are

Copper-catalyzed domino cyclization of anilines and cyclobutanone oxime: a scalable and versatile route to spirotetrahydroquinoline derivatives

• Qingqing Jiang,
• Xinyi Lei,
• Pan Gao and
• Yu Yuan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 749–754, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.58

• to generate an enamine intermediate. Subsequently, an intermolecular cyclization occurs between the enamine and imine intermediates, ultimately yielding the final target product through an aromatization process (Scheme 4). Conclusion In summary, we have developed an efficient and practical copper

• intermediates, followed by intermolecular cyclization and aromatization. The scalability of this method was demonstrated through a gram-scale reaction, highlighting its potential for practical applications in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. Synthetic strategies for the construction of

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

• generation of chiral secondary alkylcopper species has been a significant challenge in organic synthesis, primarily due to their inherent instability and tendency to racemization [38]. For generating the key chiral organocopper intermediates, two distinct approaches have been developed: one utilizing chiral

• stereochemical integrity. Through these careful experimental controls, Knochel and co-workers effectively addressed the long-standing challenge of handling these traditionally unstable chiral organometallic intermediates. Copper-catalyzed stereospecific coupling of chiral organoboron species with allylic

• has been challenging due to the tendency of α-CF3-substituted alkylcopper intermediates 39 to undergo undesired β-F elimination (Scheme 14a) [54]. In 2021, Hirano and co-workers made a significant advance in this area by disclosing a copper-catalyzed regio- and enantioselective hydroallylation of 1

Photocatalyzed elaboration of antibody-based bioconjugates

• Marine Le Stum,
• Eugénie Romero and
• Gary A. Molander

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 616–629, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.49

• thus to have a better control of the selectivity and the DAR, leading to more homogeneous ADCs. In this specific context, photocatalysis (Figure 2) enables site-specific bioconjugation by generating reactive intermediates (such as radicals or electron-deficient species) that can selectively react under

• emerged as a transformative approach in the modification of proteins, enabling researchers to achieve selective and efficient conjugation under mild conditions [37]. By utilizing visible light and transition-metal catalysts, this technique allows the generation of reactive intermediates that can

• intermediates can lead to protein denaturation or aggregation [61]. Because photoredox reactions often generate highly reactive species (such as radicals or singlet oxygen), long exposure times could cause unwanted side reactions, including the degradation of 3D structure of the protein or antibody. A short

Formaldehyde surrogates in multicomponent reactions

• Cecilia I. Attorresi,
• Javier A. Ramírez and
• Bernhard Westermann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 564–595, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.45

• for the formation of intermediates. Gao et al. studied the generation of metal acetylide A by IR spectroscopy [65]. When subsequent additions of 1 equiv FeCl3 were made in a solution of alkyne and TMG, the C–H stretch peak at 3277 cm−1 started to decrease as the temperature increased from 30 to 100 °C