Asymmetric synthesis of β-amino cyanoesters with contiguous tetrasubstituted carbon centers by halogen-bonding catalysis with chiral halonium salt

• Yasushi Yoshida,
• Maho Aono,
• Takashi Mino and
• Masami Sakamoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 547–555, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.43

• developed chiral halonium salts and applied them to asymmetric reactions such as vinylogous Mannich reactions of cyanomethylcoumarins 6 with isatin-derived ketimines 7 [33][35] and 1,2-addition reaction of thiols to ketimine [34], which formed the corresponding products 8 in high yields with high to

Molecular diversity of the reactions of MBH carbonates of isatins and various nucleophiles

• Zi-Ying Xiao,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 286–295, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.21

• . Diverse functionalized 3-substituted oxindole derivatives were successfully prepared in satisfactory yields and with high diastereoselectivity. In addition, the base-promoted dimerization of MBH carbonates of isatin afforded the ethylene-bridged bis(3-methylene)oxindole derivatives with nearly 4:1

• diastereomeric ratios. The relative configurations of the various polycyclic compounds were clearly elucidated by determination of several single crystal structures. Keywords: allylic SN2 reaction; dimerization; isatin; MBH carbonate; 3-methyleneoxindole; Introduction Isatins (indoline-2,3-diones) possessing

• - and P-containing nucleophiles to MBH carbonates of isatins and convenient synthesis of diverse functionalized 3-substituted oxindole derivatives. Results and Discussion Initially, the reaction conditions were briefly examined by using MBH nitrile of isatin 1a and p-toluidine (2a) as model reaction. It

Cu(OTf)₂-catalyzed multicomponent reactions

• Sara Colombo,
• Camilla Loro,
• Egle M. Beccalli,
• Gianluigi Broggini and
• Marta Papis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 122–145, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.7

• reaction of isatin, 5-hydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)-4H-pyran-4-one (i.e. kojic acid) and malononitriles or cyanoacetates (Scheme 32) [51]. Compared to other Lewis acids, Cu(OTf)2 proved to be the best. Mechanistically, the process begins with a Knoevenagel-type condensation between isatin and the cyano

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

• and isatin-derived 3-indolylmethanols 135. Over 90% diastereoselectivity, mostly very good yields, and consistently high enantioselectivities were reported. Testing the practicality of the protocol, the gram-scale experiment provided representative product 136 in 93% yield and an excellent

• , bearing both axial and central chirality, were prepared by organocatalytic asymmetric addition of bisindoles 145 and isatin-derived imines 146 catalyzed by CPA C26 (Scheme 43) [71]. The scope of the reaction showed efficient stereocontrol by consistently high diastereo- and enantioselectivity with

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

• a multicomponent reaction to obtain SIRT2 inhibitors (Scheme 12). The authors suggest a Knoevenagel condensation approach between isatin derivatives and ethyl cyanoacetate, followed by a Michael addition with C–H activated carbonyl compounds and intramolecular cyclization [50]. They synthesized 45

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

• synthesis of indirubin-N-glycosides containing the carbohydrate moiety located at the amide-type nitrogen. Isatin-N-glycosides 16 were used as key building blocks. The reaction of ʟ-rhamnose (4c) with aniline afforded N-glycosyl aniline 4d which was acetylated to give 4e (Scheme 12) [22]. The AlCl3-mediated

• cyclization of 4e with oxalyl chloride afforded yellow isatin-N-glycoside 16a as an anomeric mixture from which the pure α- and β-anomer could be separated by chromatography. Likewise, isatin-N-glycosides 16b–f were prepared which were all isolated (except from rhamnoside 16b) as the pure β-anomers. The

• , both electron-donating and -withdrawing substituents were tolerated. In contrast, isatin-N-glycosides containing electron-withdrawing groups and, thus, the corresponding indirubin-N-glycosides could not be successfully prepared at this point (vide infra). In general, anomerically pure isatin-N

5th International Symposium on Synthesis and Catalysis (ISySyCat2023)

• Anthony J. Burke and
• Elisabete P. Carreiro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2704–2707, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.227

• a new family of isatin-based α-acetamide carboxamide oxindole hybrids using the versatile Ugi four-component reaction [18]. Sixteen hybrids were prepared by reacting 5-amino-1-benzyl-3,3-dimethoxyindolin-2-one, benzyl isocyanide, carboxylic acids, and aldehyde/ketone derivatives, catalyzed by ZnF2

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

• -trifluoromethylamine derivatives of high molecular complexity (Scheme 28). The process involves a highly enantioselective reaction of the isatin-derived Morita–Baylis–Hillman carbonate 137 with a novel α-CF3-substituted imine 136, derived from inexpensive benzothiophene-2,3-dione. A C2-symmetrical cinchona-derived

• equiv of isatin with a 50% excess of the α-CF3-substituted imine in toluene at room temperature in the presence of 10 mol % of organocatalyst 138 for times between 1 and 80 h. The reaction exhibited a broad scope in the isatin carbonate derivatives with high to excellent enantioselectivities (89–99

• corresponding free amines by hydrolysis with aqueous HCl. The reaction proceeded in good yields and with complete retention of stereointegrity. In a proposed mechanism, isatin carbonate 137 reacts with a quinuclidine unit of the catalyst 138 by an SN2’ attack to form cationic intermediate 142. The t-BuO− anion

Harnessing the versatility of hydrazones through electrosynthetic oxidative transformations

• Aurélie Claraz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1988–2004, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.175

• electrolyte with potassium carbonate as a base and two platinum electrodes. Mechanistically, condensation of the two reactants formed isatin-derived acylhydrazone 37. Hydrolysis of the latter in the presence of the inorganic base gave rise to potassium carboxylate 39. Meanwhile, two consecutive SET oxidations

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

• . Jung and Shinde, on the other hand, synthetized a supramolecular acid catalyst 14 combining β-cyclodextrins with succinic acid and tested it in a GBB reaction between isatin (15), indazol-3-amine (16) and pentyl isocyanide (17), yielding, after a ring expansion triggered by a retro-aza-ene reaction via

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

• of these compounds via an intramolecular [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction between (Z)-steroidal arylidene derivatives 42 and azomethine ylides (Scheme 13) [26]. The latter were generated in situ from sarcosine (MeNHCH2CO2H) and a mono- or dicarbonyl compound such as isatin, acenaphthenequinone, and

Synthetic applications of the Cannizzaro reaction

• Bhaskar Chatterjee,
• Dhananjoy Mondal and
• Smritilekha Bera

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1376–1395, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.120

• ). Huang et al. set up a clean crossed-Cannizzaro-aldol reaction strategy of isatin derivatives 88 and 90 with paraformaldehyde under microwave irradiation to furnish 3,3-disubstituted oxindole derivatives 89a–h and 91a–d [92]. The representative 3-hydroxymethyloxindole adducts with varying substituents

• (R1 and R2) were obtained in good to excellent yields witnessing the feasibility of the methodology (Scheme 25). The mechanism depicting the proposed strategy for the Cannizzaro-aldol transformation involves an initial Cannizzaro reaction between paraformaldehyde and the isatin substrate, followed by

The Ugi4CR as effective tool to access promising anticancer isatin-based α-acetamide carboxamide oxindole hybrids

• Carolina S. Marques,
• Aday González-Bakker and
• José M. Padrón

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1213–1220, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.104

• , we highlight the reputation of this reaction approach to access number and scaffold diversity of a library of isatin-based α-acetamide carboxamide oxindole hybrids, promising anticancer agents, in a mild and fast sustainable reaction process. The library was tested against six human solid tumor cell

• lines, among them, non-small cell lung carcinoma, cervical adenocarcinoma, breast cancer and colon adenocarcinoma. The most potent compounds 8d, 8h and 8k showed GI50 values in the range of 1–10 μM. Keywords: cancer; GI50; isatin; oxindole; Ugi4CR; Introduction Meticulous attention has been given by

• [8][9]. In the last few years we have been active in isatin modification using new synthetic approaches, anticipating the creation of new libraries of small-molecule hybrids with potential as cholinesterase inhibitors [10][11][12][13], important to treat neurodegenerative diseases, and anticancer

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

• combatted some disadvantages of the use of iron oxides, the catalytic approach presented had handicaps that held back its broader applications [108]. In 2016, Sobhani et al. expanded on the use of iron oxide as an effective magnetic nanoparticle by creating a Cu–isatin Schiff base complex supported on nano

• -iron oxide compounds for the synthesis of BIMs [109][110]. These compounds were synthesized through the reaction between the amino-functionalized modified magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), which were obtained by a sol–gel methodology, and isatin, producing isatin Schiff base-γ-Fe2O3, which was

• subsequently dissolved in methanol with CuCl2, yielding the desired Cu–isatin Schiff base complex. The optimum reaction conditions between benzaldehyde and indole were obtained at a nanocatalyst loading of only 0.25 mol % after 2 hours of heating at 80 °C with water as the medium. In the absence of the Cu

Photochromic derivatives of indigo: historical overview of development, challenges and applications

• Gökhan Kaplan,
• Zeynel Seferoğlu and
• Daria V. Berdnikova

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 228–242, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.23

• ]. After the determination of the molecular structure of indigo in 1883, various precursors such as isatin (1), cinnamic acid (2), 2-nitrobenzaldehyde (3), aniline (4), 2-aminobenzoic acid (5), phenylglycine (6), 1-(1H-indol-1-yl)ethan-1-one (7) and indole (8) have been used in the synthesis (Figure 1) [4

• substituents in the isatin ring showed pronounced negative photochromism upon irradiation with red light (625−650 nm). Supramolecular complexation with Schreiner’s thiourea organocatalyst (STC) allowed to reach better conversion with the isomeric ratio in PSS increased from 46% to 84%. The backward switching

Construction of diazepine-containing spiroindolines via annulation reaction of α-halogenated N-acylhydrazones and isatin-derived MBH carbonates

• Xing Liu,
• Wenjing Shi,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1923–1932, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.143

• and proceeds through a by base-promoted annulation reaction of α-halogenated N-acylhydrazones and isatin-derived MBH carbonates. The reaction mechanism of this formal [4 + 3] annulation includes the in situ generated allylic ylide, nucleophilic substitution, Michael additon, and elimination processes

• the synthesis of spirooxindole derivatives continues to be a highly active subject in organic synthesis [31][32][33][34][35]. In recent years, the readily available isatin-derived Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) carbonates have become one of the most powerful reagents for the construction of diverse

• spirooxindoles [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]. In the presence of Lewis bases, isatin-derived MBH carbonates usually undergo [3 + 2] and [3 + 3] cycloaddition reactions with a broad range of active C–C and C–N double bonds and 1,3-dipolarpohiles to give various five- or six-membered cyclic spirooxindoles [44

Decarboxylative 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of amino acids for the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds

• Xiaofeng Zhang,
• Xiaoming Ma and
• Wei Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1677–1693, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.123

• ][50][51]. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are only few examples on the reactions of N–H-type semi-stabilized AMYs B3 or B4 which were either derived from special carbonyl compounds (such as isatin) [52][53][54][55] or the AMYs were reacted with uncommon alkenes as the 1,3-dipolarophiles

Benzoimidazolium-derived dimeric and hydride n-dopants for organic electron-transport materials: impact of substitution on structures, electrochemistry, and reactivity

• Swagat K. Mohapatra,
• Khaled Al Kurdi,
• Samik Jhulki,
• Georgii Bogdanov,
• John Bacsa,
• Maxwell Conte,
• Tatiana V. Timofeeva,
• Seth R. Marder and
• Stephen Barlow

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1651–1663, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.121

• dimeric dopants (the Y = metallocenyl DMBI dimers 1c2 and 1d2 as well as various organometallic dimers) with VII [14][46][61], as well as in the oxidation of bis(3,5,5-trimethyl-2-morpholinon-3-yl), 52 (Figure 2), by isatin derivatives [62]. In the alternative “ET-first” mechanism the first step is an

Selective construction of dispiro[indoline-3,2'-quinoline-3',3''-indoline] and dispiro[indoline-3,2'-pyrrole-3',3''-indoline] via three-component reaction

• Ziying Xiao,
• Fengshun Xu,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1234–1242, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.91

• substituent. A plausible reaction mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of the different spirooxindoles. Keywords: cascade reaction; dimedone; isatin; 3-methyleneoxindole; multicomponent reaction; spirooxindole; Introduction Spirooxindole is one important privileged structural skeleton and is found

• ][59][60][61][62], we investigated the base-promoted annulation reaction of dimedone adducts of 3-methyleneoxindoles, with isatin and ammonium acetate. It was unexpectedly found that novel dispiro[indoline-3,2'-quinoline-3',3''-indoline] and dispiro[indoline-3,2'-pyrrole-3',3''-indoline] were

• -oxoindolin-3-ylidene)acetate in toluene according to the published method [52]. Then, the reaction conditions of the three-component reaction of isatyl adduct 1a (0.20 mmol), isatin 2a (0.20 mmol) and ammonium acetate (0.5 mmol) were examined according to Zhang and co-workers reported reaction (reaction 1 in

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

• . As the electron-demanding reaction partner, isatin-derived N-Boc-substituted ketimines 49 were employed which effectively functionalized the C6–H bond of substrate 4 to construct 3-oxindole derivatives 50 bearing an indole-substituted aza-quaternary stereocenter at its C3 position. 2,3-Dialkyl

• aromatic substitution involved isatin-derived ketimines 49 as the electron-demanding partner to achieve this aromatic p-C–H bond functionalization framing an all substituted stereocenter at the C3 position of the oxindole scaffold in the products 60. A very low reaction temperature (−55/−60 °C) was ideal

• with π–π interactions between the catalyst’s aryl group and the aryl substituent at the nitrogen in the aniline 59 (Scheme 16a) [43]. Recently, Fan and co-workers reported a chiral phosphoric acid P20-assisted enantioselective aza-Friedel–Crafts reaction between α-naphthols 17 and isatin-derived

Strategies in the synthesis of dibenzo[b,f]heteropines

• David I. H. Maier,
• Barend C. B. Bezuidenhoudt and
• Charlene Marais

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 700–718, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.51

• )malonates 24. Ring expansion via C–H functionalisation. The synthesis of fluorinated 5H-dibenzo[b,f]azepine 38 from isatin (32). The synthesis of substituted dibenzo[b,f]azepines 43 from indoles 39. Retrosynthetic pathways to dibenzo[b,f]azepines via Buchwald–Hartwig amination. Synthesis of dibenzo[b,f

Supramolecular approaches to mediate chemical reactivity

• Pablo Ballester,
• Qi-Qiang Wang and
• Carmine Gaeta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1463–1465, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.152

• tetraaminobisthiourea chiral macrocycles as catalysts in decarboxylative Mannich reactions. Low macrocycle loading was used to catalyze the decarboxylative addition of malonic acid half thioesters to isatin-derived ketimines with excellent yields and good enantioselectivity. It was reported that effective activation

Synthesis of bis-spirocyclic derivatives of 3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane via cyclopropene cycloadditions to the stable azomethine ylide derived from Ruhemann's purple

• Alexander S. Filatov,
• Olesya V. Khoroshilova,
• Anna G. Larina,
• Vitali M. Boitsov and
• Alexander V. Stepakov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 769–780, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.77

• azomethine ylides generated from primary or secondary α-amino acids and carbonyl compounds such as alloxan, isatin, tryptanthrin, and 11H-indeno[1,2-b]quinoxalin-11-one were performed in a multicomponent fashion [19][20][21][24]. In these reactions, the azomethine ylides generated in situ are highly reactive

Tri(n-butyl)phosphine-promoted domino reaction for the efficient construction of spiro[cyclohexane-1,3'-indolines] and spiro[indoline-3,2'-furan-3',3''-indolines]

• Hui Zheng,
• Ying Han,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 669–679, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.68

• . Additionally, the tri(n-butyl)phosphine-promoted domino annulation reaction of isatins and ethyl isatylidene cyanoacetates produced spiro[indoline-3,2'-furan-3',3''-indolines] in satisfactory yields. Keywords: isatin; spiro[cyclohexane-1,3'-indoline]; spiro[indoline-3,2'-furan-3',3''-indoline]; spirooxindole

• employed in the reaction. However, the reaction did not proceed to give the expected spiro[cyclohexane-1,3'-indoline], while a new spiro[indoline-3,2'-furan-3',3''-indoline] was obtained, which was clearly constructed from the annulation reaction of isatin with ethyl isatylidene cyanoacetate. Therefore, we

• turned our attention to the examination of this unprecedented reaction of isatins with ethyl isatylidene cyanoacetates. At last, we successfully found that tri(n-butyl)phosphine promoted the reaction of ethyl isatylidene cyanoacetate 6a and isatin 7a always resulted in spiro[indoline-3,2'-furan-3',3

Bioinspired tetraamino-bisthiourea chiral macrocycles in catalyzing decarboxylative Mannich reactions

• Hao Guo,
• Yu-Fei Ao,
• De-Xian Wang and
• Qi-Qiang Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 486–496, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.51

• . Only 5 mol % of the optimal macrocycle catalyst efficiently catalyzed the decarboxylative addition of a broad scope of malonic acid half thioesters to isatin-derived ketimines with excellent yields and good enantioselectivity. The rigid macrocyclic framework and the cooperation between the thiourea and

• report a systematic synthesis of tetraamino-bisthiourea chiral macrocycles and their performance in catalyzing the decarboxylative Mannich addition of malonic acid half thioesters (MAHTs) to isatin-derived ketimines. The macrocycle-enabled hydrogen-bonding activation network and the associated confined

• and activation ability. Catalytic reaction optimization The synthesized macrocycles were then applied as catalysts in the decarboxylative addition of malonic acid half thioesters (MAHTs) to isatin-derived ketimines [48]. The reaction between ketimine 6a and MAHT 7a was initially performed in THF at