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

• , in a recent work, Pan et al. could chemoselectively oxidize methanol using a TEMPO-catalyzed electro-oxidation process, even in the presence of oxidizable amines, such as benzylamine, paving the way for the use of methanol as a formaldehyde surrogate in these isocyanide-based MCRs (Scheme 3) and

• ][73]. Hexamethylenetetramine In Ugi-type isocyanide-mediated reactions, the formation of an imine from the amine and the carbonyl component is a crucial step that, and when hampered, strongly affects the outcome of the entire process. In general, the imine readily forms when aliphatic or aromatic

• occurred at room temperature. The mild reaction conditions for both strategies (“free” or immobilized glyoxylic acid) allows for a broad scope in terms of 2-aminoazines and isocyanide components (some examples are shown in Scheme 34). It is important to note that these imidazo heterocycles have been

Red light excitation: illuminating photocatalysis in a new spectrum

• Lucas Fortier,
• Corentin Lefebvre and
• Norbert Hoffmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 296–326, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.22

• -row d6 metal complexes such as Fe(II) complexes and positions Cr(0) as a promising alternative in photoredox applications under low-energy red-light conditions. The enhanced performance of these Cr(0) complexes is attributed to their strong ligand field, provided by the isocyanide ligands, which

Non-covalent organocatalyzed enantioselective cyclization reactions of α,β-unsaturated imines

• Sergio Torres-Oya and
• Mercedes Zurro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3221–3255, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.268

• isocyanide carbon, behaves a C3 synthon affording benzo[d]isothiazole 1,1-dioxide-dihydropyrroles 27 bearing two adjacent stereocenters in high yields (27–98%) and with moderate to excellent stereoselectivities (54–97% ee) when using thiourea IX (Scheme 10). The cyclization was observed with all derivatives

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

• other approaches such as visible light, microwaves, heterogeneous catalysis, and ultrasound [12][13][14][15]. Due to its versatility, one of the most prevalent of these MCRs is the Ugi reaction [16]. This reaction generally combines an isocyanide with an acid, an amine, and an aldehyde or ketone to

• , isocyanide, and TMSN3, after which the Ugi adduct is treated with an excess of different isocyanates resulting in the corresponding hydantoin derivatives. Finally, under microwave irradiation, the Boc group is removed under acid conditions and the benzodiazepine core is formed after ring closure (Scheme 18

• , and either sodium hydroxide or sodium hydrogen sulfide to obtain a cyclic imine. Subsequently, the U-3CR is performed, where the cyclic imine reacts with an electron-deficient 2-fluorobenzoic acid and an isocyanide to yield a bisamide. Then, the bisamide undergoes an intramolecular SNAr reaction to

Synthesis of the 1,5-disubstituted tetrazole-methanesulfonylindole hybrid system via high-order multicomponent reaction

• Cesia M. Aguilar-Morales,
• América A. Frías-López,
• Nadia V. Emilio-Velázquez,
• Alejandro Islas-Jácome,
• Angelica Judith Granados-López,
• Jorge Gustavo Araujo-Huitrado,
• Yamilé López-Hernández,
• Hiram Hernández-López,
• Luis Chacón-García,
• Jesús Adrián López and
• Carlos J. Cortés-García

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3077–3084, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.256

• affinity compared to their drug parents and by using powerful synthetic tools such as multicomponent reactions (MCRs) [11][12][13]. Among these, isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions (I-MCRs), such as the Ugi-azide reaction, have demonstrated the highest biological-synthetic relevance [1][14][15][16

• studies, we employed benzaldehyde derivatives with various stereoelectronic decoration, excluding aliphatic ones due to their decreased reactivity resulting in failures to proceed [24][25][26][27]. Commercially available isocyanides utilized were cyclohexyl and tert-butyl isocyanide. Notably, an isolation

Synthesis of pyrrole-fused dibenzoxazepine/dibenzothiazepine/triazolobenzodiazepine derivatives via isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions

• Marzieh Norouzi,
• Mohammad Taghi Nazeri,
• Ahmad Shaabani and
• Behrouz Notash

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2870–2882, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.241

• .20.241 Abstract An efficient and facile synthesis of pyrrole-fused dibenzoxazepine/dibenzothiazepine/triazolobenzodiazepine derivatives was developed through the isocyanide-based multicomponent reaction of isocyanides, gem-diactivated olefins, and cyclic imines such as dibenzoxazepine, dibenzothiazepine

• achieve this goal [7][33]. Among them, isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions (I-MCRs) are one of the well-known strategies in this field due to their operational simplicity, one-pot, convergent properties and atom economy, high efficiency, and high levels of chemical selectivity [34][35][36]. In

• -workers reported a one-pot three-component reaction (3-CR) of sulfamate‐derived cyclic imine, isocyanide, and acetylenedicarboxylate. In this reaction too, the pyrrole-fused sulfamate is synthesized through intermediacy of the in situ-formed zwitterion II and [1 + 2 + 2] annulation reaction (Scheme 1b

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

• reacts with an isocyanide and an electron-rich aniline in a three-component Ugi-type reaction to give an α-aminoamidine. This compound might undergo an additional visible light-mediated oxidation to furnish a second iminium intermediate, which acts as electrophile in an intramolecular electrophilic

• : isocyanide; multicomponent reactions; one-pot reaction; oxidation; spiroindolenine; Ugi reaction; visible light; Introduction Diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS) is a successful approach to biologically active scaffolds directed to create an enormous exploratory space in pharmaceutical hit discovery [1][2

• spiro-heterocyclic indolenines from readily available starting materials under mild conditions and in a diversity-oriented fashion remains desirable. In this contest, oxidative isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions (oxidative IMCRs) can be considered as a convenient tool [15]. Actually, the use of

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

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

• method for the formation of C–S bonds [25]. This method achieves the difunctionalization of a carbon atom by reacting isocyanide 2-isocyanoacetate with a thiophenol and an alcohol. The scope is very broad for thiophenols, alcohols, and isocyanides, and even alkyl thiols are compatible. In addition to

• aliphatic alcohols, benzyl alcohols are also suitable reagents. Numerous LSF examples and upscaling were demonstrated. The mechanism involves two anodic oxidations: first, the thiophenol is oxidized at the anode, forming a sulfur radical that attacks the isocyanide. The newly formed carbon radical is then

Deuterated reagents in multicomponent reactions to afford deuterium-labeled products

• Kevin Schofield,
• Shayna Maddern,
• Yueteng Zhang,
• Grace E. Mastin,
• Rachel Knight,
• Wei Wang,
• James Galligan and
• Christopher Hulme

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2270–2279, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.195

• aldehyde [10]. Latterly, Yamamoto utilized a 90% deuterated [D2]-isocyanide in a copper catalyzed [3 + 2] cycloaddition to afford a 60% deuterated [D2]-pyrrole [11]. The utility of the Leuckart–Wallach reaction towards the generation of isocyanides was first explored by Dömling [12], yet the use of such

• isocyanides with a goal to apply them to the field of isocyanide multicomponent reaction (IMCR) chemistry which enables rapid access to arrays of biologically relevant chemotypes or secondary reactions thereafter [14][15]. Many of these chemotypes have populated corporate collections through in-house

• isocyanide component to afford α-aminoacyl amide derivatives 1a–g in good yield (Scheme 3). A [D1]-aldehyde and [D1]-isocyanide were independently used in conjunction with supporting reagents to afford 1b–d and 1e and 1f, respectively, with no observation of deuterium scrambling. A post-condensation

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

• Akiya Ogawa Yuki Yamamoto Organization for Research Promotion, Osaka Metropolitan University, 1-1 Gakuen-cho, Nakaku, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan Graduate Faculty of Interdisciplinary Research, University of Yamanashi, 4-4-37 Takeda, Kofu 400-8510, Japan 10.3762/bjoc.20.182 Abstract Isocyanide

• radical; isocyanide; radical addition; radical cyclization; Introduction Carbon monoxide is a very important C1 resource in both synthetic and industrial chemistry and is not only capable of reacting with a variety of active species such as carbon cations, carbon anions, and carbon radicals (Figure 1

• nitrogen-containing compounds [3][4][5][6][7]. Furthermore, by adjusting the substituents on the nitrogen, reactivity can be controlled and solubility in various solvents can be tuned (Figure 2). However, the use of isocyanide as a C1 resource is somewhat limited compared to that of carbon monoxide [8

Cage-like microstructures via sequential Ugi reactions in aqueous emulsions

• Rita S. Alqubelat,
• Yaroslava A. Menzorova and
• Maxim A. Mironov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2078–2083, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.179

• , which was monitored through the disappearance of isocyanide in the reaction medium using a color reaction [19]. Then the emulsion was applied to the glass surface and evaporated at a temperature of 50 °C. The resulting samples were analyzed using fluorescence microscopy at a wavelength of 490 nm. After

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

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

• ; Introduction The Groebke-Blackburn-Bienaymé (GBB) three-component reaction has been discovered in 1998 and during the course of the first two decades has emerged as one of the most exploited isocyanide-based MCRs, with more than 200 original publications reported and exhaustively reviewed by Boltjes and

• encountered by the reaction until 2019 was far from being at its peak, in fact during the last 5 years about 70 new original works have been published, and it is therefore worth analyzing what are the new features of this, now, mature reaction. Among isocyanide [2] based multicomponent reactions, the GBB

• reaction can be considered the third in importance after Ugi [3] and Passerini [4] ones, and, as the two venerable reactions, is an α-addition of an electrophile and a nucleophile to an isocyanide, followed by a suitable rearrangement, as depicted in Scheme 1. Compared with the Passerini and Ugi reactions

Ugi bisamides based on pyrrolyl-β-chlorovinylaldehyde and their unusual transformations

• Alexander V. Tsygankov,
• Vladyslav O. Vereshchak,
• Tetiana O. Savluk,
• Serhiy M. Desenko,
• Valeriia V. Ananieva,
• Oleksandr V. Buravov,
• Yana I. Sakhno,
• Svitlana V. Shishkina and
• Valentyn A. Chebanov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1773–1784, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.156

• prepared and characterized. Surprisingly, a well-documented approach to obtain peptide-containing carboxylic acids through acid hydrolysis of the convertible isocyanide moiety in the Ugi bisamides proceeded in an unexpected manner in our case, leading to the formation of derivatives of amides of

• other isocyanide MCRs is effective and one promising direction to increase the diversity of new peptidomimetics is the use of, for example, α,β-unsaturated aldehydes including those containing a halogen atom in the β-position, in the Ugi-4CR reaction [1][39]. As our previous studies have shown

• acid hydrolysis. Similar results were obtained by Dömling and co-workers [27], who used 2-nitrobenzyl isocyanide as a universal convertible isocyanide, and the amide group was also converted into a carboxylic acid under the conditions of acid hydrolysis (Scheme 2). Therefore, taking into account the

Harnessing unprotected deactivated amines and arylglyoxals in the Ugi reaction for the synthesis of fused complex nitrogen heterocycles

• Javier Gómez-Ayuso,
• Pablo Pertejo,
• Tomás Hermosilla,
• Israel Carreira-Barral,
• Roberto Quesada and
• María García-Valverde

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1758–1766, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.154

• procedure. Thus, initially the amine 3 (1 equiv) was added to a solution of the arylglyoxal 1 (1 equiv) in methanol and the mixture was stirred for 15 min. Then, the acid 2 (1 equiv) and the isocyanide 4 (1 equiv) were added and the reaction was stirred at room temperature for 24 h. Fortunately, after the

Rapid construction of tricyclic tetrahydrocyclopenta[4,5]pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine via isocyanide-based multicomponent reaction

• Xiu-Yu Chen,
• Ying Han,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1436–1443, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.126

• -3,4b,5,6,7(1H)-pentacarboxylates in high yields and with high diastereoselectivity. The reaction was finished by in situ generation of activated 5-(alkylimino)cyclopenta-1,3-dienes from addition of alkyl isocyanide to two molecules of but-2-ynedioates and sequential formal [3 + 2] cycloaddition

• reaction with 5,6-unsubstituted 1,4-dihydropyridine. Keywords: [3 + 2] cycloaddition; cyclopenta-1,3-diene; cyclopenta[4,5]pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine; 1,4-dihydropyridine; electron-deficient alkyne; isocyanide; Introduction Isocyanide is a unique and attractive functional group in organic chemistry. The

• carbon atom of isocyanide has both a lone electron pair and empty orbitals, so it has outstanding electrophilic and nucleophilic reactivity. At the same time, isocyanide also has good coordination ability to coordinate with metals to form diverse metal complexes [1][2][3]. Therefore, isocyanides have

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

• , representing the easygoing generation of a collection of small-molecules essential for structure–activity relationships (SAR). The isocyanide-based Ugi reaction is one of the most resourceful tools and still broadly studied MCR, generating multifunctional libraries of α-aminoacylamide derivatives, or Ugi

• , aliphatic chain on the acid component and small aliphatic chain on the aldehyde component to increase the antiproliferative activity. Also, benzyl isocyanide was favored over the aliphatic one (Scheme 1A) [16]. Considering the value of amide groups in drug discovery [19], the feasibility of running the

• using 5-amino-1-benzyl-3,3-dimethoxyindolin-2-one (1) [12] and benzyl isocyanide (4), as amine and isocyanide components, respectively. Different carboxylic acids 2 and aldehydes/ketones 3 were evaluated using ZnF2 as catalyst (10 mol %) and MeOH as the solvent (Scheme 2 and Figure 2). A library of α

Innovative synthesis of drug-like molecules using tetrazole as core building blocks

• Jingyao Li,
• Ajay L. Chandgude,
• Qiang Zheng and
• Alexander Dömling

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 950–958, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.85

• be a challenging substrate for MCRs and this was also the case for the synthesis of oxo-tetrazoles via a Passerini tetrazole reaction [19]. In a model reaction, we investigated benzyl isocyanide (1 equiv), paraformaldehyde (2 equiv) and trimethylsilyl azide (1 equiv) as easily available substrates

• isocyanide component (Scheme 1). Aliphatic isocyanides, such as tert-octyl and tert-butyl isocyanide (1b and 1c) were well-tolerated in the Passerini-tetrazole reaction, leading to the corresponding tetrazole products in moderate to good yields of 74% and 52%, respectively. β-Cyanoethyl isocyanide (1d) was

• also well tolerated providing a good yield (62%). The tolerability of different isocyanides, and the possibility to remove the cleavable isocyanides under different reaction conditions (acidic for the tert-octyl and tert-butyl isocyanide, basic for β-cyanoethyl isocyanide, or reductive for the benzyl

One-pot Ugi-azide and Heck reactions for the synthesis of heterocyclic systems containing tetrazole and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline

• Jiawei Niu,
• Yuhui Wang,
• Shenghu Yan,
• Yue Zhang,
• Xiaoming Ma,
• Qiang Zhang and
• Wei Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 912–920, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.81

• schistosomiasis [22][23][24][25]. The combination of the privileged heterocycles tetrazole and tetrahydroisoquinoline in one molecule generates new molecules which could have biological activities. A standard Ugi four-component reaction (Ugi-4CR) of an aldehyde, amine, isocyanide, and a carboxylic acid produces

• highly diverse peptidic structures A with up to four points of substitution (Scheme 1) [26][27]. By replacing the carboxylic acid with a nucleophilic azide reagent XN3 (generally TMSN3), the Ugi-azide four-component reaction (UA-4CR) of an aldehyde, amine, isocyanide, and azide gives 1,5-disubstituted 1H

• reaction for the synthesis of tetrazolyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline scaffolds 6 and 8 (Scheme 3). The first step is the Ugi-azide reaction of a 2-bromobenzoaldehyde 1, allylamine hydrochloride (2), azidotrimethylsilane (TMSN3, 3), and an isocyanide 4 affording tetrazoles 5. If ethyl isocyanoacetate is

HPW-Catalyzed environmentally benign approach to imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines

• Luan A. Martinho and
• Carlos Kleber Z. Andrade

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 628–637, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.55

• our hands, when we tried to reproduce the reaction between 2-aminopyridine (1a), benzaldehyde (2), and tert-butyl isocyanide (3a), following in detail the reported protocol using exactly the same reaction conditions, the reaction failed completely in 20 minutes (followed by TLC) and after 72 h only 46

• -Aminopyridine (1a), 4-nitrobenzaldehyde (2a), and tert-butyl isocyanide (3a) were chosen as model substrates and different conditions were screened (Table 1). Glycerol, a green and sustainable solvent, was tried first, but unfortunately, the expected intense orange solid product 4a was obtained in low yields

• 1, aromatic/heteroaromatic aldehydes 2, and isocyanides 3 to obtain the imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine derivatives 4 (Scheme 2). In general, the efficiency of the HPW-catalyzed GBB reaction is very dependent upon the type of 2-aminopyridine or isocyanide compound used, and not influenced by different

Recent advancements in iodide/phosphine-mediated photoredox radical reactions

• Tinglan Liu,
• Yu Zhou,
• Junhong Tang and
• Chengming Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1785–1803, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.131

• and a PPh3–I radical III. The subsequent isocyanide 44 SOMOphilic insertion reaction led to the formation of an imidoyl radical B. This radical then underwent rapid addition onto the C–C double bond, resulting in the release of the desired phenanthridine products 45. Importantly, this process also

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

• in the presence of TEMPO, followed by insertion of an isocyanide molecule 166 or other nucleophiles 161 (Scheme 72) [102]. By studying the spectroscopic evidence, the authors found that both sulfenyl halide 165 and N-sulfenylsuccinimide 1 intermediates were involved in the reaction. Removal of TEMPO

Synthesis of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-containing peptidomimetics by tandem of Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé and Ugi reactions

• Oleksandr V. Kolomiiets,
• Alexander V. Tsygankov,
• Maryna N. Kornet,
• Aleksander A. Brazhko,
• Vladimir I. Musatov and
• Valentyn A. Chebanov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 727–735, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.53

• –Bienaymé reaction; imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine; isocyanide; multicomponent reaction; peptidomimetic; Ugi reaction; Introduction The use of isocyanide multicomponent reactions (IMCR) to prepare biologically active compounds is one of the most promising tools in modern organic and medicinal chemistry. Therefore

• , isocyanide multicomponent reactions are the way to prepare the necessary drugs "of tomorrow", and the possibility to combine such reactions gives a powerful method to rapidly and qualitatively expand the molecular diversity of biologically active compounds. The following possible combinations of IMCR have

• been described till today: Ugi and Ugi, azido-Ugi and Ugi, Ugi and Passerini, Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé (GBB-3CR) and Ugi, GBB-3CR and GBB-3CR, GBB-3CR and Passerini, Orru and Ugi, Orru and Passerini [1] (Scheme 1). However, the issue of whether certain isocyanide multicomponent reactions can be

From amines to (form)amides: a simple and successful mechanochemical approach

• Federico Casti,
• Rita Mocci and
• Andrea Porcheddu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1210–1216, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.126

• ]. In this work, we aimed to set compatible conditions to access formamides, envisioning the possibility of generating the isocyanide in a one-pot, two-step reaction. However, to the best of our knowledge, despite the notable improvement in the mechanochemical synthesis of the amide moiety [44][48][49