3-Aryl-2H-azirines as annulation reagents in the Ni(II)-catalyzed synthesis of 1H-benzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-b]pyrroles

• Julia I. Pavlenko,
• Pavel A. Sakharov,
• Anastasiya V. Agafonova,
• Derenik A. Isadzhanyan,
• Alexander F. Khlebnikov and
• Mikhail S. Novikov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1595–1602, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.123

• diastereomer and characterized by NMR and HRMS data. Compound 13 is likely formed from aziridine 14 via the N→N acetyl group transfer and subsequent isomerization of the acetylaziridinyl substituent. The constitutional isomer of indole 9a, indole 15, having a nucleophilic reaction center in the β-position of

pH-Controlled isomerization kinetics of ortho-disubstituted benzamidines: E/Z isomerism and axial chirality

• Ryota Kimura,
• Satoshi Ichikawa and
• Akira Katsuyama

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1568–1576, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.120

• barriers by protonation, providing a novel approach to control the kinetics of isomerization via pH adjustment. The results showed that protonation of the amidine moiety significantly suppresses both C–N bond rotation and C–N/C–C concerted rotation, demonstrating the potential of ortho-disubstituted

• benzamidine derivatives as a novel pH-responsive molecular switch. Keywords: atropisomer; conformation; isomerization; molecular switch; organobase; Introduction pH-Responsive molecular motors and switches are a class of functional organic molecules capable of reversible structural and electronic changes

• switches [19]. For example, hydrazone-based molecular switches undergo reversible E/Z isomerization around the C=N bond [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], with protonation significantly shifting the equilibrium. Beyond double-bond isomerization, pH stimuli have also been employed to modulate rotational barriers in

Facile synthesis of hydantoin/1,2,4-oxadiazoline spiro-compounds via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrile oxides to 5-iminohydantoins

• Juliana V. Petrova,
• Varvara T. Tkachenko,
• Victor A. Tafeenko,
• Anna S. Pestretsova,
• Vadim S. Pokrovsky,
• Maxim E. Kukushkin and
• Elena K. Beloglazkina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1552–1560, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.118

• carbethoxyformonitrile oxide (CEFNO) precursor. The nitrile oxides were generated in situ by the action of a base (Et3N) to compounds 4a–d in the dipolarophile-containing solution to prevent high concentrations of dipole molecules and to minimize the inevitable competition between the 32CA reaction and the isomerization

• of nitrile oxides to isocyanates or their dimerization [26][27]. Since isomerization is believed to be the primary direction of molecule degradation only for bulky o,o'-disubstituted aromatic dipoles [28][29][30], the main efforts in developing a methodology were focused on suppressing dimerization

Azobenzene protonation as a tool for temperature sensing

• Antti Siiskonen,
• Sami Vesamäki and
• Arri Priimagi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1528–1534, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.115

• their widespread use in biomedicine [5][6], energy storage [7][8], soft robotics [9][10], and sensing [11]. The key factors for their success are the efficient photochemical isomerization, causing large spatial, spectral, and electronic changes, as well as the relative ease of modification of the

• azobenzene core by introducing different functional groups to the phenyl rings. For these reasons, azobenzenes can be sensitized to various stimuli and easily integrated into different types of materials. While cis–trans isomerization is the most prominent property of interest for azobenzenes, there are also

• they all typically result in significant changes in the absorption spectrum and/or alter the stability of the metastable isomer. In sensing, azobenzenes have been utilized, e.g., through changes in isomerization kinetics [17][18] or colorimetric properties. The colorimetric sensors are effective for

Ambident reactivity of enolizable 5-mercapto-1H-tetrazoles in trapping reactions with in situ-generated thiocarbonyl S-methanides derived from sterically crowded cycloaliphatic thioketones

• Grzegorz Mlostoń,
• Małgorzata Celeda,
• Marcin Palusiak,
• Heinz Heimgartner,
• Marta Denel-Bobrowska and
• Agnieszka B. Olejniczak

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1508–1519, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.113

• towards 5-mercapto-1H-tetrazoles was compared with well-known analogues derived from adamantanethione and 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-3-thioxocyclobutanone. Some of the isolated thioaminals were observed to undergo thermal isomerization in CDCl3 solution yielding the corresponding dithioacetals. Structural

• chemoselectivity was observed. A detailed study on the mechanism of these reactions showed that the initially formed S–H insertion products (type 5) underwent thermal isomerization leading to thermodynamically more stable N–H insertion ones (type 6) (Scheme 2) and the isomerization process was clearly dependent on

• contained thioaminals 9, which underwent a slow isomerization in CDCl3 solution. Notably, in the case of products 9k and 10k, bearing a Ph group at N(1), after a successful chromatographic separation, the less stable 9k underwent isomerization in CDCl3 solution (at rt) and no registration of NMR spectra of

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

• atomically precise write and read tool like an STM tip. Keywords: azo compounds; electron/hole-induced isomerization; isomerization; molecular switches; switching; Introduction Molecular electronic devices have been predicted to outperform silicon-based devices [1][2]. Reprogrammable arrays of molecular

• details). Next, we show the electron/hole-induced E–Z isomerization of a single FNAAP within the assembly. By placing the STM tip on selected molecules, the sample voltage is ramped, and the corresponding change in current is measured. These measurements are tagged as current–voltage (I–V) characteristics

• . Electrons and holes are injected into molecules at negative and positive sample voltages, respectively. It is known that upon injection of electrons or holes, molecules get transiently charged on the graphite surface and undergo isomerization (switch) [11][37][38]. Figure 4a shows two independent I–V

Tautomerism and switching in 7-hydroxy-8-(azophenyl)quinoline and similar compounds

• Lidia Zaharieva,
• Vera Deneva,
• Fadhil S. Kamounah,
• Nikolay Vassilev,
• Ivan Angelov,
• Michael Pittelkow and
• Liudmil Antonov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1404–1421, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.105

• stabilization of the azo tautomer and making possible long range proton transfer to the quinolyl nitrogen atom. Keywords: azo dyes; E/Z isomerization; DFT; NMR; photochemistry; proton transfer; tautomerism; UV–vis; Introduction Azo compounds have long been utilized as dyes in industries such as textiles

• resistance [1][2][3][4]. In addition to their conventional use, azodyes have unique optical properties, defined by the E/Z isomerization [5][6] and by the tautomeric proton exchange [3][7][8][9][10][11], when a OH or NH group is present on a suitable position in the molecule. Both processes are strongly

• influenced by the structural variations and the environment (temperature, solvent properties, acidity and presence of other molecules). The E/Z isomerization of the azodyes, caused by light irradiation [12][13][14] or electrochemically [15][16], has paved the way for the development of innovative materials

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

• construction, alkyne hydrogenation, ylide and carbene reaction, metathesis, E/Z isomerization, and other methods, including Cα and Cβ functionalizations. Preparing various functional group-tethered aromatic groups can be achieved by directly installing an aromatic group via cross-coupling reactions and other

• using flow conditions, Kim and co-workers (2021) reported the cis–trans isomerization of α-functionalized stilbenes in a flow microreactor (Scheme 65B) [112]. The isomerization could be regioselectively controlled in an incredibly short time within milliseconds (247, 248) to give either the E-isomeric

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

• incorporated into cyclization reactions. The iminium species generated from enamides via nucleophilic addition or substitution are capable of engaging in further electrophilic additions or isomerization processes. Exploiting the multiple reactivities of enamides facilitates the development of diverse

• 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

• . Cyclization/isomerization – collective total synthesis of fawcettimine-type alkaloids The bicyclic decahydroquinoline enamide motif can serve as a versatile precursor to access different types of tricyclic N-heterocycles. As demonstrated in the above work from She’s group, the aza-Prins cyclization renders

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

• C(sp3)–C(sp3) coupling via distal stereocontrol, efficiently producing C3-alkylated pyrrolidines, while the nickel catalytic system afforded C2-alkylated pyrrolidines through a tandem alkene isomerization/hydroalkylation process. This method utilized readily accessible catalysts, chiral BOX ligands

• insertion to achieve C3 selectivity, whereas nickel catalysis involved alkene isomerization to generate a (2,3-dihydropyrrolyl) intermediate Int-35, followed by C2-selective coupling. In 2024, the Zheng group reported a catalyst-controlled cyclization reaction of bicyclo[1.1.0]butanes (BCBs) 32 with α

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

• summary, we have discovered an unanticipated Cu–Bpin-promoted diastereoselective dimerization of 4,4-dichloro-2-butenoic acid derivatives. The reaction occurs via initial Cu–Bpin insertion followed by keto–enol isomerization and salt metathesis to generate a lithium enolate which is then trapped by a

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

• isomerization of alkenes [18][19], [2 + 2] cycloadditions [20][21][22][23][24], and dearomative [4 + 2] cycloadditions [25][26][27]. When considering conjugated alkenes, the triplet excited state energy and excited state lifetime are intrinsically linked to the degree of conjugation and substitution of a

• reactivity in EnT catalysis has also been intensively pursued (Figure 1B). The controlled geometric isomerization of boron-containing conjugated dienes [42], styrenes [43][44][45] and β-boryl acrylates [46][47] has been established with great effect, while elegant [2 + 2] cycloaddition strategies to readily

• . Herein, we demonstrate the sensitization of alkenylboronates to enable efficient intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition using high energy photosensitizers (Figure 1C). Sensitization was quickly established and explored through the use of alkene scrambling (geometrical isomerization) reaction probes, to

Substituent effects in N-acetylated phenylazopyrazole photoswitches

• Radek Tovtik,
• Dennis Marzin,
• Pia Weigel,
• Stefano Crespi and
• Nadja A. Simeth

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 830–838, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.66

• discovered that simple acylation of the pyrazole moiety leads to increased quantum yields of isomerization, long Z-isomer life-times, good spectral separation, and high photostability. Keywords: azobenzenes; azopyrazoles; photochromism; photoswitches; substituent effects; Introduction Organic photoswitches

• hyperchromic effects compared for NH- and NMe-PAP-H. Photochemical isomerization Upon irradiation with a 365 nm LED (exemplarily displayed for NMe-PAP-CN in Figure 2), we observed a decrease of the π→π* band for the E isomers. Simultaneously the π→π* bands around 253–369 nm and the n→π* bands around 426–457

• spectral separation of the isomers. Since we encountered fast back isomerization only for NAc-PAP-OH (vide infra), the PSDs could only be determined from the UV–vis spectra. NAc-PAPs showed high to quantitative formation of the Z-configurated isomers. For example, NAc-PAP-Br showed an isomerization

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

• heat, catalysis, or an electrochemical input [4][5][6], the stored energy can be released converting the molecule back in the parent form (Figure 1). Typical MOST systems are azobenzenes (E/Z-isomerization) [7][8][9][10], the isomerization of dihydroazulenes/vinylheptafulvenes [11][12][13], conversion

• , it is essential not only to achieve a high storage density and good quantum efficiency for the isomerization process but also to ensure large half-lifes and durability in switching reliability [20]. By making structural adjustments to the parent carbon scaffold, it is possible to target specific

• products alongside the formation of the desired QCs [32][34][35][36][37][38]. Despite this, the focus has largely been on symmetrical 2,3-substituted derivatives, with reports primarily on the reversible isomerization of oxa-NBD to oxa-QC derivatives [39]. Asymmetrical push–pull derivatives have received

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

• the R-product from E-hydrazone is slightly lower in energy (Table 3). However, the activation barrier for the rate-limiting step is 0.4 kcal·mol−1 lower for the pathway shown in Figure 2 and that yields the S-product from the Z-hydrazone. As the activation barrier to thermal E/Z-isomerization is more

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

• , we conducted a 5.0 mmol scale reaction and obtained the target product 3aa in 82% yield (Scheme 3). Based on previous reports, a plausible mechanism was proposed. In the presence of a copper catalyst, aniline reacts with cyclobutanone oxime to form an imine intermediate, which undergoes isomerization

Orthogonal photoswitching of heterobivalent azobenzene glycoclusters: the effect of glycoligand orientation in bacterial adhesion

• Leon M. Friedrich and
• Thisbe K. Lindhorst

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 736–748, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.57

• ]. Specifically, the reversible E/Z isomerization of the azo group in azobenzene glycosides is suited to control the spatial presentation of glycoligands and, for example, switch carbohydrate-specific bacterial adhesion on and off [20][21][22][23]. Indeed, glycoazobenzene derivatives are excellent tools to

• other hand, leads to a PSS with more E isomer, namely an E/Z ratio of 85:15. Irradiation of 3 and 4 with light of 520 nm effects an E to Z isomerization with an E/Z ratio of 23:77 in both cases, since 520 nm light addresses the bathochromically shifted n–π* band of the E isomers due to the ortho-fluoro

• hypothesize that isomerization of the azo group in the tested azobenzene glycoconjugates controls the orientation of the attached glycoligand and therefore, different glycoazobenzene isomers show various affinities for the bacterial lectin FimH as reflected by the measured RIP values. This is clearly seen

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

Synthesis of N-acetyl diazocine derivatives via cross-coupling reaction

• Thomas Brandt,
• Pascal Lentes,
• Jeremy Rudtke,
• Michael Hösgen,
• Christian Näther and
• Rainer Herges

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 490–499, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.36

• subsequently activated with light at the site of illness with high spatiotemporal resolution. Thus, collateral damage in the surrounding healthy tissue can be avoided. In addition, the quantitative thermal back-isomerization from the active E to the inactive Z configuration prevents contamination and

• efficiency. In any case the light-induced geometry change via isomerization should selectively control the interaction between the inhibitor and the receptor [21]. Currently there is only one example reported in the literature for the incorporation of N-acetyl diazocines into biologically active molecules

New tandem Ugi/intramolecular Diels–Alder reaction based on vinylfuran and 1,3-butadienylfuran derivatives

• Yuriy I. Horak,
• Roman Z. Lytvyn,
• Andrii R. Vakhula,
• Yuriy V. Homza,
• Nazariy T. Pokhodylo and
• Mykola D. Obushak

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 444–450, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.31

•  2). However, if maleic acid was used instead of its monoanilide, then an aromatic furan product was obtained (Scheme 3). Most likely, the presence of a carboxyl group near the hydrogen in the 3-position of the furan ring contributes to its shift and isomerization to a more thermodynamically

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

• reactions of 2-methylquinolines with 3,5-di-(tert-butyl)-1,2-benzoquinone [1] and benzophenones with o-chloranil [15]. The norcaradiene derivatives 5, formed in the next step by the intramolecular cyclization reaction of 4, undergo thermal isomerization into 2,3-dihydrotropolones 6. The formation of 2

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

• have been obtained by DABCO-catalyzed dimerization of MBH carbonates of isatin in ODCB at high temperature (150 °C), which could be converted to bisspirooxindole derivatives via the isomerization of the double bond and a sequential thermal 6π-electrocyclic ring-closure process [30]. Here, the novel

Effect of substitution position of aryl groups on the thermal back reactivity of aza-diarylethene photoswitches and prediction by density functional theory

• Misato Suganuma,
• Daichi Kitagawa,
• Shota Hamatani and
• Seiya Kobatake

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 242–252, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.16

• -withdrawing substituents on the N-aryl moieties enhanced the thermal stability of the Z-isomers while maintaining the advantageous photoswitching properties upon irradiation with red light [52]. The effect of substituents on the thermal cis–trans isomerization of azobenzenes has also been widely studied, and

• time scale [54]. Langton and co-workers demonstrated that the thermal isomerization rate of azobenzenes can be tuned over a time scale spanning 107 seconds by introducing appropriate chalcogens and halogens at the ortho-position of the benzene rings [55]. Thus, investigation of the strategies to

Streamlined modular synthesis of saframycin substructure via copper-catalyzed three-component assembly and gold-promoted 6-endo cyclization

• Asahi Kanno,
• Ryo Tanifuji,
• Satoshi Yoshida,
• Sota Sato,
• Saori Maki-Yonekura,
• Kiyofumi Takaba,
• Jungmin Kang,
• Kensuke Tono,
• Koji Yonekura and
• Hiroki Oguri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 226–233, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.14

• reaction involves an in situ generation of the iminium cation A followed by isomerization to the thermodynamically more stable iminium cation B. Subsequent nucleophilic attack of a copper acetylide enabled regioselective C–C bond formation at the C11 position. After removal of the cyclic acetal, the

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

• 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