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

• polysubstituted oxetanes 64 (Scheme 18) [57]. The mechanism is based on a 1,5-HAT/radical recombination sequence where the H-atom transfer is triggered by an S0 → T1 excitation of the starting allyl ether 63 using an iridium photosensitiser and blue light for irradiation. The method employs mild reaction

• ] Cycloadditions Another widely used method for oxetane synthesis is the [2 + 2] cycloaddition between carbonyls and olefins (Scheme 19), and the two main variations include light-induced Paternò–Büchi reactions and Lewis acid- or base-catalysed formal [2 + 2] cycloadditions. The main advantages of these reactions

• performing the reaction under visible light irradiation, or coupling the reaction to other light-induced processes to produce new classes of products. In 2018, Aitken and co-workers reported a synthesis of previously unknown tricyclic 4:4:4 oxetanes 73 through a photochemical triple cascade reaction starting

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

• modified. In recent years, photocatalysis has been widely adopted due to its green and efficient nature [45][46][47][48][49][50][51]. The generation of amidyl radical is implemented by HRP. Six different methods (Figure 2c), which have been developed for visible-light mediated reactions, could generate

• (SET) process by the cleavage of the N–O bond; (c) direct homolytic cleavage of weak N–S or N–X bonds in HRP initiated in the presence of visible light; (d) the intersystem crossing (ISC) of S1 to T1 state directly from the amide anion. This review is organized by bond cleavage type, offering a deep

• demonstrated the homolytic cleavage of the N–O bond using N-(tert-butyl)-O-(1-phenylvinyl)-phenylhydroxyamide as a HAT reagent [78][79]. This compound was capable of initiating the formation of amidyl radicals through visible light activation. Although their controlled experiments showed that this method was

Recent advances and future challenges in the bottom-up synthesis of azulene-embedded nanographenes

• Bartłomiej Pigulski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1272–1305, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.99

• of an azulene-embedded nanographene 49, featuring embedded contiguous azulene units and a narrowed cove-type edge (Scheme 7) [49]. Compound 46 was first subjected to intramolecular oxidation using light-promoted DDQ and as the result the first azulene subunit was introduced giving PAH 47 in an

• isomers of pentacene (167), hexacene (168) and heptacene (169) were isolated in very good yields. Compounds 167–169 exhibit excellent photostability under ambient air and light conditions, as compared to their isoelectronic acene counterparts, and red-shifted azulene like optical absorption with tail up

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

• quinolinone products. Beyond electrochemical protocols, photochemical activation – particularly visible-light photoredox catalysis – has become a powerful and sustainable strategy for generating carbon radicals under mild conditions. In 2023, Fan’s group discovered a radical cyclization of N-arylacrylamides

• radical then reacts with acrylamide to yield the desired product 37. As shown in Scheme 21, a visible light-induced trifluoromethylation/arylation using Umemoto’s reagent for the synthesis of trifluoromethylated oxindole derivatives was reported by Huang and Zhang’s group in 2021 [13]. This method is

• ), the process involves the homolytic cleavage of Umemoto's reagent 39 under visible light irradiation, releasing a trifluoromethyl radical 42. The radical then adds to the double bond of N-arylacrylamide, forming intermediate radical 43. Subsequently, this intermediate undergoes intramolecular

Investigations of amination reactions on an antimalarial 1,2,4-triazolo[4,3-a]pyrazine scaffold

• Henry S. T. Smith,
• Ben Giuliani,
• Kanchana Wijesekera,
• Kah Yean Lum,
• Sandra Duffy,
• Aaron Lock,
• Jonathan M. White,
• Vicky M. Avery and
• Rohan A. Davis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1126–1134, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.90

• RS UHPLC coupled to a Thermo Scientific ISQ™ EC single quadruple ESI mass spectrometer. HRESIMS data were acquired on a Bruker maXis II ETD ESI-qTOF. TLC was carried out on Merck (Kenilworth, NJ, USA) silica gel 60 F254 pre-coated aluminium plates and developed plates were visualised using UV light

Gold extraction at the molecular level using α- and β-cyclodextrins

• Susana Santos Braga

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1116–1125, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.89

• protons, which makes it sufficiently hydrophobic to host apolar guest molecules, forming particular adducts called inclusion compounds. One obvious consequence of inclusion is increased solubility, with another important action being the protection of the included guests against degradation from light

Supramolecular assembly of hypervalent iodine macrocycles and alkali metals

• Krishna Pandey,
• Lucas X. Orton,
• Grayson Venus,
• Waseem A. Hussain,
• Toby Woods,
• Lichang Wang and
• Kyle N. Plunkett

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1095–1103, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.87

• conformation II projected only two vertically. One benzyl ring is pointed outside as highlighted by * (top). Oxygen, nitrogen, and iodine atoms are denoted by red, light blue, and purple color, respectively. A) Chemical structure of HIM 1: Three iodine atoms and three inward projected ester carbonyls

• CDCl3 and (CD3)2CO 1:2. Crystal structures of HIM 1 and LiBArF20 (A) and NaBArF24 (B). BARF cation is omitted for clarity. Nitrogen, oxygen, iodine, and metal (lithium or sodium) atoms are denoted by light blue, red, purple, and lavender color, respectively. Thermal ellipsoids drawn at 50% probability

• . Alternative view of the crystal structure of the HIM 1 and LiBArF20 complex. BArF20 anion is omitted for clarity. Nitrogen, oxygen, iodine, and lithium atoms are denoted by light blue, red, purple, and lavender color, respectively. Conformer II displays two benzyl groups projected in and one benzyl group

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

• . Petroleum ether (PE, 60–90 °C fraction) and ethyl acetate (EA) were used as eluent. Reactions were monitored by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) on GF254 silica gel plates (0.2 mm) from Anhui Liangchen Silicon Material Co., Ltd. The plates were visualized by UV light. 1H NMR (400 MHz) and 13C NMR (101 MHz

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

• cinnamic acid (7) to give amide 12 in excellent yield via Ti(IV)–O=C complex 102 (Scheme 31C) [69]. 2.1.3 Photocatalysis: Photoredox catalysis has gained much attention as a sustainable alternative approach to performing O/N-acylation by utilizing light as a renewable source. For example, Li and co-workers

• (2022) investigated the visible-light-mediated amidation of cinnamic acid (7) by using ethyl 2-diazoacetate and acetonitrile to give its corresponding amide 103 in excellent yield (Scheme 32) [29]. The reactive free carbene 104 was released upon light exposure of the diazo ester leading to the nitrilium

• ion 105 formation via its reaction with acetonitrile. Kokotos and co-workers (2023) prepared Weinreb amide 107 mediated by sunlight or LED 370 nm from cinnamic acid (7) via light-activated DMAP 108, leading to electrophilic iminium 109 formation (Scheme 33) [28]. On the other hand, Gilmour and co

Biobased carbon dots as photoreductants – an investigation by using triarylsulfonium salts

• Valentina Benazzi,
• Arianna Bini,
• Ilaria Bertuol,
• Mariangela Novello,
• Federica Baldi,
• Matteo Hoch,
• Alvise Perosa and
• Stefano Protti

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1024–1030, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.84

• ); triarylsulfonium salts; visible light; Introduction Carbon dots (CDs) are a class of zero-dimensional carbon-based semiconducting nanoparticles bearing on the surface a wide range of functional groups, such as carboxylic acids, alcohols, and amines, that garnered significant attention in the last decade among the

• biocompatibility. The electrochemical properties of such materials have been then evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV). For all the properties mentioned above, CDs emerged as low-cost and sustainable photocatalysts. Indeed, upon visible-light irradiation, the generated excited state CD* can operate as either

• photooxidant or photoreductant in the presence of a suitable electron donor or acceptor [18], and these properties have been exploited in procedures for the formation of both C–C and C–heteroatom bonds [18][19]. Our research groups recently focused on the application of CDs in light-mediated organic synthesis

On the photoluminescence in triarylmethyl-centered mono-, di-, and multiradicals

• Daniel Straub,
• Markus Gross,
• Mona E. Arnold,
• Julia Zolg and
• Alexander J. C. Kuehne

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 964–998, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.80

• Ulm, Germany 10.3762/bjoc.21.80 Abstract Organic radicals with light-emitting properties and exceptional stability offer exciting opportunities to address spin-statistical limitations in organic electronics and advance quantum technologies. These radicals, acting as small molecular magnets, exhibit

• to overcome the spin-statistical problem that limits the performance of conventional organic electronics. Without the chance to populate any dark triplet or quartet states, light-emitting radicals possess a theoretical internal quantum efficiency of up to 100% in electroluminescent devices [5][7][8

• ][14]. While first examples of radical emitters in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) only delivered around 12% internal quantum efficiency [7], representing no improvement compared to conventional emitters, optimization of the donor-functionalized TTM radical and of the device geometry quickly allowed

Study of tribenzo[b,d,f]azepine as donor in D–A photocatalysts

• Katy Medrano-Uribe,
• Jorge Humbrías-Martín and
• Luca Dell’Amico

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 935–944, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.76

• antiaromatic compound as an acceptor was previously reported (Figure 2) [31]. The dibenzo[b,d]thiophene 5,5-dioxide (5) was chosen for further investigation because of its red-shifted absorption. From a photochemical perspective, this characteristic can facilitate the use of less energetic light sources

• activity of all family members in an oxidative quenching cycle for the dehalogenation of 4-bromobenzonitrile (7). Typically, this type of chemical transformation requires highly reducing PCs or the use of UV light [36]. First, we evaluated the photocatalytic performance of molecules 4a, 5a, and 6a (see

• Supporting Information File 1, Table S3). As we expected, due to the blue-shifted absorption presented in molecules 4a and 6a, it was impossible to excite them under visible light (400 nm). Gratifyingly, PC 5a delivered product 8 with a promising 63% NMR yield. Next, we compare the photocatalytic behavior of

A convergent synthetic approach to the tetracyclic core framework of khayanolide-type limonoids

• Zhiyang Zhang,
• Jialei Hu,
• Hanfeng Ding,
• Li Zhang and
• Peirong Rao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 926–934, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.75

• these approaches, we then turned to the milder photo-Nazarov cyclization, in which the UV-light sources were found to be critical. While irradiation at 365 or 313 nm failed to induce cyclization and only allowed recovery of the starting material (Table 1, entries 6 and 7), the disrotatory cyclization of

• 11 in the presence of AcOH by exposure to UV-light at 254 nm occurred exclusively to provide an inseparable mixture of 32 and 33 (Table 1, entry 5). Subsequent dehydration of the resultant mixture with SOCl2 and pyridine yielded separable enones 34 (51%) and 10 (9%) over two steps. The structure of

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

• enantiocontrol. Conversely, the bulky tert-butyl-decorated (R)-spirophosphoramidite L5 imposed a confined cavity, steering selectivity toward Si–C(sp2)-bond activation and predominantly afforded the regioisomeric (S)-2-silacyclohexenylarenes 18. In 2025, Gong and co-workers reported a visible-light-mediated

• , Koenigs, and co-workers demonstrated solvent-controlled bifurcation in the light-driven reactivity of cyclic diazo imides 41 with thiols 42, unveiling two mechanistically distinct pathways (Scheme 11) [40]. In dichloromethane (DCM), the reaction proceeds via a carbene intermediate, enabling cascade C(sp2

• mechanistic experiments and DFT calculations, the authors proposed a possible mechanism for the reaction: first, DPZ is excited by light to form the excited state DPZ*, which then oxidizes bromide ions through single-electron transfer to generate corresponding radical anions. These radical anions undergo

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

• 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

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

• contributions have enabled the efficient activation of carbonyl and alkene moieties, the inability of most organic molecules to efficiently absorb photons at longer wavelengths often preclude their use in direct excitation strategies, requiring unique experimental set ups and light sources that are

Unraveling cooperative interactions between complexed ions in dual-host strategy for cesium salt separation

• Zhihua Liu,
• Ya-Zhi Chen,
• Ji Wang,
• Qingling Nie,
• Wei Zhao and
• Biao Wu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 845–853, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.68

• carbonyl (C=O) groups, as well as direct ion-pairing interactions between 18-crown-6-complexed Cs+ and hexaurea-bound PO43−. Single-crystal structural analysis corroborates these interactions, shedding light on the underlying mechanisms and providing valuable guidance for the rational design of advanced

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

• reported to either bathochromically shift the UV–vis absorption spectrum or lead to a better separation of the n→π* bands of the two photoisomers and allow for visible-light-responsive switches [23][24][25][26]. In recent years, heteroaryl azobenzene derivatives have revealed superior properties to

• light, showing a great photostability of these compounds [32]. We performed the same experiment on our NAc-PAPs (see Table 3 and section 3.2 in Supporting Information File 1) and did not observe any fatigue after 10–20 cycles of photoswitching, showing high photostability also of NAc-PAPs. To quantify

• most cases compared to NH-PAPs. For NMe-PAPs, West et al. attributed this to a pronounced spectral separation between the π→π* bands of E and Z-isomers, which we also found for NAc-PAPs [31]. For the back isomerization with 445 nm light, favoring the E isomer, we observed that the amount of E isomer

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

• , various light-, heat-, and acid-induced rearrangements have been reported [35], complicating the distinct structural determination of these compounds. In comparison to published NMR and UV–vis data, formation of neither known species can be assumed with certainty. Last, through addition of mono-carboxylic

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

• that controls reaction selectivity by adjusting voltage or current [13]. Simple synthetic systems in electrochemical methods are limited to electrodes, cells, electrolytes, and power supplies. Today, in addition to the above, light, metallic, and organic catalysts are also used to increase the

New advances in asymmetric organocatalysis II

• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 766–769, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.60

• , carbohydrates, or thiourea [5][6][7][8]. Going even more back in time, we shall recognize the work of Eder, Sauer, Wiechert, Hajos, and Parrish on the proline-catalyzed Robinson annulation in the 1970s [9][10]. In light of this, organocatalysis appears to be 50 rather than 25 years old. But is even that correct

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

• (Scheme 2B). Photochromic properties Irradiation of the glycoazobenzene-functionalized mannosides 6αMan 3, 6βGlc 4, and 3αMan 5 with light of 365, 435, and 520 nm, respectively, led to three photostationary states (PSS) in each case of which the E/Z ratios were determined by integration of the anomeric

• proton of the terminal sugar units in the 1H NMR spectrum (Table 1 and Supporting Information File 1, Figures S8, S10, and S12). Irradiation with 365 nm light excites the π–π* band of the ortho-fluorinated S-azobenzene units (ABF4) of both 3 and 4 and the π–π* band of the O-azobenzene (AB) unit of 5

• leading to PSS with E/Z ratios of 18:82 for 3 and 4 and 3:97 for 5. Back switching occurs upon irradiation with 435 nm light that excites the n–π* band of the Z isomers and leads to almost identical E/Z ratios (64:36 and 65:35) in all three cases (3, 4, and 5). Irradiation of 5 with 520 nm light, on the

Synthesis of HBC fluorophores with an electrophilic handle for covalent attachment to Pepper RNA

• Raphael Bereiter and
• Ronald Micura

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 727–735, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.56

• Raphael Bereiter Ronald Micura Institute of Organic Chemistry, Center for Molecular Biosciences, Innsbruck (CMBI), University of Innsbruck, Innrain 80-82, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria 10.3762/bjoc.21.56 Abstract The fluorescent light-up aptamer (FLAP) Pepper can utilize fluorophores that are equipped

• and the new ones) for covalent attachment to the Pepper aptamer in vitro. Results and Discussion Background The fluorescent light-up aptamer Pepper binds a series of structurally related synthetic dyes that contain a stilbene core. The lead compound is (4-((2-hydroxyethyl)(methyl)amino)benzylidene

• usefulness of this type of bifunctional fluorescent ligands in RNA affinity purification has recently been demonstrated by our group [11]. Conclusion Covalent fluorescent light-up aptamers (coFLAPs) are opening new avenues for RNA imaging [11]. In this work, we describe robust synthetic routes for twelve HBC

Origami with small molecules: exploiting the C–F bond as a conformational tool

• Patrick Ryan,
• Ramsha Iftikhar and
• Luke Hunter

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 680–716, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.54

Photochemically assisted synthesis of phenacenes fluorinated at the terminal benzene rings and their electronic spectra

• Yuuki Ishii,
• Minoru Yamaji,
• Fumito Tani,
• Kenta Goto,
• Yoshihiro Kubozono and
• Hideki Okamoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 670–679, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.53

• ][11][12], luminophores in light-emitting devices [13][14][15], organic semiconductors [16][17][18], and even as aromatic superconductors [19]. Later, parent and chemically modified phenacenes were applied to active layers in high-performance organic field-effect transistors. Thus, the phenacene

• 18-crown-6 produced fluorine-containing diarylethene 8 as a mixture of E- and Z-isomers. Subsequently, the E/Z mixture of 8 was subjected to the Mallory photoreaction without separation. Thus, compound 8 was irradiated with fluorescent black-light lamps (300 nm, 6 × 16 W) in the presence of a