Photomechanochemistry: harnessing mechanical forces to enhance photochemical reactions

• Francesco Mele,
• Ana M. Constantin,
• Andrea Porcheddu,
• Raimondo Maggi,
• Giovanni Maestri,
• Nicola Della Ca’ and
• Luca Capaldo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 458–472, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.33

• examples described below, minimal amounts of solvent are used to homogenize the reaction mixture. This approach is called liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) and it is commonly accepted as a mechanochemical approach [58].. Throughout the text, we adopted the term photomechanochemistry to include both

• -assisted grinding (LAG). This minimizes waste production compared to conventional solution-based methods. This is particularly advantageous when high-boiling point (e.g., DMSO) or noxious solvents (e.g., DMF and halogenated ones) are required. It is worth noting, however, that in some cases the heat

• to leverage reactivity modes inaccessible through traditional approaches. On the other side, mechanochemistry brings around advantages in terms of sustainability and operational efficiency. Firstly, it either eliminates the need for solvents entirely or significantly reduces their use, as in liquid

Mechanochemical difluoromethylations of ketones

• Jinbo Ke,
• Pit van Bonn and
• Carsten Bolm

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2799–2805, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.235

• sufficient mixing. Silica could not fulfill this role. Lastly, water, 1,4-dioxane, chloroform, and toluene were tested in a liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) protocol (Table 1, entries 10–13). The lowest yields were obtained with water and 1,4-dioxane, providing 3a in yields of 37% and 43%, respectively (Table

• second 3i-d3 bearing a CF2D group. The yields were 57% and 15%, respectively. In the second experiment, the potential for proton exchange in difluoromethyl enol ether 3h was investigated. The compound was milled with the activator KFHF, CsCl as grinding auxiliary, and D2O in a liquid-assisted grinding

Mechanochemical solid state synthesis of copper(I)/NHC complexes with K₃PO₄

• Ina Remy-Speckmann,
• Birte M. Zimmermann,
• Mahadeb Gorai,
• Martin Lerch and
• Johannes F. Teichert

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 440–447, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.34

• approaches have in common that the conjugated acid of the added base is a liquid. In the literature, the improvement of mechanochemical syntheses by addition of small amounts of a liquid have been reported (LAG, liquid-assisted grinding) [43]. However, in our case, the formation of small amounts of liquid

Mechanochemical synthesis of unsymmetrical salens for the preparation of Co–salen complexes and their evaluation as catalysts for the synthesis of α-aryloxy alcohols via asymmetric phenolic kinetic resolution of terminal epoxides

• Shengli Zuo,
• Shuxiang Zheng,
• Jianjun Liu and
• Ang Zuo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1416–1423, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.147

• methanol was used to lubricate the molecular surface for an improved performance (known as liquid-assisted grinding, LAG) [42]. Unsymmetrical salens 1a‒h were obtained in the yield of 72% to 95% after being purified by column chromatography. Bromo-containing salen 1a was yielded the best (95%), presumably

Automated grindstone chemistry: a simple and facile way for PEG-assisted stoichiometry-controlled halogenation of phenols and anilines using N-halosuccinimides

• Dharmendra Das,
• Akhil A. Bhosle,
• Amrita Chatterjee and
• Mainak Banerjee

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 999–1008, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.100

• catalyst-free halogenation of phenols and anilines via liquid-assisted grinding using PEG-400 as the grinding auxiliary. A series of mono-, di-, and tri-halogenated phenols and anilines was synthesized in good to excellent yields within 10–15 min in a chemoselective manner by controlling the stoichiometry

• desirable. From our past experience, we realized a liquid-assisted grinding expedites a reaction to several folds [54][55][56]. In this regard, PEG-400 is widely preferred due to its biodegradable and benign nature and often offers excellent outcomes where other grinding auxiliaries failed to deliver [56

Complementarity of solution and solid state mechanochemical reaction conditions demonstrated by 1,2-debromination of tricyclic imides

• Petar Štrbac and
• Davor Margetić

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 746–753, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.75

• dust. This combination of metals worked well, and the best conditions were obtained with the addition of a small amount of THF (liquid assisted grinding, LAG) [22], η = 0.5 μL·mg−1 (Table 1, entry 19). In contrast, the solution reaction catalyzed by Zn/Cu dust was totally ineffective (Table 1, entry 21

Mechanochemical halogenation of unsymmetrically substituted azobenzenes

• Dajana Barišić,
• Mario Pajić,
• Ivan Halasz,
• Darko Babić and
• Manda Ćurić

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 680–687, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.69

• using N-halosuccinimides as the halogen source under neat grinding or liquid-assisted grinding conditions in a ball mill has been described. Depending on the azobenzene substrate used, halogenation of the C–H bonds occurs in the absence or only in the presence of PdII catalysts. Insight into the

• -bromosuccinimide (NBS) under neat grinding (NG) and liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) conditions in a ball mill [51]. Insight into the dynamics of the formation of reaction intermediates and products was obtained by in situ Raman monitoring that provided information on the nature of the catalytically active PdII

• proceeds by electrophilic cleavage with neutral NBS or the hydrogen bond complex NBS∙∙∙TsOH as a bromine source. Here we present the mechanochemical selective halogenation of unsymmetrically substituted azobenzenes by NXS (X = Cl, Br, or I). The liquid-assisted grinding of para-halogenated derivatives of

The B & B approach: Ball-milling conjugation of dextran with phenylboronic acid (PBA)-functionalized BODIPY

• Patrizia Andreozzi,
• Lorenza Tamberi,
• Elisamaria Tasca,
• Gina Elena Giacomazzo,
• Marta Martinez,
• Mirko Severi,
• Marco Marradi,
• Stefano Cicchi,
• Sergio Moya,
• Giacomo Biagiotti and
• Barbara Richichi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2272–2281, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.188

• -free conditions, e.g., liquid-assisted grinding (LAG), slurries, and homogenous solutions. Although there are compounds that can only be achieved by conventional solution-based methods, mechanochemistry offers some important advantages over conventional bulk synthesis. These advantages have become more

Metal-free mechanochemical oxidations in Ertalyte^® jars

• Andrea Porcheddu,
• Francesco Delogu,
• Lidia De Luca,
• Claudia Fattuoni and
• Evelina Colacino

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1786–1794, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.172

• reactions of hydantoins [41][59]. However, also using this oxidant, we observed low conversions (31%) and the formation of significant amounts of byproducts, mainly halides and olefins (elimination byproducts). The use of liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) procedures [60][61][62] by adding small quantities of

Mechanochemical Friedel–Crafts acylations

• Mateja Đud,
• Anamarija Briš,
• Iva Jušinski,
• Davor Gracin and
• Davor Margetić

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1313–1320, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.130

• grinding additives to improve mass transfer and prevent pasting of the reaction mixture [26][27][28] (Table 1, entries 5–8) was detrimental to reaction yields. The addition of a small amount of solvents which was reported to facilitate several ball milling reactions (liquid assisted grinding, LAG) [29][30

Understanding the unexpected effect of frequency on the kinetics of a covalent reaction under ball-milling conditions

• Ana M. Belenguer,
• Adam A. L. Michalchuk,
• Giulio I. Lampronti and
• Jeremy K. M. Sanders

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1226–1235, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.120

• ). Alternatively, very small quantities of liquid can be added to the grinding mixture [5], a procedure known as "kneading" or "liquid-assisted grinding" (LAG) [4]. The liquid often accelerates reactions between solids or even enables new reactions [5][6][7]. Mechanochemical methods have been successfully applied

• kinetics is a relatively unexplored field, and we have explored only one reaction, but it seems likely that similar effects will operate for other reactions. Experimental The kinetic studies presented here were performed under ball-mill neat grinding (NG) and under ball mill liquid-assisted grinding (LAG

Mechanochemical synthesis of hyper-crosslinked polymers: influences on their pore structure and adsorption behaviour for organic vapors

• Sven Grätz,
• Sebastian Zink,
• Hanna Kraffczyk,
• Marcus Rose and
• Lars Borchardt

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1154–1161, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.112

• polymer with surface areas of up to 1720 m2g−1 and pore volumes of up to 1.55 cm3g−1. The application of LAG (liquid-assisted grinding) revealed a profound impact of the liquid´s boiling point on the textural properties of the obtained polymer materials. Finally, the materials are characterized by vapour

Mechanochemical synthesis of poly(trimethylene carbonate)s: an example of rate acceleration

• Sora Park and
• Jeung Gon Kim

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 963–970, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.93

• important for chain-length control. Liquid-assisted grinding was applied for the synthesis of high molecular weight polymers, but it failed to protect the polymer chain from mechanical degradation. Keywords: aliphatic polycarbonate; green polymerization; mechanochemistry; organocatalyst; poly(trimethylene

• , liquid-assisted grinding (LAG), the addition of a very small amount of a liquid, prevented chain-degradation from high impact collisions, and afforded PLA with over 100,000 g/mol. Thus, LAG was also tested in the PTMC synthesis [13][14] with toluene and THF as liquids. A catalytic amount of liquid (10 or

• polymerizations reached completion within 5 min, despite physical mixing limitations. However, the mechanochemical polymerization was accompanied by degradation processes, which limited the molecular weight to 10,000 g/mol. Liquid-assisted grinding did not show any protective effect, and the search for other

Mechanochemistry of supramolecules

• Anima Bose and
• Prasenjit Mal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 881–900, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.86

• acetic acid (for liquid-assisted grinding, LAG) led to the regioselective C–H activation (Figure 5) [58]. In 2008, the mechanochemical synthesis of both [2]- and [4]rotaxanes was reported by Chiu and co-workers. The reactions led to high yields of the products 12 and 13 under solvent-free conditions at a

Mechanochemistry of nucleosides, nucleotides and related materials

• Olga Eguaogie,
• Joseph S. Vyle,
• Patrick F. Conlon,
• Manuela A. Gîlea and
• Yipei Liang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 955–970, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.81

• ). During subsequent discussions, liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) is used to describe only the latter case. The minimal level of solvent requirement is particularly advantageous in the context of charged nucleotide substrates as considerable cost, time and energy savings can be gained in the absence of

• nucleoside analogues with photoreactive materials. Thus, liquid-assisted grinding of the N-hydroxysuccinimidyl esters of o-, m- or p-phenylazobenzoic acids with excess D-threoninol or of the para isomer with an aminonucleoside in the presence of DMAP and ethyl acetate engendered chemoselective N-acylation

• containing 800 g of "glass pearls" was shaken at 3 Hz prior to subsequent trituration with benzene and carbon tetrachloride [72]. A subsequent development of this procedure included liquid-assisted grinding in a one litre porcelain jar which was rotated at 110 rpm for 24–48 hours with up to 1.4 kg of

Liquid-assisted grinding and ion pairing regulates percentage conversion and diastereoselectivity of the Wittig reaction under mechanochemical conditions

• Kendra Leahy Denlinger,
• Lianna Ortiz-Trankina,
• Preston Carr,
• Kingsley Benson,
• Daniel C. Waddell and
• James Mack

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 688–696, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.57

• used in liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) and properly chosen counter-ion pairing increases the percentage conversion of stilbenes in a mechanochemical Wittig reaction. Utilizing stepwise addition/evaporation of ethanol in liquid-assisted grinding also allows for the tuning of the diastereoselectivity in

• the Wittig reaction. Keywords: green chemistry; high-speed ball milling; HSBM; LAG; liquid-assisted grinding; Wittig; Introduction Mechanochemistry is maturing as a discipline and continuing to develop and grow [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Thus it is important to continue

• the ones obtained under traditional solution-based conditions. First, we observed that using functionalized resins allowed us to isolate the desired product in an easy and environmentally benign manner. Second, we observed that the incorporation of liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) increased the rate of

Exploring mechanochemistry to turn organic bio-relevant molecules into metal-organic frameworks: a short review

• Vânia André,
• Sílvia Quaresma,
• João Luís Ferreira da Silva and
• M. Teresa Duarte

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 2416–2427, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.239

• ]. NG evolved into liquid-assisted grinding (LAG), also known as solvent-drop grinding or kneading, which includes the addition of catalytic amounts of solvent to facilitate the reaction. This technique proved to be useful for the synthesis of new compounds that could not be obtained by solution or NG

• techniques, while still avoiding excessive use of solvent [3][4][5][6][7]. The addition of catalytic amounts of an inorganic salt together with catalytic amounts of solvent, resulted in another mechanochemical approach, the ion and liquid-assisted grinding (ILAG), a technique that was also very successful in

Main group mechanochemistry

• Agota A. Gečiauskaitė and
• Felipe García

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 2068–2077, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.204

• process is via the use of small amounts of liquid and/or solid additives, termed ion- and liquid-assisted (ILAG) or liquid-assisted grinding (LAG), respectively [34][35]. These techniques, in contrast to “dry” milling, often offer advantages such as shorter reaction times and/or greater product

Solid-state mechanochemical ω-functionalization of poly(ethylene glycol)

• Michael Y. Malca,
• Pierre-Olivier Ferko,
• Tomislav Friščić and
• Audrey Moores

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1963–1968, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.191

• yielded the best results with both molecular weight (Mw) mPEGs. NaOH is a strong base, thus favoring deprotonation of mPEG over weaker bases to facilitate subsequent tosylation. The deprotonation step (Scheme 1a) also generates water locally, which may have led to liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) conditions

One-pot multistep mechanochemical synthesis of fluorinated pyrazolones

• Joseph L. Howard,
• William Nicholson,
• Yerbol Sagatov and
• Duncan L. Browne

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1950–1956, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.189

• a paste that does not mix well and results in low reaction conversions. Clearly the presence of such a material may have a knock-on effect on any multistep process. Liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) is another phenomenon that can provide enhancement to the reaction outcome and again should be

• designed a 2-step reaction related to our recent work on liquid assisted grinding effects of the fluorination of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, in which the dicarbonyl will initially form a pyrazolone in the first reaction prior to undergoing difluorination in the second step (Scheme 1) [17]. Notably this

Mechanochemical synthesis of small organic molecules

• Tapas Kumar Achar,
• Anima Bose and
• Prasenjit Mal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1907–1931, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.186

• of their low reactivity. Recently, Li and Su with co-workers have developed a liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) method for the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling between aryl chlorides and boronic acids to synthesize the biaryls in nearly quantitative yield. Under optimized conditions 2 mol % Pd(OAc)2 and 4 mol

• 2016 Juaristi and co-workers have reported Ugi 4-component reactions (4-CR) by liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) using MeOH. Equimolar amounts of benzaldehyde, chloroacetic acid, tert-butyl isocyanide, and propargylamine in the presence of 2 mol % InCl3, under ball-mill yielded the desired Ugi product in

• under the LAG (liquid-assisted grinding) synthesis (Scheme 58) [190]. Initially, in situ monitoring of mechanochemical thiocarbamoylation suggests the formation of reactive intermediate which gradually disappears with the formation of thiocarbamoylated product. Furthermore isolation and spectroscopic

Mechanochemical synthesis of thioureas, ureas and guanidines

• Vjekoslav Štrukil

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1828–1849, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.178

• phase to a mixture treated by manual grinding or ball milling [19]. What was in the beginning termed as "solvent-drop grinding" (SDG) eventually became "liquid-assisted grinding" or LAG, now a well-established method for improving the outcome of mechanochemical reactions [20]. In continuation of this

• research, Friščić et al. introduced the so called "ion and liquid-assisted grinding" or ILAG by recognizing the effect of cations such as Na+, K+ or NH4+ or anions like Cl−, NO3− and SO42− on the formation of polymorphs during LAG synthesis of metal-organic frameworks [21]. Recently, Jones et al. employed

• polymeric macromolecular catalysts, e.g., PEG 200 and PEG 10000 as solid auxiliaries to enhance crystallization under LAG mechanochemical conditions in "polymer and liquid-assisted grinding" or POLAG [22][23]. While the focus in these investigations has been on the improvement of the macroscopic parameters

Mechanochemical N-alkylation of imides

• Anamarija Briš,
• Mateja Đud and
• Davor Margetić

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1745–1752, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.169

• addition of a small amount of solvent for LAG (liquid-assisted grinding) [27] was tested as well. The results are collected in Table 1. The best results were achieved by the use of K2CO3 as base, with large excess of dibromide and carbonate. Within one hour of milling, 1 was quantitatively converted to the

Mechanochemical enzymatic resolution of N-benzylated-β³-amino esters

• Mario Pérez-Venegas,
• Gloria Reyes-Rangel,
• Adrián Neri,
• Jaime Escalante and
• Eusebio Juaristi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1728–1734, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.167

• . Several chiral organocatalysts and even enzymes have proved to be resistant to milling conditions, which allows for rather efficient enantioselective transformations under ball-milling conditions. The present article reports the first example of a liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) mechanochemical enzymatic

Mechanochemical borylation of aryldiazonium salts; merging light and ball milling

• José G. Hernández

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1463–1469, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.144

• . Simultaneous neat grinding/irradiation of the reactants and the photocatalyst led to the formation of boronates in a molten state. On the other hand, the catalyst-free liquid-assisted grinding/irradiation reaction also led to product formation, featuring a direct photolysis pathway facilitated by substrate

• underexplored [14], despite photocatalysis could clearly benefit from the excellent mixing under neat or liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) [15] conditions. Additionally, in contrast to solution-based methods, reactions by milling do not suffer from solubility restrictions due to the possibility to bring reactants