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

• complexes in large-scale photoredox reactions highlights the broader applicability of transition metals in facilitating challenging chemical transformations. Moving beyond the d-block, the exploration of main-group elements offers a new frontier in the use of more affordable and available photocatalysts

• . While transition metals such as copper, palladium, cobalt, and nickel are well-established in catalyzed cross-coupling reactions, J. Cornella et al. have highlighted the reactivity of main-group elements like bismuth, which can mimic transition-metal behavior through oxidative addition. In their recent

• study, the authors have developed a complementary ground-state- and excited-state-driven aryl oxidative addition platform based on an N,C,N-bismuthinidene complex, showing the unique capacity of this main-group element to engage in reactivity typically associated with d-block metals [21]. The study

A laterally-fused N-heterocyclic carbene framework from polysubstituted aminoimidazo[5,1-b]oxazol-6-ium salts

• Andrew D. Gillie,
• Matthew G. Wakeling,
• Bethan L. Greene,
• Louise Male and
• Paul W. Davies

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 621–627, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.54

• ; imidazolium; NHC; Introduction Imidazolium-derived nucleophilic heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have had a sustained impact across the fields of organometallic and main group chemistry, transition-metal catalysis, materials synthesis and organocatalysis [1]. Laterally annellated polycyclic NHCs offer a useful

Aldiminium and 1,2,3-triazolium dithiocarboxylate zwitterions derived from cyclic (alkyl)(amino) and mesoionic carbenes

• Nedra Touj,
• François Mazars,
• Guillermo Zaragoza and
• Lionel Delaude

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1947–1956, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.145

• -dithiocarboxylate zwitterions (Figure 2) [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]. These 1,1-dithiolate inner salts strongly bind main group elements and transition metals through various coordination modes. Indeed, we and others have already reported the synthesis of diverse metallic complexes

Clauson–Kaas pyrrole synthesis using diverse catalysts: a transition from conventional to greener approach

• Dileep Kumar Singh and
• Rajesh Kumar

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 928–955, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.71

• various substituted anilines, primary arylamides, and sufonylamides 20 and 2,5-DMTHF (2) in the presence of 10 mol % MgI2 etherate in MeCN at 80 °C (Scheme 9a). MgI2 etherate is a main-group Lewis acid catalyst that selectively activates electron-rich aromatic amines. This is a mild, efficient, and highly

Construction of hexabenzocoronene-based chiral nanographenes

• Ranran Li,
• Di Wang,
• Shengtao Li and
• Peng An

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 736–751, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.54

• introduction of different main group elements beyond nitrogen summarized above would provide more diverse structures and properties. Meanwhile, the methodologies for further functionalization of the existing nanographene molecules are still needed for application purposes. Construction of HBC by Scholl

Group 13 exchange and transborylation in catalysis

• Dominic R. Willcox and
• Stephen P. Thomas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 325–348, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.28

• Dominic R. Willcox Stephen P. Thomas EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FJ, United Kingdom 10.3762/bjoc.19.28 Abstract Catalysis is dominated by the use of rare and potentially toxic transition metals. The main group offers a potentially sustainable alternative

• and develop new catalytic processes, examples of which are the focus of this review. Keywords: catalysis; group 13 exchange; hydroboration; main group; transborylation; Introduction Group 13 compounds have found widespread use in stoichiometric organic transformations, typically in the

• discovered, leaving an exciting future for main group catalysis underpinned by group 13 exchange and transborylation reactions (Figure 1). a) The number of reports for a given group 13 exchange in catalysis. b) Average free energy barrier to group 13 exchange in catalysis (blank where no free energy value

Total synthesis of insect sex pheromones: recent improvements based on iron-mediated cross-coupling chemistry

• Eric Gayon,
• Guillaume Lefèvre,
• Olivier Guerret,
• Adrien Tintar and
• Pablo Chourreu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 158–166, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.15

• ]. The exact nature of the interaction between the active ate-ferrous complex and the NMP-ligated magnesium cation is so far unknown. Although often neglected in the mechanistic analysis of a cross-coupling system, the importance of the coordination sphere of the main-group cation brought by the

B–N/B–H Transborylation: borane-catalysed nitrile hydroboration

• Filip Meger,
• Alexander C. W. Kwok,
• Franziska Gilch,
• Dominic R. Willcox,
• Alex J. Hendy,
• Kieran Nicholson,
• Andrew D. Bage,
• Thomas Langer,
• Thomas A. Hunt and
• Stephen P. Thomas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1332–1337, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.138

• traditional metal catalysis, including trace metal contamination [11][12] and volatility of supply. Whilst there are several examples of main-group catalysed nitrile hydroboration reactions [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26], currently, there are only two reported metal-free catalytic

Tautomerism as primary signaling mechanism in metal sensing: the case of amide group

• Vera Deneva,
• Georgi Dobrikov,
• Aurelien Crochet,
• Daniela Nedeltcheva,
• Katharina M. Fromm and
• Liudmil Antonov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1898–1906, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.185

• exchange was especially developed to describe main-group thermochemistry and noncovalent interactions. It shows very good results in predicting the position of the tautomeric equilibria for compounds with intramolecular hydrogen bonds as well as describing the ground and excited state proton transfer

Halide metathesis in overdrive: mechanochemical synthesis of a heterometallic group 1 allyl complex

• Ross F. Koby,
• Nicholas R. Rightmire,
• Nathan D. Schley,
• Timothy P. Hanusa and
• William W. Brennessel

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1856–1863, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.181

• , which promotes reactions through grinding or milling with no, or minimal, use of solvents, has been used in conjunction with halide metathesis to form organometallic compounds of the transition metals [3][4][5][6][7] and both s- [8][9] and p-block [10][11] main group elements. The extent to which the

The activity of indenylidene derivatives in olefin metathesis catalysts

• Maria Voccia,
• Steven P. Nolan,
• Luigi Cavallo and
• Albert Poater

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 2956–2963, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.275

• ], using the BP86 functional of Becke and Perdew [54][55][56]. The electronic configuration of the molecular systems was described with the double-ζ basis set with polarisation of Ahlrichs for main group atoms (SVP keyword in Gaussian) [57], whereas for ruthenium the small-core quasi-relativistic Stuttgart

Evaluation of dispersion type metal···π arene interaction in arylbismuth compounds – an experimental and theoretical study

• Ana-Maria Preda,
• Małgorzata Krasowska,
• Lydia Wrobel,
• Philipp Kitschke,
• Phil C. Andrews,
• Jonathan G. MacLellan,
• Lutz Mertens,
• Marcus Korb,
• Tobias Rüffer,
• Heinrich Lang,
• Alexander A. Auer and
• Michael Mehring

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 2125–2145, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.187

• interactions between different structural features balance in order to stabilize molecular arrangements present in the crystal structure. Furthermore, the computational results allow to group this class of compounds into the range of heavy main group element compounds which have been characterized as

• interaction of main group metals has increased significantly, both experimentally and theoretically in the past decade [1][2][3][4][5]. Especially the development of novel computational tools demonstrated the importance of London dispersion type interactions for structures and functions of molecules [6][7][8

• interaction as one of the emerging intermolecular interactions that are of particular interest to coordination chemists with regard to supramolecular chemistry [12]. However, most reports on main group metal···π interactions are based on the description of the single crystal structures and lack a profound

A selective removal of the secondary hydroxy group from ortho-dithioacetal-substituted diarylmethanols

• Anna Czarnecka,
• Emilia Kowalska,
• Agnieszka Bodzioch,
• Joanna Skalik,
• Marek Koprowski,
• Krzysztof Owsianik and
• Piotr Bałczewski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1229–1237, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.105

• are to be expected. This task is additionally difficult to accomplish due to a chemical similarity of oxygen and sulfur, two neighboring heteroatoms from the main group VI of the periodic table. A longer atomic radius of sulfur than oxygen should make the C–S bond weaker and more reactive than the C–O

Main group mechanochemistry

• Agota A. Gečiauskaitė and
• Felipe García

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

• sustainable alternatives to conventional solvent-based synthetic routes. Mechanochemistry has already been successfully applied to the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), organic compounds, metal oxides, coordination compounds and organometallic complexes. In the main group arena, examples

• group compounds and frameworks. Keywords: ball milling; main group; mechanochemical synthesis; mechanochemistry; Introduction The original mainspring for the current expansion of solid state methodologies is the need for cleaner, safer and sustainable chemical transformations – particularly since raw

• ], nanoscience [15], polymer [58][59][60] and enzymatic chemistry [61]. The recent advances made in mechanochemistry provide an exciting platform for synthetic chemists in the search of novel outcomes and optimal synthetic routes (see Scheme 2). Review Main group mechanochemistry Whilst mechanochemical studies

p-Nitrophenyl carbonate promoted ring-opening reactions of DBU and DBN affording lactam carbamates

• Madhuri Vangala and
• Ganesh P Shinde

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2086–2092, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.197

• nucleophiles towards halo derivatives of main group elements where the DBU and DBN bicyclic rings remained unaffected [10][11]. Later in 1994, Lammers et al. observed the nucleophilicity of amidine bases with 4-halo-3,5-dimethyl-1-nitro-1H-pyrazole and their subsequent ring opening leading to the lactam

Scope and limitations of the dual-gold-catalysed hydrophenoxylation of alkynes

• Adrián Gómez-Suárez,
• Yoshihiro Oonishi,
• Anthony R. Martin and
• Steven P. Nolan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 172–178, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.19

• metal and main-group chemistry [10][11][12][13]. We have been interested in exploring the use of NHC ligands in transition metal complexes for the development of highly active and well-defined catalysts. One of our main interests during the last decade has been to study the use of gold–NHC species as

Simple activation by acid of latent Ru-NHC-based metathesis initiators bearing 8-quinolinolate co-ligands

• Julia Wappel,
• Roland C. Fischer,
• Luigi Cavallo,
• Christian Slugovc and
• Albert Poater

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 154–165, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.17

• SVP basis set on all main group atoms during geometry optimizations [71]. Furthermore diffuse basis sets have been incorporated for O and Cl [72]. The reported energies have been optimized via single point calculations on the BP86 geometries with triple-ζ valence plus polarization (TZVP keyword in

Versatile deprotonated NHC: C,N-bridged dinuclear iridium and rhodium complexes

• Albert Poater

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 117–124, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.13

• with the iridium was examined with the Mayer bond order (MBO) [63], which is valuable for evaluating bonding in main group compounds, but has been also used as a tool for the characterization of transition metal systems [64][65]. For 3H-H the NHC coordination to the metal through the carbene carbon

• described with the triple-ζ valence plus polarization (TZVP keyword in Gaussian) basis set on all main group atoms during geometry optimizations [81]. The reported energies have been obtained via single point calculations on the BP86 geometries with triple-ζ valence plus polarization using the M06

Direct estimate of the internal π-donation to the carbene centre within N-heterocyclic carbenes and related molecules

• Diego M. Andrada,
• Nicole Holzmann,
• Thomas Hamadi and
• Gernot Frenking

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 2727–2736, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.294

• last two decades, these versatile compounds have been widely employed in transition metal [9][10][11][12][13] and organocatalysis [14][15][16], organometallic [17][18][19] and main group synthesis [20][21][22][23][24][25][26], and activation of small molecules [27][28]. NHCs possess a divalent C(II

• 2005 [20][56][57]. The replacement of one amino substituent by a saturated alkyl group makes the carbene more nucleophilic and electrophilic at the same time [20][56][57]. Since then, cAACs have been used as a superior ligand for the stabilization of unstable chemical species, radical and main group

N-Heterocyclic carbenes

• Steven P. Nolan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 2474–2475, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.268

• stabilizing effects due to their steric and electronic tunable properties) might be unnecessary. The use of these ligands now extends to numerous fields spanning from fine chemicals to polymer synthesis. The area of main group chemistry has also benefited from these ligands as stabilizing entities. Since the

Efficient synthetic protocols for the preparation of common N-heterocyclic carbene precursors

• Morgan Hans,
• Jan Lorkowski,
• Albert Demonceau and
• Lionel Delaude

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 2318–2325, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.252

• ], but also for lanthanides and actinides [11][12], as well as for main group elements [12][13]. Countless applications in homogeneous catalysis have already taken advantage of the remarkable stereoelectronic properties and structural diversity of these organometallic species [14][15][16][17]. To give

A one-pot multistep cyclization yielding thiadiazoloimidazole derivatives

• Debabrata Samanta,
• Anup Rana,
• Jan W. Bats and
• Michael Schmittel

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 2989–2996, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.317

• with a 6-31G(d,p) basis set for hydrogen to include polarization on hydrogen and the 6-31G(d) basis set for the other main group elements using NWChem 6.3 [15]. During optimization, we utilized Grimme’s D3 dispersion [16] for a better description of non-covalent interactions like hydrogen bonding and π

Theoretical studies on the intramolecular cyclization of 2,4,6-t-Bu₃C₆H₂P=C: and effects of conjugation between the P=C and aromatic moieties

• Masaaki Yoshifuji and
• Shigekazu Ito

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 1032–1036, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.103

• cyclization of 1 would be necessary to develop the chemistry of reactive intermediates containing low-coordinated heavier main group elements [17]. Additionally, the structure of 2 is expected to be quite unique as the P=C π-system is nearly coplanar with the aromatic ring. In our previous paper, unique photo

The renaissance of organic radical chemistry – deja vu all over again

• Corey R. J. Stephenson,
• Armido Studer and
• Dennis P. Curran

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2013, 9, 2778–2780, doi:10.3762/bjoc.9.312

• ][14][15][16], e) radical trifluoromethylation [17] and radical fluorination [18][19][20], f) natural product synthesis [21], g) new main group radical chemistry involving elements like boron [22], phosphorous [23] and selenium [24], tellurium [25], among others, h) synthesis or functionalization of

Computational study of the rate constants and free energies of intramolecular radical addition to substituted anilines

• Andreas Gansäuer,
• Meriam Seddiqzai,
• Tobias Dahmen,
• Rebecca Sure and
• Stefan Grimme

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2013, 9, 1620–1629, doi:10.3762/bjoc.9.185

• -pair wise potential is added to a standard DFT result [26]. A thorough energy benchmark study of various density functionals for general main group thermochemistry, kinetics and non-covalent interactions (GMTKN30 benchmark set) [27] showed that Zhao and Truhlar’s PW6B95 functional [28] in combination