Chemoenzymatic synthesis of the cardenolide rhodexin A and its aglycone sarmentogenin

• Fuzhen Song,
• Mengmeng Zheng,
• Dongkai Wang,
• Xudong Qu and
• Qianghui Zhou

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2637–2644, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.204

• lactone ring attached to the C17 position, and a glycosyl moiety in general. It is believed that CGs can increase cardiac contractility by inhibiting the sodium–potassium adenosine triphosphatase (Na+/K+ ATPase) of the plasma membrane [2]. The well-known CGs, such as digoxin, digitoxin, ouabain, and

Silica gel with covalently attached bambusuril macrocycle for dicyanoaurate sorption from water

• Michaela Šusterová and
• Vladimír Šindelář

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2604–2611, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.201

• their concentrations, particularly in water. To maintain anion levels within acceptable ranges, their removal from the environment is often necessary [1][2]. Current technologies for removing anions from aqueous solutions include chemical coprecipitation [3], ion-exchange [4], or membrane filtration [5

Synthesis and characterization of a isothiouronium-calix[4]arene derivative: self-assembly and anticancer activity

• Giuseppe Granata,
• Loredana Ferreri,
• Claudia Giovanna Leotta,
• Giovanni Mario Pitari and
• Grazia Maria Letizia Consoli

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2535–2541, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.195

• . Multiple ligand–receptor interactions can significantly enhance receptor binding affinity and cellular uptake, as well as more effectively modulate signal transduction pathways, for instance when receptor clustering is necessary on the cell membrane [3]. Designing multivalent bioactive compounds thus

• be responsible for molecular disruptive events at the cell membrane through intercalation in the lipidic bilayer, the effects of p-H-calix[4]arene-O-dodecyl derivative 1, a precursor lacking isothiouronium moieties, on cell proliferation were also investigated. The absence of the isothiouronium

Effect of a photoswitchable rotaxane on membrane permeabilization across lipid compositions

• Udyogi N. K. Conthagamage,
• Lilia Lopez,
• Zuliah A. Abdulsalam and
• Víctor García-López

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2498–2512, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.192

• modulate membrane permeability in large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) of varying lipid compositions. Upon photoisomerization, the rotaxane significantly enhanced the release of the hydrophilic dye sulforhodamine B in vesicles composed of EYPC/Chol 8:2, with release increasing from 29% (non-irradiated) to 59

• photochemical process occurs, which triggers the release from only the vesicles containing EYPC. These findings underscore the significance of both the physical and chemical properties of the bilayer in enabling effective light-triggered cargo release through rotaxane activation. Keywords: lipid membrane

• ; membrane fluidity; membrane permeability; photoswitchable rotaxane; Introduction Lipid membranes play a vital role in biology by acting as protective barriers for cells and organelles while regulating the passage of substances. Additionally, their structure and dynamics influence the activity of membrane

Transformation of the cyclohexane ring to the cyclopentane fragment of biologically active compounds

• Natalya Akhmetdinova,
• Ilgiz Biktagirov and
• Liliya Kh. Faizullina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2416–2446, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.185

• synthesis of the demethylated form of cholesterol, 18,19-di-nor-cholesterol (40) from commercially available 19-nortestosterone (41) (Scheme 8). Molecular modeling of 18,19-di-nor-cholesterol showed that cholesterol’s opposing rough β-face and smooth α-face play crucial roles in cholesterol’s membrane

• 2012, Lin and co-workers [69] isolated the membrane diterpenoid (−)-134 from the marine soft coral Sinularia pavida. The study showed that (−)-134 exhibits highly selective inhibition against the human promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60 with an IC50 of 2.7 μg/mL. Structurally, (−)-134 contains a

Rotaxanes with integrated photoswitches: design principles, functional behavior, and emerging applications

• Jullyane Emi Matsushima,
• Khushbu,
• Zuliah Abdulsalam,
• Udyogi Navodya Kulathilaka Conthagamage and
• Víctor García-López

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2345–2366, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.179

• lipid membrane, leading to reversible changes in giant lipid vesicles. In the trans isomer, the membrane tension decreased, resulting in deformation and pronounced membrane undulations. Isomerization to the cis form increased membrane tension, causing vesicle contraction. Molecular dynamics simulations

• revealed that while azobenzene photoisomerization can directly induce some degree of lipid packing reorganization, the dominant effect arises from changes in the position of the rotaxane within the membrane. Specifically, in the trans isomer, the macrocycle resides closer to the membrane–water interface

• , promoting local water accumulation and membrane permeabilization. In contrast, in the cis isomer, the macrocycle penetrates deeper into the hydrophobic core of the bilayer, reducing perturbation and water accumulation, thereby increasing membrane tension. Light-driven membrane modulation holds great promise

Thiadiazino-indole, thiadiazino-carbazole and benzothiadiazino-carbazole dioxides: synthesis, physicochemical and early ADME characterization of representatives of new tri-, tetra- and pentacyclic ring systems and their intermediates

• Gyöngyvér Pusztai,
• László Poszávácz,
• Anna Vincze,
• András Marton,
• Ahmed Qasim Abdulhussein,
• Judit Halász,
• András Dancsó,
• Gyula Simig,
• György Tibor Balogh and
• Balázs Volk

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2220–2233, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.169

• physicochemical and early ADME characterization study, in the framework of which logP, pKa and logk values were calculated. Following that, kinetic solubility and in vitro gastrointestinal membrane-specific permeability measurements were carried out to assess the lead-likeness of the compounds. Subsequently, the

• results of physicochemical and early ADME characterization for hydrazones 7 and 9, and target compounds 3 and 10 are summarized in Table 2 and Table 3, respectively (individual column charts on kinetic solubility, permeability, and membrane retention measurements can be found in Supporting Information

• between 10 µM and 30 µM, and poor under 10 µM. Compounds with no value were under the detection limit. As a result, seven compounds had good solubilities: (E)-7c, (Z)-7c, 7d, 7e, 3b, 3c, and 3e. We also carried out a gastrointestinal parallel artificial membrane permeability assay (GI PAMPA). The

Research progress on calixarene/pillararene-based controlled drug release systems

• Liu-Huan Yi,
• Jian Qin,
• Si-Ran Lu,
• Liu-Pan Yang,
• Li-Li Wang and
• Huan Yao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1757–1785, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.139

• mechanisms that will be detailed in this article, researchers have made progress in the transport of amino acids and molecular peptides across membranes using macrocycles in recent years [35][36][37]. These works have paved the way for the potential application of remote-controlled membrane transport

• , typically featuring shared membrane interfaces or segregated internal spaces. They subsequently loaded the anticancer drug DOX into the vesicle. The formation mechanism benefits from the rigid conical structure of C4AS, which significantly reduces the critical aggregation concentration of MVC12 by 1000

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

• cell membrane permeability were measured and the results suggested that these substrates might be promising bioisosteric replacements for thioesters. Five years later, the research group expanded the scope of this methodology to include alcohols as the nucleophiles (Scheme 35) [85], thus avoiding the

4-(1-Methylamino)ethylidene-1,5-disubstituted pyrrolidine-2,3-diones: synthesis, anti-inflammatory effect and in silico approaches

• Nguyen Tran Nguyen,
• Vo Viet Dai,
• Luc Van Meervelt,
• Do Thi Thao and
• Nguyen Minh Thong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 817–829, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.65

• examined molecules was assessed via two key parameters: Caco-2 membrane permeability and intestinal absorption. Caco-2 membrane permeability is widely recognized as a critical indicator of a compound's ability to permeate biological membranes, in which permeability is measured in log Papp. A log Papp value

• greater than 0.9 is generally considered as the indicator of high permeability [28]. The analysis revealed that all five potential drugs demonstrated high permeability across the Caco-2 membrane, with log Papp values ranging from 1.082 to 1.472. Furthermore, intestinal absorption is classified as

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

Semisynthetic derivatives of massarilactone D with cytotoxic and nematicidal activities

• Rémy B. Teponno,
• Sara R. Noumeur and
• Marc Stadler

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 607–615, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.48

• cytotoxic activity of natural products by increasing the hydrophobicity, enhancing cell membrane permeability and binding affinity with intracellular targets [26]. Structure–activity relationships analysis of both hemisynthetic products 2 and 3 revealed a shared conjugated methylene olefinic function that

Binding of tryptophan and tryptophan-containing peptides in water by a glucose naphtho crown ether

• Gianpaolo Gallo and
• Bartosz Lewandowski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 541–546, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.42

• receptors; molecular recognition; monosaccharides; tryptophan; Introduction Tryptophan plays a crucial role in a variety of biological processes [1][2]. For example, it is critical for electron transfer in proteins [3] and is a key component of several membrane proteins as well as short antimicrobial

Hot shape transformation: the role of PSar dehydration in stomatocyte morphogenesis

• Remi Peters,
• Levy A. Charleston,
• Karinan van Eck,
• Teun van Berlo and
• Daniela A. Wilson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 47–54, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.5

• properties are crucial, particularly its permeability. Excessive permeability allows water molecules – and potentially larger molecules – to traverse the membrane without exerting adequate force, undermining the transformation process [20][21]. Lastly, membrane stiffness plays a role; the stiffness of the

• membrane determines how it responds to the applied force. Besides that stiffness should be sufficient to maintain membrane curvature for a shape transformation to occur [22]. This is particularly important when domains are formed over the membrane with different stiffness which can lead to an asymmetrical

• response [23][24][25]. An excessive stiffness will eventually even impede deformation entirely [26]. This characteristic is harnessed in systems to stabilize shapes by water addition, effectively locking the membrane in a kinetically stable state [27]. In a recent study by Elafify, M. S. et al. it was

Intramolecular C–H arylation of pyridine derivatives with a palladium catalyst for the synthesis of multiply fused heteroaromatic compounds

• Yuki Nakanishi,
• Shoichi Sugita,
• Kentaro Okano and
• Atsunori Mori

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3256–3262, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.269

• Yuki Nakanishi Shoichi Sugita Kentaro Okano Atsunori Mori Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai, Nada, Kobe 657-8501, Japan Research Center for Membrane and Film Technology, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai, Nada, Kobe 657-8501, Japan 10.3762/bjoc.20.269

Discovery of ianthelliformisamines D–G from the sponge Suberea ianthelliformis and the total synthesis of ianthelliformisamine D

• Sasha Hayes,
• Yaoying Lu,
• Bernd H. A. Rehm and
• Rohan A. Davis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3205–3214, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.266

• supported the important role that the polyamine chain length plays in antibacterial activity. Of note, increasing research providing structure–activity relationship analyses shows that polyamines (including spermine) are bacterial membrane disruptors and are beneficial in enhancing activity of known

Synthesis of extended fluorinated tripeptides based on the tetrahydropyridazine scaffold

• Thierry Milcent,
• Pascal Retailleau,
• Benoit Crousse and
• Sandrine Ongeri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3174–3181, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.262

• groups (CF3 or CF2H) in organic molecules can modulate their physicochemical (pKa, lipophilicity), structural (additional hydrophobic and hydrogen-bond interactions), and biological properties (metabolic stability, membrane permeability) [14][15]. Alongside the very well-known CF3 group, the CF2H group

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

• biomolecules like DNA and lipids. Lipid peroxidation and membrane disruption can cause random cross-linking, resulting in cell death and the fragmentation of proteins and enzymes. Elevated concentrations of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from various molecular processes contribute to the oxidation of proteins

Chemical structure metagenomics of microbial natural products: surveying nonribosomal peptides and beyond

• Thomas Ma and
• John Chu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3050–3060, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.253

• of action (MOA) (e.g., membrane lysis and depolarization) [30][34] and specific MOA (e.g., dysregulation of ClpP protease [33], inhibition of topoisomerase I/II [36][68], blocking lipid II transport by flippase [29], sequestration of cell wall biosynthetic intermediate C55-(di)phosphate, etc.) [35

N-Glycosides of indigo, indirubin, and isoindigo: blue, red, and yellow sugars and their cancerostatic activity

• Peter Langer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2840–2869, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.240

• represent promising candidates for drug discovery, because of their improved water solubility, membrane permeability, and improved recognition by the respective receptors [16]. The present article aims to provide an updated review of the chemistry and biological applications of N-glycosides of indigo

• anticipated that PAM activates channels of the membrane of melanoma cells to allow the antiproliferative compound (β-33b) to enter the cell. Thus, β-33b combined with PAM might be developed to a new and promising method of therapeutic intervention. This concept of combination of PAM with drugs could also be

• negative feed-back loop by TRAIL and an upregulation of both receptors. In addition, a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and release of cytochrome c was observed which gave rise to an activation of intrinsic apoptosis pathways. The mitochondrial response seems to be related to an upregulation of Bax

Synthesis and antimycotic activity of new derivatives of imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidines

• Dmitriy Yu. Vandyshev,
• Daria A. Mangusheva,
• Khidmet S. Shikhaliev,
• Kirill A. Scherbakov,
• Oleg N. Burov,
• Alexander D. Zagrebaev,
• Tatiana N. Khmelevskaya,
• Alexey S. Trenin and
• Fedor I. Zubkov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2806–2817, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.236

• /ERG11 gene. This enzyme contains a haem-like prosthetic group in its active center and is a member of the cytochrome P450 family, which plays a key role in the biosynthesis of sterols. Sterols in turn are integral components of the fungal cell membrane, making inhibition of CYP51 [43] an effective

Interaction of a pyrene derivative with cationic [60]fullerene in phospholipid membranes and its effects on photodynamic actions

• Hayato Takagi,
• Çetin Çelik,
• Ryosuke Fukuda,
• Qi Guo,
• Tomohiro Higashino,
• Hiroshi Imahori,
• Yoko Yamakoshi and
• Tatsuya Murakami

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2732–2738, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.231

• membrane potential (Vm) in living cells. These previous studies indicated that the localization of the triad molecules in a specific intra-membrane orientation and the suppression of the photodynamic actions of the [60]fullerene (C60) moiety are likely important to achieve fast and safe control of Vm

• an acceptor in photoinduced charge-separation systems, we have previously employed ferrocene-porphyrin-C60 triad molecules (Figure 1a) in a biological system to control the plasma membrane potential (Vm) of living mammalian neuronal cells under photoirradiation [4][5][6]. Generally, Vm originates

• from a difference in electric charge on the two sides of the plasma membrane (approximately 5 nm thickness), with a slight excess of the positive ions inside relative to the negative ions outside. Our ferrocene-porphyrin-C60 triad molecule exhibited long-lived charge-separated states under visible

Synthesis and conformational analysis of pyran inter-halide analogues of ᴅ-talose

• Olivier Lessard,
• Mathilde Grosset-Magagne,
• Paul A. Johnson and
• Denis Giguère

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2442–2454, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.208

• ][3][4][5][6][7]. What about other halogens? Pyran inter-halide analogues of carbohydrates were rarely investigated as new tools in glycobiology [8]. This is surprising since the incorporation of halogens can improve cellular uptakes and enhance membrane binding and permeation [9][10][11]. In addition

Computational toolbox for the analysis of protein–glycan interactions

• Ferran Nieto-Fabregat,
• Maria Pia Lenza,
• Angela Marseglia,
• Cristina Di Carluccio,
• Antonio Molinaro,
• Alba Silipo and
• Roberta Marchetti

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2084–2107, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.180

• constituting glycoproteins or glycolipids, respectively. Recently, glycan structures exposed on the cellular membrane have also been found to be associated with tRNA [2]. In other species, such as prokaryotes, plants or fungi, glycoconjugates comprise the cell wall, playing critical metabolic, structural and

• platform contains a number of different modules designed to construct complex glycans, glycoconjugates as lipopolysaccharides (LPS), or even building a membrane system or solvating a protein. To use all these features, grouped in the Input Generator tab (https://www.charmm-gui.org/), it is necessary to be

2-Heteroarylethylamines in medicinal chemistry: a review of 2-phenethylamine satellite chemical space

• Carlos Nieto,
• Alejandro Manchado,
• Ángel García-González,
• David Díez and
• Narciso M. Garrido

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1880–1893, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.163

• second generation series, i.e., compounds 91–94 (Scheme 12), featuring simple hydrocarbon substituents was elaborated. This collection showed good activities, demonstrating the tolerance of introducing bulky moieties at position C2 or N1 of the imidazole ring. Researchers also described positive membrane

• originally synthesized by Palazzo et al. [76] and several other derivatives were developed based on ethylamine-chain homologation [77]. Triazoles: Hall and co-workers [78] developed 1,2,3-triazolyl analogues 111 of ʟ-histidine for ʟ-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) activity, a sodium-independent membrane