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

• are cis-coplanar resulting in the Z-isomer product. 3.1.4 Metathesis reactions: Metathesis reactions are one of the most crucial approaches to preparing olefins. Grubbs and Grubbs–Hoveyda catalysts are among the most frequently used catalysts for the stereoselective construction of C=C bonds. Moreover

• , metathesis reactions have also been applied to stereoselectively synthesize cinnamic acid derivatives. For example, Lakhdar and co-workers (2022) combined E-selective Grubbs second-generation catalysts (cat 7) with photocatalyst (PC-4) to convert styrenes and methyl acrylate (444) into the corresponding (Z

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

• (Scheme 3a). Based on the well accepted metathesis reaction of Cu(I) alkoxides with B2pin2 and the reactivity of the resulting Cu–Bpin complex towards α,β-unsaturated esters and hydrocarbons [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15], we hypothesized that the first step of the reaction may deal with the insertion of

• species A which is in equilibrium with the Cu–O enolate B [11]. In the presence of excess of LiOt-Bu, a salt metathesis reaction between this base and intermediate B generates lithium enolate C and LCuOt-Bu to close the copper catalytic cycle. The formation of a lithium enolate is consistent with the

• 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

Recent advances in allylation of chiral secondary alkylcopper species

• Minjae Kim,
• Gwanggyun Kim,
• Doyoon Kim,
• Jun Hee Lee and
• Seung Hwan Cho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 639–658, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.51

• metathesis with HBpin to afford a vinylboronic ester intermediate 45 alongside the regenerated L*CuH catalyst, completing the first catalytic cycle. Subsequently, a ligand-controlled regioselective migratory insertion of L*CuH into the vinylboronic ester 18 delivers the corresponding chiral alkylcopper

• species Int C or Int D, which undergoes an SN2'-like pathway with allylic phosphates 23 to generate the chiral products 43 or 44 along with the release of L*CuOR species. A σ-bond metathesis of this alkoxycopper species with HBpin and/or PMHS regenerates the L*CuH catalyst, completing the secondary

Photocatalyzed elaboration of antibody-based bioconjugates

• Marine Le Stum,
• Eugénie Romero and
• Gary A. Molander

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 616–629, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.49

• particularly useful and important tool in which azides and other dipolar species engage with reactive alkenes and alkynes on non-canonical amino acids [20]. Transition-metal-mediated processes, including metathesis reactions, aryl cross-coupling reactions, and conjugate addition reactions with dehydroalanine

Cryptophycin unit B analogues

• Thomas Schachtsiek,
• Jona Voss,
• Maren Hamsen,
• Beate Neumann,
• Hans-Georg Stammler and
• Norbert Sewald

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 526–532, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.40

• containing a dimethylamino motif did not require an additional protecting group, ring closure was performed through alkene cross metathesis, which has been accomplished reliably and with good yields for other cryptophycins [11][26][27]. However, for the synthesis of a cryptophycin with a monomethylated amino

• group in unit B a suitable protecting group, i.e., allyloxycarbonyl (Alloc), must be used. Since the presence of this allylic double bond would most likely interfere with a clean reaction outcome after alkene cross metathesis, we decided for a more classical ring-closure strategy through

• obtained through Grubbs metathesis and subsequent acetonide cleavage in a superior yield of 76%. The finalising steps to obtain epoxides 26 and 2 (Scheme 3) were a diol–epoxide transformation [11][19][32], including firstly the formation of a cyclic orthoester, secondly the formation of a bromohydrin

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

• states. In this section, the document highlights applications of these complexes in reactions like ring-closing metathesis and polymerization, where red light’s deeper penetration enhances yields and efficiency, particularly for large-scale reactions. The second section broadens the focus to explore

• of side reactions. This latter advantage has been notably exploited in the case of ring-closing olefin metathesis reactions, where Weizmann et al. utilized the photothermal response of plasmons from gold nanoparticles to activate the catalyst [17]. This approach contrasts with the work of Rovis et al

• reduction potential to −0.97 V vs SCE, a value low enough to reduce the ruthenium complex 2, whose potential is estimated at −0.89 V vs SCE, thereby yielding 3, the active species for the metathesis reaction. The catalytic cycle is closed by the reduction of the resulting osmium(III) complex, regenerating

Non-covalent organocatalyzed enantioselective cyclization reactions of α,β-unsaturated imines

• Sergio Torres-Oya and
• Mercedes Zurro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3221–3255, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.268

• cycloadducts 29e and 31e in good yields (Scheme 12). Further derivatizations were also carried out: The treatment of 29e with SOCl2 led to interesting unsaturated derivative 32 in a 54% yield. The acetylation of 31e provided 33 in 76% yield. Next, an alkene metathesis of 33 with styrene led to product 34 in 72

C–H Trifluoromethylthiolation of aldehyde hydrazones

• Victor Levet,
• Balu Ramesh,
• Congyang Wang and
• Tatiana Besset

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2883–2890, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.242

• aldehyde hydrazones using sodium sulfinates. These seminal works brought interesting proofs of concept for the synthesis of SR-containing hydrazones. Inspired by these previous works and taking benefit from our in-home expertise to forge N–SCF3 bond (after chlorination/anion metathesis with AgSCF3 from the

• morpholine hydrazone derived from 4-nitrobenzaldehyde was selected as a model substrate (Table 1). The latter was engaged in a two-step process: 1) halogenation to provide the corresponding N,N-hydrazonoyl bromide, which will then undergo an anion metathesis upon the addition of AgSCF3 to the reaction

• conducted in the presence of 1a in a THF/MeCN mixture (1:1) [75], but no product was detected (Scheme 4D). Based on these experiments and literature data [66], a two-step one-pot process was suggested based on 1) the bromination of the hydrazone 1 followed by 2) the anion metathesis in the presence of

Anion-dependent ion-pairing assemblies of triazatriangulenium cation that interferes with stacking structures

• Yohei Haketa,
• Takuma Matsuda and
• Hiromitsu Maeda

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2567–2576, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.215

• assemblies, 2+-BF4− was further treated with NaPF6, LiB(C6F5)4, and NaPCCp for the ion-pair metathesis to afford ion pairs 2+-X− (X− = PF6−, B(C6F5)4−, and PCCp−) in 44–68% yields. The obtained ion pairs were characterized using 1H, 13C, and 19F nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and matrix-assisted laser

Evaluating the halogen bonding strength of a iodoloisoxazolium(III) salt

• Dominik L. Reinhard,
• Anna Schmidt,
• Marc Sons,
• Julian Wolf,
• Elric Engelage and
• Stefan M. Huber

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2401–2407, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.204

• is produced in situ from the imidoyl chloride 9 [21]. The one-pot oxidation and ring-closure reaction [22][23] to iodoloisoxazolium(III) salt 7OTf and the salt metathesis with sodium tetrakis(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)borate (NaBArF24) were then realized with 85% and 72% yield, respectively

• tetrakis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate (−BArF24) was used instead of triflate [18]. Therefore, standard anion metathesis procedures were employed to prepare the salts 1BArF–4BArF (see Supporting Information File 1). Similarly to our previous report on this gold activation, the gold complex (PPh3

Asymmetric organocatalytic synthesis of chiral homoallylic amines

• Nikolay S. Kondratyev and
• Andrei V. Malkov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2349–2377, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.201

• -1,3-diamine 132 in 57% yield. The ring-closing metathesis of 121 (R1 = allyl, from Scheme 25) provided pure N-cyclohexenyl imine 135 in 98% yield. Asymmetric alkylation of imine-carbanion In 2023, a team of Huang and Yan [44] presented a novel approach towards synthetically important homoallylic α

Syntheses and medicinal chemistry of spiro heterocyclic steroids

• Laura L. Romero-Hernández,
• Ana Isabel Ahuja-Casarín,
• Penélope Merino-Montiel,
• Sara Montiel-Smith,
• José Luis Vega-Báez and
• Jesús Sandoval-Ramírez

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1713–1745, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.152

• ether 39, a ring-closing enyne metathesis (RCEYM) was initiated using the Grubbs second-generation catalyst (G-II) and high temperature to obtain the spiro 2,5-dihydrofuran derivative 40 in 76% yield. Additionally, when a dienophile such as N-phenylmaleimide was directly added to the same pot and

• being the major product (81% yield). Conversely, using 121b exclusively yielded the bis-acylated product 122b1 (59% yield), which was transformed into the mono-acylated compound 122b2 upon treatment with sodium methoxide. A final ring-closing metathesis (RCM) using a second-generation Grubbs catalyst (G

Hypervalent iodine-catalyzed amide and alkene coupling enabled by lithium salt activation

• Akanksha Chhikara,
• Fan Wu,
• Navdeep Kaur,
• Prabagar Baskaran,
• Alex M. Nguyen,
• Zhichang Yin,
• Anthony H. Pham and
• Wei Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1405–1411, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.122

• will then enable soft nucleophiles such as unadorned amides to readily participate in the ensuing olefin addition. In this regard, we wondered if the hypervalent iodine with difluoro ligands could undergo salt metathesis with lithium salts such as LiBF4 or LiPF6 to afford the more reactive cationic

• difluorinated iodotoluene B. Then, LiBF4 can perform a salt metathesis with B to produce LiF along with the active hypervalent iodoarene catalyst C. The activated hypervalent iodine catalyst C can coordinate to the alkene to form complex D. The nucleophilic oxygen of the amide will attack in the internal

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of macrocyclic peptides and polyketides via thioesterase-catalyzed macrocyclization

• Senze Qiao,
• Zhongyu Cheng and
• Fuzhuo Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 721–733, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.66

• pikromycin and the aglycones in this family, 10-deoxymethynolide (24) and norbonolide (25), using asymmetric aldol reaction, Yamaguchi esterification, and ring-closing metathesis as key steps [65][66]. Nevertheless, the inherent complexity of these natural products demands high step counts, leading to low

• , they established a preparative-scale approach toward the pikromycins family and their aglycones in 2013 [70]. The preparation of activated pentaketides (37) using asymmetric α-alkylation and cross metathesis as key reactions reduced the step counts from 14 to 11 steps. Replacing the extender unit from

• epoxidation with enzymatic macrocyclization in 2020 as shown in Scheme 8 [85]. According to their previous report [86], the production of fragments 61 was initiated by Evans’ asymmetric aldol and alcohol protection to generate 57. Six-step route transformations, including cross metathesis, afforded aldehyde

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

• -aminoimidazo[5,1-b]oxazol-6-ium motif, followed by salt metathesis using KPF6 leading to the clean hexafluorophosphate salt 9a in 67% yield after recrystallisation [4]. This two-step assembly of the 3-aminoimidazo[5,1-b]oxazol-6-ium motif was also applied to ynamide 1b affording the PMP-substituted salt 9b in

(E,Z)-1,1,1,4,4,4-Hexafluorobut-2-enes: hydrofluoroolefins halogenation/dehydrohalogenation cascade to reach new fluorinated allene

• Nataliia V. Kirij,
• Andrey A. Filatov,
• Yurii L. Yagupolskii,
• Sheng Peng and
• Lee Sprague

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 452–459, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.40

• significantly. One of the new and budding directions in recent years is the stereoselective olefin metathesis processes based on catalysis by complexes of molybdenum, tungsten and ruthenium [3][4][5]. The first publications have recently appeared that molybdenum complexes can catalyze cross-metathesis of butene

• 1b. Wherein various alkyl and aryl olefins, including those that contain Lewis basic esters, carbamates and amines or α-branched moieties, may be used in efficient and exceptionally Z-selective cross-metathesis reactions [6][7][8]. A few years ago, some publications devoted to the cleavage of the C–F

Radical chemistry in polymer science: an overview and recent advances

• Zixiao Wang,
• Feichen Cui,
• Yang Sui and
• Jiajun Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1580–1603, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.116

• mechanism (cf. section 3.2) [86]. 2.3 Metal-free ring opening metathesis polymerization (MF-ROMP) ROMP is a powerful and broadly applicable technique for synthesizing polymers. Traditional ROMP systems are initiated by transition-metal complexes and Ru-based alkylidene complexes, which are also known as

Pyridine C(sp²)–H bond functionalization under transition-metal and rare earth metal catalysis

• Haritha Sindhe,
• Malladi Mounika Reddy,
• Karthikeyan Rajkumar,
• Akshay Kamble,
• Amardeep Singh,
• Anand Kumar and
• Satyasheel Sharma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 820–863, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.62

• involves the formation of (dibenzylamido)yttrium complex 28 by the reaction of yttrium complex 26 with HNBn2. Then σ-bond metathesis between the Y–N bond of 28 and the ortho-C–H bond of pyridine gives η2-pyridyl species 29 which on imine insertion produces species 30. Subsequent protonation then provides

• to furnish the transient complex 81 which undergoes σ-bond metathesis to give the product 77 and regenerating 78 (Scheme 16b). While speaking regarding the alkenylation, the geometrical isomerism, i.e., the stereoselectivity between the cis- and trans-alkenylation, has not been considered so far

Strategies in the synthesis of dibenzo[b,f]heteropines

• David I. H. Maier,
• Barend C. B. Bezuidenhoudt and
• Charlene Marais

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 700–718, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.51

• moderate to good yield (35–82%). 3.5 Ring-closing metathesis Olefin metathesis is a metal-catalysed reaction wherein carbon–carbon double bonds are cleaved and formed through an intermediate cyclometallacarbene 114, thus allowing for transalkylidenation and the formation of mixed alkenes 115 (Scheme 24

• ) [66]. Variations of this reaction include alkyne metathesis [67] and carbonyl metathesis [68]. Ring-closing metathesis (RCM) gave access to a series of dibenzo[b,f]heteropines, as reported by Matsuda and Sato [31] (Scheme 25). The authors synthesised a series of Si-, Sn-, Ge- and B-tethered dienes 118

• –Grubbs catalyst) catalysed ring-closing metathesis gave dibenzo[b,f]heteropines 122 in excellent yields (>80%). Unfortunately, the metathesis reaction required elevated temperatures (>100 °C) and dilute solutions to reduce unwanted self-metathesis competing with RCM. While excellent yields for

Synthesis of medium and large phostams, phostones, and phostines

• Jiaxi Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 687–699, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.50

• applied for the synthesis of seven to fourteen-membered phostam, phostone, and phostine derivatives. 1.1 Synthesis via C–C bond formation Most medium and large phostams, phostones, and phostines were prepared via C–C bond formation, especially via ring-closing metathesis (RCM). 1.1.1 Synthesis via C–C

• bond formation through RCM reaction: Ring-closing metathesis (RCM) is an efficient strategy for the construction of common to large cyclic compounds via the formation of a C=C bond [26], which can be further reduced to a C–C bond. To prepare phostam-derived antitumor agents, ethyl N-allyl-N-(but-3-en-1

• -azaphosphocin-1(4H)-yl)acetate (4), respectively, in the presence of the Grubbs first generation catalyst via ring closing metathesis. The products 3 and 4 were further transformed to antitumor agents 5, 6, 9 and 10 through aminolysis with O-TMS hydroxylamine or hydrogenolysis followed by aminolysis with O-TMS

Transition-metal-catalyzed domino reactions of strained bicyclic alkenes

• Austin Pounder,
• Eric Neufeld,
• Peter Myler and
• William Tam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 487–540, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.38

• difunctionalization of π-systems is a power tool for the facile synthesis of complex boronate-containing compounds [42]. Generally, these reactions proceed through the generation of a Cu–boryl species via σ-bond metathesis, followed by migratory insertion with a π-system. The subsequent alkyl–Cu intermediate is

• 88%. The authors proposed the reaction begins with the generation of the tert-butoxide Cu salt which undergoes σ-bond metathesis with B2Pin2 generating the Cu–boryl species 59 (Scheme 9). Side-on coordination on the exo face of the bicyclic alkene followed by migratory insertion generates the alkyl

Combretastatins D series and analogues: from isolation, synthetic challenges and biological activities

• Jorge de Lima Neto and
• Paulo Henrique Menezes

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 399–427, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.31

• the authors consisted in the ring closure through a metathesis reaction using the Grubbs catalyst [52][53]. The required compound 99 was prepared by converting compound 16 into the styrene 98 via a Wittig reaction followed by a transesterification to yield the desired allylic ester. Several reaction

• conditions for the metathesis using the 1st generation Grubbs catalyst were attempted without success, but when 2nd generation catalyst was used, the dimerization product 100 was observed (Scheme 20). Despite the yield for macrolide formation, Cousin proposed alternatives for the formal synthesis of 2

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

• transfer one or more groups from one group 13 element to another, through σ-bond metathesis; where boron is both of the group 13 elements, this is termed transborylation. These redox-neutral processes are increasingly being used to render traditionally stoichiometric group 13-mediated processes catalytic

• by σ-bond metathesis, a redox neutral process (Scheme 1). Stoichiometric group 13 exchange reactions are key to the synthesis of group 13 reagents including in organoboron chemistry [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28], and more recently with aluminium [29][30][31

• [58]. The alkyne 1 and dialkylborane reacted to give an alkenylborane 2. Transborylation with HBpin gave the alkenyl boronic ester 3 and regenerated the catalyst, HBR2. Isotopic labelling (H10Bpin) confirmed B–C(sp2)/B–H transborylation proceeded by σ-bond metathesis, and not ligand exchange. Using

Strategies to access the [5-8] bicyclic core encountered in the sesquiterpene, diterpene and sesterterpene series

• Cécile Alleman,
• Charlène Gadais,
• Laurent Legentil and
• François-Hugues Porée

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 245–281, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.23

• construction of the 8-membered ring from an appropriate cyclopentane precursor. The proposed strategies include metathesis, Nozaki–Hiyama–Kishi (NHK) cyclization, Pd-mediated cyclization, radical cyclization, Pauson–Khand reaction, Lewis acid-promoted cyclization, rearrangement, cycloaddition and biocatalysis

• precursor. The proposed strategies include metathesis, Nozaki–Hiyama–Kishi (NHK) cyclization, Pd-mediated cyclization, radical cyclization (including SmI2), Pauson–Khand reaction, Lewis acid-promoted cyclization, rearrangement, cycloaddition, and biocatalysis. In particular, the purpose will focus on the

• following criteria: position/stage of the key cyclooctane ring formation in the synthesis plan, the selectivity, and the opportunity for late-stage functionalization. Review 1 Metathesis: ring-closing metathesis and related methods The metathesis reaction, first discovered by serendipity in the 1950s, has

Catalytic aza-Nazarov cyclization reactions to access α-methylene-γ-lactam heterocycles

• Bilge Banu Yagci,
• Selin Ezgi Donmez,
• Onur Şahin and
• Yunus Emre Türkmen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 66–77, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.6

• chlorides 6 initially gives N-acyliminium salts 8, which are activated upon treatment with AgOTf resulting in an anion metathesis of Cl− with OTf−. This activation is proposed to facilitate the desired aza-Nazarov reaction to afford the cyclized intermediate 9, which is stabilized by the trimethylsilyl (TMS