Isoorotamide-based peptide nucleic acid nucleobases with extended linkers aimed at distal base recognition of adenosine in double helical RNA

• Grant D. Walby,
• Brandon R. Tessier,
• Tristan L. Mabee,
• Jennah M. Hoke,
• Hallie M. Bleam,
• Angelina Giglio-Tos,
• Emily E. Harding,
• Vladislavs Baskevics,
• Martins Katkevics,
• Eriks Rozners and
• James A. MacKay

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2513–2523, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.193

• The synthesis of Db1 began from 3-nitrobenzaldehyde (1), which was treated with beta-alanine (2), in a reductive amination followed by subsequent Boc protection to afford 3 in 50% yield over two steps (Scheme 1). The stoichiometry of both the reducing agent and the beta-alanine proved important as

C2 to C6 biobased carbonyl platforms for fine chemistry

• Jingjing Jiang,
• Muhammad Noman Haider Tariq,
• Florence Popowycz,
• Yanlong Gu and
• Yves Queneau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2103–2172, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.165

• synthesis of amines by replacing the current toxic pathway based on ethylene oxide and dichloroethane [29]. Due to the high reactivity of α-hydroxycarbonyls, the main issue in this reductive amination reaction [30] was to control the cascade of consecutive and parallel reactions. The use of methanol as

• of the system in favor of meta isomer. Acidic cleavage followed by reductive amination afforded m-xylylenediamine (Scheme 54). Tetrahydrofuran-derived amines were prepared from furfural via a one-pot two-step reaction. The condensation of furfural with ketones over Amberlyst-26 as catalyst produced

• intermediate furan-derived enones. Subsequent reductive amination was performed in the presence of ammonia or amines and Pd/Al2O3 under H2 pressure, providing the tetrahydrofuran-derived amines [184]. The same catalytic system could allow the one-pot preparation of tetrahydrofuran-derived secondary and

Enantioselective desymmetrization strategy of prochiral 1,3-diols in natural product synthesis

• Lihua Wei,
• Rui Yang,
• Zhifeng Shi and
• Zhiqiang Ma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1932–1963, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.151

• transformation of 145, compound 146 was oxidized with Dess-Martin periodinane (DMP). Subsequent reductive amination with fragment 139 provided an intermediate, which underwent the second reductive amination using formaldehyde. This one-pot process with concomitant deprotection afforded acid 147 in 70% yield over

• excellent site selectivity during the Bz protection. The assembly of the azabicyclic core was achieved in two steps from 291 via reductive amination followed by oxidative removal of the p-methoxybenzyl (PMB) group, giving heptacyclic compound 292. Finally, (+)-18-benzoyldavisinol (293) was synthesized in

Chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of helically chiral, planarly chiral and inherently chiral molecules

• Wei Liu and
• Xiaoyu Yang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1864–1889, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.145

• resolution or dynamic kinetic resolution [40]. The authors designed and synthesized a series of benzaldehyde-containing macrocyclic cyclophanes 38. Therein, they achieved the construction of planar chirality through CPA-catalyzed asymmetric reductive amination with arylamines using Hantzsch ester HEH-2 as

• the hydrogen transfer reagent (Scheme 11). Notably, when starting from macrocyclic substrates featuring relatively shorter ansa chains (11–14 members, see 38a–c), highly efficient kinetic resolution was achieved, resulting in both recovered (Rp)-38 and reductive amination products (Sp)-39 with high

• synthesis of planarly chiral macrocycles via CPA-catalyzed macrocyclization. (Dynamic) kinetic resolution of planarly chiral paracyclophanes via CPA-catalyzed asymmetric reductive amination. Kinetic resolution of macrocyclic paracyclophanes through CPA/Bi-catalyzed asymmetric allylation. Enantioselective

Preparation of a furfural-derived enantioenriched vinyloxazoline building block and exploring its reactivity

• Madara Darzina,
• Anna Lielpetere and
• Aigars Jirgensons

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1737–1741, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.136

• trans-isomer of amide 5. Results and Discussion The protected furfuryl amino alcohols S-2d and R-2d were prepared by reductive amination of furfural (1) with ʟ- and ᴅ-valinol followed by N-protection with Alloc-Cl (Scheme 2). The amino alcohols S-2d and R-2d were then subjected to electrochemical

Influence of the cation in hypophosphite-mediated catalyst-free reductive amination

• Natalia Lebedeva,
• Fedor Kliuev,
• Olesya Zvereva,
• Klim Biriukov,
• Evgeniya Podyacheva,
• Maria Godovikova,
• Oleg I. Afanasyev and
• Denis Chusov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1661–1670, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.130

• hypophosphorous acid are commercially available in bulk amounts, however, their usage is understudied in organic processes. While NaH2PO2 has proved to be an efficient four-electron reductant in the catalyst-free reductive amination, the influence of cation in hypophosphite salt has not been studied yet. This

• issue is a fundamentally important factor. In the present work, the reactivity of the hypophosphites of alkali metals (Li, K, Rb, and Cs) in reductive amination was explored for the first time. A set of secondary and tertiary amines was synthesized from various types of carbonyl compounds and amines

• . The remedy for Parkinson’s disease, piribedil, was obtained in high yield. The plausible mechanism of the elaborated process was proposed and supported by DFT calculations. Keywords: amines; DFT; hypophosphites; reductive amination; role of cations; Introduction Sodium hypophosphite, NaH2PO2, is one

Catalytic asymmetric reactions of isocyanides for constructing non-central chirality

• Jia-Yu Liao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1648–1660, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.129

• functionality in 63 allowed for versatile derivatizations, such as reduction, reductive amination, condensation, and olefination, which further expanded the structural diversity of the resulting products. Summary and Outlook The past few years have witnessed exciting progress in developing catalytic asymmetric

Studies on the syntheses of β-carboline alkaloids brevicarine and brevicolline

• Benedek Batizi,
• Patrik Pollák,
• András Dancsó,
• Péter Keglevich,
• Gyula Simig,
• Balázs Volk and
• Mátyás Milen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 955–963, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.79

• -monomethylation of the primary amino group of compound 25 by alkylation with methyl iodide or by Eschweiler–Clarke reductive amination with formaldehyde and formic acid were unsuccessful, because the dimethylated byproduct was also formed, even when one equivalent alkylating agent was used. Finally, our efforts

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

• 8 was obtained in good yield of 61% through reductive amination with excess formaldehyde and NaBH3CN as reductant, the selective installation of only one methyl group, providing monomethyl aniline 7, proved to be more troublesome. Either reductive amination using the same protocol, but under strict

Synthesis of electrophile-tethered preQ₁ analogs for covalent attachment to preQ₁ RNA

• Laurin Flemmich and
• Ronald Micura

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 483–489, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.35

• reductive amination to form the hydroxyalkyl handles, which were further converted to the haloalkyl or mesyloxyalkyl-modified target compounds. In addition, we report hydrogenation conditions for preQ0 and DPQ0 that allow for cleaner and faster access to preQ1 compared to existing routes and provide the

• of the electrophile. We thus identified aldehydes 9 and 10 as suitable branching points, which were easily derivatized to their aminomethyl-modified preQ1 analogs by reductive amination (Scheme 3). Their syntheses by Raney-Ni reduction of nitriles 7 and 8, previously described by Gangjee and co

• -workers [33], proceeded cleanly in our hands. In the case of compound 4a, the chloropropyl moiety was directly installed by reductive amination of 9 with 3-chloropropylamine hydrochloride under basic conditions. A two-step reaction sequence, however, was necessary to generate derivatives 4b–e and 3a

Beyond symmetric self-assembly and effective molarity: unlocking functional enzyme mimics with robust organic cages

• Keith G. Andrews

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 421–443, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.30

• reductive amination to stabilize imine cages, and the resulting amine cages gain solubility from increased flexibility at the cost of losing some structural rigidity [42][43][44]. Metastable conformations – programming cavity shape and symmetry: Unlike non-covalent/dative assemblies, covalently linked cages

Identification and removal of a cryptic impurity in pomalidomide-PEG based PROTAC

• Bingnan Wang,
• Yong Lu and
• Chuo Chen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 407–411, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.28

• synthesis of iVeliparib-AP6 [5] starts with a nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) reaction wherein 4-fluorothalidomide (1) reacts with amino-PEG7-OH 2 to give alcohol 3 (Scheme 1). Subsequent alcohol oxidation followed by reductive amination of the resulting aldehyde 4 with veliparib [6][7] provides

Recent advances in organocatalytic atroposelective reactions

• Henrich Szabados and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 55–121, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.6

Facile one-pot reduction of β-nitrostyrenes to phenethylamines using sodium borohydride and copper(II) chloride

• Laura D’Andrea and
• Simon Jademyr

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 39–46, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.4

• based on the reductive amination of phenyl-2-propanone by use of Al/Hg amalgam. The latter procedure involves numerous drawbacks, such as environmental concerns for the use of mercury, contamination of the final products, the need of special safety precautions, and adequate disposal techniques [9][10

Emerging trends in the optimization of organic synthesis through high-throughput tools and machine learning

• Pablo Quijano Velasco,
• Kedar Hippalgaonkar and
• Balamurugan Ramalingam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 10–38, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.3

• various reaction categories. The system consists of a liquid–liquid separator and an in-line/online analytical tool to facilitate closed-loop autonomous optimization. The capability of the system was demonstrated in the optimization of C–C and C–N cross-coupling, olefination, reductive amination

Chemo-enzymatic total synthesis: current approaches toward the integration of chemical and enzymatic transformations

• Ryo Tanifuji and
• Hiroki Oguri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1693–1712, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.151

• pentacyclic secondary amine 97 bearing the ester linker in the C1 side chain in one pot. After removal of SfmC by precipitation and centrifugation, the reaction mixture containing secondary amine 97 was subjected to the reductive amination using 2-picoline borane as a hydride source, yielding tertiary amine

Methyltransferases from RiPP pathways: shaping the landscape of natural product chemistry

• Maria-Paula Schröder,
• Isabel P.-M. Pfeiffer and
• Silja Mordhorst

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1652–1670, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.147

• three main routes for the synthesis of methylated peptides: chemical synthesis [33][34], in vitro ribosomal synthesis [35], and enzymatic synthesis. Chemical synthesis. Three main categories of reactions are commonly used: reductive amination, reductive ring openings, and the use of methylating agents

• [34]. In reductive amination, the substrate is usually an aldehyde or amine. After the formation of the iminium ion, it is reduced with the appropriate reagent to form the N-methylated amino acid. Different methods have been established using for example benzaldehyde as a protection group, sodium

Manganese-catalyzed C–C and C–N bond formation with alcohols via borrowing hydrogen or hydrogen auto-transfer

• Mohd Farhan Ansari,
• Atul Kumar Maurya,
• Abhishek Kumar and
• Saravanakumar Elangovan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1111–1166, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.98

• , hydroaminomethylation, reduction of nitriles and nitro compounds or through reductive amination of carbonyl derivatives [26][27][28][29][30]. However, for example, cross-coupling reactions with alkyl or aryl halides generate considerable amounts of waste (Scheme 2A). Even though many different approaches exist for

(Bio)isosteres of ortho- and meta-substituted benzenes

• H. Erik Diepers and
• Johannes C. L. Walker

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 859–890, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.78

• cyclopropanation [44] (to (±)-66) of α-hydroxy silyl enol ethers (±)-65 followed by an acid-catalysed pinacol rearrangement to (±)-67. As exemplary derivatizations of 5-oxo-BCH (±)-67, 1,5-BCHs (±)-68, (±)-69 and (±)-70 were accessed by reductive amination, ketone reduction, and Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons olefination

Synthesis and biological evaluation of Argemone mexicana-inspired antimicrobials

• Jessica Villegas,
• Bryce C. Ball,
• Katelyn M. Shouse,
• Caleb W. VanArragon,
• Ashley N. Wasserman,
• Hannah E. Bhakta,
• Allen G. Oliver,
• Danielle A. Orozco-Nunnelly and
• Jeffrey M. Pruet

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1511–1524, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.108

• generated via reductive amination of a substituted benzaldehyde and a substituted phenethylamine [30]. Thus, a variety of substituted berberine variants were rapidly generated as shown in Scheme 2. Our first variant (B1) resulted from the reductive amination of m-anisaldehyde with 3-methoxyphenethylamine

• determined to be significantly more potent than the methanol negative control. General route to berberine variants, displaying the numbering system for the berberine ring. Synthesis of new berberine variants. Reductive amination to a secondary amine was followed by cyclization with glyoxal to provide the

Synthesis of ether lipids: natural compounds and analogues

• Marco Antônio G. B. Gomes,
• Alicia Bauduin,
• Chloé Le Roux,
• Romain Fouinneteau,
• Wilfried Berthe,
• Mathieu Berchel,
• Hélène Couthon and
• Paul-Alain Jaffrès

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1299–1369, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.96

A versatile way for the synthesis of monomethylamines by reduction of N-substituted carbonylimidazoles with the NaBH₄/I₂ system

• Lin Chen,
• Xuan Zhou,
• Zhiyong Chen,
• Changxu Wang,
• Shunjie Wang and
• Hanbing Teng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1032–1039, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.104

• the methylation reagents and the reductive amination reactions by using formaldehyde or paraformaldehyde as the “indirect” alkylation reagents [16][17][18][19]. Recently, a variety of promising methylating agents or C1 sources such as formic acid [20][21], methanol [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30

Synthesis of bis-spirocyclic derivatives of 3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane via cyclopropene cycloadditions to the stable azomethine ylide derived from Ruhemann's purple

• Alexander S. Filatov,
• Olesya V. Khoroshilova,
• Anna G. Larina,
• Vitali M. Boitsov and
• Alexander V. Stepakov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 769–780, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.77

• reductive amination/cyclization of enantiopure cis-cyclopropane dicarbonyls [26]. The strategy based on azomethine ylide cycloadditions to cyclopropenes enables ready access to a wide range of spiro-fused 3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexanes (Scheme 1a). Inspired by our recent achievements, we have focused on

Synthesis of piperidine and pyrrolidine derivatives by electroreductive cyclization of imine with terminal dihaloalkanes in a flow microreactor

• Yuki Naito,
• Naoki Shida and
• Mahito Atobe

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 350–359, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.39

• ]. Conventional synthetic methods for piperidine derivatives include nucleophilic substitution (route (1) in Scheme 1), reductive amination (route (2)), intramolecular cyclization of amines and alkenes (route (3)), the Diels–Alder reaction and subsequent reduction (route (4)), and the radical cyclization reaction

Site-selective reactions mediated by molecular containers

• Rui Wang and
• Yang Yu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 309–324, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.35

• ligands (Figure 7a). The normally used analogous smaller-sized host was assembled with naphthalene-walled ligands, which had been used widely in mediating various reactions, including dehydration reaction [65], aza-Darzens reaction [66], and reductive amination [67], etc. [28]. The anionic cage host