Recent advances and future challenges in the bottom-up synthesis of azulene-embedded nanographenes

• Bartłomiej Pigulski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1272–1305, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.99

• nanographenes. In the literature terms such as “azulene-embedded nanographenes” or “azulene-embedded PAHs” generally refer to any conjugated carbon scaffold composed of sp2 carbons with adjacent pentagonal and heptagonal rings. However, in many cases, the distinctive electronic structure of azulene is absent

• hydrocarbon-based azulene-embedded nanographenes. The synthesis of smaller non-alternant PAHs containing azulene moiety dates to the 1950s. The most common strategy involved synthesizing a partially saturated scaffold, which was then dehydrogenated in the final step. One of the earliest examples of the

• to the dication induced an aromaticity switch, resulting in the pentagon–heptagon pair adopting an aromatic character. The group later extended this strategy to scaffold 91 decorated with two imide substituents, which was isolated in 4% yield [66]. Annulation of substituted azulenes Scholl-type

Investigations of amination reactions on an antimalarial 1,2,4-triazolo[4,3-a]pyrazine scaffold

• Henry S. T. Smith,
• Ben Giuliani,
• Kanchana Wijesekera,
• Kah Yean Lum,
• Sandra Duffy,
• Aaron Lock,
• Jonathan M. White,
• Vicky M. Avery and
• Rohan A. Davis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1126–1134, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.90

• scaffold for aminations with 14 commercially available primary amines. Reacting scaffold 1 with excess primary amine at room temperature for 16 h generated the desired amine analogues in respectable yields (18–87%) and high purity (≥95%) following chromatography workup. The structures of the 14 previously

• engrafted with human erythrocytes, after oral administration of the compounds [5][9]. Triazolopyrazines halogenated on the pyrazine ring represent synthetically useful targets for elaboration of this active scaffold, and the regioselectivity of amine nucleophiles (amongst others) has been explored by Korsik

• C19H1635ClN5Na, 372.0991), that enabled a molecular formula of C19H16ClN5 to be assigned to 2. The 1H NMR spectrum of 2 displayed two aromatic doublets corresponding to nuclei on the triazolopyrazine scaffold [δH 7.76 (H-5), 7.38 (H-6)], and displayed two resonances [δH 7.93 (H-11, H-15), 7.69 (H-12, H-14

Recent total synthesis of natural products leveraging a strategy of enamide cyclization

• Chun-Yu Mi,
• Jia-Yuan Zhai and
• Xiao-Ming Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 999–1009, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.81

• antitumor, antibacterial, antiviral, and antioxidizing properties. Previous synthetic strategies for these molecules typically rely on multi-step procedures to assemble the tricyclic core. However, the direct catalytic enantioselective formation of this scaffold from a linear precursor remains underexplored

On the photoluminescence in triarylmethyl-centered mono-, di-, and multiradicals

• Daniel Straub,
• Markus Gross,
• Mona E. Arnold,
• Julia Zolg and
• Alexander J. C. Kuehne

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 964–998, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.80

• in triarylmethyl radicals is by touching the triphenylmethyl scaffold itself, rather than only its substitution pattern. A variety of studies have been concerned with the pyridine-diphenylmethyl (PyBTM) motif, which has one of the para-carbons replaced by a nitrogen (see Figure 3) [56]. Surprisingly

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

• , versatile key triflate intermediate 3, which allowed the introduction of substituents attached by a C–C bond to position 4 of the β-carboline scaffold by cross-coupling reactions. Sonogashira reaction of compound 3 with N-(3-butynyl)phthalimide (4) led to coupled compound 5. Cleavage of the phthalimide

A convergent synthetic approach to the tetracyclic core framework of khayanolide-type limonoids

• Zhiyang Zhang,
• Jialei Hu,
• Hanfeng Ding,
• Li Zhang and
• Peirong Rao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 926–934, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.75

• convergent approach leveraging an AcOH-interrupted Nazarov cyclization to establish the [5,5,6,6]-tetracyclic scaffold with precise stereochemical fidelity. Results and Discussion Our retrosynthetic analysis toward krishnolides A (7) and C (8) is delineated in Scheme 1B. We hypothesized that these two

Silver(I) triflate-catalyzed post-Ugi synthesis of pyrazolodiazepines

• Muhammad Hasan,
• Anatoly A. Peshkov,
• Syed Anis Ali Shah,
• Andrey Belyaev,
• Chang-Keun Lim,
• Shunyi Wang and
• Vsevolod A. Peshkov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 915–925, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.74

• , which features a pyrrolodiazepine core, has been studied both alone and in combination with diazepam for its antianxiety and sedative effects [11]. Flumazenil comprises an imidazobenzodiazepine scaffold and its intravenous administration is used to treat benzodiazepine overdoses [12][13] and to reverse

• procedures and harsh reaction conditions, resulting in limited substituent and scaffold diversity [18][19]. In this regard, multicomponent reactions (MCRs) have gained increasing attention for their operational simplicity, efficiency, robustness, atom economy, and potential for diversity-oriented synthesis

• formation of the tricyclic triazolo[1,5-a][1,4]benzodiazepine scaffold 10 (Scheme 1b) [39]. Triple bond-containing Ugi adducts showed a great promise for the assembly of various seven-membered nitrogen-containing heterocyclic cores through transition-metal-catalyzed alkyne hydroarylations [40][41][42][43

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

• . However, when the reaction was carried out with KOt-Bu, we observed the selective conversion of 9 into product 20 featuring a different cyclopropane scaffold. Slight modification of the reaction conditions allowed us to obtain product 20 in 56% yield as a single diastereomer (Scheme 5a). Taking advantage

Light-enabled intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition via photoactivation of simple alkenylboronic esters

• Lewis McGhie,
• Hannah M. Kortman,
• Jenna Rumpf,
• Peter H. Seeberger and
• John J. Molloy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 854–863, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.69

• scaffold (Figure 1A, bottom), with increasing excited state energy moving from stilbenes and conjugated dienes to simple dienes, styrenes and enones (not shown) [28]. Consequently, small truncated chromophores, such as simple alkenes remain an intractable challenge for efficient EnT due to prohibitively

Synthesis and photoinduced switching properties of C₇-heteroatom containing push–pull norbornadiene derivatives

• Daniel Krappmann and
• Andreas Hirsch

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 807–816, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.64

• ) derivatives. Push–pull substitution on the 2 and 3 position as well as introduction of oxygen or nitrogen at position 7 of the NBD scaffold have led to the development of a new family of photoswitches. We studied the potential conversion of norbornadiene to quadricyclane (QC) isomers. As main investigation

• , it is essential not only to achieve a high storage density and good quantum efficiency for the isomerization process but also to ensure large half-lifes and durability in switching reliability [20]. By making structural adjustments to the parent carbon scaffold, it is possible to target specific

• variations in the switching properties. However, it is important to note that altering one property typically impacts other characteristics as well [21][22]. In this regard, both the substitution of the NBD periphery to produce push–pull derivatives and the variation of the central scaffold itself have been

Copper-catalyzed domino cyclization of anilines and cyclobutanone oxime: a scalable and versatile route to spirotetrahydroquinoline derivatives

• Qingqing Jiang,
• Xinyi Lei,
• Pan Gao and
• Yu Yuan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 749–754, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.58

• the desired product. Keywords: copper catalysis; cyclobutane-fused tetrahydroquinolines; domino cyclization reaction; green synthesis; Introduction Tetrahydroquinolines (THQs) represent a privileged scaffold in medicinal chemistry, exhibiting a broad spectrum of biological activities and serving as

Orthogonal photoswitching of heterobivalent azobenzene glycoclusters: the effect of glycoligand orientation in bacterial adhesion

• Leon M. Friedrich and
• Thisbe K. Lindhorst

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 736–748, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.57

• scaffold molecules, respectively [14][15], – differing inhibitory properties in carbohydrate-specific bacterial adhesion resulted. To further investigate the effect of relative ligand orientation in carbohydrate recognition, we and others have utilized photoswitchable glycoconjugates [16][17][18][19

• conjugated to the 3- and the 6-position of a methyl mannoside scaffold (Figure 1, 1 (6βGlc3αMan)) [24]. Orthogonal photoswitching of the two glycoantennas is guaranteed by (i) ortho-fluorination of one azobenzene moiety and (ii) S-azobenzene versus O-azobenzene conjugation, resulting in significantly shifted

• functionalization of the ABF4 unit. The EE/ZE/EZ/ZZ isomeric mixture obtained after irradiation of the homobivalent photoswitchable glycocluster 6αMan3αMan 2 had to be determined by integration of the anomeric 1H/13C cross peak of the scaffold mannoside in the 1H,13C HSQC spectrum because the proton signals in the

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

• pendant aryl moiety, is better for target-binding and hence 41 is a ≈10-fold more potent inhibitor of BACE-1 than 40. Several further examples of cyclic ethers will be examined in section 5 (sugars). The anomeric effect applies in acyclic ethers, too. Consider the non-fluorinated scaffold, Ph–O–CH3 (42

• -hybridised oxygen atom. When one fluorine is introduced into this scaffold in the form of a fluoromethyl group (43, Figure 6), the gross conformation is little changed, but notably the fluorine preferentially resides at an endo position (oriented back towards the aryl moiety) which enables nO → σ*C–F

• elucidate the bioactive conformations, of other simple linear amines too. A gauche alignment of the vicinal C–N and C–F bonds is consistently seen [156], whether the scaffold is a primary amine (e.g., tetrafluorovaline, 91 [157]), a secondary amine (e.g., N-methyl-ᴅ-aspartate(92) [158][159]), or a tertiary

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

• products can serve as effective scaffold for the design and synthesis of derivatives with improved biological activities [5][6][7]. Massarilactones are produced by marine and endophytic fungi and bear close biogenetic similarity to several other fungal PKS1-derived metabolites including rosigenin, the

Total synthesis of (±)-simonsol C using dearomatization as key reaction under acidic conditions

• Xiao-Yang Bi,
• Xiao-Shuai Yang,
• Shan-Shan Chen,
• Jia-Jun Sui,
• Zhao-Nan Cai,
• Yong-Ming Chuan and
• Hong-Bo Qin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 601–606, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.47

• steps and achieved 12% overall yield. In May 2024, the Qin group reported the second total synthesis of (±)-simonsol C (Scheme 2) [5]. An effective strategy to form the 6/5/6 benzofuran scaffold was developed which specifically involved a basic dearomatization and reductive elimination with Zn/AcOH to

• scaffold of simonsol C, utilizing an alkaline dearomatization as the key reaction, followed by a functional-group-selective Wittig reaction and concurrent oxy-Michael addition [6]. A bromophenol acetal was used in the intramolecular alkylative dearomatization, which was first reported by Magnus et al. [8

Sequential two-step, one-pot microwave-assisted Urech synthesis of 5-monosubstituted hydantoins from L-amino acids in water

• Wei-Jin Chang,
• Sook Yee Liew,
• Thomas Kurz and
• Siow-Ping Tan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 596–600, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.46

• Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany 10.3762/bjoc.21.46 Abstract The hydantoin scaffold is renowned for its wide-ranging biological activities, including antibacterial, antiviral, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and anticonvulsant effects. In

• accessibility of these bioactive compounds for pharmaceutical applications. Keywords: amino acids; hydantoin; microwave-assisted; one-pot reaction; Urech synthesis; Introduction The hydantoin moiety is a scaffold found in many biologically active compounds exhibiting a diverse range of properties, including

• (63–86%) [16]. As many of these protocols employ toxic, highly reactive and moisture-sensitive reagents, our work will exploit microwave technology and the environmentally benign nature of amino acids to construct the hydantoin scaffold. Microwave irradiation technology has proven significant

Formaldehyde surrogates in multicomponent reactions

• Cecilia I. Attorresi,
• Javier A. Ramírez and
• Bernhard Westermann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 564–595, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.45

• recent years, multicomponent reactions (MCRs) have become one of the most important synthetic tools coming close to fulfilling the requirements of ideal reactions. They are ideally suited also for the generation of high chemical diversity compounds from simple reagents, either through scaffold

• diversification or scaffold decoration [4]. In these reactions, three or more compounds react together in one single reaction step to generate a more complex product where most of the atoms of starting materials are present [5]. This high atom economy positions MCRs as ecofriendly (green) reactions because their

• this context, quinoline and its derivatives are privileged structures in several natural products and biologically active compounds, rendering this scaffold an important synthetic target. An attractive strategy to afford tetrahydroquinolines and quinolines is the Povarov reaction, a type of aza-Diels

Unprecedented visible light-initiated topochemical [2 + 2] cycloaddition in a functionalized bimane dye

• Metodej Dvoracek,
• Brendan Twamley,
• Mathias O. Senge and
• Mikhail A. Filatov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 500–509, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.37

• , School of Chemistry, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, 152-160 Pearse Street, Dublin D02 R590, Ireland 10.3762/bjoc.21.37 Abstract Bimanes, a class of molecules based on the 1H,7H-pyrazolo[1,2-a]pyrazole-1,7-dione scaffold, were first introduced by

• development of a novel scaffold for topochemically active monomers. Bimanes Bimanes, a class of bicyclic compounds first synthesized by Kosower and Pazhenchevsky in 1978 [16], are based on a 1H,7H-pyrazolo[1,2-a]pyrazole-1,7-dione scaffold. The general structure of a bimane is depicted in Figure 1a. The term

• bimane scaffold and b) the two isomers of bimanes with their respective naming conventions. a) Structures of the bimanes studied and b) the reaction scheme of the [2 + 2] photocycloaddition of Cl2B. Synthetic approach to bimanes. View of the molecular structures in the crystal of the functionalized

Unraveling aromaticity: the dual worlds of pyrazole, pyrazoline, and 3D carborane

• Zahra Noori,
• Miquel Solà,
• Clara Viñas,
• Francesc Teixidor and
• Jordi Poater

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 412–420, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.29

• their broader use. With this in mind, Lee and colleagues have recently developed an efficient synthetic method for producing o-carborane-fused pyrazoles as a novel scaffold, without using transition metals. Their approach involves reacting B(4)-acylmethyl and B(3,5)-diacylmethyl o-carborane with 2-azido

Synthesis, characterization, antimicrobial, cytotoxic and carbonic anhydrase inhibition activities of multifunctional pyrazolo-1,2-benzothiazine acetamides

• Ayesha Saeed,
• Shahana Ehsan,
• Muhammad Zia-ur-Rehman,
• Erin M. Marshall,
• Sandra Loesgen,
• Abdus Saleem,
• Simone Giovannuzzi and
• Claudiu T. Supuran

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 348–357, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.25

• are synthesized by incorporation of benzothiazine, pyrazole, and amide moieties in a new scaffold to create multifunctional derivatives of pyrazolo-1,2-benzothiazine. The presented compounds have been synthesized and analyzed using spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques including FTIR, HRMS, 1H

• , makes them a suitable linker unit [34]. The leading example is paracetamol highlighting the utility of an amide containing scaffold in medicinal chemistry. A series of novel scaffolds adjoining benzothiazine with a pyrazole moiety has been reported with antioxidant activity and antibacterial potential

• dry DMF. The five-membered ring of this esterified benzisothiazole 2 was then expanded to form a six-membered cycle via a ring-expansion reaction in anhydrous conditions. In this reaction, the benzisothiazole scaffold was converted into a benzothiazine backbone 3 followed by N-methylation to obtain

Molecular diversity of the reactions of MBH carbonates of isatins and various nucleophiles

• Zi-Ying Xiao,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 286–295, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.21

• Figure 1 and Figure 2, it can be found that the C=C bond is located in the unit of the pyrrolidine-2,5-dione, while the scaffold of indolin-2-one is connected via a C–C single bond with the unit of the pyrrolidine-2,5-dione. Therefore, an allyl rearrangement must proceed in the reaction process, which is

Streamlined modular synthesis of saframycin substructure via copper-catalyzed three-component assembly and gold-promoted 6-endo cyclization

• Asahi Kanno,
• Ryo Tanifuji,
• Satoshi Yoshida,
• Sota Sato,
• Saori Maki-Yonekura,
• Kiyofumi Takaba,
• Jungmin Kang,
• Kensuke Tono,
• Koji Yonekura and
• Hiroki Oguri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 226–233, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.14

• region of the DNA double helix, leading to the formation of a reversible covalent bond [9][10][11][12]. In this process, the oxygen functional groups at the C8 and C18 positions of the core scaffold interact with the DNA bases through multipoint hydrogen bonds (HBs), allowing recognition of approximately

• of lower oxidation state aromatic rings at the A- and E-rings of saframycins. Rational and systematic modification of both ends of the THIQ scaffolds would facilitate the development of reversible covalent DNA binders with tailored sequence preferences. Biosynthetically, the pentacyclic core scaffold

• avenues for the development of fluorescent probes based on the bis-THIQ alkaloidal scaffold. Further efforts to develop a concise and modular synthetic process for saframycins are currently underway. Representative bis-tetrahydroisoquinoline (THIQ) alkaloids and their analogues. Oxygen atoms on both the A

Heteroannulations of cyanoacetamide-based MCR scaffolds utilizing formamide

• Marios Zingiridis,
• Danae Papachristodoulou,
• Despoina Menegaki,
• Konstantinos G. Froudas and
• Constantinos G. Neochoritis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 217–225, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.13

• under the umbrella of C1 chemistry was to provide a straightforward access to the privileged scaffold of fused heteroannulated pyrimidones, which demonstrate a broad range of biological activities [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35], including use as emissive nucleoside analogues [36][37][38]. Moreover

• was observed at an average wavelength of 384 nm for 5a–e, 439 nm for 6a–e and 430 nm for 7a–e (see Supporting Information File 1 for detailed information). In support of the proposed scaffold 7b, we were able to solve its crystal structure (Figure 3). An intermolecular bifurcated hydrogen bond network

• pyrimidine scaffold. Representative fluorescence spectrum of compounds 5b (λex = 330 nm) and 6e (λex = 430 nm) at 0.2 M in DMSO. Molecular geometry observed within the crystal structure of compound 7b (CCDC 2376493). Strategies towards targeted adducts: A) Niementowski quinazoline synthesis utilizing

Dioxazolones as electrophilic amide sources in copper-catalyzed and -mediated transformations

• Seungmin Lee,
• Minsuk Kim,
• Hyewon Han and
• Jongwoo Son

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 200–216, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.12

• , styrene derivatives bearing both electron-rich and electron-poor groups underwent the desired transformation with high yields and enantioselectivities (23g and 23h). However, the styrene scaffold bearing a trifluoromethyl group showed reduced enantioselectivity (23i). Styrenes containing heterocyclic

Cu(OTf)₂-catalyzed multicomponent reactions

• Sara Colombo,
• Camilla Loro,
• Egle M. Beccalli,
• Gianluigi Broggini and
• Marta Papis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 122–145, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.7

• reactions starting from different reagents. In a first approach proposed by Meshram and co-workers, pyridin-2-one, O-tosylhydroxylamine and acetophenone treated in an ionic liquid assembled through the cascade formation of three C–N bonds to give the imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine scaffold 33 (Scheme 25) [43]. The