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

• emerged as potent catalysts for red-light-mediated photoreactions. Furuyama et al. demonstrated that a ruthenium phthalocyanin complex could catalyze trifluoromethylation reactions of styrene derivatives 18 with either CF3SO2Cl or Umemoto’s reagent 19 under red-light irradiation without the need for

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

Recent advances in electrochemical copper catalysis for modern organic synthesis

• Yemin Kim and
• Won Jun Jang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 155–178, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.9

• asymmetric electrocatalytic cyanophosphinoylation of vinylarenes (Figure 14) [69]. In the presence of a copper catalyst and the chiral ligand sBOX(iPr) (L8) in an electrochemical cell, these three component reactions using styrene derivatives 27, TMSCN (21), and diarylphosphine oxide 80 as starting materials

Advances in radical peroxidation with hydroperoxides

• Oleg V. Bityukov,
• Pavel Yu. Serdyuchenko,
• Andrey S. Kirillov,
• Gennady I. Nikishin,
• Vera A. Vil’ and
• Alexander O. Terent’ev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2959–3006, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.249

• bond, revealing the amino acyl radical, which is then added to the double bond. Tetra-n-butylammonium bromide (TBAB)-catalyzed carbonylation–peroxidation of styrene derivatives 149 with TBHP and aldehydes 150, which allows for the synthesis of β-peroxy ketones 151, was described (Scheme 47) [111]. tert

Hydrogen-bond activation enables aziridination of unactivated olefins with simple iminoiodinanes

• Phong Thai,
• Lauv Patel,
• Diyasha Manna and
• David C. Powers

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2305–2312, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.197

• :1.0 trans/cis mixture in 72% and 64% yield, respectively. While many styrene derivatives polymerize in HFIP [44], 1,2-disubstituted styrene derivatives were sufficiently stable to engage in the developed aziridination reaction, with cis- or trans-β-methylstyrene 1n furnishing aziridine 3n as

Solvent-dependent chemoselective synthesis of different isoquinolinones mediated by the hypervalent iodine(III) reagent PISA

• Ze-Nan Hu,
• Yan-Hui Wang,
• Jia-Bing Wu,
• Ze Chen,
• Dou Hong and
• Chi Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1914–1921, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.167

• postulated for the synthesis of benzofuran derivatives from styrene derivatives by iodane reagents [29][30]. Subsequently, intermediate D is attacked by H2O at the benzylic carbon atom to afford intermediate E. Intramolecular proton shift occurs, generating the intermediate F, which undergoes phenyl

Generation of alkyl and acyl radicals by visible-light photoredox catalysis: direct activation of C–O bonds in organic transformations

• Mithu Roy,
• Bitan Sardar,
• Itu Mallick and
• Dipankar Srimani

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1348–1375, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.119

• [28] introduced the photoredox-catalyzed hydroacylation of styrene derivatives via deoxygenation of challenging aliphatic carboxylic acids (Scheme 1). The deoxygenation was promoted by phosphine reagents to form acyl radicals. The acyl radicals reacted with the C=C bond and formed the expected product

Transition-metal-catalyst-free electroreductive alkene hydroarylation with aryl halides under visible-light irradiation

• Kosuke Yamamoto,
• Kazuhisa Arita,
• Masami Kuriyama and
• Osamu Onomura

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1327–1333, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.116

• high regioselectivity. Herein, we report the electroreductive hydroarylation of electron-deficient alkenes and styrene derivatives using (hetero)aryl halides under mild reaction conditions. Notably, the present hydroarylation proceeded with high efficiency under transition-metal-catalyst-free

• 3pa and 3qa, respectively. In addition to the successful transformations of heteroaryl iodides with indole or pyridine cores (3ra, 3sa), the electroreductive synthesis of methaqualone derivatives was also achieved (3ta). Pleasingly, a series of electron-deficient alkene and styrene derivatives were

• (3ac, 3ad). In addition to styrene derivatives bearing α-substituents and electronically diverse functionalities, indene and 2-vinylpyridine were all compatible with the present electroreductive hydroarylation (3ae–ak). The reaction of iodobenzene with acrylonitrile and 4-chlorostyrene proceeded

(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

• in moderate to good yields, employing 2,7-dimethoxythioxanthone (2,2’-OMeTX) as a triplet sensitizer for BCB excitation (Scheme 3A) [38]. Starting from BCB 24, alkenes including styrene derivatives, enol ethers, and vinyl boronates could be incorporated to give 1,2-BCHs (±)-25a–d. Brown and co

Advancements in hydrochlorination of alkenes

• Daniel S. Müller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 787–814, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.72

• alkenes remains a commonly employed approach, yielding high yields for styrene derivatives (Scheme 4) [41][42][43]. The example by Theato is remarkable (Scheme 4A), who used HCl (gas) bubbled into neat alkene 13 for 5 hours, and obtained a relatively high yield of the monohydrochlorinated product 14 after

Enhanced reactivity of Li⁺@C₆₀ toward thermal [2 + 2] cycloaddition by encapsulated Li⁺ Lewis acid

• Hiroshi Ueno,
• Yu Yamazaki,
• Hiroshi Okada,
• Fuminori Misaizu,
• Ken Kokubo and
• Hidehiro Sakurai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 653–660, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.58

• derivatization of this novel material. In this study, we report the synthesis of Li+@C60 derivatives via the thermal [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of styrene derivatives, achieving significantly higher yields of monofunctionalized Li+@C60 compared to previously reported reactions. Furthermore, by combining

• range of unsaturated substrates having a relatively lower HOMO level. With the previously uncovered reactivity of Li+@C60 in hand, we synthesized Li+@C60 derivatives in this study through the thermal [2 + 2] cycloaddition of styrene derivatives, which do not react with empty C60 through the same

• of N,N,N',N'-tetraethylethynediamine and 1-morpholino-1-cyclopentene with empty C60 has been reported [17][23], while electron-rich styrene derivatives 1 and 2 can react with empty C60 only through a photoinduced SET pathway [19][22]. From these results, the energy gap between the HOMO of the alkene

N-Sulfenylsuccinimide/phthalimide: an alternative sulfenylating reagent in organic transformations

• Fatemeh Doraghi,
• Seyedeh Pegah Aledavoud,
• Mehdi Ghanbarlou,
• Bagher Larijani and
• Mohammad Mahdavi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1471–1502, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.106

• presence of TMSOTf. Catalyst-free sulfenylation by N-(sulfenyl)succinimides/phthalimides In 2015, oxysulfenylation of styrene derivatives 9 utilizing 1-(arylthio)pyrrolidine-2,5-diones 1 and alkyl/benzyl alcohols 86 toward β-alkoxy sulfides was developed by Fu et al. (Scheme 65) [95]. In this metal-free

Photoredox catalysis harvesting multiple photon or electrochemical energies

• Mattia Lepori,
• Simon Schmid and
• Joshua P. Barham

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1055–1145, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.81

Cathodic generation of reactive (phenylthio)difluoromethyl species and its reactions: mechanistic aspects and synthetic applications

• Sadanobu Iwase,
• Shinsuke Inagi and
• Toshio Fuchigami

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 872–880, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.88

• phenylthiolate anion, which reacts with the starting material 1 to form product 3. In the presence of radical trapping reagents such as styrene derivatives, radical A reacts with styrenes to form radical intermediate adduct C. The radical C abstracts a hydrogen radical to form products 4 and 6. Alternatively

Iron-catalyzed domino coupling reactions of π-systems

• Austin Pounder and
• William Tam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2848–2893, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.196

• reported a similar approach towards the assembly of 2,2-disubstituted indolines from N-sulfonylanilines and substituted styrene derivatives [93]. In 2014, the Jiao group investigated the carbosulfonation of alkenes 60 for the synthesis of oxindoles 90 through sequential C–S/C–C-bond formation (Scheme 16

• of the aryl ring, a spirocyclic product 145 was formed via a radical cyclization/dearomatization process. Mechanistic investigations revealed the reaction operates through a radical pathway. In 2017, the Li group described a Ag-mediated, Fe-catalyzed alkylarylation of styrene derivatives 115 with α

• examining of other potential arenes capable of undergoing electrophilic aromatic substitution would expand the applicability of the reaction. Carboazidation In 2018, Yang investigated the three-component carboazidation of styrene derivatives 115 with alkanes 101/139b and trimethylsilyl azide for the

Methodologies for the synthesis of quaternary carbon centers via hydroalkylation of unactivated olefins: twenty years of advances

• Thiago S. Silva and
• Fernando Coelho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1565–1590, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.112

• ., styrene derivatives [17]) that produce hundreds of tons for polymer synthesis. The goal of this review is to demonstrate the utility of olefins as starting materials in the synthesis of all-carbon quaternary centers through hydroalkylation reactions. Only the hydroalkylation of unactivated olefins as

A comprehensive review of flow chemistry techniques tailored to the flavours and fragrances industries

• Guido Gambacorta,
• James S. Sharley and
• Ian R. Baxendale

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1181–1312, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.90

CF₃-substituted carbocations: underexploited intermediates with great potential in modern synthetic chemistry

• Anthony J. Fernandes,
• Armen Panossian,
• Bastien Michelet,
• Agnès Martin-Mingot,
• Frédéric R. Leroux and
• Sébastien Thibaudeau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 343–378, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.32

The preparation and properties of 1,1-difluorocyclopropane derivatives

• Kymbat S. Adekenova,
• Peter B. Wyatt and
• Sergazy M. Adekenov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 245–272, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.25

• alkenes, electron-rich styrenes, and styrenes with electron-withdrawing substituents in the structure [40]. The yields of the gem-difluorocyclopropanes from the styrene derivatives were almost all excellent. On the other hand, simple alkenes gave lower yields. The reaction of various functionalized

Recent synthesis of thietanes

• Jiaxi Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1357–1410, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.116

• , produced exclusively thietane derivatives 240 and 241 [70] (Scheme 45). The authors further investigated photoreactions of N-substituted monothiophthalimides 237 with styrene derivatives 186 and 242, affording the corresponding spirothietanes 243 and 244 [71] (Scheme 46). They also documented the

Copper catalysis with redox-active ligands

• Agnideep Das,
• Yufeng Ren,
• Cheriehan Hessin and
• Marine Desage-El Murr

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 858–870, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.77

• -closure (Scheme 12). A wide range of substrates including diverse mono-, di-, and trisubstituted styrene derivatives (21a,i,h, 26a–d and 27a–i) substrates as well as unactivated or deactivated tri- and tetrasubstituted scaffolds (21j,n,o, 26e–g and 27j–o) were efficiently converted. Conclusion The use of

Recent advances in Cu-catalyzed C(sp³)–Si and C(sp³)–B bond formation

• Balaram S. Takale,
• Ruchita R. Thakore,
• Elham Etemadi-Davan and
• Bruce H. Lipshutz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 691–737, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.67

• addition (e.g., 351, 352). It was shown that the presence of a heteroatom plays a crucial role due to the otherwise non-selective, facile addition of Cu-Bpin to alkenes (Scheme 56) [103]. Based on previous studies on asymmetric 3-component carboboration of styrene derivatives [104] and 1,3-dienes [105

• electrophiles, such as N-cyanosulfonamides, leading to 1,2 or 4,3-borocyanation in a regiospecific fashion from borocuprative intermediates, respectively [111]. Extending earlier efforts from the Montgomery group for Cu-catalyzed cascade diborylation/ortho-cyanations of terminal allenes [112] and styrene

• derivatives [113], the cyanoborylation of terminal allenes 382 has also been studied. Using B2pin2 in the presence of N-cyano-N-phenyl-p-toluenesulfonamide (NCTs, 377), under Cu-catalysis led to regio-, chemo-, and diastereoselective trifunctionalized products 383–386. The reaction sequence involves three

Recent advances in photocatalyzed reactions using well-defined copper(I) complexes

• Mingbing Zhong,
• Xavier Pannecoucke,
• Philippe Jubault and
• Thomas Poisson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 451–481, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.42

• irradiation in MeOH to perform the trifluoromethyl methoxylation of styrene derivatives. The methodology was applied to a broad range of styrene derivatives, showing a good functional group tolerance. Noteworthy, α-, β-, and α,β-substituted styrenes were readily functionalized in good to excellent yields. To

• provide a transient radical, which undergoes an intramolecular cyclization to give the aryl radical anion. A final oxidation/deprotonation sequence delivers the product. In 2018, Reiser and co-workers reported the use of the [Cu(dap)2]Cl catalyst in the oxoazidation of styrene derivatives (Scheme 14) [30

• ]. Under green light irradiation, a large panel of styrene derivatives was converted into the corresponding α-azidoketones in good to excellent yields. Interestingly, the reaction was extended to the heteroaromatic derivatives, such as thiophene or benzofuran and to β-substituted styrenes. The authors

Visible-light-induced addition of carboxymethanide to styrene from monochloroacetic acid

• Kaj M. van Vliet,
• Nicole S. van Leeuwen,
• Albert M. Brouwer and
• Bas de Bruin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 398–408, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.38

• the formation of the lactone or the ATRA reaction was obtained by screening a small substrate scope of para-substituted styrene derivatives in the photocatalyzed reaction with monochloroacetic acid using fac-[Ir(ppy)3] as the photocatalyst (Scheme 5). For electron-poor p-halogenated and p

• -trifluoromethylated styrenes no lactone formation took place in these reactions, and only the Kharasch-addition product was observed. The benzylic radical resulting from radical addition to these styrene derivatives seems to be too electron poor for efficient oxidation induced cyclization, thus resulting in a

• of styrene derivatives in the photoredox reaction with monochloroacetic acid. Yields have been determined by 1H NMR spectroscopy of the crude reaction mixture, using 1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene as the external standard. Proposed reaction mechanism. The photoredox formation of 1-(chloromethoxy)-2,2,6,6

A review of asymmetric synthetic organic electrochemistry and electrocatalysis: concepts, applications, recent developments and future directions

• Munmun Ghosh,
• Valmik S. Shinde and
• Magnus Rueping

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2710–2746, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.264

• potentiostatic electrolysis, styrene derivatives 143 could be transformed into their asymmetric epoxides 144 via direct electrochemical regeneration of FADH2. The authors claimed that this method is superior with respect to substitution of the complex native regeneration cycle, which consists of three enzymes