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

• (252) to afford the corresponding cinnamic esters 249–251 (Scheme 66A) [113]. Similarly, Chen and co-workers (2023) utilized alkenyl sulfones and CO2 to synthesize cinnamic acid ester 253–255 via an electrochemical set-up by generating the reactive intermediate 256 or 257 (Scheme 66B) [114]. An

Organocatalytic kinetic resolution of 1,5-dicarbonyl compounds through a retro-Michael reaction

• James Guevara-Pulido,
• Fernando González-Pérez,
• José M. Andrés and
• Rafael Pedrosa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 473–482, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.34

• other Michael adducts prepared by reacting with differently activated ketones, the enantiomeric ratio of the isolated anti-diastereomer was excellent (entries 1 and 10–13, Table 5). Interestingly, the method also provides good resolution for Michael adducts 8 and 9 synthesized by reacting keto sulfones

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

• and sulfur dioxide afforded vinyl sulfones with excellent regio- and stereoselectivity (Scheme 9) [22]. The authors used DABCO(SO2)2 to generate sulfur dioxide, and visible light irradiation and the mandatory presence of a photocatalyst for this transformation suggested a radical mechanism. The

• these conditions the reaction between aryl thiosulfonates with arynes to give sulfones is competitive. Cu(OTf)2 is essential to remove the sulfinate anions in the reaction medium, avoiding side reactions arising from their attack to the electrophilic arynes. The so-obtained products are susceptible of

• of α-substituted propargylamines 10. Synthesis of N-propargylcarbamates 11. Synthesis of (E)-vinyl sulfones 12. Synthesis of o-halo-substituted aryl chalcogenides 13. Synthesis of α-aminophosphonates 14. Synthesis of unsaturated furanones and pyranones 15–17. Synthesis of substituted

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

• alkenylindoles 180 were prepared by the addition of α-amido sulfones 179 to triple bond of alkynylindolylmethanols 178 catalyzed by CPA C31 (Scheme 52) [80]. Authors achieved mild to good yields with decent to very good enantioselectivities. Alkenylindole 180 was used for the thermal racemization experiment

Recent advances in transition-metal-free arylation reactions involving hypervalent iodine salts

• Ritu Mamgain,
• Kokila Sakthivel and
• Fateh V. Singh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2891–2920, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.243

• various substituents on the aromatic ring. Additionally, a variety of substituted esters, ketones, and nitriles were found to be compatible with the reaction. Additionally, the same approach was used for the aryl sulfonylation. Trisubstituted allylic sulfones 35 were synthesized by reacting MBH acetate 33

O,S,Se-containing Biginelli products based on cyclic β-ketosulfone and their postfunctionalization

• Kateryna V. Dil and
• Vitalii A. Palchykov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2143–2151, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.184

• of other sulfones of both synthetic and biological importance can be obtained by using the in this work reported efficient, multicomponent and green protocol. We postfunctionalized the typical Biginelli product using Hantzsch-type thiazole chemistry and desulfurization. Assessing drug-likeness, we

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

• components, such as various acrylates, α,β-unsaturated acids, enones, enals, acrylamides, vinyl phosphonates, and vinyl sulfones. Various cesium salts of oxalates also performed well using this protocol. Isopropyl and tert-butyl groups present in an adjacent position of oxalates do not disturb the reaction

• electrophilic alkene and forms the target product. N-Alkoxyphthalimides: In 2019, Tang and co-workers [53] utilized N-alkoxyphthalimides for the generation of alkyl radicals by reacting photogenerated alkoxyl radicals with P(OMe)3 (Scheme 17). This strategy provided the alkylation of allyl and alkenyl sulfones

• the production of an alkyl radical. After that, this alkyl radical reacts with allyl and alkenyl sulfones in an addition–elimination cycle to produce the required product and a benzenesulfonyl radical. The benzenesulfonyl radical abstracts a hydrogen radical from the Hantzsch ester radical to form

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

Enantioselective synthesis of β-aryl-γ-lactam derivatives via Heck–Matsuda desymmetrization of N-protected 2,5-dihydro-1H-pyrroles

• Arnaldo G. de Oliveira Jr.,
• Martí F. Wang,
• Rafaela C. Carmona,
• Danilo M. Lustosa,
• Sergei A. Gorbatov and
• Carlos R. D. Correia

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 940–949, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.84

• , key five-membered olefins bearing heteroatoms can provide direct access to chiral sulfones, sulfoxides, phosphine oxides [8], phthalides, isochromanones, and lactones [9] in a very efficient and convenient manner. Despite our previous results in this area, the desymmetrization of 2,5-dihydro-1H

(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

• alkenes including acrylates, vinyl sulfones, and acrylamides could all be incorporated and the number of accessible bifunctional 1,2-BCHs was increased further by chemical transformation (Scheme 3D) [35]. Among the reported transformations were reduction of the ketone (to (±)-34), hydrolysis of the

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

Facile access to 3-sulfonylquinolines via Knoevenagel condensation/aza-Wittig reaction cascade involving ortho-azidobenzaldehydes and β-ketosulfonamides and sulfones

• Ksenia Malkova,
• Andrey Bubyrev,
• Stanislav Kalinin and
• Dmitry Dar’in

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 800–807, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.60

• have developed a new convenient protocol for the synthesis of 3-sulfonyl-substituted quinolines (sulfonamides and sulfones). The approach is based on a Knoevenagel condensation/aza-Wittig reaction cascade involving o-azidobenzaldehydes and ketosulfonamides or ketosulfones as key building blocks. The

• synthesis of quinoline-3-sulfonyl chlorides which are the most common reagents for their preparation. As a possible solution, the approach to the heterocyclic core construction from a sulfonamide-containing building block may be considered. In turn, diversely substituted quinoline-3-sulfones are available

• quinolines (sulfonamides and sulfones) (Figure 2b). Herein, we report the successful implementation of this approach. Results and Discussion The Knoevenagel condensation/aza-Wittig reaction cascade was used for the preparation of 3-sulfonyl-substituted quinolines. The process proceeds in a domino fashion

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

• –elimination. Both they are potential chiral phosphorus ligands (Scheme 20) [25]. When Fuchs and co-workers investigated the conversion of cyclic vinyl sulfones to vinylphosphonates, they found that the reaction of (1S,2R)-2-methyl-3-(phenylsulfonyl)cyclohept-3-en-1-ol (100) and diethyl phosphonate generated

Dipeptide analogues of fluorinated aminophosphonic acid sodium salts as moderate competitive inhibitors of cathepsin C

• Karolina Wątroba,
• Małgorzata Pawełczak and
• Marcin Kaźmierczak

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 434–439, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.33

• ]. Based on its structure, many other inhibitors have been developed, such as vinyl sulfones, fluoromethyl ketones, and semicarbazides [8][9]. These inhibitors covalently bind to the nucleophilic thiol group of Cys234 in the active site of cathepsin C via a thioether bond. Phosphonates have been identified

1,4-Dithianes: attractive C2-building blocks for the synthesis of complex molecular architectures

• Bram Ryckaert,
• Ellen Demeyere,
• Frederick Degroote,
• Hilde Janssens and
• Johan M. Winne

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 115–132, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.12

• , including cross-coupling-type chemistries on a conformationally stable cis-vinyl zinc building block. 3 Diels–Alder reactivity of 1,4-dithiin-based dienophiles and dienes Vinyl sulfones and vinyl sulfoxides are classical synthetic equivalents of ethylene in Diels–Alder reactions, and have been widely used

• in total syntheses [45][46][47][48]. However, while vinyl sulfones are considerably more reactive than unactivated C2-dienophiles, they still show limitations. A series of vinyl-1,2-disulfone derivatives has been developed and investigated by De Lucchi for their use as synthetic equivalents of

• . Thus, only the diene-disulfone reagent 45 has been investigated for its Diels–Alder reactivity. As expected by the strong electron-withdrawing nature of the two sulfones, the diene 45 showed quite poor reactivity towards classical Diels–Alder dienophiles, affording the adducts in only 10–20% yield

Selective sulfonylation and isonitrilation of para-quinone methides employing TosMIC as a source of sulfonyl group or isonitrile group

• Chuanhua Qu,
• Run Huang,
• Yong Li,
• Tong Liu,
• Yuan Chen and
• Guiting Song

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2822–2831, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.193

• 402160, China 10.3762/bjoc.17.193 Abstract Chemoselective sulfonylation and isonitrilation reactions for the divergent synthesis of valuable diarylmethyl sulfones and isonitrile diarylmethanes starting from easy-to-synthesize para-quinone methides (p-QMs) and commercially abundant p

• synthetic utility of this protocol was also demonstrated in the synthesis of difluoroalkylated diarylmethane 5 and diarylmethane ketone derivatives 6 and 7, which are important core structures in natural products and medicines. Keywords: chemoselective reactions; diarylmethyl sulfones; dual role

• ; isonitrile diarylmethane; synthetic utility; Introduction Sulfones are ubiquitous units commonly found in marketed drugs and natural products. Because of their unique electronic and structural properties, they are often used in medicinal chemistry programs to search for anti-inflammatory, anti-HIV

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

Synthetic reactions driven by electron-donor–acceptor (EDA) complexes

• Zhonglie Yang,
• Yutong Liu,
• Kun Cao,
• Xiaobin Zhang,
• Hezhong Jiang and
• Jiahong Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 771–799, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.67

• irradiation (Scheme 61). It was worth mentioning that longer reaction times and increased DIPEA loading were required owing to the inactivity of α-bromoketones, esters, and nonactivated sulfones; however, corresponding products could be given in high yield. When the DIPEA molarity was double that of

The synthesis of chiral β-naphthyl-β-sulfanyl ketones via enantioselective sulfa-Michael reaction in the presence of a bifunctional cinchona/sulfonamide organocatalyst

• Deniz Tözendemir and
• Cihangir Tanyeli

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 494–503, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.43

• %) catalyst loading. Selected enantiomerically enriched sulfa-Michael addition products were subjected to oxidation to obtain the corresponding sulfones. Keywords: asymmetric synthesis; bifunctional catalysis; cinchona alkaloids; organocatalysis; sulfa-Michael reaction; Introduction Derivatives of the

• inhibitor activity [33]. Due to the shown biological attractiveness of those 1,3-biarylsulfanyl derivatives, the enantioenriched products can serve as important building blocks for new drugs. The sulfide moiety of β-naphthyl-β-sulfanyl ketones can be oxidized to form sulfones. Despite that sulfones were

• -Michael reaction. The low yields of the oxidation and the fluctuations in enantioselectivity compared to the starting sulfa-Michael adducts can be attributed to this unpreventable retro-reaction. Despite this setback, the target sulfones were obtained with moderate to good ee values. Conclusion In

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

• alkynylation of cyclopropanes 161 with terminal alkynes that led to the formation of the isomeric fluorinated enynes 164 and 165. Shortly before, a Pd-catalyzed ring-opening sulfonylation of gem-difluorocyclopropanes with the formation of 2-fluoroallylic sulfones 166 has been reported (Scheme 71) [122]. The

• reaction of 2-(2,2-difluorocyclopropyl)naphthalene (167) with sodium arylsulfinates 168 under palladium catalysis afforded the 2-fluoroallylic sulfones 166 in moderate to good yields with (Z)-selectivity. This method showed a good compatibility with a broad range of substrates and substituents. As

Metal-free synthesis of biarenes via photoextrusion in di(tri)aryl phosphates

• Hisham Qrareya,
• Lorenzo Meazza,
• Stefano Protti and
• Maurizio Fagnoni

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 3008–3014, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.250

• iodides) [30][31] or by the direct photolysis of arylazo sulfones [38][39][40] and employed for the desired arylations. These reactions have the advantage of being applied to non-functionalized arenes but have the drawback to require a large excess of the nucleophilic reagent (the arene Ar–H) in up to 10

• the real extrusion of CO in diaryl ketones [48][49] or of SO2 in diaryl sulfones (Scheme 1c) [50]. Nevertheless, a recent publication demonstrated that a metal-free photoextrusion was feasible when starting from benzene sulfonamides I (Scheme 1d, path a) [51]. Following the same approach, sparse

Recent developments in enantioselective photocatalysis

• Callum Prentice,
• James Morrisson,
• Andrew D. Smith and
• Eli Zysman-Colman

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2363–2441, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.197

• initiate the chain reaction that produces the desired products 43 and 44 in excellent yields and enantioselectivities (15 examples, up to 97:3 er and 12 examples, up to 97:3 er, respectively). Subsequent progress using this methodology expanded the scope to the use of α-iodo sulfones 45, which is proposed

Selective preparation of tetrasubstituted fluoroalkenes by fluorine-directed oxetane ring-opening reactions

• Clément Q. Fontenelle,
• Thibault Thierry,
• Romain Laporte,
• Emmanuel Pfund and
• Thierry Lequeux

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1936–1946, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.160

• through an olefination reaction with benzothiazoyl sulfones (Scheme 1) [22]. With these fluoroalkylidene-oxetanes in hands, we studied the selectivity of ring-opening reactions with heteroatom nucleophiles in order to access tetrasubstituted fluoroalkenes. A control of the geometry of these reactions

Synthesis, docking study and biological evaluation of ᴅ-fructofuranosyl and ᴅ-tagatofuranosyl sulfones as potential inhibitors of the mycobacterial galactan synthesis targeting the galactofuranosyltransferase GlfT2

• Marek Baráth,
• Jana Jakubčinová,
• Zuzana Konyariková,
• Stanislav Kozmon,
• Katarína Mikušová and
• Maroš Bella

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1853–1862, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.152

• , Ilkovičova 6, SK-842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia 10.3762/bjoc.16.152 Abstract A series of ten novel ᴅ-fructofuranosyl and ᴅ-tagatofuranosyl sulfones bearing a 1-O-phosphono moiety and three different substituents at C-2 has been prepared. Due to the structural similarities of these scaffolds to the native

• originally suggested by molecular modeling having the 1-O-phosphate group stabilized by anomeric sulfones on the ᴅ-fructofuranose and ᴅ-tagatofuranose skeleton (1–3, Figure 1). Similarities in the TS structures of GnT-I and GlfT2 prompted us to examine these molecules against GlfT2, a possible target for the

• complex structure and also mimic its partial charges and charge distribution. Herein, the molecular docking, synthesis and inhibitory activity of ᴅ-fructofuranosyl and ᴅ-tagatofuranosyl sulfones 1–3 against GlfT2 are discussed. Moreover, we extended the scope of the simultaneous phosphorylation and

When metal-catalyzed C–H functionalization meets visible-light photocatalysis

• Lucas Guillemard and
• Joanna Wencel-Delord

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1754–1804, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.147

• aromatic coupling partner, including frequently used Weinreb amides or functionalized secondary and primary amides. Regarding the scope of olefin substrates, the reaction tolerated numerous functional groups including acrylates, vinyl silanes or sulfones which was interesting from the post