Synthesis of HBC fluorophores with an electrophilic handle for covalent attachment to Pepper RNA

• Raphael Bereiter and
• Ronald Micura

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 727–735, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.56

• used, although often with limited success. We believe that the electrophilic warheads presented here offer an excellent balance between reactivity and selectivity for labeling of nucleic acids, and therefore, may also stimulate new designs for RNA targeting and RNA drugging. Experimental General

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

• designed in the context of cancer therapy [1], which combines the precision targeting of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with the therapeutic effects of cytotoxic drugs [2]. The ADCs are thus designed to deliver potent cytotoxic agents selectively and directly to cancer cells while minimizing damage to

• healthy tissues. Notably, ADCs have started to enter clinical trials for non-oncology applications as well [3]. The importance and value of ADCs are several fold: Precise targeting: ADCs specifically recognize their target cells because of their antibody component. This minimizes collateral damage to

• different molecules, such as a drug and a targeting moiety. This technique has been shown to be useful in applications such as cell labeling, protein–protein interactions, and photoradiosynthesis of bioconjugates, but the most important challenge remains the lack of specificity to target one amino acid, and

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

• contamination. Keywords: glutarimide; IMiD; impurity; nucleophilic acyl substitution; PROTAC; Introduction Targeted protein degradation capitalizing on the concept of chemically induced dimerization has emerged as a new therapeutic approach recently [1]. In particular, the modularity of proteolysis targeting

Antibiofilm and cytotoxic metabolites from the entomopathogenic fungus Samsoniella aurantia

• Rita Toshe,
• Syeda J. Khalid,
• Blondelle Matio Kemkuignou,
• Esteban Charria-Girón,
• Paul Eckhardt,
• Birthe Sandargo,
• Kunlapat Nuchthien,
• J. Jennifer Luangsa-ard,
• Till Opatz,
• Hedda Schrey,
• Sherif S. Ebada and
• Marc Stadler

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 327–339, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.23

• exacerbates healthcare and economic burdens, thereby prompting the urgent need for novel therapeutic strategies and antibiofilm agents. During our ongoing research targeting potential antibiofilm metabolites from fungi, we explored entomopathogenic species such as those belonging to the genera Beauveria and

Hot shape transformation: the role of PSar dehydration in stomatocyte morphogenesis

• Remi Peters,
• Levy A. Charleston,
• Karinan van Eck,
• Teun van Berlo and
• Daniela A. Wilson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 47–54, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.5

• holds profound implications for drug delivery and beyond. By tailoring vesicle morphology to specific requirements, researchers can optimize drug encapsulation, targeting, and release, advancing the efficacy and precision of therapeutic interventions. Continued exploration of these versatile materials

Giese-type alkylation of dehydroalanine derivatives via silane-mediated alkyl bromide activation

• Perry van der Heide,
• Michele Retini,
• Fabiola Fanini,
• Giovanni Piersanti,
• Francesco Secci,
• Daniele Mazzarella,
• Timothy Noël and
• Alberto Luridiana

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3274–3280, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.271

• these hydrides, we sought to combine these findings. Herein, we report a photochemical alkylation methodology targeting the olefin moiety of Dha derivatives, conducted in an aqueous solution for the aforementioned bioorthogonal advantages. Results and Discussion Inspired by previously conducted research

Multicomponent reactions driving the discovery and optimization of agents targeting central nervous system pathologies

• Lucía Campos-Prieto,
• Aitor García-Rey,
• Eddy Sotelo and
• Ana Mallo-Abreu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3151–3173, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.261

• representative articles and extend our apologies to authors whose important works may not be included. By focusing on these studies, we aim to present a clear and concise view of current research directions and significant advancements in the field. Review Ligands targeting CNS diseases obtained from MCR

5th International Symposium on Synthesis and Catalysis (ISySyCat2023)

• Anthony J. Burke and
• Elisabete P. Carreiro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2704–2707, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.227

• RdRp inhibitor, and their evaluation in an in vitro polymerase assay, targeting SARS-CoV-2 [17]. The synthesis of the new molecules involved three modifications of the HeE1-2Tyr inhibitor, which included changing the core structure from a benzothiazole to a benzoxazole unit and simplifying it to

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

• evolution using site-saturation mutagenesis targeting the putative active sites L110 and Y112, led to the variant MoBsc9 Y112M, which substantially improved the enzymatic conversion into 22, achieving an isolated yield of up to 67%. Diastereoselective reduction of the C8 ketone was then achieved using the

Photoswitchable glycoligands targeting Pseudomonas aeruginosa LecA

• Yu Fan,
• Ahmed El Rhaz,
• Stéphane Maisonneuve,
• Emilie Gillon,
• Maha Fatthalla,
• Franck Le Bideau,
• Guillaume Laurent,
• Samir Messaoudi,
• Anne Imberty and
• Juan Xie

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1486–1496, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.132

• /off or from low to high. This strategy can be used for specific targeting or local drug activation to reduce its toxicity [14]. There is an increasing use of the photoisomerization to control the conformation as well as the activities of various biomolecules with the development of photopharmacology

• [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. The group of Lindhorst has reported a series of mannosyl azobenzenes targeting E. coli lectin FimH, demonstrating the possibility to control the type 1 fimbriae-mediated bacterial adhesion to a self-assembled monolayer of mannosyl azobenzene on a gold surface [19][20

• -acetylglucosamine targeting lectin wheat germ agglutinin [25]. The binding affinity Kd evaluated by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) showed a variation by a factor of 12.5 upon photoisomerization. However, a direct photomodulation of a monovalent lectin ligand has not been achieved up to date. Based on our

Synthetic applications of the Cannizzaro reaction

• Bhaskar Chatterjee,
• Dhananjoy Mondal and
• Smritilekha Bera

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1376–1395, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.120

• -Cannizzaro reaction in the construction of the spiro-β-lactone ring while targeting the spiro-β-lactone-γ-lactam ring of oxazolomycin and lazollamycin [88]. Proceeding towards the requisite fragment they envisaged a series of crucial diastereoselective transformations arriving at the precursor 69 to the

Synthesis of 1,4-azaphosphinine nucleosides and evaluation as inhibitors of human cytidine deaminase and APOBEC3A

• Maksim V. Kvach,
• Stefan Harjes,
• Harikrishnan M. Kurup,
• Geoffrey B. Jameson,
• Elena Harjes and
• Vyacheslav V. Filichev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1088–1098, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.96

• been synthesised in the past and evaluated as inhibitors targeting the active site of CDA. THU (Ia) [45][48], zebularine (Z, IIa) [47][49][50] and 5-fluorozebularine (FZ, IIb) [47][51] as well as diazepinone riboside (IIIa) [42][43][44][52] were among the most potent compounds (Figure 1B). THU (Ia

Novel analogues of a nonnucleoside SARS-CoV-2 RdRp inhibitor as potential antivirotics

• Luca Julianna Tóth,
• Kateřina Krejčová,
• Milan Dejmek,
• Eva Žilecká,
• Blanka Klepetářová,
• Lenka Poštová Slavětínská,
• Evžen Bouřa and
• Radim Nencka

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1029–1036, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.91

• still scarce. Recently, many studies have been focusing on drug repurposing or screening libraries of already approved biologically active compounds [16][17]. This approach might represent a very promising strategy in the case of targeting the coronaviral RdRp due to the highly conserved structure of

Discovery and biosynthesis of bacterial drimane-type sesquiterpenoids from Streptomyces clavuligerus

• Dongxu Zhang,
• Wenyu Du,
• Xingming Pan,
• Xiaoxu Lin,
• Fang-Ru Li,
• Qingling Wang,
• Qian Yang,
• Hui-Min Xu and
• Liao-Bin Dong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 815–822, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.73

• to note that CavA exhibits limited substrate promiscuity, predominantly targeting the drimenol skeleton with minor variations. This selectivity may be attributed to the structural configuration of the enzyme, which appears to be finely tuned to recognize and interact with specific features of the

• of DMTs. The in vivo experiments further expanded the substrate scope of CavA to include albicanol (5) and drim-8-ene-11-ol (6), showcasing the enzyme's biocatalytic potential. This study establishes a foundation for biocatalysts targeting the A-ring of drimenol, which might be beneficial for the

Synthesis of new representatives of A₃B-type carboranylporphyrins based on meso-tetra(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin transformations

• Victoria M. Alpatova,
• Evgeny G. Rys,
• Elena G. Kononova and
• Valentina A. Ol'shevskaya

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 767–776, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.70

• tetrapyrrole compounds [9] since the delivery of a drug at a specific area in the body has vital importance to treat diseases. An alternative approach to solve this problem focused on the postfunctionalization of the porphyrin macrocycle with different linker groups capable for targeting conjugation of these

Genome mining of labdane-related diterpenoids: Discovery of the two-enzyme pathway leading to (−)-sandaracopimaradiene in the fungus Arthrinium sacchari

• Fumito Sato,
• Terutaka Sonohara,
• Shunta Fujiki,
• Akihiro Sugawara,
• Yohei Morishita,
• Taro Ozaki and
• Teigo Asai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 714–720, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.65

• inhibitor aphidicolin [28] and a ribosome-targeting antibiotic pleuromutilin [29] (Figure 1), they remained as underexplored targets in genome-mining approaches. In this study, we examined the biosynthetic genes for LRDs and identified two TCs consisting of αβ and αβγ domains. Heterologous expression in

Entry to new spiroheterocycles via tandem Rh(II)-catalyzed O–H insertion/base-promoted cyclization involving diazoarylidene succinimides

• Alexander Yanovich,
• Anastasia Vepreva,
• Ksenia Malkova,
• Grigory Kantin and
• Dmitry Dar’in

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 561–569, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.48

• modern drug design [1][2]. They are known to promote higher success rates, when targeting three-dimensional protein molecules [3][4]. Furthermore, a wide variety of spirocyclic fragments can be spotted in natural products [5]. The aspects mentioned unveil the development of synthetic methodologies

Green and sustainable approaches for the Friedel–Crafts reaction between aldehydes and indoles

• Periklis X. Kolagkis,
• Eirini M. Galathri and
• Christoforos G. Kokotos

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 379–426, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.36

• general extends to other types of cancers as well, such as prostate cancer by being an androgen receptor (AR) agonist in LNCaP prostate cancer cells [6]. DIM controls cell growth rates in AR-negative cells, while also targeting the mitochondria inducing apoptosis, which alleviates some of the symptoms of

• antiviral properties. BIMs function as selective antibacterial agents against several virulent Escherichia coli (E. coli) strains, which can cause many gut and urinary tract infections. They act by damaging DNA molecules and inhibiting their replication in bacteria, while also targeting the proteins that

Photoinduced in situ generation of DNA-targeting ligands: DNA-binding and DNA-photodamaging properties of benzo[c]quinolizinium ions

• Julika Schlosser,
• Olga Fedorova,
• Yuri Fedorov and
• Heiko Ihmels

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 101–117, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.11

• a change of the DNA structure or occupy binding sites of essential enzymes, which in turn may influence or even inhibit important biochemical processes, for example DNA replication or transcription [1][2]. As a result, the development of DNA-targeting drugs still involves the design of suitable DNA

• compounds, which have been employed in biomedical imaging and as potential DNA-targeting anticancer agents [14][15][16][17]. More recently, a benzoquinolizinium-based fluorescent dye was reported to be used as imaging agent for inflammation and for the evaluation of the physiological response to anti

• intercalators and bind to DNA with Kb values of 6.0–11 × 104 M–1. Importantly, the ligand–DNA complex may be accessed as needed in situ upon irradiation of the styrylpyridines 2c,e–g in the presence of DNA, which is a useful feature of DNA-targeting substrates, specifically for a spatio-temporal control of this

Identification of the p-coumaric acid biosynthetic gene cluster in Kutzneria albida: insights into the diazotization-dependent deamination pathway

• Seiji Kawai,
• Akito Yamada,
• Yohei Katsuyama and
• Yasuo Ohnishi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1–11, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.1

• [4]. To further understand the role of the ANS pathway in secondary metabolism, we recently identified the BGC for avenalumic acid (ava cluster, see the lower right corner of Figure 1B for its structure) by genome mining targeting the ANS pathway in Streptomyces sp. RI-77, and revealed its entire

N-Boc-α-diazo glutarimide as efficient reagent for assembling N-heterocycle-glutarimide diads via Rh(II)-catalyzed N–H insertion reaction

• Grigory Kantin,
• Pavel Golubev,
• Alexander Sapegin,
• Alexander Bunev and
• Dmitry Dar’in

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1841–1848, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.136

• ; Introduction Targeted protein degradation (TPD) has transformed the field of drug discovery [1][2]. Utilizing proximity-induced pharmacological strategies [3], this method has fostered the creation of numerous molecular glues and proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs). By manipulation of the internal

Selectivity control towards CO versus H₂ for photo-driven CO₂ reduction with a novel Co(II) catalyst

• Lisa-Lou Gracia,
• Philip Henkel,
• Olaf Fuhr and
• Claudia Bizzarri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1766–1775, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.129

• ]. The use of bimetallic complexes has resulted in a favorable mechanism, increasing yields tremendously [36][37][38]. Targeting efficient completely earth-abundant metal-based systems, we have designed a novel Co(II) catalyst for the reduction of CO2 (complex 1 in Figure 1). The design aimed at a stable

Tying a knot between crown ethers and porphyrins

• Maksym Matviyishyn and
• Bartosz Szyszko

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1630–1650, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.120

• iron(II) and manganese(II) complexes with similar compositions. Interestingly, by-products incorporating the [2 + 2] macrocycles were isolated from the reaction mixtures targeting 16-Fe, 18a-Fe and 16-Mn, 18a-Mn (Figure 13) [67]. The helical geometry of [16-M]2 was attributed to the inherent

Total synthesis of insect sex pheromones: recent improvements based on iron-mediated cross-coupling chemistry

• Eric Gayon,
• Guillaume Lefèvre,
• Olivier Guerret,
• Adrien Tintar and
• Pablo Chourreu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 158–166, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.15

• . Those results clearly demonstrate that magnesium alkoxide additives per se can play a beneficial role in alkyl–alkenyl iron-mediated cross-coupling reactions, similarly to the results observed when NMP is used as a co-solvent (Scheme 2b). Therefore, targeting applications in pheromone synthesis, we

Insight into oral amphiphilic cyclodextrin nanoparticles for colorectal cancer: comprehensive mathematical model of drug release kinetic studies and antitumoral efficacy in 3D spheroid colon tumors

• Sedat Ünal,
• Gamze Varan,
• Juan M. Benito,
• Yeşim Aktaş and
• Erem Bilensoy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 139–157, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.14

• formulation approaches for targeting the colon through oral administration. In our previous studies, oral chemotherapy for colon tumors was aimed and promising results were obtained with formulation development studies, mucin interaction, mucus penetration, cytotoxicity, and permeability in 2D cell culture

• mathematically by release kinetic modeling for the first time. The overall findings indicated that the strategy of orally targeting anticancer drugs such as CPT with positively charged poly-β-CD-C6 nanoparticles to colon tumors for local and/or systemic efficacy is a promising approach. Keywords: colorectal

• intestinal microflora and dextrans are broken down by the endodextranases in the colon. Since they can predominantly be degraded by colonic microflora, CDs have been investigated in terms of drug delivery systems targeting the colon for many years [9][23][24]. Amphiphilic CD nanocarriers have been