Switchable molecular tweezers: design and applications

• Pablo Msellem,
• Maksym Dekthiarenko,
• Nihal Hadj Seyd and
• Guillaume Vives

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 504–539, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.45

• protecting arms to move away from the salen complex thereby exposing the catalytic site. This triple-layer catalyst was applied in the control of a ring-opening polymerization reaction. The open state achieved full monomer conversion, while the closed state exhibited minimal activity (7% conversion after 100

Investigation of cationic ring-opening polymerization of 2-oxazolines in the “green” solvent dihydrolevoglucosenone

• Solomiia Borova and
• Robert Luxenhofer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 217–230, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.21

• biomedical applications in, e.g., drug delivery systems, tissue engineering and more. Commonly, the synthesis of poly(2-oxazoline)s involves problematic organic solvents that are not ideal from a safety and sustainability point of view. In this study, we investigated the cationic ring-opening polymerization

• which interfere with the cationic ring-opening polymerization of 2-oxazolines (Figure 5). It has been reported that DLG can undergo keto–enol tautomerism and form enols or can participate in nucleophilic addition reactions [49]. Furthermore, it can react with water to its hydrated form, a geminal diol

• recently commercialized “green” solvent dihydrolevoglucosenone for the cationic ring-opening polymerization of 2-alkyl-2-oxazolines, namely 2-methyl-, 2-ethyl-, and 2-butyl-2-oxazolines. The effect of temperature, monomer concentration, and initiator type on the resulting polymers was investigated. The

A two-phase bromination process using tetraalkylammonium hydroxide for the practical synthesis of α-bromolactones from lactones

• Yuki Yamamoto,
• Akihiro Tabuchi,
• Kazumi Hosono,
• Takanori Ochi,
• Kento Yamazaki,
• Shintaro Kodama,
• Akihiro Nomoto and
• Akiya Ogawa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2906–2914, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.198

• conditions. In sharp contrast, the corresponding six-membered α-bromo-δ-valerolactone has a more-distorted ring and is extremely unstable, even at room temperature [39][40][41]. In fact, it must be stored in a freezer because ring-opening polymerization and ring-contraction reactions occur readily at room

Progress and challenges in the synthesis of sequence controlled polysaccharides

• Giulio Fittolani,
• Theodore Tyrikos-Ergas,
• Denisa Vargová,
• Manishkumar A. Chaube and
• Martina Delbianco

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1981–2025, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.129

• access a broader scope of cellulose modifications, chemical polymerization is a more suitable option. Ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of orthoesters 4 (Scheme 1B) is an established procedure for the synthesis of β(1–4)-glucopyranan structures. The first chemical synthesis of stereoregular cellulose was

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

• ]. The radical ring-opening polymerization (RROP) provides a synthetic route to fluoropolymers, which are useful materials [91]. The RROP of gem-difluorovinylcyclopropane (90) gave mainly the polymer with an unsymmetrical repeating unit, by the cleavage of the C2–C3 bond in the ring (Scheme 44, path a

One-pot synthesis of oxazolidinones and five-membered cyclic carbonates from epoxides and chlorosulfonyl isocyanate: theoretical evidence for an asynchronous concerted pathway

• Esra Demir,
• Ozlem Sari,
• Yasin Çetinkaya,
• Ufuk Atmaca,
• Safiye Sağ Erdem and
• Murat Çelik

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1805–1819, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.148

• pharmaceutical products [15]. Moreover, they are used as electrolyte components in Li-ion rechargeable cells and as aprotic polar solvent with high boiling point as alternative of dangerous solvents because of their good biodegradability and low toxicity [16][17][18]. Synthetic intermediates for ring-opening

• polymerization of the compounds containing cyclic carbonates such as methyl 4,6-O-benzylidene-2,3-O-carbonyl-α-ᴅ-glucopyranoside (MBCG) (5) [19][20] and glycerol carbonate (6) [21] were also reported (Scheme 1). Therefore, numerous synthetic approaches have been developed to date for the preparation of

Photophysics and photochemistry of NIR absorbers derived from cyanines: key to new technologies based on chemistry 4.0

• Bernd Strehmel,
• Christian Schmitz,
• Ceren Kütahya,
• Yulian Pang,
• Anke Drewitz and
• Heinz Mustroph

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 415–444, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.40

• in lower molecular weight products caused by cleavage of the methine chain and conjugate acid, see Equation 7 [5][63]. The latter can initiate ring opening polymerization of aziridines [5] and oxiranes [63]. We also prefer to use the term conjugate acid instead of proton. The use of the latter widely

• case of [PF6]–-salts while no issues have been reported for the aluminate [6]. The oxidized intermediate PA+• (Equation 7) forms the conjugate acid by decomposition of this instable intermediate resulting in nucleophilic photoproducts inhibiting ring opening polymerization mechanism where carbocations

A green, economical synthesis of β-ketonitriles and trifunctionalized building blocks from esters and lactones

• Daniel P. Pienaar,
• Kamogelo R. Butsi,
• Amanda L. Rousseau and
• Dean Brady

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2930–2935, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.287

• alkoxide anions. This reduces the occurrence of undesirable side-reactions, e.g., intermolecular aldol reaction, lactone/ketonitrile product dimerization and ring-opening polymerization. The application of this method to produce the analogous hemiketal 6 from γ-butyrolactone was not as efficient. Although

Mechanochemical synthesis of poly(trimethylene carbonate)s: an example of rate acceleration

• Sora Park and
• Jeung Gon Kim

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 963–970, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.93

• improvement of reaction efficiency. The high impact collision energy [28][29] and exothermic nature of the given ring-opening polymerization [30] could increase the temperature of a ball-mill system, which would speed up the polymerization rate [31][32]. To gain insight into thermal effects, we monitored the

• Discussion Aliphatic polycarbonates are found in many biomedical applications since they have many desirable properties such as high biocompatibility, easy degradation, good mechanical properties, and low toxicity [21][22][23]. Many synthetic methods have been developed, and the chain-growth ring-opening

• polymerization of cyclic carbonates, such as trimethylene carbonate (TMC) and its derivatives have been used for the controlled synthesis of high-molecular weight polymers. Among many catalysts, organocatalysts have attracted considerable attention, since the use of nontoxic catalysts warrants a safe use in

Organometallic vs organic photoredox catalysts for photocuring reactions in the visible region

• Aude-Héloise Bonardi,
• Frédéric Dumur,
• Guillaume Noirbent,
• Jacques Lalevée and
• Didier Gigmes

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 3025–3046, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.282

• generation of silylium cations is possible. These cations have been described in the literature for initiation of ring-opening polymerization processes [25]. Cations Ph-NVK+ produced in catalytic cycle (Figure 5B) have also been well noted in the literature as highly reactive structures [26][27]. Amines

Copolymerization of epoxides with cyclic anhydrides catalyzed by dinuclear cobalt complexes

• Yo Hiranoi and
• Koji Nakano

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 2779–2788, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.255

• . However, there are some burdensome requisites, such as a precise stoichiometric balance between the carboxy and hydroxy groups and an efficient removal of small molecule byproducts, for the high conversion. Another conventional method for polyester synthesis is the chain-growth ring-opening polymerization

Nanoreactors for green catalysis

• M. Teresa De Martino,
• Loai K. E. A. Abdelmohsen,
• Floris P. J. T. Rutjes and
• Jan C. M. van Hest

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 716–733, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.61

• recycling. Polymeric nanoreactors were also used to perform ring-opening polymerization (ROP) in water. Nallani et al. reported on the enzymatic polymerization of lactones using CalB, which was immobilized in both the polymersome lumen and bi-layer [21]. Nanoreactors for ROP were prepared from polystyrene

Mannich base-connected syntheses mediated by ortho-quinone methides

• Petra Barta,
• Ferenc Fülöp and
• István Szatmári

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 560–575, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.43

• 57, which were used to connect with site-directing ligands [89] (Scheme 9). As reactive intermediates, o-QMs can also play the role of monomers in polymerization reactions. Ishida et al. reported the ring-opening polymerization of monofunctional alkyl-substituted aromatic amine-based benzoxazines [90

Solid-state mechanochemical ω-functionalization of poly(ethylene glycol)

• Michael Y. Malca,
• Pierre-Olivier Ferko,
• Tomislav Friščić and
• Audrey Moores

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1963–1968, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.191

• chelation or ligand-exchange reactions at metal-based nanomaterials with ω-functionalized PEG polymers [16][17][18]. The two most common methods for accessing ω-functionalized PEG derivatives are solution-based through either ring-opening polymerization of ethylene oxide unites or modification of

New approaches to organocatalysis based on C–H and C–X bonding for electrophilic substrate activation

• Pavel Nagorny and
• Zhankui Sun

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2834–2848, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.283

• [50][51]. In 2013 Bibal and co-workers investigated the use of methylated amines, pyridines and guanidines (L11) as hydrogen bond-donor catalysts for the activation of cyclic esters toward ring-opening polymerization (ROP) [53]. Ionic catalysts L11 (5 mol %) were successfully employed in combination

Recent advances in metathesis-derived polymers containing transition metals in the side chain

• Ileana Dragutan,
• Valerian Dragutan,
• Bogdan C. Simionescu,
• Albert Demonceau and
• Helmut Fischer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 2747–2762, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.296

• ) polymerization [15][16], living ionic polymerizations, specifically ring-opening polymerization (ROP) [17], as well as migration insertion polymerization (MIP) [18], acyclic diene metathesis polymerization (ADMET) [19][20] and ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) [21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. These

Synthesis, antimicrobial and cytotoxicity evaluation of new cholesterol congeners

• Mohamed Ramadan El Sayed Aly,
• Hosam Ali Saad and
• Shams Hashim Abdel-Hafez

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 1922–1932, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.208

• this mechanism, synthetic polycarbonates arising from organocatalytic ring-opening polymerization of cholesterol monomers were reported to create self-assemblies possessing high interior charge density and wide spectrum antimicrobial activity [6]. Interestingly, the causative vector of human gastritis

Peptide–polymer ligands for a tandem WW-domain, an adaptive multivalent protein–protein interaction: lessons on the thermodynamic fitness of flexible ligands

• Katharina Koschek,
• Vedat Durmaz,
• Oxana Krylova,
• Marek Wieczorek,
• Shilpi Gupta,
• Martin Richter,
• Alexander Bujotzek,
• Christina Fischer,
• Rainer Haag,
• Christian Freund,
• Marcus Weber and
• Jörg Rademann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 837–847, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.93

• dendritic structure of hPG can be expected to limit the flexibility of attached ligands compared to a linear polymer and might induce a more globular arrangement of the ligands. The hPG polymer carrier was synthesized via an anionic ring-opening polymerization of glycidol [20] and also modified with

Multivalent dendritic polyglycerolamine with arginine and histidine end groups for efficient siRNA transfection

• Fatemeh Sheikhi Mehrabadi,
• Hanxiang Zeng,
• Mark Johnson,
• Cathleen Schlesener,
• Zhibin Guan and
• Rainer Haag

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 763–772, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.86

• with low dispersity. Moreover, the tree-like structure of such polymers provides multivalent positions for functionalization and interaction with DNA/siRNA. Dendritic polyglycerol (dPG) can be synthesized on a kilogram scale by a one-step, ring-opening polymerization of glycidol with controllable sizes

A green approach to the synthesis of novel phytosphingolipidyl β-cyclodextrin designed to interact with membranes

• Yong Miao,
• Florence Djedaïni-Pilard and
• Véronique Bonnet

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 2654–2657, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.278

• this reaction without DMF. Recently, Zinck et al. have reported the controlled ring-opening polymerization of lactide using bulk conditions [11]. They demonstrated that the reaction in bulk is much faster than the reaction in dichloromethane (for a ratio monomer/ROH of 30, 25 min, conversion = 95% in

Synthesis of graft polyrotaxane by simultaneous capping of backbone and grafting from rings of pseudo-polyrotaxane

• Kazuaki Kato,
• Katsunari Inoue,
• Masabumi Kudo and
• Kohzo Ito

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 2573–2579, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.269

• , 277-0882, Japan 10.3762/bjoc.10.269 Abstract Graft polyrotaxanes, with poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) graft chains on the ring components were synthesized by the simultaneous ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone from both ends of the backbone polymer, an end-functionalized polyethylene glycol

• , the ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone can be initiated from the CDs or the backbone ends. PCL chains grafted from the polymer ends may behave as capping groups when more than two chains are grafted to make branched polymer ends, as the chain itself is not bulky enough. Notably, PCL is thin

• form an inclusion complex with α-CD, indicating that the PCL chains at the ends of PEG cannot prevent the dethreading of the CDs. We demonstrated the complexation between α-CD and PCL-PEG-PCL triblock copolymers. The triblock copolymer was synthesized by the ring-opening polymerization of ε

An economical and safe procedure to synthesize 2-hydroxy-4-pentynoic acid: A precursor towards ‘clickable’ biodegradable polylactide

• Quanxuan Zhang,
• Hong Ren and
• Gregory L. Baker

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 1365–1371, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.139

• functional groups to PLA is highly desirable to modulate the physicochemical properties of the resulting polymers, such as hydrophilicity. Recently, numerous α,ω-chain end functionalized PLAs have been reported through ring-opening polymerization of lactide by judicious choice of initiating alcohols and

• further post-polymerization modification of ω-chain end hydroxy groups [6][7][8]. Moreover, the appending functionalities along PLA backbones provide great opportunities for altering physical and/or chemical properties of PLAs. PLA with pendent functional groups can be achieved by ring-opening

• polymerization of functional lactide monomers, post-polymerization modification, or a combination of these two approaches. The appending hydroxy [9], carboxyl [10], poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) [11][12][13][14], allyl [15], azido [16] and acetylene [17] functionalities on PLA backbones have been reported and

Atherton–Todd reaction: mechanism, scope and applications

• Stéphanie S. Le Corre,
• Mathieu Berchel,
• Hélène Couthon-Gourvès,
• Jean-Pierre Haelters and
• Paul-Alain Jaffrès

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 1166–1196, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.117

Metal and metal-free photocatalysts: mechanistic approach and application as photoinitiators of photopolymerization

• Jacques Lalevée,
• Sofia Telitel,
• Pu Xiao,
• Marc Lepeltier,
• Frédéric Dumur,
• Fabrice Morlet-Savary,
• Didier Gigmes and
• Jean-Pierre Fouassier

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 863–876, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.83

• (JASCO FTIR 4100) at about 1630 cm−1 as in [15]. iv) The ring opening polymerization of epoxides: The photosensitive formulations were deposited (25 µm thick) on a BaF2 pellet under air. The evolution of the epoxy group content was continuously followed by real time FTIR spectroscopy (JASCO FTIR 4100) at

• in an oxidative cycle in combination with Ph2I+ and NVK. The polymerization initiating ability of the Ir(piq)2(tmd)/Ph2I+/NVK system The polymerization profile for the ring-opening polymerization of EPOX using a Ir(piq)2(tmd)/Ph2I+/NVK initiating system upon a laser diode at 532 nm is depicted in

Polyglycerol-functionalized nanodiamond as a platform for gene delivery: Derivatization, characterization, and hybridization with DNA

• Li Zhao,
• Yuki Nakae,
• Hongmei Qin,
• Tadamasa Ito,
• Takahide Kimura,
• Hideto Kojima,
• Lawrence Chan and
• Naoki Komatsu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 707–713, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.64

• vector consisting of nanodiamond, polyglycerol, and basic polypeptide (ND-PG-BPP) has been designed, synthesized, and characterized. The ND-PG-BPP was synthesized by PG functionalization of ND through ring-opening polymerization of glycidol on the ND surface, multistep organic transformations (–OH → –OTs

• , which is covered with organic functional groups [12]. Quite recently, we found that ring-opening polymerization of glycidol is initiated at the oxygen-containing functionalities, hydroxy and carboxy groups, on the ND surface to give polyglycerol- (PG) grafted ND with 30 nm size (ND30-PG) [13]. The

• ) effect, ND with 50 nm size was chosen for this study. The ND50 was covalently functionalized with hyperbranched PG through ring-opening polymerization of glycidol according to the procedure we reported previously [13]. The resulting ND50-PG was characterized qualitatively by FTIR and 1H NMR, and