Recent advances in total synthesis of illisimonin A

• Juan Huang and
• Ming Yang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2571–2583, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.199

• . However, subsequent density functional theory (DFT) calculations by the Tantillo group on rearrangements of potential biosynthetic precursors revealed that structure 10 corresponds to a transition state rather than a stable intermediate of the 1,2-alkyl migration [27]. Their study further indicated that

Synthesis of the tetracyclic skeleton of Aspidosperma alkaloids via PET-initiated cationic radical-derived interrupted [2 + 2]/retro-Mannich reaction

• Ru-Dong Liu,
• Jian-Yu Long,
• Zhi-Lin Song,
• Zhen Yang and
• Zhong-Chao Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2470–2478, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.189

• of new reactions and strategies. In this work, a PET-initiated cationic radical-derived interrupted [2 + 2]/retro-Mannich reaction of N-substituted cyclobutenone provided a facile approach to the direct construction of the ABCE tetracyclic framework of Aspidosperma alkaloids. DFT calculations showed

• involves a formal 1,3-C shift. Keywords: Aspidosperma alkaloids; [2 + 2]-cycloaddition/retro-Mannich reaction; DFT study; photoinduced electron transfer; Introduction Photochemical reactions, which enable the construction of topologically complex architectures from simple building blocks, have attracted

• formation of IN1. The radical cation IN1 served as the reference point for DFT investigations. As illustrated in Figure 2a, facilitated by a favorable radical cation–π interaction [31], IN1 proceeds to the first radical addition transition state (TS1), with an energy barrier of 8.3 kcal/mol. This leads to

The intramolecular stabilizing effects of O-benzoyl substituents as a driving force of the acid-promoted pyranoside-into-furanoside rearrangement

• Alexey G. Gerbst,
• Sofya P. Nikogosova,
• Darya A. Rastrepaeva,
• Dmitry A. Argunov,
• Vadim B. Krylov and
• Nikolay E. Nifantiev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2456–2464, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.187

• , we turned to computational studies to elucidate the driving force of this pyranoside-into-furanoside isomerisation. The DFT B3LYP-D3 approach was employed for this task with additional validation of its results at DLPNO-CCSD(T) level for the lowest energy conformers. The results demonstrate that the

• equilibrium lie outside the carbohydrate ring system. Consideration of such effects is essential to rationalize the reactivity of structurally complex and densely protected carbohydrate compounds. Keywords: benzoylated galactofuranosides; DFT; DLPNO-CCSD(T); pyranoside-into-furanoside rearrangement

• in this case, a computational study was carried out. Herein, we report the obtained results. Computational Details All the calculations were performed using the ORCA 5.0.4 software package [32]. DFT B3LYP functional with the third order Grimme’s correction (D3) [33] and def2-TZVP [34] basis set were

Catalytic enantioselective synthesis of selenium-containing atropisomers via C–Se bond formations

• Qi-Sen Gao,
• Zheng-Wei Wei and
• Zhi-Min Chen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2447–2455, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.186

• excellent conversion rates (up to 95% yield) and high enantioselectivity (up to 96% ee). Notably, isoquinoline derivatives containing polycyclic naphthalene moieties or ortho-substituted phenyl groups also demonstrated good reactivity and compatibility. DFT calculations indicated that the C–Se bond

• products demonstrated complete E-stereoselectivity (E/Z ratio >20:1). Notably, under the same reaction conditions, aliphatic selenols remained unreactive. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the rate-determining step involves the nucleophilic attack of the selenium anion in

Pathway economy in cyclization of 1,n-enynes

• Hezhen Han,
• Wenjie Mao,
• Bin Lin,
• Maosheng Cheng,
• Lu Yang and
• Yongxiang Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2260–2282, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.173

• product 49 (Scheme 11, path a). When aryl or alkyl substituents were introduced on the alkyne moiety, a more stable vinylidene intermediate 50 was formed via a 6-endo-dig cyclization, ultimately leading to the generation of the bicyclo[3.3.1]nonadiene product 51 (Scheme 11, path b). DFT calculations

• cleavage to form the boronated phenanthrene framework 170. It is worth mentioning that a unique skeleton rearrangement, supported by DFT calculations, was proposed in this work, which was unprecedented in BiCl3-promoted cyclization. Conclusion This comprehensive review has systematically delineated the

A chiral LC–MS strategy for stereochemical assignment of natural products sharing a 3-methylpent-4-en-2-ol moiety in their terminal structures

• Rei Suo,
• Raku Irie,
• Hinako Nakayama,
• Yuta Ishimaru,
• Yuya Akama,
• Masato Oikawa and
• Shiro Itoi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2243–2249, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.171

• analysis, and computational methods have been widely used. For example, the absolute configuration of chaetomugilin B [19] was determined by X-ray crystallography, while that of capsulactone (1) was established through density functional theory (DFT)-based simulations of NMR chemical shifts and electronic

A m-quaterphenyl probe for absolute configurational assignments of primary and secondary amines

• Yuka Takeuchi,
• Mutsumi Kobayashi,
• Yuuka Gotoh,
• Mari Ikeda,
• Yoichi Habata,
• Tomohiko Shirai and
• Shunsuke Kuwahara

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2211–2219, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.168

• conformers, obtained via DFT calculations, show a correlation with both the sign and intensity of the experimentally observed CD spectra. Keywords: absolute configuration; chiral amine; chiral quaternary ammonium salt; circular dichroism; DFT calculation; Introduction Determining the absolute

• of all local minima employing DFT at the B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory [47]. Four low-energy conformers of (S)-3a were identified within 10.0 kJ/mol (Figure 3). Among them, conformers A and D exhibited an M twist between the long axes of the biphenyl chromophores, whereas conformers B and C displayed

• )-3a–g and (R)-3h using MMFF. All local minimum conformers were then optimized with DFT using the B3LYP/6-31G* model [47]. The lower energy conformers with relative energies ranging from 0.0 to 10.0 kJ/mol were selected. By the Bolzmann distribution based on the energy difference of the conformers at

Electrochemical cyclization of alkynes to construct five-membered nitrogen-heterocyclic rings

• Lifen Peng,
• Ting Wang,
• Zhiwen Yuan,
• Bin Li,
• Zilong Tang,
• Xirong Liu,
• Hui Li,
• Guofang Jiang,
• Chunling Zeng,
• Henry N. C. Wong and
• Xiao-Shui Peng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2173–2201, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.166

• mixture of propargyl alcohol 50 (0.7 mmol), NaN3 (2.8 mmol), n-Bu4NI (0.5 mmol) and MeCN (10 mL) under electrolysis (graphite rod as anode, stainless-steel plate as cathode, 11 mA) at rt for 10 h. According to the experimental results and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, a plausible mechanism

Understanding the origin of stereoselectivity in the photochemical denitrogenation of 2,3-diazabicyclo[2.2.1]heptene and its derivatives with non-adiabatic molecular dynamics

• Leticia A. Gomes and
• Steven A. Lopez

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2007–2020, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.156

• 0.045. These results show agreement between the electronic nature of the transition of TD-DFT, CASSCF, and CASPT2, showing that the chosen active space can capture the photophysics of the molecules. Table 1 provides the photophysical properties for the optimized ground-state geometry. However

• couplings at each 0.5 fs timestep. Our results indicate that the retained stereochemistry of housane is generated in the ground state via thermal conversion from inverted housane/diradical. Computational Details Single reference methods We used density functional theory (DFT) to optimize the ground-state

• global minima of 1, 3, and 5. The molecular geometries were optimized using B3LYP/6-31(G) [102][103]. Time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) was used to calculate the vertical excitation energies, wavelengths, and oscillator strength for the first 10 excited singlet states of 1, 3, and 5. The

Photochemical reduction of acylimidazolium salts

• Michael Jakob,
• Nick Bechler,
• Hassan Abdelwahab,
• Fabian Weber,
• Janos Wasternack,
• Leonardo Kleebauer,
• Jan P. Götze and
• Matthew N. Hopkinson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1973–1983, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.153

• density functional theory (DFT) calculations were obtained. Results and Discussion Photoreduction of 2-benzoylimidazolium triflate with diisopropylethylamine Initial investigations To investigate the potential for the light-mediated reduction of acylazolium salts, compound 1 was prepared as a

• , however, did not reveal any significant change in the absorption profile. To gain further insight, time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations were carried out (for details of the computational studies, see Supporting Information File 1). In line with the UV–vis studies, comparison of

• ][26][27][28][29][30]. The TD-DFT calculations also provided insight into the nature of the subsequent mechanistic steps where the excited benzoylimidazolium 1* is converted to the reduced zwitterionic alkoxide species E in the presence of DIPEA (Scheme 2). This requires the transfer of both an

Thermodynamics and polarity-driven properties of fluorinated cyclopropanes

• Matheus P. Freitas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1742–1747, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.137

• development of liquid crystals, ion carriers, and other technologies dependent on precise molecular properties. Computational Details The fluorinated cyclopropanes shown in Figure 1 were optimized using density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP-GD3BJ/6-311++G(d,p) level [20][21][22], which includes

Continuous-flow-enabled intensification in nitration processes: a review of technological developments and practical applications over the past decade

• Feng Zhou,
• Chuansong Duanmu,
• Yanxing Li,
• Jin Li,
• Haiqing Xu,
• Pan Wang and
• Kai Zhu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1678–1699, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.132

• selective mono- or di-nitration and facilitates late-stage C–H nitration of biorelevant molecules, with DFT/mechanistic studies revealing synergistic 'nitro effect' and 'methyl effect' underlying the reactivity [7]. Jia et al. developed dinitro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (DNDMH) as an efficient arene nitration

• process hazards through the evaluation of thermal safety parameters and DFT calculations revealed catalytic and solvent effects of ionic liquids in nitration [9]. In addition, researchers have focused on improving nitration processes through process intensification strategies by integrating advanced

Influence of the cation in hypophosphite-mediated catalyst-free reductive amination

• Natalia Lebedeva,
• Fedor Kliuev,
• Olesya Zvereva,
• Klim Biriukov,
• Evgeniya Podyacheva,
• Maria Godovikova,
• Oleg I. Afanasyev and
• Denis Chusov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1661–1670, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.130

• . The remedy for Parkinson’s disease, piribedil, was obtained in high yield. The plausible mechanism of the elaborated process was proposed and supported by DFT calculations. Keywords: amines; DFT; hypophosphites; reductive amination; role of cations; Introduction Sodium hypophosphite, NaH2PO2, is one

• the DFT calculations (Scheme 5, Figure 2). Firstly, reductive amination of an aldehyde started from a nucleophilic addition of the amine to the carbonyl group of the aldehyde. In the presence of acid, this step could occur via acidic catalysis involving a protonation step of an amine (Step_2) or

• weakly nucleophilic secondary ammonium cation to the carbonyl group occurred with ΔEa = 11.5 kcal/mol (TS2→3). In recent DFT [39] and experimental [40] studies on the reductive amination reaction it was postulated that this protonation of amine played a key role in the catalytic cycle especially in the

Catalytic asymmetric reactions of isocyanides for constructing non-central chirality

• Jia-Yu Liao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1648–1660, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.129

• cyclization of functionalized phenyl isocyanides, guided by DFT calculations (Scheme 2b) [29]. Three types of isocyanides (10–12) were evaluated in reactions with aryl iodides, affording indole-fused N-heteroaryl scaffolds 13–15, featuring either a C–C or C–N stereogenic axis, in moderate-to-high yields with

• identified. While the employment of L9 afforded endo-selective [3 + 2] cycloadducts 60, using Trost ligand L10 resulted in a complete reversal to the exo-cycloadducts 61. DFT calculations were performed and indicated that these two ligands act in different ways in the cyclization process, providing

On the aromaticity and photophysics of 1-arylbenzo[a]imidazo[5,1,2-cd]indolizines as bicolor fluorescent molecules for barium tagging in the study of double-beta decay of ¹³⁶Xe

• Eric Iván Velazco-Cabral,
• Fernando Auria-Luna,
• Juan Molina-Canteras,
• Miguel A. Vázquez,
• Iván Rivilla and
• Fernando P. Cossío

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1627–1638, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.126

• Abstract In this paper, the behavior of a bicolor fluorescent indicator for the detection of barium cations formed by double-beta decay of 136Xe is analyzed by means of computational tools. Both DFT and TDDFT permit to understand the origin of the bicolor fluorescent signal emitted by 1-arylbenzo[a]imidazo

• concluded that the aromatic character of the fluorophore is better described as the combination of two aromatic subunits integrated in the polycyclic system. Different DFT functional are used to analyze the photochemical behavior of this family of sensors. It is concluded that PBE0 and M06 functionals

• decoupling between the para-phenylene and benzo[a]imidazo[5,1,2-cd]indolizine components that results in a blue shift upon Ba2+ coordination. Keywords: aromaticity; DFT-TDDFT calculations; double-beta decay; fluorescent sensors; polycyclic arenes; Introduction Double beta-decay [1] is a radioactive decay

Synthesis of optically active folded cyclic dimers and trimers

• Ena Kumamoto,
• Kana Ogawa,
• Kazunori Okamoto and
• Yasuhiro Morisaki

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1603–1612, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.124

• spectra were simulated by time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations (TD-MN15/6-31G(d)//MN15/6-31G(d). The calculated rotatory strengths of (Sp)-6 and (Sp)-7 were plotted with their observed CD spectra in Figure 3A and 3B, respectively, and the calculated CD spectra are shown in

• ). Molecular orbitals of (Sp)-6 and (Sp)-7 in their ground and excited states were calculated using DFT and TD-DFT calculations (Figures S20–S23, Supporting Information File 1). In both molecules, the orbitals were localized to part of the π-conjugation systems rather than the whole system in the ground and

• excited states due to the twisted structures by the π-stacked [2.2]paracyclophane moieties. The CPL behaviors of (Sp)-6 and (Sp)-7 were investigated by TD-DFT calculations; namely, the electric transition dipole moment (μ), magnetic transition dipole moment (m), and the angle (θ) between μ and m in the S1

Thermodynamic equilibrium between locally excited and charge transfer states in perylene–phenothiazine dyads

• Issei Fukunaga,
• Shunsuke Kobashi,
• Yuki Nagai,
• Hiroki Horita,
• Hiromitsu Maeda and
• Yoichi Kobayashi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1577–1586, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.121

• synthesized and characterized (Figure 1). Their photophysical properties were comprehensively examined by steady-state and time-resolved emission and absorption spectroscopy. Furthermore, time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations were performed to support the experimental findings

• shown in Supporting Information File 1. Energy levels and steady-state optical properties Time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations were performed to gain insights into the electronic structures of Pe–PTZ derivatives at B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory (Figure 2) [18]. The

• absorption bands derived from the Pe moiety between 390 and 450 nm. A broad absorption feature around 320 nm, whose intensity increased with the number of TPA groups, was also observed. The increase in the absorption with the increase in the number of TPA groups is reproduced by TD-DFT calculations (Figure

pH-Controlled isomerization kinetics of ortho-disubstituted benzamidines: E/Z isomerism and axial chirality

• Ryota Kimura,
• Satoshi Ichikawa and
• Akira Katsuyama

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1568–1576, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.120

• hypothesis that the rotational barrier of the benzamidine changes upon protonation, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed for the C–N and C–N/C–C rotations of the molecular form and of the protonated 2-bromo-N,N,6-trimethylbenzimidamide as a model compound (Figure 2). Several transition

• 0.6 Å and 0.3–0.4 Å, respectively. This result indicates that protonation has a greater impact on the local minimum structures, as the p orbital of the nitrogen atom in the NMe₂ moiety and the C=N π orbital are located in the same plane, allowing for effective conjugation between them. The DFT study

• details, see Supporting Information File 1). The NMR and HPLC experiments clearly indicate that protonation of the amidine moiety increases the rotational barrier of the C–N bond, a result which is consistent with our DFT study. Since it was found that the E/Z isomers of amidine could be isolated as a TFA

Synthesis of an aza[5]helicene-incorporated macrocyclic heteroarene via oxidation of an o-phenylene-pyrrole-thiophene icosamer

• Yusuke Matsuo,
• Aoi Nakagawa,
• Shu Seki and
• Takayuki Tanaka

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1561–1567, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.119

• aza[5]helicene-incorporated macrocyclic structure (Figure 4). In the solid-state, the distance between the two aza[5]helicene moieties was found to be 3.185 Å, closely consistent with the DFT-optimized value of 3.136 Å (see Supporting Information File 1). The average dihedral angles between the o

• , the ΦF value was modest (0.072), which is lower than those of related aza[n]helicene analogs [27][28]. The fluorescence lifetime (τ) was determined by biexponential decay model fitting as 0.65 and 3.2 ns. DFT calculation was conducted to investigate the electronic structure. The HOMO and HOMO−1 are

• heteroarene 5. Supporting Information Supporting Information File 14: Experimental procedures, characterization data of all products, copies of 1H and 13C NMR spectra, optical data, and DFT calculation results. Supporting Information File 15: Crystallographic Information File for compound 4. Supporting

Azobenzene protonation as a tool for temperature sensing

• Antti Siiskonen,
• Sami Vesamäki and
• Arri Priimagi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1528–1534, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.115

• = 98–144 nm) between compounds 1–3 and their protonated counterparts (1H+–3H+; Figures S16–S18 in Supporting Information File 1). The experimental results are enticing from the applications point of view but offer little insight into details of the azobenzene–acid interactions. DFT calculations were

• polar aprotic solvent such as DCE, we assume the formation of CIP, as supported by computational results. This discussion focuses on compound 3, which showed most promising characteristics for temperature sensing, including a larger red-shift upon protonation and a broader sensing range. DFT

• obtained, irrespective of initial acid concentration (Supporting Information File 1, Table S10). This suggests that upon protonation, 3 forms an ion pair with two MSA molecules (3H+MSA−MSA), as supported also by DFT calculations. Assuming the 1:2 stoichiometry between 3 and MSA, the reaction thermodynamics

Highly distinguishable isomeric states of a tripodal arylazopyrazole derivative on graphite through electron/hole-induced switching at ambient conditions

• Himani Malik,
• Sudha Devi,
• Debapriya Gupta,
• Ankit Kumar Gaur,
• Sugumar Venkataramani and
• Thiruvancheril G. Gopakumar

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1496–1507, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.112

• memory. A pre-optimized two-layer graphite was used from the library data as provided in the Quantumwise DFT package. The lattice parameters for graphite are, a = 2.4612 Å, b = 2.4612 Å, c = 6.709 Å, and α = 60°. Molecular orbitals were obtained from the calculations performed using the Gaussian 03

Wittig reaction of cyclobisbiphenylenecarbonyl

• Taito Moribe,
• Junichiro Hirano,
• Hideaki Takano,
• Hiroshi Shinokubo and
• Norihito Fukui

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1454–1461, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.107

• nucleophilic substitution of the thus generated alkoxide to form an oxygen-containing five-membered ring. At least, density functional theory (DFT) calculations support that the nucleophilic attack of methylenetriphenylphosphorane to the exo-methylene unit is slightly favorable over reaction with the carbonyl

• signals due to the exo-methylene groups overlapped with the solvent signal in CD2Cl2. The thus obtained activation barriers of 3 and 5 were 11 and 12 kcal mol–1 at 263 and 253 K, respectively (Figure S27 in Supporting Information File 1). Previous DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory

• suggested that the bathtub conformation of CBBC 1 is slightly unfavorable than the figure-eight conformation by 2.4 kcal mol−1 [21]. On the other hand, the current DFT calculations suggest that the bathtub conformation of bis-olefin 5 is rather favorable by 0.3 kcal mol−1, which is in accordance with the

Tautomerism and switching in 7-hydroxy-8-(azophenyl)quinoline and similar compounds

• Lidia Zaharieva,
• Vera Deneva,
• Fadhil S. Kamounah,
• Nikolay Vassilev,
• Ivan Angelov,
• Michael Pittelkow and
• Liudmil Antonov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1404–1421, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.105

• stabilization of the azo tautomer and making possible long range proton transfer to the quinolyl nitrogen atom. Keywords: azo dyes; E/Z isomerization; DFT; NMR; photochemistry; proton transfer; tautomerism; UV–vis; Introduction Azo compounds have long been utilized as dyes in industries such as textiles

• free energies changes the ratios between these three tautomers, but does not change the overall situation in respect of the tautomerism. These theoretical results, obtained at the M06-2X DFT level, can be validated in several ways. The usual theoretical approach is to compare them to higher level of

•  1, while the relative Gibbs’ free energies are very near to the CCSD(T). Since this comparison does not answer the question about the reliability of the DFT data for 1, it can be relied to a compound that is well-studied before. Compound 3 is a well-known tautomeric compound, a backbone of a large

High-pressure activation for the solvent- and catalyst-free syntheses of heterocycles, pharmaceuticals and esters

• Kelsey Plasse,
• Valerie Wright,
• Guoshu Xie,
• R. Bernadett Vlocskó,
• Alexander Lazarev and
• Béla Török

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1374–1387, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.102

• using density functional theory (DFT) with the Becke three-parameter exchange and Lee–Yang–Parr correlation (B3LYP) functional [49], along with the 6–311++G(d,p) basis set for gas-phase calculations of all compounds. After completing the molecular geometry optimizations, vibrational frequency

Oxetanes: formation, reactivity and total syntheses of natural products

• Peter Gabko,
• Martin Kalník and
• Maroš Bella

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1324–1373, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.101

• loadings were necessary for ortho-substituted phenyls. Control experiments and DFT calculations revealed that the oxetane ring is formed before the tetrahydrofuran in the domino process. In 2023, Shigehisa and co-workers published a new cycloisomerisation strategy for the construction of oxetane rings from

• halogens, nitriles, alkenes and heteroaryls. On the other hand, this methodology suffers from relatively low diastereoselectivity as the dr lies between 1:1 and 2:1. DFT calculations suggested the reaction proceeds through nitrogen elimination, oxonium ylide 119 formation, homolytic cleavage and radical

• groups including esters, ketones, sulphones and heteroaryls. The mechanistic proposal, supported by DFT calculations, starts with an oxidative decarboxylation to give an aminooxetanyl radical 157. This species is in turn coupled with the aryl halide by the active Ni(0) catalyst (generated in situ by