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

• construction, alkyne hydrogenation, ylide and carbene reaction, metathesis, E/Z isomerization, and other methods, including Cα and Cβ functionalizations. Preparing various functional group-tethered aromatic groups can be achieved by directly installing an aromatic group via cross-coupling reactions and other

Substituent effects in N-acetylated phenylazopyrazole photoswitches

• Radek Tovtik,
• Dennis Marzin,
• Pia Weigel,
• Stefano Crespi and
• Nadja A. Simeth

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 830–838, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.66

• irradiation with 445 nm can be explained by the presence of a competing E→Z isomerization at the same wavelength. In general, NAc-PAPs show only a minor substitution effect on the PSD upon irradiation with 365 or 445 nm LED light. Next, we studied the photoisomerization quantum yields (QYs) ΦE→Z and ΦZ→E and

Synthesis and photoinduced switching properties of C₇-heteroatom containing push–pull norbornadiene derivatives

• Daniel Krappmann and
• Andreas Hirsch

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 807–816, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.64

• heat, catalysis, or an electrochemical input [4][5][6], the stored energy can be released converting the molecule back in the parent form (Figure 1). Typical MOST systems are azobenzenes (E/Z-isomerization) [7][8][9][10], the isomerization of dihydroazulenes/vinylheptafulvenes [11][12][13], conversion

Development and mechanistic studies of calcium–BINOL phosphate-catalyzed hydrocyanation of hydrazones

• Carola Tortora,
• Christian A. Fischer,
• Sascha Kohlbauer,
• Alexandru Zamfir,
• Gerd M. Ballmann,
• Jürgen Pahl,
• Sjoerd Harder and
• Svetlana B. Tsogoeva

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 755–765, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.59

• the R-product from E-hydrazone is slightly lower in energy (Table 3). However, the activation barrier for the rate-limiting step is 0.4 kcal·mol−1 lower for the pathway shown in Figure 2 and that yields the S-product from the Z-hydrazone. As the activation barrier to thermal E/Z-isomerization is more

Orthogonal photoswitching of heterobivalent azobenzene glycoclusters: the effect of glycoligand orientation in bacterial adhesion

• Leon M. Friedrich and
• Thisbe K. Lindhorst

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 736–748, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.57

• ]. Specifically, the reversible E/Z isomerization of the azo group in azobenzene glycosides is suited to control the spatial presentation of glycoligands and, for example, switch carbohydrate-specific bacterial adhesion on and off [20][21][22][23]. Indeed, glycoazobenzene derivatives are excellent tools to

N-Glycosides of indigo, indirubin, and isoindigo: blue, red, and yellow sugars and their cancerostatic activity

• Peter Langer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2840–2869, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.240

• in case of the oxoindirubins 41 seems to decrease this unfavorable dipol situation in case of the E-configured isomers. It is likely, that an E/Z isomerization takes place under acidic conditions. The barrier of this equilibrium is most likely lowered by the presence of the ring oxygen as it

1,2-Difluoroethylene (HFO-1132): synthesis and chemistry

• Liubov V. Sokolenko,
• Taras M. Sokolenko and
• Yurii L. Yagupolskii

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1955–1966, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.171

• required 2–3 weeks at the same temperature. In this case, sufficient E–Z isomerization of the starting olefin occurred during the reaction, and the major product was 5,6-endo,endo-difluoro-1,2,3,4,7,7-hexachlorobicyclo[2.2.1]-2-heptene, which was formed from (Z)-1,2-difluoroethylene (Scheme 20). Both

Mechanistic investigations of polyaza[7]helicene in photoredox and energy transfer catalysis

• Johannes Rocker,
• Till J. B. Zähringer,
• Matthias Schmitz,
• Till Opatz and
• Christoph Kerzig

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1236–1245, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.106

• (distance 6 cm) was used as the excitation light source. D) Irradiation experiments of (E)-stilbene (blue) and (Z)-stilbene (red) with 2 mol % Aza-H employing a 427 nm LED as light source. E) Schematic energy diagram of triplet sensitized E/Z isomerization of stilbene. F) Reaction scheme of the cyclization

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

Photochromic derivatives of indigo: historical overview of development, challenges and applications

• Gökhan Kaplan,
• Zeynel Seferoğlu and
• Daria V. Berdnikova

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 228–242, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.23

• of prospective applications of indigo photoswitches. Keywords: indigoid dyes; photochemistry; photophysics; photoswitching; E–Z isomerization; Review Historical milestones in the development of photochromic indigo derivatives 1954: first reported photochromic indigo derivative – N,N'-diacetylindigo

• irradiation with orange light in several solvents [40]. However, due to the technical limitations of the spectrometer, Pummerer and Marondel were not able to detect the short-living Z-11a in aromatic solvents such as benzene, bromobenzene and pyridine. Nevertheless, the E–Z isomerization of 11a was observed

• , 11a, 14a and the twisting angles or the C=C stretching frequencies was found. Therefore, the hypsochromic shift observed during the E–Z isomerization of N,N'-disubstituted indigos cannot be explained by a larger twisting angle in the Z-isomer [61]. As was mentioned above, the contribution of the

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

• formation of different intermediates in the reaction sequence starting with E–Z isomerization, followed by photocyclization and subsequent oxidation. In general, the photoreaction was more efficient in polar, protic aqueous solvents (cf. Supporting Information File 1, Figures S2B–S6B) or in buffer solution

Effects of the aldehyde-derived ring substituent on the properties of two new bioinspired trimethoxybenzoylhydrazones: methyl vs nitro groups

• Dayanne Martins,
• Roberta Lamosa,
• Talis Uelisson da Silva,
• Carolina B. P. Ligiero,
• Sérgio de Paula Machado,
• Daphne S. Cukierman and
• Nicolás A. Rey

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1713–1727, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.125

• ability to undergo E/Z isomerization in a stimuli-responsive imine bond is what makes this class useful for applications in the field of molecular electronics, as switchers [5][6]. In addition, these compounds can also adopt syn- or antiperiplanar conformations, due to the constriction of the rotation

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

Transition-metal-catalyzed domino reactions of strained bicyclic alkenes

• Austin Pounder,
• Eric Neufeld,
• Peter Myler and
• William Tam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 487–540, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.38

• undergoing reductive elimination to afford to [2 + 2] adduct, β-oxygen elimination followed by E/Z isomerization and intramolecular lactonization generates the annulated coumarin scaffold. In 2003, the Cheng lab extended on this Ni-catalyzed ring-opening strategy [31]. It was noted the addition of 1.5

Catalytic aza-Nazarov cyclization reactions to access α-methylene-γ-lactam heterocycles

• Bilge Banu Yagci,
• Selin Ezgi Donmez,
• Onur Şahin and
• Yunus Emre Türkmen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 66–77, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.6

• chloride-mediated iminium E–Z isomerization may take place through the intermediacy of α-chloroamide 21. The aza-Nazarov reaction of the more stable E-iminium ion 20b is expected to proceed faster due to steric considerations giving the major diastereomer 19 whereas the less stable Z-iminium ion 20a would

• provide the minor diastereomer 22. In the case of aza-Nazarov reactions of 3,4-dihydroisoquinoline derivatives, an E–Z isomerization of the iminium intermediates is not possible due to their cyclic nature, which leads to the formation of the aza-Nazarov products as single diastereomers. The aza-Nazarov

• -Nazarov product 7b, albeit in a lower yield (24%). The fact that the other diastereomer of the aza-Nazarov product 7b, which would be formed via the reaction of acyl chloride 6bb with (Z)-olefin configuration, was not observed in this transformation points to a potential E–Z isomerization during the

Substituted nitrogen-bridged diazocines

• Pascal Lentes,
• Jeremy Rudtke,
• Thomas Griebenow and
• Rainer Herges

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1503–1508, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.107

• . Moreover, the photoconversion yield for the E→Z isomerization is quantitative (within the detection limit of UV and NMR spectroscopy). A high efficiency in switching the biological activity off is important to avoid side effects of residual concentrations of the active form [13]. Water solubility and high

• to unsubstituted diazocines 10c and 11c. The activation barrier (EA) of the E→Z isomerization (obtained by an Arrhenius plot) is higher in formylated compounds 11 compared to acetylated compounds 10 and is further increased by halogenation. The unsubstituted N-formyl diazocine 11c and brominated NAc

Vicinal difluorination as a C=C surrogate: an analog of piperine with enhanced solubility, photostability, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity

• Yuvixza Lizarme-Salas,
• Alexandra Daryl Ariawan,
• Ranjala Ratnayake,
• Hendrik Luesch,
• Angela Finch and
• Luke Hunter

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2663–2670, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.216

• to undergo facile E/Z isomerization upon the absorption of UV photons, leading rapidly to a mixture of all four possible geometric isomers of 1 [15][16][17]. In the present work, this phenomenon was confirmed by exposing an ethanolic solution of 1 to sunlight for 2.5 h (Figure 3). The analysis of the

Starazo triple switches – synthesis of unsymmetrical 1,3,5-tris(arylazo)benzenes

• Andreas H. Heindl and
• Hermann A. Wegner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 22–31, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.4

• switchable multistate photoswitches: previous [11][12] and present work. a) UV–vis spectra of tris(arylazo)benzenes 3a/3b in ethanol. b) Reversible photoisomerization of 3a and c) 3b using light of 365 nm wavelength to induce E→Z isomerization and of 448 nm wavelength for photochemical back-conversion

Design, synthesis and investigation of water-soluble hemi-indigo photoswitches for bioapplications

• Daria V. Berdnikova

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2822–2829, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.275

• this case, the backward E–Z isomerization of E-1c from PSS470 took place within 5 h resulting in almost complete restoration of the initial absorbance of Z-1c in the PSS590 (Figure 1C). Investigation of the photostationary mixtures by fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that the photoinduced isomers E

• responsible for the rate of thermal E–Z isomerization pointing out the importance of the Coulomb interactions between hemi-indigo and buffer components. A possible explanation of this observation can be provided by the comparison with structurally related hemi(thio)indigo dyes [22]. Thus, in the case of hemi

A chiral self-sorting photoresponsive coordination cage based on overcrowded alkenes

• Constantin Stuckhardt,
• Diederik Roke,
• Wojciech Danowski,
• Edwin Otten,
• Sander J. Wezenberg and
• Ben L. Feringa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2767–2773, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.268

• THI of this isomer. Conversion of cage Pd2(stable E-1)4 to Pd2(unstable Z-1)4 by photochemical E/Z isomerization of ligand stable E-1 to unstable Z-1 was performed by irradiation of a sample of Pd2(stable E-1)4 at 312 nm at −20 °C (Figure 5iv). Signals of cage Pd2(stable Z-1)4 disappeared and the

• experiments highlight the reversible formation of Pd2(unstable Z-1)4 through photochemical E/Z isomerization of the ligands. On the other hand, allowing the THI of ligands unstable Z-1 in cage Pd2(unstable Z-1)4 to take place by leaving the solution at room temperature for 5 d did not lead to the formation of

Reversible switching of arylazopyrazole within a metal–organic cage

• Anton I. Hanopolskyi,
• Soumen De,
• Michał J. Białek,
• Yael Diskin-Posner,
• Liat Avram,
• Moran Feller and
• Rafal Klajn

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2398–2407, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.232

• guest molecules inside the cage was demonstrated independently by NMR spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Exposure to UV light resulted in an E→Z isomerization of the guest, which was accompanied by the expulsion of one of two guest molecules from the cage. Different from the previously

Azologization and repurposing of a hetero-stilbene-based kinase inhibitor: towards the design of photoswitchable sirtuin inhibitors

• Christoph W. Grathwol,
• Nathalie Wössner,
• Sören Swyter,
• Adam C. Smith,
• Enrico Tapavicza,
• Robert K. Hofstetter,
• Anja Bodtke,
• Manfred Jung and
• Andreas Link

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2170–2183, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.214

• physicochemical properties upon irradiation with light, represent one major approach to this. One of the most common light-driven transformations exploited in molecular photoswitches is the E–Z isomerization of double bonds [18]. In this context, the photochemistry of stilbenes and the closely related azobenzenes

• provided deeper insights and clarified the differential behaviour observed in the UV–vis spectra of 2b and 2f after UV irradiation. As anticipated, UV irradiation lead to E→Z isomerization of the C=C double bond in both compounds. The (Z)-isomers were found to be slightly more polar than the respective (E

Oxidative and reductive cyclization in stiff dithienylethenes

• Michael Kleinwächter,
• Ellen Teichmann,
• Lutz Grubert,
• Martin Herder and
• Stefan Hecht

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 2812–2821, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.259

• the double bond geometry. Since ring-closure requires the two reactive α-thienyl carbon atoms to approach each other, presumably an additional electrochemically induced E → Z isomerization occurs prior to cyclization. Indeed, there are scattered reports about configurational isomerism in stilbene

London dispersion as important factor for the stabilization of (Z)-azobenzenes in the presence of hydrogen bonding

• Andreas H. Heindl,
• Raffael C. Wende and
• Hermann A. Wegner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1238–1243, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.106

• dispersion forces to be a significant factor, even in the presence of hydrogen bonds. Keywords: azobenzene; hydrogen bonding; London dispersion; molecular switches; Introduction The photo-controlled E→Z isomerization of azobenzene has been known for decades [1] and has originated a wide field of

Cobalt-catalyzed directed C–H alkenylation of pivalophenone N–H imine with alkenyl phosphates

• Wengang Xu and
• Naohiko Yoshikai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 709–715, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.60

• obtained in an E-rich form from an E/Z mixture (1:1) of the starting alkenyl phosphate, demonstrating the E/Z isomerization during the C–C-bond formation. The E/Z isomerization was also observed for the conversion of cyclododecenyl phosphate (E/Z = 9:1) to the product 3af (E/Z = 3:1). Expectedly, 4