Synthesis and biological evaluation of new brassinosteroid analogs with C-22 benzoate function

• María Núñez,
• Camila Escobar,
• Mario Párraga,
• Mauricio Soto,
• Luis Espinoza-Catalán,
• Katy Díaz and
• Andrés F. Olea

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 753–762, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.57

• electronegative effects on the aromatic ring enhance the analogs’ bioactivity in the RLIT. A comparison of results obtained for compounds with the same substituent at C-22, but having just one hydroxy group at C-3 (3) (TE analogs) [28], or only a carbonyl group in this position (3a) (3-DT analogs) [31] is given

• , respectively, show the lowest activities at 1 × 10−6 M. These results are quite similar to those previously reported for compounds 4–11, in which ring A has one hydroxy group at C-3 [28]. However, analogs with I and CN substituents in that series, 10 and 11, are much more active than analogs 21 and 22. In

• Ser647 (1.89 Å) and Tyr597 (2.4 Å), other two are established between the hydroxy group at C-2 and residues Tyr642 (2.7 Å) and Val62 (2.8 Å), and finally two extra H-bonds are formed between the hydroxy group at C-3 and residues His61 (2.1 Å) and Asn705 (2.4 Å). Additionally, the aromatic ring of

Rongalite addition to dienones: diastereoselectivity in cyclic sulfone synthesis; stereochemical rationalization and prospects as a general conjugate nucleophile

• Melina Goga,
• Hao Zong,
• James Franco,
• Jazmine Prana,
• Rudolph Michel,
• Antonia Muro,
• Elana Rubin,
• Janet Brenya,
• Henk Eshuis and
• Magnus W. P. Bebbington

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 742–752, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.56

• over the last two decades [5][6]. Modified reagents in which the Rongalite hydroxy group has been protected have allowed for consecutive and different reactions at sulfur, giving access to a range of unsymmetrical sulfones [18][19]. Although sulfur nucleophiles often participate in conjugate additions

Synthesis of depressin, cryptomeridiol and 4-epi-cryptomeridiol enabled by a terpenoid chiral pool-producing platform

• Yao Kong,
• Tao Wang,
• Chen Wang,
• Pengcheng Zhang,
• Yuanning Liu,
• Kaibiao Wang,
• Fen Liu,
• Hongli Jia and
• Zhengren Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 683–690, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.53

• hydroxy group allowed the synthesis of compound 1 from 4 in nine steps. Selective acid-mediated 5,10-transannular cyclization of 5 followed by hydration reaction furnished both products 2 and 3 in two steps. Keywords: chemoenzymatic synthesis; chiral pool; isopentenol utilization pathway; terpene

• conditions, affording 9-hydroxy-13-ketocasbene (10, 21%) and 5-hydroxy-13-ketocasbene (11, 20%), respectively, as single diastereomers. Although the orientation of the newly introduced hydroxy group could not be assigned solely based on NMR analysis, the 5-hydroxy group of 11 will be transformed into a

• ketone in a later step for the synthesis of 1. The 5-hydroxy group in 11 was then protected as a TBS ether to give 12 in 96% yield. However, direct deoxygenation of the 13-ketone of 12 was not fruitful in our hands [58][59][60]. We then converted enone 12 to the allylic alcohols 13a/b as two

Synthesis and stereochemical analysis of dynamic planar chiral oxa[7]orthocyclophene

• Yukiho Hashimoto,
• Yuuya Kawasaki,
• Kazunobu Igawa and
• Katsuhiko Tomooka

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 436–442, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.30

• -alkene 7 in 81% yield. The hydroxy group of 7 was substituted with chlorine using oxalyl chloride in DMF, and the TIPS group was removed by treatment with hydrochloric acid to afford the chloroalcohol 2a (74% yield in two steps). After several attempts to cyclize compound 2a via Williamson etherification

Synthesis of tricyclic fused pyrrolidine nitroxides from 2-alkynylpyrrolidine-1-oxyls

• Mark M. Gulman,
• Yuliya F. Polienko,
• Sofia Yu. Trakhininа,
• Yuri V. Gatilov,
• Tatyana V. Rybalova,
• Sergey A. Dobrynin and
• Igor A. Kirilyuk

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 344–351, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.22

• of 9a. The yield of 9b in this reaction depends on excess of the reagent. Heating of 9a with five equivalents of MsCl and excess of DIPEA afforded 9b in 65% yield. When a 1.5-fold excess of mesyl chloride per hydroxy group was used, another nitroxide 9c was isolated in 26% yield along with 9b (43

Ring contraction and ring expansion reactions in terpenoid biosynthesis and their application to total synthesis

• Nicolas Kratena,
• Nicolas Heinzig and
• Peter Gärtner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 289–343, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.21

• the methyl groups residing at C-4 and the C-7 methylene to ent-7α-hydroxykaurenoic acid (34a). The hydroxy group in 34a can further engage with a CYP450 enzyme at C-6 (different CYP isoforms responsible in different genii) to form an alkyl radical 34b which upon further SET forms an intermediate

• Scheme 22A). Alternatively, one can imagine an exhaustively oxidised intermediate like 74 undergoing α-ketol rearrangement to directly deliver the hydroxy group at C-6 (acid 75) for intramolecular lactonisation towards pierisketolide A (70). In the biogenesis of euphnerin B (76) and euphomilones A (77

• ). From there, the related ring-expanded diterpenoid euphebranane A (86) was proposedly obtained by 1,2-alkyl shift of 85a to give carbocation 85b and finally 86 by elimination to the diene and epimerisation of the hydroxy group. An alternative mechanistic rationale for the expansion/contraction reaction

Improved synthesis and physicochemical characterization of the selective serotonin 2A receptor agonist 25CN-NBOH

• Adrian G. Rossebø,
• Hannah G. Kolberg,
• Anders E. Tønder,
• Louise Kjaerulff,
• Poul Erik Hansen,
• Karla A. Frydenvang,
• Jesper Østergaard and
• Jesper L. Kristensen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 175–184, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.11

• almost entirely from deuteration of the hydroxy group. The good linear fit (R2 = 0.95, Figure 6e) indicates that the isotope effects on the chemical shift values could be calculated accurately. Notably, the two-bond deuterium isotope effect on the 13C chemical shift reflects the strength of the hydrogen

Circumventing Mukaiyama oxidation: selective S–O bond formation via sulfenamide–alcohol coupling

• Guoling Huang,
• Huarui Zhu,
• Shuting Zhou,
• Wanlin Zheng,
• Fangpeng Liang,
• Zhibo Zhao,
• Yifei Chen and
• Xunbo Lu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 158–166, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.9

• efficiently even with secondary hydroxy groups. The method also accommodated sterically hindered and functionalized alcohols. tert-Butylmethanol in which the hydroxy group is attached to a methylene adjacent to a bulky tert-butyl group, gave the desired product 3v’ in 91% yield, while a halogenated alcohol

Total synthesis of natural products based on hydrogenation of aromatic rings

• Haoxiang Wu and
• Xiangbing Qi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 88–122, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.4

• . After obtaining 104, the unsaturated ketone was stereoselectively reduced to a specifically oriented hydroxy group using a Luche reduction, which was then protected with acetic anhydride to yield 105. Compound 105 then gave rise to the tertiary alcohol 106 in the presence of zinc powder and ammonium

• hydrogenation of a pyridine precursor, whereas Mander’s strategy relied on an Eschenmoser fragmentation as well as a reductive amination (Scheme 17) [87]. Pyridine analogue 121 was converted to tetracyclic compound 123 via a 1,2-addition. A five-step transformation, including allylic hydroxy group transposition

• , including hydroxylation of aryl halide, partial lactam reduction with cyanide trapping, and oxidation of the phenol, enabled the total synthesis of jorunnamycin A in 15 steps. The acetylation of the hydroxy group in jorunnamycin A followed by cyano hydrolysis led to the total synthesis of another natural

One-pot synthesis of ethylmaltol from maltol

• Immanuel Plangger,
• Marcel Jenny,
• Gregor Plangger and
• Thomas Magauer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2755–2760, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.212

• reduction of the newly introduced secondary hydroxy group affords ethylmaltol (1) in four steps overall [1][4]. Different modifications of this approach have been developed, including performing the aldol addition before decarboxylation [5] or using different feedstock chemicals such as furfuryl alcohol

• explore a modified and more selective approach with milder reaction parameters. In our revised strategy, we planned to introduce a transient protecting group for the free hydroxy group, thereby avoiding the necessity of dianion formation with the aim of improving solubility and stability (Table 2). We

Competitive cyclization of ethyl trifluoroacetoacetate and methyl ketones with 1,3-diamino-2-propanol into hydrogenated oxazolo- and pyrimido-condensed pyridones

• Svetlana O. Kushch,
• Marina V. Goryaeva,
• Yanina V. Burgart,
• Marina A. Ezhikova,
• Mikhail I. Kodess,
• Pavel A. Slepukhin,
• Alexandrina S. Volobueva,
• Vladimir V. Zarubaev and
• Victor I. Saloutin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2716–2729, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.209

• -equatorial position and is in the trans-position toward the Bu group. The single crystal structure of the bicycle 5ctc is ordered by intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the hydroxy group and the amino group as well as between the amino group and fluorine of the CF3 substituent of the neighboring molecule

Mechanistic insights into hydroxy(tosyloxy)iodobenzene-mediated ditosyloxylation of chalcones: a DFT study

• Jai Parkash,
• Sangeeta Saini,
• Vaishali Saini,
• Omkar Bains and
• Raj Kamal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2703–2715, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.208

• of two pathways In Int3 with the removal of the hydroxy group, a positive charge is present on the iodine atom. As discussed earlier, for X = -OCH3, -SCH3 the presence of electron-donating groups in the aryl moiety favours the concerted removal of IPh and attack of the aryl group at the α-position

Tandem hydrothiocyanation/cyclization of CF₃-iminopropargyl alcohols with NaSCN in the presence of AcOH

• Ruslan S. Shulgin,
• Ol’ga G. Volostnykh,
• Anton V. Stepanov,
• Igor’ A. Ushakov,
• Alexander V. Vashchenko and
• Olesya A. Shemyakina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2694–2702, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.207

• thiocyanic acid at the triple bond – vinylthiocyanate A (Scheme 2). Isothiazolium thiocyanate 2 is formed by the attack of the imino nitrogen atom on the sulfur atom and the elimination of the CN anion in the Z-isomer of intermediate A. On the other hand, intramolecular addition of the hydroxy group to the

Recent advancements in the synthesis of Veratrum alkaloids

• Morwenna Mögel,
• David Berger and
• Philipp Heretsch

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2657–2693, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.206

• step of the first semisynthesis of (−)-cyclopamine (6) is a Wagner–Meerwein-type rearrangement of androstane-framework 22 toward the C-nor-D-homo skeleton in 23 (Scheme 5) [21]. The synthesis starts from commercially available dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA, 24) by protection of the free hydroxy group in

• alkylation was diasteroselective. In the next steps, addition of isopropenyllithium to the lactone moiety led to a hemiketal, which was then opened and a protecting group on the hydroxy group was installed, furnishing fragment 42. Key convergent coupling of this total synthesis was performed by lithium

• resulted in a hydroxy group, which was oxidized to furnish Nazarov precursor 54 in 52% yield. Key step of this sequence was the photoinduced excited-state Nazarov reaction, which involved irradiation of 54 in dichloroethane at 366 nm for 30 min at room temperature. Remarkably, this method had been

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of the cardenolide rhodexin A and its aglycone sarmentogenin

• Fuzhen Song,
• Mengmeng Zheng,
• Dongkai Wang,
• Xudong Qu and
• Qianghui Zhou

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2637–2644, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.204

• transforming it into the pivotal C14 β-hydroxylated steroidal intermediate. As shown in Scheme 2, a BF3·Et2O-promoted elimination afforded the 14-olefinated intermediate 3 in a moderate yield. However, the following Mukaiyama hydration to introduce the C14 β-hydroxy group was unsuccessful. Owing to the

• typical Mukaiyama hydration conditions [30][31][32] to install the C14 β-hydroxy group. However, only a trace amount of the undesired C14α-hydroxylated product 10 was obtained. Additional optimizations regarding the transition-metal catalyst, hydrogen source and solvent all failed to improve the results

• hand, we first tried the synthesis of rhodexin A through direct glycosylation of 2 by the ʟ-rhamnose donor 2,3,4-tri-O-benzoyl-α-ʟ-rhamnopyranosyl trichloroacetimidate (14). However, the selective glycosylation at the C3-hydroxy group of 2 was a formidable challenge since competitive glycosylations of

Thiazolidinones: novel insights from microwave synthesis, computational studies, and potentially bioactive hybrids

• Luan A. Martinho,
• Victor H. J. G. Praciano,
• Guilherme D. R. Matos,
• Claudia C. Gatto and
• Carlos Kleber Z. Andrade

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2618–2636, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.203

• ortho-position such as a hydroxy group generated compound 3f in good yield (87%). A broad scope was observed for para-substituted aldehydes, where both weak (3g, 3h) and strong (3i, 3j) electron-withdrawing groups gave good to excellent yields (83–95%). Similarly, aldehydes with electron-donating groups

• , such as –Me (3k), –OH (3l) or –NR2 (3m, 3n), also resulted in good to excellent yields (82–94%) of products. However, disubstituted aldehydes containing a hydroxy group in the ortho-position resulted in significantly lower yields (26%) for the corresponding product (3o), a fact not observed for the

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

• , deprotonation, and intramolecular addition to ketone. Treatment of the silacycle with MeMgCl cleaved the Si–O bond and subsequent intramolecular nucleophilic substitution of the chloride with the adjacent hydroxy group yielded TMS-epoxide 41. Protonic acid-mediated opening of the TMS-epoxide, accompanied by TES

• ]dec-5-ene)-catalyzed intramolecular aldol reaction connected C6 and C8, assembling the trans-pentalene ring and affording the core carbon framework of illisimonin A. The C1 hydroxy group was initially introduced by a Mukaiyama hydration reaction using O2 as the stoichiometric oxidant; however

• hydroxy group could be responsible for this reversal in selectivity. Dai’s asymmetric synthesis of (−)-illisimonin A In 2025, Dai and co-workers accomplished an asymmetric total synthesis of (−)-illisimonin A in 16 steps from (S)-carvone (67) using a pattern-recognition strategy and five sequential olefin

Total syntheses of highly oxidative Ryania diterpenoids facilitated by innovations in synthetic strategies

• Zhi-Qi Cao,
• Jin-Bao Qiao and
• Yu-Ming Zhao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2553–2570, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.198

• core, successfully completing the first asymmetric total synthesis of ryanodol (4) in 41 steps. To elucidate the role of the C15 hemiacetal hydroxy group in ryanodine (1)-type diterpenoid natural products in binding to ryanodine receptors, the authors initially proposed reducing the lactone moiety in

• secondary hydroxy group, successfully achieving the conversion of ryanodol (4) to 3-epi-ryanodol (5) and 3-epi-ryanodine (30) [45]. The specific synthetic route is as follows (Scheme 3): Beginning with ryanodol (4), an acid-promoted fragmentation yields anhydroryanodol (10). Subjecting compound 10 to Li/NH3

• ryanodine (1) from ryanodol (4) – had long eluded chemists. The primary challenge involved the selective installation of the bulky pyrrole unit onto the sterically congested C3 secondary hydroxy group within a polyfunctionalized, polyhydroxylated framework. In 2016, building upon prior work, the Inoue group

Assembly strategy for thieno[3,2-b]thiophenes via a disulfide intermediate derived from 3-nitrothiophene-2,5-dicarboxylate

• Roman A. Irgashev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2489–2497, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.191

• -dicarboxylates by its one-pot reduction–alkylation using NaBH4 in DMF followed by an alkylating agent. Base-promoted cyclization of electron-deficient 3-alkylthio derivatives furnished 2-aryl-, 2-aroyl-, and 2-cyano-substituted thieno[3,2-b]thiophenes, bearing a 3-hydroxy group. This protocol broadens access to

Transformation of the cyclohexane ring to the cyclopentane fragment of biologically active compounds

• Natalya Akhmetdinova,
• Ilgiz Biktagirov and
• Liliya Kh. Faizullina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2416–2446, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.185

• approach to the synthesis of taiwaniaquinoids was applied by Gademann et al. [13][42] for the transition from an abietane structure to a five-membered system using a rearrangement of benzilic acid. The strong base promoted the intramolecular attack of the α-hydroxy group in compound 59 on the keto group at

Synthetic study toward vibralactone

• Liang Shi,
• Jiayi Song,
• Yiqing Li,
• Jia-Chen Li,
• Shuqi Li,
• Li Ren,
• Zhi-Yun Liu and
• Hong-Dong Hao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2376–2382, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.182

• ][21]. Additionally, a series of vibralactone homodimers and oxime esters 10–12 were reported by the groups of Liu and Zhang, respectively [22][23]. Through modification of the primary hydroxy group, a structure-based optimization of vibralactone (6) was carried out by Liu and co-workers and yielded

• isolated via a formal [4 + 1] annulation pathway [46] (Scheme 4). Since the hydroxy group interrupted the C–H insertion, it was protected as the TES ether 23 and subjected to the same conditions. However, the reaction only afforded the C–Si insertion product 24 [47]. Based on the above results, although

• the β-lactone was converted into the linear methyl ester 19 to decrease the potential steric hinderance associated with the fused bicyclic skeleton, substrates containing a free hydroxy group or the corresponding TES ether still failed to close the cyclopentene ring. In this scenario, it was necessary

Comparative analysis of complanadine A total syntheses

• Reem Al-Ahmad and
• Mingji Dai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2334–2344, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.178

• a thermal Diels–Alder cycloaddition, which afforded a mixture of stereo- (endo/exo) and regioisomers, among which the desired product 46 was obtained in 45% yield as a racemic mixture. After triflation of the free hydroxy group of 46 to provide 47, an intramolecular Heck reaction was employed to

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

• configurations of the adjacent hydroxy group and methyl group (Figure 1) [24]. Therefore, a general and reliable chemical approach for the stereochemical determination of the terminal MPO-containing compounds is required. Herein, we report the development of a method for determining the absolute configuration of

• Discussion Our degradation strategy of natural products bearing an MPO moiety includes (1) acylation of hydroxy group, (2) oxidative cleavage of olefin to generate 3-acyloxy-2-methylbutanoic acid, and (3) its methyl esterification (Scheme 1A). We initially investigated derivatization strategies to enable LC

• obtained suffered from co-evaporation during solvent removal under reduced pressure, which led us to consider that degradation of the natural product to obtain the corresponding fragment would be challenging. Accordingly, esterification of the hydroxy group at C3 in 3, and suitable acyl groups were then

C2 to C6 biobased carbonyl platforms for fine chemistry

• Jingjing Jiang,
• Muhammad Noman Haider Tariq,
• Florence Popowycz,
• Yanlong Gu and
• Yves Queneau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2103–2172, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.165

• hydroxy group at the α-position of the carboxyl group (Scheme 10) [38]. Yang and his team reported a metal-free catalytic system for the conversion of LA to PA (Scheme 10a). The use of NaI as catalyst and PA itself as solvent allowed to simplify the product separation process, giving yields up to 99

•  12) [43]. Many other studies have concerned lactic acid (LA) because of its low cost and versatile reactivity owing to the presence of one hydroxy group and one carboxylic group. Zhou et al. [44] summarized the selective catalytic (chemical or biological) pathways for the conversion of lactic acid

• hydroxy group on the carbonyl group of the ozonide triggers the formation of HFO in high yields (>90%) (Scheme 34) [113][114][115]. Kailasam and co-workers reported a heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation of furfural towards HFO and maleic anhydride (MAN) [116]. This conversion is performed under

Bioinspired total syntheses of natural products: a personal adventure

• Zhengyi Qin,
• Yuting Yang,
• Nuran Yan,
• Xinyu Liang,
• Zhiyu Zhang,
• Yaxuan Duan,
• Huilin Li and
• Xuegong She

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2048–2061, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.160

• catalytic asymmetric methods [26], we intended to probe this biomimetic oxidative cyclization transformation [27][28]. In 2013, we first used monocerin as a model target molecule to initiate our study (Scheme 3a). Starting from benzaldehyde 11 with an isopropyl group on the hydroxy group in 4-position