Construction of CF₂ moieties in FDA-approved drugs (2016–2025): industrial routes, mechanisms, and scale-up considerations

• Wenyan Yao,
• Huanhuan Zhang,
• Xiaolong Yang and
• Feng Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 1122–1150, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.91

• electrophilic nature of alkylidene 28, the reaction also produced 29, an addition product of 28 with ethanol, as well as an addition product of 28 with water. Screening of Lewis acids revealed that the addition of magnesium chloride effectively suppressed the formation of the water adduct, and although the by

• . First, compound 84 formed an imine with (S)-tert-butylsulfinamide quantitatively in the presence of copper sulfate, which was then added to 85, followed by reduction with magnesium turnings to introduce the CF2 group. The addition step was clean, with no minor isomer detected, but required −78 °C and

Electrochemical reduction of unsaturated carbon–carbon bonds via 3d transition-metal catalysis

• Geon Kang,
• Minki Jeon,
• Pooja Kumari Jat,
• Cheoljae Kim and
• Isaac Choi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 955–981, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.75

• . As this review primarily addresses reductive electroorganic transformations, the anodic process is often not directly involved in product formation. In such cases, sacrificial anodes, most commonly zinc or magnesium, are employed, wherein the electrode material undergoes dissolution to maintain

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

• , the treatment with iPrMgBr for preparation of the magnesium alkoxide at highly dilute conditions (10 mM) and sequential cyclization successfully proceeded to provide the C6-iodo-substituted oxacyclophene 1ad in 79% yield. Synthesis of C6-methyl and C6-phenyl-substituted oxacyclophenes The Kumada–Tamao

Synthesis and anti-cancer activity of naphthalimide–organylselanyl conjugates

• Rajkumar Ravi and
• Selvakumar Karuthapandi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 416–435, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.29

• magnesium sulfate (MgSO₄) and concentrated under low pressure. Column chromatography was performed to purify the crude product using a solvent ratio of petroleum ether to ethyl acetate (85:15), which yielded a yellow solid. Yield: (295 mg, 54%). mp: 156–157 °C; 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) δ 8.62 (d, J = 7.3 Hz

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

• (±)-dihydrolysergic acid (Scheme 11). Smith and co-workers recently reported a six-step synthesis of (±)-lysergic acid [77]. In contrast to previous approaches, the pyridine was introduced via a magnesium–halogen exchange of pyridyl iodide 93, followed by addition to aldehyde 94. Subsequent reduction of the resulting

Synthesis and applications of alkenyl chlorides (vinyl chlorides): a review

• Daniel S. Müller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 1–63, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.1

• (Scheme 62B). Systematic optimization studies revealed that additives, such as magnesium bromide etherate or HMPA, had a pronounced impact on both reaction efficiency and stereoselectivity. In 2005, Yan reported that the direct oxidative addition of chloroform to a Mg–TiCl4 bimetallic system generates a

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

• 111 led to (±)-preterrenoid (107) with 68% yield, which was subjected to stereoselective oxidation with magnesium monoperoxyphthalate (MMPP) to give (±)-terrenoid (108) as a single diastereomer. Subsequent treatment of the key precursor 108 with catalytic amounts of NaOMe in MeOH resulted in

Halogenated butyrolactones from the biomass-derived synthon levoglucosenone

• Johannes Puschnig,
• Martyn Jevric and
• Ben W. Greatrex

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2297–2301, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.175

• dichloro-magnesium enolates to protected ᴅ-glyceraldehyde [11]. In 1988, Hertel et al. from the Lilly laboratories published the first synthesis of the clinically important anticancer agent gemcitabine, using an intermediate γ-butyrolactone constructed using protected ᴅ-glyceraldehyde and ethyl

Enantioselective radical chemistry: a bright future ahead

• Anna C. Renner,
• Sagar S. Thorat,
• Hariharaputhiran Subramanian and
• Mukund P. Sibi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2283–2296, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.174

• occurred in an anti fashion. Products were obtained with up to 97% ee via catalysis by complexes of magnesium or copper(II) with ligand L1. The absolute stereochemistry of the product could be controlled by a simple change from copper(II) to magnesium Lewis acids while using the same chiral ligand, thus

α-Ketoglutaric acid in Ugi reactions and Ugi/aza-Wittig tandem reactions

• Vladyslav O. Honcharov,
• Yana I. Sakhno,
• Olena H. Shvets,
• Vyacheslav E. Saraev,
• Svitlana V. Shishkina,
• Tetyana V. Shcherbakova and
• Valentyn A. Chebanov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2021–2029, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.157

• with the addition of 0.1% formic acid. The use of other eluents such as acetonitrile and different ratios of hexane/ethyl acetate, dichloromethane/methanol as well as the application of methods for the isolation of triphenylphosphine oxide by complexation with calcium and magnesium salts [54][55] or

Stereoselective electrochemical intramolecular imino-pinacol reaction: a straightforward entry to enantiopure piperazines

• Margherita Gazzotti,
• Fabrizio Medici,
• Valerio Chiroli,
• Laura Raimondi,
• Sergio Rossi and
• Maurizio Benaglia

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1897–1908, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.147

• represent the most established approach to imino-pinacol coupling (Scheme 1), with zero-valent metals traditionally employed as reductants and various strategies extensively explored [2]. The use of alkali metals [3][4][5], as lithium and sodium, and alkaline earth metals [6], as magnesium, are

Transition-state aromaticity and its relationship with reactivity in pericyclic reactions

• Israel Fernández

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1613–1626, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.125

• process occurs in a concerted manner through the corresponding five-membered transition state, the germanium and magnesium cyaphide complexes are significantly more reactive (i.e., leading to a lower-barrier process, ΔG≠ ≈ 20 kcal/mol) than their platinum or gold counterparts, which exhibit barriers

• interaction derives from both electrostatic and orbital interactions, which are markedly more stabilizing for the process involving the magnesium cyaphide complex. The stronger electrostatic interactions mainly result from the significant polarization of the cyaphide ligand induced by the highly

• electropositive magnesium atom whereas the stronger orbital interactions derive from a more stabilizing direct π(C≡P)→π*(azide) molecular orbital interaction coupled with a stronger reverse π(azide)→π*(C≡P) interaction. Conclusion Through selected representative examples, in this perspective article the interplay

Synthetic approach to borrelidin fragments: focus on key intermediates

• Yudhi Dwi Kurniawan,
• Zetryana Puteri Tachrim,
• Teni Ernawati,
• Faris Hermawan,
• Ima Nurasiyah and
• Muhammad Alfin Sulmantara

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1135–1160, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.91

• 124 was obtained by reaction with magnesium in anhydrous diethyl ether. Herber and Breit emphasized that activating the magnesium using a dry stirring method was crucial for smooth magnesiation. The freshly prepared Grignard reagent 124 was added to the allyl electrophile (R)-120 in the presence of

• subsequent transmetallation with MgBr2·OEt2 yielded the desired magnesium species. Reaction of this reagent with (R)-120 in the presence of CuBr·SMe2 afforded product (–)-128 in 86% yield, with perfect regioselectivity (>99:1) and excellent stereochemistry (98:2 dr). Repeating the sequence of ozonolysis

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

• containing potassium and magnesium ions at a physiological pH of 7.0 for 5 hours. Analysis of the reaction mixture by anion-exchange HPLC revealed that the bromopropyl handle (C3 homolog 8) gave the highest yield of covalently tethered HBC-RNA complex (50%). Significantly less RNA alkylation yield was

Asymmetric synthesis of β-amino cyanoesters with contiguous tetrasubstituted carbon centers by halogen-bonding catalysis with chiral halonium salt

• Yasushi Yoshida,
• Maho Aono,
• Takashi Mino and
• Masami Sakamoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 547–555, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.43

• tetrasubstituted carbon stereogenic centers [42][43][44][45][46]. In 2011, Shibasaki, Matsunaga and co-workers reported strontium or magnesium-catalyzed stereodivergent asymmetric Mannich reactions of an α-isothiocyanato ester with ketimines, which provided the products in excellent yields and

Deep-blue emitting 9,10-bis(perfluorobenzyl)anthracene

• Long K. San,
• Sebastian Balser,
• Brian J. Reeves,
• Tyler T. Clikeman,
• Yu-Sheng Chen,
• Steven H. Strauss and
• Olga V. Boltalina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 515–525, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.39

• (trifluoromethyl)benzene (1,4-C6H4(CF3)2, Central Glass Co., 99%); dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, Fisher Scientific, ACS grade); anhydrous magnesium sulfate (MgSO4, Fisher Scientific); Cu powder (Strem Chemicals, 99%); dichloromethane (EMD Chemicals, ACS grade); acetone (technical grade); THF (Aldrich/Merck, ACS grade

Synthesis of electrophile-tethered preQ₁ analogs for covalent attachment to preQ₁ RNA

• Laurin Flemmich and
• Ronald Micura

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 483–489, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.35

• methanol (1.3 mL). Anhydrous magnesium sulfate (340 mg, 2.82 mmol, 10 equiv) and the respective amino alcohol (2.82 mmol, 10 equiv) were added. The mixture was sonicated for 30 minutes and subsequently stirred at room temperature for 16 h. After cooling to 0 °C, sodium borohydride (96.1 mg, 2.54 mmol, 9

Red light excitation: illuminating photocatalysis in a new spectrum

• Lucas Fortier,
• Corentin Lefebvre and
• Norbert Hoffmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 296–326, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.22

• four compared to batch processes using conventional solvents. Recent advances have demonstrated that naturally derived photocatalysts, such as chlorophyll, a magnesium-based chlorin complex, can also efficiently drive photocatalytic transformations. In the study by Ouyang et al. chlorophyll extracted

Advances in the use of metal-free tetrapyrrolic macrocycles as catalysts

• Mandeep K. Chahal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3085–3112, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.257

• functional versatility [44], and many of these resulting metal complexes are catalytically active [45][46][47]. These synthetic metalloporphyrins take inspiration from biological systems, such as hemes (iron complexes), chlorophylls (magnesium complexes), and vitamin B12 (cobalt complex). Contrary to

Synthesis of tricarbonylated propargylamine and conversion to 2,5-disubstituted oxazole-4-carboxylates

• Kento Iwai,
• Akari Hikasa,
• Kotaro Yoshioka,
• Shinki Tani,
• Kazuto Umezu and
• Nagatoshi Nishiwaki

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2827–2833, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.238

• , the molecular sieves were filtered off, and the filtrate was washed with water (50 mL × 2). The organic layer was dried over magnesium sulfate and concentrated under reduced pressure to afford diethyl α-acetoxy-α-(4-methylbenzoylamino)malonate (1a, 2.86 g, 8.1 mmol, 81% yield) as white solid. When

A review of recent advances in electrochemical and photoelectrochemical late-stage functionalization classified by anodic oxidation, cathodic reduction, and paired electrolysis

• Nian Li,
• Ruzal Sitdikov,
• Ajit Prabhakar Kale,
• Joost Steverlynck,
• Bo Li and
• Magnus Rueping

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2500–2566, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.214

Facile preparation of fluorine-containing 2,3-epoxypropanoates and their epoxy ring-opening reactions with various nucleophiles

• Yutaro Miyashita,
• Sae Someya,
• Tomoko Kawasaki-Takasuka,
• Tomohiro Agou and
• Takashi Yamazaki

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2421–2433, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.206

• executed at −78 °C under the action of LDA [29]. Moreover, by using the epoxyester 2b as the representative substrate, clarification of its reactivity was carried out by mixing with 1) heteronucleophiles like amines, thiols, and magnesium halides, 2) softer carbon nucleophiles such as malonates, and 3

Efficient one-step synthesis of diarylacetic acids by electrochemical direct carboxylation of diarylmethanol compounds in DMSO

• Hisanori Senboku and
• Mizuki Hayama

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2392–2400, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.203

• competitively occurs at the cathode, and an excess amount of electricity should therefore be necessary to obtain acceptable results. At the anode, on the other hand, dissolution of magnesium ions by electrochemical oxidation of magnesium metal occurs, preventing electrochemical oxidation of the product and

• intermediates at the anode. The produced acetate ion D and a magnesium ion form the salt E, which upon acid treatment during workup gives a diphenylacetic acid 2. The effects of DMSO as solvent are not clear at present, and one reasonable and acceptable aspect might be the solubility of the salt of intermediate

• cation of intermediate B is thought to be the magnesium ion, and the magnesium salt of B must be dissolved in the solvent. Although other magnesium salts, such as magnesium carbonate and magnesium oxalate, are also generated during the electrolysis, the magnesium salt of B would be dissolved sufficiently

Cell-free protein synthesis with technical additives – expanding the parameter space of in vitro gene expression

• Tabea Bartsch,
• Stephan Lütz and
• Katrin Rosenthal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2242–2253, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.192

• the magnesium and potassium glutamate concentration, is 140 mM, which is less than half the concentration reported for the cellular environment. The cytoplasmic osmolarity of about 600 mOsm [16] is 50% higher than that calculated for CFPS. Taking into account all defined components, the water content

• for the calculation of the macromolecular concentration of the CFPS mix. Magnesium and potassium glutamate were considered as the contributing inorganic ions for the reference composition, for the DES corresponding salts were added to the value of 140 mM. For the osmolarity the concentrations of all

• defined components were multiplied with their number of dissociated particles, which was assumed as 1 for most components and 2 for magnesium and potassium glutamate and combined with the calculated concentration of macromolecules. For the water content, the amount of all known components was subtracted

Electrochemical allylations in a deep eutectic solvent

• Sophia Taylor and
• Scott T. Handy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2217–2224, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.189

• (entry 1) resulted in good conversion to the allylation product, while zinc, magnesium, and graphite (Table 1, entries 3–5) displayed no reaction at all. This observation was somewhat surprising considering that both zinc and tin are very commonly used in conventional allylations in addition to as

• funnel with the aid of 10 mL of deionized (DI) water followed by 20 mL of diethyl ether. The organic layer was separated, dried with anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered, and the solvent removed in vacuo to afford the crude product, which was first analyzed by 1H NMR spectroscopy and then purified using

• potential conditions of 2 V with no reference electrode until 2.5 F/mol was passed. Following completion of each reaction, the mixture was transferred to a separatory funnel with the aid of 10 mL of DI water followed by 20 mL of diethyl ether. The organic layer was separated, dried with anhydrous magnesium