Melifoliox B, a novel phloroglucin derivative isolated from Melicope barbigera (Rutaceae) and synthesis of new oxidation products from melifoliones A and B

• Horst Weber,
• Kim-Thao Tran-Cong,
• Bernhard Mayer,
• Guido J. Reiss,
• Iryna S. Konovalova,
• Marc S. Appelhans,
• Kenneth R. Wood and
• Claus M. Passreiter

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 535–546, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.39

• Horst Weber Kim-Thao Tran-Cong Bernhard Mayer Guido J. Reiss Iryna S. Konovalova Marc S. Appelhans Kenneth R. Wood Claus M. Passreiter Institute of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology and

Modern synthetic pathways towards eribulin and its subunits

• Sebastian Dominik Graf

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 495–526, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.37

• patients with locally advanced breast or metastatic cancer and has evolved to a commonly used agent for this type of cancer in nowaday’s medicine (commercial name: Halaven) [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Therefore, the discovery of 1 also marked a significant milestone in the field of medicinal

• chemistry, as it exemplifies the successful translation of marine natural products into effective therapeutic agents. The clinical importance of 1 primarily stems from its efficacy in treating aggressive and refractory cancers, notably metastatic breast cancer and liposarcoma [31][32][33][34][35

Structural reassignment of compound 968, an allosteric glutaminase inhibitor

• Lindsey A. Albertelli,
• Sainabou Jallow,
• Chun Li and
• Scott M. Ulrich

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 455–460, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.33

• isomeric benzo[c]acridine. The structural reassignment of compound 968 will aid the medicinal chemistry development of this important compound. Keywords: cancer metabolism; compound 968; glutaminase; Introduction Cancer cells often show a strong reliance on glutamine uptake and metabolism [1][2

• and stabilizes a catalytically inactive form of the enzyme [11][12]. The BPTES scaffold has undergone significant medicinal chemistry development resulting in CB-839/telaglenastat, which is being evaluated in clinical trials in combination with other anticancer agents [13]. Compound 968 is a third

• or benzo[c]acridine 2. Clarifying this issue would benefit the community of cancer biologists who use compound 968, enable medicinal chemistry around the compound 968 scaffold, as well as correct the structure displayed by vendors of this compound. Results and Discussion To determine whether the

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

• , many of which exhibit promising applications in medicinal chemistry [18][19]. Selenium has been incorporated into non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, both of which show considerable potential in anticancer therapy [20][21]. Over the last few decades

Arene activation via π-bond localization: concepts and opportunities

• Paul Meiners,
• Julian J. Melder and
• Tobias Morack

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 257–273, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.19

• chemical literature, underscoring the potential of this strategy as a powerful platform for molecular discovery and medicinal chemistry. A similar strategic approach was utilized by Harman and co-workers to transform η2-coordinated anisole into a library of 3,6-substituted cyclohexenes with distinct

A mild and atom-efficient four-component cascade strategy for the construction of biologically relevant 4-hydroxyquinolin-2(1H)-one derivatives

• Dmitrii A. Grishin,
• Kseniia I. Sharkovskaia,
• Ilya G. Kolmakov,
• Daria A. Ipatova,
• Rostislav A. Petrov,
• Nikolai D. Dagaev,
• Dmitry A. Skvortsov,
• Maria G. Khrenova,
• Valeriy V. Andreychev,
• Sergei A. Evteev,
• Yan A. Ivanenkov,
• Roman L. Antipin,
• Olga А. Dontsova and
• Elena K. Beloglazkina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 244–256, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.18

• direct access to scarcely explored open-chain quinolinone esters, expanding the medicinal chemistry toolbox with promising scaffolds for drug discovery. Keywords: antibacterial activity; 4-hydroxyquinolin-2(1H)-one; ʟ-proline catalysis; Meldrum’s acid; Michael addition; multicomponent reaction

• cycles and enables the parallel exploration of diverse chemical space. The impact of MCRs is well documented in medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical research, including the development of several approved drugs [14][15][16][17][18]. Recently, 4-hydroxyquinoline-2(1H)-ones and their derivatives have

• against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa [34]. The diversity of pharmacological activities renders 4-hydroxyquinoline-2(1H)-one derivatives highly valuable targets in medicinal chemistry, driving continued interest in their synthesis and exploration [23]. However, the

Screwing the helical chirality through terminal peri-functionalization

• Devesh Chandra,
• Sachin and
• Upendra Sharma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 205–212, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.14

• frequently focused toward other types of chirality, like point chirality [3], axial chirality [4], and planar chirality [5][6][7], often overshadowing the potential of helical chirality. Point chirality has major applications in medicinal chemistry and several drug molecules contain point chirality centers

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

• interest due to their unique reactivity and value as intermediates in molecular design and medicinal chemistry [5][6][7][8][9][10] (Figure 1). In contrast, sulfinimidate esters, which feature a tetravalent sulfur–oxygen (S(=N)–O) motif, remain a relatively underexplored subclass of organosulfur compounds

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

• complex natural products [16][17]. Arenes and heteroarenes have long been readily accessible, as many can be obtained through industrial synthesis or microbial fermentation. The diverse reactivity of aromatic compounds has made them indispensable starting materials in synthetic and medicinal chemistry [18

• heterocycle part: Quinoline, one of the most accessible heteroaromatic feedstocks from natural and commercial sources, has long attracted interest in both synthetic and medicinal chemistry. A central challenge, however, is the selective catalytic hydrogenation of quinolines to the synthetically valuable

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

• medicinal chemistry [33][34] and organic synthesis [35]. For example, they have been found to exhibit inhibitory activity against human leukocyte elastase (HLE) [35] and anti-HIV-1-activity [36]. Hydroperoxy sultams can also act as oxidants [37]. Conclusion In summary, we have developed a simple route to

Synthesis of new tetra- and pentacyclic, methylenedioxy- and ethylenedioxy-substituted derivatives of the dibenzo[c,f][1,2]thiazepine ring system

• Gábor Berecz,
• András Dancsó,
• Mária Tóthné Lauritz,
• Loránd Kiss,
• Gyula Simig and
• Balázs Volk

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2645–2656, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.205

• dibenzo[c,f][1,2]thiazepine derivatives containing a 1,3-benzodioxole or, with particular emphasis, a 1,4-benzodioxane moiety. The importance of these structural motifs is well demonstrated in medicinal chemistry by marketed drugs and by compounds that have reached the human clinical development stage in

• of male sexual disfunction. A review published in 2020 [12] gives an excellent overview about the medicinal chemistry of compounds incorporating a 1,4-benzodioxane scaffold variously substituted either on the aliphatic or on the aromatic carbon atoms. In connection with our present work, the latter

• , respectively (Scheme 2). The structure of compounds 20e and 21g was also confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (Figure 3). We demonstrated the potential utility of the synthesized new ring systems in the field of medicinal chemistry by the synthesis of tetracyclic analogues 20b and 21b of tianeptine

Visible-light-driven NHC and organophotoredox dual catalysis for the synthesis of carbonyl compounds

• Vasudevan Dhayalan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2584–2603, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.200

• ]. The use of visible light as an energy source has significantly expanded the scope of organic molecule activation and its application in organic synthesis or medicinal chemistry [12], thereby driving the fast development of various photocatalytic transformations. Among these advances, dual catalysis

• radical-/radical cross-coupling performed between intermediates C and E. The reaction of acyl fluoride 4 in the presence of Cs2CO3 and NHC to produce benzoate A and the formation of some reactive intermediates are shown in Scheme 2. These methods will find suitable application in medicinal chemistry and

• used for late-stage modification of bioactive compounds, including natural products. These developments will find suitable applications in medicinal chemistry for introducible organosilyl groups (Scheme 5) [55]. A visible-light-induced Friedel–Crafts acylation of arenes and heteroarenes was reported by

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

• attracted increasing interest as numerous TT-based compounds were proposed as promising candidates in medicinal chemistry due to their diverse pharmacological profiles including antitumor, antiviral, antimicrobial, enzymatic and phototherapeutic activities [15]. Among them, TT-2-carboxanilides exhibit

• robust approach to a wide range of 3-substituted thiophene-2,5-dicarboxylates. These intermediates are of interest as valuable building blocks for the synthesis of more complex thiophene derivatives in both materials and medicinal chemistry contexts. The synthetic routes to 3-hydroxy-substituted TT

An Fe(II)-catalyzed synthesis of spiro[indoline-3,2'-pyrrolidine] derivatives

• Elizaveta V. Gradova,
• Nikita A. Ozhegov,
• Roman O. Shcherbakov,
• Alexander G. Tkachenko,
• Larisa Y. Nesterova,
• Elena Y. Mendogralo and
• Maxim G. Uchuskin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2383–2388, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.183

• activities, spiro[indoline-3,2'-pyrrolidines] have attracted substantial interest in medicinal chemistry, prompting the development of diverse synthetic strategies. Several methodologies have been reported for the synthesis of substituted spiro[indoline-3,2'-pyrrolidines] (Scheme 1), which can be broadly

Thiadiazino-indole, thiadiazino-carbazole and benzothiadiazino-carbazole dioxides: synthesis, physicochemical and early ADME characterization of representatives of new tri-, tetra- and pentacyclic ring systems and their intermediates

• Gyöngyvér Pusztai,
• László Poszávácz,
• Anna Vincze,
• András Marton,
• Ahmed Qasim Abdulhussein,
• Judit Halász,
• András Dancsó,
• Gyula Simig,
• György Tibor Balogh and
• Balázs Volk

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2220–2233, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.169

• half-life: t1/2 ≈ 60 min) threshold, compound 3e qualifies as a suitable candidate for subsequent medicinal chemistry investigation [44]. The outcome somewhat elucidates the distinctive behavior of 3e in the aforementioned clogP–logk relationship: despite the expected elevated clogP, we obtained a

Synthesis of triazolo- and tetrazolo-fused 1,4-benzodiazepines via one-pot Ugi–azide and Cu-free click reactions

• Xiaoming Ma,
• Zijie Gao,
• Jiawei Niu,
• Wentao Shao,
• Shenghu Yan,
• Sai Zhang and
• Wei Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2202–2210, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.167

• heterocyclic scaffolds to obtain biologically interesting compounds (Scheme 1) [35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. The development of methods for the synthesis of triazole, tetrazole, piperazinone, and 1,4-benzodiazepine motifs are attractive from both synthetic and medicinal chemistry considerations [42][43][44][45

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

• quinoxalinones and Ugi reaction products may be valuable for organic synthesis and medicinal chemistry because the presence of a free carboxyl group makes them promising for use as building blocks for the construction of complex heterocyclic structures, including those using multicomponent reactions. Some

Rhodium-catalysed connective synthesis of diverse reactive probes bearing S(VI) electrophilic warheads

• Scott Rice,
• Julian Chesti,
• William R. T. Mosedale,
• Megan H. Wright,
• Stephen P. Marsden,
• Terry K. Smith and
• Adam Nelson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1924–1931, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.150

• amino acids [8][9][10]. Sets of reactive probes are generally prepared using robust reactions, most usually amide formation, chosen from the toolkit that currently dominates medicinal chemistry [11] which may, in turn, limit probe structural diversity. We have developed a unified connective approach for

Synthesis, biological and electrochemical evaluation of glycidyl esters of phosphorus acids as potential anticancer drugs

• Almaz A. Zagidullin,
• Emil R. Bulatov,
• Mikhail N. Khrizanforov,
• Damir R. Davletshin,
• Elvina M. Gilyazova,
• Ivan A. Strelkov and
• Vasily A. Miluykov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1909–1916, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.148

• into the synthesis, cytotoxic behavior, and biochemical reactivity of glycidyl esters of phosphorus acids. The results support their potential as reactive anticancer candidates and lay a foundation for future structure–activity relationship studies and further development in medicinal chemistry

Fe-catalyzed efficient synthesis of 2,4- and 4-substituted quinolines via C(sp²)–C(sp²) bond scission of styrenes

• Prafull A. Jagtap,
• Manish M. Petkar,
• Vaishnavi R. Sawant and
• Bhalchandra M. Bhanage

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1799–1807, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.142

• probes for sensing and bioimaging applications (Figure 1) [16][17]. Quinoline-derived metal complexes have also demonstrated broad utility, functioning as effective catalysts in organic synthesis and finding applications across medicinal chemistry, materials science, photovoltaics, and chemical sensing

Research progress on calixarene/pillararene-based controlled drug release systems

• Liu-Huan Yi,
• Jian Qin,
• Si-Ran Lu,
• Liu-Pan Yang,
• Li-Li Wang and
• Huan Yao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1757–1785, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.139

Unique halogen–π association detected in single crystals of C–N atropisomeric N-(2-halophenyl)quinolin-2-one derivatives and the thione analogue

• Mai Uchibori,
• Nanami Murate,
• Kanako Shima,
• Tatsunori Sakagami,
• Ko Kanehisa,
• Gary James Richards,
• Akiko Hori and
• Osamu Kitagawa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1748–1756, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.138

• chemistry but also medicinal chemistry [10][11][12][13]. For example, 3-(2-bromophenyl)-2-methylquinazolin-4-one (I), which has a high rotational barrier about the N3–Ar bond, is known as mebroqualone possessing GABA agonist activity (Figure 1) [14][15]. Our group has been exploring asymmetric synthesis of

• interaction as an alternative to hydrogen bonding and has been widely used as an important supramolecular tool in broad fields such as materials science, crystal engineering, liquid crystals, synthetic organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry [22][23][24][25][26]. Typically, halogen bonding has been

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

• Matheus P. Freitas Department of Chemistry, Institute of Natural Sciences, Federal University of Lavras, 37200-900, Lavras, MG, Brazil 10.3762/bjoc.21.137 Abstract Cyclopropane is a significant alicyclic motif, widely utilized in medicinal chemistry, while fluorination serves as a powerful tool

• prevents ring interconversion, unlike its larger analogs. It is widely used in pharmaceuticals and has attracted significant interest in medicinal chemistry, particularly when fluorinated [1][2][3][4][5][6]. The highly polar C–F bond in fluorinated cyclopropanes destabilizes the ring and alters its overall

General method for the synthesis of enaminones via photocatalysis

• Paula Pérez-Ramos,
• Raquel G. Soengas and
• Humberto Rodríguez-Solla

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1535–1543, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.116

• intermediates in the synthesis of several derivatives with important applications in medicinal chemistry. Furthermore, many marketed drugs feature the enaminone structural moiety. In this context, we have developed a photoredox and nickel catalytic system to rapidly forge the enaminone scaffold from 3

Photoredox-catalyzed arylation of isonitriles by diaryliodonium salts towards benzamides

• Nadezhda M. Metalnikova,
• Nikita S. Antonkin,
• Tuan K. Nguyen,
• Natalia S. Soldatova,
• Alexander V. Nyuchev,
• Mikhail A. Kinzhalov and
• Pavel S. Postnikov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1480–1488, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.110

• significant attention within organic and medicinal chemistry. Commonly, amide bonds are formed via the reaction of carboxylic acids or their derivatives with appropriate amines (Scheme 1A) [4]. Although this conventional approach is effective and straightforward, it usually suffers from harsh conditions and