Enantioselective desymmetrization strategy of prochiral 1,3-diols in natural product synthesis

• Lihua Wei,
• Rui Yang,
• Zhifeng Shi and
• Zhiqiang Ma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1932–1963, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.151

• 226. Regioselective hydrolysis of 226 with TFA yielded a dihydropyran intermediate, which was benzylated to deliver 227. Desilylation of 227 gave diol 228, which underwent intramolecular Michael reaction to form bicyclic compound 230 as a single stereoisomer (87% yield over two steps). This scaffold

• , featuring a stereospecific cyclization as the key step (Scheme 29a) [73][74]. To obtain the cyclization precursor 238, the prochiral diol 237 was prepared from (+)-Na-methylvellosimine (236) via a Tollens reaction. Subsequently, regioselective Ley–Griffith oxidation of 237 selectively targeted the C17

• -epigardneral (241) (Scheme 29b). The synthesis of 244 was achieved through a similar sequence of steps: Tollens reaction of 241, regioselective oxidation of diol 242, and acidic cyclization of aldehyde 243. Compound 244 was then converted into 245 in five additional steps. The benzylic oxidative cyclization of

Synthesis of N-doped chiral macrocycles by regioselective palladium-catalyzed arylation

• Shuhai Qiu and
• Junzhi Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1917–1923, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.149

• ; inherent chirality; N-doped macrocycle; nonplanarity; regioselective cyclization; Introduction Chiral macrocycles have attracted significant research interest owing to their diverse applications in enantioselective recognition [1][2], catalysis [3][4], and circularly polarized luminescence [5][6

• chiral macrocycles, have been reported [17][25], highlighting a critical gap in the design of chiral macrocycles with tailored electronic landscapes. Herein, we reported the synthesis, characterizations and photophysical properties of inherent chiral N-doped macrocycles (Figure 1b) via regioselective

Preparation of spirocyclic oxindoles by cyclisation of an oxime to a nitrone and dipolar cycloaddition

• Beth L. Ritchie,
• Alexandra Longcake and
• Iain Coldham

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1890–1896, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.146

• that can be explored for its ability to undergo dipolar cycloaddition chemistry. Results and Discussion The oxindole core was prepared from isatin following known chemistry to give the spirocyclic epoxide 1 (Scheme 2) [28]. This was subjected to regioselective ring-opening with allyltrimethylsilane in

Approaches to stereoselective 1,1'-glycosylation

• Daniele Zucchetta and
• Alla Zamyatina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1700–1718, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.133

• ]. Diarylborinic acids have been shown to provide exclusive catalytic performance in the site-selective monofunctionalization of various 1,2- and 1,3-diols [60], as well as in the regioselective glycosylation of polyhydroxyglycosyl acceptors via base-promoted deprotonation of a specific hydroxy group involved in

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

• technologies including ultrasonication, microwave irradiation, and microreaction technology into conventional nitration frameworks. Nikseresht et al. developed a novel heterogeneous heteropoly acid catalyst (PMA@MIL-53(Fe)), enabled efficient regioselective nitration of phenols under ultrasonic irradiation

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

• unsymmetrical diisocyanide was used, the initial isocyanide insertion was found to be non-regioselective, delivering a 1:1 mixture of regioisomers (17c and 17c’). Intriguingly, 17a could act as a chiral acylating reagent, applying in the kinetic resolution of racemic primary amines rac-18. Additionally, after

Copper catalysis: a constantly evolving field

• Elena Fernández and
• Jaesook Yun

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1477–1479, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.109

• cross-coupling reactions of bifunctional boryl- and germyl-containing compounds. On the other hand, a Full Research Paper presented by Lee and co-workers introduces a highly regioselective formal hydrocyanation method of allenes [7]. The strategy is based on a copper-catalyzed hydroalumination of

Advances in nitrogen-containing helicenes: synthesis, chiroptical properties, and optoelectronic applications

• Meng Qiu,
• Jing Du,
• Nai-Te Yao,
• Xin-Yue Wang and
• Han-Yuan Gong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1422–1453, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.106

• 6 exhibiting enhanced chiroptical performance and protonation-induced CPL amplification [19]. Meanwhile, Audisio’s team developed heterohelicenes via regioselective [3 + 2]-cycloadditions, with compound 7 displaying pH-responsive CPL sign inversion (|glum| = +1.1 × 10−3 at 430 nm, −1.2 × 10−3 at 585

• for high-efficiency chiral optoelectronic and quantum materials. In 2024, Kivala’s group selectively synthesized highly distorted [6]helicenes 29a and 29b incorporating azocine units via a regioselective Beckmann rearrangement from oxime precursor 29c [43] (Table 8). For comparative evaluation, the

• stimuli-responsive chiral electrochromic materials. In the same year, You’s group developed a transition-metal-catalyzed C–H/C–H-type regioselective C3-arylation of benzothiophenes using molecular oxygen as the oxidant [79]. This strategy afforded the TADF-active compound 64a, which exhibits efficient

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

• , vinyl, ethynyl or sulphide are sufficient if a superbase such as LIDAKOR or LICKOR is used (Scheme 16) [54][55]. The reaction tends to be remarkably regioselective (in terms of the epoxide opening) and stereoselective, however, it should be treated with caution in case of allyl ethers as they can also

• still runs smoothly, if the aryl is substituted for cyclohexyl. The proposed mechanism, supported by control experiments, deuterium exchange studies and energy calculations, consists of the following steps: conjugate addition of the carbene to the allenoate, regioselective addition of the resulting

Recent advances in amidyl radical-mediated photocatalytic direct intermolecular hydrogen atom transfer

• Hao-Sen Wang,
• Lin Li,
• Xin Chen,
• Jian-Li Wu,
• Kai Sun,
• Xiao-Lan Chen,
• Ling-Bo Qu and
• Bing Yu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1306–1323, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.100

• 59%. In an effort to evaluate the practicality of visible light-promoted xanthylation, Alexanian’s group conducted a regioselective C–H xanthylation of polyolefins (Scheme 10) [96]. Building on previous findings, the HRP-9 undergoes homolytic N–S cleavage, yielding amidyl radical 45. This radical

• abstracts a hydrogen atom from substrate 1 through HAT, producing an α-amido-acridinyl radical intermediate 92 and a substrate-derived carbon-centered radical 4. Radical 4 undergoes regioselective addition to the acceptor, forming transient radical adduct 93. A concomitant SET from 92 to 93 generates a

Recent advances and future challenges in the bottom-up synthesis of azulene-embedded nanographenes

• Bartłomiej Pigulski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1272–1305, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.99

• regioselective functionalization at the periphery of the PAHs. Besides triflyloxylation (42, 43), the introduction of one or two dichlorovinylene groups (43, 44) was observed. As in previous cases, the exact ratio of the products depended on the amount of DDQ and concentration of the precursor. Analysis of NICS

Recent advances in oxidative radical difunctionalization of N-arylacrylamides enabled by carbon radical reagents

• Jiangfei Chen,
• Yi-Lin Qu,
• Ming Yuan,
• Xiang-Mei Wu,
• Heng-Pei Jiang,
• Ying Fu and
• Shengrong Guo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1207–1271, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.98

Enhancing chemical synthesis planning: automated quantum mechanics-based regioselectivity prediction for C–H activation with directing groups

• Julius Seumer,
• Nicolai Ree and
• Jan H. Jensen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1171–1182, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.94

• . This study introduces a novel quantum mechanics-based computational workflow tailored for the regioselective prediction of C–H activation in the presence of DGs. Utilizing (semi-empirical) quantum calculations hierarchically, the workflow efficiently predicts outcomes by considering concerted

• groups following the CMD mechanism. This workflow employs (semi-empirical) quantum calculations in a hierarchical way to predict regioselective outcomes, delivering results within seconds to minutes. For substrates that are expected to follow the electrophilic aromatic substitution mechanism without the

• rate constant of the reaction leading to the other regioisomer at the reaction temperature of 90 °C. Experimentally, it is observed that the regioselective C–H activation happens on the more electron-rich aromatic ring with the methoxy substituent as opposed to the one with the alkoxycarbonyl group

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

• epoxidation and regioselective reduction to install the hydroxy group at the C3 position [39]. In their retrosynthetic analysis, the target molecule 61 was envisioned to be obtained from epoxide 63 through regioselective opening of the epoxide ring, oxidation of the resulting primary alcohol to a carboxylic

• , tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP), and Ti(OiPr)4, resulting in the desired epoxide 63 with a 90% yield. Regioselective reductive opening of this epoxide was successfully carried out with Red-Al®, yielding diol 79. The more reactive primary alcohol in diol 79 was selectively masked as TBDPS ether 80 (94

• compound 84 through a series of sequential steps, including chemoenzymatic (ω-1)-hydroxylation, regioselective dehydration of the resulting alcohol to form a terminal alkene, ozonolysis of the alkene to yield an aldehyde, reduction of the aldehyde product to a primary alcohol, and protection of the alcohol

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

Recent total synthesis of natural products leveraging a strategy of enamide cyclization

• Chun-Yu Mi,
• Jia-Yuan Zhai and
• Xiao-Ming Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 999–1009, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.81

• a regioselective manner. From tetracyclic compound 11, a one-pot facial and regioselective hydroboration/amide reduction followed by oxidation produced (+)-lycoposerramine Q, which was then converted to (+)-fawcettidine by Ley oxidation. Alternatively, hydroboration of 11 in mild conditions without

• triggered a Grob fragmentation process of hemiaminal 16 and afforded the imide compound 17. Final regioselective reduction of one of the two carbonyls on the imide completed the synthesis of (−)-phlegmariurine B. Annulation Total syntheses of cephalotaxine and cephalezomine H The [2 + 3] annulation of

• cyclopentane ring, dihydroxylation, and oxidation of the diol to a diketone, produced intermediate 25 in its enol form. From this common intermediate, regioselective etherification at the less hindered position formed an enol ether. Final reduction of both the amide and the ketone using alane completed the

Harnessing tethered nitreniums for diastereoselective amino-sulfonoxylation of alkenes

• Shyam Sathyamoorthi,
• Appasaheb K. Nirpal,
• Dnyaneshwar A. Gorve and
• Steven P. Kelley

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 947–954, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.78

• regioselective, diastereoselective, and metal-free protocol for alkene amino-hydroxylation, which compared favorably to prior art in this area [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. Naturally, we wondered if other O-nucleophiles were competent in the ring-opening of the aziridinium intermediate. Indeed, almost all

A convergent synthetic approach to the tetracyclic core framework of khayanolide-type limonoids

• Zhiyang Zhang,
• Jialei Hu,
• Hanfeng Ding,
• Li Zhang and
• Peirong Rao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 926–934, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.75

• molecules could be synthesized from diol 9 through a late-stage modification involving adjustment of the oxidation state and regioselective acylation. The formation of 9 was envisioned to proceed via an intramolecular pinacol coupling [30][31] of [5,5,6,6]-tetracycle 10, which forges the A2 ring while

Recent advances in controllable/divergent synthesis

• Jilei Cao,
• Leiyang Bai and
• Xuefeng Jiang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 890–914, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.73

• , thereby offering unprecedented control over chemo-, regio-, and stereoselectivity parameters in catalytic manifolds. In 2015, the Jiang group developed a palladium-catalyzed regioselective three-component C1 insertion reaction (Scheme 1) [19]. In this reaction, an o-iodoaniline 1, phenylacetylene, and

• in steering catalytic selectivity. In 2016, the Jiang group achieved regioselective control in the gold-catalyzed intramolecular hydroarylation of alkynes by modulating the electronic and steric effects of ligands (Scheme 2) [20]. Mechanistically, the electron-deficient phosphite ligand L1 and the

• ligand-controlled regioselective migratory insertion process, reaction of Int-21 and Int-22 leads to the formation of π-allylpalladium intermediates Int-23 or Int-24, depending on the ligand employed. Finally, cyclization of Int-23 or Int-24 yields the tricyclic product 13 or the tetracyclic product 14

Cu–Bpin-mediated dimerization of 4,4-dichloro-2-butenoic acid derivatives enables the synthesis of densely functionalized cyclopropanes

• Patricia Gómez-Roibás,
• Andrea Chaves-Pouso and
• Martín Fañanás-Mastral

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 877–883, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.71

• mechanism for the copper-catalyzed diastereoselective dimerization of 4,4-dichoro-2-butenoic acid derivatives (Scheme 4). Initially, the LCu–pin complex generated through reaction between LCu–Ot-Bu and B2pin2 undergoes coordination and regioselective insertion into 1 giving rise to β-borylated organocopper

Regioselective formal hydrocyanation of allenes: synthesis of β,γ-unsaturated nitriles with α-all-carbon quaternary centers

• Seeun Lim,
• Teresa Kim and
• Yunmi Lee

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 800–806, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.63

• cyanating reagents, such as p-toluenesulfonyl cyanide (TsCN) and N-cyano-N-phenyl-p-toluenesulfonamide [29]. The hydroboration of allenes with 9-BBN (9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane) as the hydride source, followed by regioselective cyanation with allylic boranes, provided nitrile-substituted quaternary carbon

• -catalyzed regioselective hydroalumination of allenes using diisobutylaluminum hydride (DIBAL-H), we envisioned that the nucleophilic attack of allylaluminum reagents on electrophilic cyanating reagents could provide a regioselective pathway for the synthesis of alkyl nitriles bearing quaternary carbon

• involves the regioselective nucleophilic attack of allylaluminum C on tosyl cyanide, which proceeds at the γ-position via six-membered ring transition state D, leading to the formation of the desired nitrile product. Transition state D is responsible for the E-selectivity observed in trisubstituted allenes

Recent advances in allylation of chiral secondary alkylcopper species

• Minjae Kim,
• Gwanggyun Kim,
• Doyoon Kim,
• Jun Hee Lee and
• Seung Hwan Cho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 639–658, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.51

• into a powerful and versatile tool in asymmetric synthesis, capable of employing a wide array of organometallic reagents that furnish the desired compounds with high efficiency and selectivity. The regioselective asymmetric construction of stereogenic carbon centers from prochiral allylic substrates

• metathesis with HBpin to afford a vinylboronic ester intermediate 45 alongside the regenerated L*CuH catalyst, completing the first catalytic cycle. Subsequently, a ligand-controlled regioselective migratory insertion of L*CuH into the vinylboronic ester 18 delivers the corresponding chiral alkylcopper

• with olefins bearing electronic directing groups (such as aryl, boryl, or trifluoromethyl substituents) that guide regioselective hydrocupration, unactivated alkyl-substituted alkenes pose a persistent challenge. The recent breakthrough in CuH-catalyzed enantioselective and diastereoselective allylic

Formaldehyde surrogates in multicomponent reactions

• Cecilia I. Attorresi,
• Javier A. Ramírez and
• Bernhard Westermann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 564–595, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.45

• reacts with the enolate of the ketone, which is stabilized by coordination with Fe(III), resulting in the formation of the C–C bond. A further oxidative aromatization process affords compound I. Compared to the protocol developed by Zhang et al. [24], the reaction is less regioselective, as Troger’s base

• in the case of formaldehyde, making the reaction more regioselective. In the cases shown above, we discussed different ways to activate DMSO. In almost all of them, MMS appears as the reactive species due to its high electrophilicity, which allows for an efficient nucleophilic addition, and the

Vinylogous functionalization of 4-alkylidene-5-aminopyrazoles with methyl trifluoropyruvates

• Judit Hostalet-Romero,
• Laura Carceller-Ferrer,
• Gonzalo Blay,
• Amparo Sanz-Marco,
• José R. Pedro and
• Carlos Vila

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 533–540, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.41

• on the regioselective electrophilic functionalization of this nitrogen heterocycle [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. However, the vinylogous functionalization of 5-aminopyrazoles has not been described to the best of our knowledge (Figure 2). As a part of our ongoing interest in the

• functionalization of 5-aminopyrazoles [26], we decided to study 4-alkenyl-5-aminopyrazoles as nucleophiles in the vinylogous addition reaction to electrophiles. Herein, we report the regioselective and diastereoselective functionalization of 4-cyclohexenyl-5-aminopyrazoles using alkyl trifluoropyruvates [27][28][29

• yield decreased, possibly due to the formation of imine B, which might be favored by the dehydration effect of the molecular sieves. Conclusion In summary, a regioselective and diastereoselective vinylogous addition reaction of 4-alkenyl-5-aminopyrazoles to alkyl trifluoropyruvate has been studied

Electrochemical synthesis of cyclic biaryl λ³-bromanes from 2,2’-dibromobiphenyls

• Andrejs Savkins and
• Igors Sokolovs

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 451–457, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.32

• diaryl λ3-bromanes under remarkably mild conditions with subsequent applications of the in situ-generated arynes in cycloaddition reactions [3], meta-selective reactions with oxygen and nitrogen nucleophiles [4][5], regiodivergent meta or ortho-alkynylations [6], and regioselective (di)halogenation [7