Application of N-heterocyclic carbene–Cu(I) complexes as catalysts in organic synthesis: a review

• Nosheen Beig,
• Varsha Goyal and
• Raj K. Bansal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1408–1442, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.102

• (I) complex at the β-carbon atom of the activated C=C bond thereby catalyzing the reaction. The NHC–Cu(I) complexes have been found to be effective catalysts for conjugate addition reactions because they stabilize the intermediate species involved in the reaction, which can otherwise be highly

Non-noble metal-catalyzed cross-dehydrogenation coupling (CDC) involving ether α-C(sp³)–H to construct C–C bonds

• Hui Yu and
• Feng Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1259–1288, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.94

• adjacent C=C bond, various conjugated alkenyl C–H bonds can also be activated to construct functionalized ethers. In 2013, Wang et al. achieved a mild Cu(OTf)2-catalyzed CDC of (benzo)thiazoles with cyclic ethers in the presence of K2S2O8 (Scheme 9) [59]. The catalytic system is also suitable for

• coupling process. Initially, ether 64 interacts with tert-butoxyl radicals via hydrogen atom transfer reaction to generate radical A with release of tert-butyl alcohol. Subsequently, the radical A adds to the C=C bond of α-oxo ketene dithioacetal 107 to form radical B, which further reacts with Fe(III) to

• of ethers to obtain symmetric and asymmetric 1,1-bis-indolylmethane derivatives (Scheme 23) [84]. The reaction proceeds through the tandem oxidative coupling of the C–O bond and cleavage of the C–H bond. Fe plays a dual role in catalysing the C–C bond coupling and C–O bond cleavage as Lewis acid

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

• , or it is trapped with pyrrole derivatives 3 in a C–C bond formation to afford arylated products 4. Based on the ultrashort lifetime of *PDI•− (τ = 145 ps), the notion of its photochemistry has attracted skepticism and it has been suggested decomposition products of *PDI•− may instead serve as

Aromatic C–H bond functionalization through organocatalyzed asymmetric intermolecular aza-Friedel–Crafts reaction: a recent update

• Anup Biswas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 956–981, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.72

• formation of a new C–C bond [21]. The reaction requires an electrophilic reagent/intermediate present in the reaction system on which an electrophilic attack by the π-electron cloud of the aromatic ring can occur spontaneously to form a dearomatized species. The latter is rearomatized in a succeeding step

• . The C2-symmetric P9 promoted the reaction between 2-methoxyfuran (1) and β,γ-alkynyl-α-imino esters 24 to effect a C–C bond formation at the C2’ position of the heterocyclic ring. Only two examples were shown by varying the alkynyl substituent. The authors further extended the scope by studying the

• substrates (see transition state 75, Scheme 18). This C–C-bond formation affords a 3-indolinone moiety bearing an aza-quaternary stereocenter at the C2 position. In addition, the reaction allows to obtain axially chiral products 70/72/74 through restriction of the C–C bond rotation around the heteroaryl and

Photoredox catalysis enabling decarboxylative radical cyclization of γ,γ-dimethylallyltryptophan (DMAT) derivatives: formal synthesis of 6,7-secoagroclavine

• Alessio Regni,
• Francesca Bartoccini and
• Giovanni Piersanti

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 918–927, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.70

• accomplish by more conventional procedures, enables the synthesis of ergot alkaloid precursors. In addition, this work describes a mild, environmentally friendly method to activate, reductively and oxidatively, natural carboxylic acids for decarboxylative C–C bond formation by exploiting the same

• to forge the desired six-membered ring through a key C–C bond formation while furnishing secondary radical VI and the undesired seven-membered-ring compound VII. Closure of the photoredox catalytic cycle would then involve either SET reduction of the radical VI and VII (which upon protonation would

Synthesis of aliphatic nitriles from cyclobutanone oxime mediated by sulfuryl fluoride (SO₂F₂)

• Xian-Lin Chen and
• Hua-Li Qin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 901–908, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.68

• ][26][27][28][29], a synthesis method for δ-olefin-containing aliphatic nitriles by the radical C–C bond cleavage of cycloketone oxime ester derivatives was developed by Shi’s group (Scheme 2a) [30], which emerged as an efficient strategy to construct C(sp2)–C(sp3) bonds [31][32][33]. Later, Xiao [34

• works, we contemplated that the N–O bond of cyclobutanone oxime derivatives could be activated by SO2F2 in situ to enable cleavage of the C–C bond, which could achieve this transformation without going through inefficient pre-introduction of electrophores. Herein, we describe how this concept has been

First synthesis of acylated nitrocyclopropanes

• Kento Iwai,
• Rikiya Kamidate,
• Khimiya Wada,
• Haruyasu Asahara and
• Nagatoshi Nishiwaki

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 892–900, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.67

• reactive allenes (reaction e), which serve as synthetic intermediates for polyfunctionalized enynes [8]. The ring strain of the cyclopropane ring facilitates the cleavage of the C–C bond, and both cation and anion are stabilized by the adjacent phenyl group and ester functions, respectively (reaction f

Asymmetric tandem conjugate addition and reaction with carbocations on acylimidazole Michael acceptors

• Brigita Mudráková,
• Renata Marcia de Figueiredo,
• Jean-Marc Campagne and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 881–888, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.65

• obtained by other conjugate addition reactions. Keywords: acylimidazole; asymmetric catalysis; carbocation; conjugate addition; enolate; Introduction Asymmetric metal-catalyzed conjugate additions provide access to numerous chiral scaffolds. This type of C–C bond formation efficiently enables the

Pyridine C(sp²)–H bond functionalization under transition-metal and rare earth metal catalysis

• Haritha Sindhe,
• Malladi Mounika Reddy,
• Karthikeyan Rajkumar,
• Akshay Kamble,
• Amardeep Singh,
• Anand Kumar and
• Satyasheel Sharma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 820–863, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.62

• also achieving selectivity is difficult due to its ubiquitous nature [40]. The metal-catalyzed C–H bond functionalization is a good strategy for synthesizing highly functionalized organic frameworks. In this context, the C–H alkylation is one of the most important C–C bond-formation reactions [41][42

• NHC aryl part with trans-styrene was highly important for the reaction to proceed and for the enantiocontrolled formation of the products. Alkenylation The C–H alkenylation is another important C–C bond-forming reaction. Olefinated organic molecules like vinylarenes play a significant role as key

Construction of hexabenzocoronene-based chiral nanographenes

• Ranran Li,
• Di Wang,
• Shengtao Li and
• Peng An

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 736–751, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.54

• precursors. Review seco-HBC-based chiral NGs In the HBC synthesis, a small fraction of a partially cyclodehydrogenated intermediate was indeed isolated during the conversion of hexaphenylbenzene to HBC [32]. Conceptually, the partially ring-closed intermediate by cutting one C–C bond of HBC can be treated as

Synthesis of medium and large phostams, phostones, and phostines

• Jiaxi Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 687–699, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.50

• applied for the synthesis of seven to fourteen-membered phostam, phostone, and phostine derivatives. 1.1 Synthesis via C–C bond formation Most medium and large phostams, phostones, and phostines were prepared via C–C bond formation, especially via ring-closing metathesis (RCM). 1.1.1 Synthesis via C–C

• bond formation through RCM reaction: Ring-closing metathesis (RCM) is an efficient strategy for the construction of common to large cyclic compounds via the formation of a C=C bond [26], which can be further reduced to a C–C bond. To prepare phostam-derived antitumor agents, ethyl N-allyl-N-(but-3-en-1

• -azaphosphepane 2-oxide and 1,2-azaphosphocane 2-oxide derivatives. Thus, the strategy is an efficient method for the synthesis of 1,2-azaphosphepine 2-oxides, 1,2-azaphosphocine 2-oxides, 1,2-azaphosphepane 2-oxides, and 1,2-azaphosphocane 2-oxides via C–C bond formation. All phostams 5, 6, 9 and 10 are

Synthesis, structure, and properties of switchable cross-conjugated 1,4-diaryl-1,3-butadiynes based on 1,8-bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene

• Semyon V. Tsybulin,
• Ekaterina A. Filatova,
• Alexander F. Pozharskii,
• Valery A. Ozeryanskii and
• Anna V. Gulevskaya

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 674–686, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.49

• molecule 5b. In the crystal packing (Figure S66 in Supporting Information File 1), molecules 5e tend to approach π-donor DMAN and π-acceptor p-nitrophenyl fragments, and the shortest distance between the two molecules is 2.810 Å (Figure S67 in Supporting Information File 1). The alternation of the C–C bond

• -terminated butadiyne 5 gradually underwent demethylation/acid-catalyzed heterocyclization involving one of the dimethylamino groups and the adjacent C≡C bond of the butadiyne linker, forming the corresponding benzo[g]indole derivative. Proton sponge-based 1,4-diaryl-1,3-butadiynes synthesized previously and

Cassane diterpenoids with α-glucosidase inhibitory activity from the fruits of Pterolobium macropterum

• Sarot Cheenpracha,
• Ratchanaporn Chokchaisiri,
• Lucksagoon Ganranoo,
• Sareeya Bureekaew,
• Thunwadee Limtharakul and
• Surat Laphookhieo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 658–665, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.47

• -16′ to C-13 (δC 128.0), C-16 (δC 167.0), C-17 (δC 25.3), C-12′, and C-13′ (δC 71.3) clearly indicated the two C–C bond linkages of both units through the C-15/C-16′ and C-17/C-15′ bonds. Furthermore, the aforementioned ring structure and functionalities accounting for 13 out of 15 degrees of

Access to cyclopropanes with geminal trifluoromethyl and difluoromethylphosphonate groups

• Ita Hajdin,
• Romana Pajkert,
• Mira Keßler,
• Jianlin Han,
• Haibo Mei and
• Gerd-Volker Röschenthaler

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 541–549, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.39

• other three possible reaction pathways, this step was examined by relaxed potential energy scans along the indicated C–C bond (see Supporting Information File 1 for full experimental data). Conclusion In summary, a convenient method for the synthesis of a highly fluorinated diazo reagent, diethyl 2

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

• rigid bicyclic framework. Secondly, through ring opening of the bicyclic framework; the C–X bond of a heterobicyclic alkene is much weaker than the corresponding C–C bond of a homobicyclic alkene, which allows the C–X bond to be readily cleaved over the course of a reaction. The stereochemically well

Strategies to access the [5-8] bicyclic core encountered in the sesquiterpene, diterpene and sesterterpene series

• Cécile Alleman,
• Charlène Gadais,
• Laurent Legentil and
• François-Hugues Porée

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 245–281, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.23

• [5-8-5] tricyclic framework, the basmane family of terpenes differs from the fusicoccans by the arrangement of the cycles, especially the position of the shared C–C bond between ring B and ring C (Scheme 10). In 2010, Ravi et al. investigated the synthesis of the core skeleton of this family [35

• found multiple applications in natural product synthesis [65]. Employed in C–C bond-formation reactions, this single-electron reducing agent has been particularly useful for five- to eight-membered ring cyclizations [65]. Its tunable reactivity opens access to both radical and anionic processes, hence

An accelerated Rauhut–Currier dimerization enabled the synthesis of (±)-incarvilleatone and anticancer studies

• Tharun K. Kotammagari,
• Sweta Misra,
• Sayantan Paul,
• Sunita Kunte,
• Rajesh G. Gonnade,
• Manas K. Santra and
• Asish K. Bhattacharya

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 204–211, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.19

• isolated from I. delavayi along with known (±)-rengyolone (3) [2]. (±)-Incarviditone (2) presents a new carbon-skeleton by being the first benzofuranone dimer connected by a C–C bond. The cytotoxicity of (±)-incarviditone (2) has been assayed against cell lines A549, LOVO, HL-60, 6TCEM, and HepG2 and

• reported in the literature is described. The reaction was discovered by Rauhut and Currier [5] in the year 1963. It is a nucleophile-catalyzed C–C bond-forming reaction between two Michael acceptors. This reaction provides access to diverse classes of densely functionalized molecules. Rauhut–Currier (RC

• intermolecular fashion to form a C–C bond between the two Michael acceptors. This whole process involves two intermolecular conjugate additions, which leads to low reactivity. In case of intramolecular RC reactions, a high reactivity is observed. This is due to one intermolecular and one intramolecular conjugate

Total synthesis of insect sex pheromones: recent improvements based on iron-mediated cross-coupling chemistry

• Eric Gayon,
• Guillaume Lefèvre,
• Olivier Guerret,
• Adrien Tintar and
• Pablo Chourreu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 158–166, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.15

• to overall processes with a low atom economy, generating a significant amount of chemical waste, and which can be expensive when noble metals such as palladium salts are required (Scheme 1). The high efficiency of transition-metal-catalyzed cross-coupling methods in C–C bond formation processes

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

• results show that while both isomers of the acyl chloride (6ba and 6bb) are capable of undergoing the aza-Nazarov cyclization with imine 5a affording the same cyclization product, the major (E)-isomer is understandably more reactive due to the favorable sterics of the C–C-bond-forming cyclization step

Combining the best of both worlds: radical-based divergent total synthesis

• Kyriaki Gennaiou,
• Antonios Kelesidis,
• Maria Kourgiantaki and
• Alexandros L. Zografos

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1–26, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.1

• recognized the disadvantages that stemmed from prior 2-electron disconnections, namely the complicated C–C bond formations and the necessity for excessive functional group manipulations but also the unavailability of a unified divergent plan for this class of diterpenoids. As an alternative, they proposed

• quenchers (e.g., PhSSPh) to the reaction mixture. When monosubstitution of the aryl group is present, the formed radical cation, the product of the photooxidation of the cinnamyl ether, readily cyclizes to cyclobutene radical cation 217. The latter cleaves the benzylic C–C bond to produce the 1,4-radical

Synthetic study toward tridachiapyrone B

• Morgan Cormier,
• Florian Hernvann and
• Michaël De Paolis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1741–1748, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.183

• investigation, it is mostly restricted to substrates bearing a tertiary alkoxy group [34]. Few examples of this intermolecular strategy actually involve substrates containing a quaternary carbon and the formation of a C–C bond [35][36]. Of note was the report of Takemoto and Iwata describing the 1,4-addition of

Redox-active molecules as organocatalysts for selective oxidative transformations – an unperceived organocatalysis field

• Elena R. Lopat’eva,
• Igor B. Krylov,
• Dmitry A. Lapshin and
• Alexander O. Terent’ev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1672–1695, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.179

• organic chemistry. It allows chemists to avoid the use of precious and (or) toxic metals by taking advantage of the catalytic activity of small and synthetically available molecules. Today, the term organocatalysis is mainly associated with redox-neutral asymmetric catalysis of C–C bond-forming processes

• addition to the electron-rich C=C bond [58] or proton loss followed by β-functionalization [59][60][61]. The iminium cation catalysis is used in the activation of electrophilic properties of enones for the nucleophilic epoxidation by hydroperoxides (Scheme 2B). N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC) organocatalysis

• several cases, a good regioselectivity was achieved for complex molecules. Quinuclidine cation radicals were also involved in the generation of nucleophilic α-hydroxyalkyl radicals from alcohols for the addition to the electron-deficient C=C bond of methyl acrylate followed by lactonization [107] (Scheme

Rhodium-catalyzed intramolecular reductive aldol-type cyclization: Application for the synthesis of a chiral necic acid lactone

• Motoyuki Isoda,
• Kazuyuki Sato,
• Kenta Kameda,
• Kana Wakabayashi,
• Ryota Sato,
• Hideki Minami,
• Yukiko Karuo,
• Atsushi Tarui,
• Kentaro Kawai and
• Masaaki Omote

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1642–1648, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.176

• , the reductive aldol-type reaction could also be applied to an asymmetric system, although the diastereoselectivity was poor. On the other hand, reductive Mannich-type reactions were achieved in good to excellent yields with high diastereoselectivity [45][46]. As part of a wider program of C–C bond

Functionalization of imidazole N-oxide: a recent discovery in organic transformations

• Koustav Singha,
• Imran Habib and
• Mossaraf Hossain

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1575–1588, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.168

• , the breaking of the C–C bond of intermediate 7 led to the generation of the expected final product 4a through retro-one reaction. It was also shown that the side product, 1-benzyl-4,5-dimethyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazol-2-one (8) was formed from 1a through simply thermal rearrangement. Nucleophilic

Polymer and small molecule mechanochemistry: closer than ever

• José G. Hernández

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1225–1235, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.128

• to generate radicals (Scheme 3) [67]. The difference in the C–C bond scission between 6 and 8 was explained based on the ability of diarylurea moieties in 8 to form strong self-assemblies through hydrogen bonding. In the solid state, this enabled the transduction of mechanical force to the

• -methylphenyl-9-fluorenyl) peroxide (BMPF)-containing poly(butyl methacrylate) 2, in a mixer mill. Mechanochemical activation of dendronized polymer-based compound 4 by ultrasonication and ball milling in a mixer mill. Comparative mechanochemical dissociation of the central C–C bond in TASN derivatives 6 and 8