Recent advances in electrochemical copper catalysis for modern organic synthesis

• Yemin Kim and
• Won Jun Jang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 155–178, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.9

• toxic chemical oxidants and releasing hydrogen gas as the sole byproduct. Various benzamides 1 and terminal arylalkynes 2 bearing electron-rich or electron-withdrawing groups provided the desired products 3 with high chemoselectivities. However, terminal alkynes with alkyl substituents did not yield the

• desired annulation products. Moreover, the same products were generated using alkynyl carboxylic acids instead of terminal alkynes via decarboxylative C–H alkynylation and annulation. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) studies exhibited an oxidative current at 0.95 V vs SCE in the presence of the Cu(II) salt, base

• enantioselective C–H alkynylation of ferrocene carboxamides with terminal alkynes by using Cu/BINOL and an electrocatalytic system (Figure 5) [49]. 8-Aminoquinoline-assisted C–H functionalization provided planar chiral ferrocenes with high yield and enantioselectivity. This reaction can be applied to a wide range

Nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling of 2-fluorobenzofurans with arylboronic acids via aromatic C–F bond activation

• Takeshi Fujita,
• Haruna Yabuki,
• Ryutaro Morioka,
• Kohei Fuchibe and
• Junji Ichikawa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 146–154, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.8

• -(trifluoromethyl)-1-alkenes strongly interact with electron-rich zero-valent nickel species to form nickelacyclopropanes C [15][16][17]. These intermediates enable C–F bond activation through the formation of nickelacyclopentenes D with alkynes, followed by β-fluorine elimination, leading to defluorinative

Cu(OTf)₂-catalyzed multicomponent reactions

• Sara Colombo,
• Camilla Loro,
• Egle M. Beccalli,
• Gianluigi Broggini and
• Marta Papis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 122–145, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.7

• ]. Three-component coupling of amines, aldehydes or ketones, and terminal alkynes catalyzed by Cu(OTf)2 is a fruitful tool for the production of α-substituted propargylamines 10 (Scheme 7) [20]. The reaction involves the alkynylation of the corresponding imines formed in situ and provides higher yields

• counteranion. The use of a carbamate among the substrates instead of the amine allowed the synthesis of propargylcarbamates 11. This reaction, effective only for the aromatic aldehydes, did not require other co-catalysts or ligands (Scheme 8) [21]. Three-component reactions of alkynes, alkyltrifluoroborates

• as a catalyst in three-component processes was also demonstrated in three-component reactions involving alkynes, amines and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes to obtain 1,4-dihydropyridines 20 (Scheme 14) [31]. By using terminal alkynes, 2,6-unsubstituted products were achieved. Concerning the mechanism, it

Reactivity of hypervalent iodine(III) reagents bearing a benzylamine with sulfenate salts

• Beatriz Dedeiras,
• Catarina S. Caldeira,
• José C. Cunha,
• Clara S. B. Gomes and
• M. Manuel B. Marques

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3281–3289, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.272

• 5aa (Table 1, entry 2) but with prior degassed solvent (DMF), to prevent potential oxidation of the sulfenate to sulfinate anions. Indeed, the oxidation of the unstable sulfenate intermediates has been previously reported by Waser when using EBX – an HIR applied in the transfer of alkynes to sulfenate

Germanyl triazoles as a platform for CuAAC diversification and chemoselective orthogonal cross-coupling

• John M. Halford-McGuff,
• Thomas M. Richardson,
• Aidan P. McKay,
• Frederik Peschke,
• Glenn A. Burley and
• Allan J. B. Watson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3198–3204, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.265

• 10.3762/bjoc.20.265 Abstract We report the synthesis of germanyl triazoles formed via a copper-catalysed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) of germanyl alkynes. The reaction is often high yielding, functional group tolerant, and compatible with complex molecules. The installation of the Ge moiety enables

• potential as functional handles for downstream elaboration of CuAAC products. To date, the main use of germanyl alkynes in (3 + 2) cycloadditions has been limited to a small number of Huisgen (non-Cu-catalysed) reactions [68][69]. Zaitsev and co-workers reported the synthesis and CuAAC reactions of a

• dialkynyl germane to access 1,2-bis(triazolyl)tetraphenyldigermanes [70]. Here, we report the development of germanyl alkynes as CuAAC components, with exploration of their scope and downstream diversification. Results and Discussion We undertook an exploratory survey of CuAAC reaction conditions using

Enantioselective regiospecific addition of propargyltrichlorosilane to aldehydes catalyzed by biisoquinoline N,N’-dioxide

• Noble Brako,
• Sreerag Moorkkannur Narayanan,
• Amber Burns,
• Layla Auter,
• Valentino Cesiliano,
• Rajeev Prabhakar and
• Norito Takenaka

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3069–3076, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.255

• study, Hoveyda and co-workers proposed a similar mechanism for the isomerization of alkynes to allenes catalyzed by 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene [61]. Conclusion In this study, we prepared distilled propargyltrichlorosilane with >99% isomeric purity for the first time, developed its asymmetric

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

• ] because of their easily modifiable dipeptide frameworks. Several methods exist for accessing PCPAs, such as the amination of 1-halo-1-alkynes [16][17], tandem reactions of α-imino esters with nucleophiles and electrophiles [18], and the nucleophilic addition of an acetylide to α-carbonylated N-acylimines

• -acetals 1 and alkynes 3 to determine the substrate scope of this protocol (Table 2). This reaction was effective with alkyl- and silyl-substituted alkynes 3b–d, yielding the corresponding adducts 4b–d, respectively (Table 2, entries 1–3). A significant advantage of this method is the high modifiability of

• ), 84.9 (C), 82.6 (C), 63.8 (CH2), 61.0 (C), 21.6 (CH3), 14.0 (CH3); IR (KBr, ATR) vmax: 1754, 1672, 1477, 1281, 1214, 1071, 751 cm−1; HRMS–APCI-TOF (m/z): [M + H]+ calcd for C23H24NO5, 394.1649; found, 394.1672. When other alkynes and N,O-acetals were used, the experiments were conducted in the same way

Copper-catalyzed yne-allylic substitutions: concept and recent developments

• Shuang Yang and
• Xinqiang Fang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2739–2775, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.232

• 350100, China 10.3762/bjoc.20.232 Abstract The catalytic (asymmetric) allylation and propargylation have been established as powerful strategies allowing access to enantioenriched α-chiral alkenes and alkynes. In this context, combining allylic and propargylic substitutions offers new opportunities to

• via a radical mechanism and the presence of terminal alkynes was found to be crucial for the smooth progression of the reaction, which suggested that the reaction proceeded through the same copper vinyl allenylidene intermediate (Scheme 23). Yne-allylic substitutions through dearomatization and

Synthesis of benzo[f]quinazoline-1,3(2H,4H)-diones

• Ruben Manuel Figueira de Abreu,
• Peter Ehlers and
• Peter Langer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2708–2719, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.228

• , 21.6; EIMS (70 eV) m/z (%): 386 (M+, 100), 300 (13), 258 (14); HRESIMS-TOF (m/z): [M + H]+ calcd for C23H19N2O2S, 387.1167; found, 387.1169. Synthesis of uracil-based alkynes and aryl structures [51][62][63][64][65]. Structures of uracil derivatives A, B, and C. UV–vis absorption (left) and emission

Synthesis of fluoroalkenes and fluoroenynes via cross-coupling reactions using novel multihalogenated vinyl ethers

• Yukiko Karuo,
• Keita Hirata,
• Atsushi Tarui,
• Kazuyuki Sato,
• Kentaro Kawai and
• Masaaki Omote

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2691–2703, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.226

• investigated using various boronic acids 4 and alkynes 5 in cross-coupling reactions using 1 (Table 3 and Table 4). p-Tolylboronic acid 4b provided 2b quantitatively, whereas m- and o-tolylboronic acids 4c and 4d produced 2c and 2d in low yields because the methyl group was positioned near the reaction site

• cross-coupling between 1e, derived from m-aminophenol, and 4a proceeded in only 15% yield (Table 3, entries 17 and 18). We performed Sonogashira cross-couplings between 1 and a variety of alkynes 5 (Table 4). Arylacetylenes, which have electron-donating substituents on the aromatic ring (5b–f), and 2

• and various boronic acids 4. Cross-coupling reactions between multihalogenated vinyl ethers 1 and various alkynes 5. Supporting Information Supporting Information File 16: Characterization data for 2b–s and 3b–w, and copies of 1H, 13C, and 19F NMR spectra.

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

• of acrylic acids with alkynes was reported by Mei and coworkers [59]. Diverse functional groups on the aryl group connected to the alkyne are compatible with this transformation, and dialkylalkynes can also be effectively reacted. Extensive mechanistic studies have led to the following proposed

• pargyline and ethisterone (Scheme 43). 1.3.8 Au-assisted anodic oxidation. A gold-catalyzed C(sp3)–C(sp) coupling of diverse alkynes and arylhydrazines under mild electrochemical conditions with the dinuclear gold complex, bis(diphenylphosphino)methane digold(I) dichloride (dppm(AuCl)2) as catalyst and n

gem-Difluorination of carbon–carbon triple bonds using Brønsted acid/Bu₄NBF₄ or electrogenerated acid

• Mizuki Yamaguchi,
• Hiroki Shimao,
• Kengo Hamasaki,
• Keiji Nishiwaki,
• Shigenori Kashimura and
• Kouichi Matsumoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2261–2269, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.194

• containing alkyne substrates could also give the corresponding gem-difluorinated compounds (in-cell method). The ex-cell electrolysis method was also applicable for gem-difluorination of alkynes. Keywords: carbon–carbon triple bonds; chemical method; electrochemistry; gem-difluorination; Introduction

• the use of HF or its complexes as a reagent. These reactions seem to proceed via the formation of the vinyl fluoride as the intermediate [25][26][27][28]. In the first example, Olah and co-workers reported the reaction of terminal alkynes with HF/pyridine (Olah reagent) (Figure 1, reaction 1) [29][30

• to be a good reagent for the gem-difluorination of alkynes, reported by Hammond and Xu (Figure 1, reaction 3) [37]. HF/DMPU is easy to handle under experimental conditions. In addition, they recently reported the utilization of a combination of KHSO4·13HF and DMPU·12HF under neat conditions for the

Metal-free double azide addition to strained alkynes of an octadehydrodibenzo[12]annulene derivative with electron-withdrawing substituents

• Naoki Takeda,
• Shuichi Akasaka,
• Susumu Kawauchi and
• Tsuyoshi Michinobu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2234–2241, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.191

• ] cycloaddition–retroelectrocyclization (CA-RE) between electron-rich alkynes and electron-deficient olefins [8]. The [2 + 2] CA-RE click reactions were employed to produce a variety of functional materials, such as nonlinear optical chromophores [9][10], super acceptors [11][12], ion sensing D–A systems [13

• (PCM) solvent (Figure 4). The reaction initially started with the addition of benzyl azide to one of the internal alkynes of 5. Although the benzyl group is situated on the interior side of DBA, a more energetically unstable transition state (in-ts) is generated. However, the resulting monoadduct (in

Multicomponent syntheses of pyrazoles via (3 + 2)-cyclocondensation and (3 + 2)-cycloaddition key steps

• Ignaz Betcke,
• Alissa C. Götzinger,
• Maryna M. Kornet and
• Thomas J. J. Müller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2024–2077, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.178

• -carbon alkynoyl building blocks [121][122] could be generated catalytically [123], thereby facilitating reactions under mild reaction conditions and opening novel one-pot pathways for consecutive multicomponent syntheses of pyrazoles. Sonogashira alkynylation of terminal alkynes and (hetero)aroyl

• necessary [73]. Most advantageously, this methodology tolerates many polar functional groups and allows access to pyrazole libraries from simple starting materials (alkynes, acid chlorides, hydrazines) in good to excellent yield. Notably, pyrazoles 102 and 103 demonstrate intense luminescence both in

• and high optical refraction. Functionalized alkynes can alternatively be prepared in situ by a Kumada coupling [133] of aryl iodides and ethynylmagnesium bromide [134]. The Pd catalyst is reused in the subsequent Sonogashira coupling for the synthesis of alkynones in the sense of sequential catalysis

Solvent-dependent chemoselective synthesis of different isoquinolinones mediated by the hypervalent iodine(III) reagent PISA

• Ze-Nan Hu,
• Yan-Hui Wang,
• Jia-Bing Wu,
• Ze Chen,
• Dou Hong and
• Chi Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1914–1921, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.167

• nonmetallic reagents as an attractive alternative is less developed. In 2014, Antonchick and Manna firstly reported the synthesis of a series of 3,4-diaryl-substituted isoquinolinone derivatives through oxidative annulation between alkynes and benzamide derivatives using iodobenzene as a catalyst and

The Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé reaction in its maturity: innovation and improvements since its 21st birthday (2019–2023)

• Cristina Martini,
• Muhammad Idham Darussalam Mardjan and
• Andrea Basso

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1839–1879, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.162

Electrocatalytic hydrogenation of cyanoarenes, nitroarenes, quinolines, and pyridines under mild conditions with a proton-exchange membrane reactor

• Koichi Mitsudo,
• Atsushi Osaki,
• Haruka Inoue,
• Eisuke Sato,
• Naoki Shida,
• Mahito Atobe and
• Seiji Suga

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1560–1571, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.139

• semihydrogenation of alkynes to form Z-alkenes using a PEM reactor [31]. The Pd/C catalyst was essential for the reaction. They recently found that a PEM reactor with a Rh/C catalyst was effective for the stereoselective reduction of cyclic ketones [40]. Nagaki et al. reported the electrochemical deuteration of

Tetrabutylammonium iodide-catalyzed oxidative α-azidation of β-ketocarbonyl compounds using sodium azide

• Christopher Mairhofer,
• David Naderer and
• Mario Waser

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1510–1517, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.135

• ][10][11][12][13][14]. For example, such molecules can be utilized to access free amines [3][13] and undergo Staudinger-type ligations [14]. Furthermore, they can be very efficiently employed for triazole-forming 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions with alkynes (“click-chemistry”) [9][10][11][12]. As a

Rapid construction of tricyclic tetrahydrocyclopenta[4,5]pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine via isocyanide-based multicomponent reaction

• Xiu-Yu Chen,
• Ying Han,
• Jing Sun and
• Chao-Guo Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1436–1443, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.126

• generated by addition reaction of isocyanides to electron-deficient alkynes, which were sequentially trapped by various electrophiles and nucleophiles to give versatile acyclic and heterocyclic compounds [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. In recent years, many multicomponent reactions based

• on alkyl isocyanides, electron-deficient alkynes and other reagents have been successfully developed for the synthesis of various carbocyclic and heterocyclic compounds [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. The 5,6-unsubstituted 1,4-dihydropyridine is one of special kinds of 1,4-dihydropyridines. It

• -deficient alkynes [59][60][61][62][63]. The in situ generated cyclic intermediate C has a resonance hybrid C’. Then, the further nucleophilic addition of the electron-rich enamino unit to 5-(alkylimino)cyclopenta-1,3-diene intermediate C gave intermediate D. At last, the coupling of the iminium cation with

Synthesis of substituted triazole–pyrazole hybrids using triazenylpyrazole precursors

• Simone Gräßle,
• Laura Holzhauer,
• Nicolai Wippert,
• Olaf Fuhr,
• Martin Nieger,
• Nicole Jung and
• Stefan Bräse

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1396–1404, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.121

• cycloaddition of the gained synthesized azidopyrazoles with different alkynes was to be conducted. The 3-(3,3-diisopropyltriaz-1-en-1-yl)-1H-pyrazole precursors 15a–d were synthesized according to previously reported procedures [3][26][27] via the generation of a diazonium salt from aminopyrazoles 14a–d

• aromatic and aliphatic alkynes 20a–h in a copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). All attempted reactions could be conducted under standard conditions using copper sulfate and sodium ascorbate in THF/water (depicted in Scheme 3 and Figure 2). For selected derivatives, 21sd and 21vg, crystals

• the alkyne depends on the substitutions on the pyrazole, and no general trend is visible – reactions with electron-poor, electron-rich as well as sterically demanding alkynes give high product yields, depending on the respective pyrazole. The functionalization of the NH-unsubstituted derivative 21jd

Generation of alkyl and acyl radicals by visible-light photoredox catalysis: direct activation of C–O bonds in organic transformations

• Mithu Roy,
• Bitan Sardar,
• Itu Mallick and
• Dipankar Srimani

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1348–1375, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.119

• organic dye Mes–Acr–MeClO4 as photocatalyst (Scheme 5). They demonstrated intermolecular radical cyclization of o-hydroxybenzoic acid derivatives with terminal alkynes to afford flavone derivatives. Here, functionally diverse flavonoids were synthesized in moderate to excellent yield by reacting various

• and provide the desired products with good yield. Cyclopentanol-derived oxalates, some heterocyclic oxalates, and natural-product-derived oxalates were also compatible with this method. In 2018, Chu and co-workers [47] devised an elegant protocol for achieving syn-alkylarylation of terminal alkynes

• photocatalysis. The generated alkyl radicals then undergo the desired addition with alkyne to produce alkenyl radicals that via Ni-catalysed coupling reactions with aryl bromides form trisubstituted alkenes Z-selectively. Internal alkynes are not suitable for this transformation due to the steric reason, but

Synthesis and optical properties of bis- and tris-alkynyl-2-trifluoromethylquinolines

• Stefan Jopp,
• Franziska Spruner von Mertz,
• Peter Ehlers,
• Alexander Villinger and
• Peter Langer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1246–1255, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.107

• steady state absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy which give insights of the influence of the substitution pattern and of the type of substituents on the optical properties. Keywords: alkynes; catalysis; fluorescence; heterocycles; palladium; Introduction Quinoline is a well-known core structure

Carbonylative synthesis and functionalization of indoles

• Alex De Salvo,
• Raffaella Mancuso and
• Xiao-Feng Wu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 973–1000, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.87

• vinyl propargylic esters could be employed as five-carbon atom building blocks in [5 + 2] cycloadditions with alkynes or alkenes by carbene intermediates. Starting from those results they envisaged the benzannulation of heteroaryl propargylic esters favored by CO [44]. The process led to the desired

• , the Li’s group and Zeng and Alper developed two different methods for carrying out a direct carbonylation of indoles with alkynes. Li’s group reported the direct Sonogashira carbonylation coupling reaction of indoles and alkynes catalyzed by Pd/CuI in the presence of iodine as oxidant [71]. The

• of indoles/CO/alkynes (alkynylcarboxylates) towards linear α,β-unsaturated ketones [72]. The reactions occurred in the presence of Pd(CH3CN)4(BF4)2/Xantphos as catalyst system under 20.7 bar of CO at 105 °C in THF. After 15 h, each reaction led selectively to the desired products (Scheme 40). More

Three-component N-alkenylation of azoles with alkynes and iodine(III) electrophile: synthesis of multisubstituted N-vinylazoles

• Jun Kikuchi,
• Roi Nakajima and
• Naohiko Yoshikai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 891–897, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.79

• Jun Kikuchi Roi Nakajima Naohiko Yoshikai Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University, 6-3 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8578, Japan 10.3762/bjoc.20.79 Abstract A stereoselective N-alkenylation of azoles with alkynes and iodine(III) electrophile is reported. The reaction

• between various azoles and internal alkynes is mediated by benziodoxole triflate as the electrophile in a trans-fashion, affording azole-bearing vinylbenziodoxoles in moderate to good yields. The tolerable azole nuclei include pyrazole, indazole, 1,2,3-triazole, benzotriazole, and tetrazole. The iodanyl

• group in the product can be leveraged as a versatile synthetic handle, allowing for the preparation of hitherto inaccessible types of densely functionalized N-vinylazoles. Keywords: alkynes; azoles; cross-coupling; hypervalent iodine; Introduction N-Functionalized azoles are prevalent in bioactive

(Bio)isosteres of ortho- and meta-substituted benzenes

• H. Erik Diepers and
• Johannes C. L. Walker

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 859–890, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.78

• benzenes are by now relatively well established. Cubanes [16][17], alkynes [18], and bicyclo[2.2.2]octanes [19] can all replicate the linear geometry of the para-substituents, but arguably the most well-investigated para-benzene bioisostere is bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane (BCP) [20][21][22][23] (Figure 1). The