Mechanistic studies of the solvolysis of alkanesulfonyl and arenesulfonyl halides

• Malcolm J. D’Souza and
• Dennis N. Kevill

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 120–132, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.13

• ] arenesulfonyl chlorides. Böhme and Schurhoff [8] similarly found that the solvolyses, in several homogeneous mixtures of an ether and water, were relatively slow. They found that the overall reaction rate could be considerably increased by the addition of reasonably powerful anionic nucleophiles. Indeed, Swain

Chemoselective N-acylation of indoles using thioesters as acyl source

• Tianri Du,
• Xiangmu Wei,
• Honghong Xu,
• Xin Zhang,
• Ruiru Fang,
• Zheng Yuan,
• Zhi Liang and
• Yahui Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 89–94, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.9

• , heterocycles, such as carbazole, can also be used as nucleophiles in this reaction. Keywords: indole; N-acylation; nucleophilic substitution; thioesters; Introduction Molecules containing N-acylindoles have attracted wide attention in the synthetic polymers and pharmaceutical industry because of their unique

1,2-Naphthoquinone-4-sulfonic acid salts in organic synthesis

• Ruan Carlos B. Ribeiro,
• Patricia G. Ferreira,
• Amanda de A. Borges,
• Luana da S. M. Forezi,
• Fernando de Carvalho da Silva and
• Vitor F. Ferreira

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 53–69, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.5

• possible to identify three alternatives for the functionalization of β-NQS with amines: a) substitution of sulfonate by secondary amines; b) substitution of sulfonate by primary amines, followed by isomerization; and c) double addition of primary amines. In addition, other nucleophiles can also be used

• with other nitrogenous nucleophiles, such as azide ions. The reaction of 18 in the presence of sodium azide and water produces 4-azido-1,2-naphthoquinone (39) in a 52% yield. Although 39 can produce many other derivatives, few reactions have been studied. The reaction of 39 with concentrated sulfuric

Recent advances and perspectives in ruthenium-catalyzed cyanation reactions

• Thaipparambil Aneeja,
• Cheriya Mukkolakkal Abdulla Afsina,
• Padinjare Veetil Saranya and
• Gopinathan Anilkumar

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 37–52, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.4

• , alkynes, and halides were compatible with this strategy. A photoredox-catalyzed oxidative coupling of 4-alkyl-3,4-dihydroquinoxalin-2(1H)-ones with nucleophiles was reported by Hong and co-workers [42]. The reaction was performed using 20 mol % of Ru(bpy)3Cl2.6H2O in methanol under CFL light irradiation

Efficient N-arylation of 4-chloroquinazolines en route to novel 4-anilinoquinazolines as potential anticancer agents

• Rodolfo H. V. Nishimura,
• Thiago dos Santos,
• Valter E. Murie,
• Luciana C. Furtado,
• Leticia V. Costa-Lotufo and
• Giuliano C. Clososki

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2968–2975, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.206

• ]. These limitations can be overcome by using microwave irradiation [12][13][18][19][20], which promotes fast and efficient anilination reactions when a wide range of anilines bearing both electron-donating and electron-withdrawing groups are employed as nucleophiles (Scheme 1b) [12][13]. Moreover, 4

A two-phase bromination process using tetraalkylammonium hydroxide for the practical synthesis of α-bromolactones from lactones

• Yuki Yamamoto,
• Akihiro Tabuchi,
• Kazumi Hosono,
• Takanori Ochi,
• Kento Yamazaki,
• Shintaro Kodama,
• Akihiro Nomoto and
• Akiya Ogawa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2906–2914, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.198

• + as the nucleophiles in the two-phase system (Scheme 6). To a three-necked flask were added 2a (2.0 mmol), DMSO (2 mL), H2O (4 mL), CHCl3 (10 mL), and n-Bu4N+OH− (1.2 equiv in aqueous solution), and stirred vigorously for 10 min at 25 °C. Then, a solution of PhS−Na+ (1.2 mmol) in H2O (4 mL) was slowly

Iron-catalyzed domino coupling reactions of π-systems

• Austin Pounder and
• William Tam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2848–2893, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.196

• catalyst wasn’t necessary to promote the reaction, but the yield of the cascade was significantly increased upon loading. The scope of the π-systems was limited to alkenes conjugated to electron-rich aryl species. Various nitrogen nucleophiles including primary/secondary amines and sulfonamides were

• various nucleophiles 108 (Scheme 22) [105]. This protocol offers an expedient approach to 1-amino-2-silylalkanes, a classically difficult framework to synthesize, typically requiring harsh reaction conditions, multistep synthetic routes, or the use of expensive silicon reagents [106]. Moreover, the

• methodology was extended to the carbosilylation of olefins with carbon nucleophiles 108 including indoles, pyrroles, and 1,3-dicarbonyls. The scope of the reaction was broad and could tolerate a variety of functional groups; however, electron-deficient alkenes afforded the products in slightly diminished

Solvent-free synthesis of enantioenriched β-silyl nitroalkanes under organocatalytic conditions

• Akhil K. Dubey and
• Raghunath Chowdhury

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2642–2649, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.177

• nucleophiles to β-silyl α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds were documented as one of the straightforward and atom-economic approaches for the facile synthesis of chiral organosilanes (Scheme 1c–f) [30][31][32][33]. Recently, the aforementioned reaction under organocatalytic conditions has gained attention [34

Recent advances in organocatalytic asymmetric aza-Michael reactions of amines and amides

• Pratibha Sharma,
• Raakhi Gupta and
• Raj K. Bansal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2585–2610, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.173

• as an important synthetic strategy for the preparation of a large variety of β-amino carbonyl and similar motifs which are present in many bioactive natural products [8][9], antibiotics [10][11][12] and chiral auxiliaries [13][14][15]. However, the reaction of many nitrogen-nucleophiles, such as

• the non-covalent and covalent organocatalysis. It is intended to overview the literature of the last 10 years, i.e., from 2011 through 2020 only. Nevertheless, wherever necessary, earlier references may also be cited to maintain coherence. Furthermore, nitrogen nucleophiles comprise a large variety of

• the nitrogen nucleophiles, such as aromatic amines and amides which are otherwise averse to reacting. The organocatalysts have emerged as catalysts of choice due to various reasons, such as their compatibility with the ‘Green Chemistry’ and possibility of tailoring them according to the requirements

Silica gel and microwave-promoted synthesis of dihydropyrrolizines and tetrahydroindolizines from enaminones

• Robin Klintworth,
• Garreth L. Morgans,
• Stefania M. Scalzullo,
• Charles B. de Koning,
• Willem A. L. van Otterlo and
• Joseph P. Michael

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2543–2552, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.170

• enaminones as both nucleophiles and electrophiles have frequently been exploited in the synthesis of heterocyclic products, including pyrroles and related systems [22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. Nonetheless, encouraged by the ease of access to pyrrole-containing products of type 12 and their potential

Visible-light-mediated copper photocatalysis for organic syntheses

• Yajing Zhang,
• Qian Wang,
• Zongsheng Yan,
• Donglai Ma and
• Yuguang Zheng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2520–2542, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.169

• the copper-catalyzed oxidative coupling of alkynes, nucleophiles (e.g., phenols 25 and 28; amines 24, 27, 29, and 32; 2-hydrazinylpyridine 26; alkyne 33; and alcohol 30), and oxidants (benzoquinone or O2). Based on the literature and mechanistic experiments [72][73], the reaction is initiated by the

• nucleophile and the alkyl or aryl radicals. From 2013 to 2019, the authors disclosed a series of nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and carbon nucleophiles for photoinduced, copper-catalyzed cross-couplings with organic halides. The copper–nucleophile complexes that were generated in situ as photoredox catalysts

• undergoes radical addition with the N-substituted maleimide (Scheme 25). In 2017, Wu and co-workers [94] reported the α-amino C−H functionalization of aromatic amines 51 with nucleophiles, including arynes or aromatic olefins 52, indoles, acyclic β-ketoester 53, and β-diketone 54 (Scheme 26). Mechanistic

Direct C(sp³)–H allylation of 2-alkylpyridines with Morita–Baylis–Hillman carbonates via a tandem nucleophilic substitution/aza-Cope rearrangement

• Siyu Wang,
• Lianyou Zheng,
• Shutao Wang,
• Shulin Ning,
• Zhuoqi Zhang and
• Jinbao Xiang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2505–2510, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.167

• . However, these reactions were mainly suitable to strong nucleophiles such as malonates, amines, or alcohols etc. [20][21][22][23]. The allylic substitution reactions using some weak nucleophiles, such as alkyl aza-arenes, were very limited [24][25][26][27][28][29]. In 2014, Rios and coworkers developed a

Advances in mercury(II)-salt-mediated cyclization reactions of unsaturated bonds

• Sumana Mandal,
• Raju D. Chaudhari and
• Goutam Biswas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2348–2376, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.153

• periodic table [32]. Hg(II) salts have already manifested some unique reactivity and therefore attracted increasing interest from chemists [33]. Many examples involving Hg(II) salts with unsaturated bonds in presence of various nucleophiles giving rise to various types of products are abound in the

• literature. Utilization of Hg(II) salts in the intramolecular cationic cyclization of olefinic, acetylenic, and allenic substrates having aromatic rings, nucleophiles, and heteroatoms in the neighborhood were well documented. Hg(II) reagents were also often employed in the important cyclization step during

• ). Cyclization involving catalytic Hg(II) salts Cyclization involving alkenes (>C=C<) Apart from the stoichiometric amount used in cyclization, there is abundant literature where a catalytic amount of Hg(II) salt was employed for cyclization reactions between nucleophiles and unsaturated bonds. The synthesis of

A novel methodology for the efficient synthesis of 3-monohalooxindoles by acidolysis of 3-phosphate-substituted oxindoles with haloid acids

• Li Liu,
• Yue Li,
• Tiao Huang,
• Dulin Kong and
• Mingshu Wu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2321–2328, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.150

• recently as precursors in Friedel–Crafts reactions of arenes [30][31] and cross-coupling reactions of arylboronic reagents [32]. However, the direct SN1 reaction of such isatin-derived 3-phosphate-substituted oxindoles by halide ions as nucleophiles has not been developed yet and remains an unsolved

Halides as versatile anions in asymmetric anion-binding organocatalysis

• Lukas Schifferer,
• Martin Stinglhamer,
• Kirandeep Kaur and
• Olga García Macheño

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2270–2286, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.145

• obtain the dihydroisoquinolines 22 in good yields and enantioselectivities up to 92% ee. The Takemoto group with their system also achieved yields up to 78% and enantioselectivities up to 97% ee, using phenyl chloroformate as the acylating reagent and vinylboronic acids as the nucleophiles in the

• , that Reissert dearomatizations of N-heteroarenes, especially of isoquinolines [36], and nucleophilic addition to 1-chloroisochromanes [38] have become benchmark reactions in the context of anion-binding catalysis. Besides reports of thiourea-catalyzed reactions with different nucleophiles [39][40], the

• anion-binding catalysis has been successfully demonstrated for other halogens, and different types of substrates such as the benzhydryl cation [48][49][50][51]. Halides as counter-anions vs nucleophiles The latest advances in anion-binding catalysis not only allowed for excellent translation of

Enantioenriched α-substituted glutamates/pyroglutamates via enantioselective cyclopropenimine-catalyzed Michael addition of amino ester imines

• Zara M. Seibel,
• Jeffrey S. Bandar and
• Tristan H. Lambert

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2077–2084, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.134

• achieved [31], Michael reactions with these nucleophiles have met with limited success [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]. In terms of enantioselective catalytic strategies, Kobayashi has reported the conjugate addition of azlactones to acrylates using a calcium pybox complex, but with enantioselectivities

Asymmetric organocatalyzed synthesis of coumarin derivatives

• Natália M. Moreira,
• Lorena S. R. Martelli and
• Arlene G. Corrêa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1952–1980, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.128

• electrophilic and nucleophilic α-functionalizations are possible, whereas with the use of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes the β-position is functionalized with nucleophiles and the γ-position with electrophiles. In this sense, Jørgensen and colleagues have developed the first organocatalytic asymmetric Michael

Development of N-F fluorinating agents and their fluorinations: Historical perspective

• Teruo Umemoto,
• Yuhao Yang and
• Gerald B. Hammond

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1752–1813, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.123

•  30). NFSI is a stable and non-hygroscopic crystalline solid with a mp of 114–116 °C. NFSI was shown to fluorinate a variety of nucleophiles. As seen in Scheme 31, trimethylsilyl enol ethers, enolate anions of ketones and esters, and aryl- and vinyllithiums were fluorinated with NFSI in moderate to

• F2/N2 system, but failed. Reagent 20-3 was synthesized using cesium fluoroxysulfate in 1991 (see section 1-15). Reagent 20-2 proved useful for the fluorination of both neutral and anionic nucleophiles under mild conditions. Scheme 45 illustrates some pertinent examples. Phenyl Grignard reagent

Sustainable manganese catalysis for late-stage C–H functionalization of bioactive structural motifs

• Jongwoo Son

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1733–1751, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.122

• peptide, which can be further utilized as a Michael acceptor for a variety of nucleophiles. Based on their manganese-catalyzed allylation using Morita–Baylis–Hillman carbonates, the Ackermann group established an applicable late-stage C–H glycosylation of peptides (Scheme 12) [95]. Thus, allylative

Electron-rich triarylphosphines as nucleophilic catalysts for oxa-Michael reactions

• Susanne M. Fischer,
• Simon Renner,
• A. Daniel Boese and
• Christian Slugovc

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1689–1697, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.117

• chemistry; organocatalysis; phosphine; solvent-free synthesis; Introduction Phosphines are potent nucleophiles that are used as catalysts in many reactions, like Rauhut–Currier, Morita–Baylis–Hillman or Michael reactions [1][2][3]. The first step of these reactions is a conjugate addition of the phosphine

• alkoxide to yield the product iv and the phosphine. Our results disclosed in the following contribute to the rational selection of proper (pre-)catalysts for this and similar reactions also considering the oxygen sensitivity of the nucleophiles. Results and Discussion To compare the activity of the

• like structures were observed [24]. A more efficient transformation of acrylamide can be obtained with base catalysis. Using activated potassium carbonate, a reaction temperature of 40 °C, and 4 h reaction time give typically better conversions than those reported herein with nucleophiles [25]. Next

Methodologies for the synthesis of quaternary carbon centers via hydroalkylation of unactivated olefins: twenty years of advances

• Thiago S. Silva and
• Fernando Coelho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1565–1590, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.112

• nucleophiles, along with transition-metal catalysis, in olefin alkylation reactions [18][19][20][21]. Apart from the early examples of olefin functionalization with transition metals, such as the well-known ethylene oxidation catalyzed by Pd(II) (the Wacker reaction) [23][24], the use of carbon nucleophiles in

• reported the use of active methylene compounds as suitable nucleophiles in intramolecular hydroalkylation reactions (Scheme 2) [25]. In the presence of PdCl2(CH3CN)2, the hydroalkylation of β-diketones 1 gave only 6-endo-trig cyclization products 2 in moderate to good yields (Scheme 2). The methodology

• nucleophiles beyond the usually employed dicarbonyl compounds to cyanoacetates, nitroacetates, fluoroacetates, lactones, lactams, and aromatic and heteroaromatic carbonyl compounds. The reactions were carried out at higher temperatures (120 °C) than used in the previous protocols involving more reactive

One-step synthesis of imidazoles from Asmic (anisylsulfanylmethyl isocyanide)

• Louis G. Mueller,
• Allen Chao,
• Embarek AlWedi and
• Fraser F. Fleming

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1499–1502, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.106

• contain an adjacent electron withdrawing group (1, R1 = EWG) [13]. Installation of an electron withdrawing group adjacent to an isocyanide facilitates the deprotonation but creates weak nucleophiles 2 that are insufficiently nucleophilic to react with nitriles [14]. Described below is the use of Asmic

Cascade intramolecular Prins/Friedel–Crafts cyclization for the synthesis of 4-aryltetralin-2-ols and 5-aryltetrahydro-5H-benzo[7]annulen-7-ols

• Jie Zheng,
• Shuyu Meng and
• Quanrui Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1481–1489, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.104

• reaction conditions, we surveyed the scope and limitation of the cascade protocol. Initially, we explored the range of nucleophiles that were used to intercept the benzyl carbenium ion and the results are summarized in Scheme 6. All reactions with electron-rich aromatics containing a p- and/or o-methoxy

• reaction leading to the 4-allyl-substituted tetrahydronaphthalen-2-ol 14ai in 65% yield. On comparing the results from the anisole-type nucleophiles or thiophene with that from furans, it was observed that the reactions with furans furnished predominantly trans-14af and trans-14ag with a high degree of

• diastereoselectivity (cis/trans ratio = 1:99). The preferential formation of the trans-configured products for furan nucleophiles may be due to the fact that the addition of furan is reversible leading to equilibration to the more stable trans product. To test this hypothesis, we monitored the reaction by HPLC (Table

Organocatalytic asymmetric Michael/acyl transfer reaction between α-nitroketones and 4-arylidenepyrrolidine-2,3-diones

• Chandrakanta Parida and
• Subhas Chandra Pan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1447–1452, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.100

• because of unfavorable steric interactions. To overcome this problem, reactive Michael donors must be used to achieve a good conversion in the reaction. In recent years, α-nitroketones have emerged as active nucleophiles in Michael reactions and a range of substrates have been explored [10]. Also, α

Fritsch–Buttenberg–Wiechell rearrangement of magnesium alkylidene carbenoids leading to the formation of alkynes

• Tsutomu Kimura,
• Koto Sekiguchi,
• Akane Ando and
• Aki Imafuji

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1352–1359, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.94

• synthesis [1]. Electrophilic additions of alkynes give functionalized compounds, and cycloadditions such as the Huisgen reaction afford cyclic compounds. Weakly acidic terminal alkynes can be deprotonated, and the resulting acetylides are used as carbon nucleophiles. Terminal alkynes are also used for the