Mechanisms for radical reactions initiating from N-hydroxyphthalimide esters

• Carlos R. Azpilcueta-Nicolas and
• Jean-Philip Lumb

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 346–378, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.35

• years and in the past, they were perceived as fleeting reaction intermediates. Recent progress in photoredox catalysis [6][7][8], electrochemistry [9][10], and the use of transition-metal (TM) catalysts in radical cross-coupling reactions [11] have dramatically expanded the use of radicals in synthesis

• photoactive catalysts can be achieved by combining simple transition metal (TM) salts with suitable ligands. These TM catalysts are fundamentally distinct from traditional Ru- and Ir-based photoredox catalysts, as they play a dual role, by engaging in photoinduced electron transfer processes with the

• desaturation of aliphatic carboxylic acids [83]. Initiation by metal catalysts and stoichiometric reductants The activation of NHPI esters under transition metal catalysis without the need of light is also feasible, and generally, two types of coupling reactions can be envisioned. On one hand, the

Nucleophilic functionalization of thianthrenium salts under basic conditions

• Xinting Fan,
• Duo Zhang,
• Xiangchuan Xiu,
• Bin Xu,
• Yu Yuan,
• Feng Chen and
• Pan Gao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 257–263, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.26

• Abstract In recent years, S-(alkyl)thianthrenium salts have become an important means of functionalizing alcohol compounds. However, additional transition metal catalysts and/or visible light are required. Herein, a direct thioetherification/amination reaction of thianthrenium salts is realized under metal

• ]. Recently, Ritter and co-workers reported that alkylthianthrenium salts can be employed to undergo reactions with N/O-nucleophiles under photocatalytic conditions [46]. Nevertheless, additional transition metal catalysts, visible light, or electrochemical devices are required for the reported works

Substitution reactions in the acenaphthene analog of quino[7,8-h]quinoline and an unusual synthesis of the corresponding acenaphthylenes by tele-elimination

• Ekaterina V. Kolupaeva,
• Narek A. Dzhangiryan,
• Alexander F. Pozharskii,
• Oleg P. Demidov and
• Valery A. Ozeryanskii

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 243–253, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.24

• and used in medicine, food industry, catalysts, dyes, functional materials, oil refining, and electronics [1][2]. Quinoline and its derivatives have antibiotic, antimalarial, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, and antiretroviral properties [3][4]. Therefore, at present, there is a need

Copper-catalyzed multicomponent reaction of β-trifluoromethyl β-diazo esters enabling the synthesis of β-trifluoromethyl N,N-diacyl-β-amino esters

• Youlong Du,
• Haibo Mei,
• Ata Makarem,
• Ramin Javahershenas,
• Vadim A. Soloshonok and
• Jianlin Han

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 212–219, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.21

• side reactions was carried out with benzyl 3-amino-4,4,4-trifluorobutanoate (1a) and benzoic acid (3a) as model substrates. The initial reaction of amine 1a and acid 3a in acetonitrile in the presence of diazotization reagent tert-butyl nitrite with CuI (10 mol %) as catalysts for 2.5 h at room

Chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of 3,3-difluoro-3H-indoles

• Yumei Wang,
• Guangzhu Wang,
• Yanping Zhu and
• Kaiwu Dong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 205–211, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.20

• obtained in 98% yield with 20% ee after 12 h (Table 1, entry 1). Then, the effect of steric hindrance of the CPA catalyst and solvents on the stereochemistry of this transfer hydrogenation were investigated in detail. Among various 3,3’-disubstituted CPA catalysts (Table 1, entries 2–6), chiral phosphoric

Metal-catalyzed coupling/carbonylative cyclizations for accessing dibenzodiazepinones: an expedient route to clozapine and other drugs

• Amina Moutayakine and
• Anthony J. Burke

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 193–204, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.19

• due to the energetically favorable dissociation of Mo(CO)n into Mo(CO)n−1 which was proven to be a highly exothermic reaction in the presence of metal catalysts especially after the dissociation of the first CO group [23]. It should be noted that the best overall yield for the synthesis of 4a using

Copper-promoted C5-selective bromination of 8-aminoquinoline amides with alkyl bromides

• Changdong Shao,
• Chen Ma,
• Li Li,
• Jingyi Liu,
• Yanan Shen,
• Chen Chen,
• Qionglin Yang,
• Tianyi Xu,
• Zhengsong Hu,
• Yuhe Kan and
• Tingting Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 155–161, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.14

• quinoline ring of 1a in this reaction. Other competitive site-selective C–H bromination products and multiple brominated products were not observed. Subsequently, the bromination reaction was examined with various catalysts such as CoCl2·6H2O, Ni(OAc)2·4H2O, MnSO4·H2O, CuCl, CuBr, CuCl2, CuBr2, and Cu(OAc)2

Perspectives on push–pull chromophores derived from click-type [2 + 2] cycloaddition–retroelectrocyclization reactions of electron-rich alkynes and electron-deficient alkenes

• Michio Yamada

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 125–154, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.13

• wormlike nanoparticles. In rotaxanes, the utilization of metal–ligand bonding involving CuI is a common strategy for immobilizing a thread moiety within a macrocycle. However, the efficacy of such a bonding is compromised when catalysts are used in stoppering reactions, e.g., the copper-catalyzed azide

Visible-light-induced radical cascade cyclization: a catalyst-free synthetic approach to trifluoromethylated heterocycles

• Chuan Yang,
• Wei Shi,
• Jian Tian,
• Lin Guo,
• Yating Zhao and
• Wujiong Xia

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 118–124, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.12

• radicals. This method allows the efficient synthesis of various indole derivatives without the need of photocatalysts or transition-metal catalysts. Mechanism experiments indicate that the process involves a radical chain process initiated by the homolysis of Umemoto's reagent. This straightforward method

• ], Friedel–Crafts acylation [12], radical cascade reactions [2][13], and photoinduced radical cyclizations [14][15][16][17]. However, these methods often suffer from drawbacks such as harsh reaction conditions and the requirement of transition-metal catalysts. Although photocatalyzed cyclization reactions

• usually occur under mild conditions, they typically require expensive metal-based photocatalysts or structurally complex organic dyes [18]. Therefore, the development of a photoinduced cascade reaction without the need of additional catalysts or additives remains highly desirable [19]. The introduction of

Using the phospha-Michael reaction for making phosphonium phenolate zwitterions

• Matthias R. Steiner,
• Max Schmallegger,
• Larissa Donner,
• Johann A. Hlina,
• Christoph Marschner,
• Judith Baumgartner and
• Christian Slugovc

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 41–51, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.6

• powerful tool for performing organic reactions [1] and polymerizations [2]. In this context phosphines have proven to be potent Lewis-base catalysts [3][4] for a variety of reactions [5], including but not limited to Rauhut–Currier [6], Morita–Baylis–Hillman [7], and Michael reactions [8][9][10]. In all

• this zwitterion formation is of great importance since it is the initiation step for the catalytic cycle in Michael reactions [8]. Generally, the conjugate addition is favored for strong nucleophiles, which is why electron-rich trialkylphosphines were among the first catalysts used in this type of

• trifluoromethyl groups [20] and the cross-coupling of aryl halides [21]. Like phosphonium salts in general are used as catalysts [22][23], phosphonium salts based on ortho-hydroxy-substituted phosphines received particular attention because of their zwitterionic nature and have been used as catalysts in the

Synthesis of N-acyl carbazoles, phenoxazines and acridines from cyclic diaryliodonium salts

• Nils Clamor,
• Mattis Damrath,
• Thomas J. Kuczmera,
• Daniel Duvinage and
• Boris J. Nachtsheim

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 12–16, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.2

• [33][34]. Results and Discussion Initially, we investigated the synthesis of N-acyl carbazole by treatment of diaryliodonium salt 1a with valeramide using Cu(I) catalysts [18]. The results are shown in Table 1. In the first experiments in p-xylene at 120 °C with DMEDA as N,N-ligand, only modest

1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate as suitable solvent for BF₃: the case of alkyne hydration. Chemistry vs electrochemistry

• Marta David,
• Elisa Galli,
• Richard C. D. Brown,
• Marta Feroci,
• Fabrizio Vetica and
• Martina Bortolami

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1966–1981, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.147

• , UK Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy 10.3762/bjoc.19.147 Abstract In order to replace the expensive metal/ligand catalysts and classic toxic and volatile solvents, commonly used for the hydration of alkynes, the hydration reaction of

• stimulated the search for alternative catalysts and conditions for the hydration of alkynes, in order to identify safer and more sustainable methods [11][12][13]. In particular, transition-metal catalysts containing Au(I) or (III) [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24], Ru(II) [25][26][27][28][29][30

• ], Pd(II) [31][32][33], Pt(II) [34][35], Fe(III) [36][37], Cu(I) [38][39][40][41], Co(III) [42][43][44], as well as other metals, have been widely studied. In addition, methods involving Brønsted acids, alone or in presence of Lewis acids as co-catalysts, have been developed [45][46][47][48][49][50][51

Aldiminium and 1,2,3-triazolium dithiocarboxylate zwitterions derived from cyclic (alkyl)(amino) and mesoionic carbenes

• Nedra Touj,
• François Mazars,
• Guillermo Zaragoza and
• Lionel Delaude

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1947–1956, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.145

• heterocycles; zwitterions; Introduction Following the seminal discovery from the group of Arduengo, who isolated and fully characterized 1,3-di(1-adamantyl)imidazol-2-ylidene in 1991 [1], stable divalent carbon species have evolved from fleeting intermediates to ubiquitous catalysts, ligands, and reagents in

• variety of small molecules and to bind strongly to metal centers, thereby affording very robust catalysts [9][10][11][12]. Another category of stable carbenes that has emerged in the new millennium is made of mesoionic compounds, for which no reasonable canonical resonance form can be drawn in the absence

Beyond n-dopants for organic semiconductors: use of bibenzo[d]imidazoles in UV-promoted dehalogenation reactions of organic halides

• Kan Tang,
• Megan R. Brown,
• Chad Risko,
• Melissa K. Gish,
• Garry Rumbles,
• Phuc H. Pham,
• Oana R. Luca,
• Stephen Barlow and
• Seth R. Marder

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1912–1922, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.142

• -containing catalysts [32]. We note that another all-organic reductive dimerization of benzyl halides using 2,3,5,6-tetrakis(tetramethylguanidino)pyridine has recently been reported [37]. The less readily reduced halides examined here (1d,e, and 2) are only sluggishly converted, even when using both (N-DMBI)2

Anion–π catalysis on carbon allotropes

• M. Ángeles Gutiérrez López,
• Mei-Ling Tan,
• Giacomo Renno,
• Augustina Jozeliūnaitė,
• J. Jonathan Nué-Martinez,
• Javier Lopez-Andarias,
• Naomi Sakai and
• Stefan Matile

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1881–1894, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.140

• because it took some time to find the benchmark reaction needed to develop the catalysts (Figure 2) [2]. With this operational enolate chemistry in hand, it quickly became clear that increasing π acidity at the same time decreases the stability of the catalyst [3][4][5]. This suggested that induced rather

• than intrinsic anion–π interactions should provide access to really strong catalysts [3]. They have been predicted theoretically to occur on π-stacks [6], and confirmed recently to exist and apply to anion–π catalysis on π-stacked foldamers (Figure 1B) [7] and micelles [8]. However, due to their unique

• ][56][57]. Anion–π catalysis on fullerenes has been introduced in 2017 [12]. Fullerene anion–π catalysts were developed with the benchmark reaction introduced two years earlier (Figure 2) [2]. In this reaction, at the beginning of all biosynthesis, finetuned malonic acid half thioesters 4 [58][59][60

N-Boc-α-diazo glutarimide as efficient reagent for assembling N-heterocycle-glutarimide diads via Rh(II)-catalyzed N–H insertion reaction

• Grigory Kantin,
• Pavel Golubev,
• Alexander Sapegin,
• Alexander Bunev and
• Dmitry Dar’in

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1841–1848, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.136

• ), up to 2–3 days, along with the addition of an extra portion or two of catalyst to complete the reaction. Furthermore, the yields of the NH-insertion products in the latter reactions were moderate or low (see 6h, 6r, 6s, Scheme 3). It should be noted that we have also tested some Cu(II) catalysts (Cu

• decreased (62% (NMR) vs 69% (isolated)). When Rh2(TFA)4 (1 mol %) was used, a reversal of the ratio of 6a/9a insertion products (1:2) was observed in the test reaction, although the total yield estimated by NMR was only 32%. Thus, in the series of tested Rh(II) catalysts Rh2(esp)2 is the most successful

Substituent-controlled construction of A₄B₂-hexaphyrins and A₃B-porphyrins: a mechanistic evaluation

• Seda Cinar,
• Dilek Isik Tasgin and
• Canan Unaleroglu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1832–1840, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.135

• porphyrins were detected in the mass spectra of some of the products. 1H NMR analysis of the synthesized hexaphyrins proved that the spectra were in consistence with [26]hexaphyrin aromaticity [29]. Several other metal triflates such as Zn(OTf)2, Gd(OTf)3, and Yb(OTf)3 were also tested as catalysts in the

A novel recyclable organocatalyst for the gram-scale enantioselective synthesis of (S)-baclofen

• Gyula Dargó,
• Dóra Erdélyi,
• Balázs Molnár,
• Péter Kisszékelyi,
• Zsófia Garádi and
• József Kupai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1811–1824, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.133

• Budapest, Hungary 10.3762/bjoc.19.133 Abstract Synthesizing organocatalysts is often a long and cost-intensive process, therefore, the recovery and reuse of the catalysts are particularly important to establish sustainable organocatalytic transformations. In this work, we demonstrate the synthesis

• achieved, for example, by immobilizing the catalysts to a solid support [15], e.g., silica gel [16][17][18], organic polymers [19][20][21], magnetic nanoparticles [22][23], or by membrane separation, e.g., using organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) [24][25][26], which methods can be easily implemented in

• flow systems. Accordingly, the main recycling methods rely on the immobilization of catalysts on heterogeneous supports, however, this could often lead to the deterioration of activity and/or selectivity [27]. A possible solution to avoid these drawbacks is the heterogenization of the catalyst after a

Recent advancements in iodide/phosphine-mediated photoredox radical reactions

• Tinglan Liu,
• Yu Zhou,
• Junhong Tang and
• Chengming Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1785–1803, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.131

• decarboxylative alkylation reaction that was facilitated by the synergistic action of a cost-effective and easily accessible NaI/PPh3 catalyst system (Scheme 1). This system offered an alternative to the use of precious metals or complex organic dyes as catalysts. The developed NaI/PPh3-based system not only

• of fused ketones 34, eliminating the need for transition-metal catalysts or oxidants. The technique offered a broad substrate scope, remarkable selectivity, and simple reaction conditions. A plausible mechanism had been proposed for the photocatalytic decarboxylative [3 + 2]/[4 + 2] annulation, as

Active-metal template clipping synthesis of novel [2]rotaxanes

• Cătălin C. Anghel,
• Teodor A. Cucuiet,
• Niculina D. Hădade and
• Ion Grosu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1776–1784, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.130

• molecule which catalyzes the macrocyclization reaction around the axle (Figure 1b). Results and Discussion In order to access the target [2]rotaxanes we made use of the CuAAC reaction, performed in the presence of a copper(I) N-heterocyclic carbene, a very stable and efficient class of catalysts used in

Selectivity control towards CO versus H₂ for photo-driven CO₂ reduction with a novel Co(II) catalyst

• Lisa-Lou Gracia,
• Philip Henkel,
• Olaf Fuhr and
• Claudia Bizzarri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1766–1775, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.129

• Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility (KNMFi), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany 10.3762/bjoc.19.129 Abstract Developing efficient catalysts for reducing carbon dioxide, a highly stable combustion waste product, is a relevant task to lower the atmospheric

• purpose, three main components are needed: a photosensitizer (PS), which acts like a light-antennae harvesting system in natural photosynthesis, a catalyst (Cat.), reacting directly with CO2 after being reduced, and a sacrificial electron donor (SeD). When the involved (photo)catalysts are homogeneous

• ) intermediate could be favored concerning the formation of the CO2 adduct with the reduced metal center. Thus, besides the development of novel efficient catalysts, different strategies have been pursued to switch the catalyst selectivity towards carbon products [4][5]. Generally, scientists can interplay by

Benzoimidazolium-derived dimeric and hydride n-dopants for organic electron-transport materials: impact of substitution on structures, electrochemistry, and reactivity

• Swagat K. Mohapatra,
• Khaled Al Kurdi,
• Samik Jhulki,
• Georgii Bogdanov,
• John Bacsa,
• Maxwell Conte,
• Tatiana V. Timofeeva,
• Seth R. Marder and
• Stephen Barlow

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1651–1663, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.121

• condenses with the aldehyde but where the subsequent second condensation and oxidation does not take place, i.e., structures of type IV (Scheme 1), which are known to be converted to benzimidazoles by various oxidants and/or catalysts [30][31][32]. The benzimidazoles were then doubly methylated with

Radical chemistry in polymer science: an overview and recent advances

• Zixiao Wang,
• Feichen Cui,
• Yang Sui and
• Jiajun Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1580–1603, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.116

• Grubbs catalysts (Scheme 12A), are the most popular ones [87]. However, Ru-based catalysts are expensive making them less attractive for industrial applications. Living ROMP is commonly terminated by adding a special chemical which can remove the transition metal from the chain end and deactivate it from

• couplings in PATs. Scheme 10 redrawn from [79]. General thiol-ene photopolymerization process. Scheme 11 redrawn from [81]. (a) Three generations of Grubbs catalysts. (b) Proposed mechanism for photo-ROMP via a reductive quenching pathway and (c, d) chemical structures of the (c) initiators and (d) monomers

Lewis acid-promoted direct synthesis of isoxazole derivatives

• Dengxu Qiu,
• Chenhui Jiang,
• Pan Gao and
• Yu Yuan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1562–1567, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.113

• nitrogen source (Scheme 1, reaction 2). In 2017, Xu and co-workers [19] developed a copper-mediated annulation reaction to synthesize isoxazoles from two different alkynes. In fact, most methods mostly used highly toxic transition-metal catalysts such as copper metals. In order to develop cheaper and more

• environmentally friendly catalysts, our laboratory recently developed an alternative approach to the synthesis of isooxazoles starting from 2-methylquinoline and alkynes mediated by Brønsted acids in good yields (Scheme 1, reaction 3) [20]. The utilization of main element metal aluminum salts in organic synthesis

Morpholine-mediated defluorinative cycloaddition of gem-difluoroalkenes and organic azides

• Tzu-Yu Huang,
• Mario Djugovski,
• Sweta Adhikari,
• Destinee L. Manning and
• Sudeshna Roy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1545–1554, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.111

• hypothesis, we observed that p-cyanophenyl azide (2b) gave a better yield (30%, Table 1, entry 2) compared to the unsubstituted phenyl azide (2a, 21% yield, entry 1). Among the nickel catalysts screened, NiCl2(dppp)2 gave a better yield (Table 1, entry 2 vs entry 3). K3PO4 was used as a base since it has