Rotaxanes with integrated photoswitches: design principles, functional behavior, and emerging applications

• Jullyane Emi Matsushima,
• Khushbu,
• Zuliah Abdulsalam,
• Udyogi Navodya Kulathilaka Conthagamage and
• Víctor García-López

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2345–2366, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.179

• base results in the deprotonation of the ammonium site and shuttling of the macrocycle to the urea site. Whereas, upon addition of acid, the macrocycle returns to the protonated BAA site. Notably, the rotaxane exhibited high fluorescence intensity due to aggregation in acetonitrile with high water

• along the axle in response to pH changes, moving farther from the spiropyran upon the addition of acid. In the spiropyran form, no FRET occurs between the tetraphenylethylene fluorophore on the macrocycle (donor) and the spiropyran unit, regardless of their relative positions. However, upon

• , temperature, and acid–base stimuli. Additionally, this spiropyran-based rotaxane showed pronounced photochromic and fluorescent behavior in both powder and solid film under alternating UV/sunlight and visible light/heating conditions, highlighting its suitability for dynamic optical systems and anti

Comparative analysis of complanadine A total syntheses

• Reem Al-Ahmad and
• Mingji Dai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2334–2344, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.178

• -oxidized analog and complanadines D and E are partially reduced analogs. In addition, natural analogs such as lycoplatyrine A (6), isolated as a mixture of diastereomers, were discovered as derivatives of lycodine and an amino acid [11]. Biosynthetically, lysine was proposed to be the starting point of

Recent advances in Norrish–Yang cyclization and dicarbonyl photoredox reactions for natural product synthesis

• Peng-Xi Luo,
• Jin-Xuan Yang,
• Shao-Min Fu and
• Bo Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2315–2333, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.177

• -chloroperoxybenzoic acid) induced epoxidation, which was then followed by a Meinwald rearrangement to accomplish aldehyde 7. From 7, a sequence involving silyl enol ether formation, Simmons−Smith cyclopropanation, and acid-mediated regioselective ring-opening installed the C8 quaternary methyl group in 10. Subsequent

• , Yang's and Zhang's groups employed a quinone-based, acid-promoted Norrish–Yang cyclization to achieve the stereoselective construction of multiple avarane-type meroterpenoids [27], including dysiherbol A (33) [28], dysifragilone A (34) [29], dysideanone B (35) [30], dysideanone E (36) [28], and the core

• -benzoquinone – advanced 41 to neoavarone (44). After screening various Lewis acids (including AlCl3, Mg(OTf)2, Yb(OTf)3, etc.), it was finally found that treatment of 44 with irradiation at 422 nm in the presence of the optimal Lewis acid LaCl3 furnished the natural products dysiherbol A (33) and dysideanone E

Insoluble methylene-bridged glycoluril dimers as sequestrants for dyes

• Suvenika Perera,
• Peter Y. Zavalij and
• Lyle Isaacs

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2302–2314, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.176

• -surfaces and which are activated for electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions. For the synthesis of W1, we initially prepared tetramethoxybiphenyl 1 (Scheme 1) according to the literature procedure involving the Suzuki coupling between 3,4-dimethoxybromobenzene and 3,4-dimethoxyphenylboronic acid [44

• reaction of methylene-bridged glycoluril dimer G2BCE with aromatic walls W1–W4 conducted in trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) as both solvent and acid catalyst. The new hosts G2W1–G2W4 were obtained in 28, 33, 59, and 62% yield, respectively, after washing and recrystallization processes. Hosts G2W1–G2W4 are

• and were used without further purification. H2 was synthesized according to a previously published procedure [39]. NMR spectra were measured on commercial spectrophotometers at 400 MHz for 1H and 100 MHz for 13C in trifluoroacetic acid with a capillary tube containing deuterated water (D2O) for

Halogenated butyrolactones from the biomass-derived synthon levoglucosenone

• Johannes Puschnig,
• Martyn Jevric and
• Ben W. Greatrex

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2297–2301, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.175

• . Short procedures for their synthesis have been developed starting with levoglucosenone, which can be obtained in a single step from the pyrolysis of acid-treated cellulose. The processes use inexpensive reagents for the stereoselective C3 functionalization of the bicyclic ring system, with a subsequent

• [14][15]. In recent years, the chiral biomass derivatives levoglucosenone (LGO, 5) and its reduced form Cyrene® (6) have gained increased attention as platforms for drug discovery [16][17][18][19]. The bicyclic ketone 5 is the major product from the pyrolysis of acid-treated cellulose [20], while its

• monochlorination and bromination of ketone 6 via enamine 9a [31], and it was envisaged that 9a would be a suitable substrate to achieve the double halogenation using an excess of electrophilic halogen. When enamine 9a was treated with 1.0 mol equivalent of trichloroisocyanouric acid (TCCA), a reagent which can

Enantioselective radical chemistry: a bright future ahead

• Anna C. Renner,
• Sagar S. Thorat,
• Hariharaputhiran Subramanian and
• Mukund P. Sibi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2283–2296, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.174

• describes several important catalytic asymmetric strategies applied to enantioselective radical reactions, including chiral Lewis acid catalysis, organocatalysis, photoredox catalysis, chiral transition-metal catalysis and photoenzymatic catalysis. The application of electrochemistry to asymmetric radical

• transformations is also discussed. Keywords: chiral Lewis acid; electrochemistry; enantioselective radical reaction; organocatalysis; photoenzymatic catalysis; photoredox; Introduction Asymmetric catalysis plays an integral role in the enantioselective synthesis of organic compounds. A wide variety of

• the 1990s. Since then, meticulous research by several research groups has led to significant advances in this area [4][5][6][7][8]. This perspective focuses on several important contributions to the science of asymmetric radical reactions. Pioneering work on chiral Lewis acid catalysis and iminium

Pathway economy in cyclization of 1,n-enynes

• Hezhen Han,
• Wenjie Mao,
• Bin Lin,
• Maosheng Cheng,
• Lu Yang and
• Yongxiang Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2260–2282, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.173

• pathway-controlled approach using tryptamine ynamides bearing Michael acceptor moieties as substrates (Scheme 27) [38][39]. Under strong Brønsted acid catalysis, protonation of the carbonyl group was achieved, which facilitated a Michael addition between the electron-rich indole C3-position and the

• 133 (Scheme 27, path b). Through precise acid catalyst selection, the reaction pathways were strategically modulated to afford efficient construction of both 1H-pyrrolo[2,3-d]carbazole derivatives and spiro[indoline-3,3'-pyrrolidin]-2-one derivatives. In 2019, the Ye group reported a copper-catalyzed

• intramolecular cyclization of 1,7-enynes. Brønsted acid-catalyzed cycloisomerizations of tryptamine ynamides. Catalyst-controlled cyclization of indolyl homopropargyl amides. Angle strain-dominated 6-endo-trig cyclization of propargyl vinyl ethers. Angle strain-controlled cycloisomerization of alkyn-tethered

Research towards selective inhibition of the CLK3 kinase

• Vinay Kumar Singh,
• Frédéric Justaud,
• Dabbugoddu Brahmaiah,
• Nangunoori Sampath Kumar,
• Blandine Baratte,
• Thomas Robert,
• Stéphane Bach,
• Chada Raji Reddy,
• Nicolas Levoin and
• René L. Grée

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2250–2259, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.172

• [22]. But because our goal is to enhance activity for CLK3, we cannot take advantage of this amino acid variation, and we had to investigate for other differences between CLKs. Here, we report our strategy and first efforts towards this end, starting from compound DB18 which is highly potent and

• , examination of the structure of CLK3 shows that this key lysine 241 is very close to the entry of the ATP binding site (Figure 1B). Lysine 241 could be considered as an opportunity to design new molecules with an improved affinity to CLK3, by adding specific interactions with this amino acid bearing a primary

• amine in terminal position. Based on this, our strategy was to design new inhibitors with introduction, in their terminal part, of an acid group which could perform an extra hydrogen bond or a salt bridge with lysine 241 and therefore could be specific to CLK3. Towards this goal we started from our

A chiral LC–MS strategy for stereochemical assignment of natural products sharing a 3-methylpent-4-en-2-ol moiety in their terminal structures

• Rei Suo,
• Raku Irie,
• Hinako Nakayama,
• Yuta Ishimaru,
• Yuya Akama,
• Masato Oikawa and
• Shiro Itoi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2243–2249, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.171

• derivatization. Several derivatization methods using chiral anisotropic reagents, including α-methoxy-α-trifluoromethylphenylacetic acid (MTPA), phenylglycine methyl ester (PGME), and Marfey’s reagents, are widely used [8][9][10], although their applicability is restricted by the presence of specific functional

• Discussion Our degradation strategy of natural products bearing an MPO moiety includes (1) acylation of hydroxy group, (2) oxidative cleavage of olefin to generate 3-acyloxy-2-methylbutanoic acid, and (3) its methyl esterification (Scheme 1A). We initially investigated derivatization strategies to enable LC

• . Alternatively, PNB ester (2S,3R)-9, the C3-epimer of 8, was synthesized from (2S,3S)-13 via a Mitsunobu reaction using p-nitrobenzoic acid (PNBOH) and DEAD in 39% yield for two steps [28]. The stereoisomers (2R,3R)-10, and (2R,3S)-11 were prepared in the same manner starting from commercially available (3R)-14

Thiadiazino-indole, thiadiazino-carbazole and benzothiadiazino-carbazole dioxides: synthesis, physicochemical and early ADME characterization of representatives of new tri-, tetra- and pentacyclic ring systems and their intermediates

• Gyöngyvér Pusztai,
• László Poszávácz,
• Anna Vincze,
• András Marton,
• Ahmed Qasim Abdulhussein,
• Judit Halász,
• András Dancsó,
• Gyula Simig,
• György Tibor Balogh and
• Balázs Volk

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2220–2233, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.169

• were previously used for the synthesis of 7-nitroindole derivatives: heating in polyphosphoric acid (PPA) at 80 °C [24][25]. However, our attempt was not successful. Experiments with zinc chloride, the most commonly used Lewis acid catalyst in Fischer indole syntheses, also failed under various

• conditions. Finally, we were able to achieve the Fischer cyclization of compounds 7a–j by using p-toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate as catalyst in boiling toluene (method A, step 2) [26][27]. On the other hand, the one-pot synthesis of target compounds 3a–j starting from hydrazino derivatives 5a,b was

• 1) afforded hydrazones (E)-9a,b. According to LC–MS, only the (E) isomers were present in the reaction mixtures and in the crude products. Hydrazones (E)-9a,b were then cyclized by refluxing in toluene in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate (method A, step 2). It is noteworthy that

A m-quaterphenyl probe for absolute configurational assignments of primary and secondary amines

• Yuka Takeuchi,
• Mutsumi Kobayashi,
• Yuuka Gotoh,
• Mari Ikeda,
• Yoichi Habata,
• Tomohiko Shirai and
• Shunsuke Kuwahara

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2211–2219, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.168

• Shibazono, Narashino, Chiba 275-0023, Japan Research Center for Materials with Integrated Properties, Toho University, 2-2-1 Miyama, Funabashi, Chiba 274-8510, Japan 10.3762/bjoc.21.168 Abstract We report a method for determining the absolute configurations of chiral amino alcohols, amino acid esters, and

• amines. In this work, we report that the method was applied to chiral amino alcohols and amino acid esters. We also applied the method to chiral secondary amines, for which it is generally difficult to determine the absolute configuration due to the conformational complexity of their derivatives [33]. By

• comparing the observed and calculated sign of the CD Cotton effect, their absolute configurations were determined. Results and Discussion The probe 1 was prepared as described previously [41]. Probe 1–primary amine conjugates 2a–e were prepared by the reaction of 1 with chiral amino alcohols and amino acid

Electrochemical cyclization of alkynes to construct five-membered nitrogen-heterocyclic rings

• Lifen Peng,
• Ting Wang,
• Zhiwen Yuan,
• Bin Li,
• Zilong Tang,
• Xirong Liu,
• Hui Li,
• Guofang Jiang,
• Chunling Zeng,
• Henry N. C. Wong and
• Xiao-Shui Peng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2173–2201, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.166

• following: a mixture 3-functionalized indole 19 (0.08 mmol), 2-alkynylaniline 20 (0.12 mmol), (R)-Rh1 (5 mol %), n-Bu4NOAc (0.08 mmol), 1-adamantane carboxylic acid (1-AdCO2H, 0.08 mmol) and MeOH/CHCl3 (1:1, 2 mL), under electrolysis (graphite felt (GF) anode and graphite (C) cathode, 2 mA, 5.6 F/mol) at rt

C2 to C6 biobased carbonyl platforms for fine chemistry

• Jingjing Jiang,
• Muhammad Noman Haider Tariq,
• Florence Popowycz,
• Yanlong Gu and
• Yves Queneau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2103–2172, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.165

• level of oxygen content in biomass, small molecules arising from biomass often possess a carbonyl group. This is why biobased platform molecules possessing a carbonyl group, either under the form of an aldehyde, a ketone, an acid or an ester, play a dominant role in biobased chemistry. This review aims

• , and illustrating their high-value conversion methods towards fine chemicals. Review C2 biobased carbonyl platforms Glycolaldehyde Developing accesses from biomass to structures such as glycolic acid (GA) and glycolaldehyde (GCA) with high atomic economy is challenging. Hu et al. reported a new route

• –Crafts alkylation products were then converted into an intermediate tryptaldehyde that underwent intramolecular olefination to form the targeted product [34]. Glycolic acid (GA) The growing impact of fossil fuel consumption has heightened the need for advancing renewable energy technologies. One

The application of desymmetric enantioselective reduction of cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds in the total synthesis of terpenoid and alkaloid natural products

• Dong-Xing Tan and
• Fu-She Han

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2085–2102, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.164

• on the reported method for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of commercially available cyclopentadione 62 [54], the authors adapted an efficient method for the desymmetric enantioselective reduction of 62 using commercially available (R,R)-Ts-DENEB (63) as the catalyst and formic acid as the hydrogen

• -catalyzed intermolecular Diels–Alder reaction of 106 with methacrolein 107 afforded the common intermediate 108 in high yield. Sequential Grignard reagent addition and acid-promoted ethoxy elimination provided the separable planar diene 109 (dr = 1:1), which underwent a Mn-catalyzed HAT hydrogenation to

• give (15R)-110 and (15S)-110 in 65% and 54% yield, respectively. Subsequently, ten functional group manipulations of the diastereomeric mixture 110 produced ketoester 111. Finally, the introduction of conjugated double bond in 111 followed by hydrolysis of the methyl ester to carboxylic acid and DCC

Multicomponent reactions IV

• Thomas J. J. Müller and
• Valentyn A. Chebanov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2082–2084, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.163

• between an aldehyde, an amine, a carboxylic acid, and an isonitrile in 1959 [8], which marked the beginning of modern MCR chemistry, continues to attract undiminished attention. It has since been applied in manifold ways, from breathtaking reaction sequences and post-Ugi transformations to the generation

Further elaboration of the stereodivergent approach to chaetominine-type alkaloids: synthesis of the reported structures of aspera chaetominines A and B and revised structure of aspera chaetominine B

• Jin-Fang Lü,
• Jiang-Feng Wu,
• Jian-Liang Ye and
• Pei-Qiang Huang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2072–2081, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.162

• compound 14, an intermediate in our synthesis of (–)-isochaetominine A (4) [63]. Indeed, EDCI/HOBt-mediated lactamization of 14 derived amino acid (not shown) via debenzylation increased the yield of (–)-isochaetominine A (4) from 75% to 91% (Scheme 1). Thus, overall yield of the total synthesis of

• (–)-isochaetominine A (4) increased to 30.8% over five steps. Similarly, EDCI/HOBt-mediated lactamization of amino acid (not shown) derived from 15 [63] via debenzylation produced the known (–)-2,3,14-tris-epi-isochaetominine C (16) with a significantly increased 92% yield. The epoxidation-triggered stereodivergent

• , anthranilic acid, and ᴅ-tryptophan”. Such speculation regarding the absolute configurations is clearly not convincing. Moreover, neither optical rotation data nor melting point (both 12 and 13 were isolated as white powder) have been reported by Liu et al. [32]. Additionally, the solvents used for measuring

Discovery of cytotoxic indolo[1,2-c]quinazoline derivatives through scaffold-based design

• Daniil V. Khabarov,
• Valeria A. Litvinova,
• Lyubov G. Dezhenkova,
• Dmitry N. Kaluzhny,
• Alexander S. Tikhomirov and
• Andrey E. Shchekotikhin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2062–2071, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.161

• introduce the carboxylic acid group a sequence of formylation/oxidation reactions was used. Vilsmeier–Haack reaction of 1 afforded 6-oxoindolo[1,2-c]quinazoline-12-carbaldehyde (2) (Scheme 1). All attempts to oxidize the aldehyde group of 2 to the corresponding carboxylic acid were hampered by the oxidative

• sensitivity of the indole moiety, resulting in poor selectivity and formation of complex product mixtures. In particular, Jones oxidation of 2 gave the corresponding 6-oxoindolo[1,2-c]quinazoline-12-carboxylic acid (3) in a low yield (Scheme 1) making it necessary to look another synthetic pathway. Of

• (5) (Scheme 1), a structural analogue of the biologically active alkaloid tryptanthrin (Figure 1). An alternative scheme to indolo[1,2-c]quinazoline-12-carboxylic acid (3) was based on initial acylation followed by a haloform reaction. Refluxing compound 1 with trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA) in

Bioinspired total syntheses of natural products: a personal adventure

• Zhengyi Qin,
• Yuting Yang,
• Nuran Yan,
• Xinyu Liang,
• Zhiyu Zhang,
• Yaxuan Duan,
• Huilin Li and
• Xuegong She

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2048–2061, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.160

• symbiotic natural products. The proposal lacks strong evidences, no matter it is scientifically reasonable or not. The bioinspired synthetic would provide evidences to support such a plausible biogenetic pathway through chemical transformations under simple biomimetic reaction conditions like acid, base, or

• aldehyde 3. This linear aldehyde would be activated by an acid to trigger a key Prins cyclization with the trisubstituted olefin through reaction model 3 and generate a putative tertiary carbocation to be trapped by the chiral alcohol, providing bicycle 4 stereoselectively. Finally, the last olefin would

• with an acid and base-promoted saponification inversed the C12 alcohol stereochemistry, which ultimately provided (12R)-hydroxymonocerin. Total synthesis and bioinspired skeletal diversification of (12-MeO)-tabertinggine In 2013, Kam and co-workers reported the discovery of two novel indole alkaloids

Switchable pathways of multicomponent heterocyclizations of 5-amino-1,2,4-triazoles with salicylaldehydes and pyruvic acid

• Yana I. Sakhno,
• Oleksander V. Buravov,
• Kostyantyn Yu. Yurkov,
• Anastasia Yu. Andryushchenko,
• Svitlana V. Shishkina and
• Valentyn A. Chebanov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2030–2035, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.158

• -triazoles, pyruvic acid, and salicylaldehydes were studied under different conditions. Upon conventional heating, benzotriazolooxadiazocine-5-carboxylic acids were formed in the three-component reactions as single reaction products. Upon ultrasonic activation or mechanical stirring at room temperature, the

• also was described in several other publications [13][14][15]. On the other hand, three-component reactions of aminoazoles, salicylaldehyde, and esters (or amides) of acetoacetic acid with isolation of other types of heterocylic compounds were described in some papers [16][17]. Our early works were

• devoted to the study of the reactions of aminoazoles, pyruvic acid and its derivatives with salicylaldehydes and it was found that depending on the conditions (reaction time, temperature, and method of process activation, in particular ultrasound and microwave irradiation), different types of heterocycles

α-Ketoglutaric acid in Ugi reactions and Ugi/aza-Wittig tandem reactions

• Vladyslav O. Honcharov,
• Yana I. Sakhno,
• Olena H. Shvets,
• Vyacheslav E. Saraev,
• Svitlana V. Shishkina,
• Tetyana V. Shcherbakova and
• Valentyn A. Chebanov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2021–2029, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.157

• library of bis- and tetraamides was synthesized by the Ugi reaction with α-ketoglutaric acid, tert-butyl isocyanide, aromatic aldehydes, and aromatic amines. When o-azidoanilines were used, azidated peptidomimetics were obtained, the post-cyclization of which by the aza-Wittig reaction yielded a series of

• substituted 3-(3-oxo-3,4-dihydroquinoxalin-2-yl)propanoic acids containing a pharmacophore quinoxalinone moiety. The tandem Ugi/aza-Wittig combination was also carried out in a one-pot procedure without isolation of the intermediate. Keywords: α-ketoglutaric acid; aza-Wittig reaction; multicomponent reaction

• nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds using various modifications of this sequence [32][33][34][35][36]. Among others, Yan et al. [31] described a facile way to quinoxalinone derivatives using an Ugi/Staudinger/aza-Wittig tandem combination with pyruvic acid or phenylglyoxylic acid. Quinoxalinones are

Aryl iodane-induced cascade arylation–1,2-silyl shift–heterocyclization of propargylsilanes under copper catalysis

• Rasma Kroņkalne,
• Rūdolfs Beļaunieks,
• Armands Sebris,
• Anatoly Mishnev and
• Māris Turks

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1984–1994, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.154

• chemoselectivity towards diene formation (Table 1, entries 15 and 16). In accordance with the proposed reaction mechanism (Scheme 2), an equimolar amount of protons is generated in the reaction, which would likely induce the formation of additional side-products either by protodecupration [27] or the acid

• acid, its sodium salt or the silylated carboxylic acid), the arylation reaction of aliphatic chain-containing propargylsilane 7b (standard conditions; see Scheme 3) only resulted in the arylation of the oxygen nucleophile itself. Next, we proceeded to expand the substrate scope by exploring other

• internal nucleophiles (Scheme 4), that could be used instead of the alcohol. The carboxylic acid-containing silane 7 (R = COOH), which was obtained by stepwise oxidation of the alcohol 7d, failed to give the desired lactone 8t product due to O-arylation of the carboxylic acid, leading to phenyl alkyl ester

Photochemical reduction of acylimidazolium salts

• Michael Jakob,
• Nick Bechler,
• Hassan Abdelwahab,
• Fabian Weber,
• Janos Wasternack,
• Leonardo Kleebauer,
• Jan P. Götze and
• Matthew N. Hopkinson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1973–1983, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.153

• suitably electrophilic substrate at the carboxylic acid oxidation level provides an acylazolium species B, which typically reacts directly with nucleophiles or may first be transformed into the corresponding enolate derivative. Regardless of the individual pathway, NHC-catalyzed reactions of this type

• acid derivative substrates [16]. Over the last few years, a wide range of valuable NHC-catalyzed transformations have also been developed that incorporate redox steps. As an enamine species, single-electron oxidation of a Breslow intermediate is comparatively favored with the resulting open shell

• manifold with carboxylic acid derivatives, numerous coupling processes affording ketone products have been developed. Since the initial report from Scheidt and co-workers using 4-alkyl-substituted Hantzsch esters as coupling partners [31][32][33][34][35][36], several alkyl radical sources have been

Asymmetric total synthesis of tricyclic prostaglandin D2 metabolite methyl ester via oxidative radical cyclization

• Miao Xiao,
• Liuyang Pu,
• Qiaoli Shang,
• Lei Zhu and
• Jun Huang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1964–1972, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.152

• reaction at 50 °C for 36 h, and extensive decomposition of the starting material β-keto ester 15 occurred (Table 1, entry 1). Solvent screening of EtOH [26], acetic acid [26], and hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) [27] demonstrated that HFIP afforded optimal results, delivering cyclopentanone 14 in 63% yield as

• was treated with p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TSA) in EtOH at room temperature to afford ketal 24 in 83% yield as a single diastereomer. Subsequently, palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative allylation delivered compound 25 in 89% yield. The efficiency of our first-generation strategy for asymmetric

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

• . Lipases commonly share typical sequences of α-helices and β-strands and possess a catalytic triad consisting of serine (Ser), histidine (His), and aspartate (Asp) or glutamate (Glu). These three amino residues function as a nucleophile-base–acid catalytic system to facilitate esterification, and the

• Lewis acid-mediated semi-pinacol rearrangement, this work involved a CRL-catalyzed desymmetrization of prochiral diol 51 (prepared from aldehyde 50 in four steps), providing monoester 53 in 57% yield with 83% ee. Notably, 1-ethoxyvinyl 2-furoate (52) was selected as the acyl donor in this step to

• functional group manipulations, alcohol 103 was subjected to enzymatic oxidative kinetic resolution with the bacterium Gluconobacter oxydans, producing alcohol 104 and acid 105. The alcohol 104 with the desired C9 stereocenter was then converted into fragment 106 in nine steps, while acid 105 was recycled to

Rhodium-catalysed connective synthesis of diverse reactive probes bearing S(VI) electrophilic warheads

• Scott Rice,
• Julian Chesti,
• William R. T. Mosedale,
• Megan H. Wright,
• Stephen P. Marsden,
• Terry K. Smith and
• Adam Nelson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1924–1931, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.150

• ][3]. Established sets of reactive probes are typically armed with electrophilic warheads that have the potential to target nucleophilic amino acid side chains. Most reactive probe sets bear cysteine-directed warheads [3][4][5][6][7], although sets have also been designed to target a wider range of