Construction of CF₂ moieties in FDA-approved drugs (2016–2025): industrial routes, mechanisms, and scale-up considerations

• Wenyan Yao,
• Huanhuan Zhang,
• Xiaolong Yang and
• Feng Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 1122–1150, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.91

• hydrogenation and HF elimination with sodium hydroxide, affording the aryl–CF2 intermediate 96 in 97% yield over three steps. However, when three strategies – a Heck reaction, Sonogashira-type reaction, and Suzuki reaction – were subsequently explored for macrocyclization, the allylic difluoride moiety in

The trans-influence in gold chemistry from a catalytic perspective

• Manfred Bochmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 838–856, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.66

• catalytically inactive N-protonated species: [(P^N)AuH(alkene)]2+ → [(P–NH(+)Au]+ + alkene (ΔG = −25.4 kcal/mol) [94]. The formation of [(P–NH(+)Au]+ would therefore shut down any catalysis. Another factor is that the Pd-catalysed Heck reaction requires alkene 2,1-insertion [96], whereas calculations on gold

Synthesis and stereochemical analysis of dynamic planar chiral oxa[7]orthocyclophene

• Yukiho Hashimoto,
• Yuuya Kawasaki,
• Kazunobu Igawa and
• Katsuhiko Tomooka

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 436–442, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.30

• of propargyl alcohol 3 and the alkyne moiety in 3 can be introduced by an alkynylation of the formyl group of aldehyde 4. Thus, we started this synthesis from O-protected 2-bromobenzyl alcohol derivative 5 for the introduction of the propanal moiety of 4 by a Heck reaction with allyl alcohol. The

• synthetic route for the C6-iodo-substituted 1ad is shown in Scheme 2. The Heck reaction of O-TIPS-protected 5a with allyl alcohol in the presence of a palladium catalyst provided the aldehyde 4a in 78% yield [9]. The reaction of 4a with CBr4 and PPh3, followed by treatment with n-BuLi, afforded the terminal

Total synthesis of natural products based on hydrogenation of aromatic rings

• Haoxiang Wu and
• Xiangbing Qi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 88–122, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.4

• protonation during reduction or an isomerization event. Kinetic translocation of the double bond to the correct position enabled an intramolecular Heck reaction, a transformation originally developed by Fukuyama (Scheme 12) [78]. Hydrogenation of (−)-tabersonine to (−)-decahydrotabersonine by Catherine

Recent advances in total synthesis of illisimonin A

• Juan Huang and
• Ming Yang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2571–2583, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.199

• reductive Heck reaction of 59 enabled the transannular connection between C4 and C5, generating key intermediate 60, which possesses the same carbon skeleton as the proposed biosynthetic key intermediate 50 and contains the suitable functional groups for further elaboration. Mukaiyama hydration of 60

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

• reaction and an intramolecular Heck reaction to build the two six-membered carbocycles embedded in the bicyclo[3.3.1]nonane ring system of complanadine A and a pyridine N-oxide directed ortho C–H arylation to forge the C2–C3’ linkage. As shown in Scheme 4, they first prepared diene 44 and dienophile 45 for

• a thermal Diels–Alder cycloaddition, which afforded a mixture of stereo- (endo/exo) and regioisomers, among which the desired product 46 was obtained in 45% yield as a racemic mixture. After triflation of the free hydroxy group of 46 to provide 47, an intramolecular Heck reaction was employed to

• close the second six-membered carbocycle to deliver 48 in 73% yield. The Diels–Alder reaction and Heck reaction quickly set up the tetracyclic skeleton for subsequent peripheral modifications. First, the ketone functionality of 48 was reduced to a methylene group via a sequence of Luche reduction and

Formal synthesis of a selective estrogen receptor modulator with tetrahydrofluorenone structure using [3 + 2 + 1] cycloaddition of yne-vinylcyclopropanes and CO

• Jing Zhang,
• Guanyu Zhang,
• Hongxi Bai and
• Zhi-Xiang Yu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1639–1644, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.127

• the [3.2.1] motif as the SERMs in Scheme 1 do. Lei used a [3 + 2 + 1] reaction [23][24][25][26][27][28], which was developed in our group and has been applied in synthesis, coupled with stoichiometric Pd-mediated Heck reaction, concisely reaching the framework of their target natural products. We

• decided to use the same approach to synthesize VI, but we planned to use a catalytic Heck reaction by using a stronger nucleophile. As can be seen below, stoichiometric Heck reaction for VI failed because the present vinyl group of the [3 + 2 + 1] product does not have a methyl group in the terminal

• is the retrosynthetic analysis for the key intermediate 1, which can reach the final compound VI via chlorination and demethylation [19]. Target molecule 1 can be accessed by decarboxylation reaction from compound 13, prepared by an intramolecular Heck reaction between the β-ketoester and the vinyl

Recent advances in synthetic approaches for bioactive cinnamic acid derivatives

• Betty A. Kustiana,
• Galuh Widiyarti and
• Teni Ernawati

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1031–1086, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.85

Recent total synthesis of natural products leveraging a strategy of enamide cyclization

• Chun-Yu Mi,
• Jia-Yuan Zhai and
• Xiao-Ming Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 999–1009, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.81

• ring was then constructed via an intramolecular reductive Heck reaction from vinyl bromide 10 with exclusive regioselectivity. Considering the strain of forming the 7-membered ring, this highly efficient 7-endo-trig (vs 6-exo-trig) transannular Heck cyclization reaction was remarkable to be realized in

Total synthesis of (±)-simonsol C using dearomatization as key reaction under acidic conditions

• Xiao-Yang Bi,
• Xiao-Shuai Yang,
• Shan-Shan Chen,
• Jia-Jun Sui,
• Zhao-Nan Cai,
• Yong-Ming Chuan and
• Hong-Bo Qin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 601–606, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.47

• simonsol C, two reports have utilized alkaline dearomatization strategies and another report used an intramolecular Heck reaction as the key reaction [5][6][7]. However, there have been no reports or studies utilizing acidic dearomatization, which is also effective, to synthesize an arylated quaternary

• carbon center. In the first report on the total synthesis of simonsol C (Scheme 1), in 2016 Banwell’s group employed an intramolecular Heck reaction as key step to furnish the aryl-containing quaternary center and simultaneously construct the benzofuran skeleton [7]. This synthesis involved a total of 12

Emerging trends in the optimization of organic synthesis through high-throughput tools and machine learning

• Pablo Quijano Velasco,
• Kedar Hippalgaonkar and
• Balamurugan Ramalingam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 10–38, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.3

• , automation in ASFRs reduces the need for constant human oversight, lowering operational costs and minimizing the risk of human errors. A schematic representation of ASFR is provided in Figure 5a. A self-optimizing microreactor system has been devised specifically for closed-loop optimization of the Heck

• reaction, employing a "black-box" optimization strategy directed by Nelder–Mead simplex method algorithm [57]. In-line HPLC analysis was performed to determine the product yield in real time and give feedback to the control system to direct the input conditions to achieve the optimum product yield in 19

1,2-Difluoroethylene (HFO-1132): synthesis and chemistry

• Liubov V. Sokolenko,
• Taras M. Sokolenko and
• Yurii L. Yagupolskii

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1955–1966, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.171

• ) [101][102]. Our group attempted to use (E/Z)-1,2-difluoroethylene in a Heck reaction [78]. The experiments were performed using 4-iodotoluene or methyl 4-iodobenzoate in DMF, Pd(OAc)2 as a catalyst, and Et3N as a base (Scheme 25). The reactions were carried out in a stainless steel autoclave at 120 °C

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

• ). The proposed mechanism, shown in Scheme 34, suggested that the process proceeded through a Pd(0) catalysis proceeding through first an intramolecular Heck reaction, followed by CO insertion, N-cyclization (anilines) or O-cyclization (phenols) and final reductive elimination. Carbonylative

One-pot Ugi-azide and Heck reactions for the synthesis of heterocyclic systems containing tetrazole and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline

• Jiawei Niu,
• Yuhui Wang,
• Shenghu Yan,
• Yue Zhang,
• Xiaoming Ma,
• Qiang Zhang and
• Wei Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 912–920, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.81

• and Heck cyclization reactions. The integration of the multicomponent and post-condensation reactions in one-pot maximizes the pot-, atom-, and step-economy (PASE). Keywords: Heck reaction; one-pot; tetrahydroisoquinoline; tetrazolo-pyrazino[2,1-a]isoquinolin-6(5H)-ones; tetrazole; Ugi-azide reaction

• used as the isocyanide source, the Ugi-azide reaction gives rise to ring-fused tetrazolo[1,5-a]pyrazin-6(5H)-one adducts 5. The subsequent Pd-catalyzed intramolecular Heck reaction of compounds 5 or 7 then affords 1,2,3,4-tetrohydroisoquinolines 6 and 8, respectively. Results and Discussion Following

• effort was then focused on the optimization of the intramolecular Heck reaction of 5a for making 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline 6a. A systematic evaluation of different catalysts and ligands, solvents, bases, as well as reaction temperatures and times was conducted (Table 1). The Heck reaction of 5a was

Palladium-catalyzed three-component radical-polar crossover carboamination of 1,3-dienes or allenes with diazo esters and amines

• Geng-Xin Liu,
• Xiao-Ting Jie,
• Ge-Jun Niu,
• Li-Sheng Yang,
• Xing-Lin Li,
• Jian Luo and
• Wen-Hao Hu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 661–671, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.59

• crossover process [47][48][49][50]. However, activated alkyl halides are not suitable for these carboamination reactions due to the direct nucleophilic substitution of activated alkyl halides with nucleophilic reagents under the necessary alkaline conditions [51]. Recently, a Pd-catalyzed alkyl Heck

• reaction of diazo compounds mediated by visible light has been reported by the group of Gevorgyan, which achieves the monofunctionalization of alkenes [52]. Inspired by these collective studies, we considered diazo compounds could be a competent activated alkyl halide equivalent to overcome the synthetic

Mono or double Pd-catalyzed C–H bond functionalization for the annulative π-extension of 1,8-dibromonaphthalene: a one pot access to fluoranthene derivatives

• Nahed Ketata,
• Linhao Liu,
• Ridha Ben Salem and
• Henri Doucet

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 427–435, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.37

• -bromo-4-iodotoluene with 1,1-diphenylethylene yields the desired 9-arylphenanthrene 28 via a Heck reaction followed by intramolecular C–H arylation (Scheme 6). However, partial conversion of the starting material was observed. The use of 3 equiv KOPiv and 3 equiv Cs2CO3 as a base mixture increased the

• -arylphenanthrenes 28–30 via Heck reaction followed by intramolecular C–H bond arylation The reaction of the 1,1-diphenylethylene (0.180 g, 1 mmol), 1,2-dihalobenzene (1.5 mmol), KOPiv (0.420 g, 3 mmol) and Cs2CO3 (0.978 g, 3 mmol) in the presence of PdCl(C3H5)(dppb) (30.5 mg, 0.05 mmol) at 150 °C during 16 h in DMA

• -dihalobenzenes. Pd-catalyzed Heck reaction followed by direct arylation of 1,1-diphenylethylene with 1,2-dihalobenzenes. Influence of the conditions on the Pd-catalyzed reaction of 1,8-dibromonaphthalene with 1,2,3,4-tetrafluorobenzene.a Supporting Information Supporting Information File 43: Characterization

Decarboxylative 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of amino acids for the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds

• Xiaofeng Zhang,
• Xiaoming Ma and
• Wei Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1677–1693, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.123

• Pd-catalyzed Heck reaction to give products 26 in 65–78% yields (Scheme 16) [75]. The pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinoline core installed by this route can be found in some natural products and synthetic compounds with antitumor, antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidizing, and other biological activities (Figure

Synthesis of 7-azabicyclo[4.3.1]decane ring systems from tricarbonyl(tropone)iron via intramolecular Heck reactions

• Aaron H. Shoemaker,
• Elizabeth A. Foker,
• Elena P. Uttaro,
• Sarah K. Beitel and
• Daniel R. Griffith

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1615–1619, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.118

• accessed from tropone (via its η4-diene complex with Fe(CO)3) in a short sequence of steps: 1) nucleophilic amine addition and subsequent Boc-protection, 2) photochemical demetallation of the iron complex, and 3) an intramolecular Heck reaction. Minor modifications to the protocol enabled access to the

• related 2-azabicyclo[4.4.1]undecane system, albeit in lower yield. Keywords: alkaloids; azabicycles; Heck reaction; iron complex; tropone; Introduction Azapolycycles are embedded within numerous biologically active alkaloids [1] and pharmaceuticals [2]. As such, novel approaches to the synthesis of

• ervitsine [10][11] (Figure 1). We reasoned that, with an appropriately functionalized amine side chain and properly disposed unsaturation on the seven-membered ring, an intramolecular Heck reaction could give rise to skeleton 4 in just a few steps from tricarbonyl(tropone)iron (Scheme 1). Herein, we report

Strategies in the synthesis of dibenzo[b,f]heteropines

• David I. H. Maier,
• Barend C. B. Bezuidenhoudt and
• Charlene Marais

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 700–718, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.51

• . Among these, Heck reaction conditions allowed for the coupling of aryl acrylates 50 to aryl halides 48 and 49, followed by intramolecular Pd-catalysed amination or etherification to give C-10 carboxylates of dibenzo[b,f]azepine 55 and dibenz[b,f]oxepine 54 in good yield (Scheme 11). However, no ring

• -substituted derivatives were reported. The authors used alpha-substituted acrylates to reduce the effect of poor endo/exo regioselectivity in the intramolecular Heck reaction (cf. Scheme 19). Božinović et al. [52] reported the synthesis of symmetrical 5H-dipyridoazepines 60a and unsymmetrical 5H

• final Mizoroki–Heck reaction will be discussed in the following section. The Buchwald group [59] reported a ligand-controlled divergent synthesis involving intramolecular cyclisation, allowing for the formation of several heterocycles, including dibenzo[b,f]azepines 89, in two steps. Screening of

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

• Mizoroki–Heck reaction: construction of the [5-8] bicyclic ring system of brachialactone A study of the versatility of the Mizoroki–Heck reaction in an intramolecular version was recently described by Nishikawa to elaborate the eight-membered ring of brachialactone (7) (fusicoccane series) from an advanced

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

• and the aromatic moieties present in these natural products and provided the common synthetic intermediate 70 (Scheme 6). The diverse tetracycles were accessed either via an intramolecular radical cyclization of the reduced congener 73 or through a Heck reaction of intermediate 71. Reaction of 73 with

• conditions of the Heck reaction to common scaffold 70 proved unsuccessful. Screening of several reaction conditions on different analogues led to the conclusion that reduction of the C8-carbonyl side and acetal deprotection to 71 are essential in order to create the 6/6/5/6-carbocycle in the presence of Pd2

Cs₂CO₃-Promoted reaction of tertiary bromopropargylic alcohols and phenols in DMF: a novel approach to α-phenoxyketones

• Ol'ga G. Volostnykh,
• Olesya A. Shemyakina,
• Anton V. Stepanov and
• Igor' A. Ushakov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 420–428, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.44

• transformations. For example, bromoacetylenes were demonstrated to add imidazoles, imidazolines [12], and benzimidazoles [13][14] to give vinyl bromides. Sulfonamides reacted with bromoacetylenes to deliver N-bromovinyl-p-toluenesulfonamides that under Heck reaction conditions afforded N-(p-toluenesulfonyl

Ready access to 7,8-dihydroindolo[2,3-d][1]benzazepine-6(5H)-one scaffold and analogues via early-stage Fischer ring-closure reaction

• Irina Kuznetcova,
• Felix Bacher,
• Daniel Vegh,
• Hsiang-Yu Chuang and
• Vladimir B. Arion

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 143–151, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.15

• -phenylhydrazine in acetic acid that delivers methyl 2-(1-benzyl-3-(2-nitrophenyl)-1H-indol-2-yl)acetate in 55% yield. Keywords: anticancer; Fischer indole synthesis; Heck reaction; heterocyclic compounds; indolobenzazepines; latonduines; paullones; Introduction Indolobenzazepines are fused heterocyclic

• -oxobutanoate (Scheme 1). To construct scaffold C by route (a) we first tried to synthesize 3-(2-nitrophenyl)indole by Heck reaction of indole and o-iodo-nitrobenzene [25]. However, in this case we obtained an isomeric mixture of 3- and 2-(2-nitrophenyl)indole in a 3:1 molar ratio, quite difficult to separate

• by column chromatography. Protection of the indole nitrogen by an ethoxymethyl group (Scheme 2) and the use of protected indole 4 in the subsequent Heck reaction resulted in a significantly lower conversion of 22% vs 64% for the unprotected indole. However, the protection of the indole nitrogen atom

AlBr₃-Promoted stereoselective anti-hydroarylation of the acetylene bond in 3-arylpropynenitriles by electron-rich arenes: synthesis of 3,3-diarylpropenenitriles

• Yelizaveta Gorbunova,
• Dmitry S. Ryabukhin and
• Aleksander V. Vasilyev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2663–2667, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.180

• way for the synthesis of compounds 2. These compounds can be alternatively obtained by a Pd-catalyzed Heck reaction of 3-arylpropenenitriles with iodoarenes [23] or by a Cu-catalyzed hydroarylation of 3-arylpropynenitriles with arylboronic acid [24][25]. There is one example of use of dicyanoacetylene

A visible-light-induced, metal-free bis-arylation of 2,5-dichlorobenzoquinone

• Pieterjan Winant and
• Wim Dehaen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2315–2320, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.149

• be a challenging endeavor. As conventional methods, e.g., the Heck reaction are incompatible with quinones [15], a large subset of research recently focused on radical-based CH-arylation reactions. In 2011, Baran published a seminal paper that relied on using a AgNO3/K2S2O8 induced homolytic