In silico rationalisation of selectivity and reactivity in Pd-catalysed C–H activation reactions

• Liwei Cao,
• Mikhail Kabeshov,
• Steven V. Ley and
• Alexei A. Lapkin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1465–1475, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.122

• mild conditions [13]. In particular, reactions involving palladium-catalysed activation of sp2 or sp3 C–H bonds of arenes or alkanes have been extensively investigated due to their wide scope and functional group tolerance [14]. A number of different mechanisms are proposed in the literature

An overview on disulfide-catalyzed and -cocatalyzed photoreactions

• Yeersen Patehebieke

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1418–1435, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.118

• alkanes provided an efficient protocol for the synthesis of alkanes from carboxylic acid substrates previously inaccessible through other methods. The mechanism of this reaction is similar to the previously proposed mechanism in Scheme 19. Isomerization reactions Thiyl radical-mediated isomerizations of C

Photocatalysis with organic dyes: facile access to reactive intermediates for synthesis

• Stephanie G. E. Amos,
• Marion Garreau,
• Luca Buzzetti and
• Jerome Waser

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1163–1187, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.103

• hydrogen atom source (PhSH). The reaction allows the direct conversion of carboxylic acids, e.g., 3.1 to the corresponding alkanes, e.g., 3.2. The scope includes carboxylic acids that were previously recalcitrant to other oxidative photocatalytic decarboxylations due to their high oxidation potential

Recent advances in Cu-catalyzed C(sp³)–Si and C(sp³)–B bond formation

• Balaram S. Takale,
• Ruchita R. Thakore,
• Elham Etemadi-Davan and
• Bruce H. Lipshutz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 691–737, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.67

• decade later, Molander et al. made use of the same disilane as a source of the nucleophile for additions to α,β-unsaturated alkenes and alkynes as Michael acceptors bearing sulfones, nitriles, cyano, amido, and carboxyl ester groups to form β-silylated alkanes and alkenes in good to moderate yields [55

Cascade trifluoromethylthiolation and cyclization of N-[(3-aryl)propioloyl]indoles

• Ming-Xi Bi,
• Shuai Liu,
• Yangen Huang,
• Xiu-Hua Xu and
• Feng-Ling Qing

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 657–662, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.62

• the direct incorporation of the SCF3 group into organic compounds [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16], such as alkynes, alkenes, arenes, and alkanes. Despite these impressive advances, there is a continued strong demand for new methods that enable the efficient synthesis of SCF3-containing compounds

Synthesis, liquid crystalline behaviour and structure–property relationships of 1,3-bis(5-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)benzenes

• Afef Mabrouki,
• Malek Fouzai,
• Armand Soldera,
• Abdelkader Kriaa and
• Ahmed Hedhli

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 149–158, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.17

• , which generates a lamellar packing and thus contributes to smectic phase stability [14]. It was reported that even simple n-alkanes containing a fluorocarbon block produces smectic phases [15][16][17][18][19]. Some molecules having only a single aromatic ring and fluorinated tail show smectic phases

Analysis of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons in grape berry exocarp (Vitis vinifera L.) using in vivo-labeling and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC×GC–MS)

• Philipp P. Könen and
• Matthias Wüst

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1945–1961, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.190

• ], while [6,6,6-2H3]-(±)-mevalonolactone (d3-MVL) was purchased from C/D/N Isotopes Inc. (Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada). Retention indices were calculated using a C7–C30 saturated alkanes standard solution obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, U.S.A.). The analytical standard (+)-valencene (purity

• mass spectra with those of the NIST database (when available), taking into account the match factors and reverse match factors. A series of n-alkanes (C7–C30) were analyzed. The retention times of the measured n-alkanes on the first GC column were used to calculate the retention indices I according to

Transient and intermediate carbocations in ruthenium tetroxide oxidation of saturated rings

• Manuel Pedrón,
• Laura Legnani,
• Maria-Assunta Chiacchio,
• Pierluigi Caramella,
• Tomás Tejero and
• Pedro Merino

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1552–1562, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.158

• carbocation. In the case of pyrrolidines, the carbocation is completely stabilized as an energy minimum in the form of an iminium ion and the reaction takes place in two steps. Keywords: alkanes; carbocations; DFT; oxidations; ruthenium tetroxide; Introduction Ruthenium-catalyzed oxidations [1][2] and, in

• some chemical behavior. Indeed, further theoretical studies on MD simulations would be needed to elucidate the lifetime of the transient carbocation [34][35]. These results demonstrate the one-step-two-stage character [42] of the ruthenium oxidations of alkanes in which H transfer and O–C bond

• analysis). Energy profile for the oxidation of R4 and R5. Relative energies, calculated at the B3LYP-d3bj/Def2TZVP/cpcm=water level of theory, are given in kcal/mol. Optimized (B3LYP-d3bj/Def2SVP/cpcm=water) transition structures for the oxidation of R4 and R5. Oxidation of alkanes with RuO4. Mechanisms

Formation of an unexpected 3,3-diphenyl-3H-indazole through a facile intramolecular [2 + 3] cycloaddition of the diazo intermediate

• Andrew T. King,
• Hugh G. Hiscocks,
• Lidia Matesic,
• Mohan Bhadbhade,
• Roger Bishop and
• Alison T. Ung

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1347–1354, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.134

• structures stabilised by multiple tert-butyl groups [20][21], multi-ring cage hydrocarbons [22][23], and linear alkanes [22][23]. The interaction was found to be attractive in all these cases, and computational justifications have been published [21][23]. It, therefore, appears probable that, despite their

Mechanochemistry of supramolecules

• Anima Bose and
• Prasenjit Mal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 881–900, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.86

• capsule 40 formed through hydrogen-bonding and the cavity was found to be able to encapsulate different organic molecules such as alkanes, acids, amines, etc. The encapsulation of a [2.2]paracyclophane in the cage was achieved by ball milling at 30 Hz (Figure 22) and the host–guest product 40 was verified

Selective benzylic C–H monooxygenation mediated by iodine oxides

• Kelsey B. LaMartina,
• Haley K. Kuck,
• Linda S. Oglesbee,
• Asma Al-Odaini and
• Nicholas C. Boaz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 602–609, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.55

• widely used in industrial processes as promoters of autoxidation in the functionalization of benzylic C–H bonds of aryl alkanes, such as in the synthesis of terephthalic acid from p-xylene [21]. Metal-free oxidants have been used in benzylic C–H to C–O functionalization. Specifically, the use of

• NO and HNO3 [46][47][48]. In the work that follows, we report the selective monooxygenation of secondary benzylic C–H bonds of simple aryl alkanes using a combination of iodate and catalytic N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI), which complements the selectivity and capabilities of existing published work

Metal-free C–H mercaptalization of benzothiazoles and benzoxazoles using 1,3-propanedithiol as thiol source

• Yan Xiao,
• Bing Jing,
• Xiaoxia Liu,
• Hongyu Xue and
• Yajun Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 279–284, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.24

• [22] and 1,2-ethanedithiol [23]. In the past decades, C–H functionalization has become an effective strategy for constructing different molecules directly from simple arenes and alkanes. C–H functionalization is an important method for C–S coupling reactions [24][25]. For example, transition metal

Adhesion, forces and the stability of interfaces

• Robin Guttmann,
• Johannes Hoja,
• Christoph Lechner,
• Reinhard J. Maurer and
• Alexander F. Sax

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 106–129, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.12

• among alkane molecules in liquid alkanes gives a strong favorable transfer energy for passage of an alkane from vapor into liquid alkane”, explaining the poor solubility of hydrocarbons in water and the good solubility of alkane molecules in liquid alkane [11]. Nonetheless, this interaction is nothing

Reactions of 3-(p-substituted-phenyl)-5-chloromethyl-1,2,4-oxadiazoles with KCN leading to acetonitriles and alkanes via a non-reductive decyanation pathway

• Akın Sağırlı and
• Yaşar Dürüst

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 3011–3017, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.280

• trisubstituted 1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-ylacetonitriles and their parent alkanes, namely, 1,2,3-trisubstituted-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-ylpropanes. To the best of our knowledge, the current synthetic route leading to decyanated products will be the first in terms of a decyanation process which allows the transformation of

• trisubstituted acetonitriles into alkanes by the incorporation of KCN with the association of in situ-formed HCN and most likely through the extrusion of cyanogen which could not be detected or isolated. In addition, the plausible mechanisms were proposed for both transformations. The structures of the title

• methods have been reported for the conversion of organic nitriles into the parent alkanes; such as oxidative decyanation [20], dehydrocyanation [21] and more commonly, reductive decyanation [22]. Among them, the reductive decyanation is a widely used method employing metal hydrides [23], electrolysis [24

Volatiles from the hypoxylaceous fungi Hypoxylon griseobrunneum and Hypoxylon macrocarpum

• Jan Rinkel,
• Alexander Babczyk,
• Tao Wang,
• Marc Stadler and
• Jeroen S. Dickschat

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 2974–2990, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.277

• identification requires a good match of the recorded electron impact (EI) mass spectrum to a database spectrum and of the retention index, a standardised GC retention factor that is calculated from the retention times of the analytes and of n-alkanes [15], in comparison to an authentic standard or published data

• min at 50 °C, then increasing with 5 °C min−1 to 320 °C; transfer line 300 °C; electron energy 70 eV. Retention indices (I) were determined from a homologous series of n-alkanes (C8–C38). Synthesis of 2,4,5-trimethylphenol (29a) and 2,3,4-trimethylphenol (29b) Diiodomethane (2.14 g, 8.0 mmol, 2 equiv

Steric “attraction”: not by dispersion alone

• Ganna Gryn’ova and
• Clémence Corminboeuf

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1482–1490, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.125

• would lead to elongated intermolecular distances. This might potentially be one of the reasons why the molecular mechanics force fields, commonly applied to aliphatics (see Introduction), significantly underestimate the liquid density and vapor pressure for long chain linear alkanes [70] and branched

• alkanes [71], fail to accurately reproduce the chain length dependence of the tilt and twist angles in alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers [72] and increasingly deviate (by as much as 15%) from experimental data for the hydrophobic solvation free energies of alkanes in alkanes with the increasing chain

Selective carboxylation of reactive benzylic C–H bonds by a hypervalent iodine(III)/inorganic bromide oxidation system

• Toshifumi Dohi,
• Shohei Ueda,
• Kosuke Iwasaki,
• Yusuke Tsunoda,
• Koji Morimoto and
• Yasuyuki Kita

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1087–1094, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.94

• -workers for the C–H oxidations of unreactive alkanes by iodanyl radicals [80]. Based on these observations, the reaction mechanism via path A that involves the formation of benzyl bromides (X = Br) seems to be more reasonable for our benzylic C–H carboxylation system based on the hypervalent iodine(III

Volatiles from the xylarialean fungus Hypoxylon invadens

• Jeroen S. Dickschat,
• Tao Wang and
• Marc Stadler

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 734–746, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.62

• ; transfer line 300 °C; electron energy 70 eV. Retention indices (I) were determined from a homologous series of n-alkanes (C8–C38). Preparation of methoxy-methylbenzaldehydes To a solution of the hydroxy-methylbenzaldehyde (34 mg, 0.25 mmol) in anhydrous DMF (6.0 mL), K2CO3 (35 mg, 0.25 mmol) was added and

Latest development in the synthesis of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA): a critical review

• Fabio Tonin and
• Isabel W. C. E. Arends

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 470–483, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.33

• reagents and products. This methodology is widely used in biocatalysis to solve solubility issues. Unfortunately, the solubility of hydroxysteroids in non-alcoholic organic solvents (e.g., ethers, alkanes, dichloromethane, chloroform) is not very high (e.g., the reported solubility values for CDCA and CA

Syntheses, structures, and stabilities of aliphatic and aromatic fluorous iodine(I) and iodine(III) compounds: the role of iodine Lewis basicity

• Tathagata Mukherjee,
• Soumik Biswas,
• Andreas Ehnbom,
• Subrata K. Ghosh,
• Ibrahim El-Zoghbi,
• Nattamai Bhuvanesh,
• Hassan S. Bazzi and
• John A. Gladysz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 2486–2501, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.246

• polar nature of the crystal. Also, the C–C–C–C and F–C–C–F segments in the perfluorohexyl groups do not exhibit the idealized antiperiplanar and gauche conformations associated with saturated alkanes. Rather, the torsion angles for the roughly anti linkages average 164.4(1.6)° and 166.0(3.6

NHC-catalyzed cleavage of vicinal diketones and triketones followed by insertion of enones and ynones

• Ken Takaki,
• Makoto Hino,
• Akira Ohno,
• Kimihiro Komeyama,
• Hiroto Yoshida and
• Hiroshi Fukuoka

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1816–1822, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.176

• recently obtained by the dimsyl anion-promoted double acylation of enones with benzils, followed by dehydrogenation of the resulting alkanes in one pot [16]. Moreover, if the reaction of cyclic 1,2-diketone I (G = C(O)R1) with activated alkenes may take place similarly, this reaction could be utilized as a

Opportunities and challenges for the sustainable production of structurally complex diterpenoids in recombinant microbial systems

• Katarina Kemper,
• Max Hirte,
• Markus Reinbold,
• Monika Fuchs and
• Thomas Brück

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 845–854, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.85

• in-process-accumulation of the inhibitory metabolite indole [28]. A suitable method for most fermentations is an overlay with apolar alkanes such as dodecane [28][79][95] although subsequent product extraction from this phase may be challenging and oxygenation capacity is reduced. Engineering efflux

Continuous-flow processes for the catalytic partial hydrogenation reaction of alkynes

• Carmen Moreno-Marrodan,
• Francesca Liguori and
• Pierluigi Barbaro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 734–754, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.73

• issues owing to many potential side reactions, particularly in relation to chemoselectivity, i.e., over-hydrogenation of alkenes to alkanes [44][45], resistance of other functional groups (ketones [46][47], amines [48][49], azides [50]), regioselectivity [51][52] , isomerization [53][54] and

A detailed view on 1,8-cineol biosynthesis by Streptomyces clavuligerus

• Jan Rinkel,
• Patrick Rabe,
• Laura zur Horst and
• Jeroen S. Dickschat

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2317–2324, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.225

• split mode (10:1, 60 s valve time). Helium was used as the carrier gas at 1 mL/min. Retention indices were determined against a homologous series of n-alkanes (C8–C40). Synthesis of (2-13C)geranyl diphosphate (2-13C)Geraniol was synthesised as reported previously [41]. The synthetic (2-13C)geraniol (16

Mechanistic investigations on six bacterial terpene cyclases

• Patrick Rabe,
• Thomas Schmitz and
• Jeroen S. Dickschat

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 1839–1850, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.173

• programmed as follows: 5 min at 50 °C increasing at 5 °C min−1 to 320 °C, and operated in split mode (10:1, 60 s valve time). The carrier gas was He at 1 mL min−1. Retention indices (I) were determined from a homologous series of n-alkanes (C7−C40). Compound identification of the side products of terpene