Copper catalysis: a constantly evolving field

• Elena Fernández and
• Jaesook Yun

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1477–1479, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.109

• yield of up to 99%, with excellent regio- and E-selectivities. The method could be used for functional-group transformations of amines, amides, and lactams, as well as for gram-scale syntheses, demonstrating synthetic usefulness and versatility. A complementary Full Research Paper by Martina and co

Microwave-enhanced additive-free C–H amination of benzoxazoles catalysed by supported copper

• Andrei Paraschiv,
• Valentina Maruzzo,
• Filippo Pettazzi,
• Stefano Magliocco,
• Paolo Inaudi,
• Daria Brambilla,
• Gloria Berlier,
• Giancarlo Cravotto and
• Katia Martina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1462–1476, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.108

• , that still required high temperatures, but the excess of amine (2 equiv) was lowered and only a catalytic amount of acid was utilised. Similar acidic protocols were subsequently developed by Li et al. [46], in which benzoxazoles were reacted with secondary amines and amides, with higher temperature

• being applied when reacting amides to achieve their decarbonylation. In 2014, Cao et al. [47] reported the amination of benzoxazole with a secondary amine either in air or an O2 atmosphere, lowering the catalyst amount and the reaction temperature. In 2020, a study by De Vos and co-workers [48] focused

Oxetanes: formation, reactivity and total syntheses of natural products

• Peter Gabko,
• Martin Kalník and
• Maroš Bella

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1324–1373, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.101

• base [5]. In fact, its hydrogen-bond-accepting ability is even stronger than that of the other 3-, 5- and 6-membered cyclic ethers, as well as the carbonyls of aldehydes, ketones, esters and carbonates [6][7][8]. The only better carbonyl-based hydrogen-bond acceptors are amides, carbamates and ureas [9

• additions and hydrolyses (in case of esters and amides), as well as epimerisations at the α-carbons, oxetanes are stable to such chemical transformations. In case of the gem-dimethyl group, which is commonly used to block metabolically labile sites at the expense of raising lipophilicity, bridging the two

• , amides or esters and occurs under very mild conditions that are also suitable for a late-stage functionalisation of complex molecules. The transformation is based on an H-atom transfer to photochemically oxidised quinuclidine followed by an annulation of the resulting ketyl radical 32 with

Recent advances in oxidative radical difunctionalization of N-arylacrylamides enabled by carbon radical reagents

• Jiangfei Chen,
• Yi-Lin Qu,
• Ming Yuan,
• Xiang-Mei Wu,
• Heng-Pei Jiang,
• Ying Fu and
• Shengrong Guo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1207–1271, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.98

Supramolecular assembly of hypervalent iodine macrocycles and alkali metals

• Krishna Pandey,
• Lucas X. Orton,
• Grayson Venus,
• Waseem A. Hussain,
• Toby Woods,
• Lichang Wang and
• Kyle N. Plunkett

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1095–1103, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.87

• curcumscribe the small cyclic core represented by blue color. Three carbonyl amides project outward. B) DFT image of 1 displaying the distribution of Mulliken charges on iodine (purple), oxygen (red), and carbon (grey); benzyl groups are ommited for clarity. C) Calculated electrostatic potential map showing

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

• cinnamic acid (7) in a deep eutectic solvent of choline chloride/urea (ChCl/urea) to give amides 12 and 13 in moderate yields via triacylated triazine 14 as the active ester (Scheme 5A) [36]. The TCT reagent and ChCl/urea solvent are known for their non-toxicity and low cost, promoting their wide

• mechanochemistry synthesis of cinnamic acid derivatives. Herein, Kulkarni and Atapalkar (2023) converted cinnamic acids into the corresponding amides 17 and 18 and hydrazide 19 in moderate yields (Scheme 6) [30]. Impressively, the reaction capacity could be increased to produce 100 g of the amide products with 90

• stoichiometric amine–BH3 reagent via triacyloxyborane–amine complex 33 to obtain the corresponding amides 31 and 32 in good yields (Scheme 11) [43]. Moreover, acid halides are widely applied for esterification and amidation. For example, Pattarawarapan and co-workers (2020) reported the amidation of cinnamic

Pd-Catalyzed asymmetric allylic amination with isatin using a P,olefin-type chiral ligand with C–N bond axial chirality

• Natsume Akimoto,
• Kaho Takaya,
• Yoshio Kasashima,
• Kohei Watanabe,
• Yasushi Yoshida and
• Takashi Mino

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1018–1023, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.83

• 25 °C in n-dodecane is approximately 1.3 days, which is faster compared to ligand 6, which has a half-life of about 3.7 days [31]. We next investigated the ability of optically active amides (aR)-(−)-6 and (−)-7 as chiral ligands for the Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic amination of allylic acetate

• . The chiral amides (aR)-(−)-6 and (−)-7 were evaluated as ligands in Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic amination, and while (−)-7 exhibited promising enantioselectivity, its yield was lower than (aR)-(−)-6. Further optimization of reaction conditions led to improved yields and enantioselectivities up to

Recent advances in controllable/divergent synthesis

• Jilei Cao,
• Leiyang Bai and
• Xuefeng Jiang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 890–914, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.73

• (such as indole substrates), Int-79 is more stable at −78 °C, favoring the formation of the mono-insertion product 86. In 2022, Wu and colleagues reported a novel methodology for constructing α-ketoamides 90 or 92 and amides 91 through copper-catalyzed dicarbonylation and monocarbonylation reactions

• double methylene insertions into nitrogen–boron bonds [53]. Copper-catalyzed substrate-controlled carbonylative synthesis of α-keto amides and amides [54]. Divergent sulfur(VI) fluoride exchange linkage of sulfonimidoyl fluorides and alkynes [55]. Modular and divergent syntheses of protoberberine and

Regioselective formal hydrocyanation of allenes: synthesis of β,γ-unsaturated nitriles with α-all-carbon quaternary centers

• Seeun Lim,
• Teresa Kim and
• Yunmi Lee

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 800–806, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.63

• conditions and shows broad applicability to di- and trisubstituted allenes. Its practicality is demonstrated through the gram-scale synthesis and functional group transformations of amines, amides, and lactams, emphasizing its versatility and synthetic significance. Keywords: α-quaternary nitrile; Cu

• are important intermediates in organic syntheses because of the versatility of the cyano group, which can be readily transformed into a wide range of functional groups, including amides, carboxylic acids, amines, aldehydes, ketones, and N-heterocycles [6][7][8]. However, the synthesis of all-carbon

• synthesis and the successful transformation of nitrile products into amines, amides, and lactams. Further studies are underway to broaden the scope and application of the proposed method. Synthesis of acyclic nitrile-substituted quaternary carbon centers from allenes. Hydrocyanation of allene 1a with tosyl

Recent advances in the electrochemical synthesis of organophosphorus compounds

• Babak Kaboudin,
• Milad Behroozi,
• Sepideh Sadighi and
• Fatemeh Asgharzadeh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 770–797, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.61

• amides with electron-withdrawing or electron-donating groups on their aromatic ring, producing products with yields ranging from 51% to 82%. In 2023, Lei and co-workers [47] reported an electrochemical C–P bond formation via a coupling reaction of C–H bonds of alkynes, alkenes, and aryl compounds with

Origami with small molecules: exploiting the C–F bond as a conformational tool

• Patrick Ryan,
• Ramsha Iftikhar and
• Luke Hunter

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 680–716, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.54

• cyclic amines. Next, we will examine some important derivatives of amines, such as amides and sulfonamides. Throughout, the emphasis will mostly be on bioactive molecules, but finally this section will conclude by examining a different type of molecular function, namely, organocatalysis. When fluorine is

• important derivatives of amines, namely amides and sulfonamides. Model studies with simple β-fluoroamides (e.g., 106 and 107, Figure 12) reveal that such molecules consistently adopt conformations in which the F–C–C–N dihedral angle is gauche [183][184][185]. This situation is reminiscent of that already

• seen with β-fluoroamines, although the predominant driving force with β-fluoroamides is now hyperconjugation (I, Figure 12). For secondary amides, i.e., those that contain an NH group, the nitrogen-bound hydrogen sometimes makes a close contact with the fluorine (e.g., 106), but this not always the

Recent advances in allylation of chiral secondary alkylcopper species

• Minjae Kim,
• Gwanggyun Kim,
• Doyoon Kim,
• Jun Hee Lee and
• Seung Hwan Cho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 639–658, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.51

• styrenes with diverse electronic properties as well as those containing sensitive functional groups such as esters, amides, and vinyl halides, to yield the desired β-chiral olefins in high enantioselectivity. Notably, the methodology could even be applied to vinylferrocene and vinylsilane derivatives

Sequential two-step, one-pot microwave-assisted Urech synthesis of 5-monosubstituted hydantoins from L-amino acids in water

• Wei-Jin Chang,
• Sook Yee Liew,
• Thomas Kurz and
• Siow-Ping Tan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 596–600, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.46

• methylated amino acids and carbamates (65–75%) [9] or cyanobenziodoxolone (CBX) (54–88%) [10]. Reactions using 1,2-diaza-1,3-dienes, amines, and isocyanates (47–76%) [11], as well as α-amino amides with triphosgene or carbonyldiimidazole (CDI) (41–80%) [12], have also been explored. Other strategies include

Beyond symmetric self-assembly and effective molarity: unlocking functional enzyme mimics with robust organic cages

• Keith G. Andrews

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 421–443, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.30

• ) [38]. To capture both stability and solubility, we turned to Mastalerz’s post-functionalization chemistry [286][300][304][306][358][359][360][361][362], in which imines are oxidized by a Pinnick oxidation to amides [286][360][363][364], an approach gaining popularity [46][262]. Importantly, we were

• able to adapt this chemistry to work in situ, allowing soluble metastable imine frameworks to be trapped as amides [38]. The adapted cages were soluble, and were now stable enough to be purified by gel-permeation (size-exclusion) chromatography (useful when precipitation is not possible), which is

Dioxazolones as electrophilic amide sources in copper-catalyzed and -mediated transformations

• Seungmin Lee,
• Minsuk Kim,
• Hyewon Han and
• Jongwoo Son

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 200–216, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.12

• leads to the formation of the N-acyl amidine product 10. 1.4 N-Arylation of dioxazolones Amides bearing N-substituents are key structural motifs in a wide range of polymers [82], natural products [83], and pharmaceuticals [84][85]. Conventional synthetic routes for N-arylamides typically involve the

• Synthesis of primary amides via the generation of copper–imidate radical intermediates In a subsequent study, the research group of Son developed a method for the reduction of dioxazolones to synthesize primary amides under mild reducing conditions in copper catalysis (Scheme 10) [103]. The reaction was

• conducted using a catalytic amount of copper acetate and a phenanthroline ligand, with a stoichiometric amount of silane serving as the reductant. Both aryl- and alkyl-substituted dioxazolones proved to be compatible under the standard reaction conditions, yielding the desired primary amides 28a–f. Notably

Recent advances in electrochemical copper catalysis for modern organic synthesis

• Yemin Kim and
• Won Jun Jang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 155–178, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.9

• of substrates, including arylacetylenes with electron-donating and electron-withdrawing groups, and ferrocenyl amides with alkyl and acyl substituents on the other Cp ring. Additionally, the reaction showed similar reactivity and enantioselectivity on a 1 mmol scale. In 2020, Mei et al. reported the

Reactivity of hypervalent iodine(III) reagents bearing a benzylamine with sulfenate salts

• Beatriz Dedeiras,
• Catarina S. Caldeira,
• José C. Cunha,
• Clara S. B. Gomes and
• M. Manuel B. Marques

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3281–3289, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.272

• have been reported [12]. These reagents have proven effective in delivering azides (I) [13], amides (II) [14], aliphatic cyclic amines (III) [15], phthalimidates (IV) [16], imines (V) [17], sulfoximides (VI) [18], carbazoles (VII) [19], secondary (VIII) [4] and primary (IX) [20] amines (Figure 1). The

Intramolecular C–H arylation of pyridine derivatives with a palladium catalyst for the synthesis of multiply fused heteroaromatic compounds

• Yuki Nakanishi,
• Shoichi Sugita,
• Kentaro Okano and
• Atsunori Mori

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3256–3262, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.269

• % yield. The yield is improved to 94% when the reaction is performed with PPh3 as a ligand of palladium. The reaction is examined with amides derived from unsubstituted picoline, 6-methylpicoline, and 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid in a similar manner to afford the cyclized products in 70%, 77%, and 87

• % yield, respectively. The related reaction is also carried out with amides of non-pyridine derivatives terephthal- and benzamides to afford multiply fused heterocyclic compounds in 81% and 89% yields, respectively. Keywords: intramolecular C–H arylation; multiply fused heterocycles; palladium acetate

• ; phosphine ligand; pyridine amides; Introduction Transition-metal-catalyzed synthetic reactions have recently attracted much attention in synthetic organic chemistry [1][2]. C–H Arylation reactions catalyzed by a transition metal are of particular interest because these reactions involve rather superior

Synthesis of 2H-azirine-2,2-dicarboxylic acids and their derivatives

• Anastasiya V. Agafonova,
• Mikhail S. Novikov and
• Alexander F. Khlebnikov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3191–3197, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.264

• their amides, esters, and azides by FeCl2-catalyzed isomerization of 3-aryl-5-chloroisoxazole-4-carbonyl chlorides into 3-aryl-2H-azirine-2,2-dicarbonyl dichlorides followed by their reaction with nucleophiles are reported. Two approaches to the preparation of 3-aryl-5-chloroisoxazole-4-carbonyl

• -ylcarbonyl)-2H-azirines, 1-(2H-azirine-2-carbonyl)benzotriazoles, 2H-azirine-2-carbonyl azides, anhydrides, amides, esters, and thioesters of azirine carboxylic acids, as well as azirine carboxylic acids themselves, have been prepared over the last decade (see [2] and references therein). Azirine-2

• reaction conditions for the preparation of amides from azirine-2-carbonyl chlorides [27] are not suitable for obtaining bis-amides from azirine-2,2-dicarbonyl dichlorides. In order to obtain a maximum yield, it is better in this case, to carry out the reaction with 2 equiv of the amine in the presence of 4

Advances in radical peroxidation with hydroperoxides

• Oleg V. Bityukov,
• Pavel Yu. Serdyuchenko,
• Andrey S. Kirillov,
• Gennady I. Nikishin,
• Vera A. Vil’ and
• Alexander O. Terent’ev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2959–3006, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.249

• catalytic system based on ruthenium salts [72][73]. The C(sp3)–H bond at the amides 76 was functionalized with the tert-butylperoxy radical under the action of the TBAI/TBHP system (Scheme 27) [74]. The target amido-peroxides 77 were synthesized in high yields. The authors proposed that the process begins

gem-Difluorovinyl and trifluorovinyl Michael acceptors in the synthesis of α,β-unsaturated fluorinated and nonfluorinated amides

• Monika Bilska-Markowska,
• Marcin Kaźmierczak,
• Wojciech Jankowski and
• Marcin Hoffmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2946–2953, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.247

• series of new α,β-unsaturated amides, both fluorinated and nonfluorinated, were synthesized. Keywords: gem-difluorovinyl Michael acceptors; Michael addition; trifluorovinyl Michael acceptors; α,β-unsaturated amides; Introduction The Michael reaction, characterized by the addition of stable carbon

• our laboratory, we have explored the synthesis of 3,3,3-trifluoro- and 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-N-substituted propanamides, contributing to the field of fluorinated amides [25]. We have also investigated deprotonation at the α position of other fluorinated carbonyl derivatives as a route to new building

• using organolithium reagents (Scheme 1), revealing new avenues in fluorinated unsaturated amide synthesis, which are present in numerous natural products, pharmaceuticals, and polymers [34][35][36][37][38]. The obtained α,β-unsaturated amides may represent promising structural motifs for further

Recent advances in transition-metal-free arylation reactions involving hypervalent iodine salts

• Ritu Mamgain,
• Kokila Sakthivel and
• Fateh V. Singh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2891–2920, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.243

• underscored by the successful conversion of various α,α-difluoromethyl ketone groups into corresponding esters, amides, and difluoromethyl groups [58]. In 2021, Nilova and colleagues outlined an approach for the synthesis of highly hindered 1,2,3,4-tetrasubstituted benzenoid rings 15 using arynes generated

• -arylation of N-alkoxybenzamides 81 in absence of metal catalsyt at low temperatures [85]. The reaction resulted in the two products O-arylated 83 and N-arylated 84 amides (Scheme 33). By reacting various substituted diaryliodonium salts and the amide it was concluded that the chemoselectivity between O- and

Synthesis of tricarbonylated propargylamine and conversion to 2,5-disubstituted oxazole-4-carboxylates

• Kento Iwai,
• Akari Hikasa,
• Kotaro Yoshioka,
• Shinki Tani,
• Kazuto Umezu and
• Nagatoshi Nishiwaki

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2827–2833, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.238

• derivative has been employed (Scheme 1) [13][14]. Recently, we have demonstrated that the central carbonyl group of DEMO is highly electrophilic, facilitating the nucleophilic addition of less reactive reagents such as acid amides [23][24][25][26]. When the reaction was conducted in the presence of acetic

• amount of ammonium acetate and extending the reaction time (Table 4, entries 2 and 3). Conclusion N,O-Acetals 1, derived from DEMO and acid amides, reacted with lithium acetylide to afford the corresponding adduct 4 through highly electrophilic NAIs. The N-acyl and alkynyl groups could be modified using

• acid amides and acetylides, respectively. When adduct 4 was treated with a base or ammonium acetate, ring closure proceeded to form a five-membered ring, accompanied by the elimination of the ethoxycarbonyl group. 2,5-Disubstituted oxazole-4-carboxylic acid derivatives are frequently found in

Access to optically active tetrafluoroethylenated amines based on [1,3]-proton shift reaction

• Yuta Kabumoto,
• Eiichiro Yoshimoto,
• Bing Xiaohuan,
• Masato Morita,
• Motohiro Yasui,
• Shigeyuki Yamada and
• Tsutomu Konno

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2776–2783, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.233

• amides in moderate three-step yields. Keywords: amine; chirality transfer; [1,3]-proton shift reaction; tetrafluoroethylene fragment; Introduction A fluorine atom has quite peculiar chemical and physical properties compared to others, and hence changes in molecular properties resulting from the

• (R)-16 (Scheme 5). When the substituent R is an aromatic ring substituted by a halogen such as chlorine and bromine atoms, the amides (S)-23 were obtained in 22–27% yield and with very high optical purity ((S)-23b, (S)-23c), although as for (S)-23a, a satisfactory result (92% ee) could be obtained

The scent gland composition of the Mangshan pit viper, Protobothrops mangshanensis

• Jonas Holste,
• Paul Weldon,
• Donald Boyer and
• Stefan Schulz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2644–2654, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.222

• -hexadecylglycerol, as well as other common long-chain alcohols and amides. Although a general defensive function has been proposed for snake abdominal scent glands, the specific chemistry and moderate amounts of acids reported here may suggest a function in chemical signaling for the Mangshan pit viper. In addition

• , including piperidone [10], amines [5][10], and amides [3][5][10] have been also observed in certain species. The analyses of SGS in vipers (Viperidae) focused on New World pit vipers (Crotalinae). Early analyses of SGS lipids by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) [14], indicated that two pit vipers, the Timber

• various lipid classes including sterols, triacylglycerols, and common fatty acid methyl esters [15]. Mass spectrometric analysis of the lipid content of crotalines, mainly the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (C. atrox), confirmed the presence of cholesterol [3][6][11][16], fatty acids [11], fatty amides