Total syntheses of highly oxidative Ryania diterpenoids facilitated by innovations in synthetic strategies

• Zhi-Qi Cao,
• Jin-Bao Qiao and
• Yu-Ming Zhao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2553–2570, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.198

• ) studies. Conversely, the “biomimetic synthesis” strategy mimics nature’s enzyme-catalyzed pathways to construct target molecules in the laboratory, offering milder reaction conditions and more concise synthetic steps, while demonstrating excellent atom economy and step economy [5][6][7]. These powerful

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

• time, thereby facilitating the synthesis of target molecules at lower cost while minimizing environmental pollution through minimized waste generation. In 1991, Trost first introduced the concept of “atom economy”, proposing that an ideal reaction should incorporate all atoms of the reactants, thereby

• platform, as exemplified by recent breakthroughs in polycyclic skeleton construction and stereo-divergent cyclization. The implementation of pathway economy fosters significant advancements in green chemistry by minimizing synthetic steps, reducing waste generation, and enhancing atom economy. Notably

Pd-catalyzed dehydrogenative arylation of arylhydrazines to access non-symmetric azobenzenes, including tetra-ortho derivatives

• Loris Geminiani,
• Kathrin Junge,
• Matthias Beller and
• Jean-François Soulé

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2234–2242, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.170

• practical implementation. We finally evaluated 1.5 equivalents of either aryl bromide or phenylhydrazine and observed no gain in yield (differences within experimental error) (Table 1, entries 15 and 16); accordingly, we retained a 1:1 stoichiometry, which maximizes atom economy, lowers PMI/E-factor by

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

• ][254], this approach exhibited the following advantages like without metal catalysts and external oxidants, atom economy, facile access of starting materials, etc. In 2024, Cho succeeded in the preparation of trifluoromethylated oxazoles through in-situ aminotrifluoromethylation/cyclization of alkynes

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

• impact while maintaining the efficiency of the chemical processes [1]. Green Chemistry principles outlined by Anastas and Warner in their work “Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice (2000)” [2] notably highlight atom economy, waste minimization and the use of renewable feedstock as pillars of sustainable

Fe-catalyzed efficient synthesis of 2,4- and 4-substituted quinolines via C(sp²)–C(sp²) bond scission of styrenes

• Prafull A. Jagtap,
• Manish M. Petkar,
• Vaishnavi R. Sawant and
• Bhalchandra M. Bhanage

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1799–1807, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.142

• or epoxystyrene as coupling partners to yield substituted aryl quinolines [54]. However, the methods discussed in the literature often have limitations, such as reliance on stoichiometric amounts of reagents, expensive metal triflates, poor atom economy, and long reaction times. Moreover, many

Preparation of a furfural-derived enantioenriched vinyloxazoline building block and exploring its reactivity

• Madara Darzina,
• Anna Lielpetere and
• Aigars Jirgensons

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1737–1741, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.136

• electrosynthesis from the conjugate of two biobased starting materials furfural and valinol serves as an intermediate to prepare an enantioenriched vinyl oxazoline 6 with atom economy 24.5% over 5 steps (>75% average per step). The electrochemical oxidation of N-Alloc can be performed as a single step operation in

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

• of azoles was pioneered by Mori [28], Schreiber [29], and Zhao [30]. However, high reaction temperatures and a large amount of base or acid dramatically decrease atom economy (the percentage of reactant atoms incorporated into the desired product) and functional-group tolerance, while the use of an

• ][44] and sulfamoyl chlorides [32] can perform the coupling under basic conditions, the need for the activation of the amine as an electrophilic agent generates additional waste. This reduces atom economy and indicates lower reaction efficiency. Acid-catalysed protocols have also been specifically

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

• are their great versatility and atom economy. 1.3.1 Photocycloadditions: The first example of a [2 + 2] photocycloaddition was observed by Paternò in 1909 who reported oxetane formations from mixtures of tri- and tetrasubstituted alkenes with carbonyls exposed to sunlight [58]. More than 40 years

Recent advances in amidyl radical-mediated photocatalytic direct intermolecular hydrogen atom transfer

• Hao-Sen Wang,
• Lin Li,
• Xin Chen,
• Jian-Li Wu,
• Kai Sun,
• Xiao-Lan Chen,
• Ling-Bo Qu and
• Bing Yu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1306–1323, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.100

• C–C or C–heteroatom bonds. The incorporation of HAT strategies into the functionalization of C–H bonds represents a significant advancement in synthetic organic chemistry for their high atom economy and step economy. HAT reagents (HR), including alkoxyl, acyloxyl, halogen radicals, and amidyl

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

Silver(I) triflate-catalyzed post-Ugi synthesis of pyrazolodiazepines

• Muhammad Hasan,
• Anatoly A. Peshkov,
• Syed Anis Ali Shah,
• Andrey Belyaev,
• Chang-Keun Lim,
• Shunyi Wang and
• Vsevolod A. Peshkov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 915–925, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.74

• procedures and harsh reaction conditions, resulting in limited substituent and scaffold diversity [18][19]. In this regard, multicomponent reactions (MCRs) have gained increasing attention for their operational simplicity, efficiency, robustness, atom economy, and potential for diversity-oriented synthesis

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

• reaction efficiency, and minimizing waste. Future studies can quantitatively evaluate these aspects using established metrics such as E-factor, atom economy, and reaction mass efficiency. These indicators will provide a more comprehensive evaluation of the environmental sustainability of the reaction and

Formaldehyde surrogates in multicomponent reactions

• Cecilia I. Attorresi,
• Javier A. Ramírez and
• Bernhard Westermann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 564–595, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.45

• diversification or scaffold decoration [4]. In these reactions, three or more compounds react together in one single reaction step to generate a more complex product where most of the atoms of starting materials are present [5]. This high atom economy positions MCRs as ecofriendly (green) reactions because their

The effect of neighbouring group participation and possible long range remote group participation in O-glycosylation

• Rituparna Das and
• Balaram Mukhopadhyay

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 369–406, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.27

• atom economy, it significantly reduces the chance of migration as observed for acetyl groups. Various studies have revealed its dependence on both electron-withdrawing substituents and steric bulk on the carbonyl group [80]. It demonstrates that its migration rate is significantly increased by more

Red light excitation: illuminating photocatalysis in a new spectrum

• Lucas Fortier,
• Corentin Lefebvre and
• Norbert Hoffmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 296–326, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.22

• underscores the practicality and accessibility of the method, even outside a laboratory setting. The green chemistry metrics analysis provided in the study confirms the environmental benefits, with high atom economy, low waste generation, minimal resource consumption, and the potential of porphyrin

Recent advances in organocatalytic atroposelective reactions

• Henrich Szabados and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 55–121, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.6

• and, by extension, atom economy. Through the thermal racemization experiment, the rotational barrier of the product 206 was calculated to be 31.1 kcal/mol at 100 °C, corresponding to a half-life of 107 years at 25 °C. Han et al. developed a protocol to construct pyrrole rings from 1-naphthyl

Giese-type alkylation of dehydroalanine derivatives via silane-mediated alkyl bromide activation

• Perry van der Heide,
• Michele Retini,
• Fabiola Fanini,
• Giovanni Piersanti,
• Francesco Secci,
• Daniele Mazzarella,
• Timothy Noël and
• Alberto Luridiana

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3274–3280, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.271

• approaches have also gained widespread attention for their unique advantages in these transformations [4]. Radical chemistry often exhibits complementary reactivity to two-electron pathways and can be performed with high selectivity, atom economy, and functional group tolerance [5]. A well-known radical

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

• efficiencies in atom economy [3][4]. The extension of the reaction to an intramolecular version represents a viable approach for the construction of several fused-ring skeletons [5]. Such ring structures containing heterocyclic rings would be of crucial importance because heterocycle-fused ring structures [6

Multicomponent reactions driving the discovery and optimization of agents targeting central nervous system pathologies

• Lucía Campos-Prieto,
• Aitor García-Rey,
• Eddy Sotelo and
• Ana Mallo-Abreu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3151–3173, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.261

• three or more reagents are combined in one step to yield a single product that contains most of the atoms from the starting materials [1][2]. Among the advantages of MCRs are their high atom economy and efficiency in bond formation, along with the cost-effectiveness of separating and purifying products

Synthesis of the 1,5-disubstituted tetrazole-methanesulfonylindole hybrid system via high-order multicomponent reaction

• Cesia M. Aguilar-Morales,
• América A. Frías-López,
• Nadia V. Emilio-Velázquez,
• Alejandro Islas-Jácome,
• Angelica Judith Granados-López,
• Jorge Gustavo Araujo-Huitrado,
• Yamilé López-Hernández,
• Hiram Hernández-López,
• Luis Chacón-García,
• Jesús Adrián López and
• Carlos J. Cortés-García

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3077–3084, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.256

• ]. In this regard, a relatively unexplored field within MCRs comprises high-order multicomponent reactions, which involve reacting at least five or even more components in a single operational step. These reactions are highly convergent, efficient, and have superior atom economy, producing high

• -disubstituted tetrazole-methanesulfonylindole derivatives, with yields ranging from 16% to 55% after purification by column chromatography. Despite some yields being modest, they are deemed reasonable considering the reaction’s structural complexity, atom economy, and the efficiency achieved in terms of time

Synthesis of pyrrole-fused dibenzoxazepine/dibenzothiazepine/triazolobenzodiazepine derivatives via isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions

• Marzieh Norouzi,
• Mohammad Taghi Nazeri,
• Ahmad Shaabani and
• Behrouz Notash

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2870–2882, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.241

• achieve this goal [7][33]. Among them, isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions (I-MCRs) are one of the well-known strategies in this field due to their operational simplicity, one-pot, convergent properties and atom economy, high efficiency, and high levels of chemical selectivity [34][35][36]. In

Asymmetric organocatalytic synthesis of chiral homoallylic amines

• Nikolay S. Kondratyev and
• Andrei V. Malkov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2349–2377, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.201

• , prenylboronic acid (R = H) was synthesised in only 31% yield. Given the 1.5 equiv loading of the boronic acids in the allylation protocol, the overall atom economy is not ideal. Asymmetric allylation of in situ-formed imines catalysed by chiral BINOLs received further development in the work of Schaus [26]. The

• of the allyl donor reagent (up to 25 g). Importantly, benzophenone was easily recovered by recrystallisation after the workup (no chromatography, 80% yield) and then converted back into the allyl donor 116 (86% yield), thus boosting the overall atom-economy of the process. Also, the recovery of the

Efficacy of radical reactions of isocyanides with heteroatom radicals in organic synthesis

• Akiya Ogawa and
• Yuki Yamamoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2114–2128, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.182

• understand the conditions for the generation of heteroatom radicals. In addition, from the perspective of recent green chemistry, the development of environmentally friendly synthetic methods is strongly demanded. In other words, a new synthetic method should have excellent atom economy, produce no waste, be

The Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé reaction in its maturity: innovation and improvements since its 21st birthday (2019–2023)

• Cristina Martini,
• Muhammad Idham Darussalam Mardjan and
• Andrea Basso

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1839–1879, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.162

• and diisocyanides 97a,b in the presence of 2-aminopyridine (1, Scheme 30). The polymerization was carried out under mild conditions (in ethanol as the solvent and p-TsOH as the catalyst) and delivered six polymers featured with high yields (up to 98%), molecular weight (up to 41,700 g/mol), atom

• economy (water was the only byproduct) and thermal stability as well as remarkable fluorescence properties. Multicomponent reaction can be also employed to prepare crystalline porous materials namely covalent organic frameworks (COFs). The structural diversity and functionality of COFs were assembled from