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

• morpholine via an aza-Michael addition and condensation (Scheme 3). It was envisaged that the β-amino group could act as a stable functional group resulting in Baylis–Hillman-like reactivity. An extensive survey of reaction conditions using Selectfluor and N-fluorobenzenesulfonimide (NFSI) as the sources of

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

• . By analyzing the structure, we supposed that there might exist an inversed pathway in which tabertinggine could be converted into the ibogamine aza-[2.2.2] bridged skeleton through intramolecular aza-Michael addition of the enone moiety to form the C21–N bond and a subsequent C16–N bond cleavage

• additions, respectively. This result suggests that the addition fully went from the upper face and the left-oriented isopropyl showed no steric effect to control the regioselectivity. With free amide 50a and 50b in hand, the mixture was treated with DBU to promote aza-Michael addition to afford lactam

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

• between 80 and 81 gave diester 82. Through a ten-step sequence including an aza-Michael reaction, diester 82 was converted into diketone 83, which was further transformed into (−)-petrosin (84) via RCM reaction and hydrogenation. For the synthesis of (+)-petrosin (86) (Scheme 13b), a similar strategy was

Transition-state aromaticity and its relationship with reactivity in pericyclic reactions

• Israel Fernández

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1613–1626, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.125

• following subchapter) but also to other processes such as aza-Michael additions or processes catalyzed by species able to establish noncovalent interactions with the reactants [52][53][54][55][56][57]. Lewis acid-catalyzed carbonyl–ene reactions Similar to the Diels–Alder cycloaddition reaction, the Alder

General method for the synthesis of enaminones via photocatalysis

• Paula Pérez-Ramos,
• Raquel G. Soengas and
• Humberto Rodríguez-Solla

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1535–1543, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.116

• the reactivity of unsaturated esters towards an aza-Michael addition is the use of transition metal complexes as catalysts/promoters [40][41][42]. Considering this background, we reasoned that Ni(II) could be a suitable catalyst for the amination of unsaturated systems. Initial investigations were

Reactions of acryl thioamides with iminoiodinanes as a one-step synthesis of N-sulfonyl-2,3-dihydro-1,2-thiazoles

• Vladimir G. Ilkin,
• Pavel S. Silaichev,
• Valeriy O. Filimonov,
• Tetyana V. Beryozkina,
• Margarita D. Likhacheva,
• Pavel A. Slepukhin,
• Wim Dehaen and
• Vasiliy A. Bakulev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1397–1403, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.104

• analogy with an aza-Michael reaction first with the addition of iminoiodinane accompanied with reorganization of double bonds including attack of the negatively charged sulfur atom on nitrogen with subsequent elimination of iodobenzene as good leaving group. The diversity of the structure of the target

High-pressure activation for the solvent- and catalyst-free syntheses of heterocycles, pharmaceuticals and esters

• Kelsey Plasse,
• Valerie Wright,
• Guoshu Xie,
• R. Bernadett Vlocskó,
• Alexander Lazarev and
• Béla Török

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1374–1387, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.102

• Mannich reactions [20], lipase-catalyzed esterification [21], nitro-aldol [22], Michael [23], and aza-Michael reactions [24][25], Diels–Alder reactions [26][27] and Friedel–Crafts alkylation of indoles [28]. Many high pressure reactions were applied in natural product synthesis [29]. The high pressure

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

• synthesis of spirocyclic compounds [1][2][3]. The nucleophilicity of isatin at the nitrogen atom allows it to participate in reactions such as alkylation [4], arylation [5], and aza-Michael addition [6][7][8]. However, the products obtained from these reactions are primarily achiral or racemic, and only a

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

• activation, atroposelective aza-Michael addition, and intramolecular aldol reaction to form the cationic intermediate Int-6. Release of the catalyst C2, reduction with NaBH4, and dehydration with acetic acid leads to the desired product 6. Recently, an organocatalytic atroposelective intramolecular (4 + 2

Non-covalent organocatalyzed enantioselective cyclization reactions of α,β-unsaturated imines

• Sergio Torres-Oya and
• Mercedes Zurro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3221–3255, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.268

• azadiene in a stepwise mechanism: firstly, the vinylogous Michael addition of the dienolate to the double bond of the α,β-unsaturated N-sulfonylimine occurs in a stereoselective fashion. Subsequently, cyclization due to an intramolecular aza-Michael reaction and protonation leads to the enantioenriched

• under Brønsted base conditions. The authors claimed that the reactions to obtain the complex fused polycyclic diastereomeric products is proceeding through a cascade Michael addition–aza-Michael addition, however, they did not propose a plausible reaction pathway for the transformations. In order to

Synthesis of extended fluorinated tripeptides based on the tetrahydropyridazine scaffold

• Thierry Milcent,
• Pascal Retailleau,
• Benoit Crousse and
• Sandrine Ongeri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3174–3181, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.262

• strategy, the control of the stereoselectivity of the intramolecular aza-Michael addition could be envisaged with various chiral catalysts in further studies. These heterocyclic hydrazino acids, when incorporated into the peptidic structure, appear to confer an extended conformation. These interesting

Synthesis and antimycotic activity of new derivatives of imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidines

• Dmitriy Yu. Vandyshev,
• Daria A. Mangusheva,
• Khidmet S. Shikhaliev,
• Kirill A. Scherbakov,
• Oleg N. Burov,
• Alexander D. Zagrebaev,
• Tatiana N. Khmelevskaya,
• Alexey S. Trenin and
• Fedor I. Zubkov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2806–2817, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.236

• , it is worth mentioning the work of Li and co-workers (2011) [20], who described a single example of the formation of such structures by carrying out an organocatalytic domino aza-Michael–Mannich reaction between benzylidene-1H-imidazol-2-amine and cinnamaldehyde. Although the imidazo[1,2-a

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

• aza-Michael addition, leading to the benzoxazepinium triflate salt 89. To broaden the scope of the reaction, 2-aminopyrazine and 2-aminoquinoline were also introduced to the one-pot process, furnishing 6-7-5-6 and 6-7-5-6-6 polycycles, respectively (not shown). Chen et al. [63] developed an

Primary amine-catalyzed enantioselective 1,4-Michael addition reaction of pyrazolin-5-ones to α,β-unsaturated ketones

• Pooja Goyal,
• Akhil K. Dubey,
• Raghunath Chowdhury and
• Amey Wadawale

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1518–1526, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.136

• who reported a chiral amine-catalysed aza-Michael addition reaction of pyrazolin-5-ones with α,β-unsaturated ketones to access β-(3-hydroxypyrazol-1-yl)ketones (Scheme 1a) [22]. The developed reaction was restricted to α,β-unsaturated ketones with aliphatic substituents (Scheme 1a) [22]. Ji and Wang

Synthesis of 2-benzyl N-substituted anilines via imine condensation–isoaromatization of (E)-2-arylidene-3-cyclohexenones and primary amines

• Lu Li,
• Na Li,
• Xiao-Tian Mo,
• Ming-Wei Yuan,
• Lin Jiang and
• Ming-Long Yuan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1468–1475, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.130

• molecular sieves as water scavengers, but it showed no positive influence on the reaction efficiency (Table 1, entry 20). It should be noted that no competing aza-Michael adduct was monitored in all of the evaluated reaction conditions. According to the above screening results, the generality of the

Additive-controlled chemoselective inter-/intramolecular hydroamination via electrochemical PCET process

• Kazuhiro Okamoto,
• Naoki Shida and
• Mahito Atobe

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 264–271, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.27

• , entry 3); thus, the phosphate base plays a crucial role in N-alkylation, while its basicity is insufficient to promote aza-Michael addition (pKa of the conjugate acid of the phosphate base is 1.72 in H2O) [12]. Furthermore, N-alkylation proceeded in a divided cell (anodic chamber); thus, the possibility

A novel recyclable organocatalyst for the gram-scale enantioselective synthesis of (S)-baclofen

• Gyula Dargó,
• Dóra Erdélyi,
• Balázs Molnár,
• Péter Kisszékelyi,
• Zsófia Garádi and
• József Kupai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1811–1824, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.133

• (Figure 1). Results and Discussion Synthesis of the lipophilic cinchona squaramide organocatalyst Previously, we successfully applied quinine-derived squaramide (SQ) organocatalyst 1 in stereoselective Michael and aza-Michael additions with excellent enantiomeric excess values [26]. Our aim was to recycle

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

• number of alkaloid natural products can be accessed from commercially available tropone in as little as five steps: 1) formation of tricarbonyl(tropone)iron, 2) aza-Michael addition, 3) amine protection, 4) photodemetallation, and 5) intramolecular Heck reaction (two steps – aza-Michael addition and

Metal catalyst-free N-allylation/alkylation of imidazole and benzimidazole with Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) alcohols and acetates

• Olfa Mhasni,
• Jalloul Bouajila and
• Farhat Rezgui

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1251–1258, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.93

• reflux with an azeotropic distillation, was successfully carried out with no catalysts or additives, affording the corresponding N-substituted imidazole derivatives in good yields. On the other hand, in refluxing toluene or methanol, the aza-Michael addition of imidazole onto acyclic MBH alcohols was

• performed using DABCO as an additive, leading to the corresponding 1,4-adducts in 70–84% yields. Keywords: allylic substitution; aza-Michael addition; imidazole; Morita–Baylis–Hillman; Introduction Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) adducts are multifunctionalized compounds having both a hydroxy moiety and a

Aromatic C–H bond functionalization through organocatalyzed asymmetric intermolecular aza-Friedel–Crafts reaction: a recent update

• Anup Biswas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 956–981, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.72

• of the Boc-protecting group with the Teoc group then gave phenol 136. Compound 136 was then subjected to a highly diastereoselective oxidative phenolic coupling giving fused tetracyclic architecture 137. Follow-up acid-mediated intramolecular aza-Michael addition and subsequent alkene reduction

Synthetic strategies for the preparation of γ-phostams: 1,2-azaphospholidine 2-oxides and 1,2-azaphospholine 2-oxides

• Jiaxi Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 889–915, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.90

• 1-substituted 2-ethoxy-1,2-azaphospholidine-4-carboxylate 2-oxides 203 were synthesized in 70% and 39% yields, respectively, from ethyl 2-((chloro(ethoxy)phosphoryl)methyl)acrylate (202) and benzyl- and adamantylmethylamines via aza-Michael addition and intramolecular nucleophilic substitution. The

• synthetic method showed very limited substrate scope. Only less bulky primary amines underwent the first aza-Michael addition and then intramolecular nucleophilic substitution. However, aromatic amines, aniline, 2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-4-amine, and the bulky aliphatic primary amine adamantylamine did not

• -phenylphosphonamidates 240a (R’ = OEt) and diaryl-N-phenylphosphinamides 240b–d (R’ = Ar), respectively, with methyl acrylate (241) via the rhodium-catalyzed oxidative coupling and subsequent intramolecular aza-Michael addition. Methyl acrylate (241) could be replaced by various electron-deficient olefins 244, including

Regioselectivity of the S_EAr-based cyclizations and S_EAr-terminated annulations of 3,5-unsubstituted, 4-substituted indoles

• Jonali Das and
• Sajal Kumar Das

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 293–302, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.33

• assigned as 1-alkyl-3,5,5-trimethyl-5,6-dihydro-1H-azepino[4,3,2-cd]indoles 8. The authors proposed that aza-Michael addition of 4-aminoindoles 7 to in situ generated mesityl oxide gives compound 9 which undergoes a regioselective intramolecular cyclization–dehydration sequence to furnish 8. In 2019, Zou

• [4,3,2-cd]indoles via indole C3 regioselective aza-Michael addition/cyclization/dehydration sequence. Indole C3 regioselective Pictet−Spengler reaction of 2-(1H-indol-4-yl)ethanamines. Indole C3 regioselective hydroindolation of cis-β-(α′,α′-dimethyl)-4′-methindolylstyrenes. Indole C3 regioselective

New advances in asymmetric organocatalysis

• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 240–242, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.28

• by a review article devoted to aza-Michael reactions of amines and amides [17]. The evolution of the understanding of noncovalent activation modes led to the realization that anion-binding is a critical feature in many transformations. Halide anions are highly relevant and widely occurring within

Highly stereocontrolled total synthesis of racemic codonopsinol B through isoxazolidine-4,5-diol vinylation

• Lukáš Ďurina,
• Anna Ďurinová,
• František Trejtnar,
• Ľuboš Janotka,
• Lucia Messingerová,
• Jana Doháňošová,
• Ján Moncol and
• Róbert Fischer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2781–2786, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.188

• racemic codonopsinol B (1) and its N-nor-methyl analogue 2 starting from achiral materials. Four consecutive stereocenters in the target molecules were accomplished sequentially by the organocatalytic aza-Michael addition of N-Cbz-protected hydroxylamine to (E)-4-methoxycinnamaldehyde, the trans

Recent advances in organocatalytic asymmetric aza-Michael reactions of amines and amides

• Pratibha Sharma,
• Raakhi Gupta and
• Raj K. Bansal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2585–2610, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.173

• asymmetric aza-Michael reaction (aza-MR) alone or in tandem with other organic reaction(s) is an important synthetic tool to form new C–N bond(s) leading to developing new libraries of diverse types of bioactive nitrogen compounds. The synthesis and application of a variety of organocatalysts for

• organocatalysts in asymmetric aza-MR. Keywords: asymmetric aza-Michael reaction; covalent bonding catalysis; nitrogen heterocycles; non-covalent bonding catalysis; organocatalysis; Introduction The Michael reaction though discovered about 135 years ago [1][2] continues to attract attention of the chemists owing

• to its potential of making a vast variety of organic compounds particularly of pharmacological importance accessible. Over the years, its many versions known as aza-Michael, thio-Michael, oxa-Michael, phospha-Michael, etc. have been developed and well exploited for their synthetic applications [3][4