Transformation of the cyclohexane ring to the cyclopentane fragment of biologically active compounds

• Natalya Akhmetdinova,
• Ilgiz Biktagirov and
• Liliya Kh. Faizullina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2416–2446, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.185

• compound was synthesized from the Diels–Alder adduct 14 between LG and 1,3-butadiene by two methods – vicinal hydroxylation of the double bond followed by periodate cleavage of the vic-diols and ozonolysis of the double bond. Alternatively, Wagner oxidation of the double bond in adduct 14 by treatment with

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

• catalysts including Ni/CeO2-γAl2O3, spinal NiAl2O4 and Ni/La2O3-αAl2O3, at 230 °C and 3.2 MPa. Using a chiral catalyst composed of [RuCl2(benzene)]2 and SunPhos, an effective asymmetric hydrogenation of α-hydroxy ketones was reported, yielding chiral terminal 1,2-diols in up to 99% ee. This Ru-catalyzed

• asymmetric hydrogenation process of α-hydroxy ketones opens up a new pathway for the production of chiral terminal 1,2-diols (Scheme 23) [98]. Kini and Mathews reported the synthesis of novel oxazole derivatives such as 6-(substituted benzylidene)-2-methylthiazolo[2,3-b]oxazol-5(6H)-one by reacting 1

• -hydroxypropan-2-one and KSCN in ethanol for further evaluation of their anti-cancerous activity by MTT assays (Scheme 24) [99]. Notz and List reported the synthesis of anti-diols in good yield from 1-hydroxypropan-2-one and different (aromatic and aliphatic) substituted aldehydes using a new strategy using ʟ

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

• Technology, Guangzhou 510006, P. R. China 10.3762/bjoc.21.151 Abstract Enantioselective desymmetrization is employed as a powerful tool for the creation of chiral centers. Within this scope, the enantioselective desymmetrization of prochiral 1,3-diols, which generates chiral centers by enantioselective

• functionalization of one hydroxy group, offers beneficial procedures for accessing diverse structural motifs. In this review, we highlight a curated compilation of publications, focusing on the applications of enantioselective desymmetrization of prochiral 1,3-diols in the synthesis of natural products and

• biologically active molecules. Based on the reaction types, three strategies are discussed: enzymatic acylation, transition-metal-catalyzed acylation, and local desymmetrization. Keywords: asymmetric synthesis; desymmetrization; 1,3-diols; natural product; total synthesis; Introduction Natural products

3,3'-Linked BINOL macrocycles: optimized synthesis of crown ethers featuring one or two BINOL units

• Somayyeh Kheirjou,
• Jan Riebe,
• Maike Thiele,
• Christoph Wölper and
• Jochen Niemeyer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1719–1729, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.134

• enantioselective molecular recognition. Different chiral backbones were used for the construction of such chiral crown ethers, especially chiral 1,2-diols such as tartaric acid [5][6][7][8], propane-1,2-diol [9][10][11][12][13], cyclohexane-1,2-diol [14], carbohydrates [15], 1,1'-binapthyl-2,2'-diol (BINOL) [16

• BINOL core is slightly distorted (∠C2–C1–C1'–C2' = −79.2(3)°). In summary, we could obtain the desired macrocycles M1 containing a single BINOL unit in satisfying yields (11–75% from diols Me/H/iPr-2). The previously published route based on ring-closing metathesis gave macrocycle M1b (see Figure 1e

• long hexaethylene glycol linker, a direct reaction of the diols Me/H/iPr-2 with a hexaethylene glycol bistosylate did not seem feasible, since this would lead to the mono-BINOL macrocycles Me/H/iPr-M16 even in the presence of a large excess of bistosylate. Thus, we first reacted diols Me/H/iPr-2 with

Approaches to stereoselective 1,1'-glycosylation

• Daniele Zucchetta and
• Alla Zamyatina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1700–1718, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.133

• ]. Diarylborinic acids have been shown to provide exclusive catalytic performance in the site-selective monofunctionalization of various 1,2- and 1,3-diols [60], as well as in the regioselective glycosylation of polyhydroxyglycosyl acceptors via base-promoted deprotonation of a specific hydroxy group involved in

• addition, 2-amino-2-deoxy-1,3-diols were successfully employed as glycosyl acceptors, as exemplified by the use of GlcN-derived lactol 42, which was reacted with the 2N-Troc-protected GalN phosphite donor 47 in the presence of borinic acid catalyst to give the β,α-1,1'-linked disaccharide 48 (Scheme 4) [63

• '-Disaccharides were also synthesized using glycosyl organoboron catalysis and employing 1,2-diols as acceptors, while activation of the glycosyl donor was facilitated by the "acidic" C2–OH group of the borinic acid-complexed acceptor moiety [63]. For instance, the phosphite donor 35 was coupled with a Man

Structural analysis of stereoselective galactose pyruvylation toward the synthesis of bacterial capsular polysaccharides

• Tsun-Yi Chiang,
• Mei-Huei Lin,
• Chun-Wei Chang,
• Jinq-Chyi Lee and
• Cheng-Chung Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1671–1677, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.131

• the foundational work of Kulkarni, Codée, Boons, and other outstanding groups in their studies on zwitterionic polysaccharides [7][8][9][10][11][12]. Pyruvylation of carbohydrate diols is commonly achieved through acetal substitution in the presence of acid during chemical synthesis. In this process

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

• metal-free annulation reaction between electron-rich 3-aryloxetan-3-ols 142 and 1,2-diols under Brønsted acid catalysis (Scheme 51) [105]. The resulting 1,4-dioxanes 218 were obtained mostly in moderate to high yields and high regio- and diastereoselectivities were achieved with unsymmetrical diols. The

Recent advances and future challenges in the bottom-up synthesis of azulene-embedded nanographenes

• Bartłomiej Pigulski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1272–1305, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.99

• constructed by condensation of dialdehyde 160 with compounds 161–163 yielding diketones 164–166. Next, diketones 164–166 were subjected to nucleophilic addition reaction by lithiated triisopropylsilyl (TIPS) acetylene, followed by SnCl2-mediated reduction of the intermediate diols. Finally, azulene-embedded

Synthetic approach to borrelidin fragments: focus on key intermediates

• Yudhi Dwi Kurniawan,
• Zetryana Puteri Tachrim,
• Teni Ernawati,
• Faris Hermawan,
• Ima Nurasiyah and
• Muhammad Alfin Sulmantara

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1135–1160, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.91

• reacted with deprotonated diethyl malonate to obtain compounds 36 and ent-36 in 95 and 92% yield, respectively, over two steps from 34 and ent-34. The diols 28 (85%) and ent-28 (90%) were isolated after reduction of their parent malonates 36 and ent-36 using LiAlH4 in ether. Following several experiments

• °C and leaving it at the same temperature for an additional 15 minutes, two products, 47a and 47b, were formed. After desulfonylation with sodium amalgam (Na·Hg) in methanol and column chromatographic purification, the anticipated diols 48a and 48b were obtained in 72 and 11% yield, respectively. The

Cryptophycin unit B analogues

• Thomas Schachtsiek,
• Jona Voss,
• Maren Hamsen,
• Beate Neumann,
• Hans-Georg Stammler and
• Norbert Sewald

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 526–532, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.40

• , NEt3, CH2Cl2, 0 °C to rt, 19 h, 63% over two steps; k) LiOH·H2O, MeOH, tetrahydrofuran, H2O, 0 °C, 3.5 h, 82% with unconverted 12 (18 mol %). Synthesis of cryptophycin diols 24 and 25. a) EDC·HCl, DMAP, NEt3, CH2Cl2, 0 °C to rt, 22 h, 60%; b) TFA, CH2Cl2, 0 °C, 4 h, 100%; c) 2,4,6-trichlorobenzoyl

• -hydroxy-7-azabenzotriazole; HATU = 1-[bis(dimethylamino)methyliumyl]-1H-1,2,3-triazolo[4,5-b]pyridinium 3-oxide hexafluorophosphate. Three-step diol–epoxide transformation starting from diols 24 and 25. a) (MeO)3CH, pyridinium p-toluenesulfonate, CH2Cl2, rt, 3 h; b) AcBr, CH2Cl2, rt, 3–4 h; c) K2CO3

Synthesis of new condensed naphthoquinone, pyran and pyrimidine furancarboxylates

• Kirill A. Gomonov,
• Vasilii V. Pelipko,
• Igor A. Litvinov,
• Ilya A. Pilipenko,
• Anna M. Stepanova,
• Nikolai A. Lapatin,
• Ruslan I. Baichurin and
• Sergei V. Makarenko

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 340–347, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.24

• 1a,b with pyrimidine-4,6-diols 2e–g. Supporting Information Supporting Information File 2: General synthetic procedures, characterization data and copies of IR spectra, 1H, 13C spectra of all synthesized compounds, as well as 1H-13C HMQC, 1H-13C HMBC spectra and the crystallographic data for

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

• ]. The vicinal diols 208 were preferably obtained in water, but bisperoxides 207 were isolated in high yields using Na2CO3 as the additive, and propylene carbonate (PC) as the solvent. The reaction mechanism involves the formation of tert-butylperoxy A and tert-butoxy B radicals during the iodine

Synthesis of fluorinated acid-functionalized, electron-rich nickel porphyrins

• Mike Brockmann,
• Jonas Lobbel,
• Lara Unterriker and
• Rainer Herges

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2954–2958, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.248

• phenyl group of the porphyrin and the perfluoroalkyl chain. The oxygen atom, especially in the 2-position, should even improve the electronic properties of the porphyrin. Results and Discussion Our synthesis started with the readily available fluorinated symmetric diols HO–CH2–(CF2)n–CH2–OH (n = 2,4,6

• , see Scheme 1). In order to break the symmetry and to generate the acid function only on one side, benzyl protection was performed. From diols 1, 2, and 3 statistical mixtures of unprotected, mono-, and di-protected products were obtained, from which the isolation of the desired mono-protected products

4,6-Diaryl-5,5-difluoro-1,3-dioxanes as chiral dopants for liquid crystal compositions

• Maurice Médebielle,
• Peer Kirsch,
• Jérémy Merad,
• Carolina von Essen,
• Clemens Kühn and
• Andreas Ruhl

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2940–2945, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.246

• dopants for liquid-crystal compositions. Keywords: chiral dopant; chirality; cholesteric phase; diols; fluorine; helical twisting power; liquid crystal; Introduction Liquid crystals for use in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have become one of the most prominent application areas of fluoroorganic

• still remain elusive and are not well understood [29]. Recently we have become interested in the preparation of racemic [30] anti- and highly enantioenriched 2,2-difluoro-1,3-diols [30][31][32] through an acylative double catalytic kinetic resolution (DoCKR) process [33]. While the 1,3-diol motif is

• found in some natural products [34] with some fluorinated analogues [35][36], this motif is rarely found in LCs [37][38][39]. Based on these observations and literature data, we embarked in the synthesis and evaluation of enantiomerically pure acetals derived from anti-2,2-difluoro-1,3-diols as

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

• by Linclau et al. They have reported that the asymmetric Sharpless dihydroxylation of readily available (E)-5-bromo-4,4,5,5-tetrafluoro-2-penten-1-ol derivative 6 led to the corresponding chiral diols 7 with an excellent enantiomeric excess, 96% ee (reaction 1 in Scheme 1) [20][21]. It has also been

2-Heteroarylethylamines in medicinal chemistry: a review of 2-phenethylamine satellite chemical space

• Carlos Nieto,
• Alejandro Manchado,
• Ángel García-González,
• David Díez and
• Narciso M. Garrido

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1880–1893, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.163

• hydration reaction of carbon dioxide to bicarbonate, cyanates to carbamic acids, aldehydes to gem-diols, etc., and represent a potential therapeutic target for diseases like osteoporosis, edema, obesity or cancer [29]. Alım et al. [30] evaluated a series of thiophene sulfonamides based on the high stability

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

• formation of linked polyheterocycles 75. The authors then decided to perform the reaction using 3 equiv of aldehyde 70 under acidic conditions (Scheme 25, conditions a). The presence of a nucleophilic indole in the GBB adducts 71 induced further additions towards the excess aldehydes 70. The diols 73

Syntheses and medicinal chemistry of spiro heterocyclic steroids

• Laura L. Romero-Hernández,
• Ana Isabel Ahuja-Casarín,
• Penélope Merino-Montiel,
• Sara Montiel-Smith,
• José Luis Vega-Báez and
• Jesús Sandoval-Ramírez

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1713–1745, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.152

Ring opening of photogenerated azetidinols as a strategy for the synthesis of aminodioxolanes

• Henning Maag,
• Daniel J. Lemcke and
• Johannes M. Wahl

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1671–1676, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.148

• promising starting point for pursuing this ring-opening attempt [41]. We hypothesized that this approach would allow the synthesis of 3-amino-1,2-diols, a motif commonly found in pharmaceuticals such as, e.g., β-blockers [42]. Our envisioned one-pot protocol features protonation of the azetidine from

• in the synthesis of highly functionalized dioxolanes and 3-amino-1,2-diols. We believe that the concept of building and releasing strain energy, particularly when paired with photochemical means, is of general interest and its structural simplicity should allow for an expansion to other substrates

Stability trends in carbocation intermediates stemming from germacrene A and hedycaryol

• Naziha Tarannam,
• Prashant Kumar Gupta,
• Shani Zev and
• Dan Thomas Major

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1189–1197, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.101

• diols by addition of water. For each of these intermediates, simple deprotonation or nucleophilic attack by water are possible. Also, hydride shifts can occur first, which widens the chemical space of possible products. Additionally, the presence of multiple stereocenters adds to the rich

Manganese-catalyzed C–C and C–N bond formation with alcohols via borrowing hydrogen or hydrogen auto-transfer

• Mohd Farhan Ansari,
• Atul Kumar Maurya,
• Abhishek Kumar and
• Saravanakumar Elangovan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1111–1166, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.98

• ). The reaction proceeded via the dehydrogenation of the alcohol, aldol condensation, and hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated ketones. In 2019, Leitner and his group introduced an outstanding cascade BH approach for the synthesis of various substituted cycloalkanes by coupling diols and secondary alcohols

• constructed by treating aromatic ketones with substituted diols. However, a stoichiometric amount of the base (4 equiv), excess of diols (4 equiv), and long reaction time (32 h) were required to deliver the desired products (Scheme 34). The proposed mechanism demonstrated that the active amido complex Mn1-a

• intramolecular BH reaction for the formation of cycloalkanes from ketones and 1,n-diols [66]. Different substituted 1,5-diols were coupled with 1-(2,3,4,5,6-pentamethylphenyl)ethan-1-one using 4 mol % of catalyst Mn13 and 2 equiv of t-BuOK as base in t-AmOH at 140 °C for 36 h to give 51–98% yield of the six

Discovery and biosynthesis of bacterial drimane-type sesquiterpenoids from Streptomyces clavuligerus

• Dongxu Zhang,
• Wenyu Du,
• Xingming Pan,
• Xiaoxu Lin,
• Fang-Ru Li,
• Qingling Wang,
• Qian Yang,
• Hui-Min Xu and
• Liao-Bin Dong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 815–822, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.73

• a precursor for derivatives 2–4. The biosynthetic pathway is likely to involve enzymatic modifications at the C-2 and C-3 positions, leading to the formation of diols 2 and 3, with additional oxidation steps producing ketone 4 (Figure 3b). This supports the presence of three P450s in the cav cluster

Using the phospha-Michael reaction for making phosphonium phenolate zwitterions

• Matthias R. Steiner,
• Max Schmallegger,
• Larissa Donner,
• Johann A. Hlina,
• Christoph Marschner,
• Judith Baumgartner and
• Christian Slugovc

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 41–51, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.6

• synthesis of carbonates from CO2 [24][25][26] and the synthesis of oxazolidines from isocyanates and epoxides [27]. Furthermore, their application in primary hydroxy group selective acylation of diols [28] and their use as organophotoredox catalysts [29][30] is known. The latter mentioned catalysts are

Beyond n-dopants for organic semiconductors: use of bibenzo[d]imidazoles in UV-promoted dehalogenation reactions of organic halides

• Kan Tang,
• Megan R. Brown,
• Chad Risko,
• Melissa K. Gish,
• Garry Rumbles,
• Phuc H. Pham,
• Oana R. Luca,
• Stephen Barlow and
• Seth R. Marder

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1912–1922, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.142

• [4][5], while other reducing species have been formed from in situ reactions of simple diols or diamines [13]. Another approach is to utilize dimers formed by highly reducing radicals, such the bibenzoimidazoles (Y-DMBI)2 (Figure 1c). (Me-DMBI)2 was first reported in 1984 and used as a reductant in

Visible-light-induced nickel-catalyzed α-hydroxytrifluoroethylation of alkyl carboxylic acids: Access to trifluoromethyl alkyl acyloins

• Feng Chen,
• Xiu-Hua Xu,
• Zeng-Hao Chen,
• Yue Chen and
• Feng-Ling Qing

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1372–1378, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.98

• important functional groups such as dicarbonyls [15], diols [16], amino ketones [17] and so on. Recently, the introduction of a trifluoromethyl group into organic molecules has received great attention due to their wide applicability in medicinal [18][19] and materials [20][21] chemistry. The toxicological