Synthesis and characterization of a isothiouronium-calix[4]arene derivative: self-assembly and anticancer activity

• Giuseppe Granata,
• Loredana Ferreri,
• Claudia Giovanna Leotta,
• Giovanni Mario Pitari and
• Grazia Maria Letizia Consoli

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2535–2541, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.195

• and precise than current treatments. Numerous multivalent constructs have been reported in literature, both as compounds with intrinsic anticancer activity [4] and nanocarriers for anticancer drug delivery [5][6]. In the development of multivalent compounds, macrocyclic scaffolds such as cyclodextrins

• ][26]. A variety of calixarene-based nanoconstructs have been reported, including nanosystems with light-triggered anticancer activity [27], potential anticancer vaccine candidates [28], and nanocarriers for anticancer drug delivery [29][30][31][32][33]. Numerous bioactive groups have been introduced

• promising candidates for further investigations as a drug delivery system. The entrapment of different drugs combined with the intrinsic anticancer activity of the nanoassemblies could provide new agents for a combination multidrug anticancer treatment. Experimental Materials and methods: All chemicals were

Effect of a photoswitchable rotaxane on membrane permeabilization across lipid compositions

• Udyogi N. K. Conthagamage,
• Lilia Lopez,
• Zuliah A. Abdulsalam and
• Víctor García-López

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2498–2512, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.192

• organelles within the same cell [2]. Therefore, there is a great need to develop molecular tools capable of modulating membrane structure in a controlled manner, either to facilitate cargo transport (such as drug delivery) [3][4], to irreversibly disrupt membranes and induce cell death (e.g., for targeting

• functional efficacy. Such optimized systems have significant potential for various applications, including controlled drug delivery and the targeted modulation of membrane properties in live cells for biotechnological and therapeutic use. Experimental All glassware used in chemical reactions was dried in an

Rotaxanes with integrated photoswitches: design principles, functional behavior, and emerging applications

• Jullyane Emi Matsushima,
• Khushbu,
• Zuliah Abdulsalam,
• Udyogi Navodya Kulathilaka Conthagamage and
• Víctor García-López

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2345–2366, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.179

• for drug delivery, therapeutics, and various biotechnological applications [85][86][87][88]. As a proof of principle, this rotaxane was used to trigger the light-induced release of hydrophilic cargo from large vesicles, highlighting its potential as a platform for controlled drug delivery. Recently

Research progress on calixarene/pillararene-based controlled drug release systems

• Liu-Huan Yi,
• Jian Qin,
• Si-Ran Lu,
• Liu-Pan Yang,
• Li-Li Wang and
• Huan Yao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1757–1785, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.139

• Liu-Huan Yi Jian Qin Si-Ran Lu Liu-Pan Yang Li-Li Wang Huan Yao School of Pharmaceutical Science, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China 10.3762/bjoc.21.139 Abstract Intelligent controlled-release drug delivery systems that are responsive to various external

• stimuli have garnered significant interest from researchers and have broad applications in the biomedical field. Aromatic macrocycles, including calixarenes and pillararenes, are considered ideal candidates for the construction of supramolecular drug delivery systems because of their simple synthesis

• , ease of modification, electron-rich and hydrophobic cavities, and highly selective molecular recognition. In recent years, numerous supramolecular drug delivery systems utilizing aromatic macrocycles have been developed. This review article provides an overview of the advancements of controlled drug

Tautomerism and switching in 7-hydroxy-8-(azophenyl)quinoline and similar compounds

• Lidia Zaharieva,
• Vera Deneva,
• Fadhil S. Kamounah,
• Nikolay Vassilev,
• Ivan Angelov,
• Michael Pittelkow and
• Liudmil Antonov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1404–1421, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.105

• and systems, including gels [17], metal-organic frameworks [18][19][20][21], photocatalysts [22][23], container molecules [24][25][26], drug delivery systems [27][28][29], photoresponsive polymers [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37], photoswitches [12][13][38][39][40][41], optical storage devices [42][43

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

• devices or therapeutics [1], drug delivery [2], supramolecular sensing [3], purification [4], and separation [5][6]. The interactions in supramolecular assemblies are driven by well-known hydrogen-bonding, hydrophobic interactions, electrostatic interactions and π–π stacking [7][8]. The supramolecular

Biobased carbon dots as photoreductants – an investigation by using triarylsulfonium salts

• Valentina Benazzi,
• Arianna Bini,
• Ilaria Bertuol,
• Mariangela Novello,
• Federica Baldi,
• Matteo Hoch,
• Alvise Perosa and
• Stefano Protti

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1024–1030, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.84

• , among the others, optoelectronics [5], sensing [6] and biomedicine (including bioimaging [7] and drug delivery [8]). Unlike traditional semiconductors, CDs are composed primarily of carbon, which makes them environmentally friendly easy-to-synthesize and appealing nanomaterials for photocatalysis [9

Acyclic cucurbit[n]uril bearing alkyl sulfate ionic groups

• Christian Akakpo,
• Peter Y. Zavalij and
• Lyle Isaacs

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 717–726, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.55

• and water [1][2][3][4]. Building on this fundamental knowledge, supramolecular chemists created a variety of functional systems including supramolecular polymers, sensing ensembles, molecular machines, supramolecular separation phases, and drug delivery systems [5][6][7][8][9]. A primary subfield of

Hot shape transformation: the role of PSar dehydration in stomatocyte morphogenesis

• Remi Peters,
• Levy A. Charleston,
• Karinan van Eck,
• Teun van Berlo and
• Daniela A. Wilson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 47–54, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.5

• broadening their potential applications in drug delivery and nanotechnology. Our findings shed light on the unique capabilities of polysarcosine-based polymers, paving the way for further exploration and harnessing of their distinctive properties in biomedical research. Keywords: biodegradable; poly(benzyl

• glutamate); polysarcosine; shape transformation; stomatocyte; supramolecular chemistry; Introduction Polymeric vesicles represent a promising candidate for usage in drug delivery systems due to their facile assembly and ability to provide a stable soft interface. Among these materials, polyethylene glycol

• , characterized by a concave shape with a central cavity [1]. Such structures hold significant potential for drug delivery applications as nanomotors, offering both encapsulation capability and controlled release functionalities [2][3]. Moreover, researchers have explored novel shapes utilizing PEG-PS copolymers

Advances in the use of metal-free tetrapyrrolic macrocycles as catalysts

• Mandeep K. Chahal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3085–3112, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.257

• conformational flexibility, allowing them to adopt four key conformations: 1,3-alternate, cone, partial cone, and 1,2-alternate [1][2]. Calix[4]pyrroles are one of the most studied hosts in supramolecular chemistry, finding use in applications of molecular recognition and extraction, drug delivery, ion transport

Applications of microscopy and small angle scattering techniques for the characterisation of supramolecular gels

• Connor R. M. MacDonald and
• Emily R. Draper

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2608–2634, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.220

• nature of soft matter systems has been of interest to materials scientists for decades [3][4][5]. The large number of materials and processing techniques under development will allow these materials to be utilised in increasingly sophisticated applications such as drug delivery, environmental remediation

Understanding X-ray-induced isomerisation in photoswitchable surfactant assemblies

• Beatrice E. Jones,
• Camille Blayo,
• Jake L. Greenfield,
• Matthew J. Fuchter,
• Nathan Cowieson and
• Rachel C. Evans

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2005–2015, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.176

• guidelines for future X-ray experiments using photoswitchable molecules, which can aid more accurate understanding of these materials for application in solar energy storage, catalysis or controlled drug delivery. Keywords: arylazopyrazole; azobenzene; micelle; photoswitch; X-ray; Introduction The design

• of smart materials whose properties can be controlled using external stimuli is of significant interest for diverse applications spanning soft robotics [1], energy storage [2] and drug delivery [3]. Light is an ideal stimulus as it is non-invasive and can be administered selectively with high

• guidelines for X-ray experiments using photoswitchable molecules, which is required to ensure these systems are understood accurately on designing them for applications such as solar energy storage [32], catalysis [11] or drug delivery [3]. Results and Discussion Effect of light irradiation First, in-situ UV

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

• solute carrier protein which is used as strategic target for blood–brain-barrier drug delivery. In general, the authors found the compounds less potent than the natural substrate ʟ-tryptophan, with exception of derivative 112 (Scheme 17). Tetrazoles: Taking advantage of using tetrazoles not as a phenyl

Synthesis of 4-functionalized pyrazoles via oxidative thio- or selenocyanation mediated by PhICl₂ and NH₄SCN/KSeCN

• Jialiang Wu,
• Haofeng Shi,
• Xuemin Li,
• Jiaxin He,
• Chen Zhang,
• Fengxia Sun and
• Yunfei Du

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1453–1461, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.128

• Jialiang Wu Haofeng Shi Xuemin Li Jiaxin He Chen Zhang Fengxia Sun Yunfei Du Tianjin Key Laboratory for Modern Drug Delivery & High-Efficiency, School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China Hebei Research Center of Pharmaceutical and Chemical

Sustainable tandem acylation/Diels–Alder reaction toward versatile tricyclic epoxyisoindole-7-carboxylic acids in renewable green solvents

• Ayhan Yıldırım

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1308–1319, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.114

• applications [15][16]. These oils are of increasing interest for the production of a wide range of polymeric materials [17][18][19][20][21][22][23], drug delivery systems [24][25][26][27][28][29], less toxic anticancer drugs [30][31][32][33] and intermediates suitable for various organic transformations [14

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of macrocyclic peptides and polyketides via thioesterase-catalyzed macrocyclization

• Senze Qiao,
• Zhongyu Cheng and
• Fuzhuo Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 721–733, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.66

• Senze Qiao Zhongyu Cheng Fuzhuo Li Department of Natural Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai, 201203, China Key Laboratory of Smart Drug Delivery (Ministry of Education), State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Fudan University, Shanghai, 201203, China 10.3762/bjoc

Switchable molecular tweezers: design and applications

• Pablo Msellem,
• Maksym Dekthiarenko,
• Nihal Hadj Seyd and
• Guillaume Vives

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 504–539, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.45

• represents prototypes of molecular machines in which guest binding is regulated by stimuli-induced conformational changes between open and closed states (Figure 1). This feature holds significant promise for applications in sensing, drug delivery, or membrane transport within biological systems. Moreover

• and drug delivery systems [12]. pH-Responsive molecular tweezers A particular case of coordination-responsive systems is when a proton is used as a stimulus leading to pH-responsive systems with the protonation/deprotonation of the switchable moiety. The conformational switch in these systems is

• arms, can encapsulate planar aromatic molecules, making this system promising for drug delivery. The advancement of pH-switchable molecular tweezers laid the groundwork for the development of switchable lipids [20]. When such lipids are incorporated in lipid vesicles, they provide means for controlled

Spatial arrangements of cyclodextrin host–guest complexes in solution studied by ¹³C NMR and molecular modelling

• Konstantin Lebedinskiy,
• Ivan Barvík,
• Zdeněk Tošner,
• Ivana Císařová,
• Jindřich Jindřich and
• Radim Hrdina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 331–335, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.33

• crystallization of host–guest complexes and their crystallographic analysis. Keywords: anisotropy; 13C NMR; cyclodextrin; host–guest complexes; Introduction Complexation of organic and inorganic compounds with α-, β-, or γ-cyclodextrins and their derivatives [1] is an established tool used in medicine for drug

• delivery [2][3][4], in analytical and preparative chemistry for compound separation [5] and in materials science for small molecule detection [6][7]. Association (binding) constants between the host and guest molecules [8][9][10] are typically measured by 1H NMR titration [11][12] or isothermal titration

Chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of 3,3-difluoro-3H-indoles

• Yumei Wang,
• Guangzhu Wang,
• Yanping Zhu and
• Kaiwu Dong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 205–211, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.20

• Yumei Wang Guangzhu Wang Yanping Zhu Kaiwu Dong School of Pharmacy, Key Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology and Drug Evaluation, Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Drug Delivery System and Biotech Drugs in Universities of Shandong, Yantai University, Shandong

Active-metal template clipping synthesis of novel [2]rotaxanes

• Cătălin C. Anghel,
• Teodor A. Cucuiet,
• Niculina D. Hădade and
• Ion Grosu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1776–1784, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.130

• [12], and drug delivery [13]. In spite of the important advancements in this field, the synthesis and characterization of these fascinating, complex molecules remains an important challenge and often requires intricate synthetic approaches. After the first templated synthesis of a [2]catenane

Cyclodextrins permeabilize DPPC liposome membranes: a focus on cholesterol content, cyclodextrin type, and concentration

• Ghenwa Nasr,
• Hélène Greige-Gerges,
• Sophie Fourmentin,
• Abdelhamid Elaissari and
• Nathalie Khreich

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1570–1579, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.115

• fields, mainly in drug delivery where they are used as pharmaceutical excipients to increase the drug permeability through biological membranes improving drug bioavailability and efficacy [2][4][5]. Furthermore, the CDs peculiarities helped to develop a combined system in which CD–guest complexes are

Complexes of resorcin[4]arene with secondary amines: synthesis, solvent influence on “in-out” structure, and theoretical calculations of non-covalent interactions

• Waldemar Iwanek

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1525–1536, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.109

• ], amino alcohols [10], and amino acids [11] have been studied due to their potential applications in supramolecular chemistry, drug delivery, and molecular recognition. The complexation of R[4]A with amines is based on the formation of hydrogen bonds between the hydroxy groups of the resorcinol units and

A fluorescent probe for detection of Hg²⁺ ions constructed by tetramethyl cucurbit[6]uril and 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethene

• Xiaoqian Chen,
• Naqin Yang,
• Yue Ma,
• Xinan Yang and
• Peihua Ma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 864–872, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.63

• form various host–guest inclusion complexes [16][17][18][19][20], which have broad application prospects in supramolecular catalysis [21][22][23], molecular recognition [24][25], and drug delivery [26][27]. In recent years, in the field of supramolecular chemistry, the detection of analytes based on

pH-Responsive fluorescent supramolecular nanoparticles based on tetraphenylethylene-labelled chitosan and a six-fold carboxylated tribenzotriquinacene

• Nan Yang,
• Yi-Yan Zhu,
• Wei-Xiu Lin,
• Yi-Long Lu and
• Wen-Rong Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 635–645, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.45

• fluorescence emission based on CS-TPE or TBTQ-C6/CS-TPE may find applications in various fields, including the development of visual oral drug delivery systems. Keywords: chitosan; nanoparticle; tetraphenylethylene; tribenzotriquinacene; Introduction Stimuli-responsive assemblies in aqueous media have drawn

• stimuli, pH response is of particular interest in the construction of supramolecular systems for intelligent drug delivery because of the presence of pH gradients in the microenvironment of organs, tissues, and cell organelles [5]. In the past years, pH-responsive and other stimuli-responsive

• stimulus-responsive supramolecular vesicles and molecule-scale drug carriers are considered to have potential for cancer drug delivery. However, such supramolecular systems are not suitable for oral administration, which is a convenient and patient-preferred method of drug delivery, especially for patients

CuAAC-inspired synthesis of 1,2,3-triazole-bridged porphyrin conjugates: an overview

• Dileep Kumar Singh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 349–379, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.29

• )porphyrin 130a,b and 6-deoxy-6-azido-PM-β-CD 124 using copper sulfate and sodium ascorbate in THF/H2O (Scheme 26). Furthermore, the supramolecular nanoarchitectures as potential candidates for controlling drug delivery were prepared by complexing the porphyrins 131a,b with tetrasodium

• -soluble nanowires, nanorods, and nanospheres. In addition, these triazoloporphyrins have a wide range of medical applications, including photoinduced cytotoxicity against cancer cells, drug delivery, as phototherapeutic agents, and PDT applications. I believe this review will be useful and encourage