Recent advances in copper-catalyzed direct hydroamination of alkenes with (hetero)aromatic amines

• Hyejeong Lee and
• Yunmi Lee

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 925–947, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.73

• transformation, the chiral Pybox-diPh/Cu(OTf)2·C6H6 complex initially promoted imine formation followed by asymmetric alkynylation, generating the α,β-unsaturated ester intermediate 23. Subsequent treatment with LiHMDS (lithium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide) induced base-promoted intramolecular aza-Michael

Chiral cyclopropenimine-catalyzed enantioselective Michael reactions of phenol and benzofuran-derived α,β-unsaturated pyrazolamides with benzophenone-imine of glycine esters

• Ya Bai,
• Xue-Ying Wang,
• Si-Kai Zhu,
• Yan-Ting Shen,
• Sheng-Yong Zhang and
• Ping-An Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 888–896, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.69

• , 710032, China School of Pharmacy, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China 10.3762/bjoc.22.69 Abstract The enantioselective Michael reactions of benzophenone-imine of glycine esters with phenol- and benzofuran-derived α,β-unsaturated pyrazolamides have been realized by using a chiral cyclopropenimine

• series of 3-substitued glutamic acid esters in high yields and diastereoselectivities through DBU-catalyzed Michael additions of benzophenone-imine of glycine ester and α,β-unsaturated esters which derived from phenols and benzofurans under mild conditions [5][6]. The chiral 3-aryl-substituted glutamic

• and pyroglutamic acid esters were also produced by enantioselective Michael additions of β-aryl-substituted α,β-unsaturated pyrazolamides with benzophenone-imine of glycine ester in excellent ee and de values by using a chiral cyclopropenimine (Lambert catalyst, Figure 2b) as an organosuperbase

Synthesis and structural elucidation of a novel bis-spirooxindole from isatin and ethylenediamine

• Irene Moreno-Gutiérrez,
• Josefa L. López-Martínez,
• Sonia Berenguel-Gómez,
• Irene Torres-García,
• Duane Choquesillo-Lazarte,
• Manuel Muñoz-Dorado,
• Miriam Álvarez-Corral and
• Ignacio Rodríguez-García

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 813–820, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.63

• may proceed beyond simple imine formation and generate highly condensed frameworks. A related behavior has been observed in reactions of isatin with diamines. Whereas condensation with propan-1,3-diamine (10) under controlled stoichiometry affords the corresponding diiminoisatin 11 (Scheme 2) [18

• ], reactions involving N-methylated ethylenediamines like 12 or 13 lead to spirocyclic products (14 and 15) [19]. These outcomes were rationalized through the involvement of imine and dipolarophilic intermediates (16 and 17), highlighting the sensitivity of the system to substitution at nitrogen. Furthermore

• aromatic pattern of the isatin core. The IR spectrum showed a strong imine C=N band at 1610 cm−1, and the absence of the C-3 carbonyl stretching band confirmed complete condensation. The 13C NMR spectrum revealed multiple sets of closely related signals, consistent with the presence of three C=N

Synthesis of heterocycles based on azomethine ylides from α-amino acids (or amines) and carbonyl compounds

• Ekaterina V. Berezhnaya,
• Alexander I. Ponyaev,
• Vitali M. Boitsov and
• Alexander V. Stepakov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 705–741, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.55

• , the importance of the formation of azomethine ylides from amino esters, amino acids, imine derivatives, aziridines or other substrates was emphasized. A review [26] demonstrates metal-catalyzed as well as metal-free asymmetric and racemic transformations of imino ethers upon interaction with various

• development of this method is also presented. Review Imine derivatives as precursors of azomethine ylides Azomethine ylides based on iminoesters In 2002, Zhang and co-workers described a highly enantioselective Ag(I)-catalyzed (3 + 2) cycloaddition of azomethine ylides from α-(arylimino)esters using AgOAc as

• method for the synthesis of polycyclic pyrrolidines 82–91, which in addition to their use in medicinal chemistry, serve as polydentate N-donor ligands. The authors described the trimethylaluminum-catalyzed (3 + 2)-cycloaddition of bis(2-pyridyl)imine 79 with a wide range of acyclic and cyclic olefins 36

Spirobarbiturates with a pyrrolizidine moiety: synthesis, structure and biological evaluation

• Arthur A. Puzyrkov,
• Andrew S. Drachuk,
• Ekaterina A. Popova,
• Alexander V. Stepakov and
• Vitali M. Boitsov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 274–288, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.20

• formation of azomethine ylide from alloxan (1) and ʟ-proline (2) was previously studied using DFT calculations [43]. Based on the calculated data, it was assumed that the 1,3-dipole is formed as a result of a multistage sequence: initial generation of a zwitterionic imine intermediate from 1 and 2, followed

Arene activation via π-bond localization: concepts and opportunities

• Paul Meiners,
• Julian J. Melder and
• Tobias Morack

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 257–273, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.19

• electrophilic addition. Comparable effects are observed for furans and pyridines, where η2-coordination accentuates their vinyl ether and imine character, respectively. As an illustrative example, treatment of the phenol complex 5 with methyl vinyl ketone and pyridine affords 4-alkylated 4H-phenol complex 6 as

Improved synthesis and physicochemical characterization of the selective serotonin 2A receptor agonist 25CN-NBOH

• Adrian G. Rossebø,
• Hannah G. Kolberg,
• Anders E. Tønder,
• Louise Kjaerulff,
• Poul Erik Hansen,
• Karla A. Frydenvang,
• Jesper Østergaard and
• Jesper L. Kristensen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 175–184, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.11

• modest 65% [12]. In the present work, we found that simply adding 4 Å molecular sieves powder during the formation of the intermediate imine gave a much cleaner reaction and increased the yield of 1·HCl from 2C-CN·HCl to 74%. We suggest that the addition of the molecular sieves facilitates the formation

• of the required imine intermediate that upon reduction yields the desired product. The free base 1 was purified on normal-phase flash column chromatography, and 1·HCl was subsequently precipitated, providing a white crystalline solid (vide infra). Characterization of 25CN-NBOH·HCl (1·HCl) in the

Asymmetric Mannich reaction of aromatic imines with malonates in the presence of multifunctional catalysts

• Kadri Kriis,
• Harry Martõnov,
• Annette Miller,
• Mia Peterson,
• Ivar Järving and
• Tõnis Kanger

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 151–157, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.8

• with the steric effect of the tert-butyl group of the catalyst, is responsible for the high stereoselectivity of the reaction. Keywords: aromatic imine; asymmetric catalysis; Mannich reaction; noncovalent interactions; organocatalysis; Introduction The Mannich reaction, i.e., the addition of an

• enolized carbonyl compound to an imine derived from an aldehyde or ketone and an amine, has been known for more than hundred years [1] and it has become an important method for creating C–C bonds [2][3][4]. The obtained Mannich bases exhibit a broad spectrum of biological activities [5][6] and have also

• Mannich reaction between a 2-sulfonylpyridine protected imine and a malonate (Scheme 1). The pyridine-containing protecting group was chosen considering our catalyst design. We envisioned that halogen bond (XB) will complement hydrogen bonds to activate an imine towards the nucleophilic attack of the

Competitive cyclization of ethyl trifluoroacetoacetate and methyl ketones with 1,3-diamino-2-propanol into hydrogenated oxazolo- and pyrimido-condensed pyridones

• Svetlana O. Kushch,
• Marina V. Goryaeva,
• Yanina V. Burgart,
• Marina A. Ezhikova,
• Mikhail I. Kodess,
• Pavel A. Slepukhin,
• Alexandrina S. Volobueva,
• Vladimir V. Zarubaev and
• Victor I. Saloutin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2716–2729, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.209

• imine reaction center. This makes the center softer, which favors the interaction with the amino group to generate the hexahydropyrimidine intermediate C. The methyl, ethyl and butyl substituents of intermediate B have a positive inductive effect, which increases with the lengthening of the alkyl chain

• . As a result, the cyclization becomes competitive in both directions, but with a predominance of path b as the alkyl chain lengthens [66]. The use of acetic acid and triethylamine results in the dominance of path a in all of the reactions. Most likely, the acid catalyzes the imine center in the

Tandem hydrothiocyanation/cyclization of CF₃-iminopropargyl alcohols with NaSCN in the presence of AcOH

• Ruslan S. Shulgin,
• Ol’ga G. Volostnykh,
• Anton V. Stepanov,
• Igor’ A. Ushakov,
• Alexander V. Vashchenko and
• Olesya A. Shemyakina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2694–2702, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.207

• light of the above examples and as part of our ongoing research into the chemistry of functionalized propargyl alcohols [25][26], we decided to use CF3-substituted iminopropargyl alcohols as a starting material for hydrothiocyanation reactions, since the alkynyl imine fragment can undergo a series of

• different cyclizations due to the conjugated imine and alkyne bonds [27], and the hydroxyalkyl moiety linked to the triple bond can also act as a nucleophilic site. Another attractive feature of these compounds is the presence of the trifluoromethyl group (CF3). The latter serves as a valuable structural

• formation and ratio of the products in contrast to the substituents in the imine fragment. NMR monitoring of reactions (1a/NaSCN/AcOH or 1g/NaSCN/AcOH in MeCN) did not allow to detect any intermediates even when the temperature was lowered to 0 °C. In the 1H and 19F NMR spectra the signals of products 2a

Rapid access to the core of malayamycin A by intramolecular dipolar cycloaddition

• Yilin Liu,
• Yuchen Yang,
• Chen Yang,
• Sha-Hua Huang,
• Jian Jin and
• Ran Hong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2542–2547, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.196

• nitrile oxide. At this stage, it is not clear that the diastereomeric ratio (dr 4:1) may share with the same configuration at the C2 or C2’ position. The mixture of 18 was subjected to reduction of the imine motif by NaBH3CN in AcOH–MeOH and immediately protected with the Boc group. The isolated yield of

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

• have been little studied, and are of interest to synthetic chemists. Thus, the interaction of (−)-metaphanine (70) with ammonia in CH3OH at room temperature led to the in situ formation of imine 72, which, as a result of an intramolecular aza-benzilic acid-type rearrangement, was converted in more than

The high potential of methyl laurate as a recyclable competitor to conventional toxic solvents in [3 + 2] cycloaddition reactions

• Ayhan Yıldırım and
• Mustafa Göker

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2389–2415, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.184

• optimized [3 + 2] cycloaddition conditions. The primary strategy for the selection of these compounds as catalysts is predicated on their capacity to function as H-bond acceptors and/or H-bond donors. As has been documented in previous research, imine-based templates or [2]rotaxane that possess an amide

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

• ] intermediate 62 (Scheme 14, path a). When a less nucleophilic indole was used as the nucleophile, a Wagner–Meerwein rearrangement occurred, leading to the formation of a pyrido[4,3-b]indole product 63. When Hantzsch ester (HEH) was used as the nucleophile, the imine intermediate 62 was reduced to product 64

• acted as nucleophile, the stable imine–gold–aryl cation–π–π interaction precluded rearrangement and promoted the capture of imine to form spiro[indoline-3,3'-pyridine] derivatives 67. The Ph3PAuCl/AgNTf2-catalyzed cyclization of N-propargyl-tethered amide enynes efficiently afforded four distinct

• Wagner–Meerwein rearrangement from the six-membered spirocyclic intermediate 88. The addition of Hantzsch ester or indole as the nucleophile effectively trapped the imine intermediate 88, preventing Wagner–Meerwein rearrangement and yielding spirocyclic indole framework 90 (Scheme 19, path a). When PPh3

Synthesis of triazolo- and tetrazolo-fused 1,4-benzodiazepines via one-pot Ugi–azide and Cu-free click reactions

• Xiaoming Ma,
• Zijie Gao,
• Jiawei Niu,
• Wentao Shao,
• Shenghu Yan,
• Sai Zhang and
• Wei Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2202–2210, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.167

• ) to obtain triazolobenzodiazepine which in turn can serve as a cyclic imine for a modified Joullié–Ugi 3-CR with isocyanide and trimethylsilyl azide (TMSN₃) in the synthesis of tetrazole-tethered triazolobenzodiazepines (Scheme 3B). We envisioned that the reaction conditions may need to be modified to

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

• at the anode to generate imine intermediate C. Simultaneously, treatment of 39a with I+ and the following intramolecular nucleophilic cyclization produced C. The elimination of a proton from C afforded the intermediate D. In the presence of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU), the intramolecular

The application of desymmetric enantioselective reduction of cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds in the total synthesis of terpenoid and alkaloid natural products

• Dong-Xing Tan and
• Fu-She Han

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2085–2102, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.164

• operation including azide–alkene dipolar cycloaddition, irradiation of the resulting triazoline to aziridine 80 and in situ ring opening followed by deacetylation achieved the first total synthesis of (−)-hunterine A (14). On the other hand, aza-Cope/Mannich reaction of 78 produced imine intermediate 81

Stereoselective electrochemical intramolecular imino-pinacol reaction: a straightforward entry to enantiopure piperazines

• Margherita Gazzotti,
• Fabrizio Medici,
• Valerio Chiroli,
• Laura Raimondi,
• Sergio Rossi and
• Maurizio Benaglia

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1897–1908, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.147

• photocatalysts (Scheme 2). The combination of photoredox catalysis with imine activation enabled the reductive coupling of imines under mild reaction conditions, providing direct access to benzyl and aryl vicinal diamines with good to excellent yields. Organic electrochemistry represents an attractive and

• methanesulfonic acid, which acts as a strong Brønsted acid to selectively protonate the imine nitrogen atoms. This protonation step increases the electrophilicity of the adjacent imine carbons by inductive effect, leading to the formation of a highly reactive diiminium intermediate 4a. When formed, compound 4a is

Chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of helically chiral, planarly chiral and inherently chiral molecules

• Wei Liu and
• Xiaoyu Yang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1864–1889, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.145

• reaction produced the imine 16a which, upon treatment with Pd(PPh3)2Cl2 and KHMDS, led to furan ring formation and the generation of hetero[7]helicene 17a while maintaining the stereochemical configuration. Through this methodology, a range of elongated [7]- and [8]heterohelicenes 17b–d incorporating both

• resolution of racemic 10-substituted 9,10-dihydrotribenzoazocines featuring both inherent and central chirality, delivering excellent kinetic resolution performance (see 68d–g). During our studies, we serendipitously found that the imine-containing eight-membered azaheterocycles 70, derived from the

• 71 yielded the cyclic intermediate INT-B, which then underwent addition with aniline co-catalyst 73 to form INT-C. The CPA-enabled release of CO2 from INT-C yielded the imine-containing intermediate INT-D, which underwent iterative addition with INT-B, followed by release of CO2 to afford INT-E. The

Systematic pore lipophilization to enhance the efficiency of an amine-based MOF catalyst in the solvent-free Knoevenagel reaction

• Pricilla Matseketsa,
• Margret Kumbirayi Ruwimbo Pagare and
• Tendai Gadzikwa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1854–1863, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.144

• malononitrile to form benzylidenemalononitrile (BMN). In a typical primary amine-catalyzed Knoevenagel condensation, the amine would undergo imine condensation with benzaldehyde. The imine would then deprotonate malononitrile, and the resulting carbanion would react with the imine, releasing the final product

• undergoes imine condensation with benzaldehyde. B) Mechanism in which the amine acts as a base, deprotonating malononitrile. Estimated conversions of the reactions of isocyanates with the –OH and –NH2 groups of KSU-1 to form carbamates and ureas, respectively.a Comparison of Knoevenagel catalysis results

Photoswitches beyond azobenzene: a beginner’s guide

• Michela Marcon,
• Christoph Haag and
• Burkhard König

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1808–1853, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.143

• , Corminboeuf, Samanta, and König [6][31][32][33][34][35]. Although they do not possess an azo bond, heterocyclic imines are worth mentioning in this chapter due to their similarity to the azo-compounds and their straightforward synthesis. Substitution of the azo bond with an imine bond gives rise to

• aryl ring of 11a and 11b yield iminopyrazoles with longer half-lives and negative photochromism (Figure 7, top). This unusual behaviour can be explained by the absence of adjacent non-bonding lone pairs in the imine bond [37]. Conversely, in the case of N-phenyl derivatives 11c and 11d (Figure 7

• , bottom), the thermal lifetimes drop significantly [38]. It is thus crucial to take into account the asymmetric nature of the imine bond and the steric hindrance of the substituents in the design of these photoswitches. For a detailed analysis of the structure–property relationship of these compounds we

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

• corresponding imines I and I′, as supported by the detection of imine I during GC–MS analysis. Both imines coordinate with the Lewis acid FeIII forming intermediates II and II′ with enhanced electrophilicity, respectively. Another equivalent of styrene (2a) attacks the electrophilic carbon, leading to the

Synthesis of chiral cyclohexane-linked bisimidazolines

• Changmeng Xi,
• Qingshan Sun and
• Jiaxi Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1786–1790, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.140

• nucleophilically attacks the phosphonium in A to generate intermediate B by loss of triphenylphosphine oxide and triflic acid. The nucleophilic sulfonamide in B intramolecularily attacks the generated imine moiety in B to form intermediate C, in which triflic acid may protonate the imine moiety in B to assist the

Catalytic asymmetric reactions of isocyanides for constructing non-central chirality

• Jia-Yu Liao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1648–1660, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.129

• between β-ketoester 30 and di-tert-butyl azodicarboxylate (31), and the corresponding product 32 was obtained in 99% yield with 88% ee. A plausible reaction mechanism was proposed for this CPA-catalyzed enantioselective Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé reaction. As illustrated in Scheme 5b, the imine

• chiral INT-C, which, after imine-enamine tautomerization, led to the formation of final product 28. α-Acidic isocyanide-based transformations De novo arene formation In 2019, Zhu and co-workers developed the first example of catalytic enantioselective Yamamoto–de Meijere pyrrole synthesis [36][37

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

• -plane aromaticity in view of the computed NICS(3, +1) value of −12.0 ppm and diatropic induced ring current (Figure 7a). Interestingly, the analogous reaction involving cis-pent-2-en-4-yn-1-imine, where the terminal CH=CH2 group in the parent system was replaced by an imine CH=NH group, proceeds with a

• the lower barriers computed for the Hopf cyclizations of ene–ene–ynes E=CH–CH=CH–C≡CH where the terminal CH2 group was replaced by a heteroatom (E = NH or O). Figure 8 shows the corresponding ASDs for the parent cyclization (E = CH2) and the analogous process involving the imine system (E = NH). In

• imine system at the initial stages of the cyclization, this term becomes rather similar for both systems at the proximity of the corresponding transition states and therefore, is not responsible for the different barriers. Instead, the cyclization involving the parent system is associated with a much