Earth-abundant 3d transition metals on the rise in catalysis

• Nikolaos Kaplaneris and
• Lutz Ackermann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 86–88, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.8

• , Germany 10.3762/bjoc.18.8 Keywords: C–H activation; 3d transition metals; green chemistry; late-stage functionalization; sustainability; Transition metal catalysis has emerged as a transformative platform for the assembly of increasingly complex compounds, with enabling applications to natural product

• , notable advances have been accomplished with environmentally benign, Earth-abundant 3d transition metals [6][7]. The articles in this thematic issue dedicated to advances in Earth-abundant 3d metal catalysis highlight the unique power of 3d transition metals with a topical focus on homogeneous catalysis

• the editor of this issue on Earth-abundant 3d metal catalysis, it was a wonderful experience to experience the diversity of 3d transition metal catalysis, which continues to address key challenges of sustainable modern molecular syntheses. The senior author owe a great debt of gratitude to all of the

Iron-catalyzed domino coupling reactions of π-systems

• Austin Pounder and
• William Tam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2848–2893, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.196

• , homogenous iron catalysis they bear the chance to enable coupling reactions that rival that of noble-metal-catalysis. This review provides an overview of iron-catalyzed domino coupling reactions of π-systems. The classifications and reactivity paradigms examined should assist readers and provide guidance for

Recent advances in the asymmetric phosphoric acid-catalyzed synthesis of axially chiral compounds

• Alemayehu Gashaw Woldegiorgis and
• Xufeng Lin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2729–2764, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.185

• the important reports by Akiyama and Terada [31][47], chiral phosphoric acids have received much attention in the efficient construction of chiral molecules not only by using them as organocatalysts, but also by applying them as ligands in transition-metal catalysis due to their multifunctionality

A visible-light-induced, metal-free bis-arylation of 2,5-dichlorobenzoquinone

• Pieterjan Winant and
• Wim Dehaen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2315–2320, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.149

• precursor, potentially leading to both regioisomers and unwanted side products, complicating purification. As a result, accounts of bis-arylation using radical chemistry are scarce and report very low yields [29][30][31][32]. While transition-metal catalysis is a viable strategy, it is often based on

Photoredox catalysis in nickel-catalyzed C–H functionalization

• Lusina Mantry,
• Rajaram Maayuri,
• Vikash Kumar and
• Parthasarathy Gandeepan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2209–2259, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.143

• transformations have become one of the most reliable and basic tools for designing and manufacturing biologically relevant molecules and functional materials [1][2][3][4]. The formation of highly chemo-, regio-, and stereoselective products with excellent yields is the key reason for transition-metal catalysis as

• method to introduce keto functional groups onto complex organic molecules. During the last decade, the acylation of hydrocarbons through direct C–H activation has been achieved by means of transition-metal catalysis using various acyl precursors [118][119]. The renaissance of metallaphotoredox catalysis

Sustainable manganese catalysis for late-stage C–H functionalization of bioactive structural motifs

• Jongwoo Son

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1733–1751, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.122

• ® (antiplatelet), Gleevec® (anticancer), and augmentin (antibiotic), also contain the benzylic amine motif. Therefore, C–H amination is synthetically important for the diversification of biologically active molecules. Transition metal catalysis has set the stage for C–H amination processes in organic syntheses

• -containing peptide 37g. Conclusion Metal-catalyzed late-stage functionalization has shown significant potential in the fields of medicinal chemistry, agrochemistry, and chemical biology. While transition metal catalysis has been a reliable and efficient strategy for late-stage functionalization, it suffers

Methodologies for the synthesis of quaternary carbon centers via hydroalkylation of unactivated olefins: twenty years of advances

• Thiago S. Silva and
• Fernando Coelho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1565–1590, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.112

• nucleophiles, along with transition-metal catalysis, in olefin alkylation reactions [18][19][20][21]. Apart from the early examples of olefin functionalization with transition metals, such as the well-known ethylene oxidation catalyzed by Pd(II) (the Wacker reaction) [23][24], the use of carbon nucleophiles in

• substrate 21 was observed at the α-carbonyl positions only in the presence of the metal catalysis). The authors also observed a H–D exchange at the terminal carbon of 20d, which supported the proposal of an exo-trig cyclization followed by a protodemetalation step. Subsequently, the same group reported a

Application of the Meerwein reaction of 1,4-benzoquinone to a metal-free synthesis of benzofuropyridine analogues

• Rashmi Singh,
• Tomas Horsten,
• Rashmi Prakash,
• Swapan Dey and
• Wim Dehaen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 977–982, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.79

• work focuses on a metal-free approach for the synthesis of benzofuropyridine analogues. Results and Discussion The synthesis of target compound 13 involved three steps (Scheme 1). C–H Arylation, as needed in the first step, is usually carried out using transition metal catalysis [31]. Furthermore

Synthetic reactions driven by electron-donor–acceptor (EDA) complexes

• Zhonglie Yang,
• Yutong Liu,
• Kun Cao,
• Xiaobin Zhang,
• Hezhong Jiang and
• Jiahong Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 771–799, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.67

• the subsequent reaction (Scheme 28). On account of a wide range of substrates and functional group compatibility, this protocol can be exploited to assemble various β-trifluoromethylated alkynes by three-component reaction without transition-metal catalysis. In 2018, Xu and colleagues [48] proposed

• -protected amines, have been efficiently transformed to suitable pinacol boronic esters. This simple operation without transition-metal catalysis will be widely promoted in the synthesis of important boron-containing molecules in medicine and biology. In 2019, Aggarwal and colleagues [55] proposed that the

• widespread presence in pharmaceutical-, agrochemical-, and materials sciences [73][74][75]. At present, most of the C–N-bonding reactions require transition-metal catalysis, and the reaction conditions are more stringent; however, the EDA-complex pathway proceeds under mild, catalyst-free conditions

Valorisation of plastic waste via metal-catalysed depolymerisation

• Francesca Liguori,
• Carmen Moreno-Marrodán and
• Pierluigi Barbaro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 589–621, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.53

• [125][126]. 3. Selective depolymerisation of plastics via metal catalysis Research in depolymerisation of plastics by artificial metal catalysts is relatively recent as most of the earliest studies are related to biocatalytic systems. Metal salts are the conventional catalysts for these processes

The preparation and properties of 1,1-difluorocyclopropane derivatives

• Kymbat S. Adekenova,
• Peter B. Wyatt and
• Sergazy M. Adekenov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 245–272, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.25

• -difluorocyclopropanes in the synthesis of fluoroalkenyl-substituted compounds (monofluoroalkenes) have been actively studied. Great opportunities exist for the use of transition metal catalysis. The catalytic hydrogenolysis of 1,1-difluoro-3-methyl-2-phenylcyclopropane (151) led to the regioselective C2–C3 distal bond

Silver-catalyzed synthesis of β-fluorovinylphosphonates by phosphonofluorination of aromatic alkynes

• Yajing Zhang,
• Qingshan Tian,
• Guozhu Zhang and
• Dayong Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 3086–3092, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.258

• is the most rapid and convenient one (Scheme 1). Although studies on alkyne difunctionalization are ongoing [23], the successful attachment of a fluorine atom to the resulting alkene through transition metal catalysis remains a challenge. In particular, the phosphonofluorination of alkynes for the

Synthesis of imidazo[1,5-a]pyridines via cyclocondensation of 2-(aminomethyl)pyridines with electrophilically activated nitroalkanes

• Dmitrii A. Aksenov,
• Nikolai A. Arutiunov,
• Vladimir V. Maliuga,
• Alexander V. Aksenov and
• Michael Rubin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2903–2910, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.239

• synthesis inhibitor (Figure 1) [10][11][12]. In addition, compounds with this structure were investigated as photoluminescent sensors [13] and have been employed to generate pincer and heterocyclic carbene ligands for transition metal catalysis [14][15]. A lot of efforts have been dedicated to the

Recent developments in enantioselective photocatalysis

• Callum Prentice,
• James Morrisson,
• Andrew D. Smith and
• Eli Zysman-Colman

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2363–2441, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.197

Photosensitized direct C–H fluorination and trifluoromethylation in organic synthesis

• Shahboz Yakubov and
• Joshua P. Barham

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2151–2192, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.183

• catalysis and photochemistry. Where transition metal catalysis provides one strategy for C–H bond activation, transition-metal-free photochemical C–H fluorination can provide a complementary selectivity via a radical mechanism that proceeds under milder conditions than thermal radical activation methods

• fluorination methods, of which direct C–H fluorination is among the most powerful. Despite the challenges and limitations associated with the direct fluorination of unactivated C–H bonds, appreciable advancements in manipulating the selectivity and reactivity have been made, especially via transition metal

When metal-catalyzed C–H functionalization meets visible-light photocatalysis

• Lucas Guillemard and
• Joanna Wencel-Delord

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1754–1804, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.147

• electrocatalysis, have been achieved recently [53][54][55][56][57][58]. In addition, various transformations merging photoredox catalysis with transition-metal catalysis have been disclosed [59][60][61][62][63][64][65]. Among these different strategies, visible-light photoredox catalysis combined with nickel

• photoreactor emitting UV light at 254 nm, the same reactivity was also reached under visible-light irradiation (blue LEDs), and in the presence of the photosensitizer, Ir(ppy)3. This transformation hence illustrates clearly the potential of combining metal catalysis and photoinduction to design much milder and

Tuneable access to indole, indolone, and cinnoline derivatives from a common 1,4-diketone Michael acceptor

• Dalel El-Marrouki,
• Sabrina Touchet,
• Abderrahmen Abdelli,
• Hédi M’Rabet,
• Mohamed Lotfi Efrit and
• Philippe C. Gros

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1722–1731, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.144

• [15][16][17][18], nucleophilic and electrophilic cyclizations [19][20][21][22][23][24][25], reductive and oxidative cyclizations [26][27], and transition-metal catalysis [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. There are fewer ways to access indolone derivatives, mainly based on the use of di- [12

Photocatalysis with organic dyes: facile access to reactive intermediates for synthesis

• Stephanie G. E. Amos,
• Marion Garreau,
• Luca Buzzetti and
• Jerome Waser

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1163–1187, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.103

Copper-promoted/copper-catalyzed trifluoromethylselenolation reactions

• Clément Ghiazza and
• Anis Tlili

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 305–316, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.30

• they confer very high lipophilicity [1][2]. In this context, transition-metal catalysis plays a key role in the formation of carbon–chalcogen trifluoromethyl bonds. Major advances have been made in the last ten years especially for C–OCF3 [3][4][5] and C–SCF3 [6][7][8] bond-forming processes. Today

Recent developments in photoredox-catalyzed remote ortho and para C–H bond functionalizations

• Rafia Siddiqui and
• Rashid Ali

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 248–280, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.26

• functionalization has been done either using transition metal catalysis or organocatalysis, through the installation of directing groups next to the targeted C–H bond, or by employing radical tactics based on single-electron transfer (SET) [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Although

• metal catalysis, which include: (i) excellent regioselectivity of the targeted C–H bond formations thanks to favorable dissociation enthalpies and electronic properties as compared to other concurrent C–H bonds; (ii) avoidance of an extra oxidant because the reaction proceeds with overall redox

• transition metal catalysis. Mechanism for the formation of 21 from 19 using photoredox catalyst 11. Mechanism for the formation of 30 from acetanilide derivatives. Mechanism for the photoredox-catalyzed synthesis of fluorenone derivatives. Plausible mechanism for the construction of benzothiazoles from

AgNTf₂-catalyzed formal [3 + 2] cycloaddition of ynamides with unprotected isoxazol-5-amines: efficient access to functionalized 5-amino-1H-pyrrole-3-carboxamide derivatives

• Ziping Cao,
• Jiekun Zhu,
• Li Liu,
• Yuanling Pang,
• Laijin Tian,
• Xuejun Sun and
• Xin Meng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2623–2630, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.255

• . Reactions of ynamides or ynol ethers with isoxazoles by transition metal catalysis. Reactions of ynamide 4a with different isoxazoles 5, 7 and 8a. A gram-scale experiment. Mechanistic hypotheses for Ag-catalyzed reaction of ynamide 4a with aminoisoxazole 8a. Possible reaction routes of intermediate C

Recent advances in transition-metal-catalyzed incorporation of fluorine-containing groups

• Xiaowei Li,
• Xiaolin Shi,
• Xiangqian Li and
• Dayong Shi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2213–2270, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.218

• review will provide a comprehensive overview of this topic and attract significant attention. Review Fluorination For many years, specialists in the field of fluorine chemistry have been actively studying ways to introduce fluorine into organic molecules by aid of transition-metal catalysis. Depending on

Attempted synthesis of a meta-metalated calix[4]arene

• Christopher D. Jurisch and
• Gareth E. Arnott

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1996–2002, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.195

• resulted in applications in several fields, including, amongst others, the use as ligands in transition metal catalysis [2][3], in solid-phase gas sorption [4], as molecular sensors [5][6] and as biomimetic compounds [7][8]. Our own interest has been in the synthesis of inherently chiral calix[4]arenes

Norbornadiene-functionalized triazatriangulenium and trioxatriangulenium platforms

• Roland Löw,
• Talina Rusch,
• Tobias Moje,
• Fynn Röhricht,
• Olaf M. Magnussen and
• Rainer Herges

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1815–1821, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.175

• the mechanisms of bulk metal catalysis and open new ways to design new catalytic systems. Towards this end, and following the “platform concept”, we designed a cyano-substituted norbornadiene, which is functionalized with an acetylene spacer on a TATA platform to investigate an eventual “spin

Recent advances on the transition-metal-catalyzed synthesis of imidazopyridines: an updated coverage

• Gagandeep Kour Reen,
• Ashok Kumar and
• Pratibha Sharma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1612–1704, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.165

• development and (ii) for the modifications needed thereof in the R&D sector. Keywords: C–H activation/functionalization; coupling reactions; imidazopyridines; multicomponent reactions; transition metal catalysis; Introduction The structural diversity and biological importance of nitrogen-containing