CF₃-substituted carbocations: underexploited intermediates with great potential in modern synthetic chemistry

• Anthony J. Fernandes,
• Armen Panossian,
• Bastien Michelet,
• Agnès Martin-Mingot,
• Frédéric R. Leroux and
• Sébastien Thibaudeau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 343–378, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.32

An atom-economical addition of methyl azaarenes with aromatic aldehydes via benzylic C(sp³)–H bond functionalization under solvent- and catalyst-free conditions

• Divya Rohini Yennamaneni,
• Vasu Amrutham,
• Krishna Sai Gajula,
• Rammurthy Banothu,
• Murali Boosa and
• Narender Nama

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 3093–3103, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.259

• 19, Kamala Nehru Nagar, Ghaziabad, UP-201002, India 10.3762/bjoc.16.259 Abstract A convenient practical approach for the synthesis of 2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethanols by direct benzylic addition of azaarenes and aldehydes under catalyst- and solvent-free conditions is reported. This reaction is metal-free

Metal-free nucleophilic trifluoromethylselenolation via an iodide-mediated umpolung reactivity of trifluoromethylselenotoluenesulfonate

• Kevin Grollier,
• Alexis Taponard,
• Arnaud De Zordo-Banliat,
• Emmanuel Magnier and
• Thierry Billard

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 3032–3037, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.252

• . Metal-free nucleophilic trifluoromethylselenolations have been then performed with this in situ-generated anion. Perfluoroalkylselenolations have also been described. Keywords: fluorine; nucleophilic substitution; perfluoroalkylselenolation; selenium; trifluoromethylselenolation; Introduction Because

• reagent able to perform electrophilic, radical or nucleophilic reactions depending on the conditions. The iodide-mediated, metal-free method is complementary to the previous one using TDAE. Thus, the umpolung reactivity of trifluoromethylselenotoluenesulfonate can be performed under reductive or oxidative

Metal-free synthesis of biarenes via photoextrusion in di(tri)aryl phosphates

• Hisham Qrareya,
• Lorenzo Meazza,
• Stefano Protti and
• Maurizio Fagnoni

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 3008–3014, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.250

• Hisham Qrareya Lorenzo Meazza Stefano Protti Maurizio Fagnoni PhotoGreen Lab, Department of Chemistry, viale Taramelli 12, 27100 Pavia, Italy Industrial Chemistry Department, Arab American University, 240 Jenin 13, Zababdeh, Palestine 10.3762/bjoc.16.250 Abstract A metal-free route for the

• . Keywords: aryl phosphates; biarenes; metal-free synthesis; photochemistry; photoextrusion; Introduction It is difficult to overestimate the importance of aromatics in drug development. Indeed, introducing an aromatic or a heteroaromatic ring, most often a (substituted) phenyl ring, into a biologically

• nowadays a growing interest in the forging of Ar–Ar bonds under transition-metal-free conditions [24][25]. Apart the most common pathways, e.g., the Friedel–Crafts functionalization [26] or nucleophilic aromatic substitution [27], alternative approaches have emerged that make use of photogenerated

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

• visible-light-inactive molecules using PSCats 3.1 Benzylic C–H fluorination A seminal paper in the field of transition-metal-free direct C–H fluorination comes from Chen and co-workers, who applied aryl ketones as PSCats [135]. They discovered that the choice of the PS impacted the selective formation of

• mono- vs difluorinated products at the benzylic position; 9-fluorenone affords benzylic monofluorination and xanthone affords benzylic difluorination (Scheme 5). Importantly, this metal-free direct C–H fluorination proceeded without the need for any specialized photochemical equipment; under visible

Metal-free synthesis of phosphinoylchroman-4-ones via a radical phosphinoylation–cyclization cascade mediated by K₂S₂O₈

• Qiang Liu,
• Weibang Lu,
• Guanqun Xie and
• Xiaoxia Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1974–1982, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.164

• motifs were conveniently synthesized from readily available diphenylphosphine oxides and alkenyl aldehydes via a metal-free tandem phosphinoylation/cyclization protocol. The reaction utilizes K2S2O8 as oxidant and proceeds in DMSO/H2O at environmentally benign conditions with a broad substrate scope and

• afforded the title compounds in moderate yields. Keywords: chroman-4-ones; diphenylphosphine oxide; metal-free; potassium persulfate; radical cyclization; Introduction The chroman-4-one framework is a privileged structural motif found in numerous natural products and pharmaceuticals with extraordinary

• appropriate radical precursors through visible-light promoted systems [15][16], transition-metal-catalyzed systems [17][18], or transition-metal-free systems [19][20], have emerged as a powerful strategy for the synthesis of diversely functionalized chroman-4-one derivatives. Organophosphorus compounds are

One-pot and metal-free synthesis of 3-arylated-4-nitrophenols via polyfunctionalized cyclohexanones from β-nitrostyrenes

• Haruyasu Asahara,
• Minami Hiraishi and
• Nagatoshi Nishiwaki

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1830–1836, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.150

One-pot synthesis of oxazolidinones and five-membered cyclic carbonates from epoxides and chlorosulfonyl isocyanate: theoretical evidence for an asynchronous concerted pathway

• Esra Demir,
• Ozlem Sari,
• Yasin Çetinkaya,
• Ufuk Atmaca,
• Safiye Sağ Erdem and
• Murat Çelik

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1805–1819, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.148

• advantageous: being a one-pot reaction with metal-free reagent, having shorter reaction times, good yields and a very simple purification method. Moreover, using the density functional theory (DFT) method at the M06-2X/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory the mechanism of the cycloaddition reactions has been elucidated

• using a safe, inexpensive, metal-free reagent, a simple purification method and shorter reaction times via a one-pot reaction. The study presents a useful method for one-pot conversion of epoxides to protected 1,2-diols and 2-amino alcohols in one reaction. In the computational part of the study, the

Et₃N/DMSO-supported one-pot synthesis of highly fluorescent β-carboline-linked benzothiophenones via sulfur insertion and estimation of the photophysical properties

• Dharmender Singh,
• Vipin Kumar and
• Virender Singh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1740–1753, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.146

• -metal-free strategy is presented to access novel β-carboline-tethered benzothiophenone derivatives from 1(3)-formyl-β-carbolines using elemental sulfur activated by Et3N/DMSO. This expeditious catalyst-free reaction proceeds through the formation of β-carboline-based 2-nitrochalcones followed by an

• excellent light-emitting properties with quantum yields (ΦF) up to 47%. Keywords: benzothiophene; β-carboline; metal-free; photophysical properties; sulfur insertion; Introduction The pyrido[3,4-b]indole moiety, commonly referred as β-carboline, is the core unit of about one quarter of all natural

• a one-pot metal-free approach for the first time. The transformation could be executed from β-carboline-based 2-nitrochalcones via a one-pot, two-step procedure starting from 1(3)-formyl-β-carbolines (a framework represented by alkaloid kumujian C). The combination of Et3N and DMSO played a vital

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

• indole, indolone, or cinnoline derivatives from the same starting material is not yet available. To reach this goal, the Michael reaction between 1,4-diketones and primary amines seems particularly attractive because of its straightforward and metal-free properties, and because they can be performed

• , the recovery of the proton catalyst, and atmospheric oxygen aromatization, leading to the indole 6 or the cinnoline 8. Conclusion In summary, we have successfully developed a straightforward and metal-free strategy for the synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic moieties of biological interest

• ; indoles 6, indolones 7, and cinnolines 8, starting from common substrates 1,4-diketones 5 and primary amines. The protocols developed here used mild conditions, were functional-group tolerant, transition-metal-free, proceeded in moderate to good yield, and could therefore easily be used in medicinal

Heterogeneous photocatalysis in flow chemical reactors

• Christopher G. Thomson,
• Ai-Lan Lee and
• Filipe Vilela

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1495–1549, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.125

• interest in g-C3N4 photocatalysts was generated in 2009 by Wang, Domen, and co-workers, who reported the metal-free photolysis of water was possible with the all-organic semiconductor material, a sacrificial electron donor, and visible light irradiation [120]. Prior to this report, poly(p-phenylene) had

Photocatalyzed syntheses of phenanthrenes and their aza-analogues. A review

• Alessandra Del Tito,
• Havall Othman Abdulla,
• Davide Ravelli,
• Stefano Protti and
• Maurizio Fagnoni

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1476–1488, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.123

• exploited for the construction of phenanthridine 6-carboxylates (Scheme 12). Notably, the process occurred in water under metal-free conditions in the presence of rose bengal (5 mol %) and made use of molecular oxygen as the terminal oxidant. Thus, N-biarylglycine esters 12.1a–d promoted the reductive

• desired products 18.3a–d in good yields [91]. Notably, a metal-free version of this strategy, based on the use of the 1-chloroanthraquinone photoorganocatalyst, was likewise reported [92]. A dual-catalytic system, comprising of eosin Y sodium salt (1 mol %) as photoredox catalyst and the thermal catalyst

• opportunity on the route towards metal-free protocols for the synthesis of the phenanthrene and phenanthridine cores, a topic of current interest also in related thermal methods [94][95]. Bioactive phenanthridine and phenanthridinium derivatives. Carbon-centered and nitrogen-centered radicals used for the

An overview on disulfide-catalyzed and -cocatalyzed photoreactions

• Yeersen Patehebieke

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1418–1435, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.118

• electron-rich aryl disulfides as the photocatalyst and oxygen as the oxidant [16]. At room temperature, bis(4-methoxyphenyl) disulfide was employed as the metal-free photocatalyst under visible-light and 1 bar of O2 to realize the aerobic oxidative cleavage of the C=C bonds. Under these mild conditions

• of the aromatic S–S bond by visible light. In 2019, Meng and co-workers reported a visible light-mediated disulfide-catalyzed metal-free and base-free α-functionalization of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds [17]. Under visible-light irradiation, the α-hydroxylation or α-hydroxymethylation of 1,3-dicarbonyl

Oxime radicals: generation, properties and application in organic synthesis

• Igor B. Krylov,
• Stanislav A. Paveliev,
• Alexander S. Budnikov and
• Alexander O. Terent’ev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1234–1276, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.107

• [46], Pb(OAc)4 [44][46][47][48][49][50][51], PbO2 [52], Mn(OAc)3 [46], KMnO4 [46], Ag2O [53], AgO [54], Horseradish peroxidase/H2O2 [55], metal-free oxidants PhI(OAc)2 [46], t-BuOOt-Bu [53] or quinones [56] under UV irradiation. Anodic oxidation was also reported [57]. The establishing of the self

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

• visible-light irradiation. The key aryl radical was trapped with heteroarenes, such as 11.2, to give the arylation products 11.3. Recently, similar methodologies for aryl radical generations have been developed exploiting flow techniques [74] and different organophotocatalysts, such as a metal-free

Recent applications of porphyrins as photocatalysts in organic synthesis: batch and continuous flow approaches

• Rodrigo Costa e Silva,
• Luely Oliveira da Silva,
• Aloisio de Andrade Bartolomeu,
• Timothy John Brocksom and
• Kleber Thiago de Oliveira

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 917–955, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.83

• reported a metal-free photoarylation of five-membered heteroarenes with aryldiazonium salts and meso-arylated porphyrin derivatives as photoredox catalyst [11]. Compounds such as furan, thiophene, and N-Boc-pyrrole derivatives were obtained by this methodology in 29–81% yields (Scheme 3). The key-step of

• this case, the authors observed the oxidative coupling between the primary amines and their respective imines to produce the secondary imines. Wang and co-workers reported the synthesis, characterization, and application of interesting metal-free heterogeneous photocatalysts, 2D porphyrin-COFs (Por-COF

Recent advances in Cu-catalyzed C(sp³)–Si and C(sp³)–B bond formation

• Balaram S. Takale,
• Ruchita R. Thakore,
• Elham Etemadi-Davan and
• Bruce H. Lipshutz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 691–737, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.67

• yields were higher than in previously reported reactions, along with higher ees (Scheme 16, left). Although the synthesis of the ligand was somewhat tedious, the reaction proceeded in shorter reaction times [41]. Another approach, also shown below (Scheme 16, right), involves a metal-free background

KOt-Bu-promoted selective ring-opening N-alkylation of 2-oxazolines to access 2-aminoethyl acetates and N-substituted thiazolidinones

• Qiao Lin,
• Shiling Zhang and
• Bin Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 492–501, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.44

• new and simple transition-metal-free selective ring-opening N-alkylation of 2-methyl-2-oxazoline or 2-(methylthio)-4,5-dihydrothiazole with benzyl halides and allyl halides under mild conditions. Various 2-aminoethyl acetates and N-substituted thiazolidinone derivatives were successfully isolated in

Photophysics and photochemistry of NIR absorbers derived from cyanines: key to new technologies based on chemistry 4.0

• Bernd Strehmel,
• Christian Schmitz,
• Ceren Kütahya,
• Yulian Pang,
• Anke Drewitz and
• Heinz Mustroph

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 415–444, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.40

• shown to realize photoinitiated controlled/living radical polymerization of various monomers in metal free conditions. In the visible region, several dyes (fluorescein, eosin Y, erythrosin B) worked well to mediate ATRP in the presence of amines [72]. The reversibility of the electron transfer steps

• and deactivated by reaction with Cu(II) resulting in formation of dormant species and Cu(I). Altogether, these reactions must be seen as equilibrium coexisting together. Researchers also spent much time to develop photo-ATRP procedures working without any metal catalyst; that is the photoinduced metal

• -free ATRP strategy [132][133][134][135][136][137]. Latter reference provided a comprehensive overview demonstrating the function of phenothiazine derivatives, perylene, diaryl dihydrophenazines, anthracene or pyrene. In addition, type II photoinitiators including benzophenone, and thioxanthones were

p-Pyridinyl oxime carbamates: synthesis, DNA binding, DNA photocleaving activity and theoretical photodegradation studies

• Panagiotis S. Gritzapis,
• Panayiotis C. Varras,
• Nikolaos-Panagiotis Andreou,
• Katerina R. Katsani,
• Konstantinos Dafnopoulos,
• George Psomas,
• Zisis V. Peitsinis,
• Alexandros E. Koumbis and
• Konstantina C. Fylaktakidou

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 337–350, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.33

• anticancer activity due to alteration of the structure and function of the genetic material. Amongst a plethora of such binders [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8], various oxime derivatives were found to show affinity towards DNA [9][10][11][12], whereas others were found to cleave DNA as metal-free artificial

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

• cations, polyoxometallates, and benzophenones [9][80], but a major drawback is the limited availability of photocatalysts that can perform direct HAT. Therefore, there is a high demand for a direct-HAT catalyst that is accessible, metal-free, allows no side reactions, and can be activated by visible light

Construction of trisubstituted chromone skeletons carrying electron-withdrawing groups via PhIO-mediated dehydrogenation and its application to the synthesis of frutinone A

• Qiao Li,
• Chen Zhuang,
• Donghua Wang,
• Wei Zhang,
• Rongxuan Jia,
• Fengxia Sun,
• Yilin Zhang and
• Yunfei Du

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2958–2965, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.291

• , PhIO has never been utilized for the dehydrogenative oxidation reaction. In this letter, we report a facile PhIO-mediated dehydrogenation of chromanones, resulting in the efficient synthesis of biologically interesting chromone compounds under metal-free conditions. Results and Discussion We initially

• , we have developed an efficient metal-free approach for the synthesis of chromone derivatives via PhIO-mediated dehydrogenative oxidation of chromanones. Compared with the existing methods, the new reaction features mild conditions, high efficiency, and is metal-free. Moreover, the product 2l could be

Iodine-mediated hydration of alkynes on keto-functionalized scaffolds: mechanistic insight and the regiospecific hydration of internal alkynes

• Zachary Lee,
• Brandon R. Jones,
• Nyochembeng Nkengbeza,
• Michael Phillips,
• Kayla Valentine,
• Alexis Stewart,
• Brandon Sellers,
• Nicholas Shuber and
• Karelle S. Aiken

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2747–2752, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.265

• (II) [7], silver(I) [8], and gold(I)/(III) [9][10][11][12]. While less toxic than mercury, such catalysts are still environmental hazards and tend to be costlier [13][14]. The iodine-mediated hydration described herein is a viable solution to these issues [15][16]. This metal-free method produces

• innocuous, water-soluble byproducts, such as iodide and sulfate salts, and uses inexpensive molecular iodine to facilitate the hydration. Moreover, unlike other metal-free alkyne hydration procedures, heat and strong acids are not required [17][18][19][20]. The reaction proceeds under mild conditions at

Synthesis of aryl-substituted thieno[3,2-b]thiophene derivatives and their use for N,S-heterotetracene construction

• Nadezhda S. Demina,
• Nikita A. Kazin,
• Nikolay A. Rasputin,
• Roman A. Irgashev and
• Gennady L. Rusinov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2678–2683, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.261

• effectively tune their physical characteristics and also reduce production costs since the routine synthesis of heteroacene structures involves cross-coupling reactions catalyzed by expensive transition metals [15]. Thus, in this paper, we would like to present an efficient metal-free synthesis of the aryl

Friedel–Crafts approach to the one-pot synthesis of methoxy-substituted thioxanthylium salts

• Kenta Tanaka,
• Yuta Tanaka,
• Mami Kishimoto,
• Yujiro Hoshino and
• Kiyoshi Honda

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2105–2112, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.208

• . Keywords: Friedel–Crafts reaction; metal-free conditions; one-pot synthesis; photoredox catalyst; thioxanthylium salt; Introduction Thioxanthylium salts are one of the important structural motifs found in biologically active compounds and photochemical materials [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Owing to these