Tandem cross enyne metathesis (CEYM)–intramolecular Diels–Alder reaction (IMDAR). An easy entry to linear bicyclic scaffolds

• Javier Miró,
• María Sánchez-Roselló,
• Álvaro Sanz,
• Fernando Rabasa,
• Carlos del Pozo and
• Santos Fustero

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 1486–1493, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.161

• multiple carbon–carbon bonds can be generated in a single operation, therefore increasing molecular complexity in a quite simple manner [10]. While examples of ring-closing enyne metathesis (RCEYM) reactions are widespread in the literature [11], the development of the intermolecular version, i.e., the

Triazol-substituted titanocenes by strain-driven 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions

• Andreas Gansäuer,
• Andreas Okkel,
• Lukas Schwach,
• Laura Wagner,
• Anja Selig and
• Aram Prokop

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 1630–1637, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.169

• functions. An especially attractive approach is the use of already functionalized building blocks as starting materials in diversity oriented synthesis that increases the molecular complexity. Any synthetic methodology used in this context must take into account the sensitivity of the titanocene towards

Rational design of cyclopropane-based chiral PHOX ligands for intermolecular asymmetric Heck reaction

• Marina Rubina,
• William M. Sherrill,
• Alexey Yu. Barkov and
• Michael Rubin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 1536–1548, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.158

• installation of tertiary and quaternary chiral centres leading to a rapid increase of molecular complexity [3][4][5]. To date, various modes of this transformation are being successfully employed in the synthesis of complex organic molecules [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Considerable achievements have also

Cyclization–endoperoxidation cascade reactions of dienes mediated by a pyrylium photoredox catalyst

• Nathan J. Gesmundo and
• David A. Nicewicz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 1272–1281, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.128

• reactions of peroxyquinols [11]. While these extant methods are effective at installing the endoperoxide functional group, our interest lay in developing strategies that simultaneously forged both the cyclic peroxide as well as the carbon framework to rapidly build molecular complexity. For this reason, we

Isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions towards cyclic constrained peptidomimetics

• Gijs Koopmanschap,
• Eelco Ruijter and
• Romano V.A. Orru

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 544–598, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.50

• structural diversity and molecular complexity in only one step. Among the MCRs, the isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions (IMCRs) are most relevant for the synthesis of peptidomimetics because they provide peptide-like products. However, these IMCRs usually give linear products and in order to obtain

Silver and gold-catalyzed multicomponent reactions

• Giorgio Abbiati and
• Elisabetta Rossi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 481–513, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.46

• transformation, i.e., [3 + 2] cycloaddition (Scheme 9). Another application of an A3-MCR for the improvement of molecular complexity was published by Kokezu and Srinivas [39]. The authors suggested a straightforward AuBr3-catalyzed route to 2-, 3-, or 5-propargylamine substituted indoles 9. The reactions were

Boron-substituted 1,3-dienes and heterodienes as key elements in multicomponent processes

• Ludovic Eberlin,
• Fabien Tripoteau,
• François Carreaux,
• Andrew Whiting and
• Bertrand Carboni

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 237–250, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.19

• heterodienes presented herein in creating molecular complexity, the field of multicomponent reactions involving these versatile building blocks remains insufficiently explored. If Diels–Alder cycloadditions have been mainly employed as key steps in most of the reported processes, numerous other reactions can

Stereoselectively fluorinated N-heterocycles: a brief survey

• Xiang-Guo Hu and
• Luke Hunter

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2013, 9, 2696–2708, doi:10.3762/bjoc.9.306

• for synthesising fluorinated analogues of the natural product brevianamide E [68] (65, Scheme 7). This synthesis was remarkable for its rapid generation of molecular complexity, which is a defining feature of the fluorocyclisation approach. Even more spectacular was the extension of this methodology

Quantification of N-acetylcysteamine activated methylmalonate incorporation into polyketide biosynthesis

• Stephan Klopries,
• Uschi Sundermann and
• Frank Schulz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2013, 9, 664–674, doi:10.3762/bjoc.9.75

• widespread application in current medicine and agriculture. Polyketide synthases (PKS), giant multienzyme complexes, play a pivotal role in their biosynthesis. PKS generate molecular complexity and diversity through a number of stepwise condensations in analogy to fatty acid synthases but with optional and

Alternaric acid: formal synthesis and related studies

• Michael C. Slade and
• Jeffrey S. Johnson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2013, 9, 166–172, doi:10.3762/bjoc.9.19

• complex molecule synthesis. Keywords: formal synthesis; multicomponent coupling; natural products; silyl glyoxylates; Introduction The rapid development of molecular complexity from simple starting materials is an important goal in modern synthetic organic chemistry. In this context, streamlined one-pot

• build-up of molecular complexity. Alternaric acid (2) [21][22][23] is an antifungal and phytotoxic natural product, which bears a substituted glycolic acid in the functionally and stereochemically dense core of the molecule; the potential application of silyl glyoxylate technology emerged as an

• a single step. In particular, this underscores the unique utility of silyl glyoxylates to serve as crucial linchpins for the coupling of a variety of nucleophile/electrophile pairs at a glycolic acid junction for the rapid development of molecular complexity. (A) Silyl glyoxylates as versatile

The chemistry of bisallenes

• Henning Hopf and
• Georgios Markopoulos

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2012, 8, 1936–1998, doi:10.3762/bjoc.8.225

• -containing tethers. Preparatively the bisallenes are especially useful in isomerization and cycloaddition reactions of all kinds leading to the respective target molecules with high atom economy and often in high yield. Bisallenes are hence substrates for generating molecular complexity in a small number of

• steps (high step economy). Keywords: alicyclic; bisallenes; cyclic; cycloadditions; cycloisomerization; isomerization; molecular complexity; step economy; Table of Contents Introduction Review Acyclic conjugated bisallenes 1.1 Synthesis of hydrocarbons 1.2 Synthesis of functionalized systems 1.3

Organocatalytic asymmetric allylic amination of Morita–Baylis–Hillman carbonates of isatins

• Hang Zhang,
• Shan-Jun Zhang,
• Qing-Qing Zhou,
• Lin Dong and
• Ying-Chun Chen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2012, 8, 1241–1245, doi:10.3762/bjoc.8.139

• provides an electrophilic process to 3-amino-2-oxindoles with a C3-quaternary chiral center. A range of products with high molecular complexity were obtained with good to excellent enantioselectivity (up to 94% ee) and high yields (up to 97%). Currently, more studies on the catalytic asymmetric

Two-directional synthesis as a tool for diversity-oriented synthesis: Synthesis of alkaloid scaffolds

• Kieron M. G. O’Connell,
• Monica Díaz-Gavilán,
• Warren R. J. D. Galloway and
• David R. Spring

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2012, 8, 850–860, doi:10.3762/bjoc.8.95

• number of synthetic steps. Two-directional synthesis [9][10][11][12] offers a powerful method for the synthesis of such substrates, because each synthetic transformation has the potential to provide twice as much molecular complexity compared to standard approaches. We have recently reported a strategy

• (Scheme 3b). It seems in our case that, under the correct conditions, a Dieckmann reaction can be made to occur in tandem with the Boc-deprotection and double-conjugate addition processes. This one-pot, four-step reaction process is extremely interesting for the amount of molecular complexity generated in

Synthetic applications of gold-catalyzed ring expansions

• David Garayalde and
• Cristina Nevado

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2011, 7, 767–780, doi:10.3762/bjoc.7.87

• ]-cycloadditions are just some of the relevant available methods employed by organic chemists to increase the molecular complexity of products originating from rather straightforward starting materials. In contrast to the vast number of precedents involving Rh-catalyzed [4 + 3]-cycloaddition reactions to form 7

• application of these methodologies into more complex settings, such as natural product synthesis. In summary, gold-catalyzed ring expansions of strained rings can now be considered a mature tool for the construction of molecular complexity and thus are to be incorporated in to the toolbox of the synthetic

Tandem catalysis of ring-closing metathesis/atom transfer radical reactions with homobimetallic ruthenium–arene complexes

• Yannick Borguet,
• Xavier Sauvage,
• Guillermo Zaragoza,
• Albert Demonceau and
• Lionel Delaude

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2010, 6, 1167–1173, doi:10.3762/bjoc.6.133

• (Scheme 2). This process, known as assisted tandem catalysis [6], presents significant advantages over multistep synthesis for increasing molecular complexity, particularly in terms of time- and cost-savings, atom economy, environmental friendliness, or applicability to diversity-oriented high-throughput

A thermally-induced, tandem [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement/[2 + 2] cycloaddition approach to carbocyclic spirooxindoles

• Kay M. Brummond and
• Joshua M. Osbourn

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2010, 6, No. 33, doi:10.3762/bjoc.6.33

• ] cycloaddition reaction is that the reaction remains selective for the distal double bond of the allene even with densely functionalized allenes [29]. In addition, conversion of the propargylic acetate to the spirooxindole in one step provides a rapid and potentially stereoselective increase in molecular

• complexity. Furthermore, this approach includes a rare example of a thermal [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of a propargylic acetate while metal catalyzed rearrangements of the propargyl acetates are common. Work is currently underway to expand the synthetic utility of this reaction. Experimental

Radical cascades using enantioenriched 7-azabenzonorbornenes and their applications in synthesis

• David M. Hodgson and
• Leonard H. Winning

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2008, 4, No. 38, doi:10.3762/bjoc.4.38

• for the rapid enhancement of molecular complexity. Furthermore, in the structurally similar system created by the formal fusion of the norbornenyl skeleton with an aromatic ring, the ‘nortricyclyl’ radical is delocalised in the originally aromatic π-system. Ring-opening of this ‘nortricyclyl’ radical