Catalytic enantioselective synthesis of selenium-containing atropisomers via C–Se bond formations

• Qi-Sen Gao,
• Zheng-Wei Wei and
• Zhi-Min Chen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2447–2455, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.186

• functionalization remains a significant challenge. In 2024, You and co-workers reported a breakthrough in the enantioselective direct C–H selenylation of 1-arylisoquinolines and 2-(phenylselenyl)isoindoline-1,3-diones under rhodium catalysis to afford axially chiral diaryl selenides [18]. In this protocol, AgPF6

• formation proceeded through an SN2-type nucleophilic substitution mechanism (Scheme 1). In 2025, Li and co-workers reported a highly efficient rhodium-catalyzed enantioselective C–H selenylation reaction of 1-arylisoquinolines with diselenides, employing 3,5-(CF3)2C6H3CO₂Ag and AgSbF6 as additives [19

• phenyl-substituted benzoisoquinoline derivatives. Two plausible reaction mechanisms were proposed in the study: one involving oxidative addition of Int 4, a five-membered rhodium cyclic intermediate, followed by reductive elimination and the other proceeding via a bimolecular nucleophilic substitution

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

• aldehyde 53 [39] (Scheme 10). The key steps in this synthesis are based on an asymmetric rhodium-catalyzed [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction [40], followed by a unique benzilic acid-type rearrangement under very mild conditions [41]. A step-by-step mechanism for the benzilic acid-type rearrangement of

Enantioselective radical chemistry: a bright future ahead

• Anna C. Renner,
• Sagar S. Thorat,
• Hariharaputhiran Subramanian and
• Mukund P. Sibi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2283–2296, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.174

• method for the enantioselective α-C(sp3) alkenylation of ketones containing imidazole auxiliaries (Scheme 10) [24]. The transformation was catalyzed by a chiral-at-rhodium Lewis acid 42. A variety of ketone electrophiles 40 and alkenyl trifluoroborate nucleophiles 41 were converted to the corresponding α

• )–C(sp3) coupling reactions between organoboron compounds and amino acids. Electrochemical α-alkenylation reactions of 2-acylimidazoles catalyzed by a chiral-at-rhodium Lewis acid. Regio- and enantioselective electrochemical reactions of silyl polyenolates catalyzed by a chiral nickel catalyst.

C2 to C6 biobased carbonyl platforms for fine chemistry

• Jingjing Jiang,
• Muhammad Noman Haider Tariq,
• Florence Popowycz,
• Yanlong Gu and
• Yves Queneau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2103–2172, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.165

Rhodium-catalysed connective synthesis of diverse reactive probes bearing S(VI) electrophilic warheads

• Scott Rice,
• Julian Chesti,
• William R. T. Mosedale,
• Megan H. Wright,
• Stephen P. Marsden,
• Terry K. Smith and
• Adam Nelson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1924–1931, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.150

• multiplicity of reaction types between rhodium carbenoids and the many different co-substrate classes, and the catalyst-driven selectivity between these pathways. The probes were screened for activity against Trypanosma brucei, and four probes with promising anti-trypanosomal activity were identified

• the discovery of small molecule modifiers for investigating and engineering proteins. Keywords: covalent probes; molecular diversity; rhodium carbenoids; Introduction Diverse sets of reactive probes can facilitate the discovery of chemical tools and drugs that chemically modify protein targets [1][2

• that all of these active compounds are 4-phenylpiperidinyl amides derived from the same α-diazoamide 2, suggesting that this feature is important for activity. Conclusion We have developed a connective synthesis of reactive probes bearing S(VI) electrophilic warheads. Each probe was prepared by rhodium

Oxetanes: formation, reactivity and total syntheses of natural products

• Peter Gabko,
• Martin Kalník and
• Maroš Bella

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1324–1373, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.101

Dioxazolones as electrophilic amide sources in copper-catalyzed and -mediated transformations

• Seungmin Lee,
• Minsuk Kim,
• Hyewon Han and
• Jongwoo Son

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 200–216, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.12

• electrophiles in various nucleophilic transformations due to their susceptibility to rapid decomposition into the corresponding isocyanates (Scheme 1a) [2][3]. They have attracted increasing interest as electrophilic amide sources in amidation using transition-metal catalysts such as ruthenium, rhodium, and

Synthesis of extended fluorinated tripeptides based on the tetrahydropyridazine scaffold

• Thierry Milcent,
• Pascal Retailleau,
• Benoit Crousse and
• Sandrine Ongeri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3174–3181, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.262

• , Tomilov et al. described the formation of tetrahydropyridazine 3,4,5,6-tetracarboxylic esters in 42% yield upon the decomposition in chloroform at 60 °C of methyl diazoacetate in the presence of pyridine and catalyzed by rhodium(II) acetate (Scheme 1b) [24][25]. More recently, an unusual [4 + 2

Advances in radical peroxidation with hydroperoxides

• Oleg V. Bityukov,
• Pavel Yu. Serdyuchenko,
• Andrey S. Kirillov,
• Gennady I. Nikishin,
• Vera A. Vil’ and
• Alexander O. Terent’ev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2959–3006, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.249

• montmorillonite-supported Ru-catalyst yields mainly vicinal bis(tert-butylperoxy)alkanes 201 in the presence of Et3N and 2-tert-butylperoxy-1-hydroperoxy-1-phenylethanes 202 without Et3N (Scheme 63a) [131]. Oxidative cleavage of styrenes 203 by TBHP catalyzed by rhodium(II) caprolactame (Rh2(cap)4) was

C–C Coupling in sterically demanding porphyrin environments

• Liam Cribbin,
• Brendan Twamley,
• Nicolae Buga,
• John E. O’ Brien,
• Raphael Bühler,
• Roland A. Fischer and
• Mathias O. Senge

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2784–2798, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.234

• ][25], Negishi [26], and Kumada [27] coupling reactions, as well as modern iridium and rhodium-based coupling techniques [28], are just some examples of the C–C bond formations that have been implemented to achieve complex substitution patterns and functional arrangements on porphyrins. Of these named

Access to optically active tetrafluoroethylenated amines based on [1,3]-proton shift reaction

• Yuta Kabumoto,
• Eiichiro Yoshimoto,
• Bing Xiaohuan,
• Masato Morita,
• Motohiro Yasui,
• Shigeyuki Yamada and
• Tsutomu Konno

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2776–2783, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.233

• published that the asymmetric conjugate addition of 4-methylphenylboronic acid towards (E)-5-bromo-4,4,5,5-tetrafluoro-1-phenyl-2-penten-1-one (8) in the presence of a rhodium catalyst coordinated with (S)-BINAP gave the corresponding Michael adduct 9 in 94% enantiomeric excess (reaction 2, Scheme 1) [22

A review of recent advances in electrochemical and photoelectrochemical late-stage functionalization classified by anodic oxidation, cathodic reduction, and paired electrolysis

• Nian Li,
• Ruzal Sitdikov,
• Ajit Prabhakar Kale,
• Joost Steverlynck,
• Bo Li and
• Magnus Rueping

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2500–2566, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.214

• anodic oxidation. In addition to ruthenium-catalyzed electrochemically mediated C–H functionalizations, several groups have also explored rhodium-catalyzed anodic oxidation reactions [52][53]. Wen, Zhang, Xu, and colleagues described an efficient method for the phosphorylation of aryl substrates

• derivative and an estrone derivative. Mechanistically, the process begins with the coordination of a chiral rhodium-based catalyst to the 2-acylimidazole substrate. Deprotonation by the base 2,6-lutidine activates the substrate for anodic oxidation by raising the level of the highest occupied molecular

Solvent-dependent chemoselective synthesis of different isoquinolinones mediated by the hypervalent iodine(III) reagent PISA

• Ze-Nan Hu,
• Yan-Hui Wang,
• Jia-Bing Wu,
• Ze Chen,
• Dou Hong and
• Chi Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1914–1921, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.167

• metal reagents, including cobalt [10], copper [11], rhodium [12][13][14], palladium [15][16][17], silver [18], and gold [19] catalysts, have been reported. However, compared to the widespread use of metal catalysts, the synthesis of isoquinolinone scaffolds mediated by environmentally friendly

Rhodium-catalyzed homo-coupling reaction of aryl Grignard reagents and its application for the synthesis of an integrin inhibitor

• Kazuyuki Sato,
• Satoki Teranishi,
• Atsushi Sakaue,
• Yukiko Karuo,
• Atsushi Tarui,
• Kentaro Kawai,
• Hiroyuki Takeda,
• Tatsuo Kinashi and
• Masaaki Omote

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1341–1347, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.118

• for integrins which is critical for several diseases. Keywords: biphenyltetracarboxylic acid; homo-coupling; integrin inhibitor; rhodium catalyst; Ullmann-type reaction; Introduction The Ullmann reaction is a coupling reaction of aryl halides using copper, traditionally using metallic copper-bronze

• halides, which involved a rhodium-bis(benzyl) complex (Scheme 2) [21]. Following these outcomes, as part of a research program aimed at a wide range of Rh-catalyzed C–C bond-formation reactions, in this paper, we report a Rh-catalyzed Ullmann-type homo-coupling reaction of aryl Grignard reagents. Results

• and Discussion Methodology development In our work towards Rh-catalyzed homo-coupling reactions of benzyl halides, we observed that a similar rhodium–bis(benzyl) complex can also be formed from benzyl halide by using a Grignard reagent instead R2Zn in the presence of RhCl(PPh3)3 to subsequently give

Manganese-catalyzed C–C and C–N bond formation with alcohols via borrowing hydrogen or hydrogen auto-transfer

• Mohd Farhan Ansari,
• Atul Kumar Maurya,
• Abhishek Kumar and
• Saravanakumar Elangovan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1111–1166, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.98

• achieving both selective dehydrogenation and hydrogenation is highly important. A typical BH process is demonstrated in Scheme 1. Several precious transition-metal catalysts have been used successfully in this area, including iridium, rhodium, ruthenium, and osmium [4]. However, these noble metals are toxic

Entry to new spiroheterocycles via tandem Rh(II)-catalyzed O–H insertion/base-promoted cyclization involving diazoarylidene succinimides

• Alexander Yanovich,
• Anastasia Vepreva,
• Ksenia Malkova,
• Grigory Kantin and
• Dmitry Dar’in

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 561–569, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.48

• alcohols, followed by base-promoted cyclization to afford the target spirocyclic compounds in good to high yields. Keywords: diazoarylidene succinimides; intramolecular cyclization; rhodium(II) carbene O–H insertion; spirocycles; Introduction Spirocyclic motifs have emerged as auspicious frameworks for

• this protocol for spirocyclization and spiroheterocycle formation. The first step of the synthesis, the insertion of rhodium carbene into the O–H bond of 3-bromopropanol, was carried out under standard conditions in the presence of 0.05 mol % Rh2(esp)2 in dry DCM. 1H NMR spectroscopy was used to

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

• , tweezers 36 bearing pyrene fluorescent groups and using either rhodium(I) or copper(I) complexes as switching units were reported [79]. Cu(I), which avoids the luminescence quenching effect of Rh(I), requires pyridine as an ancillary ligand to complex the metal center and open the tweezers. The

• higher activity and enantioselectivity due to the preorganization of the Cr(III) catalytic centers enabling bimetallic catalysis compared to the more flexible arrangement of the salen in the open form. The tweezers could be opened by breaking the thioether–rhodium bond with a combination of Cl− and CO

• dissymmetric [Rh(P,O)(P,S)] complex. This rearrangement allows access to tweezers with two different arms with two types of weak sites of different reactivities. This HRI reaction was first used to access simple dissymmetric rhodium(I) tweezers such as 38 with different aromatic arms [82], 39 with Zn/Mg

(E,Z)-1,1,1,4,4,4-Hexafluorobut-2-enes: hydrofluoroolefins halogenation/dehydrohalogenation cascade to reach new fluorinated allene

• Nataliia V. Kirij,
• Andrey A. Filatov,
• Yurii L. Yagupolskii,
• Sheng Peng and
• Lee Sprague

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 452–459, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.40

• defluorosilylation product was obtained [11]. In a related study of the hydrosilylation reaction of olefins 1a,b, it was shown that, depending on the catalyst used, platinum or rhodium compounds, along with the products of the addition of silane to the double bond, the elimination of the fluorine atom occurs with

Unveiling the regioselectivity of rhodium(I)-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition reactions for open-cage C₇₀ production

• Cristina Castanyer,
• Anna Pla-Quintana,
• Anna Roglans,
• Albert Artigas and
• Miquel Solà

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 272–279, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.28

• holds significant promise for applications in the fields of medicinal chemistry, materials science, and photovoltaics. In this study, we investigate the regioselectivity of the rhodium(I)-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition reactions between diynes and C70 as a novel procedure for generating C70 bis

• opening. Keywords: cycloadditions; DFT calculations; [70]fullerene; open-cage fullerenes; rhodium; Introduction The discovery of C60 (buckminsterfullerene) in 1985 [1] initiated the search for possible technological applications of fullerenes. Nowadays, applications for these carbon-based molecules have

• study, we have explored the regioselectivity of the rhodium(I)-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction between two different diynes and C70 with the objective of producing C70 bis(fulleroids). Mixtures of α- and β-site isomers were obtained, with the α-adduct being the major product of the reaction

N-Boc-α-diazo glutarimide as efficient reagent for assembling N-heterocycle-glutarimide diads via Rh(II)-catalyzed N–H insertion reaction

• Grigory Kantin,
• Pavel Golubev,
• Alexander Sapegin,
• Alexander Bunev and
• Dmitry Dar’in

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1841–1848, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.136

• . However, this does not show much advantage over Rh2(esp)2 (0.18 mol %), which gave a preparative yield of 18%. It is important to note that despite the higher cost, the rhodium catalyst offers milder reaction conditions. In the case of some electron-rich substrates, in addition to N–H insertion products 6

Enabling artificial photosynthesis systems with molecular recycling: A review of photo- and electrochemical methods for regenerating organic sacrificial electron donors

• Grace A. Lowe

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1198–1215, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.88

• predominantly earth-abundant materials. The recycling of NADH analogues has been carried out using precious metal complexes, such as [CpRh(bpy)(H2O)]2+ [47]. This rhodium complex was adhered to a photoelectrode in a photoelectrochemical cell which also contained a second photoelectrode functionalized with a set

• of enzymes [47]. The enzymes reduce carbon dioxide to methanol and consumed NADH which was then recycled at the photoelectrode functionalized with the rhodium complex. The overall electron donor in this work was water which makes it an excellent example of in-situ recycling. Kuk et al. also noted

Exploring the role of halogen bonding in iodonium ylides: insights into unexpected reactivity and reaction control

• Carlee A. Montgomery and
• Graham K. Murphy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1171–1190, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.86

• their rhodium- and copper-catalyzed reactions (Scheme 2c) [116]. These results were in stark contrast to those observed for the ylide’s diazo counterparts, which did not react without a catalyst, and which gave the opposite diastereoselectivity with copper and rhodium. Inspired by ionic pathways

• -substituted iodoarene-derived iodonium ylides for improved solubility and stability [5][6][141]. ortho-Iodoanisole-derived ylide 39 was subject to a rhodium-catalyzed cyclopropanation reaction with styrene, and the results were compared with Charette’s 2009 work on 31 (Scheme 15) [142]. While both ylides were

Photoredox catalysis harvesting multiple photon or electrochemical energies

• Mattia Lepori,
• Simon Schmid and
• Joshua P. Barham

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1055–1145, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.81

Pyridine C(sp²)–H bond functionalization under transition-metal and rare earth metal catalysis

• Haritha Sindhe,
• Malladi Mounika Reddy,
• Karthikeyan Rajkumar,
• Akshay Kamble,
• Amardeep Singh,
• Anand Kumar and
• Satyasheel Sharma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 820–863, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.62

• % yield. Further, Shi and co-workers reported the rhodium-catalyzed directed C–H olefination of pyridines using different directing groups in 2013 [88] (Scheme 20a) and 2014 [89] (Scheme 20c), respectively. In the former study, under optimized conditions of [RhCp*Cl2]2 (5 mol %), AgSbF6 (20 mol %) in DCE

• , displaying broad substrate scope and high yields (Scheme 20c). Based on literature reports and experimental studies, a possible mechanism (Scheme 20d) was proposed in which coordination of the DG 102 to the rhodium cationic species followed by ortho-metalation and migratory insertion of 103 into the Rh–C

• pyridine directing group 170 with rhodium providing a five-membered rhodacyclic intermediate I which further forms the aryl–rhodium(III) complex II by reaction with 171. Subsequently, this intermediate undergoes reductive elimination from the rhodium(III) center to furnish the desired ortho-C–H-arylated

Enolates ambushed – asymmetric tandem conjugate addition and subsequent enolate trapping with conventional and less traditional electrophiles

• Péter Kisszékelyi and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 593–634, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.44

• synthesis of enantiomerically enriched cyclobutanes 77 [52]. Their strategy employed a three-component process in which tert-butyl (E)-2-diazo-5-arylpent-4-enoates 74 were treated with the chiral rhodium catalyst C1 to provide enantiomerically enriched bicyclobutanes 75. These highly strained compounds then

• Phebox-based rhodium complex (C3) to catalyze the tandem conjugate addition of a terminal alkene followed by reacting the bicyclic dienol silyl ether intermediate with Michael acceptors in a one-pot procedure (Scheme 50) [92]. The bridged cyclic products 196a,b, formed by a double Michael addition

• cyclization (Scheme 51A) [93]. The reaction starts with the coordination of the Rh catalyst to the propargyl alcohol 198. In the presence of a base, the rhodium–alkynyl reagent is generated with the concomitant extrusion of benzophenone. Finally, the alkynylation of the enone is followed by the cyclization