Recent advances in total synthesis of illisimonin A

• Juan Huang and
• Ming Yang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2571–2583, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.199

• into the pentacyclic diene intermediate 93 via a two-step sequence. Subsequent [4 + 2] cycloaddition of 93 with singlet oxygen yielded an unstable endoperoxide adduct 94, which rearranged to diketone 95. A five-step sequence, featuring an intramolecular aldol reaction to assemble the pentacyclic core

• and the installation of the C1 methyl group, then afforded compound 96. However, subjecting 96 to the singlet oxygen cycloaddition again led to rearrangement, producing diketones 98 and 99. The solution was found by employing a nitroso-Diels–Alder reaction with dienophile 87, which provided a stable

Assembly strategy for thieno[3,2-b]thiophenes via a disulfide intermediate derived from 3-nitrothiophene-2,5-dicarboxylate

• Roman A. Irgashev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2489–2497, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.191

• notable DNA intercalation and antiproliferative effects [16][17], while TT–BODIPY derivatives were shown to efficiently generate singlet oxygen and demonstrate light-induced cytotoxicity, highlighting their promise as photodynamic therapeutic agents [18]. Near-infrared TT–DPP-based dyes have also been

Rotaxanes with integrated photoswitches: design principles, functional behavior, and emerging applications

• Jullyane Emi Matsushima,
• Khushbu,
• Zuliah Abdulsalam,
• Udyogi Navodya Kulathilaka Conthagamage and
• Víctor García-López

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2345–2366, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.179

• generate singlet oxygen (¹O2), which can be controlled through dithienylethene photoisomerization. Therefore, the authors investigated these nanoparticles for bioimaging and apoptosis of HeLa cells. When the dithienylethene is in the open form, the nanoparticles have relatively high cytotoxicity due to the

• . Figure 7 was adapted with permission from [16], Copyright 2023 American Chemical Society. This content is not subject to CC BY 4.0. Dithienylethene-based [1]rotaxane shuttling motion triggered by pH changes (top). Dithienylethene photoswitch modulates singlet oxygen generation to kill HeLa cells (bottom

• ). Figure 8 was adapted from [60], T. M. Khang et al., “Dual and Sequential Locked/Unlocked Photochromic Effects on FRET Controlled Singlet Oxygen Processes by Contracted/Extended Forms of Dithienylethene-Based [1]Rotaxane Nanoparticles”, Small, with permission from John Wiley and Sons. Copyright © 2022

Recent advances in Norrish–Yang cyclization and dicarbonyl photoredox reactions for natural product synthesis

• Peng-Xi Luo,
• Jin-Xuan Yang,
• Shao-Min Fu and
• Bo Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2315–2333, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.177

• 56a (Scheme 9) – formed via [4 + 2] cycloaddition of singlet oxygen with the southern furan moiety in gracilisoid F (54) and gracilisoid H (56), respectively – served as branching points in the downstream divergent synthesis. Kornblum–DeLaMare-type rearrangement of 54a and 56a assembled gracilisoids B

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

• Griesbeck reported the tetraphenylporphin-photosensitized oxygenations of furan and derivatives in non-polar aprotic solvents, yielding the corresponding monomeric unsaturated secondary ozonides through a (4 + 2) cycloaddition of singlet oxygen onto the diene linkage of the furan ring. The attack of a

Research progress on calixarene/pillararene-based controlled drug release systems

• Liu-Huan Yi,
• Jian Qin,
• Si-Ran Lu,
• Liu-Pan Yang,
• Li-Li Wang and
• Huan Yao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1757–1785, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.139

• maintain water solubility. This assembly approach not only suppresses the fluorescence self-quenching of AnPy in the aggregated state (enhancing the yield of singlet oxygen) [115], but also boosts its photo-sensitivity – under light irradiation, the anthracene in the complex can be efficiently converted to

Photocatalyzed elaboration of antibody-based bioconjugates

• Marine Le Stum,
• Eugénie Romero and
• Gary A. Molander

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 616–629, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.49

• oxygen [42]. Through energy transfer (EnT) from the ruthenium-based photocatalyst to triplet oxygen, singlet oxygen is produced in a targeted manner, which oxidizes histidine to an endoperoxide, significantly increasing its reactivity toward nucleophiles (Figure 4A). This strategy employs a

• functionalized ruthenium complex and a fragment crystallizable (Fc) ligand anchored to a magnetic bead, enabling the localized generation of singlet oxygen near antibodies (Figure 4B). The short lifetime and limited diffusion of singlet oxygen ensure exclusive reactions with proximal histidine residues. This

• intermediates can lead to protein denaturation or aggregation [61]. Because photoredox reactions often generate highly reactive species (such as radicals or singlet oxygen), long exposure times could cause unwanted side reactions, including the degradation of 3D structure of the protein or antibody. A short

Photomechanochemistry: harnessing mechanical forces to enhance photochemical reactions

• Francesco Mele,
• Ana M. Constantin,
• Andrea Porcheddu,
• Raimondo Maggi,
• Giovanni Maestri,
• Nicola Della Ca’ and
• Luca Capaldo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 458–472, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.33

• ). Overall, it was concluded that 7.1 and 7.2 first react to give 7.4 via a dark mechanochemical thiol–yne reaction; the latter is then converted to 7.3 by singlet oxygen generated in situ, by eosin Y. It is important to notice here that the reaction is proposed to proceed according to a different

Red light excitation: illuminating photocatalysis in a new spectrum

• Lucas Fortier,
• Corentin Lefebvre and
• Norbert Hoffmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 296–326, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.22

• suppress side reactions. The cross-dehydrogenative coupling reactions, under near-infrared irradiation, was found to proceed via an energy-transfer mechanism involving singlet oxygen generation rather than the typical electron-transfer pathway observed in the presented visible-light-mediated reactions in

• this review hitherto. This singlet oxygen is generated by the energy transfer from the excited state of the phthalocyanin zinc complexes to molecular oxygen, allowing the oxidation of the N-phenyltetrahydroisoquinoline 21 into a reactive iminium intermediate that subsequently couples with nucleophiles

• light (λ = 750 nm), followed by triplet energy transfer to molecular oxygen, generating singlet oxygen as the active species. Similarly as in the case of the Furuyama et al. study, the singlet oxygen subsequently oxidizes the amine substrate to an iminium ion, which reacts with a cyanide nucleophile to

Advances in the use of metal-free tetrapyrrolic macrocycles as catalysts

• Mandeep K. Chahal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3085–3112, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.257

• photochemistry, porphyrins are mainly used for the generation of singlet oxygen (1O2) or other reactive oxygen species. Porphyrins in the triplet excited state can relax to the ground state by transferring energy to molecular oxygen (triplet state) forming 1O2 (Figure 13b) [67]. Photosensitized singlet oxygen

• frameworks (COF), have been extensively studied as photosensitizers of singlet oxygen and photoredox catalysts [87][88][89][90]. However, using metal-free porphyrins as photoredox catalysts for C–C or C–heteroatom bond formation is an area which has recently started to be explored. In 2016, Gryko and co

Interaction of a pyrene derivative with cationic [60]fullerene in phospholipid membranes and its effects on photodynamic actions

• Hayato Takagi,
• Çetin Çelik,
• Ryosuke Fukuda,
• Qi Guo,
• Tomohiro Higashino,
• Hiroshi Imahori,
• Yoko Yamakoshi and
• Tatsuya Murakami

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2732–2738, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.231

• generation of ROS by catC60 in the absence or presence of PyBA. As spin trapping reagents for the singlet oxygen (1O2), hydroxyl radical (•OH) and superoxide radical anion (O2•–); 2,2,6,6,-tetramethyl-4-piperidone (4-oxo-TEMP), 3,4-dihydro-2,3-dimethyl-2H-pyrrole 1-oxide (DMPO), and 5-(diethoxyphosphoryl)-5

Kinetically stabilized 1,3-diarylisobenzofurans and the possibility of preparing large, persistent isoacenofurans with unusually small HOMO–LUMO gaps

• Qian Liu and
• Glen P. Miller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1099–1110, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.97

• ]. Large acenes are prone to photooxidation, especially when dissolved in solution while exposed to ambient light and air. They sensitize singlet oxygen formation, and the same is expected from large isoacenofurans. Indeed, the endoperoxides observed by Hamura and co-workers [3] confirm this expectation

• . We previously studied substituent effects in acenes and reported that several substituents promote photooxidative resistance in pentacenes [5] and larger acenes including heptacene [6] and nonacene [7]. One or more substituents that promote photooxidative resistance by quenching singlet oxygen could

• be utilized on isoacenofurans, too. Additionally, the 1,3-carbons of the furan ring in isoacenofurans are highly reactive towards dienophiles, including singlet oxygen. Thus, we believe that the design of large, persistent isoaceneofurans should include multiple substituents that provide

Synthesis and characterization of water-soluble C₆₀–peptide conjugates

• Yue Ma,
• Lorenzo Persi and
• Yoko Yamakoshi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 777–786, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.71

• the HRESIMS results (Figure S2, Supporting Information File 1), it was confirmed that the highly water-soluble compound 5a was successfully synthesized. 1O2 generation under visible light irradiation To preliminarily evaluate the synthesized C60–oligo-Lys (5a) as a PS, generation of singlet oxygen was

Synthesis of new representatives of A₃B-type carboranylporphyrins based on meso-tetra(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin transformations

• Victoria M. Alpatova,
• Evgeny G. Rys,
• Elena G. Kononova and
• Valentina A. Ol'shevskaya

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 767–776, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.70

• [8]. Further improvement of the PDT method requires the search for new photosensitizers having higher photoactivity, tumor selectivity, and high singlet oxygen quantum yield, as well as low in vivo toxicity [7]. Therefore, some strategies have been developed to enhance the therapeutic efficiency of

Photochromic derivatives of indigo: historical overview of development, challenges and applications

• Gökhan Kaplan,
• Zeynel Seferoğlu and
• Daria V. Berdnikova

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 228–242, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.23

• lifetimes, radiative and non-radiative relaxation pathways of the indigo chromophore [26][27][30][31][32][33][34][35] as well as to estimate ionization potentials and electronic structures [28][29], singlet oxygen generation capacity [31], QSAR properties [25], and others. In both solution and solid state

Photoinduced in situ generation of DNA-targeting ligands: DNA-binding and DNA-photodamaging properties of benzo[c]quinolizinium ions

• Julika Schlosser,
• Olga Fedorova,
• Yuri Fedorov and
• Heiko Ihmels

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 101–117, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.11

• , even under anaerobic conditions. Investigations of the mechanism of the DNA damage revealed the involvement of intermediate hydroxyl radicals and C-centered radicals. Under aerobic conditions, singlet oxygen only contributes to marginal extent to the DNA damage. Keywords: DNA intercalators

• species (ROS), such peroxyl, alkoxy and hydroxyl radicals, or carbon-centered radicals, which subsequently induce DNA strand cleavage. In the type-II mechanism, a triplet-excited photosensitizer reacts with molecular oxygen to give highly reactive singlet oxygen, 1O2, as reactive intermediate, which in

• damage. In order to investigate the involvement of singlet oxygen in the DNA cleavage process, the samples were irradiated in the presence of NaN3 or in D2O (Table 3, Supporting Information File 1, Figure S18). The latter is known to extend the lifetime of singlet oxygen by a factor of ca. 10 as compared

Multi-redox indenofluorene chromophores incorporating dithiafulvene donor and ene/enediyne acceptor units

• Christina Schøttler,
• Kasper Lund-Rasmussen,
• Line Broløs,
• Philip Vinterberg,
• Ema Bazikova,
• Viktor B. R. Pedersen and
• Mogens Brøndsted Nielsen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 59–73, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.8

• Supporting Information File 1). We speculate that this degradation is due to the reaction with singlet oxygen generated by the compound as a photosensitizer; indeed, we have recently shown [31] that IF-TTF compounds are reactive towards singlet oxygen at the central fulvene bond but, in contrast, IF-TTFs

• (without an acetylenic moiety as in 20) are themselves poor photosensitizers for singlet oxygen. Electrochemistry Cyclic voltammograms of compounds 11, 13, 15, 16, and 17 (in MeCN for compounds 11 and 15 and in CH2Cl2 for compounds 13, 16, and 17, all with 0.1 M Bu4NPF6 as supporting electrolyte) are shown

Selective and scalable oxygenation of heteroatoms using the elements of nature: air, water, and light

• Damiano Diprima,
• Hannes Gemoets,
• Stefano Bonciolini and
• Koen Van Aken

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1146–1154, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.82

• irradiation at 310 nm [27]. They concluded that both a single-electron transfer and a singlet oxygen path can occur depending on the nature of the compound. Intriguingly, the current method applies 365 nm irradiation at which thioanisole does not absorb (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S1). Also, the

The effect of dark states on the intersystem crossing and thermally activated delayed fluorescence of naphthalimide-phenothiazine dyads

• Liyuan Cao,
• Xi Liu,
• Xue Zhang,
• Jianzhang Zhao,
• Fabiao Yu and
• Yan Wan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1028–1046, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.79

• possible relaxation pathway, because the orthogonal geometry of the dyads is beneficial for SOCT-ISC. Previously we have shown that SOCT-ISC occurs for the analogue of NI-PTZ-C5 [39]. In order to study the ISC efficiency of the dyads, we measured the singlet oxygen quantum yield (ΦΔ) of the dyads in

Synthesis, structure, and properties of switchable cross-conjugated 1,4-diaryl-1,3-butadiynes based on 1,8-bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene

• Semyon V. Tsybulin,
• Ekaterina A. Filatova,
• Alexander F. Pozharskii,
• Valery A. Ozeryanskii and
• Anna V. Gulevskaya

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 674–686, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.49

• singlet oxygen production have been identified in porphyrin-based butadiynes [7][8][9], 1,3-butadiyne-linked oligoporphycenes [10], and 1,3-butadiyne-linked amines [13]. A wide variety of applications was proposed for graphdiynes (2D allotropes of graphene), including electrocatalysts and energy devices

CuAAC-inspired synthesis of 1,2,3-triazole-bridged porphyrin conjugates: an overview

• Dileep Kumar Singh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 349–379, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.29

• albumin and LDL. Furthermore, the Zn and Pd porphyrin complexes revealed a good capability to yield singlet oxygen (quantum yield >70%) and exhibited significant photoinduced cytotoxicity. In another report, Prakash Rao et al. [65] highlighted the click protocol to accomplish the synthesis of hydrogenated

Combining the best of both worlds: radical-based divergent total synthesis

• Kyriaki Gennaiou,
• Antonios Kelesidis,
• Maria Kourgiantaki and
• Alexandros L. Zografos

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1–26, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.1

• substantial decrease of the product yield. FGI, followed by methylenation provided the common scaffold 88. Further elaboration of 88 to natural products 90 and 89 was accomplished by UV irradiation at 365 nm in MeOH and by utilizing singlet oxygen (using rose Bengal) in MeCN/pyridine, 40:1, respectively

Total synthesis of grayanane natural products

• Nicolas Fay,
• Rémi Blieck,
• Cyrille Kouklovsky and
• Aurélien de la Torre

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1707–1719, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.181

• oxygen ene reaction involving the electron-rich olefin allowed the formation of an aldehyde, which was directly cleaved by an iridium-catalyzed deformylation, affording 52 in one-pot [36]. Deprotonation with KHMDS allowed the formation of an electron-rich diene which could again react with singlet oxygen

• secondary alcohol was oxidized by DMP, the tertiary alcohol was triflated, 4-phenylpyridine was added and the mixture was heated at 80 °C for 14 h. The intermediate carbocation was trapped by the terminal olefin, generating a dienone 51 after deprotonation at the relatively acidic position C2. A singlet

Naphthalimide-phenothiazine dyads: effect of conformational flexibility and matching of the energy of the charge-transfer state and the localized triplet excited state on the thermally activated delayed fluorescence

• Kaiyue Ye,
• Liyuan Cao,
• Davita M. E. van Raamsdonk,
• Zhijia Wang,
• Jianzhang Zhao,
• Daniel Escudero and
• Denis Jacquemin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1435–1453, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.149

• can be controlled. The singlet oxygen quantum yield (ΦΔ) of NI-PTZ is moderate in n-hexane (HEX, ΦΔ = 19%). TADF was observed for the dyads, the biexponential luminescence lifetime are 16.0 ns (99.9%)/14.4 μs (0.1%) for the dyad and 7.2 ns (99.6%)/2.0 μs (0.4%) for the triad. Triplet state was

• lower than those of the amino-NI derivatives (60% to ≈70%) [20]. In order to have a preliminary evaluation of the ISC of the compounds, the singlet oxygen quantum yields (ΦΔ) were studied in several solvents (Table 1 and Table 2). For NI-PTZ, ΦΔ is high in HEX (19%), which is similar to the value

• , indicated by the biexponential fluorescence decay, for instance 16.0 ns (99.9%)/14.4 μs (0.1%). Singlet oxygen photosensitizing experiments showed that the ΦΔ of NI-PTZ is moderate in HEX (ΦΔ = 19%), but that upon oxidation of the PTZ unit in the dyad much larger values were observed for the resulted dyad

Polymer and small molecule mechanochemistry: closer than ever

• José G. Hernández

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1225–1235, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.128

• -workers found that ball milling of the cross-linked polyacrylate polymer 1 could trigger the release of singlet oxygen from the anthracene–endoperoxide mechanophores (Scheme 1a) [27]. To support the claim that the generation of 1O2 occurred mechanically rather than thermally due to local heat formation by