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

Green and sustainable approaches for the Friedel–Crafts reaction between aldehydes and indoles

• Periklis X. Kolagkis,
• Eirini M. Galathri and
• Christoforos G. Kokotos

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 379–426, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.36

Mechanisms for radical reactions initiating from N-hydroxyphthalimide esters

• Carlos R. Azpilcueta-Nicolas and
• Jean-Philip Lumb

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 346–378, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.35

• oxyalkylation product 28. Li and co-workers described the activation of NHPI esters towards SET using a Lewis acid catalyst, allowing for the functionalization of styrene radical acceptors with nucleophiles that do not necessarily engage in hydrogen-bonding interactions, such as electron-rich (hetero)arenes [47

Chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of 3,3-difluoro-3H-indoles

• Yumei Wang,
• Guangzhu Wang,
• Yanping Zhu and
• Kaiwu Dong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 205–211, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.20

• chiral phosphoric acid as a Brønsted acid catalyst and Hantzsch ester as the hydrogen source, a series of 3,3-difluoro-substituted 3H-indoles underwent asymmetric transfer hydrogenation under mild reaction conditions, giving the target products with excellent yields and optical purity. Experimental

N-Sulfenylsuccinimide/phthalimide: an alternative sulfenylating reagent in organic transformations

• Fatemeh Doraghi,
• Seyedeh Pegah Aledavoud,
• Mehdi Ghanbarlou,
• Bagher Larijani and
• Mohammad Mahdavi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1471–1502, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.106

• efficient Lewis acid catalyst (Scheme 10) [50]. In the procedure, oxidative cleavage of one S–N bond and 1,2-sulfur migration afforded π-conjugated 6-substituted 2,3-diarylbenzo[b]thiophenes 16. A plausible mechanism is shown in Scheme 11. The coordination of AlCl3 with the phthalimide/succinimide unit of 1

• -thiolated pyrroles 61 and pyrrolines 62 from propargylic tosylamides 60 and N-thiosuccinimides 1 was described by Gao′s group (Scheme 25) [61]. When AlCl3 as the Lewis acid catalyst and nitromethane as the solvent were used, a series of 3-thiolated pyrrole products 61 were detected, and 3-thiolated

• tetrahydropyrans 88 (Scheme 36) [70]. In this protocol, by controlling acid catalyst (camphorsulfonic acid (CSA) or trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TfOH)), two different products were achieved and tetrahydrofurans 87 could be converted to tetrahydropyrans 88 by stereoselective rearrangement. In the same year, Zhu

Non-noble metal-catalyzed cross-dehydrogenation coupling (CDC) involving ether α-C(sp³)–H to construct C–C bonds

• Hui Yu and
• Feng Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1259–1288, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.94

• of ethers to obtain symmetric and asymmetric 1,1-bis-indolylmethane derivatives (Scheme 23) [84]. The reaction proceeds through the tandem oxidative coupling of the C–O bond and cleavage of the C–H bond. Fe plays a dual role in catalysing the C–C bond coupling and C–O bond cleavage as Lewis acid

• catalyst. The authors demonstrated that the introduction of the two indoles occurs in two distinct steps, a radical process and a Friedel–Crafts alkylation reaction. Coumarin and flavonoid derivatives are very valuable precursors in drug synthesis. In 2015, Ge et al. developed the regioselective and atom

Acetaldehyde in the Enders triple cascade reaction via acetaldehyde dimethyl acetal

• Alessandro Brusa,
• Debora Iapadre,
• Maria Edith Casacchia,
• Alessio Carioscia,
• Giuliana Giorgianni,
• Giandomenico Magagnano,
• Fabio Pesciaioli and
• Armando Carlone

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1243–1250, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.92

• acetaldehyde, which is hydrolyzed in situ using Amberlyst-15 as an acid catalyst, instead of directly using acetaldehyde allows for higher yields and fewer byproducts. Using mild reaction conditions, it was possible to obtain a variety of functionalized cyclohexene carbaldehydes in good yields and very high

Aromatic C–H bond functionalization through organocatalyzed asymmetric intermolecular aza-Friedel–Crafts reaction: a recent update

• Anup Biswas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 956–981, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.72

• system. Like the classical Friedel–Crafts reaction, the aza-Friedel–Crafts reaction also requires the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst for rate acceleration. The reaction can be very easily modulated by different Lewis acidic metallic compounds which effectively form a coordinate bond by accepting the

• . Stereoselectivity in the products 10/11 was achieved by using the chiral spirocyclic phosphoric acid catalyst P3 which, through H-bonding interactions with the nucleophile and the electrophile, forces the nucleophile to approach the C=N plane from the Re face. In general, enantiocontrol with pyrroles was better

• pyrroles/indoles 4/9 allowing access to 2,3-dihydroisoxazoles 77/78 bearing an all-substituted stereocenter at the C3 position. A dual catalytic activity of the Brønsted acid catalyst was illustrated by the authors which was initiated with a smooth protonation of the OH group in 76 with a subsequnte

Clauson–Kaas pyrrole synthesis using diverse catalysts: a transition from conventional to greener approach

• Dileep Kumar Singh and
• Rajesh Kumar

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 928–955, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.71

• Clauson–Kaas reaction in a successive cyclization/annulation process from commercially available sulfonamides 14 in the presence of trifluomethanesulfonic acid (TfOH) as Brønsted-acid catalyst. This procedure produces only N-substituted products and preserves other positions open for further

• various substituted anilines, primary arylamides, and sufonylamides 20 and 2,5-DMTHF (2) in the presence of 10 mol % MgI2 etherate in MeCN at 80 °C (Scheme 9a). MgI2 etherate is a main-group Lewis acid catalyst that selectively activates electron-rich aromatic amines. This is a mild, efficient, and highly

• of N-substituted pyrroles using iron(III) chloride as a Lewis acid catalyst. These nitrogen-substituted pyrroles 33 were obtained in 74–98% yields by the reaction between various alkyl-, aryl-, sulfonyl- and aroylamines 32 with 2,5-DMTHF (2) in the presence of 2 mol % FeCl3∙7H2O as catalyst under H2O

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

• nickel Lewis acid catalyst with amino pendant linked NHC complex (Scheme 21). In addition, the authors were able to isolate the bimetallic intermediate structure η2,η1-pyridine–Ni(0)–Al(III) complex 112, as a support for their mechanism for the para-C–H functionalization. They further investigated the

1,4-Dithianes: attractive C2-building blocks for the synthesis of complex molecular architectures

• Bram Ryckaert,
• Ellen Demeyere,
• Frederick Degroote,
• Hilde Janssens and
• Johan M. Winne

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 115–132, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.12

• analog 26 should also be a reactive dienophile [51], but is a less useful building block, as it reacts twice and the adducts will not be as easily desulfonylated. The dienophile 7 reacts with a wide range of dienes at room temperature, without the need for a Lewis acid catalyst. This is particularly

• give difficulties (Scheme 11a) [42]. The reactivity of the oxy-electrophiles can be enhanced by adding a Lewis acid catalyst such as titanium(IV) isopropoxide [59]. In this way, also epoxides can be smoothly reacted with lithiated dithiins, and both allyl and homoallyl alcohols can thus be prepared in

• alcohol 66 can be lithitated and reacted with a range of electrophiles, even without the need for a Lewis acid catalyst, and good levels of stereoinduction can be achieved. The method was used for the synthesis of a range of hexose sugars, as well as iminosugars (viz 66 → 67 → 68), wherein the piperidine

Catalytic aza-Nazarov cyclization reactions to access α-methylene-γ-lactam heterocycles

• Bilge Banu Yagci,
• Selin Ezgi Donmez,
• Onur Şahin and
• Yunus Emre Türkmen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 66–77, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.6

• using acyl chloride 6b with an isobutyl side chain is its low volatility in contrast to the highly volatile compound 6a. The aza-Nazarov product 7b was isolated in 61% yield with 20 mol % of AgOTf at 80 °C (Table 1, entry 5). The use of TMSOTf as a Si-based Lewis acid catalyst with 20 mol % loading

Redox-active molecules as organocatalysts for selective oxidative transformations – an unperceived organocatalysis field

• Elena R. Lopat’eva,
• Igor B. Krylov,
• Dmitry A. Lapshin and
• Alexander O. Terent’ev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1672–1695, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.179

• ethanol). Brønsted acid catalysis by TsOH was also employed in a selective sulfoxidation employing PhI(OAc)2 as oxidant [69]. In this case another mode of catalysis was proposed, including the covalent bonding of the acid catalyst anion and the oxidant with the formation of PhI(OTs)OH as the catalytically

Supramolecular approaches to mediate chemical reactivity

• Pablo Ballester,
• Qi-Qiang Wang and
• Carmine Gaeta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1463–1465, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.152

• capsule can catalyze the cyclization of (S)-citronellal forming isopulegol. In this study it was exploited the ability of the resorcinarene capsule to work as a Brønsted acid catalyst, and its aptitude to stabilize cationic intermediates and transition states inside the cavity. Velmurugan, Hu and co

Dienophilic reactivity of 2-phosphaindolizines: a conceptual DFT investigation

• Nosheen Beig,
• Aarti Peswani and
• Raj Kumar Bansal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1217–1224, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.127

• acid catalyst, namely ethylaluminum dichloride [13]. Furthermore, when carrying out the reaction of compounds 1 (R1 = Me, R2 = COOMe, COOEt, COOCMe3) with DMB in the presence of the catalyst O-menthoxyaluminium dichloride, generated in situ, complete diastereoselectivity was observed. The DA reactions

Electrochemical Friedel–Crafts-type amidomethylation of arenes by a novel electrochemical oxidation system using a quasi-divided cell and trialkylammonium tetrafluoroborate

• Hisanori Senboku,
• Mizuki Hayama and
• Hidetoshi Matsuno

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1040–1046, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.105

• : electrochemical oxidation of amides/carbamates yielding α-methoxylated amides/carbamates (Shono oxidation, path c in Scheme 1) followed by the reaction of the isolated α-methoxylated amides/carbamates with arenes in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst (path e in Scheme 1) [16]. Although the use of CH2Cl2 as a

Automated grindstone chemistry: a simple and facile way for PEG-assisted stoichiometry-controlled halogenation of phenols and anilines using N-halosuccinimides

• Dharmendra Das,
• Akhil A. Bhosle,
• Amrita Chatterjee and
• Mainak Banerjee

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 999–1008, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.100

• requires the use of a solid acid catalyst [52], apart from the use of high-cost, high-end milling equipment which limits to laboratory scale only. Therefore, developing an operationally simple, environmentally benign protocol, potentially useful for the batch-scale synthesis of aryl halides is highly

• of the solid acid catalyst and the cost of high-end milling instruments are additional considerations for that method [52]. Conclusion In conclusion, we have developed a facile and sustainable mechanochemical route for the catalyst-free halogenation of phenol and aniline derivatives using N

Synthesis of odorants in flow and their applications in perfumery

• Merlin Kleoff,
• Paul Kiler and
• Philipp Heretsch

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 754–768, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.76

• SAC-13, alkylation of m-cresol with isopropanol proceeds via a Friedel–Crafts-type mechanism in much lower selectivity. In contrast, the authors proposed that employing γ-Al2O3 as Lewis acid catalyst, reaction of 39 and isopropanol leads to isopropyl ether 40. This intermediate undergoes a Fries-type

New advances in asymmetric organocatalysis

• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 240–242, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.28

• type of Brønsted acid catalyst that expanded the range of available acidities as well as molecular arrangements in acid-catalyzed reactions. Veselý and co-workers demonstrated that these catalysts are effective in the enantioselective aminalization of aldehydes with anthranilamides [24]. To explore new

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

• asymmetric bromination reaction afforded monobrominated biaryls with excellent enantioselectivities up to 99% ee (Scheme 4). The experimental and computational studies showed that the highly organized hydrogen-bonding network between a substrate, a chiral phosphoric acid catalyst (CPA 3), and a brominating

• the reaction of 2-substituted indoles with azobenzenes proceeded smoothly in the presence of the chiral phosphoric acid catalyst (R)-CPA 9. At a catalyst loading of 0.2 mol %, the intermediate I-5 was simultaneously cyclized to I-6, followed by β-H elimination and chirality transfer to afford another

• reactants, resulting in enantioenriched 3,3'-bisindole derivatives with multiple chirality. In the presence of the chiral phosphoric acid catalyst CPA 9, various groups of 2-substituted 3,3'-bisindoles and isatin-derived imines were tolerated and gave good to high yields (up to 80%) and moderate to

α-Ketol and α-iminol rearrangements in synthetic organic and biosynthetic reactions

• Scott Benz and
• Andrew S. Murkin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2570–2584, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.172

• silyl ethers. Ooi et al. utilized an axially chiral organoaluminum Lewis acid catalyst (18) to convert a series of α,α-dialkyl-α-siloxyaldehydes 16 to α-siloxyketones 17 in high yields and >74% ee (Figure 5) [7]. This reaction is noteworthy for its tolerance of silyl protecting groups, which are

Transition-metal-free intramolecular Friedel–Crafts reaction by alkene activation: A method for the synthesis of some novel xanthene derivatives

• Tülay Yıldız,
• İrem Baştaş and
• Hatice Başpınar Küçük

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2203–2208, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.142

• as AlCl3, H2SO4, or H3PO4, which have generally corrosive properties, were used, in this study, an intramolecular ring closure reaction was carried out under easy operating conditions with an organic Brønsted acid catalyst with high yields. So, the xanthene synthesis with alkene activation was

• synthesis is based on the o-quinone methide intermediate [54][55][56][57][58]. The carbocation formed by the activation of an alkene with acid turns into an intermediate o-quinone methide, resulting in a successful cyclization. As seen in the mechanism, the acid catalyst adds to the vinyl group, allowing

Recent advances in the syntheses of anthracene derivatives

• Giovanni S. Baviera and
• Paulo M. Donate

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2028–2050, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.131

• -diarylanthracene 43, so the authors concluded that triarylmethane is an intermediate in the reaction with excess benzaldehyde [43]. In 2009, Olah’s group applied BF3 monohydrate as acid catalyst in arene hydroxyalkylation with aromatic aldehydes, to provide triarylmethane, diarylmethylbenzaldehyde, and anthracene

Progress and challenges in the synthesis of sequence controlled polysaccharides

• Giulio Fittolani,
• Theodore Tyrikos-Ergas,
• Denisa Vargová,
• Manishkumar A. Chaube and
• Martina Delbianco

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1981–2025, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.129

• yields (2–5%). This approach circumvented the precipitation of the water-insoluble oligomers and allowed for chain elongation [72][73]. This methodology was improved employing a protic co-catalyst system to yield DP > 120 in a 26% conversion [74]. Generally, an acid catalyst would promote the hydrolysis

Asymmetric organocatalyzed synthesis of coumarin derivatives

• Natália M. Moreira,
• Lorena S. R. Martelli and
• Arlene G. Corrêa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1952–1980, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.128

• %) and enantioselectivities (up to 95% ee) (Scheme 31). As a highlight, optically pure (S)-warfarin (3a) was obtained in 99% ee after simple and single recrystallization. Wang’s group developed a bifunctional thiourea and abietic acid catalyst for enantioselective synthesis. In this context, they applied