Recent advances in the stereoselective synthesis of distal biaxially chiral molecules

• Fanxing Zhou,
• Chen Zhang,
• Lingyu Sun,
• Yiyun Fang,
• Siming Zheng,
• Lina Hu,
• Mengyang Shen,
• Zhen Zhao,
• Wei Xu,
• Yunqiang Sun and
• Zi-Qiang Rong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 461–479, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.34

• axes, it constitutes a bi- or multiaxial chiral system, significantly increasing structural complexity and stereochemical diversity, which endows the molecules with unique functionalities and excellent performance in catalysis, pharmaceuticals [33], and materials science [34]. In 1989, Hayashi

Concept-driven strategies in target-oriented synthesis

• David Yu-Kai Chen,
• Chao Li and
• Yefeng Tang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 451–454, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.32

• their precursors. Moreover, the architectural diversity across a broad spectrum of target molecules both necessitates and inspires the development of strategically distinct approaches tailored to various structural classes, and as a genuine testament to the creativity and vitality of the field. On the

• of discussion, it may be worth comparing synthetic designs based on a “customized” approach with a “generalized” approach (Figure 2). Although a customized approach restricts structural diversity, it has a proven track record and often enables more efficient access to the target molecule. In contrast

Dialkylaminoalkylation of β-ketosulfones via ring-opening of 3-sulfonylpyrrolidines

• Evgeny M. Buev,
• Alexander V. Pavlushin,
• Vladimir S. Moshkin and
• Vyacheslav Y. Sosnovskikh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 383–389, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.26

• field is offering diverse methodologies that enable the introduction of either protected nitrogen atoms or aliphatic amine groups. Such diversity has greatly expanded the synthetic arsenal available for constructing aminomethylated compounds. In contrast, methods allowing an aminoethylation process is

Ring contraction and ring expansion reactions in terpenoid biosynthesis and their application to total synthesis

• Nicolas Kratena,
• Nicolas Heinzig and
• Peter Gärtner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 289–343, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.21

• Nicolas Kratena Nicolas Heinzig Peter Gartner Institute of Applied Synthetic Chemistry, TU Wien, Getreidemarkt 9, A-1060, Vienna, Austria 10.3762/bjoc.22.21 Abstract Terpenoids exhibit remarkable structural diversity, including highly complex ring-expanded or contracted carbocyclic skeletons

• editing; terpenoids; total synthesis; Introduction The vast richness of structural diversity in terpenoid natural products has fascinated organic chemists for more than a century now [1][2][3][4][5]. With more sophisticated techniques for isolation and characterisation emerging over the decades

• . Alkyl and hydride shifts, stepwise or dyotropic rearrangements have been described to occur during terpene cyclisation, including multiple ring-size modifications. The CYP450s play a central role for the oxidative functionalisation of terpenes, enabling the rich diversity of secondary metabolites [40

Arene activation via π-bond localization: concepts and opportunities

• Paul Meiners,
• Julian J. Melder and
• Tobias Morack

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 257–273, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.19

• potential of this activation mode in catalysis. Conclusion and Future Directions Arenes remain privileged scaffolds in synthesis, recognized for their abundance and structural diversity. The deliberate perturbation of aromaticity through π-bond localization has emerged as a powerful strategy for molecular

A mild and atom-efficient four-component cascade strategy for the construction of biologically relevant 4-hydroxyquinolin-2(1H)-one derivatives

• Dmitrii A. Grishin,
• Kseniia I. Sharkovskaia,
• Ilya G. Kolmakov,
• Daria A. Ipatova,
• Rostislav A. Petrov,
• Nikolai D. Dagaev,
• Dmitry A. Skvortsov,
• Maria G. Khrenova,
• Valeriy V. Andreychev,
• Sergei A. Evteev,
• Yan A. Ivanenkov,
• Roman L. Antipin,
• Olga А. Dontsova and
• Elena K. Beloglazkina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 244–256, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.18

• against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa [34]. The diversity of pharmacological activities renders 4-hydroxyquinoline-2(1H)-one derivatives highly valuable targets in medicinal chemistry, driving continued interest in their synthesis and exploration [23]. However, the

Screwing the helical chirality through terminal peri-functionalization

• Devesh Chandra,
• Sachin and
• Upendra Sharma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 205–212, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.14

• a functional group installed in the terminal core of helicened with high level of stereocontrol, rather than merely increasing the number of fused rings in a helical system. The direct introduction of suitable functional groups at strategic positions can expand the structure diversity and enhance

Total synthesis of natural products based on hydrogenation of aromatic rings

• Haoxiang Wu and
• Xiangbing Qi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 88–122, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.4

• regioselectivity, degree of saturation, and stereochemical induction – features that are increasingly leveraged in total synthesis to access complex, three-dimensional natural products [68][69][70]. Total synthesis based on hydrogenation of aromatic rings Beyond catalyst and substrate diversity, arene

Sustainable electrochemical synthesis of aliphatic nitro-NNO-azoxy compounds employing ammonium dinitramide and their in vitro evaluation as potential nitric oxide donors and fungicides

• Alexander S. Budnikov,
• Nikita E. Leonov,
• Michael S. Klenov,
• Andrey A. Kulikov,
• Igor B. Krylov,
• Timofey A. Kudryashev,
• Aleksandr M. Churakov,
• Alexander O. Terent’ev and
• Vladimir A. Tartakovsky

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2739–2754, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.211

• applications in organic synthesis as precursors for free radicals in selective transformations [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] and polymerization initiators [12], energetic materials [13][14][15], NO donors [16][17], and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) [18]. Despite the wide diversity of their applications

Recent advancements in the synthesis of Veratrum alkaloids

• Morwenna Mögel,
• David Berger and
• Philipp Heretsch

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2657–2693, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.206

• cevanine-type alkaloids has been reported [13][38][39][40][41][42]. The common hexacyclic framework is often highly oxidized and the hydroxy groups are further functionalized as esters of various carboxylic acids. Apart from the hydroxylation pattern, structural diversity is also imparted through a cis- or

Thiazolidinones: novel insights from microwave synthesis, computational studies, and potentially bioactive hybrids

• Luan A. Martinho,
• Victor H. J. G. Praciano,
• Guilherme D. R. Matos,
• Claudia C. Gatto and
• Carlos Kleber Z. Andrade

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2618–2636, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.203

• to excellent yields (66–99%) and may present several advantages, notably their potential to enhance bioactivity, expand structural diversity, and contribute to fluorescence properties. Comprehensive studies to fully evaluate these characteristics are in progress. Spectroscopic study of compounds 3n

Efficient solid-phase synthesis and structural characterization of segetalins A–H, J and K

• Liangyu Liu,
• Wanqiu Lu,
• Quanping Guo and
• Zhaoqing Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2612–2617, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.202

• (Caryophyllaceae), are head-to-tail cyclic oligopeptides comprising 5–9 amino acid residues [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. These natural products exhibit a significant diversity of pharmacological activities [14][15][16], including estrogen-like activity (1, 2, 7, 8), antitumor effects (5), and antimicrobial

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

• – particularly the critical reactions responsible for skeletal diversity – Yang and co-workers first introduced a comprehensive and detailed biosynthetic pathway for Illicium sesquiterpenes, with the route to illisimonin A depicted in Scheme 5. The transformations from farnesyl diphosphate to the allo-cedryl

• seco-prezizaane-type Illicium sesquiterpenes have attracted significant interest from synthetic chemists, resulting in numerous elegant total syntheses of molecules within this family. The recent identification of illisimonin A has further expanded the structural diversity of Illicium sesquiterpenes

Total syntheses of highly oxidative Ryania diterpenoids facilitated by innovations in synthetic strategies

• Zhi-Qi Cao,
• Jin-Bao Qiao and
• Yu-Ming Zhao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2553–2570, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.198

• first total synthesis of garajonone (8) in 20 steps. The structural diversity of ryanodine-type diterpenoid natural products arises primarily from variations in oxidation patterns and stereochemical configurations, particularly at the C3, C8, and C10 positions. These subtle structural differences

Pentacyclic aromatic heterocycles from Pd-catalyzed annulation of 1,5-diaryl-1,2,3-triazoles

• Kaylen D. Lathrum,
• Emily M. Hanneken,
• Katelyn R. Grzelak and
• James T. Fletcher

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2524–2534, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.194

• compounds. The utility of click chemistry [11][12] for achieving chemoselective conjugation in a diversity of chemical environments has established the 1,2,3-triazole ring as a ubiquitous heterocycle in many research areas such as therapeutics [13][14][15][16], chemosensors [17][18][19], bioconjugation [20

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

• cyclization to furnish the TT framework [2][23][24]. Despite the wide structural diversity of TT derivatives, 3-hydroxy-substituted analogues remain rare, with only a few synthetic strategies described for their preparation, as illustrated in Scheme 1. One such route involves sulfur insertion into a thiophen

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

• explained to some extent by their structural diversity. Figure 1 shows the general formula of iridoids. The authors [16] have established regiocontrol of the effect of the 1,6-anhydro bridge on the Dieckmann condensation of dicarboxylic acid diester 16, obtained in four steps from 13, the Diels–Alder adduct

• acid (DMOA), are a large series of hybrid natural products with a huge structural diversity and impressive biological activity [50]. Attempts by the authors to use acidic (TiCl4, TMSI, SnCl4), basic (NaOMe, t-BuONa, Et3N, DBU, DMAP) and thermal conditions (PhMe, 110 °C) failed to give the desired

Conformational effects on iodide binding: a comparative study of flexible and rigid carbazole macrocyclic analogs

• Guang-Wei Zhang,
• Yong Zhang,
• Le Shi,
• Chuang Gao,
• Hong-Yu Li and
• Lei Xue

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2369–2375, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.181

• conformations of WDG constitute a subset of PBG's conformations. Consequently, PBG exhibits greater conformational diversity and enhanced flexibility compared to WDG, which explained its higher binding capacity. The conformational dynamics of flexible PBGs allow them to adapt to I− through the induced-fit

Adaptive experimentation and optimization in organic chemistry

• Artur M. Schweidtmann and
• Philippe Schwaller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2367–2368, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.180

• limitations and outline future opportunities for this emerging field. Fralish and Reker demonstrate how active learning on molecular pairs can improve the identification of potent drug candidates [9]. Their ”ActiveDelta” method outperforms standard approaches while maintaining chemical diversity. Schmid et al

Comparative analysis of complanadine A total syntheses

• Reem Al-Ahmad and
• Mingji Dai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2334–2344, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.178

• ; Introduction Natural products, owing to their structural complexity, diversity, and therapeutic potential, have continued to serve as inspirations for the development of novel synthetic methodologies and strategies. In turn, these methodological and strategic advancements have significantly improved the

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

• as powerful tools for constructing complex molecular architectures. Centered on the structural diversity and synthetic relevance of target natural products, this review is divided into three main sections: terpenoids, alkaloids, and antibiotics. Each section highlights the recent application of

• dysideanone B (35) was completed from 46 via oxidative ethoxylation. The diversity of the key photoreaction stems from three factors: (1) the ability of the excited quinone moiety in 44 to abstract hydrogen atoms from distinct positions; (2) delocalization of the semiquinone radical; (3) the involvement of a

• reactivity modes and expand the structural diversity of accessible natural product scaffolds. Additionally, the highly reactive strained four-membered rings generated from these reactions present exciting opportunities for further functionalization. Studying their downstream transformations – particularly

Pathway economy in cyclization of 1,n-enynes

• Hezhen Han,
• Wenjie Mao,
• Bin Lin,
• Maosheng Cheng,
• Lu Yang and
• Yongxiang Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2260–2282, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.173

• , this strategy has demonstrated remarkable potential in pharmaceutical synthesis, where the rapid generation of molecular diversity from simple precursors is paramount. Looking forward, the fusion of pathway economy with machine learning algorithms and high-throughput experimentation holds promise for

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

Discovery of cytotoxic indolo[1,2-c]quinazoline derivatives through scaffold-based design

• Daniil V. Khabarov,
• Valeria A. Litvinova,
• Lyubov G. Dezhenkova,
• Dmitry N. Kaluzhny,
• Alexander S. Tikhomirov and
• Andrey E. Shchekotikhin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2062–2071, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.161

• substitution of the terminal chloride in 11 with various cyclic amines, including pyrrolidine, piperidine, and mono-tert-butoxycarbonyl (Boc)-protected piperazine, provided a set of aminoalkyl derivatives 12а–с (Scheme 4). This strategy enables the expansion of structural diversity within this scaffold and

Solar thermal fuels: azobenzene as a cyclic photon–heat transduction platform

• Jie Yan,
• Shaodong Sun,
• Minghao Wang and
• Si Wu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2036–2047, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.159

• temperature and the Tm of the isomerized cis-azobenzene is below room temperature, while others require solvent-assisted charging mechanisms [70][71]. This structural and functional diversity makes them particularly valuable for solar thermal storage applications. Feng et al. incorporated fluorinated