{"title":"Sulfonamide Synthesis: Unlocking New Pathways with Aryl Triflates via Photocatalytic Coupling","authors":"Hai Xu, Yimin Liu, Xiaoyan Zhang, Feng Zhang","doi":"10.1039/d5qo00954e","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5qo00954e","url":null,"abstract":"Arylsulfonamides, essential scaffolds in pharmaceuticals and materials science, face synthetic sustainability challenges due to toxic reagents and transition-metal-dependent protocols. The emerging three-component coupling of aryl radicals, SO₂ surrogates, and amines offers a modular alternative; however, aryl radical generation from abundant phenolic precursors remains underexplored. Herein, we report a novel, transition-metal-free photocatalytic strategy for the modular synthesis of structurally diverse arylsulfonamides. This method overcomes longstanding limitations in aryl radical generation by utilizing NaI as a dual-functional catalyst and soft electron donor to directly activate abundant, biomass-derived aryl triflates under mild conditions (room temperature, UV light). The NaI-mediated system enables precise, orbital-oriented electron transfer, overcoming the inherent constraints of traditional SET mechanisms and achieving controlled aryl radical generation where previous methods failed. This novel activation strategy facilitates an efficient three-component cascade coupling with SO₂ surrogates (K₂S₂O₅) and a remarkably broad scope of amines, including aliphatic, aromatic, heterocyclic, and complex pharmaceutically relevant amines, delivering sulfonamide products in good to excellent yields.","PeriodicalId":97,"journal":{"name":"Organic Chemistry Frontiers","volume":"161 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144792406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ahmad Ali, Santa Mondal, Mehak Sood, Prasad V. Bharatam, Abu Khan
{"title":"Copper-catalysed regioselective S-alkylation and C-3(H)activation of 4-hydroxydithiocoumarin and 4-hydroxy-2H-chromene-2-thione: Easy access to 4-methyl-3,4-dihydrothiopyran derivatives†","authors":"Ahmad Ali, Santa Mondal, Mehak Sood, Prasad V. Bharatam, Abu Khan","doi":"10.1039/d5qo00949a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5qo00949a","url":null,"abstract":"An useful and expedient synthetic route for the synthesis of 4-methyl-3,4-dihydrothiopyran derivatives (3a-p & 6a-o) was accomplished from 4-hydroxydithiocoumarins/4-hydroxy-2H-chromene-2-thione and substituted vinyl ethers in the presence of 10 mol% Cu(I) iodide catalyst in toluene under reflux conditions. Notably, the reaction between 4-hydroxydithiocoumarin and ethyl vinyl sulphide (4) also provided the cyclized products (5a-e), whereas the reaction between 4-hydroxy-2H-chromene-2-thione and ethyl vinyl sulphide (4) gave only the hydrothiolation products (7a-c) under identical reaction conditions. Similarly, the reaction of 4-hydroxydithiocoumarin with phenyl vinyl ether also provided the hydrothiolation products (3q-s) instead of the expected cyclized products under similar reaction conditions. The DFT calculations has been carried out for the formation products to establish reaction mechanisms and reaction energy profiles. The present methodology involves the formation of two new C-C bonds and one C-S bond via regioselective S-alkylation and C-3 activation of 4-hydroxydithiocoumarin/4-hydroxy-2H-chromene-2-thione in a single step at the expense of one C-O/C-S bond. The current procedure possesses several positive features, such as broad substrate scope, high regioselectivity, moderate to good yields, high atom economy, mild reaction conditions, and shorter reaction time.","PeriodicalId":97,"journal":{"name":"Organic Chemistry Frontiers","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144787303","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Access to benzo[e][1,3]thiazin-4-ones via PCy3-mediated annulations of benzo[c][1,2]dithiol-3-ones with iso(thio)cyanates","authors":"Chengxiang Yi, Mingyang Zhu, Jie Ren, Weimin Zhu, Chuanjun Song, Yangang Wu","doi":"10.1039/d5qo01013f","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5qo01013f","url":null,"abstract":"Herein, we describe a novel organophosphine-mediated annulation reaction of benzo[c][1,2]dithiol-3-ones with iso(thio)cyanates, which proceeds via an S atom to C-N unit exchange strategy. The methodology efficiently produced a variety of benzo[c][1,2]dithiol-3-one derivatives in moderate to excellent yields under straightforward reaction conditions. Other salient features of this approach include the transition-metal-free, operational simplicity, gram-scale synthesis, and capacity for late-stage modifications. Additionally, control experiments were conducted to provide new insights into the conversion mechanism of benzo[c][1,2]dithiol-3-ones.","PeriodicalId":97,"journal":{"name":"Organic Chemistry Frontiers","volume":"78 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144787195","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Photocatalytic α-Nucleophilic Fluorination of α,β-Unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds","authors":"Fang Wang, Jie Gong, Jian-Ping Qu, Yan-Biao Kang","doi":"10.1039/d5qo00877h","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5qo00877h","url":null,"abstract":"We report redox-neutral photocatalytic α-nucleophilic fluorination of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, in which an α-carbonyl cation is involved, under mild conditions. The protocol offers practical and efficient access to α-fluorinated carbonyl compounds and has demonstrated potential applications in the late-stage fluorination of bioactive molecules.","PeriodicalId":97,"journal":{"name":"Organic Chemistry Frontiers","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144763533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From Nonporous to Porous: Carbazole-Integrated π-Conjugated Pillar[5]arene Crystals for Enhanced Iodine Capture","authors":"Jin-Fa Chen, Xu-Xu Jia, Xiao-Peng Ling, Yu-Xi Yuan, Bingbing Shi, Qi Lin, Hong Yao, Tai-Bao Wei","doi":"10.1039/d5qo01006c","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5qo01006c","url":null,"abstract":"Herein, we present a case of transforming from a nonporous crystal to a porous crystal, achieved by molecular functionalization of a perethylated pillar[5]arene using two carbazole units. The porous crystal demonstrates an enhanced iodine capture behavior and outstanding recyclability.","PeriodicalId":97,"journal":{"name":"Organic Chemistry Frontiers","volume":"54 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144756659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Theoretical Insights into the Mechanism and Selectivities of Rhodium/Amine Dual Catalysis in Alkyne-Cyclopropene Reassembly Reactions","authors":"Guanghui Song, Keying Zhang, Huan Wang, Juan Li","doi":"10.1039/d5qo00898k","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5qo00898k","url":null,"abstract":"Rhodium/amine dual catalysis has recently emerged as a powerful strategy for C–C bond reconstruction between cnjugated alkynes and cyclopropenes, offering new opportunities for complex molecule synthesis. In this work, we performed detailed density functional theory (DFT) investigations to elucidate the full reaction mechanism and the selectivity-determining factors underlying this cascade transformation involving cyclopropenes. Our mechanistic study reveals significant deviations from the previously proposed experimental mechanism, most notably that the reaction proceeds via a cooperative rather than a relay-type mechanism, with rhodium and amine catalysts acting synergistically throughout the catalytic cycle. ETS-NOCV analyses uncover a dual role of the Rh₂(esp)₂ complex: it assists amine-mediated alkyne activation by promoting σ-character development and through-metal delocalization, and it plays a crucial role in the cyclopropane ring-opening and water-addition steps by stabilizing transition states through substantial substrate-to-Rh charge transfer and strengthened Rh–C bonding. GRI and FMO analyses further reveal that dimethylamine electronically activates the alkyne substrate, enhancing its nucleophilicity and facilitating a more accessible reaction pathway. In addition, ligand- and amine-dependent variations in yields are well explained by ECDA and distortion–interaction analyses, which reveal that electron-rich Rh ligands and less sterically hindered amines enhance catalytic efficiency by promoting charge transfer and minimizing structural distortion in the transition state. Taken together, these findings provide valuable design principles for developing next-generation dual catalytic systems for selective and efficient C–C bond transformations.","PeriodicalId":97,"journal":{"name":"Organic Chemistry Frontiers","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144756669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Modular assembly of 4-trifluoromethyl substituted 2-imino-1,3-oxathioles via cobalt(II)-based metalloradical catalysis","authors":"Chengxiao Liu, Baiquan Wang, Bin Li","doi":"10.1039/d5qo00989h","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5qo00989h","url":null,"abstract":"We report herein a cobalt(II) metalloradical-mediated cycloaddition of α-trifluoromethyl-α-diazoketone with isothiocyanate, which led to the modular formation of 4-trifluoromethylated 2-imino-1,3-oxathioles from easily accessible starting materials with high efficiency. Moreover, the high level of functional group compatibility of this protocol has allowed precise late-stage modifications of bioactive and drug-like molecules. Preliminary mechanistic experiments confirm that the catalytic process proceeds via a stepwise radical pathway involving α-Co(III)-alkyl radical intermediate.","PeriodicalId":97,"journal":{"name":"Organic Chemistry Frontiers","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144763169","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Electrophilic Intermolecular Halo-Phosphorothiolation and Phosphorothiolation-Dearomatization of Alkenes/Alkynes with N-Phosphorothiosuccinimide","authors":"Yuan Zhang, Mingyang Chen, Xu Chen, Xuesi Zhou, Yitai Fu, Xiang Liu, Hua Cao","doi":"10.1039/d5qo00959f","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5qo00959f","url":null,"abstract":"Electrophilic phosphorothiolations represent an attractive strategy that has been rarely explored due to the lack of practical electrophilic reagents. Herein, we developed electrophilic phosphorothioate transfer reagents and unveiled their synthetic application in the electrophilic intermolecular halo-phosphorothiolation of inactivated alkenes with TMSX as activator and nucleophilic halogen sources. In addition, phosphorothiolation-dearomatization of alkynes were also achieved to furnish phosphorothiolated spiro[4,5]trienones. Notably, the developed method is successfully employed for the late-stage modification of pharmaceutical molecule derivatives.","PeriodicalId":97,"journal":{"name":"Organic Chemistry Frontiers","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144756668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kristina M. Nugent, Silas Q. Hintze, Pradip Maity, Salvatore D Lepore
{"title":"Anionic 5-endo-dig cyclizations: an experimental investigation of in-plane aromaticity involving a non-enolate carbanion nucleophile","authors":"Kristina M. Nugent, Silas Q. Hintze, Pradip Maity, Salvatore D Lepore","doi":"10.1039/d5qo00547g","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5qo00547g","url":null,"abstract":"Cyclitive additions of aliphatic carbanions to non-electrophilic carbon-carbon triple bonds under mild, transition-metal-free conditions are described for the first time. These results confirm theoretical models that invoke in-plane aromaticity to pre-dict the favorability of 5-endo-dig reactions in these systems. In contrast to related Conia-ene cyclizations (5-enolexo-endo-dig), our results generally led to cyclic and allene products in near parity ratios across a broad range of substrates, suggesting that cyclization may proceed via an early ambimodal transition state. Experimental results are presented with a view to re-fining existing mechanistic models for this growing class of alkyne reactions.","PeriodicalId":97,"journal":{"name":"Organic Chemistry Frontiers","volume":"77 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144763532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Seoyeon Kim, Byung Hak Jhun, Yunjeong Lee, Gayeon Lee, Sihyun Woo, Jaehahn Bae, Sohee Lee, Seoyeon Kim, Youngmin You, Eun Jin Cho
{"title":"Beyond Energy Transfer: Ground-State Association-Driven [2+2] Cycloadditions with Indole-Fused Organophotocatalysts","authors":"Seoyeon Kim, Byung Hak Jhun, Yunjeong Lee, Gayeon Lee, Sihyun Woo, Jaehahn Bae, Sohee Lee, Seoyeon Kim, Youngmin You, Eun Jin Cho","doi":"10.1039/d5qo00774g","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5qo00774g","url":null,"abstract":"A visible-light-driven [2+2] cycloaddition strategy with indole-fused organophotocatalysts (organoPCs) developed in our laboratory is presented, highlighting a sustainable approach with minimal solvent usage and no sacrificial reagents. Mechanistic investigations, supported by spectroscopic analyses and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, suggest that this transformation proceeds via a ground-state association mechanism rather than the more commonly proposed energy transfer pathway. Specifically, noncovalent interactions between the organoPC and a cinnamate substrate enable the formation of a [PC···substrate] complex, which, upon photoexcitation, engages in an efficient route to the triplet state that drives [2+2] cycloaddition. Structural tuning of the organoPC framework proves critical to catalytic performance, as pentacyclic architectures featuring extended π-conjugation display enhanced π–π interactions and the superior reactivity. This design principle facilitates regioselective cycloadditions across a broad range of functionalized cinnamate derivatives, highlighting the versatility and atom economy achievable under visible-light irradiation.","PeriodicalId":97,"journal":{"name":"Organic Chemistry Frontiers","volume":"143 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144747615","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}