Current Organic Chemistry - Volume 30, Issue 5, 2026

Nickel-metallaphotoredox catalysis has emerged as a groundbreaking approach in organic synthesis research over the last decade. It integrates the accessibility of the redox states of inexpensive, earth-abundant nickel to capture carbon-centred radicals with the ability of photoredox catalysts (PCs) to mediate single-electron transfer (SET) or energy transfer (ET) for efficient, selective, and sustainable transformations. Advances in catalyst design, reaction optimization, and mechanistic understanding have unlocked a wide range of cross-coupling protocols, enabling previously inaccessible or less efficient C-C bond formations. This progress opens new possibilities for innovative applications in pharmaceuticals, materials science, and beyond. This mini-review focuses on advancements in the last three years in the formation of challenging C(sp³)-C(sp³) and C(sp³)-C(sp²) bonds, both in two-component and three-component systems, featuring a broad substrate scope, with chemo-, regio-, and stereo-selectivity under mild conditions. Although mechanistic studies have been conducted for some systems, and kinetic isotope effects have been probed for others, detailed investigations using computational methods to understand the molecular interactions are lacking or sometimes fail to indicate a general trend of the catalytic mechanism. The discovery of novel approaches to open-shell radical species, which dictate reactivity and selectivity, will be of utmost importance in developing new reactions. These advances will enrich all areas of chemical sciences and create numerous opportunities for interdisciplinary research.

In recent years, the indole core has emerged as a highly favored scaffold in drug research. Although indole was first shown to be an anticancer agent in vinca alkaloids, it also continued to exhibit many activities with various mechanisms in other diseases, such as diabetes, HIV, Alzheimer's, and hyperlipidemia. Indole derivatives have proved that they deserve researchers’ attention due to their biochemical diversity in plenty of plants, bacteria, animals, marine organisms, and humans, as well as the fact that they are used to synthesize several FDA-approved drugs. The main review’s objective is to compile a comprehensive listing of almost all reported pharmacological activities from 2011 to 2025, with the structure-activity relationship of potentially active compounds. It also highlights several green approaches and recent indole and indole derivative synthesis trends.

Chisocheton is a genus of woody trees in the family Meliaceae. Due to the appearance of numerous bioactive compounds, it was widely used in traditional medicines. The current research aims to provide an extensive overview of phytochemical and pharmacological values. To find the English references, a thorough search of numerous electronic data sources, such as Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct, was conducted. The “Sci-Finder” was used to confirm chemical structures and references. Documents that have been cited date back to the 1970s. The best keywords for the collection of articles are “Chisocheton”, “phytochemistry”, and “pharmacology”. Phytochemical investigations of Chisocheton extracts led to the separation of more than 270 secondary metabolites. They included limonoids, triterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, phytosterols, chirol-inositols, flavonoids, and others. Various compounds were new in the literature. Chisocheton constituents possessed various pharmacological activities, including cytotoxicity, anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, antidiabetic, anti-obesity, antibacterial, antimalarial, tyrosinase inhibitory, mosquito larvicidal, and neuroprotective activities. Some compounds are better than standard agents in biological experiments. Apoptosis is the main pathway of Chisocheton anticancer compounds, whereas cytokine inhibition may be attributed to their anti-inflammatory actions. The studied genus Chisocheton is a good source of limonoids, terpenoids, and phytosterols with various pharmacological potentials.

A simple and practical method has been developed for the synthesis of N-aryl/heteroarylphthalimides, bisphthalimides, 1,8-naphthalimides, and related derivatives. This method involves the reaction of various primary amines with different anhydrides, such as phthalic anhydride and 1,8-naphthalic anhydride, in the presence of a catalytic amount of mandelic acid in aqueous ethanol under reflux conditions. The use of less toxic solvents, excellent yields, shorter reaction times, elimination of column chromatographic purifications, and low-cost and naturally occurring catalysts are some of the major advantages of this developed protocol.