Themed collection Sustainable synthesis and catalysis – Chemical Science symposium collection

IRED-catalyzed reductive aminations have progressed from mg to ton scale, through advances in enzyme discovery, protein engineering and process biocatalysis.

This perspective on reactivity introduces Synthetic Half-Reactions (SHRs) as a way to analyze chemical transformations.

The conversion of light alkanes into bulk chemicals is becoming an important challenge as it effectively avoids the use of prefunctionalized alkylating reagents.

Among numerous solvents available for chemical transformations, 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (popularly known as HFIP) has attracted enough attention of the scientific community in recent years.

Biocatalytic methods for selective C–H oxyfunctionalization reactions are rapidly emerging and hold significant potential to streamline complex molecule synthesis. This review highlights key advances in this area developed within the past decade.

This tutorial review describes enabling methods for determining biomolecular interactions in live cells through the use of in situ generated reactive intermediates.

Reported herein is a rare example of asymmetric catalytic functionalisation of enals at the remote γ-position, proceeding via a radical path.

Herein, we use α-boryl iminium intermediates to access progressively depeptidized branched β-aminoboronic acids. We show the interaction of these compounds with carbohydrates and demonstrate their potential as synthetic building blocks.

A photoredox catalytic system was developed to construct N-heterobiaryls via direct arylation from readily accessible substrates. While phenols act as both coupling partner and proton donor, regular arenes were also applicable with HFIP as a solvent.

Proline catalysis sparked not only the golden age of organocatalysis, but also the design of elaborate proline derivatives; instead, we propose to modify organocatalysts in situ under reaction conditions.

Renewable HCO₂H disproportionation into CH₂O triggered by vanadium complexes with iridium catalysis under mild conditions in N-methylation is discovered. The gram-scale application of in situ generated CH₂O by HCO₂H disproportionation is demonstrated.

A microwave assisted multicomponent protocol on water allows the regioselective synthesis of chiral aryl-1,2-mercaptoamines. The enzymatic resolution of the racemates leads to enantioenriched products.

The direct decarboxylative azidation of cyclic α-amino acids has been achieved via visible light-mediated organo-photoredox catalysis.

A homogeneous nickel catalyst is described that forms (n+1)-membered cycloalkane rings from ketones and 1,n-diols following a radical-promoted pathway.

A series of chiral Au₁₃ nanoclusters were synthesized via the direct reduction of achiral dinuclear Au(I) halide complexes ligated by ortho-xylyl-linked bis-N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands.

A copper-based catalyst system composed of commercially available reagents enables C–H isocyanation with exquisite (hetero)benzylic site selectivity, enabling high-throughput access to pharmaceutically relevant ureas via coupling with amines.

Aminoalkyl radicals can be used as both initiators and chain-carriers for the conversion of aryl halides into the corresponding radicals. This approach by-passes the requirement for strongly reducing photocatalysts.

Direct analyses of crude reaction mixtures have been carried out using molecular rotational resonance (MRR) spectroscopy, allowing identification and quantification of major and minor components without sample purification or reference standards.

An organic catalyst uses low-energy photons to generate acyl and carbamoyl radicals upon activation of the corresponding chlorides via a nucleophilic acyl substitution path. The synthetic potential and the mechanism of this strategy are discussed.

The well-known [(TAML)Fe(OH₂)]⁻ complex undergoes proton-coupled oxidation to an Fe-oxo species that supports electrochemical C–H oxidation and alcohol dehydrogenation.

The study of a selective palladium(II)-catalyzed C(sp³)–H acetoxylation reaction on a class of cyclic alkyl amines is reported.