Themed collection Editor’s choice – Andrei Yudin

The reductive cross coupling of pyridinium salts derived from readily available primary alkyl amines with aryl halides has been achieved under mild reaction conditions using a nickel catalyst.

Chiral phosphoric acid catalyzed the formal [4+2]-cycloaddition of 2-benzothiazolimines with enecarbamates to provide benzothiazolopyrimidines with up to 99% yield and >99% ee.

Amide bonds are stable due to the resonance between the nitrogen lone pair and the carbonyl moiety, and therefore the chemical transformation of amides, especially tertiary amides, involving C–N bond fission is considered one of the most difficult organic reactions, unavoidably requiring harsh reaction conditions and strong acids or bases.

An iodine-catalyzed strategy for β C–H amination of alcohols is enabled by a chemo-, regio-, and stereo-selective H-atom transfer mechanism.

Head-to-tail peptide macrocyclisations are significantly improved, as measured by isolated yields, reaction rates and product distribution, by substitution of one of the backbone amide CO bonds with an oxetane ring.

The asymmetric synthesis of (−)-naltrexone was achieved by a Rh(I)-catalyzed C–H alkenylation and torquoselective electrocyclization cascade and late-stage C–H hydroxylation.

The synthesis of E-macrocycles is achieved using stereoretentive, Ru-based olefin metathesis catalysts supported by dithiolate ligands.

A new thiadiazole-forming macrocyclization reaction enables the one-pot synthesis of cyclic β-peptide libraries from readily accessible building blocks without additional reagents.

The generally accepted monoacyloxyboron mechanism of boron-catalysed direct amidation is brought into question in this study, and new alternatives are proposed.

A formal aromaticity transfer reaction between phenols and pyrrolines/indolines has been developed: a redox- and atom-efficient method to synthesize N-cyclohexylpyrroles/indoles.