Manganese-mediated reductive functionalization of activated aliphatic acids and primary amines

Electrochemical Giese Reaction of α-Trifluoromethylstyrenes with Disulfides: Efficient Access to β-Trifluoromethylated Thioethers

An electrochemical Giese-type hydrothiolation of α-trifluoromethylstyrenes with disulfides is disclosed for the first time under metal-free and mild conditions. This approach provides a facile methodology for β-trifluoromethylated thioethers in moderate to good yields with high functional group tolerance starting from readily available substrates. Additionally, late-stage modification of drug molecules and gram-scale synthesis show practical advantages. The radical pathway of this reaction has been revealed by control experiments and cyclic voltammetry measurements.

Cross-Electrophile Couplings of Benzyl Sulfonium Salts with Thiosulfonates via C-S Bond Activation

A zinc-mediated cross-electrophile coupling of benzyl sulfonium salts with thiosulfonates via C-S bond cleavage was achieved. The reductive thiolation proceeded well under transition metal-free conditions to afford the desired benzyl sulfides in good yields, exhibiting both broad substrate scope and good functionality tolerance. In addition, the reaction could be applied to the use of selenosulfonate as an effective selenylation agent and be subjected to scale-up synthesis.

A Unified Method for Oxidative and Reductive Decarboxylative Arylation with Orange Light-Driven Ir/Ni Metallaphotoredox Catalysis

Carboxylic acids and their derivatives are powerful building blocks in dual Ir/Ni metallaphotoredox methods of decarboxylative arylation due to their abundance as feedstock compounds. However, the library of accessible carboxylic acids is limited by trends in radical stability, often necessitating the development of specific systems for challenging substrates. Herein, we disclose the application of a new Ir(III) photocatalyst and low-energy orange light Ir/Ni metallaphotoredox system with broad applicability in activating both native carboxylic acids and redox-active esters (RAEs). This method represents the first known example of complementary oxidative and reductive decarboxylative paradigms with broadly similar reaction conditions, unlocking the reactivity for challenging substrates. We further show a wide scope of aryl halide and acid coupling partners in both regimes, with added advantages over blue-light-catalyzed aryl alkylation for photosensitive substrates.

Electrochemical Glycosylation via Halogen-Atom-Transfer for C-Glycoside Assembly

Glycosyl donor activation emerged as an enabling technology for anomeric functionalization, but aimed primarily at O-glycosylation. In contrast, we herein disclose mechanistically distinct electrochemical glycosyl bromide donor activations via halogen-atom transfer and anomeric C-glycosylation. The anomeric radical addition to alkenes led to C-alkyl glycoside synthesis under precious metal-free reaction conditions from readily available glycosyl bromides. The robustness of our e-XAT strategy was further mirrored by C-aryl and C-acyl glycosides assembly through nickela-electrocatalysis. Our approach provides an orthogonal strategy for glycosyl donor activation with expedient scope, hence representing a general method for direct C-glycosides assembly.

Catalyst-Free, Zn-Mediated Decarboxylative Coupling of Chlorostibines to Access Alkylstibines with Stable C(sp3)-Sb Bonds

Herein, decarboxylative C(sp3)-Sb coupling of aliphatic carboxylic acid derivatives with chlorostibines to access alkylstibines has been achieved. This catalyst-, ligand-, and base-free approach using zinc as a reductant affords various kinds of benzyldiarylstibines and other monoalkyldiarylstibines and tolerates various functional groups, including chlorine, bromine, hydroxyl, amide, sulfone, and cyano groups. The late-stage modification and the gram-scale experiments illustrate its potential application.

Visible-Light-Promoted Thiolation of Benzyl Chlorides with Thiosulfonates via a Photoactive Electron Donor-Acceptor Complex

Visible-light-promoted thiolation of benzyl chlorides with thiosulfonates is disclosed via an electron donor-acceptor complex strategy. In addition to efficiently delivering a series of arylbenzylsulfide compounds, versatile thioglycosides were also successfully constructed by applying the metal- and photocatalyst-free protocol. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggest that a radical-radical coupling process was involved in this transformation.

Zn-Mediated Fragmentation of N-Alkoxyphthalimides Enabling the Synthesis of gem-Difluoroalkenes

Zn-mediated generation of alkoxyl radicals from N-alkoxyphthalimides emerged as an efficient approach for forming diverse and valuable alkyl radicals through β-scission or a hydrogen atom transfer process. The alkyl radical species can be further trapped by α-trifluoromethyl alkenes to construct a series of gem-difluoroalkenes.

Visible Light-Induced Metal-free Arylation of Coumarin-3-carboxylates with Arylboronic Acids

The present work represents a novel methodology for the selective arylation of coumarin-3-carboxylates with arylboronic acids via a photochemical route, marking the first-ever attempt for the direct alkenyl C-H arylation using rose bengal as a photocatalyst, which is a readily available and cost-effective alternative to transition metal catalysis. The reaction proceeds smoothly in MeOH/H2O solvent media in the presence of radical initiator affording the arylated products in good yields (60-80 %). The reaction parameters such as visible light, radical initiator, oxidant, anhydrous solvent, and inert atmosphere play a crucial role for the success of this methodology. The substituents present on the substrate show a significant effect on the conversion. This study provides a valuable contribution to the field of organic synthesis offering a new and efficient approach to the arylation of coumarin-3-carboxylic acid esters with a broad substrate scope and high functional group tolerance. It is a versatile method and provides a direct access to biologically relevant 4-arylcoumarin-3-carboxylates.

Nickel-Catalyzed Deaminative Alkyl-Alkyl Cross-Coupling of Katritzky Salts with Cyclopropanols: Merging C-N and C-C Bond Activation

Herein, we report a general and practical nickel-catalyzed deaminative alkylation of Katritzky salts with cyclopropyl alcohols via merging C-N and C-C bond activation. This protocol enables the formation of an alkyl-alkyl bond along with the generation of a versatile ketone functional group in a single operation, thus providing a convenient approach for accessing β-alkyl ketones. This reaction is distinguished by its high functional group tolerance, broad substrate scope, and efficient late-stage derivatization of complex bioactive molecules.

Ligand Relay for Nickel-Catalyzed Decarbonylative Alkylation of Aroyl Chlorides

Transition metal-catalyzed direct decarboxylative transformations of aromatic carboxylic acids usually require high temperatures, which limit the substrate's scope, especially for late-stage applications. The development of the selective decarbonylative of carboxylic acid derivatives, especially the most fundamental aroyl chlorides, with stable and cheap electrophiles under mild conditions is highly desirable and meaningful, but remains challenging. Herein, a strategy of nickel-catalyzed decarbonylative alkylation of aroyl chlorides via phosphine/nitrogen ligand relay is reported. The simple phosphine ligand is found essential for the decarbonylation step, while the nitrogen ligand promotes the cross-electrophile coupling. Such a ligand relay system can effectively and orderly carry out the catalytic process at room temperature, utilizing easily available aroyl chlorides as an aryl electrophile for reductive alkylation. This discovery provides a new strategy for direct decarbonylative coupling, features operationally simple, mild conditions, and excellent functional group tolerance. The mild approach is applied to the late-stage methylation of various pharmaceuticals. Extensive experiments are carried out to provide insights into the reaction pathway and support the ligand relay process.

Photoinduced Triphenylphosphine and Iodide Salt Promoted Reductive Decarboxylative Coupling

The transient electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complex has been an emerging area in the photoinduced organic synthesis field, generating radicals without exogenous transition-metal or organic dye-based photoredox catalysts. The catalytic platform to form suitable photoactive EDA complexes for photochemical reduction reactions remains underdeveloped. Herein, a general photoinduced reductive alkylation via the EDA complex strategy is described. A simple yet multifunctional system, triphenylphosphine and iodide salt, promotes the photoinduced decarboxylative hydroalkylation, and reductive defluorinative decarboxylative alkylation of trifluoromethyl alkenes, to access trifluoromethyl alkanes and gem-difluoroalkenes. Moreover, decarboxylative hydroalkylation can be applied to more kinds of electron-deficient alkenes as a general Giese addition reaction.

Construction of C-S and C-Se Bonds from Unstrained Ketone Precursors under Photoredox Catalysis

A mild photoredox catalyzed construction of sulfides, disulfides, selenides, sulfoxides and sulfones from unstrained ketone precursors is introduced. Combination of this deacylative process with SN 2 or coupling reactions provides novel and convenient modular strategies toward unsymmetrical or symmetric disulfides. Reactivity studies favor a bromine radical that initiates a HAT (Hydrogen Atom Transfer) from the aminal intermediate resulting in expulsion of a C-centered radical that is intercepted to make C-S and C-Se bonds. Gram scale reactions, broad substrate scope and tolerance towards various functional groups render this method appealing for future applications in the synthesis of organosulfur and selenium complexes.

Nickel-Catalyzed Reductive Arylation of Redox Active Esters for the Synthesis of α-Aryl Nitriles: Investigation of a Chlorosilane Additive

A nickel-catalyzed reductive cross-coupling of redox active N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHP) esters and iodoarenes for the synthesis of α-aryl nitriles is described. The NHP ester substrate is derived from cyanoacetic acid, which allows for a modular synthesis of substituted α-aryl nitriles, an important scaffold in the pharmaceutical sciences. The reaction exhibits a broad scope, and many functional groups are compatible under the reaction conditions, including complex highly functionalized medicinal agents. Mechanistic studies reveal that reduction and decarboxylation of the NHP ester to the reactive radical intermediate are accomplished by a combination of a chlorosilane additive and Zn dust. We demonstrate that stoichiometric chlorosilane is essential for product formation and that chlorosilane plays a role beyond activation of the metal reductant.

The impact of smash-ridge tillage on agronomic traits of tobacco plants, soil enzymatic activity, microbial community structure, and functional diversity

Smash-ridge tillage is a novel cultivation technique that significantly influences the quality of arable land and crop yield. In this study, we employed high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing and Biolog-ECO methods to systematically investigate the impact of smash-ridge tillage on soil microbial community structure and functional diversity. The results demonstrate that both ST30 and ST50 treatments significantly enhance the average plant height, average plant diameter, average fresh root weight, stem fresh weight, and leaf area of tobacco plants, with the ST50 treatment exhibiting superior performance. Furthermore, both ST30 and ST50 treatments exhibit significantly higher soil enzyme activity and microbial community diversity compared to the CK treatment. They also improve the soil microbial utilization of carbon sources. Additionally, the ST50-treated soil samples demonstrate 15 microbial functional pathways that exceed those of the CK and ST30 treatments. In conclusion, the Smash-ridge tillage treatment at a depth of 50 cm yields more favorable results. This study provides a theoretical foundation for enhancing soil quality in Smash-ridge tillage by elucidating the mechanisms through which it impacts soil microbial ecology.

Manganese-promoted reductive cross-coupling of disulfides with dialkyl carbonates

Manganese is a cheap and environmentally friendly metal on Earth. Herein, we report a manganese-promoted reductive cross-coupling using easily available and odorless disulfides as thiolating agents in an excellent 100% sulfur atom economy. The protocol featured a broad substrate scope, including various alkyl disulfides and excellent functional group compatibility, constructing diverse thioethers under simple conditions. Ultimately, thioethers can be prepared in gram-scale reactions and further transformed into structurally complex molecules.

Visible-light-mediated synthesis of non-anomeric S-aryl glycosides via a photoactive electron-donor-acceptor complex

A visible-light-mediated glycosylation reaction between glycosyl redox-active esters and disulfides has been reported, through which a series of S-aryl glycosides were obtained in good yields with satisfactory stereoselectivity. The preliminary mechanistic studies revealed that this transformation proceeded via an EDA complex. Moreover, the potential application value was demonstrated in the late-stage functionalisation of drug molecules and a gram-scale experiment.

Deaminative Addition of Alkylpyridinium Salt to Aldehyde

Here we show that a primary amine can engage in the nucleophilic addition to an aldehyde to synthesize an alcohol following preactivation of the amine. The enabling reagent for this radical-polar crossover process is CrCl₂. This reaction is selective for aldehydes and compatible with numerous functional groups, which are not tolerated under classical Grignard-type conditions. Complementary to the well-established imine synthesis, this deaminative alcohol synthesis can broadly expand the chemical space constructed by aldehydes and amines.

Radical approaches to C-S bonds

Organosulfur functionalities are ubiquitous in nature, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, materials and flavourants. Historically, these moieties were introduced almost exclusively using ionic chemistry; however, radical-based methods for the installation of sulfur-based functional groups have recently come to the fore. These radical methods have enabled their late-stage introduction into complex molecules, avoiding the need to preserve labile organosulfur moieties through multistep synthetic sequences. Here, we discuss homolytic C-S bond-forming processes, with a particular emphasis on radical substitution approaches to sulfide, disulfide and sulfinyl products, and the use of sulfur dioxide and its surrogates to build sulfonyl products. We also highlight the mechanistic considerations that we hope will guide further development of radical-based strategies compatible with the various organosulfur moieties that feature in modern chemistry.

Chemoselective Decarboxylative Protonation Enabled by Cooperative Earth-Abundant Element Catalysis

Decarboxylative protonation is a general deletion tactic to replace polar carboxylic acid groups with hydrogen or its isotope. Current methods rely on the pre-activation of acids, non-sustainable hydrogen sources, and/or expensive/highly oxidizing photocatalysts, presenting challenges to their wide adoption. Here we show that a cooperative iron/thiol catalyst system can readily achieve this transformation, hydrodecarboxylating a wide range of activated and unactivated carboxylic acids and overcoming scope limitations in previous direct methods. The reaction is readily scaled in batch configuration and can be directly performed in deuterated solvent to afford high yields of d-incorporated products with excellent isotope incorporation efficiency; characteristics not attainable in previous photocatalyzed approaches. Preliminary mechanistic studies indicate a radical mechanism and kinetic results of unactivated acids (KIE=1) are consistent with a light-limited reaction.

Deaminative defluoroalkylation of α-trifluoromethylalkenes enabled by photoredox catalysis

Herein, we disclose a new photoredox-catalysed strategy to access gem-difluoroallylarenes from α-trifluoromethylalkenes with sterically hindered primary amines via C-N and C-F bond activation. This deaminative and defluorinative allylation is generally compatible with diverse functional groups and sterically hindered α-3° and 2° primary amines.

Redox activated amines in the organophotoinduced alkylation of coumarins

The coumarin core represents the quintessential scaffold of many natural products. While C-3 alkylation is easily achievable, effective greener strategies for C-4 alkylation have been less forthcoming. Herein, we report a metal-free photoinduced deaminative strategy for C-4 alkylation of coumarins using redox activated secondary and benzylic amine derived Katritzky pyridinium salts.

Synthesis of N-Arylindoles from 2-Alkenylanilines and Diazonaphthalen-2(1H)-ones through Simultaneous Indole Construction and Aryl Introduction

In this paper, an efficient synthesis of N-arylindoles through the cascade reaction of 2-alkenylanilines with diazonaphthalen-2(1H)-ones is presented. Mechanistically, this reaction involves the generation of a Ru-carbene complex from diazonaphthalen-2(1H)-one, followed by carbene N-H bond insertion with 2-alkenylaniline, intramolecular cyclization, and oxidative aromatization. In this reaction, the Ru(II) complex acts as a multifunctional catalyst to promote not only the carbene formation but also the intramolecular cyclization and the dehydrogenative aromatization. Meanwhile, air acts as a green and cost-effective oxidant. To our knowledge, this is the first example in which N-arylindoles were synthesized through simultaneous introduction of the N-aryl unit and construction of the indole scaffold. Notable advantages of this method include readily accessible and halide-free substrates, additive-free reaction conditions, good efficiency, excellent atom economy, and compatibility with diverse functional groups. In addition, the utility of the product thus obtained was showcased by its diverse structural transformations.

Recent Progress in Fragmentation of Katritzky Salts Enabling Formation of C-C, C-B, and C-S Bonds

Since their discovery in 1970s, Katritzky salts have emerged as one of the most important classes of building blocks for use in organic synthesis and drug discovery. These bulky pyridinium salts derived from alkylamine can readily generate alkyl radical and undergo a variety of organic transformation reactions such as alkylation, arylation, alkenylation, alkynylation, carbonylation, sulfonylation, and borylation. Through these transformations, complexed molecules bearing new C-C, C-B, or C-S bonds can be constructed in easy ways and in simple steps. This review aims to summarize recent advances in these versatile building blocks in well-classified categories. Representative examples and their reaction mechanisms are discussed. The hope is to provide the scientific community with convenient access to collective information and accelerate further research.

Regioselective Deaminative Allylation of Aliphatic Amines via Dual Cobalt and Organophotoredox Catalysis

Despite the rapid progress in C-C bond-forming reactions using Katritzky salts, their deaminative allylation remains a challenge. Inspired by the metallaphotoredox-catalyzed allylic substitution regime, here, we report the deaminative allylation of Katritzky salts via cobalt/organophotoredox dual catalysis. This cross-electrophile coupling enables regioselective allylation using a variety of allylic esters, overcoming the substrate limitations of reported protocols. Mechanistic studies indicate the involvement of a π-allyl cobalt complex as a radicalophile that mediates C-C bond formation.

Recent advances in radical enabled selective Csp3-F bond activation of multifluorinated compounds

Fluorine-containing molecules have found broad applications in pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries as introducing fluorine into a molecule could significantly tune the biological activities of parent molecules. Thus, the synthesis of fluorine-containing molecules has received substantial attention over the past few decades. As a complementary strategy for the synthesis of fluorinated compounds through new C_sp³-F bonds formation, selective cleavage of inert C_sp³-F bonds from easily-available and cost-effective multifluorinated molecules, such as fluoroalkylaromatics, α-trifluoromethyl alkenes and α-multifluorinated carbonyl compounds, has been emerging as an attractive alternative to access fluorine-containing molecules. Moreover, the inherent nature of radical reactions offers the opportunity for the selective C_sp³-F functionalizations to occur under mild conditions. In this regard, the development of photoredox catalysis, transition-metal catalysis, or electrochemistry to enable radical species generation via selective C_sp³-F cleavage has gained broad attention and substantial progress has been made over recent years. This highlight summerizes the recent advances in the single-electron-transfer enabled selective functionalizations of C_sp³-F bonds in multifluorinated compounds via radical pathways.

Transition-metal-free, visible-light-induced multicomponent synthesis of allylic amines and tetrahydroquinolines

A visible-light-induced, 1,2,3,5-tetrakis-(carbazolyl)-4,6-dicyanobenzene (4CzIPN) catalyzed synthesis of allylic amines andtetrahydroquinolines through ‘all-alkyl’ α-amino radicals and anilinoalkyl radicals has been developed.

Cu-catalyzed efficient construction of S (Se)-containing functional organosilicon compounds

A Cu-catalyzed cascade reaction of four-membered silacyclobutanes (SCBs) and thiosulfonates to construct S (Se)-containing organosilicon compounds is described.

Electroreductive Cross-Coupling of Trifluoromethyl Alkenes and Redox Active Esters for the Synthesis of Gem-Difluoroalkenes

An electroreductive access to gem-difluoroalkenes has been developed through the decarboxylative/defluorinative coupling of N-hydroxyphtalimides esters and α-trifluoromethyl alkenes. The electrolysis is performed under very simple reaction conditions in an undivided cell using cheap carbon graphite electrodes. This metal-free transformation features broad scope with good to excellent yields. Tertiary, secondary as well as primary alkyl radicals could be easily introduced. α-aminoacids L-aspartic and L-glutamic acid-derived redox active esters were good reactive partners furnishing potentially relevant gem-difluoroalkenes. In addition, it has been demonstrated that our electrosynthetic approach toward the synthesis of gem-difluoroalkenes could use an easily prepared Kratitsky salt as alkyl radical precursor via a deaminative/defluorinative carbofunctionalization of trifluoromethylstyrene.

Additive-Free, Visible-Light-Enabled Decarboxylative Alkylation of Enamides

Enamides are versatile precursors for synthesizing bioactive compounds. As their alkylations often require perstoichiometric amounts of oxidants, transition metals, or photocatalysts, we herein report a simple alternative for their alkylations by just using visible light to irradiate the mixture of the readily available N-hydroxyphthalimide esters and enamides without an additive. The reaction involves the photoactivation of a π-π stacking EDA complex between the substrates.

The Formal Cross-Coupling of Amines and Carboxylic Acids to Form sp3 -sp3 Carbon-Carbon Bonds

We have developed a deaminative-decarboxylative protocol to form new carbon(sp³ )-carbon(sp³ ) bonds from activated amines and carboxylic acids. Amines and carboxylic acids are ubiquitous building blocks, available in broad chemical diversity and at lower cost than typical C-C coupling partners. To leverage amines and acids for C-C coupling, we developed a reductive nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling utilizing building block activation as pyridinium salts and redox-active esters, respectively. Miniaturized high-throughput experimentation studies were critical to our reaction optimization, with subtle experimental changes such as order of reagent addition, composition of a binary solvent system, and ligand identity having a significant impact on reaction performance. The developed protocol is used in the late-stage diversification of pharmaceuticals while more than one thousand systematically captured and machine-readable reaction datapoints are reposited.

α-Chiral Amines via Thermally Promoted Deaminative Addition of Alkylpyridinium Salts to Sulfinimines

A deaminative reaction of Katritzky alkylpyridinium salts and sulfinimines has been developed to deliver enantiopure α-chiral amines. The success of this method relied on the discovery of a thermally promoted deamination via single-electron transfer of an anion-π complex of the alkylpyridinium cation with potassium carbonate. This method boasts excellent diastereoselectivity over the α-stereocenter as well as broad functional group and heterocycle tolerance.

Copper-Catalyzed Intermolecular Functionalization of Unactivated C(sp3)-H Bonds and Aliphatic Carboxylic Acids

Intermolecular functionalization of C(sp³)-H bonds and aliphatic carboxylic acids enables the efficient synthesis of high value-added organic compounds from readily available starting materials. Although methods involving hydrogen atom transfer have been developed for such functionalization, these methods either work for only activated C(sp³)-H bonds or bring in a narrow set of functional groups. Here we describe a Cu-catalyzed process for the diverse functionalization of both unactivated C(sp³)-H bonds and aliphatic carboxylic acids. The process is enabled by the trapping of alkyl radicals generated through hydrogen atom abstraction by arylsulfonyl-based SOMO-philes, which introduces a large array of C, N, S, Se, and halide-based functional groups. The chemoselectivity can be switched from C-H functionalization to decarboxylative functionalization by matching the bond dissociation energy of the hydrogen atom transfer reagent with that of the target C-H or O-H bond.

Iron-Catalyzed Thiolation and Selenylation of Cycloalkyl Hydroperoxides via C-C Bond Cleavage

A cheap iron-catalyzed C-C bond cleavage/thiolation and selenylation of cycloalkyl hydroperoxides are presented. This redox-neutral protocol provides efficient access to diverse distal keto-functionalized thioethers and selenium compounds. Remarkably, only some amounts of disulfides are required for this transformation.

Nickel-catalyzed deaminative Sonogashira coupling of alkylpyridinium salts enabled by NN2 pincer ligand

Alkynes are amongst the most valuable functional groups in organic chemistry and widely used in chemical biology, pharmacy, and materials science. However, the preparation of alkyl-substituted alkynes still remains elusive. Here, we show a nickel-catalyzed deaminative Sonogashira coupling of alkylpyridinium salts. Key to the success of this coupling is the development of an easily accessible and bench-stable amide-type pincer ligand. This ligand allows naturally abundant alkyl amines as alkylating agents in Sonogashira reactions, and produces diverse alkynes in excellent yields under mild conditions. Salient merits of this chemistry include broad substrate scope and functional group tolerance, gram-scale synthesis, one-pot transformation, versatile late-stage derivatizations as well as the use of inexpensive pre-catalyst and readily available substrates. The high efficiency and strong practicability bode well for the widespread applications of this strategy in constructing functional molecules, materials, and fine chemicals.

Alkynes are amongst the most valuable functional groups in organic chemistry, however, the preparation of alkyl-substituted alkynes still remains elusive. Here the authors show a nickel-catalyzed deaminative Sonogashira coupling of alkylpyridinium salts.

Synthesis of CF3-Containing Linear Nitriles from α-(Trifluoromethyl)styrenes

Four unprecedented base-catalyzed/mediated nucleophilic additions of TMSCN to α-(trifluoromethyl)styrenes and 2-trifluoromethyl enynes were developed. The reaction proceeded smoothly at room temperature under mild and transition-metal-free conditions without affecting the trifluoromethyl group and afforded the corresponding CF₃-containing alkyl, alkynyl, and butadienyl nitriles in moderate to excellent yields in a highly regioselective manner, respectively.

Transition-metal-free decarboxylative thiolation of stable aliphatic carboxylates

A transition-metal-free decarboxylative thiolation protocol is reported in which (hetero)aryl acetates and α-CN substituted acetates undergo smoothly, to deliver a variety of functionalized aryl alkyl sulfides in moderate to excellent yields.

Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of monofluoroalkenes and gem-difluoroalkenes: advances and perspectives

The latest achievements in the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of both monofluoro- and gem-difluoroalkenes are discussed.

Organophotoredox-Catalyzed Formation of Alkyl-Aryl and -Alkyl C-S/Se Bonds from Coupling of Redox-Active Esters with Thio/Selenosulfonates

A mild organophotoredox synthetic protocol for forming a Csp3-S/Se bond by reacting widespread redox-active esters with thio/selenosulfonates has been developed. The power of the synthetic manifold is fueled by an unprecedented broad substrate scope and wide functional group tolerance.