Hit for six! Six bonds are formed in a tandem process that gives rise to substituted 1,4-dihydropyrrole[3,2-b]pyrroles. Unparalleled simplicity and versatility of this one-pot reaction, no chromatography, as well as highly interesting optical properties have the potential to bring these molecules to the forefront in various applications.

[Full Paper]
Anita Janiga, Eliza Glodkowska-Mrowka, Tomasz Stoklosa, Daniel T. Gryko
Asian J. Org. Chem. 2013, 2, No. 5, 411. Read article.

A twist in the tale: The emission properties of π-conjugated molecules with an N-methylbenzimidazole as a proton-responsive unit are compared between T-shaped cross-conjugated and linear conjugated molecules. Acid-responsive twisted intramolecular charge-transfer (TICT) emission requires the cross-conjugated T-shaped structure in terms of the separation of frontier molecular orbitals of the HOMO and LUMO, as well as bond rotation.

[Full Paper]
Toshifumi Inouchi, Takuya Nakashima, Tsuyoshi Kawai
Asian J. Org. Chem. 2013, 2, No. 3, 230. Read article.

The synthesis of enamines from only tertiary amines has been developed by using a catalytic amount of Pd(OAc)₂ (5 mol %) in air. These generated enamines were successfully used for 1,4-conjugated addition reactions with fluoroalkylated olefins as an alternative synthetic route for the formylmethylation of olefins. This reaction adds potential for the use of tertiary amines as a nucleophilic C₂ synthon. EWG=electron-withdrawing group.

[Full Paper]
Atsunori Morigaki, Mio Kawamura, Satoru Arimitsu, Takashi Ishihara, Tsutomu Konno
Asian J. Org. Chem. 2013, 2, No. 3, 239. Read article.

She's electric: The addition reactions of diaryl disulfides (ArSSAr) to alkenes and alkynes were achieved with a catalytic amount of an electrochemically generated arylbis(arylthio)sulfonium ion (ArS(ArSSAr)⁺) to give the corresponding diarylthiolated products. A cation chain mechanism mediated by ArS(ArSSAr)⁺ as a chain carrier is suggested.

[Full Paper]
Kouichi Matsumoto, Tomonari Sanada, Hayato Shimazaki, Kazuaki Shimada, Shino Hagiwara, Shunsuke Fujie, Yosuke Ashikari, Seiji Suga, Shigenori Kashimura, Jun-ichi Yoshida
Asian J. Org. Chem. 2013, 2, No. 4, 325. Read article.

An ugly duckling grows into a swan: Many organisms grow their crystalline mineral phases through the secondary nucleation of nanospheres made of an amorphous precursor phase. Stable amorphous calcium carbonate biominerals were used to induce a similar transformation in vitro. The amorphous nanospheres underwent a solid-phase transformation that resulted in highly ordered calcite crystals composed of aggregated particles (see SEM image).

[Communication]
Assaf Gal, Wouter Habraken, Dvir Gur, Peter Fratzl, Steve Weiner, Lia Addadi
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, No. 18, 4867. Read article.

“Photothermometer”: A PAOF system was constructed using a diode laser as the energy source, an aqueous suspension of plasmonic nanostructures as the photothermal transducer, and a glass capillary for measuring the volumetric expansion of the suspension (see picture). The suspension could be driven to move up the capillary by more than 30 mm and be used to control the operation of an electrical switch.

[Communication]
Jie Zeng, David Goldfeld, Younan Xia
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, No. 15, 4169. Read article.

Iron-bound structure: The ferric complex of a tetradentate siderophore mimic was synthesized and co-crystallized with the periplasmic binding protein CeuE of Campylobacter jejuni. In addition to electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding interactions between the binding pocket and the substrate, the structure showed direct coordination of two amino acid side chains to the Fe^III center (orange, see figure).

[Communication]
Daniel J. Raines, Olga V. Moroz, Keith S. Wilson, Anne-K. Duhme-Klair
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, No. 17, 4595. Read article.

Wonderful gels: A trihybrid gel was prepared by incorporating graphene oxide and in situ synthesized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) into an amino-acid-based native gel matrix (see pict). The morphology of this system indicates the presence of three distinctly different nanostructures: nanofibers, nanosheets, and nanoparticles. The catalytic efficiency of this trihybrid system is enhanced relative to that of AuNPs in a dihybrid system.

[Communication]
Jayanta Nanda, Abhijit Biswas, Bimalendu Adhikari, Arindam Banerjee
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, No. 19, 5041. Read article.

Ties that bind: Typically, a fluorophore binds to one of the Sudlow's sites on albumin. Surprisingly, BP(OH)₂ did not exhibit such behavior, but rather appeared to bind to a cleft at the interface of subdomains IIIA and IIB.

[Full Paper]
Dipanwita De, Harpreet Kaur, Anindya Datta
Chem. Asian J. 2013, 8, No. 4, 728. Read article.

An ode to anodes: Ternary nanocomposites consisting of a porous MnO framework, metallic Co nanoparticles, and a solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI) were produced from MnCO₃ precursors. As the highly dispersed Co nanoparticles and SEI provide electron and Li-ion conductive networks, respectively, the MnO frameworks are applicable as durable anode materials for Li-ion batteries.

[Full Paper]
Feng Dang, Yuya Oaki, Takao Kokubu, Eiji Hosono, Haoshen Zhou, Hiroaki Imai
Chem. Asian J. 2013, 8, No. 4, 760. Read article.

Pi in the sky: 1,2-bis(ferrocenyl)distibene and 1,2-bis(ferrocenyl)dibismuthene derivatives, where two bulky ferrocenyl units are bridged by a Sb=Sb and Bi=Bi π spacer, have been synthesized as a new family of novel d–π conjugated systems. Their molecular structures, spectroscopic behavior, and electrochemical properties reveal the Sb=Sb and Bi=Bi units to be effective π-electron spacers.

[Communication]
Michiyasu Sakagami, Takahiro Sasamori, Heisuke Sakai, Yukio Furukawa, Norihiro Tokitoh
Chem. Asian J. 2013, 8, No. 4, 690. Read article.

Al in: A new strategy was introduced to modify the electronics and steric hindrance of the Pd^II ion in order to change its reactivity towards benzene hydroxylation. In trifluoroacetic acid, free Pd^II ions provide dominantly biphenyl, with phenol as minor product. Ligation of bpym to the Pd^II ion results in its deactivation with regard to benzene functionalization. The addition of the redox inactive Al^III ion to the Pd^II(bpym) complex recovers its catalytic activity, and alters the reactivity of Pd^II ion from benzene coupling to hydroxylation.

[Communication]
Huajun Guo, Zhuqi Chen, Fuming Mei, Dajian Zhu, Hui Xiong, Guochuan Yin
Chem. Asian J. 2013, 8, No. 5, 888. Read article.

Looks like lysine: The catalytically essential lysine in N-acetylneuraminic acid lyase was replaced by thialysine by chemical modification. High yields of modified enzyme allowed detailed structural and kinetic analyses which demonstrated that thialysine is a good structural mimic of lysine, but that the altered pK_a of the thialysine results in lower recovery of activity.

[Full Paper]
Nicole Timms, Claire L. Windle, Anna Polyakova, James R. Ault, Chi H. Trinh, Arwen R. Pearson, Adam Nelson, Alan Berry
ChemBioChem 2013, 14, No. 4, 474. Read article.

Reinventing the wheel: The β-propeller domain folds like a wheel to provide key protein–protein interactions in the cell. Here we used high-throughput yeast sorting to “invent” β-propellers of new binding specificities with cellular targets.

[Communication]
Keya Zhang, Heng Li, Karan Bhuripanyo, Bo Zhao, Tiffany F. Chen, Ning Zheng, Jun Yin
ChemBioChem 2013, 14, No. 4, 426. Read article.

SIRT1 specificity: The multispecific SIRT1 enzyme catalyzes the deacetylation of acetyllysine residues within protein targets. However, little is known regarding the molecular basis for SIRT1 substrate recognition. Kinetic analysis of SIRT1 with a panel of peptide substrates shows the high importance of the region N-flanking the target acetyllysine and its high conservation through evolution.

[Communication]
Roman Meledin, Ashraf Brik, Amir Aharoni
ChemBioChem 2013, 14, No. 5, 577. Read article.

Ringing the changes: Selenazolines have applications in medicinal chemistry, but their synthesis is challenging. We report a new convenient and less toxic route to these heterocycles that starts from commercially available selenocysteine. The new route depends on a heterocyclase enzyme that creates oxazolines and thiazolines from serines/threonines and cysteines.

[Communication]
Jesko Koehnke, Falk Morawitz, Andrew F. Bent, Wael E. Houssen, Sally L. Shirran, Matthew A. Fuszard, Iain A. Smellie, Catherine H. Botting, Margaret C. M. Smith, Marcel Jaspars, James H. Naismith
ChemBioChem 2013, 14, No. 5, 564. Read article.

Dual activity: We report the synthesis and efficient catalytic properties of acid–base bifunctional mesoporous silica catalyst comprising tertiary amine and optimized concentration of surface silanol (weak acid) groups for the Michael addition reactions between various trans-β-nitrostyrenes and active methylene compounds, such as malononitrile, acetylacetone, and diethylmalonate.

[Full Paper]
Sayantani Das, Anandarup Goswami, Nagarajan Murali, Tewodros Asefa
ChemCatChem 2013, 5, No. 4, 910. Read article.

Co-op multiplayer: The synergistic effect of bimetallic alloy nanoparticles in various catalytic reactions is highlighted, in particular those related to fuel cells, such as the electrochemical oxidation of MeOH, EtOH, and formic acid, CO oxidation, oxygen reduction, and the dehydrogenation of ammonia borane, formic acid, hydrous hydrazine, and hydrazine borane. The use of synergistic catalysis in a number of other reactions is also discussed.

[Review]
Ashish Kumar Singh, Qiang Xu
ChemCatChem 2013, 5, No. 3, 652. Read article.

Rise to the top: A series of phosphated ceria catalysts were studied and presented an increase in oxidative dehydrogenation selectivity with respect to pure ceria, mainly at the expense of total oxidation selectivity. Thus, the selectivity to propene was approximately 74 % with surface-phosphated catalysts and 62 % with bulk-phosphated catalysts.

[Full Paper]
Ioan-Teodor Trotuş, Cristian M. Teodorescu, Vasile I. Pârvulescu, Ioan-Cezar Marcu
ChemCatChem 2013, 5, No. 3, 757. Read article.

Cyclos and cycles: Cyclopalladated arylimine complexes are immobilized on solid slides and characterized. The heterogeneous catalyst obtained exhibits 10 times the catalytic performance of its homogeneous counterpart. None of the reactions require the use of ligands, air isolation, or assistant solvents. The catalysts are run for 8 cycles without deactivation. A Suzuki reaction mechanism is proposed.

[Full Paper]
Na Zhao, Tiesheng Li, Zhen Zhai, Jingjing Qiu, Wenjian Xu, Hui Liu, Yangjie Wu
ChemCatChem, February 11, 2013, DOI: 10.1002/cctc.201200730. Read article.

Crystallized! Mono-, di-, and tricationic amines that display unprecedented chemical environments around the central nitrogen atom have been structurally characterized. Cyclic voltammetry experiments and density functional calculations have been performed to gain insight into the electronic structure of these new compounds.

[Communication]
Agnes Kozma, Gopinadhanpillai Gopakumar, Christophe Farès, Walter Thiel, Manuel Alcarazo
Chem. Eur. J. 2013, 19, No. 11, 3542. Read article.

Nature versus man-made: Biocatalyzed artificial photosynthesis occurs through the coupling of redox biocatalysis and photocatalysis to mimic natural photosynthesis based on visible-light-driven regeneration of enzyme cofactors. Key design principles for reaction components, such as electron donors, photosensitizers, and electron mediators, are described for artificial photosynthesis involving biocatalytic assemblies.

[Concept]
Sahng Ha Lee, Jae Hong Kim, Chan Beum Park
Chem. Eur. J. 2013, 19, No. 14, 4392. Read article.

Parting water! Direct splitting of pure water into H₂ and O₂ under visible light (λ>400 nm) was achieved by using a modified TaON photocatalyst with d⁰ electronic configuration. Modification of a less-defective TaON (ZrO₂/TaON) with core/shell-structured RuO_x/Cr₂O₃ nanoparticles and colloidal IrO₂ was found to be indispensable to achieving the reaction (see figure).

[Communication]
Kazuhiko Maeda, Daling Lu, Kazunari Domen
Chem. Eur. J. 2013, 19, No. 16, 4986. Read article.

Anion-triggered chiral switch: Reversible switching between fac and mer isomers in tris(2,2'-bipyridine)iron(II) complexes, the ligands of which are substituted at the 5-position with various peptides of different lengths and sequences, has been achieved (see figure). The remote stereocontrol at the Fe^II center by a domino-type chiral information transfer along an achiral peptide main-chain was observed even over 3 nm (50 bond lengths).

[Communication]
Naoki Ousaka, Yuki Takeyama, Eiji Yashima
Chem. Eur. J. 2013, 19, No. 15, 4680. Read article.

Sipholenol A, a sipholane triterpene from Callyspongia siphonella, and its analogues are shown to have antimigratory activity in metastatic human breast cancer cells, while exhibiting no cytotoxicity towards normal epithelial cells. Evaluation of 19,20-anhydrosipholenol A 4β-benzoate ester against 451 human protein kinases identified protein tyrosine kinase 6 as a potential target. Sipholane triterpenoids represent novel antimigratory marine natural products with potential for development against metastatic malignancies.

[Full Paper]
Ahmed I. Foudah, Sandeep Jain, Belnaser A. Busnena, Khalid A. El Sayed
ChemMedChem 2013, 8, No. 3, 497. Read article.

Tidal power: We report the synthesis and biological evaluation of several ProTides of 6-modified analogues of 2'-fluoro-2'-deoxyguanosine as anti-influenza agents. The superiority of the ProTides over the parent nucleosides was demonstrated in both influenza virus replication assays in MDCK cells and vRNP reconstitution assays in HEK-293T cells.

[Full Paper]
Silvia Meneghesso, Evelien Vanderlinden, Andrea Brancale, Jan Balzarini, Lieve Naesens, Christopher McGuigan
ChemMedChem 2013, 8, No. 3, 415. Read article.

CA all the way! Early hits from a series of benzodiazepine inhibitors of viral capsid protein (CA), a novel target against HIV, were characterized using NMR and X-ray co-crystallography. Ligand-based ¹⁹F NMR was used to confirm binding specificity and reversibility, and to identify the N-terminal domain (CA_NTD) as the molecular target. Protein-based NMR identified key residues involved in binding, while X-ray co-crystallography confirmed the binding site and mode. Conformationally restricted cyclic inhibitors further validated the possible binding modes.

[Full Paper]
Nathalie Goudreau, René Coulombe, Anne-Marie Faucher, Chantal Grand-Maître, Jean-Eric Lacoste, Christopher T. Lemke, Eric Malenfant, Yves Bousquet, Lee Fader, Bruno Simoneau, Jean-François Mercier, Steve Titolo, Stephen W. Mason
ChemMedChem 2013, 8, No. 3, 405. Read article.

Antiviral identification: Using a virtual screening protocol, ∼250 000 commercially available compounds were theoretically evaluated for potential anti-HIV activity through disruption of the gp120–CD4 interface. Twenty hits were subsequently evaluated in vitro, identifying four novel chemical scaffolds with EC₅₀ values ranging between 25–0.9 μM against wild-type (NL4-3) HIV-1-infected MT-4 cells. Phe 43 cavity of gp120 was confirmed as the target by a mutation experiment, being the Met 475 Ile mutant strain resistant to these agents.

[Full Paper]
Cristina Tintori, Manikandan Selvaraj, Roger Badia, Bonaventura Clotet, José A. Esté, Maurizio Botta
ChemMedChem 2013, 8, No. 3, 475. Read article.

Complex radical interactions: The complexes of aromatic radicals and water are investigated using computational methods (see picture) and (for the benzyl radical–water complex) by matrix isolation experiments.

[Article]
Rachel Crespo-Otero, Kenny Bravo-Rodriguez, Saonli Roy, Tobias Benighaus, Walter Thiel, Wolfram Sander, Elsa Sánchez-García
ChemPhysChem 2013, 14, No. 4, 805. Read article.

Elemental photocatalysts are emerging as a new class of visible-light-responsive catalytic materials for applications in pollutant degradation and water splitting.

[Concept]
Gang Liu, Ping Niu, Hui-Ming Cheng
ChemPhysChem 2013, 14, No. 5, 885. Read article.

Paired up: The structures and proton-coupled behavior of adenine–thymine and a modified base pair containing a thymine isostere, adenine–difluorotoluene (A-F), are studied in different solvents by dispersion-corrected density functional theory. DNA sequences capable of changing their sequence conformation on protonation are used in the construction of pH-based molecular switches (see picture).

[Article]
A. K. Jissy, Sukanya Konar, Ayan Datta
ChemPhysChem 2013, 14, No. 6, 1219. Read article.

Fungi for the better: The so far highest known current density (1.37 mA cm⁻²) for the enzymatic O₂ reduction under physiological conditions is reported. This is achieved by the design of a new redox polymer with an increased catalytic site density and by using a new bilirubin oxidase (BOD) from Magnaporthe oryzae.

[Communication]
Marine Cadet, Xavier Brilland, Sébastien Gounel, Frédéric Louerat, Nicolas Mano
ChemPhysChem, February 7, 2013, DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201300027. Read article.

Do it in the microwave: A graphene/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (G/PEDOT) hybrid has been prepared by the in situ polymerization of EDOT monomer using the precursor of graphene, graphene oxide, as an oxidant under microwave heating. The G/PEDOT hybrid as a supercapacitor material exhibits high specific capacitance (see figure), excellent electrochemical stability, and high energy density.

[Full Paper]
Dong Sun, Li Jin, Yun Chen, Jian-Rong Zhang, Jun-Jie Zhu
ChemPlusChem 2013, 78, No. 3, 227. Read article.

A series of CuS hierarchical nanostructures have been synthesized. The CuS nanostructures with large surface area show excellent photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue. The formation mechanism of the hierarchical structures was discussed. Selected CuS nanostructures possess excellent microwave absorbing properties. When the absorbers have a thickness is 3.5 mm, the minimum reflection loss can reach −76.4 dB at 12.64 GHz (see graph).

[Full Paper]
Shuai He, Guang-Sheng Wang, Chang Lu, Xin Luo, Bo Wen, Lin Guo, Mao-Sheng Cao
ChemPlusChem 2013, 78, No. 3, 250. Read article.

Recyclable ribbons: Fe₂V₄O₁₃ nanoribbons (see figure) growing on a stainless-steel mesh were fabricated by a simple and facile hydrothermal reaction. The nanoribbons can be easily recycled and used in the photocatalytic conversion of CO₂ into renewable hydrocarbon fuel (CH₄) and in the degradation of gaseous isopropyl alcohol.

[Full Paper]
Ping Li, Yong Zhou, Wenguang Tu, Qi Liu, Shicheng Yan, Zhigang Zou
ChemPlusChem 2013, 78, No. 3, 274. Read article.

Probes with a preference: Folate-functionalized quantum dots, gold/silver nanoparticles, and magnetic quantum dots have been synthesized and used as fluorescence, dark-field, and dual-imaging probes for the selective detection of cancer cells and tissues (see figure).

[Full Paper]
Amit Ranjan Maity, Arindam Saha, Arun Roy, Nikhil R. Jana
ChemPlusChem 2013, 78, No. 3, 259. Read article.

Hop, skip, and jump: A mathematical model that allows the identification of limiting steps for current production under several experimental conditions and in different layers of a biofilm is presented. A comparison of model outputs considering electron hopping and conduction through pili indicates that only electron hopping can account for some recent experimental results.

[Full Paper]
P. Sebastian Bonanni, Dan F. Bradley, Germán D. Schrott, Juan Pablo Busalmen
ChemSusChem 2013, 6, No. 4, 711. Read article.

Baking biomass! Highly porous carbonaceous monoliths are designed and synthesized from a sustainable saccharide derivative. With furfural as the carbon precursor and using a carbonization method that is based on using a concentrated direct emulsion as a soft-template, a graphitized carbon framework was produced. As a proof of principle, these new carbons are successfully used as electrodes for enzymatic biofuel cells.

[Full Paper]
Nicolas Brun, Lise Edembe, Sébastien Gounel, Nicolas Mano, Magdalena M. Titirici
ChemSusChem 2013, 6, No. 4, 701. Read article.

Mixed noblility: We show that the modification of a gold/carbon catalyst with platinum or palladium produces stable and recyclable catalysts for the selective oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA): the support and nanoparticle chemistry directly mediate the selective oxidation of terminal hydroxyl groups in bio-derived HMF. This finding is a significant advance over current conversion technology because of the technological importance of FDCA.

[Communication]
Alberto Villa, Marco Schiavoni, Sebastiano Campisi, Gabriel M. Veith, Laura Prati
ChemSusChem 2013, 6, No. 4, 609. Read article.

Support for platinum: The hydrothermal treatment of cellulose under H₂ in the presence of tungstated alumina-based catalysts (AlW) yields lactic acid or acetol and propylene glycol as the main products depending on the presence or absence of supported platinum.

[Full Paper]
Flora Chambon, Franck Rataboul, Catherine Pinel, Amandine Cabiac, Emmanuelle Guillon, Nadine Essayem
ChemSusChem 2013, 6, No. 3, 500. Read article.

Dipotassium pentachloridooxidotechnetate has been isolated as single crystals and its structure investigated by crystallographic and first-principles theoretical techniques.

[Short Communication]
Erik V. Johnstone, Philippe F. Weck, Frederic Poineau, Eunja Kim, Paul M. Forster, Alfred P. Sattelberger, Kenneth R. Czerwinski
Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2013, No. 7, 1097. Read article.

The spectroscopic properties of Rh and Ir complexes that contain meso-p-methoxyphenyldipyrromethene (dipyH) and phenylpyridine (ppy) ligands, [Rh(dipy)₃], [Rh(ppy)₂(dipy)] and [Ir(ppy)₂(dipy)], are described and discussed from experimental and theoretical approaches.

[Full Paper]
Diane Ramlot, Mateusz Rebarz, Leen Volker, Margriet Ovaere, David Beljonne, Wim Dehaen, Luc Van Meervelt, Cécile Moucheron, Andrée Kirsch-De Mesmaeker
Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2013, No. 12, 2031. Read article.

Pyranoside phosphinite-oxazoline ligands were successfully applied in the asymmetric Ir-catalyzed hydrogenation of a wide range of minimally functionalized olefins (ee up to 99 %). The introduction of a bulky ortho-tolyl phosphinite moiety was crucial to achieving the highest enantioselectivities with some of the most challenging substrate types.

[Full Paper]
Javier Mazuela, Oscar Pàmies, Montserrat Diéguez
Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2013, No. 12, 2139. Read article.

A new synthetic route is described for the Pd-catalyzed preparation of mono- and di-B-mercapto(ortho-, meta-, and para-)carboranes from iodocarboranes and a sulfur nucleophile (TIPS–SH).

[Short Communication]
Kuanysh Z. Kabytaev, Thomas A. Everett, Alexander V. Safronov, Yulia V. Sevryugina, Satish S. Jalisatgi, M. Frederick Hawthorne
Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2013, No. 14, 2488. Read article.

A new route to α-glycosyl azides by way of TMSN₃ ring-opening of 1,6-anhydro sugars is presented. The potential of this methodology is demonstrated by the expeditious synthesis of a pseudopentasaccharide following a “click-click” approach.

[Full Paper]
Mathieu L. Lepage, Anne Bodlenner, Philippe Compain
Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2013, No. 10, 1963. Read article.

The asymmetric dehydro-Diels–Alder (ADDA) reaction to axially chiral (1,5)naphthalenophanes was investigated. Using chiral auxiliaries, both photochemical and thermal DDA provided the target compounds, in which the latter approach provided better results in regard to yields and stereoselectivity. Furthermore, the mechanism of the DDA reaction was investigated by means of DFT calculations.

[Full Paper]
Pablo Wessig, Annika Matthes, Uwe Schilde, Alexandra Kelling
Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2013, No. 11, 2123. Read article.

Tertiary amides are reduced to their corresponding tertiary amines in high isolated yields by using the polymeric silane polymethylhydrosiloxane (PMHS) in the presence of an in situ generated iron/N-heterocyclic carbene complex (1 mol-%), generated from iron(II) acetate and 1-(2-hydroxy-2-phenylethyl)-3-methylimidazolium triflate ([PhHEMIM][OTF]), and a catalytic amount of lithium chloride (1 mol-%).

[Short Communication]
Alexey Volkov, Elina Buitrago, Hans Adolfsson
Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2013, No. 11, 2066. Read article.

A variety of (E)-dehydroamino acid esters were stereoselectively synthesized by using (diphenylphosphono)glycinate. The stereoselectivity was influenced by metal additives. Various (E)-dehydroamino acid esters were prepared by the condensation reaction of the new phosphonates with easily available aldehydes by choosing the appropriate reaction conditions.

[Short Communication]
Yoko Yasuno, Makoto Hamada, Takeshi Yamada, Tetsuro Shinada, Yasufumi Ohfune
Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2013, No. 10, 1884. Read article.

Give‘em fluorine! Bright and highly photostable boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes were obtained by the introduction of up to three pentafluoro- or 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl moieties to the BODIPY core, which present a first generation of potent dual X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)/fluorescence labels for the quantification of surface functional groups.

[Full Paper]
Mandy Hecht, Tobias Fischer, Paul Dietrich, Werner Kraus, Ana B. Descalzo, Wolfgang E. S. Unger, Knut Rurack
ChemistryOpen 2013, 2, No. 1, 25. Read article.

Highly decorated! A direct and efficient way to decorate TiO₂ nanotubes with copper, Cu₂O and CuO particles is shown. Active palladium species embedded in the TiO₂ nanotube walls allow specific initiation sites to be triggered for electroless copper deposition. These Cu₂O-decorated TiO₂ nanotubes could be used for water splitting.

[Communication]
Anca Mazare, Ning Liu, Kiyoung Lee, Manuela S. Killian, Patrik Schmuki
ChemistryOpen 2013, 2, No. 1, 21. Read article.

Separation of CO₂. Microporous polyurethane networks were prepared based on a renewable resource. Betulin, extracted from birch bark, is used as a structure-directing diol monomer in A₃-B₂ monomers. The resulting microporous networks show very promising CO₂/N₂ selectivities. The state of adsorbed CO₂ is analyzed by in situ NMR spectroscopy, and pure physisorption is proven. The preparation of monolithic materials is demonstrated as well.

[Communication]
Jekaterina Jeromenok, Winfried Böhlmann, Christian Jäger, Jens Weber
ChemistryOpen 2013, 2, No. 1, 17. Read article.

Fluorine is unique! A synthesis method for polynuclear systems with bridging fluorido ligands has been developed. The method is based on anchoring and protection of the fluorido ligand by initial coordination to a robust metal center (e.g., Cr^III) and subsequent use of the robust fluoride complex for construction of more complicated polynuclear structures.

[Thesis Treasury]
Torben Birk
ChemistryOpen 2013, 2, No. 1, 13. Read article.