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Optimized conditions including the phosphine ligand (PPC) allow the efficient synthesis of trifluoromethylstyrenes from fluorinated vinyl chlorides and arylboronic acids.

By using N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as a methylenating reagent, the copper-catalyzed CH activation of indole was demonstrated as an efficient and facile protocol for synthesizing 3,3′-diindolylmethane (DIM) and its derivatives. The results indicate that copper chloride was the best catalyst among the investigated transition metal salts, which affords an excellent regioselectivity and good yield when tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) was used as an oxidant.

The Cu(I) catalysed atom transfer radical addition of dichlorofluorocarbons to olefins via C–Cl bond homolysis is successfully carried out. Isomerization of vic into gem-dichlorofluorocarbons is observed by using CuCl as a catalyst and TPMA as a ligand, indicating a radical addition mechanism of this reaction procedure.

The palladium-catalyzed oxidative Heck reaction of 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoroprop-1-ene with various arylboronic acids was explored for the first time. This method provides a direct route to access (Z)-β-fluoro-β-(trifluoromethyl)styrenes with high stereoselectivity.

The reduction of nitroarenes to formanilides succeeds with catalyst loadings as low as 0.1 mol% at 100°, but may require 2 mol% of catalyst for ortho-substituted or strongly coordinating substrates.

A mild and efficient synthesis of symmetrical diaryl ketones by palladium-catalyzed oxidative carbonylation of arylboronic acids with carbon monoxide at atmospheric pressure is reported.

Levulinic acid (LA) is transformed into pyrrolidinones by formic acid in DMSO without a catalyst. Mechanistic studies suggest the involvement of an iminium intermediate and a rate-limiting hydride transfer step.

DMSO methylates a broad range of amines in the presence of formic acid, providing a novel, green and practical method for amine methylation. The protocol also allows the one-pot transformation of aromatic nitro compounds into dimethylated amines in the presence of a simple iron catalyst.

An unprecedented Rh-catalyzed direct methylation of ketones with N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) is disclosed. The reaction shows a broad substrate scope, tolerating both aryl and alkyl ketones with various substituents. Mechanistic studies suggest that DMF delivers a methylene fragment followed by a hydride in the methylation process.

A composite catalyst formed from L-proline and PEG 1000 immobilized on silica is successfully applied in the aldol reaction of p-nitrobenzaldehyde with simple ketones.

Silica coated with polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and heated at 200°C for 8 h to stabilize the PAN by forming a fused ring structure, was used as support for copper catalysts. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), and also tested for methanol selective dehydrogenation to methyl formate (MF) in a fixed bed reactor. The coverage of silica by PAN was 0.126 mmol/100 m2. The “monolayer spreading threshold value” of CuO on this support found by XPS was 0.31 mmol/100 m2, which corresponds to 7.0 wt.-% of copper on the PAN/SiO2 support. This sample gave the optimal activity, selectivity, and MF yield for methanol dehydrogenation to MF of the samples with different copper contents. The optimal values are: 45.4% methanol conversion, 97.4% selectivity to MF, and 44.2% yield of MF, at 250°C, atmospheric pressure, and a gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) 2220 h−1 of argon containing 3.947 · 10−3 MPa of methanol. The catalytic stability of Cu-PAN/SiO2 was much higher than that of Cu/SiO2(im) prepared by impregnation. The electron binding energy of Cu2p3/2 in Cu-PAN/SiO2 is 1.0 eV lower than that in Cu/SiO2 and that of N1s in the catalyst sample is 1.5 eV higher than that in the support PAN/SiO2. It is inferred that electron transfer might have occurred from nitrogen to copper, forming a donor-acceptor binding and disperses as well as stabilizes the copper on the support surface. The surface Cu/Si atomic ratio of Cu-PAN/SiO2 is higher than that of Cu/SiO2(im). TPR of CuO-PAN/SiO2 samples gave a single peak at 210–260°C, similar to those prepared by ion exchange using uncoated silica, but different from samples prepared by conventional impregnation on uncoated silica.