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We herein describe the chiral diboron-templated asymmetric homocoupling of aryl alkyl ketimines, providing for the first time a series of chiral vicinal tetrasubstituted diamines with excellent ee values and good to high yields. The powerful and efficient diboron-participated [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement is successfully demonstrated by the homocoupling of a variety of ketimines thanks to the rational design and engineering of chiral diborons. Systematic DFT studies suggest that two chiral diborons adopt different conformational assembling strategies to couple the diboron template with ketimine substrates in their tight concerted transition states to ensure the excellent enantioselectivities. The synthetic value of chiral vicinal tetrasubstituted diamines is demonstrated by the asymmetric α-bromination of aliphatic aldehydes by employing a chiral vicinal tetrasubstituted diamine-based organocatalyst., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

A rhodium(I)-diene catalyzed highly enantioselective C(sp 2 )-H functionalization of simple unprotected indoles, pyrroles, and their common analogues such as furans, thiophenes, and benzofurans with arylvinyldiazoesters has been developed for the first time. This transformation features unusual site-selectivity exclusively at the vinyl terminus of arylvinylcarbene and enables a reliable and rapid synthetic protocol to access a distinctive class of diarylmethine-bearing α,β-unsaturated esters containing a one or two heteroarene-attached tertiary carbon stereocenter in high yields and excellent enantioselectivities under mild reaction conditions. Mechanistic studies and DFT calculations suggest that, compared to the aniline substrate, the more electron-rich indole substrate lowers the C-C addition barrier and alters the rate-determining step to the reductive elimination, leading to different isotope effect., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Chiral carboxylic acids are important compounds because of their prevalence in pharmaceuticals, natural products and agrochemicals. Asymmetric hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids has been widely recognized as one of the most efficient synthetic approaches to afford such compounds. Although related asymmetric hydrogenation of di- and trisubstituted unsaturated acids with noble metals is well established, asymmetric hydrogenation of challenging tetrasubstituted α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids is rarely reported. We demonstrate enantioselective hydrogenation of cyclic and acyclic tetrasubstituted α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids via cobalt(II) catalysis. This protocol showed broad substrate scope and gave chiral carboxylic acids in good yields with excellent enantiocontrol (up to 98 % yield and 99 % ee). Combined experimental and computational mechanistic studies support a Co II catalytic cycle involving migratory insertion and σ-bond metathesis processes. DFT calculations reveal that enantioselectivity may originate from the steric effect between the phenyl groups of the ligand and the substrate., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Molecular doping of inorganic semiconductors is a rising topic in the field of organic/inorganic hybrid electronics. However, it is difficult to find dopant molecules which simultaneously exhibit strong reducibility and stability in ambient atmosphere, which are needed for n-type doping of oxide semiconductors. Herein, successful n-type doping of SnO 2 is demonstrated by a simple, air-robust, and cost-effective triphenylphosphine oxide molecule. Strikingly, it is discovered that electrons are transferred from the R3P + O - σ-bond to the peripheral tin atoms other than the directly interacted ones at the surface. That means those electrons are delocalized. The course is verified by multi-photophysical characterizations. This doping effect accounts for the enhancement of conductivity and the decline of work function of SnO 2 , which enlarges the built-in field from 0.01 to 0.07 eV and decreases the energy barrier from 0.55 to 0.39 eV at the SnO 2 /perovskite interface enabling an increase in the conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells from 19.01% to 20.69%., (© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Inspired by the unique character of enzymes, we developed novel chiral SPO (secondary-phosphine-oxide) ligand (SPO-Wudaphos) which can enter into both ion pair and H-bond noncovalent interactions. The novel chiral SPO-Wudaphos exhibited excellent results in the asymmetric hydrogenation of α-methylene-γ-keto carboxylic acids, affording the chiral γ-keto acids with up to over 99 % ee. A series of control experiments and DFT calculations were conducted to illustrate the critical roles of both the ion pair and H-bond noncovalent interactions., (© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Recently, a lactate racemase was discovered as a new Ni-dependent enzyme with a unique tethered NAD-like cofactor. We report the first computational study aimed at deciphering the previously unclear role of the Ni-tethered cofactor in reactions of the lactate racemase. Our calculations revealed that the cofactor increases the dehydrogenation barriers. The formation of a metastable NADH-like pyruvate intermediate and two nearby histidine bases are proposed as the key factors in the racemization reaction. Such destabilization of intermediates by the cofactor is uncommon in enzymatic catalysis. This result provides new insight into the design of a reactive metal-tethered NADH-like complex for synthetic hydrogenations., (© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A conformationally adaptive macrocycle is presented, namely zorb[4]arene, which exists in multiple conformations in the uncomplexed state. The binding cavity of zorb[4]arene is concealed, either due to a collapsed conformation or by self-inclusion. The zorb[4]arene with long alkyl chains manifests itself with surprisingly low melting point and thus exist as an oil at room temperature. Binding of a guest molecule induces the folding and conformational rigidity of zorb[4]arene and leads to well-defined three-dimensional structures, which can further self-assemble into nanosheets or nanotubes upon solvent evaporation, depending on guest molecules and the conformations they can induce., (© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A general and mild hydrosilylation of thioalkynes is described. With the cationic catalyst [Cp*Ru(MeCN)3 ](+) and the bulky silane (TMSO)3 SiH, a range of thioalkynes underwent smooth hydrosilylation at room temperature with excellent α regioselectivity and syn stereoselectivity. DFT calculations provided important insight into the mechanism, particularly the unusual syn selectivity with the [Cp*Ru(MeCN)3 ](+) catalyst. The sulfenyl group in the substrates was found to provide important chelation stabilization to direct the reaction through a new mechanistic pathway., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The first dearomative indole [5+2] cycloaddition reaction with an oxidopyrylium ylide resulted in efficient and diastereoselective construction of some highly functionalized and synthetically challenging oxacyclohepta[b]indoles. The protocol proceeds under very mild reaction conditions, thus enabling high functional-group tolerance and unique endo selectivity., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Handpick single cancer cells: a modified NanoVelcro Chip is coupled with ArcturusXT laser capture microdissection (LCM) technology to enable the detection and isolation of single circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from patients with prostate cancer (PC). This new approach paves the way for conducting next-generation sequencing (NGS) on single CTCs., (Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)