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Chemical synthesis is the process by which one or more chemical reactions are performed with the aim of converting a reactant or starting material into a product or multiple products. Chemical synthesis is at the heart of much chemistry research as it is the basis for discovering compounds with new physical or biological properties.
The precision synthesis of cyclic polymers with ultrahigh molar mass (UHMM) and circularity is challenging. Now, a method that involves superbase-mediated living linear-chain growth followed by macromolecular cyclization triggered by protic quenching enables the on-demand production of UHMM cyclic polymers with a narrow dispersity and closed-loop chemical recyclability.
Allylic substitution reaction of alkenes has been well-developed, but it has limitations, partly due to the intrinsic predilection for an inner-sphere mechanism. Herein, the authors present an outer-sphere mechanism in Rh-catalyzed allylic substitution reaction of simple alkenes using gem-difluorinated cyclopropanes as allyl surrogates.
α,β-unsaturated compounds serve as versatile synthons in organic chemistry, but the α,β-desaturation of aliphatic imines is challenging due to easy hydrolysis and preferential dimerization. Herein, the authors report the synthesis of α,β-unsaturated imines by employing a pre-fluorination and palladium-catalyzed dehydrogenation reaction sequence.
Electrophilic halogenation approaches often suffer from low reactivity and chemoselectivity when it comes to complex compounds. Now a class of halogenating reagents based on anomeric amides that can halogenate complex bioactive molecules with diverse functional groups and heterocycles has been developed. The higher reactivity of these anomeric amide reagents is attributed to the energy stored in the pyramidalized nitrogen.
Direct radical C–H amination strategies have exhibited innovation, but challenges remain with C–H amination of electron-poor nitroarenes due to the essence of the electron-deficient nitrogen radical. Herein, the authors report a transition metal-free dehydrogenative C(sp2)-H/N-H cross-coupling between electron-poor nitroarenes and amines.
The precision synthesis of cyclic polymers with ultrahigh molar mass (UHMM) and circularity is challenging. Now, a method that involves superbase-mediated living linear-chain growth followed by macromolecular cyclization triggered by protic quenching enables the on-demand production of UHMM cyclic polymers with a narrow dispersity and closed-loop chemical recyclability.
Irreproducible synthetic methods consume time, money, and resources. Here, we highlight the steps Nature Synthesis takes to help authors make their synthetic procedures as reproducible as possible.
The idea that three different free radicals could be used together to carry out specific steps in a chemical reaction has long been implausible. A ‘radical sorting’ strategy now achieves this feat to make organic molecules.