Articles in 2019

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  • Late-stage aromatic chlorination of active pharmaceutical ingredients has enormous potential in drug discovery yet still features limited applicability due to issues of functional-group tolerance. Now, dimethyl sulfoxide is reported as catalyst for the chlorination of a diverse family of bioactive molecules in combination with N-chlorosuccinimide.

    • Song Song
    • Xinyao Li
    • Ning Jiao
    Article
  • Intensified interest in the area of nickel catalysis has driven the quest for an air-stable and modular Ni(0) precatalyst. Now, an air-stable Ni(0)-olefin precatalyst allows for the convenient set-up of nickel-catalysed reactions on the benchtop.

    • Timothy B. Boit
    • Katie A. Spence
    • Neil K. Garg
    News & Views
  • Electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to multicarbon products is useful for producing high-value chemicals and fuels. Here the authors present a strategy that is based on the in situ electrodeposition of copper under CO2 reduction conditions that preferentially expose and maintain Cu(100) facets, which favour the formation of C2+ products.

    • Yuhang Wang
    • Ziyun Wang
    • Edward H. Sargent
    Article
  • Electrochemical conversion of CO2 into liquid fuels, powered by renewable electricity, offers one means to address the need for the storage of intermittent renewable energy. Now, Sargent and co-workers present a cooperative catalyst design of molecule–metal interfaces to improve the electrosynthesis of ethanol from CO2 by producing a reaction-intermediate-rich local environment.

    • Fengwang Li
    • Yuguang C. Li
    • Edward H. Sargent
    Article
  • Simple methods to incorporate deuterium into organic compounds are highly sought after as deuteration can enable mechanistic studies or improve the metabolic stability of pharmaceuticals. Now, a catalytic hydrogen–deuterium exchange reaction using deuterated water allows convenient access to deuterated aldehyde building blocks.

    • Sarah M. Anthony
    • Andrew V. Kelleghan
    • Neil K. Garg
    News & Views
  • Because of the high strength of N≡N bonds, N2 is often employed as an inert gas. Now it has been shown that it can partly react to yield surface nitrogen species that facilitate C–O hydrogenolysis reactions on supported Ru catalysts.

    • Thomas J. Schwartz
    News & Views
  • Nickel complexes are of ever-increasing importance in organic synthesis; however, unstable Ni(COD)2 is still the main Ni(0) source used. Here the authors report a solution to this long-standing issue: an air stable Ni(0) complex that acts as a general precatalyst for numerous nickel-catalysed reactions.

    • Lukas Nattmann
    • Rakan Saeb
    • Josep Cornella
    Article
  • Carbon monoxide can be electrochemically transformed to multi-carbon products selectively at high rates, raising the prospect of a two-step pathway to transform CO2 into value-added chemical products. This Perspective highlights recent progress complemented by a techno-economic analysis of the two-step conversion process and cradle-to-gate lifecycle assessment.

    • Matthew Jouny
    • Gregory S. Hutchings
    • Feng Jiao
    Perspective
  • Methods to allow access to all isomers of a product are both valuable and challenging to achieve. Here the authors report a catalytic system comprised of an N-heterocyclic carbene and an iridium complex, and show that it can be used for the asymmetric, diastereodivergent synthesis of γ-butyrolactones.

    • Santanu Singha
    • Eloisa Serrano
    • Frank Glorius
    Article
  • The synthesis of organophosphorus compounds from elemental phosphorus is an inefficient process, using multiple steps, stoichiometric metal complexes and/or hazardous reagents such as chlorine gas. Here, a direct photocatalytic route to convert white phosphorus (P4) into phosphines and phosphonium salts is reported.

    • Ulrich Lennert
    • Percia Beatrice Arockiam
    • Robert Wolf
    Article