Alkyl oxalates are new bench-stable alcohol-activating groups for radical generation under visible light photoredox conditions. Using these precursors, the first net redox-neutral coupling of tertiary and secondary alcohols with electron-deficient alkenes is achieved.

Alkyl-substituted tetra-coordinate organoboronium bisdiketone complexes exhibit dramatic luminescence thermochromism in organic solvents. In glass-forming alcohols, these complexes exhibit a reversible aqua blue to orange-red to greenish yellow luminescence emission colour change upon cooling.

A Cu(II)-MOF (1') with open metal sites was readily obtained by removing the coordinated water molecule at 120 °C. It can be used as a probe to evidence the sec-alkyl hydroperoxide species generated from room temperature sec-alcohol auto-oxidation in air. The formed alkyl hydroperoxides can be effectively catalyzed by 1' to decompose into molecular oxygen and corresponding sec-alcohols under am...

An environmentally benign and practical preparation method for the Vilsmeier-Haack reagent (VH) has been developed by using phthaloyl dichloride with DMF in toluene or 2-chlorotoluene. Phthalic anhydride as the byproduct was recovered in high yield by simple filtration. Some aromatic acids have been transformed into the corresponding acid chlorides in good yields by employing the isolated VH. T...

Significance: Organozinc compounds are very useful intermediates in synthesis of complex organic molecules due to their high reactivity combined with an excellent tolerance of functional groups. So far, the direct insertion of commercial zinc dust into organic halides was limited only to alkyl iodides and tertiary bromides, which diminished its synthetic value. Herein, a new method, allowing th...

N-alkyl amino acids find widespread application as highly valuable, renewable building blocks. However, traditional synthesis methodologies to obtain these suffer from serious limitations, providing a major challenge to develop sustainable alternatives. We report the first powerful catalytic strategy for the direct N-alkylation of unprotected α-amino acids with alcohols. This method is highly s...