THE TITLE COMPOUND [SYSTEMATIC NAME: 2-(imidazol-1-ylmeth-yl)isoindole-1,3-dione], C(12)H(9)N(3)O(2), was prepared by reaction of N-(bromo-meth-yl)phthalimide and imidazole in chloro-form solution. The crystal structure is stabilized by weak inter-molecular C-H⋯π inter-actions and inter-molecular π-π inter-actions with centroid-centroid distances in the range 3.6469 (8)-3.8831 (9) Å.

A Cu-catalyzed aromatic C-H amidation with phthalimide under oxygen as a terminal oxidant without using additional additives has been achieved. This reaction has the broad substrate scope and shows moderate to good yields in most cases. This method is complementary to the previously reported metal-catalyzed C-H amination systems.

Brønsted or Lewis acid assisted activation of an imidogold precatalyst (L-Au-Pht, Pht = phthalimide) offers a superior way to generate cationic gold compared with the commonly used silver-based system. It is also broadly applicable for most common gold-catalyzed reactions. For reactions that require milder conditions, milder acids can be used for optimized efficiency.

Carbonisation of potassium phthalimide (PPI) generates microporous carbons with exceptional gas uptake at 25 °C; 5.2 mmol per g CO 2 @ 1 bar, and methane storage 338 cm 3 (STP) −3 100 bar 100–5 working capacity 249 .

The CoI2(PPh3)2/Zn system effectively catalyzes the [2 + 2 + 2] ene-diyne cycloaddition of 1,6-heptadiynes with allenes in a highly regio- and chemoselective fashion to yield substituted benzene derivatives in good to excellent yields.

A new strategy for Rh(I)-catalyzed [2+2+2] cycloadditions of 1,6-diynes with potassium (Z)-(2-bromovinyl)trifluoroborate as the third two-atom unit has been realized, which provides a facile entry to polysubstituented benzene derivatives.

Hexa-substituted benzene derivatives show larger two-photon cross sections than the corresponding dipolar counterparts and the largest values of delta(max) = 2000 GM and delta(max)/MW = 2.25 GM g(-1) have been obtained with a compound having C[triple bond]C and C=C bonds in the conjugation bridge.

We have successfully developed a new synthetic approach to modulate the electrostatic potentials of metallocavitands and thus their selective recognition towards substituted benzene derivatives via integrating two metal cations of different electronegativity into a self-assembled system.