Mechanical point-chirality in a [2]rotaxane is utilized for asymmetric catalysis. Stable enantiomers of the rotaxane result from a bulky group in the middle of the thread preventing a benzylic amide macrocycle shuttling between different sides of a prochiral center, creating point chirality in the vicinity of a secondary amine group. The resulting mechanochirogenesis delivers enantioselective o...

An access to copper(0) nanoparticles (CuNPs) from readily available organocopper reagents is reported. This original amine-free methodology proves be practical, fast, and highly reproducible. It yields spherical CuNPs with an excellent control of their size shape. These are fully characterized by electronic microscopy (transmission electron high-resolution TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy...

Arylboration of vinylarenes and methyl crotonate with aryl halides and bis(pinacolato)diboron by cooperative Pd/Cu catalysis has been developed, giving 2-boryl-1,1-diarylethanes and an α-aryl-β-boryl ester in a regioselective manner. The reaction is compatible with a variety of functionalities and amenable to be scaled-up to a gram scale with no detriment to the yield. A short synthesis of the ...

Aberrant regulation of transition metals and the resultant disregulation of neuronal reactive oxygen species (ROS) are considered significant in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We determined the solution structure of the D2 domain of APL-1 (APL1-D2), the Caenorhabditis elegans ortholog of the amyloid precursor protein domain 2 (APP-D2). The copper binding affinities of APL1-D2 and APP...

An unprecedented single electron redox process in copper catalysis is confirmed using operando X-ray absorption and EPR spectroscopies. The oxidation state of the copper species in the interaction between Cu(ii) and a sulfinic acid at room temperature, and the accurate characterization of the formed Cu(i) are clearly shown using operando X-ray absorption and EPR evidence. Further investigation ...