Inside Back Cover: Photochemical and Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Utilization with Organic Compounds (Chin. J. Chem. 7/2018)

Inside Back Cover picture shows The carps trying hard to make a successful jump over the Dragon Gate will change into fish‐dragons, which is a legend handed down in China over generations. The back cover picture shows photochemical and electrochemical CO₂ transformations with organic compounds through the utilization of solar energy or electric energy, producing a series of valuable products, including carboxylic acids and hetero‐cyclic compounds. The combined utilization of both clean energy and CO₂ has attracted increasing attention in sustainable development of renewable energy and green chemistry. Recent advances are summarized by He et al. on page 644–659.

     

Cover Picture: Synthesis of Subnanometer‐Sized Gold Clusters by a Simple Milling‐Mediated Solid Reduction Method (Chin. J. Chem. 4/2018)

The cover picture shows a simple milling‐mediated solid reduction method for fabricating of ultrafine gold catalysts. By solid grinding of the N‐modified SiO₂ supported Au precursors with NaBH₄, subnanometer‐sized clusters and isolated Au atoms can be facilely obtained by tuning the metal loading. This method establishes a good basis for fundamental understanding the size effect of Au in the hydrogenation of CO₂ to formate, and provides a general methodology for supported nano‐catalyst preparation. More details are discussed in the article by Huang et al. on page 329–332.

     

Back Cover: Lactonization of C(sp2)—H Bonds in Enamides with CO2 (Chin. J. Chem. 5/2018)

The back cover picture shows a novel synthesis of 1,3‐oxazin‐6‐ones from enamides with CO₂ through C—H carboxylation and one‐pot cyclization. The concept of “CO₂ = CO + O”, using CO₂ to replace toxic CO and stoichiometric oxidant, guilds the development of this chemistry as well as green and safe synthetic methods in the future. More details are discussed in the article by Yu et al. on page 430–436.

     

Cover Picture: Palladium‐Catalyzed Intermolecular Oxidative Coupling Reactions of (Z)‐Enamines with Isocyanides through Selective β‐C(sp2)‐H and/or C=C Bond Cleavage (Chin. J. Chem. 8/2018)

The cover picture shows Two efficient intermolecular oxidative coupling reactions of (Z)‐enamines with isocyanides via palladium catalysis have been developed. In these transformations, the β‐C(sp²)‐H and/or C ＝ C bond were cut off selectively by using different anionic ligands, leading to controllable chemodivergent and stereoselective construction of a wide range of (E)β‐carbamoylenamine derivatives with intramolecular hydrogen bonds. More details are discussed in the article by Jiang et al. on page 712–715.

     

Cover Picture: Visible Light Accelerated Vinyl C–H Arylation in Pd‐Catalysis: Application in the Synthesis of ortho Tetra‐substituted Vinylarene Atropisomers (Chin. J. Chem. 1/2018)

The cover picture shows a protocol of a palladium‐catalyzed arylation of vinylarenes with diaryliodonium salts with the assistance of visible light. A palladium‐vinylarene complex may be excited via the visible light irradiation, where the kinetic isotope effect (k_H/k_D) was around 1.1. However under darkness, the reaction proceeded very slowly, and the kinetic isotope was found as 3.6, indicating the C—H bond cleavage step is the rate‐determining step. This protocol avoided high reaction temperature and enabled us to access a series of ortho tetra‐substituted vinylarene atropisomers with high enantiospecificity. More details are discussed in the article by Gu et al. on page 11–14.

     

Cover Picture: Electrochemical Synthesis of (Aza)indolines via Dehydrogenative [3+2] Annulation: Application to Total Synthesis of (±)‐Hinckdentine A (Chin. J. Chem. 10/2018)

The cover picture shows an electricity powered dehydrogenative [3+2] annulation reaction of (hetero)arylamines with tethered di‐, tri, and tetra‐substituted alkenes for the preparation of indoline and azaindoline products. The electrochemical reactions proceed through H2 evolution and thus avoid the use of stoichiometric chemical oxidants. This method, which is applicable to the preparation of highly functionalized (aza)indoline scaffold, enables the total synthesis of (±)‐hinckdentine A in 12 steps. More details are discussed in the article by Xu et al. on page 909–915.

     

Inside Back Cover: Cu(II)‐Catalyzed Ligand‐Free Oxidation of Diarylmethanes and Second Alcohols in Water (Chin. J. Chem. 9/2017)

The inside back cover picture shows a simple and efficient Cu(II )‐catalyzed ligand‐free oxidation of diarylmethanes and secondary alcohols using 70% TBHP in water. A series of diarylmethanes were directly oxidized into diaryl ketones in 67%–98% yields. Additionally, various secondary alcohols were also transformed into the desired products in 48%–98% yields. Importantly, the catalytic system in the absence of any organic solvent, surfactant, or phase transfer agent, had a wide substrate scope and a high tolerance for various functional groups. More details are discussed in the article by Liu et al. on page 1391–1395.

     

Cover Picture: Understanding Zeolites Catalyzed Methanol‐to‐Olefins Conversion from Theoretical Calculations (Chin. J. Chem. 5/2018)

The cover picture shows the complexity of the reaction mechanism of zeolites catalyzed methanol‐to‐olefins (MTO) conversion. The MTO process plays a vital role in the production of light olefins from nonpetroleum resources. Despite of the successful industrialization of the MTO process in China, the detailed reaction mechanism is not yet well understood. The theoretical studies on the MTO hydrocarbon pool mechanism by the Group of Xie are summarized in the Chemistry Author Up Close by Xie et al. on page 381–386.

     

Cover Picture: Recent Advances in Transition Metal‐Catalyzed Asymmetric Radical Reactions (Chin. J. Chem. 3/2018)

The control of stereoselectivity in radical reactions is of great importance, but remains a formidable challenge. The cover picture shows that the enantiomerically pure compounds can be prepared in radical transformations using chiral transition metal complexes as catalysts. Recent advances are summarized in the review by Kong et al. on page 247–256.

     

Inside Cover: Temperature‐responsive Catalyst for the Coupling Reaction of Carbon Dioxide and Propylene Oxide (Chin. J. Chem. 4/2018)

The inside cover picture shows a temperature controllable porphyrin aluminum catalyst using 5,10,15,20‐tetra(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8‐octahydro‐1,4:5,8‐dimethanoanthracen‐9‐yl)porphyrin as ligand, which showed significantly temperature‐responsive selectivity in the coupling reaction of CO₂ and PO. Only cycloaddition reaction happened at temperature above 75 °C to produce 100% CPC, whereas copolymerization became dominant to afford PPC with selectivity over 91% at temperature below 50 °C. More details are discussed in the article by Wang et al. on page 299–305.

     

Inside Cover: Synthetic Strategies for Constructing Two‐Dimensional Metal‐Organic Layers (MOLs): A Tutorial Review (Chin. J. Chem. 8/2018)

The inside cover picture shows Metal‐organic layer (MOL), the two‐dimensional analog of metal‐organic framework (MOF), is a new member of two‐dimensional materials. This tutorial review summarizes current synthetic approaches for MOL preparation. More details are discussed in the article by Wang et al. on page 754–764.

     

Cover Picture: Construction of Crown Ether‐Stoppering [3]Rotaxanes Based on N‐Hetero Crown Ether Host (Chin. J. Chem. 7/2017)

The cover picture shows shows the construction of crown etherstoppering [3]rotaxanes based on N ‐hetero crown ether host. Usually, crown ethers play the role of host macrocycles to combine with the guest molecules in the construction of rotaxanes. Based on the fact that crown ethers have large dimension, two [3]rotaxanes containing four crown ether units were designed and synthesized, of which, two N ‐hetero crown ether components were employed as the macrocyclic hosts to assemble the mechanically interlocked framework by using a template‐directed clipping reaction while bis (metaphenylene‐26‐crown‐8) located on two sides of template diammonium acting as the stoppering groups of [3]rotaxanes. More details are discussed in the article by Yin et al. on page 1050–1056.

     

Inside Cover: Ir‐Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation of α‐Alkylidene β‐Lactams and Cyclobutanones (Chin. J. Chem. 7/2018)

The inside cover picture shows Chiral β‐lactams and cyclobutanones are present in numerous natural and pharmaceutical products. A direct preparation of chiral four‐membered rings via metal‐catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation has not been described yet. In this article, we report an Ir/BiphPHOX‐catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of α‐alkylidene β‐lactams and cyclobutanones for the direct preparation of β‐lactams and cyclobutanones bearing an α‐substituted stereocenter. Our tropos phosphine‐oxazoline biphenyl ligand is essential for the preparation of the desired products with high enantioselectivities. More details are discussed in the article by Zhang et al. on page 612–618.

     

Inside Cover: Study of Karstedt's Catalyst for Hydrosilylation of a Wide Variety of Functionalized Alkenes with Triethoxysilane and Trimethoxysilane (Chin. J. Chem. 8/2017)

The inside cover picture shows the excellent catalytic performance of Karstedt's catalyst for the hydrosilylation of olefins terminated with various functional groups (amino, alkoxyl, carboxylic, hydroxyl, aldehyde, etc. ) with the trimethoxysilane and triethoxysilane reagents in terms of the yield and selectivity. More details are discussed in the article by Gao et al. on page 1227–1230.

     

Back Cover: Dual Stereocontrol for Enantioselective Hydrogenation of Dihydroisoquinolines Induced by Tuning the Amount of N‐Bromosuccinimide (Chin. J. Chem. 2/2018)

The back cover picture shows an efficient dual enantioselective synthesis of 1‐substituted 1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroisoquinoline, which was realized through iridium‐catalyzed hydrogenation of 1‐substituted 3,4‐dihydroisoquinolines. Only tuning the amount of N‐bromosuccinimide, this reaction promoted by (R)‐BINAP is able to furnish both enantiomers of products up to 89% ee (S) and 98% ee (R), respectively. Dual activation role of N‐bromosuccinimide is proposed to be responsible for the reversal of enantioselectivity under two hydrogenation conditions. More details are discussed in the article by Zhou et al. on page 139–142.

     

Cover Picture: Nickel‐Catalyzed Cross‐Electrophile Coupling of Aryl Bromides with Pyrimidin‐2‐yl Tosylates (Chin. J. Chem. 9/2017)

The cover picture shows a new protocol for the NiCl₂ ‐catalyzed cross‐electrophile coupling of aryl bromides with pyrimidin‐2‐yl tosylates to give the corresponding C2 ‐arylation pyrimidine derivatives. This study provides an improvement over previous methods by using pyrimidin‐2‐yl tosylates instead of halides as coupling partners that are stable and easily available. More details are discussed in the article by Wang et al. on page 1366–1370.

     

Back Cover: Internally Reuse Waste: Catalytic Asymmetric One‐Pot Strecker Reaction of Fluoroalkyl Ketones,Anilines and TMSCN by Sequential Catalysis (Chin. J. Chem. 4/2018)

A highly enantioselective one‐pot Strecker reaction of α‐fluoroalkyl α‐aryl ketones, anilines, and TMSCN is disclosed, which simultane‐ously reuses water byproduct and catalyst from the ketimine formation step as a promoter and an additive to improve the reactivity and enantioselectivity of the subsequent Strecker reaction, respectively. The picture shows that the chiral bifunctional tertiary amine mediated asymmetric Strecker reaction is irrigated by the water generated in the p‐TsOH catalyzed ketimine formation, and fertilized by the remaining acid catalyst. More details are discussed in the article by Zhou et al. on page 321–328.

     

Inside Cover: General Reductive Amination of Aldehydes and Ketones with Amines and Nitroaromatics under H2 by Recyclable Iridium Catalysts (Chin. J. Chem. 9/2017)

The inside cover picture shows secondary and tertiary amines, which are important intermediates in organic synthesis for the preparation of natural products, pharmaceutical and agronomical compounds. The direct reductive amination of aldehydes and ketones represents a powerful tool for the preparation of secondary and tertiary amines. Here, direct and general reductive amination of aldehydes and ketones with amines and nitroaromatics was presented under H₂ using recyclable iridium catalysts, and lots of secondary and tertiary amines were produced in high yields. Moreover, the heterogeneous iridium catalysts Ir@NC(600‐2h) can be reused several times without evident deactivation. More details are discussed in the article by Huang et al. on page 1371–1377.

     

Inside Back Cover: Allosteric Modulation of Human Serum Albumin Induced by Peptide Ligand (Chin. J. Chem. 8/2017)

The inside back cover picture shows the allosteric modulation of human serum albumin (HSA) induced by the Peptide SA06 ligand. Peptide SA06 is a reported peptide ligand comprising 20 amino acids, and is known to non‐covalently bind with HSA to extend the lifetime and improve the pharmacokinetic performance of drug molecules. The structural evidence on the allosteric interaction between peptide ligand and HSA, and the structure‐affinity relations of the binding mechanism have been revealed in this work, which can also shed light on optimization of therapeutic properties in the affinity‐controlled delivery systems. More details are discussed in the article by Wang et al. on page 1270–1277.

     

Back Cover: Synthesis,Nematicidal Activity,and 3D‐QSAR of Novel 1,3,4‐Oxadiazole/ Thiadiazole Thioether Derivatives (Chin. J. Chem. 10/2018)

The back cover picture shows As two important heterocyclic active groups, oxadiazole and thiadiazole are used to develop new pesticide with high efficiency and broad spectrum of biological activities. On the basis of our previous works, forty one novel 1,3,4‐oxadiazole/thiadiazole thioether derivatives were synthesized and their nematicidal activities against Tylenchulus semipenetrans were evaluated. And compound 33 was designed by using the CoMFA and CoMSIA models, which exhibited excellent nematicidal acivity in vitro. More details are discussed in the article by Song et al. on page 939‐944.