Copper‐Catalyzed Reaction Cascade of Thiophenol Hydroxylation and S‐Arylation through Disulfide‐Directed C−H Activation

Copper‐catalyzed thiophenol C?H activation is described. Through an initial attempt to conduct C‐arylation with arylboronic acid, a rather surprising sequential C?H activation and S‐arylation was discovered. Mechanistic investigation revealed the disulfide intermediate as the key component in directing C?H oxidation. The overall reaction proceeded under mild conditions with molecular oxygen as the oxidant. Discovery of disulfide as the directing group provides a potential new direction for catalytic C?H functionalization under mild conditions.     

An Unprecedented Two‐Fold Nested Super‐Polyrotaxane: Sulfate‐Directed Hierarchical Polythreading Assembly of Uranyl Polyrotaxane Moieties

The hierarchical assembly of well‐organized submoieties could lead to more complicated superstructures with intriguing properties. We describe herein an unprecedented polyrotaxane polythreading framework containing a two‐fold nested super‐polyrotaxane substructure, which was synthesized through a uranyl‐directed hierarchical polythreading assembly of one‐dimensional polyrotaxane chains and two‐dimensional polyrotaxane networks. This special assembly mode actually affords a new way of supramolecular chemistry instead of covalently linked bulky stoppers to construct stable interlocked rotaxane moieties. An investigation of the synthesis condition shows that sulfate can assume a vital role in mediating the formation of different uranyl species, especially the unique trinuclear uranyl moiety [(UO₂)₃O(OH)₂]²⁺, involving a notable bent [O=U=O] bond with a bond angle of 172.0(9)°. Detailed analysis of the coordination features, the thermal stability as well as a fluorescence, and electrochemical characterization demonstrate that the uniqueness of this super‐polyrotaxane structure is mainly closely related to the trinuclear uranyl moiety, which is confirmed by quantum chemical calculations.     

Sulfur and Nitrogen Codoped Carbon Tubes as Bifunctional Metal‐Free Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction and Hydrogen Evolution in Acidic Media

Invited for the cover of this issue is the group of Qiang Wu and Zheng Hu at Nanjing University. The image depicts sulfur and nitrogen codoped carbon tubes as bifunctional metal‐free electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction and hydrogen evolution in acidic media. Read the full text of the article at 10.1002/chem.201601535 .     

Palladium‐Catalyzed Insertion of an Allene into an Aminal: Aminomethylamination of Allenes by C?N Bond Activation

A new and atom‐economic palladium‐catalyzed aminomethylamination of allenes with aminals by C N bond activation is described. This direct and operationally simple method provides a fundamentally novel approach for the synthesis of 1,3‐diamines. Mechanistic studies suggest that a unique cationic π‐allylpalladium complex containing an aminomethyl moiety is generated as a key intermediate through the carbopalladation of the allene with a cyclometalated palladium–alkyl species.     

Enantioselective Synthesis of a Chiral Coordination Polymer with Circularly Polarized Visible Laser

Circular dichroism is known to be the feature of a chiral agent which has inspired scientist to study the interesting phenomena of circularly polarized light (CPL) modulated molecular chirality. Although several organic molecules or assemblies have been found to be CPL‐responsive, the influence of CPL on the assembly of chiral coordination compounds remains unknown. Herein, a chiral coordination polymer, which is constructed from achiral agents, was used to study the CPL‐induced enantioselective synthesis. By irradiation with either left‐handed or right‐handed CPL during the reaction and crystallization, enantiomeric excesses of the crystalline product were obtained. Left‐handed CPL resulted in crystals with a left‐handed helical structure, and right‐handed CPL led to crystals with a right‐handed helical structure. It is exciting that the absolute asymmetric synthesis of a chiral coordination polymer could be enantioselective when using CPL, and provides a strategy for the control of the chirality of chiral coordination polymers.     

Synthesis and antitumor and antibacterial evaluation of fluoroquinolone derivatives(Ⅲ):Mono- and bis-Schiff-bases

To further explore an efficient modified route for the shift from an antibacterial fluoroquinolone to an antitumor one,mono-Schiff bases 6a-6h related to ciprofloxacin C3 carbonylhydrazone and bis-Schiff bases 4a-4h corresponding to C3/C7 carbonylhydrazone/hydrazone attached on a skeleton of ciprofloquinolone were designed and synthesized,and their in vitro antitumor activity against CHO,HL60,L1210 cells and antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were also reported.     

Improved Synthesis and Structure of 3-Carboxy-2-pyrazinecarbohydroxamic Acid

3-Carboxy-2-pyrazinehydroxamic acid was prepared by a one pot reaction starting from pyrazine-2,3-dicarboxylic anhydride with a high yield, and characterized by IR, Mass spectrum, 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectra and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. It crystallizes in triclinic, space group Pī with a=4.8659(10), b=7.4233(15), c=11.602(2), α=96.904(2), β=92.422(3), γ=107.454(2)°, V=395.51(14)3 , Z=2, Dc=1.689g/cm3 , F(000)=208, μ(MoKα)=0.149 mm-1 , the final R=0.0473 and wR=0.1306 for 2853 observed reflections (I>2σ (I)). A three-dimensional framework was assembled through intermolecular hydrogen bonding between water and 3-carboxy-2-pyrazine-carbohydroxamic acid molecules.