Where is the Oxygen? Structural Analysis of α‐Humulene Oxidation Products by the Crystalline Sponge Method

Crystal structures of α‐humulene, a cyclic sesquiterpene, and its oxidized subproducts, were analyzed by the crystalline sponge method. Regio‐ and stereochemistry, including absolute configuration when a chiral oxidant was applied, and the stable conformations of all the scaffold‐related compounds were successfully determined for samples on a 5–50 μg scale.     

Cerium‐Catalyzed Hydrosilylation of Acrylates to Give α‐Silyl Esters

The homoleptic organocerium complex Ce{C(SiHMe₂)₃}₃ ( 1 ) reacts with B(C₆F₅)₃ to produce the zwitterionic bis(alkyl) hydridoborato Ce{C(SiHMe₂)₃}₂HB(C₆F₅)₃ ( 2 ). NMR and IR spectroscopy and X‐ray crystallography indicate that each alkyl ligand contains two bridging Ce↼H‐Si interactions in both 1 and 2 . Compound 2 serves as a precatalyst for the hydrosilylation of acrylates to give α‐silyl esters at room temperature with a turnover number of 2200.