Heterogeneous Photocatalytic C-H Functionalization of Indoles with Diazo Compounds Enabled by Carbon Nitride.

Herein, we reported the heterogeneous photocatalytic C-H alkylation of indoles with diazo compounds using graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) as the photocatalyst. The reaction was carried out under a simple operation and mild conditions. In addition, the catalyst was found to be stable and reusable after five reaction cycles.

Asymmetric dearomative cyclopropanation of naphthalenes to construct polycyclic compounds.

Catalytic asymmetric dearomatization (CADA) reactions is an important synthetic method for constructing enantioenriched complex cyclic systems from simple aromatic feedstocks. However, the CADA reactions of nonactivated arenes, such as naphthalenes and benzenes, have been far less explored than those of electronically activated arenes, such as phenols, naphthols and indoles. Herein, we disclose an asymmetric dearomative cyclopropanation of naphthalenes for the rapid construction of polycyclic compounds.

A Facile Approach towards Fluorescent Nanogels with AIE-Active Spacers.

A facile and efficient approach for design and synthesis of organic fluorescent nanogels has been developed by using a pre-synthesized polymeric precursor. This strategy is achieved by two key steps: (i) precise synthesis of core⁻shell star-shaped block copolymers with crosslinkable AIEgen-precursor (AIEgen: aggregation induced emission luminogen) as pending groups on the inner blocks; (ii) gelation of the inner blocks by coupling the AIEgen-precursor moieties to generate AIE-active spacers, and thus, fluorescent nanogel. By using this strategy, a series of star-shaped block copolymers with benzophenone groups pending on the inner blocks were synthesized by grafting from a hexafunctional initiator through atom transfer radical copolymerization (ATRP) of 4-benzoylphenyl methacrylate (BPMA) or 2-(4-benzoylphenoxy)ethyl methacrylate (BPOEMA) with methyl methacrylate (MMA) and -butyldimethylsilyl-protected 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (ProHEMA) followed by a sequential ATRP to grow PMMA or PProHEMA.