Stereoselective Synthesis of Fluoroalkanes via FLP Mediated Monoselective C─F Activation of Geminal Difluoroalkanes.

A method of desymmetrization of geminal difluoroalkanes using frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) mediated monoselective C-F activation where a chiral sulfide is the Lewis base component is reported. The stereoselective reaction provides generally high yields of diastereomeric sulfonium salts with dr of up to 95:5. The distribution of diastereomers is found to be thermodynamically controlled via facile sulfide exchange.

Upcycling to Sustainably Reuse Plastics.

Plastics are now indispensable in daily lives. However, the pollution from plastics is also increasingly becoming a serious environmental issue. Recent years have seen more sustainable approaches and technologies, commonly known as upcycling, to transform plastics into value-added materials and chemical feedstocks.

Visible Light-Driven Cascade Carbon-Carbon Bond Scission for Organic Transformations and Plastics Recycling.

Significant efforts are devoted to developing artificial photosynthetic systems to produce fuels and chemicals in order to cope with the exacerbating energy and environmental crises in the world now. Nonetheless, the large-scale reactions that are the focus of the artificial photosynthesis community, such as water splitting, are thus far not economically viable, owing to the existing, cheaper alternatives to the gaseous hydrogen and oxygen products. As a potential substitute for water oxidation, here, a unique, visible light-driven oxygenation of carbon-carbon bonds for the selective transformation of 32 unactivated alcohols, mediated by a vanadium photocatalyst under ambient, atmospheric conditions is presented.

Artificial photosynthesis by light absorption, charge separation, and multielectron catalysis.

Our society's current energy demands are largely met by the exploitation of fossil fuels, which are unsustainable and environmentally harmful resources. However, Nature has provided us with a clean and virtually limitless alternative in the form of solar energy. This abundant resource is utilized constantly by photosynthetic organisms, which has in turn motivated decades of research in our quest to create artificial counterparts of comparable scales.