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Electrophotocatalytic transformations are garnering attention in organic synthesis, particularly for accessing reactive intermediates under mild conditions. Moving these methodologies to continuous‐flow systems, or flow ElectroPhotoCatalysis (f‐EPC), showcases potential for scalable processes due to enhanced irradiation, increased electrode surface, and improved mixing of the reaction mixture. Traditional methods sequentially link photochemical and electrochemical reactions, using flow reactors connected in series, yet struggle to accommodate reactive transient species. In this study, we introduce a new flow reactor concept for electrophotocatalysis (EPC) that simultaneously utilizes photons and electrons. The reactor is designed with a transparent electrode and employs cost‐effective materials. We used this technology to develop an efficient process for electrophotocatalytic heteroarylation of C(sp3)−H bonds. Importantly, the same setup can also facilitate purely electrochemical and photochemical transformations. This reactor represents a significant advancement in electrophotocatalysis, providing a framework for its application in flow for complex synthetic transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The excellent catalytic performances of enzymes in terms of activity and selectivity are an inspiration for synthetic chemists and this has resulted in the development of synthetic containers for supramolecular catalysis. In such containers the local environment and pre‐organization of catalysts and substrates leads to control of the activity and selectivity of the catalyst. Herein we report a supramolecular strategy to encapsulate single catalysts in a urea‐functionalized Fe4L6 cage, which can co‐encapsulate a functionalized urea substrate through hydrogen bonding. Distinguished selectivity is obtained, imposed by the cage as site isolation only allows catalysis through π activation of the substrate and as a result the selectivity is independent of catalyst concentration. The encapsulated catalyst is more active than the free analogue, an effect that can be ascribed to transitionstate stabilization rather than substrate pre‐organization, as revealed by the MM kinetic data. The simple strategy reported here is expected to be of general use in many reactions, for which the catalyst can be functionalized with a sulfonate group required for encapsulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Metabolic pathways are highly regulated by effector molecules that influences the rate of enzymatic reactions. Inspired by the catalytic regulation found in living cells, we report a Pt2L4 cage of which the activity can be controlled by effectors that bind inside the cage. The cage shows catalytic activity in the lactonization of alkynoic acids, with the reaction rates dependent on the effector guest bound in the cage. Some effector guests enhance the rate of the lactonization by up to 19‐fold, whereas one decreases it by 5‐fold. When mixtures of specific substrates are used, both starting materials and products act as guests for the Pt2L4 cage, enhancing its catalytic activity for one substrate while reducing its activity for the other. The reported regulatory behavior obtained by the addition of effector molecules paves the way to the development of more complex, metabolic‐like catalyst systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by ideas from NMR, we have developed Infrared Diffusion‐Ordered Spectroscopy (IR‐DOSY), which simultaneously characterizes molecular structure and size. We rely on the fact that the diffusion coefficient of a molecule is determined by its size through the Stokes–Einstein relation, and achieve sensitivity to the diffusion coefficient by creating a concentration gradient and tracking its equilibration in an IR‐frequency resolved manner. Analogous to NMR‐DOSY, a two‐dimensional IR‐DOSY spectrum has IR frequency along one axis and diffusion coefficient (or equivalently, size) along the other, so the chemical structure and the size of a compound are characterized simultaneously. In an IR‐DOSY spectrum of a mixture, molecules with different sizes are nicely separated into distinct sets of IR peaks. Extending this idea to higher dimensions, we also perform 3D‐IR‐DOSY, in which we combine the conformation sensitivity of femtosecond multi‐dimensional IR spectroscopy with size sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogenase enzymes are excellent proton reduction catalysts and therefore provide clear blueprints for the development of nature‐inspired synthetic analogues. Mimicking their catalytic center is straightforward but mimicking the protein matrix around the active site and all its functions remains challenging. Synthetic models lack this precisely controlled second coordination sphere that provides substrate preorganization and catalyst stability and, as a result, their performances are far from those of the natural enzyme. In this contribution, we report a strategy to easily introduce a specific yet customizable second coordination sphere around synthetic hydrogenase models by encapsulation inside M12L24 cages and, at the same time, create a proton‐rich nano‐environment by co‐encapsulation of ammonium salts, effectively providing substrate preorganization and intermediates stabilization. We show that catalyst encapsulation in these nanocages reduces the catalytic overpotential for proton reduction by 250 mV as compared to the uncaged catalyst, while the proton‐rich nano‐environment created around the catalyst ensures that high catalytic rates are maintained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photochemical activation of nickel-azido complex 2 [Ni(N3)(PNP)] (PNHP=2,2′-di(isopropylphosphino)-4,4′-ditolylamine) in neat benzene produces diamagnetic complex 3 [Ni(Ph)(PNPNH)], which is crystallographically characterized. DFT calculations support photoinitiated N2-loss of the azido complex to generate a rare, transient NiIV nitrido species, which bears significant nitridyl radical character. Subsequent trapping of this nitrido through insertion into the NiP bond generates a coordinatively unsaturated NiII imidophosphorane PN donor. This species shows unprecedented reactivity toward 1,2-addition of a CH bond of benzene to form 3. The structurally characterized chlorido complex 4 [Ni(Cl)(PNPNH)] is generated by reaction of 3 with HCl or by direct photolysis of 2 in chlorobenzene. This is the first report of aromatic CH bond activation by a trapped transient nitrido species of a late transition metal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coordination of the novel redox-active phosphineappended aminophenol pincer ligand (PNOH2) to PdII generates a paramagnetic complex with a persistent ligandcentered radical. The complex undergoes fully reversible single-electron oxidation and reduction. Homolytic bond activation of diphenyldisulfide by the single-electron reduced species leads to a ligand-based mixed-valent dinuclear palladium complex with a single bridging thiolate ligand. Mechanistic investigations support an unprecedented intramolecular ligand-to-disulfide single-electron transfer process to induce homolytic S-S cleavage, thereby releasing a thiyl (sulfanyl) radical. This could be a new strategy for small-molecule bond activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]