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This work describes a general strategy for metal-catalyzed cross-coupling of fluoroalkyl radicals with aryl halides under electrochemical conditions. The contradiction between anodic oxidation of fluoroalkyl sulfinates and cathodic reduction of low-valent nickel catalysts can be well addressed by paired electrolysis, allowing for direct introduction of fluorinated functionalities into aromatic systems.

This work describes an electrochemically promoted nickel-catalyzed deoxygenative thiolation of alcohols and ketones under mild conditions. Excellent substrate tolerance and good chemical yields can be achieved by graphene/nickel foam electrodes in an undivided cell. Further study to gain mechanistic insight into this electrochemical cross-coupling has been carried out.

Compared with conventional reductive coupling, reductive coupling under electrochemical conditions without external reductants is greener, milder, and more efficient and is of increasing interest to organic chemists. In this work, we report the sacrificial anode, nickel-catalyzed electrochemical allylation reaction of aryl and alkyl halides. The reaction can be applied to a range of allylation reagents such as trifluoroalkenes, oxalates, and acetates.

Difunctionalization of olefins represents a powerful synthetic tool and yet a challenging task. This work describes an electrochemically enabled fluoroalkylation-migration reaction of unactivated olefins in the absence of a strong oxidant or heavy metal catalyst, affording fluorinated (hetero)aryl ketones in good yields and excellent regioselectivities. The efficient and sustainable electrochemical strategy provides a rapid access to a dual functionalized fluorine-containing heterocyclic manifold.

Vinylboronates and alkylboronates are key components in variegated transformations in all aspects of chemical science. This work describes a sequential radical difunctionalization strategy for the construction of fluorine-containing vinylboronates and alkylboronates with the integrated redox-active reagent N-trifluoromethylthiophthalimide. This multifunctional N-S precursor offers a scalable and practical protocol for the trifluoromethylthiolation-borylation of unsaturated hydrocarbons in a highly regio- and stereoselective fashion, which can be further converted into valuable synthons via boryl migration.

The asymmetric introduction of CF3 unit is a powerful tool for modifying pharmacokinetic properties and slowing metabolic degradation in medicinal chemistry. A catalytic and enantioselective addition of α-CF3 enolates allows for expeditious access to functionalized chiral building blocks with CF3-containing stereogenicity. The computational studies reveal that the choice of ligand in a designed palladium-complex system regulates the regioselectivity and stereoselectivity of the asymmetric allylic alkyation (AAA) of α-CF3 ketones and Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) adducts. Multiple C-H···F interactions are involved in the transition states.

An efficient photoredox-catalyzed alkylation/lactonization reaction of unsaturated carboxylic acids by using alkyl N-hydroxyphthalimide esters as alkylation reagents has been developed. Varieties of redox-active esters derived from aliphatic carboxylic acids were proved viable in this method, affording alkyl substituted lactones in moderate to good yields. This redox-neutral procedure features mild conditions and operational simplicity, which provides a new strategy for the synthesis of alkyl substituted lactones.

A highly efficient asymmetric Michael addition of thiols to exocyclic enones was achieved by using chiral spiro phosphoramide catalysts. The precisely chiral control in the protonation of the enol intermediate ensured high enantioselectivity. The reaction features high activity (yields up to 99%, turnover numbers up to 8400) and high enantioselectivity (up to 97% ee) with a broad substrate scope, and it has the potential for wide application in the synthesis of chiral sulfides.

The discovery of detrifluoroacetylative in situ generation of a new type of fluorinated amide enolates derived from 3-fluoroindolin-2-one and their asymmetric Mannich additions with sulfinylaldimines bearing fluoroalkyl groups is reported, which afforded α-fluoro-β-(fluoroalkyl)-β-aminoindolin-2-ones containing C-F quaternary stereogenic centers with excellent yields and high diastereoselectivities.

A cascade oxidative difunctionalization reaction of alkynoates for the construction of trisubstituted olefins has been developed. The process undergoes alkylation of a C-C triple bond, 1,4-aryl migration, and decarboxylation, which demonstrates a multistep radical cascade reaction for the difunctionalization of alkynoates and also represents a strategy of direct decarboxylation of esters.

A metal-free hydroxyalkylation-initiated radical six-membered heterocycle formation reaction of N-allylbenzamide is developed. This reaction proceeds through C(sp(3))-H bond cleavage, oxyalkylation of the double bond, and intramolecular cyclization, which provides a new route toward 4-substituted 3,4-dihydroisoquinolin-1(2H)-one derivatives.

An efficient photocatalytic oxidative/reductive cyclization reaction of N-cyanamide alkenes with arylsulfinic acids or arylsulfonyl chlorides, which proceeds through C–S, C–C, and C–N bond formations, is reported. This photocatalytic reaction was carried out under mild conditions, which provides a new strategy for the synthesis of sulfonated quinazolinones. Furthermore, a one-pot procedure to achieve terminal alkenes has been explored via elimination of the obtained sulfonated quinazolinones under basic conditions.

A Ni-catalyzed reductive cross-coupling reaction between two electrophiles, amides and aryl iodides, has been developed. This work is the first example using amide as an electrophile to couple with another electrophile, instead of using highly basic and pyrophoric nucleophiles. Furthermore, the Ni catalyst chemoselectively inserting the C–N bond of amide triggered the reductive cross-coupling reaction, which solves the problem that the Ni catalyst preferentially inserts the more reactive C–I bond to form a self-coupling product.

Cu-catalyzed dehydrogenation–olefination and esterification of C(sp3)–H bonds of cycloalkanes with TBHP as an oxidant has been developed. The reaction involves four C–H bond activations and gives cycloallyl ester products directly from cycloalkanes and aromatic aldehydes.

Copper-catalyzed cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) reactions of (benzo)thiazoles with cyclic ethers were developed under mild conditions. In particular, the formation of C-C bonds via the CDC reactions between non-benzo-fused azoles and ethers are reported for the first time. In addition, the acetals, known as the masked 2-thiazolecarboxaldehydes, could be successfully obtained by this CDC reaction. The preliminary mechanism and supportive DFT calculations are discussed as well.

An unexpected Cu-catalyzed deoxygenative C2-sulfonylation reaction of quinoline N-oxides in the presence of radical initiator K2S2O8 was developed that used sodium sulfinate as a sulfonyl coupling partner. The mechanism studies indicate that the reaction proceeds via Minisci-like radical coupling step to give sulfonylated quinoline with good chemical yields.

An efficient cascade trifunctioalization reaction of alkynoates with N-iodosuccinimide has been developed which proceeds through iodination, aryl migration, decarboxylation, and second iodination. This reaction represents an example of 1,1-difunctionalization of the acetylene bond and also provides a new strategy for the preparation of 1,1-diiodoalkenes.

A catalyst-free intramolecular oxidative cyclization reaction of N-allylbenzamides has been developed to prepare 2,5-disubstituted oxazoles with good yields. This reaction gives an efficient synthetic strategy to form an oxazole nucleus directly from easily accessible substrates under temperate conditions.

A DTBP-promoted oxidative functionalization of a C(sp(3))-H bond adjacent to oxygen and intermolecular radical addition to olefins without use of any metal catalyst or photoredox catalysis is reported. The reaction has a wide scope of olefin, alcohol, and cycloether substrates, which provides an easy way for direct preparation of α,ω-amino alcohols.

A metal-free oxidative C(sp(3))-H bond functionalization and subsequent conjugate addition reaction using di-tert-butyl peroxide (DTBP) as the oxidant was established, which tolerates a wide range of simple alkane substrates to react with different substituted chromones for direct preparation of 2-alkylchromanones.

Cu-catalyzed dehydrogenation-olefination and esterification of C(sp(3))-H bonds of cycloalkanes with TBHP as an oxidant has been developed. The reaction involves four C-H bond activations and gives cycloallyl ester products directly from cycloalkanes and aromatic aldehydes.

Direct [3 + 2] radical cycloaddition of methylenecyclopropanes and elemental chalcogens (S, Se, Te) can readily occur under simple thermal conditions, providing an efficient, practical method for preparation of useful but not easily accessed methylene-1,2-dichalcogenolanes.

A highly efficient and facile palladium-catalyzed tandem diperoxidation and C-H activation process was reported, which provides a new pathway for the synthesis of biologically active diperoxides as well as oxindole derivatives from readily available starting materials in excellent chemical yields.