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Evaluation inarguably takes place within social, cultural, historical, economic, and political contexts--the contexts defined by human existence and experience. These contexts envelope many dimensions. Race, ethnicity, language, gender, age, religion, and sexual orientation are among the commonly listed demographic attributes of contextual diversity. Not so commonly discussed in conversations about evaluation are the contextual dimensions of power, economy, living situation, and class, among other denominators of equity and sociopolitical status, "and" the contextual dimensions specific to culture. That is, despite the recent flurry of activity and discussion in a number of disciplines meant to lift issues of culture and cultural context to the fore of discovery, theory, and application, the evaluation field has lagged behind. Yet culture is an undeniably integral part of the diverse contexts of evaluation, and therefore an integral part of evaluation. Culture is present in evaluation not only in the contexts in which programs are implemented but also in the designs of these programs and the approach, stance, or methods evaluators choose to use in their work. A common thread between culture and evaluation is the concept of "values". Culture shapes values, beliefs, and worldviews. Evaluation is fundamentally an endeavor of determining values, merit, and worth. In making the case for cultural competence in evaluation, this article emphasizes this common thread. This overview is divided into two main sections: a discussion of the cultural contexts of policy, program, and service delivery; and a look at the implications for evaluation, where the debate currently stands in terms of both evaluation theory and methodology, and an attempt to define what culturally competent evaluation means when one takes these viewpoints into account. The article concludes with examples of what is happening in evaluation practice in terms of incorporating cultural competence, and what still needs to be done. (Contains 1 table.)

Deaminative modifications of purines via diazonium chemistry have long been the cornerstone in modified nucleoside synthesis. The purpose of this review is to bring into focus the impact of dediazoniative methods such as non‐aqueous Sandmeyer halogenations, fluorination, arylation, and carbon‐heteroatom bond formations on natural purines and their nucleosides as versatile tools for purine modifications en route to various nucleoside drugs, drug discovery scaffolds, and adducted oligonucleotides of biomedical interests. Metal free reactions of arenediazonium salts with purine nucleosides for the synthesis of 8‐aryl purines, in particular, 8‐aryl guanosines and photochromic 8‐arylazo purines are also highlighted. The treatise is expected to create broad interest among organic and biological chemists for further explorations in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ubiquitous presence of highly oxygenated furo[3,2‐b]furanone fragments in diverse natural products with wide range of biological activities such as anti‐cancer, anti‐HIV, anti‐microbial activities, etc. has augmented their appeal both for synthetic and medicinal chemistry campaigns. Enticed by their potent biological activities and challenging polycyclic architecture, total synthesis of furo[3,2‐b]furanone natural products has witnessed intense activity in recent years with many notable achievements in the synthesis of structurally embellished family of bioactive metabolites such as plakortones, lactonamycines, schisanartanes, etc. While presenting a comprehensive account of post‐2000 syntheses of these natural products, through strategic and nuanced use of modern tools of organic synthesis, this review also aims to stimulate interest in exploring the diversity space around these natural products for newer applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nickel(0) catalyzes the cross coupling of aryl O-carbamates and triflates with Grignard reagents to give polysubstituted aromatics. The substrates are easily obtained from phenols and halides and are interconvertible. The carbamates, singly or conjugated, are effective in directed ortho metalation (1,2-dipole-like) while the triflates are more effective with sterically restricted cases. The use of triflates also minimizes the usual beta-hydrogen elimination. This Ni-mediated coupling, in effect, provides a facile and regiospecific route to complex polysubstituted aromatics.

A novel method for inducing the cross-coupling of arenediazonium salts with arylboronic acids was developed based n the utilization of the arene salts as aryl electrophile components. The selective cross-coupling of bromo-substituted arenediazonium salts with arylboronic acids was characterized by the extensive decomposition of the diazonium salt. Furthermore, Suzuki-couplings of the arenediazonium salts were dependent on the presence of the alcoholic solvents instead of the external bases.