Shenghu Yan

This work presents a Cu-catalyzed radical-initiated spirocyclization–oxytrifluoromethylation to synthesize spirobutyl quinolones under mild conditions. The products show late-stage reactivity, with one serving as a dual optical sensor for Cr ⁶⁺ /Ba ²⁺ .

A surfactant-free wet-chemical method constructs interconnected PdAu nanonetworks, achieving >93% selectivity for hydrocinnamaldehyde under mild conditions via abundant uncovered active sites, enabling efficient noble-metal catalysis.

Two novel AIE probes were synthesized via Suzuki coupling. They serve as sensitive ‘turn-off’ fluorescent sensors for the selective detection of Cr ⁶⁺ and Fe ³⁺ ions, showing great potential for environmental monitoring.

This study reports the synthesis of novel multilayer 3D chiral polymers using 2,2′-(2,7-Naphthalenediyl)bis[4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolane] and 1,8-dibronaphthalene along with its derivatives as key precursors. Comprehensive characterization was performed using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), photoluminescence, ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), polarimetry, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Notably, the polymers exhibited remarkable aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and aggregation-induced polarization (AIP) phenomena, revealing enhanced luminescence and optical activity in aggregated states. These findings underscore the potential of these chiral polymers for applications in optoelectronics and advanced sensing technologies, highlighting the intricate relationship between molecular structure and optical behavior.

A photocatalytic radical-mediated strategy has been developed for the 1,5-hydrogen atom transfer (1,5-HAT)/alkenylation of hydroxamides with enamides, enabling the efficient synthesis of trisubstituted enamides in moderate to good yields.

L-Carnitine is an endogenous substance essential for energy metabolism in mammals and a drug for the treatment of cardiovascular and neurological diseases. In this study, we reported and characterized a new impurity of L-carnitine (3-ethoxy-4-trimethylammonium 2-butenoate). The compound was synthesized from ethyl 4-chloroacetoacetate by a three-step reaction. It can be used as the impurity reference for the quality study and control of L-carnitine.

Graphene-supported flower-shaped platinum and palladium nanomaterials assisted by hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide have been successfully developed. Compared with the catalyst reduced by the redox reaction between metal precursors and graphene oxide, the flower-shaped catalyst obtained using reduction in active hydrogen atoms exhibits enhanced catalytic activity in alcohol electrocatalytic oxidation reactions. Repeated cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry tests both indicate that the prepared catalyst has excellent stability.

We present the first example of visible-light-mediated multicomponent annulation of 1,7-diynes by taking advantage of quadruple cleavage olf carbon-halogen bonds of BrCCl₃ to generate a C1 synthon, which was adeptly applied to the preparation of skeletally diverse 3-benzoyl-quinolin-2(1H)-one acetates in moderate to good yields. Controlled experiments demonstrated that H₂O acted as both oxygen and hydrogen sources, and gem-dichlorovinyl carbonyl compound exhibited as a critical intermediate in this process. The mechanistic pathway involves Kharasch-type addition/6-exo-dig cyclization/1,5-(SN”)-substitution/elimination/binucleophilic 1,6-addition/proton transfer/tautomerization sequence.

To determine the structure of the unknown impurity generated during the preparation of sodium sivelestat, two new compounds, benzyl 2-(2-aminoacetamido)benzoylglycinate and benzyl (2-aminobenzoyl)glycylglycinate, were prepared, and the chemical structures were confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and MS data. The unknown impurity produced during the preparation of sodium sivelestat was finally identified as benzyl (2-aminobenzoyl)glycylglycinate, which laid the foundation for quality research on sodium sivelestat.

Hydrolysis of 2-Chlorobenzal chloride is the primary production method of 2-chlobrobenzaldehyde in industry, but the reactor technologies and reaction processes of this method are traditional and underdeveloped, in which the dichotomous leaf hydrolysis agitator is commonly used, resulting in low efficiency during the hydrolysis process. In this article, ANSYS software was utilized to enhance the hydrolytic reactors used in industrial production by simulating and analyzing the dispersion characteristics of droplets in the reactor. The particle size distribution of dispersed phase droplets and the Sauter mean diameter (D₃₂) were used to characterize the dispersion effect, and the dispersion characteristics of the dichotomous leaf agitator and the three-bladed back-curved impeller, three-bladed propeller impeller, open turbine impeller, and crescent impeller were compared and studied. The results showed that there was a log-linear relationship between the D₃₂ of the dispersed phase and the stirring speed in different systems; the number of tiny droplets in the three-bladed back-curved impeller system increased remarkably, and the droplets size distribution width decreased significantly, achieving mass transfer enhancement in the hydrolysis reaction system. The reliability of the simulation results was verified by the measurement experiment using the Sauter mean diameter (D₃₂) of dispersed phase droplets. The results showed that the Sauter mean diameter (D₃₂) variation trend is consistent with that of the simulation, and the error between them is less than 10%. A lab-scale hydrolytic reactor was designed and produced based on the scheme of an industrial hydrolytic reactor equipped with a three-bladed back-curved impeller, the effect of the hydrolytic reaction was verified, and the process conditions were strengthened under the same conditions. The results showed that, compared with the case in the reactor using a dichotomous leaf hydrolysis agitator at the same reaction temperature and catalyst conditions, the reaction time of hydrolysis completion reduced to 58.33% at the lab-scale, and to 63.89% at the industrial-scale at the stirring rate of 446 r/min, using a three-bladed back-curved impeller. These results provide a technical scheme and a basis for process strengthening for improving the production efficiency of 2-chlorobenzaldehyde production equipment in industry.