The development of highly active and stable earth-abundant electrocatalysts to reduce or eliminate the reliance on noble-metal based ones for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) over a broad pH range remains a great challenge. Herein, hierarchical porous CoS/N-doped carbon@MoS (CoS/NC@MoS) polyhedrons have been synthesized by a facile hydrothermal approach using highly conductive Co/NC polyhedrons composed of cobalt nanoparticles embedded in N-doped carbon matrices as both the structural support and cobalt source. The Co/NC polyhedrons were prepared by direct carbonization of Co-based zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) in Ar atmosphere. Benefiting from the prominent synergistic effect of N-doped carbon enhancing the conductivity of the hybrid, MoS and CoS providing abundant catalytically active sites as well as the well-defined polyhedral structure promoting mechanical stability, the as-synthesized CoS/NC@MoS shows excellent HER activity and good stability over a broad pH range, with onset overpotentials of 4, 38, and 45 mV, Tafel slopes of 60.3, 68.8, and 126.1 mV dec, and overpotentials of 67, 117, and 261 mV at 10 mA cm in 1.0 M KOH, 0.5 M HSO, and 1.0 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS), respectively. This work provides a general and promising approach for the design and synthesis of inexpensive and efficient pH-universal HER electrocatalysts.

N-nitroso compounds are a versatile class of organic structures that allow expedient access to a diversity of synthetically useful architectures through demonstrated reactivities. We report herein the development of a Rh(III)-catalyzed N-nitroso-directed methodology for the ortho-olefination of arenes. The heightened reactivity endowed by the N-nitroso group translates to mild reaction conditions, high reaction yields, and synthetic compatibility of otherwise elusive substrates (e.g., an unactivated olefin, 1-octene). Comprehensive mechanistic studies on the electronic effect, deuterium exchange, kinetic isotope effect, kinetic profile, and numerous Rh(III) complexes have established [RhCp*](2+) as the catalyst resting state, electrophilic C-H activation as the turnover-limiting step, and a five-membered rhodacycle as a catalytically competent intermediate. The ability to elaborate the N-nitroso moiety to an amine functionality provides a seminal example of the innumerable synthetic possibilities offered by this transformable directing group.

Herein we disclose a scalable organo-catalytic direct arylation approach for the regio- and atroposelective synthesis of non-C2-symmetric 2,2′-dihydroxy-1,1′-binaphthalenes (BINOLs). In the presence of catalytic amounts of axially chiral phosphoric acids, phenols and naphthols are coupled with iminoquinones via a cascade process that involves sequential aminal formation, sigmatropic rearrangement, and rearomatization to afford enantiomerically enriched BINOL derivatives in good to excellent yields. Our studies suggest that the (local) symmetry of the initially formed aminal intermediate has a dramatic impact on the level of enantioinduction in the final product. Aminals with a plane of symmetry give rise to BINOL derivatives with significantly lower enantiomeric excess than unsymmetrical ones featuring a stereogenic center. Presumably asymmetric induction in the sigmatropic rearrangement step is significantly more challenging than during aminal formation. Sigmatropic rearrangement of the enantiomerically enriched aminal and subsequent rearomatization transfers the central chirality into axial chirality with high fidelity.

The direct enantioselective synthesis of chiral azaheteroaryl ethylamines from vinyl-substituted N-heterocycles and anilines is reported. A chiral phosphoric acid (CPA) catalyst promotes dearomatizing aza-Michael addition to give a prochiral exocyclic aryl enamine, which undergoes asymmetric protonation upon rearomatization. The reaction accommodates a broad range of N-heterocycles, nucleophiles, and substituents on the prochiral centre, generating the products in high enantioselectivity. DFT studies support a facile nucleophilic addition based on catalyst-induced LUMO lowering, with site-selective, rate-limiting, intramolecular asymmetric proton transfer from the ion-paired prochiral intermediate.