A classical but new kinetic equation to estimate activation energies of various hydride transfer reactions was developed according to transition state theory using the Morse-type free energy curves of hydride donors to release a hydride anion and hydride acceptors to capture a hydride anion and by which the activation energies of 187 typical hydride self-exchange reactions and more than thirty thousand hydride cross transfer reactions in acetonitrile were safely estimated in this work. Since the development of the kinetic equation is only on the basis of the related chemical bond changes of the hydride transfer reactants, the kinetic equation should be also suitable for proton transfer reactions, hydrogen atom transfer reactions and all the other chemical reactions involved with breaking and formation of chemical bonds. One of the most important contributions of this work is to have achieved the perfect unity of the kinetic equation and thermodynamic equation for hydride transfer reactions.

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Metallaphotocatalysis often needs light-absorbing metal-polypyridyl complexes, semiconductors, or organic dyes, which can modify the oxidation state of metal catalysts. Here, we first report that photoexcitation of Hantzsch ester can directly activate chromium reagents through a single-electron transfer process. The synthetic application was demonstrated through a photoredox decarboxylative allylation of aldehydes with feedstock butadiene without exogenous photocatalysts, metallic reductants, or additives.

The concept of “umpolung” reactivity of π-allylmetal complexes has been developed as a powerful method for the allylation of aldehydes. This paper describes the photocatalytic umpolung strategy for the synthesis of nucleophilic allylcobalt complexes through a single-electron-transfer (SET) process. This strategy enables the metallaphotoredox allylation of carbonyls with allyl acetate using organic N,N-diisopropylethylamine as the terminal reductant bypassing the use of a stoichiometric amount of metals. Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy was used to monitor the redox changes of cobalt in the reaction.

Novel hybrid catalysts that resulted from the anchoring of pyrene-tagged Rh(i) complexes onto graphene materials via π–π stacking interactions show excellent catalytic activity towards the hydrogenation of dehydroamino acid.