Carbon-carbon bond-forming reductive elimination from elusive organocopper(III) complexes has been considered the key step in many copper-catalyzed and organocuprate reactions. However, organocopper(III) complexes with well-defined structures that can undergo reductive elimination are extremely rare, especially for the formation of Csp 3-Csp 3 bonds. We report herein a general method for the synthesis of a series [alkyl-Cu III-(CF 3) 3 ]complexes, the structures of which have been unequivocally characterized by NMR, mass spectrometry and X-ray crystal diffraction. At elevated temperature, these complexes undergo reductive elimination following first-order kinetics, forming alky-CF 3 products with good yields (up to 91%). Both Kinetic studies and DFT calculations indicate that the reductive elimination to form Csp 3-CF 3 bonds proceeds through a concerted transition state, with a ΔH ‡ =20 kcal/mol barrier.

Electrochemical partial oxidation of hydrocarbons to value-added products using electricity from renewable energy resources has the potential to change the way that commodity chemicals are manufactured. In this study, we used density functional theory calculations combined with a constant electrode potential model to study the previously reported ethylene partial electro-oxidation to epoxide on RuO2(110) in an aqueous solution containing [Cl–] = 0.3 M. We found that the high selectivity toward epoxide is due to the in situ generated *OCClO* intermediate that blocks parts of the surface and leads to isolation of *O (surface adsorbed oxygen) active sites. This step turns off the pathways to over-oxidation and drives the reaction toward epoxide formation. The reaction mechanisms for ethylene over-oxidation and partial oxidation are proposed. Our theoretical study unveiled a dynamic and unique means to achieve active site isolation that can be used to improve selectivity of hydrocarbon partial electro-oxidation.

A new route, Pd(II)‐catalyzed base‐free oxidative homocoupling, has been successfully used for the synthesis of polyfluorene. Using only diboronic esters and a stable Pd(II) catalyst in the absence of base can greatly simplify the synthetic condition of conjugated polymers.

Two new organic dyes containing E-or Z-trifluoromethyl acrylic acid as the electron acceptors were synthesized and used as sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The Z-isomer achieved a power conversion efficiency (g) of 4.05%, which was much higher than that of the E-isomer (g = 1.35%). Such resultsgive a new insight into in design of new dyes for DSSCs.