Arylboron compounds have intriguing properties and are important building blocks for chemical synthesis. A family of Ir catalysts now enables the direct synthesis of arylboron compounds from aromatic hydrocarbons and boranes under "solventless" conditions. The Ir catalysts are highly selective for C-H activation and do not interfere with subsequent in situ transformations, including Pd-mediated cross-couplings with aryl halides. By virtue of their favorable activities and exceptional selectivities, these Ir catalysts impart the synthetic versatility of arylboron reagents to C-H bonds in aromatic and heteroaromatic hydrocarbons.

A light sprinkling of rust: Nanoparticulate Fe2O3 is an active catalyst for the selective oxidation of alcohols and olefins. Nano‐Fe2O3 can be easily isolated by using a magnetic stirrer bar and directly reused without any deactivation over at least five cycles (see picture).

A gold-catalyzed mild and general oxidative homo-coupling of arenes using PhI(OAc)2 as the oxidant is described (13 examples, 31-81% yield).