A practical nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling of (hetero)­aryl or alkynylzinc pivalates with various unsaturated nonaflates or triflates is described. Organozinc pivalates allow these cross-couplings to take place with high yields and a low catalyst loading (0.5 mol %). Couplings with (E)- and (Z)-alkenyl triflates proceed with retention of configuration.

The present short review article highlights recent progress in the field of transition-metal catalysis. An overview on recent work involving cobalt-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions and some recent advances from our laboratories are given.1 Introduction2 Csp2–Csp2 Cobalt-Catalyzed Cross-Couplings3 Csp2–Csp3 Cobalt-Catalyzed Cross-Couplings4 Conclusion

Various 1,2-, 1,3-, and 1,4-substituted cyclic iodides or bromides undergo highly diastereoselective cross-couplings (diastereoselectivity (dr) up to 99:1) with a range of alkynylzinc pivalates, using CoCl (20 mol %) and trans- N, N, N', N'-tetramethylcyclohexane-1,2-diamine as a catalytic system.

Different carboxylic acid derivatives of 2,2-dinitropropane-1,3-diol (DNPD) and 2,2-bis(azidomethyl)propane-1,3-diol (BAMP) were synthesized to investigate their suitability as energetic plasticizers. The syntheses were carried out using acyl chlorides of acetic, propionic, and butyric acid. The obtained products were characterized by elemental analysis, NMR, and IR spectroscopy. The energetic properties of the synthesized compounds were calculated on the basis of the computed heats of formation at the CBS-4M level of theory using the EXPLO5 version 6.02 computer code. Investigations of physical stabilities were carried out using BAM drop hammer and friction tester. Low and high temperature behavior was determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The energetic and physical properties of the synthesized compounds were compared to the literature known energetic plasticizers N-butyl nitratoethylnitramine (BuNENA) and diethylene glycol bis(azidoacetate) ester (DEGBAA)

A cobalt-catalyzed acylation reaction of (hetero)arylzinc pivalates using primary, secondary and tertiary alkyl, benzyl and (hetero)aryl S-pyridyl thioesters has been developed.