A BF ⋅Et O-catalyzed C2-selective C-H borylation of indoles with bis(pinacolato)diboron was developed to afford indole-2-boronic acid pinacol esters. A variety of functional groups were tolerated, and other heteroarenes like pyrrole and benzo[b]thiophene were also suitable substrates. An electrophilic substitution mechanism was proposed based on the preliminary mechanistic studies. This novel transformation utilizes simple and cheap BF ⋅Et O as catalyst and exhibits unusual C2 regioselectivity, providing a significant non-transition-metal-catalyzed C-H borylation and an efficient method towards the synthesis of C2-functionalized heteroarenes.

A Ni-catalyzed decarboxylative crosscoupling of potassium polyfluorobenzoates with unactivated phenol and phenylmethanol derivatives is described. This novel transformation provides a practical and efficient protocol towards the synthesis of important polyfluorobiaryls and polyfluorinated diarylmethanes, and greatly enlarges the range of electrophiles utilized in decarboxylative coupling. Remarkably, preliminary mechanistic studies indicated the essential role of Zn(OAc) 2 might lie in the enhancement of decarboxylation step.

Unreactive C–N bond activation of anilines was achieved by photoinduced aerobic borylation. A diverse range of tertiary and secondary anilines were converted to aryl boronate esters in moderate to good yields with wide functional group tolerance under simple and ambient photochemical conditions. This transformation achieved the direct and facile C–N bond activation of unreactive anilines, providing a convenient and practical route transforming widely available anilines into useful aryl boronate esters.

Dimerization of biomass-based furfuryl alcohols to biodiesel precursors was realized by using only H2O and air without adding any other catalysts.

A BF3⋅Et2O‐catalyzed C2‐selective C−H borylation of indoles with bis(pinacolato)diboron was developed to afford indole‐2‐boronic acid pinacol esters. A variety of functional groups were tolerated, and other heteroarenes like pyrrole and benzo[b]thiophene were also suitable substrates. An electrophilic substitution mechanism was proposed based on the preliminary mechanistic studies. This novel transformation utilizes simple and cheap BF3⋅Et2O as catalyst and exhibits unusual C2 regioselectivity, providing a significant non‐transition‐metal‐catalyzed C−H borylation and an efficient method towards the synthesis of C2‐functionalized heteroarenes.