Keywords:Oxidative cyclization / Tetrahydrofurans / Ruthenium / Oxidation / CatalysisWe report a highly efficient procedure for the oxidative cyclization of 1,5-dienes, which generally allows for high yields and selectivities. A solid-supported terminal oxidant and a finely tuned solvent mixture have both been identified as critical factors for this high efficiency. As little as 0.2 mol-% ruthenium(III) chloride as a pre-catalyst for the ruthenium te-

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Highly efficient metal-free reductive coupling reactions of aldehydes and ketones with a range of nucleophiles in the presence of triflic acid (1-5 mol%) as the catalyst are presented. The reactions can be performed at ambient temperature without exclusion of moisture or air. A range of symmetrical and unsymmetrical ethers were obtained by this method in high yields and short reaction times. For the first time, the influence of additional functionalization has been studied. Furthermore, the formation of thioethers from ketones (by addition of unmodified thiols) and of sulfonamides from either aldehydes or ketones has been achieved under catalytic conditions.

Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) is a field of key emerging technologies. CCU can support the economy to decrease the dependency on fossil carbon raw materials, to stabilize electricity grids and markets with respect to a growing share of fluctuating renewable energy. Furthermore, it can contribute to mitigate anthropogenic CO2 emissions. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research has provided substantial financial support for research and development projects, stimulating research, development, and innovations in the field of CO2 utilization. This review provides an overview over the most relevant funding measures in this field. Examples of successful projects demonstrate that CCU technologies are already economically viable or technologically ready for industrial application. CCU technologies as elements of a future “green economy” can contribute to reach the ambitious German sustainability targets with regard to climate protection as well as raw material productivity.

Inefficient intracellular protein trafficking is a critical issue in the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases and in recombinant protein production. Here we investigated the trafficking of factor VIII (FVIII), which is affected in the coagulation disorder hemophilia A. We hypothesized that chemical chaperones may be useful to enhance folding and processing of FVIII in recombinant protein production, and as a therapeutic approach in patients with impaired FVIII secretion. A tagged B-domain-deleted version of human FVIII was expressed in cultured Chinese Hamster Ovary cells to mimic the industrial production of this important protein. Of several chemical chaperones tested, the addition of betaine resulted in increased secretion of FVIII, by increasing solubility of intracellular FVIII aggregates and improving transport from endoplasmic reticulum to Golgi. Similar results were obtained in experiments monitoring recombinant full-length FVIII. Oral betaine administration also increased FVIII and factor IX (FIX) plasma levels in FVIII or FIX knockout mice following gene transfer. Moreover, in vitro and in vivo applications of betaine were also able to rescue a trafficking-defective FVIII mutant (FVIIIQ305P). We conclude that chemical chaperones such as betaine might represent a useful treatment concept for hemophilia and other diseases caused by deficient intracellular protein trafficking.