A long-standing challenge in synthetic chemistry is the development of the transamidation reaction. This process, which involves the conversion of one amide to another, is typically plagued by unfavourable kinetic and thermodynamic factors. Although some advances have been made with regard to the transamidation of primary amide substrates, secondary amide transamidation has remained elusive. Here we present a simple two-step approach that allows for the elusive overall transformation to take place using non-precious metal catalysis. The methodology proceeds under exceptionally mild reaction conditions and is tolerant of amino-acid-derived nucleophiles. In addition to overcoming the classic problem of secondary amide transamidation, our studies expand the growing repertoire of new transformations mediated by base metal catalysis.

Conjugated enynes are of great importance in organic synthesis, biochemistry and materials sciences. The most commonly used synthetic methods include cross coupling reactions and dimerization reactions of alkynes. Despite many robust strategies being established, the improvement of reaction efficiency and development of novel transformations have still been actively pursued in the past decade. This review covers recent advances in transition-metal-catalyzed reactions in these fields.

With ever-increasing concerns on health and environmental safety, there is a fast-growing interest in new technologies for medical devices and applications. Particularly, wireless power transfer (WPT) technology provides reliable and convenient power charging for implant medical devices without additional surgery. For those WPT medical systems, the width of the human body restricts the charging distance, while the specific absorption rate (SAR) standard limits the intensity of the electromagnetic field. In order to develop a high-efficient charging strategy for medical implants, the key factors of transmission distance, coil structure, resonant frequency, etc. are paid special attention. In this paper, a comprehensive overview of near-field WPT technologies in medical devices is presented and discussed. Also, future development is discussed for the prediction of different devices when embedded in various locations of the human body. Moreover, the key issues including power transfer efficiency and output power are addressed and analyzed. All concerning characteristics of WPT links for medical usage are elaborated and discussed. Thus, this review provides an in-depth investigation and the whole map for WPT technologies applied in medical applications.

The direct asymmetric copper hydride (CuH)-catalyzed coupling of α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids to aryl alkenes is reported to access chiral α-aryl dialkyl ketones. A variety of substrate substitution patterns, sensitive functional groups and heterocycles are tolerated in this reaction, which significantly expands the range of accessible products compared to existing hydroacylation methodology. Although mechanistic studies are ongoing, we propose that CuH-catalyzed silylation of unsaturated acids occurs to access a uniquely effective acyl electrophilic coupling partner.