NJC Blog

Prof. Noritaka Mizuno (The University of Tokyo, Japan) designed this month’s outside cover. It illustrates an NJC Letter in which Prof. Mizuno and his colleagues present for the first time the efficient catalytic desulfurization-oxygenation of secondary and tertiary thioamides into amides using O₂ as the terminal oxidant and water as the oxygen source. Their results show that various kinds of structurally diverse thioamides could be applied to this catalytic system. They use phosphovanadomolybdic acids, possessing both acidic and oxidation properties, the key to realizing this transformation as the efficient catalytic one.

Phosphovanadomolybdic acid catalyzed desulfurization–oxygenation of secondary and tertiary thioamides into amides using molecular oxygen as the terminal oxidant, Ning Xu, Xiongjie Jin, Kosuke Suzuki, Kazuya Yamaguchi and Noritaka Mizuno, New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 4865-4869. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ03579A.

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This month’s issue also features a Perspective review by Dr Radovan Šebesta (Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia) and his two co-workers, which focuses on a methodology affording diversely substituted chiral carbonyl compounds. Enamines, formed from the corresponding carbonyl compounds and appropriate chiral amine catalysts, can be oxidized to radical cation species. These radical cations can be intercepted by a range of SOMO-philic reagents, such as alkenes, arenes and some heteroatom-based reagents. They show that asymmetric singly occupied molecular orbital (SOMO) catalysis is a useful tool for enantioselective allylic alkylation, enolation, arylation, carbo-oxidation, vinylation, alkynylation, or intermolecular alkylation of carbonyl compounds, predominantly aldehydes. This new bond-forming methodology can find application in the construction of both natural products as well as medicinal agents.

Enantioselective organocatalysis using SOMO activation, Mária Mečiarová, Pavol Tisovský and Radovan Šebesta, New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 4855-4864. DOI: 10.1039/C6NJ00079G.

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The first spring issue cover was designed by Prof. Ying Zhou (Southwest Petroleum University, China) to illustrate a study in which the authors stress the important role of hydrothermal treatment parameters for the oil remediation performance of the material.

The authors investigated the effects of various reducing agents with different temperatures and reaction times on the density, specific surface area, strength, morphology and adsorption performance of the prepared graphene aerogels. Their results provide hints to select a reducing agent to prepare a graphene aerogel for oil sorption.

Hydrothermal formation of graphene aerogel for oil sorption: the role of reducing agent, reaction time and temperature. Wenchao Wan, Fei Zhang, Shan Yu, Ruiyang Zhang and Ying Zhou, New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 3040-3046. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ03086B.

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NJC also invites you to read the two Perspective reviews in this month’s issue:

• Profs. Wen He and Xudong Zhang (Qilu University of Technology, China) and their co-workers focused their review of hybrid cathode materials on composites of LiFePO4 or Li3V2(PO4)3 with other lithium-metal compounds. They note the challenges still facing researchers to bring the understanding of these materials to the point where they can be used in lithium ion batteries.

Recent progress in hybrid cathode materials for lithium ion batteries. Chuanliang Wei, Wen He, Xudong Zhang, Jianxing Shen and Jingyun Ma, New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 2984-2999. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ02212F.

• In the second review, Prof. Moo Hwan Cho (Yeungnam University, South Korea) and his colleagues focus on the major developments in the synthesis of N-doped TiO₂ and its possible applications for the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants and environmental remediation under visible light irradiation.

Nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide (N-doped TiO2) for visible light photocatalysis. Sajid Ali Ansari, Mohammad Mansoob Khan, Mohd Omaish Ansari and Moo Hwan Cho, New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 3000-3009. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ03478G.

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