So excited to see this amazing work out today in #JACS! ⚡🎉

A great interdisciplinary project and wonderful team effort, combining electrosynthesis and #compchem with lots of creativity and collaboration!

@manchester.ac.uk

#Electrosynthesis #OrganicChemistry #ComputationalChemistry

Self-healing polymers emerge from the first use of pnictogen bond crosslinks Antimony-nitrogen interactions yield materials with enhanced stability and the ability to self-heal in aqueous environments

Because pnictogen bond donors typically have more accessible σ holes than other non covalent donors, they enable stronger bonding directionality and greater structural complexity.

Thank you for the write up @chemistryworld.com - an honour to have our work included in such great company!

Electroreductive Cleavage of C(sp3)–N Bonds in Saturated N-Carbonyl Heterocycles Ring-opening C–N bond cleavage reactions provide an effective means to convert widespread, readily accessible chiral N-heterocycles into hard-to-attain stereodefined linear amines. Current strategies either rely on the strain-induced release of small aziridine and azetidine rings or, for larger ring systems, require highly electrophilic reagents, oxidative conditions, or preinstalled reactive functionalities to enable the ring-opening event. Recently, complementary radical strategies that exploit the reactivity of α-amino-ketyl radicals, formed upon single-electron transfer (SET) reduction of common N-carbonyl protecting groups, have emerged. Nevertheless, these methods facilitate the homolytic fragmentation only of up to 5-membered azacycles. In this study, we leveraged electroreductive conditions to switch the nature of the above C–N bond cleavage manifold from radical to ionic and enable the heterolytic ring-opening of a broad array of unstrained cyclic amines (comprising pyrrolidines, piperidines, azepines, azocanes, and N-macrocycles), protected as N-(thio)amides, carbamates, or ureas. Crucially, this electrochemically enabled reactivity switch grants complementary functional group compatibility and a broader ring size and N-carbonyl group scope. Computational and experimental studies indicate that electrochemical settings are crucial for generating the Mg(II)-Lewis acid catalyst, activating the N-carbonyl moiety while prompting the so-formed oxy-iminium ion intermediates to undergo two consecutive cathodic SET reductions, generating “umpoled” α-amino-α-oxy-carbanion species. These, via irreversible E1cB fragmentation of the adjacent C–N bond, lead to the desired ring-opened products. Our electrochemical procedure can be scaled up and miniaturized (enabling its application to high-throughput experimentation screening), and its synthetic utility has been demonstrated by accessing decorated stereodefined linear amides from stereochemically rich pyrrolidine and azepane derivatives.

Excited to see our recent work on the electroreductive cleavage of C(sp³)–N bonds in saturated N-carbonyl heterocycles out in @jacs.acspublications.org 🔌Check the full study here: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Congratulations!!!! More amazing advancements from the Crisenza group!

A comparison of three nitrogen–phosphorus or nitrogen–carbon species across time. On the left is Griefs’ 1858 cationic diazide‑type structure with a chloride counterion. In the middle is Niecke’s 1988 imidophosphine structure featuring an N=P bond. On the right, a highlighted box shows the compounds reported in this work: monomeric P=P–X species where X = Cl, Br, or I. A bullet list to the right summarizes their properties: crystalline, monomeric, thermally robust, fully characterized, and investigated in reactivity studies.

First crystalline aryl‑P=P–X compounds unlock new frontiers in low‑coordinate P chemistry!

"Isolation of arylhalodiphosphenes: periodic trends in R–P=P–X bonding (X = Cl, Br, I)"

Read this HOT article from John Wegner, Meera Mehta and colleagues for free: doi.org/10.1039/D6SC...

Thinking of doing a PhD in synthetic inorganic chemistry? Apply with the Mehta group. UK students only. Email me.

Series of stable nitrogen radical chains synthesised These compounds may find uses as nitrene precursors

Such compounds could act as nitrene precursors, useful to activate C-H bonds for drug synthesis, for example.

Isolation of arylhalodiphosphenes: periodic trends in R–PP–X bonding (X = Cl, Br, I) For over a century, aryldiazonium halides have served as widely used building blocks within synthetic chemistry. They are vital intermediates in converting simple anilines to high-value products, incl...

Check out recent work from the Mehta group looking at structure of Ar-P=P-X molecules, the compositional all P analogue of aryldiazonium halides. Published in @chemicalscience.rsc.org Thanks @ukri.org @erc.europa.eu for funding!
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

Series of stable nitrogen radical chains synthesised These compounds may find uses as nitrene precursors

It sounds implausible but chains of 4 nitrogen atoms that are stable at room temperature for weeks have been created.

Nice! Congrats to you and Laura!

Great work Clare and team! Congratulations 🎉

Matt, Imogen and Mickey’s paper detailing the synthesis and reactivity of the first neutral Al(I) trimer is out now in @natcomms.nature.com! Check it out here along with @mattdv-t.bsky.social’s ‘behind the paper’ article!

A neutral cyclic aluminium (I) trimer - Nature Communications Low oxidation state aluminium complexes have gained wide recognition as discrete and versatile 2-electron reductants, but neutral trimeric structures remain elusive. Here the authors report the synthe...

Absolutely thrilled to see our ( @bakewellgroup.bsky.social ) paper "A neutral cyclic aluminium (I) trimer" has been published in @natcomms.nature.com in its full typeset version! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Congrats Matt!!! Great to see this out! 🎉

Making anions containing chains of nitrogen

🔬 Oxford Chemistry achieves a breakthrough in nitrogen chemistry

Published today in Nature Chemistry @natchem.nature.com @nature.com 

Making anions containing chains of nitrogen

Thanks @oxfordchemistry.bsky.social for highlighting our recent @natchem.nature.com.
www.chem.ox.ac.uk/article/maki...

Over 2.5 years @reecelisterroberts.bsky.social has been working on isolating a range of 4-atom nitrogen chain radical anions! Now published in @natchem.nature.com! @oxfordchemistry.bsky.social @manchester.ac.uk @ukri.org @erc.europa.eu www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Registration is now open for the 2026 RSC (@rsc.org) Main Group Interest Group Conference:

www.rsc.org/events/detai...

The meeting will be taking place on the 8-9th April 2026 at the University of Edinburgh, showcasing a breadth of inorganic/main group chemistry- We would love to see you there.

Computational Studies of Functionalized [Pn7] (Pn = P, As) Clusters for the Catalyzed Hydroboration of Pyridine; Exploration of the Treatment of Entropy Zintl clusters have recently emerged as competent catalysts for a variety of organic transformations. Herein, we report the mechanism of functionalized Zintl-cluster-catalyzed hydroboration of pyridin...

Congrats to Daniel on this first 'first-author' paper! A collaborative computational piece with Nik K @manchester.ac.uk @oxfordchemistry.bsky.social Thanks to the UKRI @ukri.org published in Inorg Chem!

pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Isolation of Potassium Bis(amido)diazadipnictogenide Salts The reaction of Zintl phases K3As7 and K3P7 were investigated with 1-azido-4-bromobenzene (4-BrC6H4N3) and found to yield potassium salts of substituted diazadipnictogen rings (general molecular fragm...

Check out recent work from Reece looking at monomer-dimer equilibrium of {N2Pn2} ring structures! .. more work from Reece coming soon... @oxfordchemistry.bsky.social @organometallic.bsky.social @reecelisterroberts.bsky.social

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Congrats Paul! And thanks to SCGC for supporting our science. Looking forward to all the cool stuff we’ll be able to do in the lab!

The group will soon be advertising a 3-year PDRA position @imperialchemistry.bsky.social. The successful candidate will research the synthesis and reactivity of complexes with alkaline earth-metal bonds. Start date: 03/26. Please get in touch for infomal inquries.

The Main Group Committee is looking for nominations for the RSC Main Group PhD Lectureship Prize (@rsc.org). Both Self and External Nominations welcome. Extra details provided on the flyer below:

We're Hiring! If you are interested in a PDRA post with the Mehta group, please apply! @ox.ac.uk @oxfordchemistry.bsky.social

my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

Cute!🥰

ACS wishes you a Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!🎊
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Nice work! Well done.

Wishing a happy Hanukkah to all those celebrating — at this time we hold close the light of community and peace.

#Hanukkah

Dynamic Behavior of the P73– Cluster and Its Derivatives with Main-Group and Transition Metal Fragments The mobility of main-group and transition metal fragments on the surface of a phosphorus cluster, P73–, has been explored using density functional theory. The naked P73– cluster undergoes rapid exchan...

Check out this computational work on understanding [P7] cluster dynamics!
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...