A Kekulé Diradicaloid with a Naphthalene Spacer The availability of a diverse array of carbenes led to the generation of a catalog of carbene based Kekulé diradicaloids, but the linker in such molecules is mostly limited to phenylene or biphenylene...

A Kekulé diradicaloid with a naphthalene spacer! Led by Gargi & Debjit and great collaborations with Soumya, Ravi, Arrya, Srinu, and Kumar, just published in Organometallics!
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Magnesium-Catalyzed CO2 Reduction to Formic Acid or Methanol: Solvent or No Solvent Settles the Selectivity Reducing the carbonyl (C═O) group in carbon dioxide is a difficult yet crucial step for producing valuable chemical compounds. This approach holds promise for creating new methods to utilize nonfossil-based raw materials. Using catalysts made from abundant, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly metals, such as magnesium, could significantly advance the development of sustainable synthetic techniques. In this study, a magnesium pincer compound (1) is shown to facilitate the reduction of CO2 with pinacolborane as the reductant. When used without a solvent, the reaction produces methoxyborane, whereas in THF, it leads to formoxyborane. Formoxyborane has been identified as a “missing link” in homogeneous CO2 reduction by catalysts based on alkaline earth metal elements. The variation in product selectivity was substantiated through DFT calculations. The initial generation of the Mg(II) hydride catalyst both in the absence and presence of THF entails an activation barrier within 25–26 kcal mol–1. However, the rate-determining step, in the absence of a solvent, involves hydride transfer-mediated reduction at the formate fragment accompanying a transition barrier of 27.3 kcal mol–1. In the presence of THF, the rate-determining step involves hydride transfer to the Mg center with a barrier of 29.2 kcal mol–1, generating the catalyst and boryl formate.

Magnesium-Catalyzed CO2 Reduction to Formic Acid or Methanol: Solvent or No Solvent Settles the Selectivity | Inorganic Chemistry pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Alkyl Bismuth Cations: Synthesis, Characterization, and Application as Z‐Type Ligands Rare examples of alkyl bismuth cations [BiR2(SbF6)] are presented, including cyclopropyl ligands and a bismacyclic structure. The bismuth-centered Lewis acids act as Z-type ligands toward the electro....

News on alkyl #bismuth cations! Isolable compounds featuring cyclic motifs act as unusual Z-type ligands towards platinum. Great collaboration with Alex Gagnon and the von Hänisch group, just published @chemistryeurope.bsky.social. chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Reactivity of Diaryl Bismuth Cations toward a Platinum(0) Complex: Oxidative Aryl Transfer Reactions of three aryl-substituted bismuth cations, [BiPh2(SbF6)], [BiMes2(SbF6)], and [BiDipp2(SbF6)], with the Pt0 complex Pt(PCy3)2 have been investigated (Mes = 2,4,6-trimethyl-phenyl; Dipp = 2,6-di-iso-propyl-phenyl; Cy = cyclohexyl). Unexpectedly, and in contrast with the reactivity of the recently reported methyl analogue [BiMe2(SbF6)], the formation of isolable metal-only Lewis pairs [(Cy3P)2Pt→BiAr2(SbF6)] is not observed (Ar = aryl). Instead, an unprecedented bismuth-to-platinum oxidative aryl transfer is witnessed to give the PtII complexes [PtAr(PCy3)2(SbF6)], along with the suggested bismuthinidene intermediates BiAr. Attempts to trap these fleeting intermediates with an ortho-quinone led to a PtII semiquinone radical complex.

#Bismuth meets platinum (#1): diaryl bismuth cations undergo oxidative aryl transfer to Pt(0)! Attempts to trap the low-valent Bi intermediate yielded a Pt radical complex. Now out in the p-block special issue of #Organometallics, @pubs.acs.org: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/... Congrats to the team!

Homoleptic bismuth phosphanides isolated! We are happy to share our recent findings @chemicalscience.rsc.org: pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a.... The title compounds readily release P-radicals, revealing a novel P-inversion pathway and P-radical transfer to external substrates. Congrats to the team!

Thank you so much Crispin and many congratulations to all who have been involve.

Thank you so much ☺️☺️

Homoleptic Bismuth Alkynes: Isolable Reagents for Selective Alkynyl Radical Transfer The first series of fully characterized homoleptic alkynyl bismuth compounds Bi(C≡CR)3 is presented. Facile homolytic Bi–C bond cleavage grants access to alkynyl radicals, which have been employed in...

Alkynyl radicals are readily released from homoleptic alkynyl #Bismuth compounds @angewandtechemie.bsky.social! Check out their selective C-X coupling reactions (X = C, B, Se, Te): onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/.... Congrats to the team, incl. @gargis.bsky.social, @aliciacasitas.bsky.social!

Wow.. Many Congratulations to the team..

Diaryl Bismuthides and Acyl Bismuthanes Enable Visible-Light-Induced Reversible Carbon Monoxide Insertion and Extrusion - Nature Communications Carbon monoxide (CO) is one of the simplest and most fundamental molecules that has fascinated chemists for decades. Early-on, chemists have recognized and exploited its favorable properties as a key ...

Nucleophilic #Bismuth: diarylbismuth-anions grant access to bismuth-acyl compounds & visible-light-induced reversible insertion/extrusion of CO! Just out @natcomms.nature.com: link.springer.com/article/10.1.... Congrats to the team (including @felixgeist.bsky.social, @jordipoater.bsky.social)!

A Crystalline Phosphorus-Substituted Borinium Ion: Double Dihydrogen Activation by an Ambiphilic Inorganic Allene ( @chemicalscience.rsc.org ): pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a....

Many congratulations to all. very Nice work..

Our latest is out now in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social!
Thermochromism, C-H/O activation & redox chem at a planar Bi triamide. Congrats to PhD Will Howlett on leading this @bsky.app initiated collab with @chrisslootweg.bsky.social + @jasonmasuda.bsky.social
@dalchemistry.bsky.social.

bit.ly/480io3T

We celebrated the farewell of #JörgSundermeyer — my GDCh partner in crime🥰🤩 whose energy ⚡🔋always lifted us. „Dein strahlendes Lächeln 😃& deine gute Laune werden uns sehr fehlen.“
Danke für alles! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨#ProfLife

very nice work.. Many congratulations to the team ..

The Methylbismuth Dication: Pentagonal Pyramidal Coordination and Ligand‐Induced Lewis Superacidity The simplistic methylbismuth dication has been captured only by the aid of monodentate tetrahydrofuran (thf) ligands, [BiMe(thf)5]2+. The hexacoordinate species shows a very unusual pentagonal pyrami...

Unusual coordination chemistry & reactivity: the methyl #bismuth dication shows a pentagonal pyramidal coordination and can be turned into a Lewis #superacid. Read more about Johannes', @taminazk.bsky.social, and Bene's work in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...!

Heartiest congratulations Crispin. Well deserved..

Our manuscript on the first isolable paramagnetic boron tetraradical is now online @jacs.acspublications.org (pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....)! @heechankim.bsky.social designed and synthesized an unusual B-PAH tetraradical with tetraphenylethene-linked boraphenanthrene-type units! #maingroup

Wow .. Many congratulations to you and your team.. wish you very happy birthday 🎂

A Crystalline Boravinylidene from an Arrested Hydroboration Reaction ( @boron11.bsky.social ): pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/... ( @jacs.acspublications.org ).

Round succulents glow in a variety of colors.

These succulents got a glow up from researchers who injected the plants with inorganic phosphor particles. The researchers patented their technology and hope that it could lead to living light features in the future: cen.acs.org/materials/ph...

#FluorescenceFriday #CENChemPics #chemsky 🧪

Congratulations to Professor Alex Radosevich and Professor @alisonwendlandt.bsky.social, who were named recipients of 2026 Arthur C. Cope Scholar Awards by the American Chemical Society. These awards recognize and encourage excellence in organic chemistry.

chemistry.mit.edu/chemistry-ne...

Reversible Electron Transfer in the Formation of Radical Anionic and Dianionic 1,4-Diborabutatrienes ( @jacs.acspublications.org ): pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/....

After our 2025 Research Retreat where we discussed our research plans for the academic year, we had a nice dinner at
Lucca in Boston!

Very nice work..Many congratulations to the team

Bismuth Radical Catalysis: Thermally Induced Intramolecular C(sp3)–C(sp) Cyclization of Unactivated Alkyl Iodides and Alkynes Bismuth radical chemistry has attracted increased interest in recent years. Here, we report a series of bismuth–manganese complexes that catalyze the intramolecular redox-neutral coupling of alkyl iod...

How to catalytically cyclize alkyl species onto alkynes? Just add a pinch of bismuth! Read about our findings in controlled radical reactions catalyzed by well-defined manganese- bismuth heterobimetallic complexes, just published in ACS Catalysis @pubs.acs.org: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

From @heechankim.bsky.social @rjgilliard.bsky.social a range of boron helices @jacs.acspublications.org.

This double-stranded diborahelicate could be transformed into luminescent borahelicates and cationic boron coordination complexes.

🔗 CSD Entry CABXAJ: bit.ly/46xskm6

#FeaturedStructureFriday

In this Graduate Student Spotlight, Chonghe Zhang shares his inspiration for studying chemistry and reveals the movie he’d watch on a loop for 27 hours, the food he craves most often, the best thing he could reasonably expect to find in a cave, and more!

chemistry.mit.edu/chemistry-ne...

The Hudnall lab is hiring a Postdoctoral Fellow! Applicants excited about joining our recently relocated research group and interested in the synthesis of exotic main-group molecules, materials and heterodiatomics can email Dr. Hudnall directly. Please share!

Magnesium-Catalyzed Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Amide Hydroboration Catalytic hydroboration of amides is highly important because the resultant amines are commonly found in natural products, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, dyes, and other applications. In comparison to the conventional reduction of amides using (over)stoichiometric reductants, hydroboration of amides using magnesium compounds represents a green and sustainable approach because magnesium is both Earth abundant and environmentally benign. However, there is only one report on magnesium-catalyzed deoxygenative hydroboration of secondary and tertiary amides. Here, we describe the synthesis and structural authentication of two new magnesium compounds (1 and 2) featuring a flexible PNP ligand and the utilization of 2 as a catalyst for the pinacolborane-mediated reduction of primary, secondary, and tertiary amides to amines. The reaction scope is explored, and a mechanism is proposed based on experimental and theoretical insights.

This time it's magnesium! Our latest at Inorganic Chemistry reports a Mg-catalyst that reduces all amides. Kudos to Biplab for the lead with solid support from Soumya, Devaraj, Kumar, Rajesh! Grateful to CSIR_IND for funds!
#MagnesiumCatalysis
#SustainableChemistry
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...