Zirconocene-mediated route to enantiopure 9-oxabicyclononanes functionalized on both carbon bridges

[reaction: see text] A zirconocene-mediated ring contraction of 4-vinylfuranosides generated either from d-arabinose or d-glucose is followed by sequential oxidation to the ketone and alkynyl Grignard addition. The resulting cis-cyclobutanediols are subjected in turn to thermal rearrangement and intramolecular oxymercuration-demercuration. The regiochemistry of the final ring closure is controlled by the nature of R.     

Formation of nitrogen‐containing heterocycles using di(imidazole‐1‐yl)methanimine

A mild and efficient synthesis of five‐ and six‐membered nitrogen containing heterocyclic compounds, in which di(imidazole‐1‐yl)methanimine serves as a one‐carbon source, is reported.     

The first organically templated thorium compounds, [C4N2H12]0.5[ThF5] and [C5N2H14][ThF6].0.5H2O

Organically templated thorium compounds were synthesized for the first time under hydrothermal conditions; the piperazine containing compound consists of 2-D layers, while the 2-methylpiperazine phase contains unprecedented 1-D chains of face-sharing ThF9 polyhedra.