This work outlines a synthetic route that can be used to access chiral cyclobutane keto acids with two stereocenters in five steps from the inexpensive terpene myrtenal. Furthermore, the developed route includes an 8-aminoquinoline-directed C(sp²)–H arylation as one of its key steps, which allows a wide range of aryl and heteroaryl groups to be incorporated into the bicyclic myrtenal scaffold prior to the ozonolysis-based ring-opening step that furnishes the target cyclobutane keto acids. This synthetic route is expected to find many applications connected to the synthesis of natural product-like compounds and small molecule libraries.

A new method for the fluorine-18 labelling of trifluoromethyl ketones has been developed. This method is based on the conversion of a-COCF3 functional group to a difluoro enol silyl ether followed by halogenation and fluorine-18 labelling. The utility of this new method was demonstrated by the synthesis of fluorine-18 labelled neutrophil elastase inhibitors, which are potentially useful for detection of inflammatory disorders.

Herein, we present a short and highly modular synthetic route that involves 8-aminoquinoline directed C–H arylation and transamidation chemistry, and which enables access to a wide range of elaborate benzofuran-2-carboxamides. For the directed C–H arylation reactions, Pd catalysis was used to install a wide range of aryl and heteroaryl substituents at the C3 position of the benzofuran scaffold in high efficiency. Directing group cleavage and further diversification of the C3-arylated benzofuran products were then achieved in a single synthetic operation through the utilization of a one-pot, two-step transamidation procedure, which proceeded via the intermediate N-acyl-Boc-carbamates. Given the high efficiency and modularity of this synthetic strategy, it constitutes a very attractive method for generating structurally diverse collections of benzofuran derivatives for small molecule screening campaigns.

Herein, we describe the straightforward synthesis and thorough characterization of a magnetically-separable heterogeneous catalyst comprised of 1-3nm-sized Pd nanoparticles immobilized on a mesoporous silica-magnetite composite (Pd-0-AmP-SMC). Catalytic evaluations were conducted using Suzuki-Miyaura cross-couplings as the model reactions, for which this Pd nanocatalyst exhibited high performance in an environmentally-friendly solvent mixture. Additionally, this Pd nanocatalyst could be re-used up to five cycles without any observable loss of activity, and separation of the catalyst could be conveniently done by a magnet.