Hopkinson Group

Our latest work on the combination of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) organocatalysis and photochemistry is now out in the Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry! In this paper, we investigated the direct reduction of acylimidazolium species formed as intermediates in NHC catalysed reactions. Using the simple amine DIPEA or readily available triethylsilane, efficient light-driven two- or even four-electron reduction was observed, while a photocatalyst was not always required.

Congratulations to first author Michael and all the other contributors: Nick and Leo from our group, and our collaboration partners Janos as well as Hassan & Fabian from the Götze group at the FU Berlin!

Check out the paper here.

Its fantastic and very humbling to hear that our paper on hydrogen bonding-mediated carbon-fluorine bond insertion was one for the top 10% most viewed articles in Angewandte Chemie published in 2023! Congratulations to first author Arushi and the other contributors Nils, Carlo and Alex. Check out the paper here.

Our latest work combining N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) organocatalysis and light activation is now out in ACS Catalysis! In this paper, dual NHC/photoredox coupling reactions were investigated using organosilanes as sources of benzyl and other alkyl radicals.

Congratulations to first author Michael as well as to project student Marius and our collaborators Luca and Jan from the Götze group at the FU Berlin!

Check out the paper here.

Congratulations to Arushi for winning a poster prize at the Oxford Summer Synthesis Meeting! She was presenting her work on hydrogen bonding mediated C-F bond insertion reactions.

Check out her work here.

Our latest report exploring benzothiazolium salts as reagents for organofluorine chemistry is out now in the Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry! In this work, BT-SCF₃ and related longer chain BT-SR_F reagents were employed to efficiently convert carboxylic acids in acyl fluorides, which could then be reacted further to form amides.

Congratulations to joint first authors Lili and Alex, as well as to MChem student Rory!

Check out their work here.

Many congratulations to Lili for being awarded a runner-up prize for her talk at the 22nd RSC Fluorine Interest Group Postgraduate Meeting in Newcastle!

Lili was presenting her recent work on radical trifluoromethoxylation reactions using bis(trifluoromethyl)peroxide (BTMP). Check out her work here.

C-F Insertion reactions have many attractive features but, until recently, they have been seldom reported as methods for preparing fluorinated molecules. In our latest Concept paper in Chemistry – A European Journal, Arushi and Alex highlight the recent breakthroughs in this area and discuss the underlying strategies that can allow for successful C-F insertion processes.

Check out the paper here.

We are delighted to introduce our latest work together with the Riedel Group at the FU Berlin published in Angewandte Chemie. In this work, we report trifluoromethoxylation reactions of silyl enol ethers and allyl silanes using bis(trifluoromethyl)peroxide (BTMP) as a practical and comparatively atom economical OCF₃ source. These methods deliver can provide α-(trifluoromethoxy)ketones or trfluoromethoxy-substituted alkenes depending on the reaction conditions and proceed without a catalyst or light activation.

Congratulations to Lili and all the other contributors!

To check out the paper, click here.

Our latest application of BT-Reagents is now out in the Journal of Fluorine Chemistry. In this work, we investigated benzothiazolium salts featuring long chain perfluoroalkylthio substituents as reagents for deoxygenative functionalisation reactions of carboxylic acids. This allowed for the synthesis of underexplored perfluoroalkyl thioesters directly from unactivated precursors.

Congratulations to Alex, Matteo and Haoyue!

The paper forms part of a special issue in honour of Prof. Dr. Beate Koksch in recognition of her award of the 2021 ACS Award for Creativity in Fluorine Chemistry.

Check out the paper here.

We are delighted to introduce our latest paper just published in Angewandte Chemie!

In this work, we developed a new method for conducting underexplored C-F insertion reactions using hexafluoroisopropanol as a hydrogen bond donor. This project results from our involvement in the DFG-funded collaborative research centre on “Fluorine-Specific Interactions” (SFB1349).

Many congratulations to the first author Arushi as well as Nils and the whole team!

Check out the paper here