Lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) is a prominent reagent used in organic synthesis. In this Review, rate studies of LDA-mediated reactions are placed in the broader context of organic synthesis in three distinct segments. The first section provides a tutorial on solution kinetics, emphasizing the characteristic rate behavior caused by dominant solvation and aggregation effects. The second section summarizes substrate- and solvent-dependent mechanisms that reveal basic principles of solvation and aggregation. The final section suggests how an understanding of mechanism might be combined with empirical methods to optimize yields, rates, and selectivities of organolithium reactions and applied to organic synthesis.

The method of continuous variation in conjunction with 6 Li NMR spectroscopy was used to characterize lithium enolates derived from 1-indanone, cyclohexanone, and cyclopentanone in solution. The strategy relies on forming ensembles of homo-and heteroaggregated enolates. The enolates form exclusively chelated dimers in N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine and cubic tetramers in tetrahydrofuran and 1,2-dimethoxyethane.

A main group-catalyzed method for the synthesis of aryl- and heteroarylamines by intermolecular C–N coupling is reported. The method employs a small-ring organophosphorus-based catalyst (1,2,2,3,4,4-hexamethylphosphetane) and a terminal hydrosilane reductant (phenylsilane) to drive reductive intermolecular coupling of nitro(hetero)arenes with boronic acids. Applications to the construction of both Csp2–N (from arylboronic acids) and Csp3–N bonds (from alkylboronic acids) are demonstrated; the reaction is stereospecific with respect to Csp3–N bond formation. The method constitutes a new route from readily available building blocks to valuable nitrogen-containing products with complementarity in both scope and chemoselectivity to existing catalytic C–N coupling methods.

Akuammiline alkaloids are a family of monoterpene indole alkaloids of renewed medicinal interest. These bases act as ligands for a heterogeneous group of molecular targets and, consequently, display a wide variety of pharmacological activities. For example, pseudoakuammigine (2) exhibits opioid activity in vivo, echitamine (4) has been reported to have promising cytotoxic activity, and corymine (121) behaves as an antagonist of the glycine receptor. Oddly enough, these alkaloids have not raised enough interest in the organic synthesis community, remaining inaccessible; even the entry to their pentacyclic framework continues elusive. Recently, several akuammiline bases have been isolated and identified including bisindole alkaloids, such as vingramine (103) or rausutrine (110), which incorporate akuammiline-type subunits. This review covers the advances in the chemistry and pharmacology of akuammiline alkaloids reported within the last ten years.

This Communication reports the first general method for rapid, chemoselective, and modular functionalization of serine residues in native polypeptides, which uses a reagent platform based on the P­(V) oxidation state. This redox-economical approach can be used to append nearly any kind of cargo onto serine, generating a stable, benign, and hydrophilic phosphorothioate linkage. The method tolerates all other known nucleophilic functional groups of naturally occurring proteinogenic amino acids. A variety of applications can be envisaged by this expansion of the toolbox of site-selective bioconjugation methods.