Creative thinking and empathy are crucial for everyday interactions and subjective well-being. This is emphasized by studies showing a reduction in these skills in populations where social interaction and subjective well-being are significantly compromised (e.g., depression). Anecdotal reports and recent studies suggest that a single administration of psilocybin can enhance such processes and could therefore be a potential treatment. However, it has yet to be assessed whether effects outlast acute intoxication. The present study aimed to assess the sub-acute effects of psilocybin on creative thinking, empathy, and well-being. Participants attending a psilocybin retreat completed tests of creative (convergent and divergent) thinking and empathy, and the satisfaction with life scale on three occasions: before ingesting psilocybin (N = 55), the morning after (N = 50), and seven days after (N = 22). Results indicated that psilocybin enhanced divergent thinking and emotional empathy the morning after use. Enhancements in convergent thinking, valence-specific emotional empathy, and well-being persisted seven days after use. Subacute changes in empathy correlated with changes in well-being. The study demonstrates that a single administration of psilocybin in a social setting may be associated with sub-acute enhancement of creative thinking, empathy, and subjective well-being. Future research should test whether these effects contribute to the therapeutic effects in clinical populations.

The enantioselective synthesis of (-)-9,10-dihydroecklonialactone B is described. The catalytic asymmetric Claisen rearrangement of a Gosteli-type allyl vinyl ether was utilized to afford an acyclic α-keto ester building block endowed with functionality amenable to the preparation of the carbocyclic target molecule by suitable postrearrangement transformations: A highly diastereoselective Corey-Bakshi-Shibata reduction of a β-chiral α-keto ester and a reductive homologation of an α-hydroxy ester. A transprotection tactic by a chemoselective intramolecular 6-exo-trig iodoetherification enabled regioselective ring-closing alkene metatheses to afford the 5- as well as the 14-membered ring, however, with mixed success in terms of E/Z selectivity.

The total synthesis of (-)-ecklonialactone B as well as the 9,10-dihydro derivative by two different strategies is reported. The catalytic asymmetric Claisen rearrangement of Gosteli-type allyl vinyl ethers delivered elaborated α-keto ester building blocks. Ring-closing metatheses, including a notable diastereotopos-differentiating variant, a B-alkyl Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction and a regio- and diastereoselective last-step epoxidation are key contributors.

Six collected phenidates, i.e. 4-methylmethylphenidate, 3,4-dichloromethylphenidate, ethylphenidate, 3,4-dichloroethylphenidate, ethylnaphthidate and N-benzyl-ethylphenidate were fully characterized by means of X-ray, NMR, GC-MS, ESI-MS Running title: Analytical characterization of six phenidate analogs

Catalytic Asymmetric Claisen Rearrangement of Gosteli-Type Allyl Vinyl Ethers: Total Synthesis of (-)-9,10-Dihydroecklonialactone B. -(BECKER, J.; BUTT, L.; VON KIEDROWSKI, V.; MISCHLER, E.; QUENTIN, F.; HIERSEMANN*, M.; J. Org. Chem. 79 (2014) 7, 3040-3051, http://dx.