Water, the medium of choice: Many reactions, such as Claisen rearrangements (see scheme), are dramatically accelerated when performed in aqueous suspension (“on water”) relative to organic solvents or even neat conditions. Low miscibility of organic compounds with water is not detrimental: in fact, it facilitates the isolation of products.

Chemokines mediate numerous physiological and pathological processes related primarily to cell homing and migration. The chemokine CXCL12, also known as stromal cell-derived factor-1, binds the G-protein-coupled receptor CXCR4, which, through multiple divergent pathways, leads to chemotaxis, enhanced intracellular calcium, cell adhesion, survival, proliferation, and gene transcription. CXCR4, initially discovered for its involvement in HIV entry and leukocytes trafficking, is overexpressed in more than 23 human cancers. Cancer cell CXCR4 overexpression contributes to tumor growth, invasion, angiogenesis, metastasis, relapse, and therapeutic resistance. CXCR4 antagonism has been shown to disrupt tumor–stromal interactions, sensitize cancer cells to cytotoxic drugs, and reduce tumor growth and metastatic burden. As such, CXCR4 is a target not only for therapeutic intervention but also for noninvasive monitoring of disease progression and therapeutic guidance. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the biological involvement of CXCR4 in human cancers, the current status of CXCR4-based therapeutic approaches, as well as recent advances in noninvasive imaging of CXCR4 expression.

The catalytic activity of a series of ruthenium(II) complexes in azide-alkyne cycloadditions has been evaluated. The [Cp*RuCl] complexes, such as Cp*RuCl(PPh 3) 2, Cp*RuCl(COD), and Cp*RuCl(NBD), were among the most effective catalysts. In the presence of catalytic Cp*RuCl(PPh 3) 2 or Cp*RuCl(COD), primary and secondary azides react with a broad range of terminal alkynes containing a range of functionalities selectively producing 1,5-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles; tertiary azides were significantly less reactive. Both complexes also promote the cycloaddition reactions of organic azides with internal alkynes, providing access to fully-substituted 1,2,3-triazoles. The ruthenium-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (RuAAC) appears to proceed via oxidative coupling of the azide and alkyne reactants to give a six-membered ruthenacycle intermediate, in which the first new carbon-nitrogen bond is formed between the more electronegative carbon of the alkyne and the terminal, electrophilic nitrogen of the azide. This step is followed by reductive elimination, which forms the triazole product. DFT calculations support this mechanistic proposal and indicate that the reductive elimination step is rate-determining.