Chiral molecules with multiple stereocenters are widely present in natural products and pharmaceuticals, whose absolute and relative configurations are both critically important for their physiological activities. In spite of the fact that a series of ingenious strategies have been developed for asymmetric diastereodivergent catalysis, most of these methods are limited to the divergent construction of point chirality. Here we report an enantioselective and diastereodivergent synthesis of trisubstituted allenes by asymmetric additions of oxazolones to activated 1,3-enynes enabled by chiral phosphoric acid (CPA) catalysis, where the divergence of the allenic axial stereogenicity is realized by modifications of CPA catalysts. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations are performed to elucidate the origin of diastereodivergence by the stacking- and stagger-form in the transition state (TS) of allene formation step, as well as to disclose a Münchnone-type activation mode of oxazolones under Brønsted acid catalysis.

An efficient method for the asymmetric synthesis of 4H‐3,1‐benzoxazines was developed by kinetic resolution of 2‐amido benzyl alcohols using chiral phosphoric acid catalyzed intramolecular cyclizations. A broad range of benzyl alcohols (both secondary and tertiary alcohols) were kinetically resolved with high selectivities, with an s factor of up to 94. Mechanistic studies were performed to elucidate the mechanism of these reactions, wherein the amide moieties reacted as the electrophiles. Gram‐scale reaction and facile transformations of the chiral products demonstrate the potential of this method in asymmetric synthesis of biologically active chiral heterocycles.

Ruthenium-catalyzed simple, cascade and one-pot synthesis of cinnoline-fused diones has been carried out by the C-H activation of phthalazinones/pyridazinones accomplished by the unusual deoxygenation of propargyl alcohols. The bond selectivity is accredited to the traceless directing nature of the hydroxyl group of propargyl alcohol. A sequential C-H activation, insertion and deoxy-oxidative annulation has been proposed based on the preliminary mechanistic study.

A Ru(II)-catalyzed C-H arylation approach has been developed utilizing β-carboline alkaloids as the directing group. Selective formations of diarylated products from moderate to excellent yields were accomplished. Broad substrate scope with excellent functional group tolerance for C1-phenyl/thienyl/PAHs-β-carbolines was demonstrated. X-ray crystal structure of cycloruthenated complex 2cr and no arylation reaction with model substrate 13 strongly suggests that N2 is the directing group than N9 in C1-aryl-β-carbolines. Catalytic properties and stability of the cycloruthenated complexes have been explored. Library of biologically relevant new β-carboline derivatives and isolation of its cycloruthenated intermediates are the highlights of this work.

Ah ighly enantioselective kinetic resolution of tertiary 2-alkoxycarboxamido allylic alcohols has been achieved through ac hiral phosphoric acid catalyzed intramolecular transesterification reaction. Both alkyl,aryl-and dialkylsubstituted tertiary allylic alcohols were resolved with excellent efficiencies,affording both the recovered tertiary alcohols and the carbamate products with high enantioselectivities (with sf actors up to 164.6). Ag ram-scale reaction with 1mol % catalyst loading and the facile conversion of the enantioenriched products into useful chiral building blocks,s uch as chiral oxazolidinones and b-amino alcohols,d emonstrate the value of this reaction.

Immuno-positron emission tomography (immuno-PET) is a rapidly growing imaging technique in which antibodies are radiolabeled to monitor their in vivo behavior in real time. However, effecting the controlled conjugation of a chelate-bearing radioactive atom to a bulky antibody without affecting its immunoreactivity at a specific site is always challenging. The in vivo stability of the radiolabeled chelate is also a key issue for successful tumor imaging. To address these points, a facile ultrastable radiolabeling platform is developed by using the propylene cross-bridged chelator (PCB-TE2A-alkyne), which can be instantly functionalized with various groups via the click reaction, thus enabling specific conjugation with antibodies as per choice. The PCB-TE2A-tetrazine derivative is selected to demonstrate the proposed strategy. The antibody trastuzumab is functionalized with the trans-cyclooctene (TCO) moiety in the presence or absence of the PEG linker. The complementary 64 Cu-PCB-TE2A-tetrazine is synthesized via the click reaction and radiolabeled with 64 Cu ions, which then reacts with the aforementioned TCO-modified antibody via a rapid biorthogonal ligation. The 64 Cu-PCB-TE2Atrastuzumab conjugate is shown to exhibit excellent in vivo stability and to maintain a higher binding affinity toward HER2-positive cells. The tumor targeting feasibility of the radiolabeled antibody is evaluated in tumor models. Both 64 Cu-PCB-TE2A-trastuzumab conjugates show high tumor uptakes in biodistribution studies and enable unambiguous tumor visualization with minimum background noise in PET imaging. Interestingly, the 64 Cu-PCB-TE2A-PEG 4 -trastuzumab containing an additional PEG linker displays a much faster body clearance compared to its counterpart with less PEG linker, thus affording vivid tumor imaging with an unprecedentedly high tumor-to-background ratio.

A PEGylated antibody with short PEG linkers was excreted faster to visualize tumors clearly with exceptionally high tumor-to-background ratio in nuclear imaging.

An efficient protocol for kinetic resolution of tertiary alcohols has been developed through an unprecedented asymmetric enamide‐imine tautomerism process enabled by chiral phosphoric acid catalysis. A broad range of racemic 2‐arylsulfonamido tertiary allyl alcohols could be kinetically resolved with excellent kinetic resolution performances (with s‐factor up to >200). This method is particularly effective for a series of 1,1‐dialkyl substituted allyl alcohols, which produced chiral tertiary alcohols that would be difficult to access via other asymmetric methods. Facile and versatile transformations of the chiral α‐hydroxy imine and enamide products, especially the efficient stereodivergent synthesis of all four stereoisomers of β‐amino tertiary alcohols using one enantiomer of the catalyst, demonstrated the value of this kinetic resolution method.