A series of new folded tetraphenylethene derivatives with different substituents are stereoselectively synthesized, which exhibit interesting through-space conjugation, aggregation-enhanced emission, polymorphism and piezochromism properties.

“CO‐free” carbonylation reactions, where synthesis gas (CO/H2) is substituted by C1 surrogate molecules like formaldehyde or formic acid, have received widespread attention in homogeneous catalysis lately. Although a broad range of organics is available via this method, still relatively little is known about the precise reaction mechanism. In this work, we used in situ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to unravel the mechanism of the alkoxycarbonylation of alkenes using different surrogate molecules. In contrast to previous hypotheses no carbon monoxide could be found during the reaction. Instead the reaction proceeds via the C−H activation of in situ generated methyl formate. On the basis of quantitative NMR experiments, a kinetic model involving all major intermediates is built which enables the knowledge‐driven optimization of the reaction. Finally, a new reaction mechanism is proposed on the basis of in situ observed Pd‐hydride, Pd‐formyl and Pd‐acyl species.

The CÀ H activation and subsequent carbonylation mediated by metal complexes, i. e., Rh(I) complexes, has drawn considerable attention in the past. To extend the mechanistic insight from Rh complexes featuring monodentate ligands like P(Me) 3 towards more active bisphosphines (PLP), a computationally derived fully conclusive mechanistic picture of the Rh(I)-catalyzed CÀ H activation and carbonylation is presented here. Depending on the nature of the bisphosphine ligand, the highest lying transition state (TS) is associated either to the initial CÀ H activation in [Rh(PLP)(CO)(Cl)] or to the rearrangement of the chloride in [Rh(PLP)(H)(R)(Cl)]. The chloride rearrangement was found to play a key role in the subsequent carbonylation. A set of 20 complexes of different architectures was studied, in order to fine tune the CÀ H activation in a knowledge-driven approach. The computational analysis suggests that a flexible ligand architecture with aromatic rings can potentially increase the performance of Rh-based catalysts for the CÀ H activation.

“CO‐free” carbonylation reactions, where synthesis gas (CO/H2) is substituted by C1 surrogate molecules like formaldehyde or formic acid, have received widespread attention in homogeneous catalysis lately. Although a broad range of organics is available via this method, still relatively little is known about the precise reaction mechanism. In this work, we used in situ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to unravel the mechanism of the alkoxycarbonylation of alkenes using different surrogate molecules. In contrast to previous hypotheses no carbon monoxide could be found during the reaction. Instead the reaction proceeds via the C−H activation of in situ generated methyl formate. On the basis of quantitative NMR experiments, a kinetic model involving all major intermediates is built which enables the knowledge‐driven optimization of the reaction. Finally, a new reaction mechanism is proposed on the basis of in situ observed Pd‐hydride, Pd‐formyl and Pd‐acyl species.