A new chiral Brønsted acid, generated in situ from a chiral phosphoric acid boron (CPAB) complex and water, was successfully applied to asymmetric indole reduction. This “designer acid catalyst”, which is more acidic than TsOH as suggested by DFT calculations, allows the unprecedented direct asymmetric reduction of C2‐aryl‐substituted N‐unprotected indoles and features good to excellent enantioselectivities with broad functional group tolerance. DFT calculations and mechanistic experiments indicates that this reaction undergoes C3‐protonation and hydride‐transfer processes. Besides, bulky C2‐alkyl‐substituted N‐unprotected indoles are also suitable for this system.

An oxidant-controlled divergent reactivity of 3-aminoindazoles is presented, which enables the [3 + 3] annulation and C–H arylation of ketene dithioacetals in disparate pathways to assemble pyrimido[1,2-b]-indazoles and aromatic nitrile-derived dithioacetals.

The transition-metal-catalyzed allylation reaction is an efficient strategy for the construction of new carbon–carbon bonds alongside allyl or homoallylic functionalization. Herein we describe a Ni-catalyzed reductive allylation of α-chloroboronates to efficiently render the corresponding homoallylic boronates, which could be readily converted into valuable homoallylic alcohols or amines or 1,4-diboronates. This reaction features a broad substrate scope with good functional group compatibility that is complementary to the existing methods for the preparation of homoallylic boronates.

gem-Difluoroalkenyl boronates are attractive synthons for constructing diverse gem-difluoroalkenes and organoboron compounds. However, the strategies for the construction of gem-difluorohomoallyl boronates has scarcely been described. Herein, we develop an efficient protocol for the construction of gem-difluorohomoallylic boronates through a Ni-catalyzed radical-promoted defluoroalkylborylation of α-trifluoromethyl alkenes with α-haloboronates under mild conditions. This reaction features a broad substrate scope with good functional group tolerance and diverse transformations.

We disclose a novel Cu-catalyzed denitrogenative transannulation of 3-aminoindazoles to afford diverse functionalized 3-aminobenzothiophenes and 1-aminoisoquinolines, in which denitrogenative transannulation of 3-aminoindazoles is reported for the first time. This transformation proceeds via an “extrude-and-sew” strategy with an unprecedented radical reactivity of 3-aminoindazoles.