The Cu/ABNO-catalyzed aerobic oxidative coupling of diols and primary amines to access N-substituted pyrroles is highlighted (ABNO = 9-azabicyclo[3.3.1]­nonane N-oxyl). The reaction proceeds at room temperature with an O2 balloon as the oxidant using commercially available materials as the substrates and catalysts. The catalyst system is characterized by a broad range of substrates and a good tolerance to sensitive functional groups. The gram-scale experiment proves this system’s practicability.

An efficient and environmentally friendly methodology for the direct synthesis of α,β‐unsaturated ketones by cross‐coupling of secondary alcohols and aldehydes is developed. The transformation is based on Fe(acac)3‐catalyzed Oppenauer oxidation and Claisen‐Schmidt reaction, in which aldehydes are used as oxidants to oxidize secondary alcohols to ketones, and then in situ condensation with aldehydes to form α,β‐unsaturated ketones. The reaction proceeds under base‐free conditions with a wide range of substrates and good compatibility of functional groups. Gram‐scale experiments show the good applicability of this method.

In this paper, two dual function fluorescent probes P1 and P2 with obvious fluorescence spectrum change were developed for the detection of Zn2+ and H2S. Density functional theory (DFT) was employed to investigate the detection mechanism. A further illustration of the fluorescence quenching mechanism was also studied by 1H NMR titration and UV‐Vis absorption spectroscopy. Both probes are new compounds containing coumarin structure as fluorophore. They can quantitatively detect Zn2+ and H2S in the concentration range from 0 to 50 μM with excellent selectivity and anti‐interference ability over many metal ions or anions. Most worthy is that probes P1 and P2 have better cell permeability with lower cytotoxicity, which can be used for fluorescence detection in MCF‐7 cells, as well as the detection of exogenous Zn2+ in organisms.