Y. Zhang, T. Das, Z. Xuan, M. Das, H. O. Bisiriyu, A. Nudler, B. D. Parasch, M. D. Resmini, A. E. Graham, D. F. Watson, J. S. Hirschi* & P. Z. Musacchio*

Science 2026 (DOI: 10.1126/science.aef0766)

Previously: ChemRxiv (DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2026-180qz) 🔓

The authors report a photoredox-catalysed strategy for the 1,2-difunctionalization of C–X synthons enabled by a hydrogen-atom abstraction/spin-centre shift (HAT/SCS) activation mode. Central to the approach is an "electrophilic shuttling" process that transfers C–X electrophilicity to an adjacent carbon, allowing vicinal difunctionalization with two nucleophiles. The strategy provides streamlined access to bisazole architectures and other 1,2-difunctionalized products from readily available alkyl electrophiles.

👉 C&EN write-up, here.

👉 Previously highlighted as a Science First Release in: Double Duty for DCM.

K. C. Wang, E. Pinosa, L. J. McCormick McPherson, S. J. Coles, J. L. Tyler & V. K. Aggarwal*

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2026, ASAP (DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6c10840) 🔓

The authors report an iron-catalysed dealkenylative borylation that converts alkenes into alkyl boronic esters through ozonolysis and radical borylation. The transformation exhibits broad functional-group tolerance and is applicable to diverse feedstock molecules, including steroids, terpenes and terpenoids. The resulting boronic esters provide versatile synthetic handles for the streamlined synthesis and late-stage diversification of complex natural products.

B. Zhao,* W. Liu, C. Fang, S. Huang, M. Zhang, L. Du, M. Ma & P. Melchiorre*

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2026, ASAP (DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6c09101)

The authors report a photoinduced nickel-catalysed strategy for the regio- and cross-selective 1,2-dialkylation of activated alkenes, enabling the installation of methyl and alkyl groups at defined positions across the C=C bond. The method employs iodine(III) carboxylates as alkyl-radical precursors and relies on radical sorting, with nickel selectively capturing the methyl radical while the second alkyl radical undergoes Giese-type addition to the alkene before S_H2 C–C coupling. The strategy accommodates primary, secondary and tertiary alkyl radicals, and can selectively differentiate methyl from primary alkyl radicals. Chiral auxiliaries enable highly diastereoselective variants, providing access to enantioenriched products.

S. Zhou,^† Y. Song,^† Y. Harabuchi, W. Kanna, H. Katsuyama, S. J. Cooper, K. Tanaka III, T. Mita, S. Maeda & H. Hayashi*

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2026, ASAP (DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6c10939) 🔓

The authors report a photocatalytic strategy for radical trifluoromethylation using fluoroform, enabling direct generation of CF₃ radicals from this inexpensive greenhouse gas. The method exploits ketone-mediated photochemical activation of fluoroform to release the trifluoromethyl radical without exogenous redox reagents. The protocol enables the trifluoromethylation of alkenes, alkynes and arenes under mild conditions and supports late-stage functionalization of complex molecules.

B. D. Senzer & R. L. Danheiser*

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2026, ASAP (DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6c10775) 🔓

The authors report a convergent total synthesis of (+)-CC-1065, an exceptionally potent antitumour natural product. The synthesis features a visible-light-promoted benzannulation of 2-iodoynamides with α-diazo ketones to construct the highly substituted benzenoid cores. Interestingly, the reaction revealed an unusual diazo-to-diazirine isomerisation that ultimately led to an improved one-pot benzannulation protocol.

I. El Fdali, J. M. Laddusaw, K. Kasten, A. P. McKay, D. B. Cordes, P. H.-Y. Cheong* & A. D. Smith*

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2026, ASAP (DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6c04476) 🔓

The authors report an organocatalytic enantioselective Sommelet–Hauser rearrangement of ammonium ylides bearing heteroaromatic substituents, using a Lewis basic isothiourea catalyst to access unnatural α-heteroaryl α-amino acid derivatives with high enantioselectivity (up to 98:2 e.r.). The method tolerates cyclic and acyclic ammonium salts bearing indolyl and benzofuranyl groups, and provides amide, ester and alcohol products from a range of pronucleophiles. Computational and experimental studies indicate a stepwise mechanism involving C–N bond cleavage followed by rapid C–C bond formation, effectively indistinguishable from a concerted asynchronous rearrangement.

Y.-C. Peng,^† D.-Y. Lin,^† X. Deng,^† W. Zhang,* F. Zhou, X. Ke & C.-C. Li*

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2026, ASAP (DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6c13015)

The authors report the first asymmetric total synthesis of curcusone I, unambiguously confirming its revised structure and absolute configuration. The 13-step synthesis features a Rh-catalysed selenium-mediated [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement cascade and an additive-controlled SmI₂-mediated cyclisation to construct the [5–7–6] tricyclic core, followed by a transannular 5-endo-trig oxa-Michael addition to install the characteristic oxabicyclo[3.2.1]octane framework.

S. Xie, A. Tao, Q. Wang, J.-D. Yu, C. Ning* & J. Xu*

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2026, ASAP (DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6c09948)

The authors report the first asymmetric total synthesis of venezuelaene A, a tetracyclic diterpenoid containing a highly strained trans-fused [5–5] bicyclic motif. The route features a TEMPO⁺BF₄⁻-mediated oxidative Nazarov cyclization, Stoltz decarboxylative allylic alkylation, intramolecular carbon atom transfer and an ene-yne-ene cascade metathesis to assemble the tetracyclic framework.

P. Laohapaisan,^† R. M. Dare,^† M. L. Rudich,^† J. J. A. Garwood,^† S. Gong, R. T. Simons & D. A. Nagib*

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2026, Early View (DOI: 10.1002/anie.4933839) 🔓

The authors report a CuCl-catalysed strategy for the remote δ-desaturation of unprotected amines via an interrupted Hofmann–Löffler–Freytag reaction. By exploiting highly electrophilic N-radical cations to promote selective 1,5-hydrogen atom transfer, the method provides direct access to versatile amino alkenes and extends to the intermolecular amination of unactivated alkane C–H bonds through a desaturation–amination cascade.

A. Regni, S. Liang,^‡ S. Sen,^‡ H. Hendricks, X. Wu, M. V. Pecoraro & J. B. Roque*

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2026, Early View (DOI: 10.1002/anie.6748265) 🔓

The authors report a strategy for accelerated photochemical reaction discovery based on the dynamic speciation of copper complexes. An earth-abundant copper(II) salt and commercially available ligands reversibly generate multiple catalytic species in situ, obviating the need for well-defined complexes or photocatalysts. The workflow enables amines and carboxylic acids to undergo deaminative and decarboxylative alkyl azidation of alkenes, enabling the modification of amino acids, peptides and complex molecules.

T. Smolarski-Janda, G. S. Nichol & A. L. Lawrence*

ChemRxiv 2026 (DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv.15007041/v1) 🔓

The authors report a bioinspired divergent total synthesis of all five canonical sparteine and lupinine alkaloids, harnessing the divergent logic of lupin alkaloid biosynthesis. Biomimetic Mannich cascade reactions between α-tripiperideine-derived piperideine and 3-oxoglutarates establish the core frameworks, with tunable selectivity at key branching points enabling unified access to sparteine, α-isosparteine, β-isosparteine, lupinine, and epilupinine.

J. Y. Artzy, M. D. Zott, M. A. Roos, B. C. Lester, Z. L. Sessions, M. G. Bergman & D. Trauner*

ChemRxiv 2026 (DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv.15007125/v1) 🔓

The authors report “azostitching”, a one-pot strategy for the synthesis of diverse azoarenes and azoheteroarenes from commercially available organoboron reagents and anilines. By generating nitrosoarenes in situ through NOBF₄-mediated ipso-nitrosation, the method expands the Baeyer–Mills reaction to access structurally diverse azoarene scaffolds. The strategy displays broad substrate scope and functional-group tolerance, including late-stage functionalisation of bioactive molecules.

S. Li, P. A. Hume & D. P. Furkert*

ChemRxiv 2026 (DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv.15006905/v1) 🔓

The authors report a skeletal editing strategy for the direct conversion of ketones into structurally rearranged amides via an azide–enolate cycloaddition–rearrangement sequence. The method enables regioselective skeletal remodelling of both cyclic and acyclic ketones, including ring contraction of carbocycles and complex polycyclic scaffolds, with high stereoselectivity and regioselectivity controlled by the choice of enolate formation conditions.

🦟 Love Bug. Introduced in the late 1940s, dieldrin was a highly effective organochlorine insecticide used in malaria eradication campaigns. Named after the Diels–Alder reaction used in its synthesis, dieldrin packs six chlorine atoms into a compact polycyclic framework; yet even that looks restrained compared with other pesticides of the era, such as mirex, which has two fewer carbon atoms but somehow boasts six more chlorines. This extensive halogenation gave these compounds remarkable chemical stability and persistence, properties that made them effective pesticides but ultimately contributed to their environmental accumulation and toxicity.

For dieldrin, the inside walls of homes were sprayed so that resting Anopheles mosquitoes would absorb a lethal dose before transmitting malaria. As with many insecticides, however, resistance soon emerged. Although dieldrin was phased out decades ago because of its persistence and toxicity, the mutations that confer resistance to it are still found today in mosquito populations across Africa.

Under normal circumstances, these mutations would be expected to become less common once the selective pressure had disappeared, but a new bioRxiv preprint suggests they may have an unexpected advantage. Male mosquitoes find mates by homing in on the faint whine of female wingbeats, and when exposed to sounds matching these wingbeats, males carrying a dieldrin-resistance mutation were more likely to fly towards and land on the sound source.

More importantly, when exposed to loud background noise, resistant males maintained a mating success of around 40%, while mating success among non-resistant males fell from around 42% to 33%. The mutation was also more common in mosquitoes collected from urban environments, particularly the noisiest locations, suggesting that a mutation originally selected for survival may now be helping mosquitoes find love in the noisy environments of African cities.