A new class of mesoionic, six-membered N-heterocyclic olefins derived from 3-methylpyridinium ions (py-mNHOs) is reported. Py-mNHOs are among the most reactive neutral nucleophiles on the Mayr...

Enamine activation is a key method to enhance the reactivity of carbonyl compounds in α-alkylation reactions. In spite of their possible role in prebiotic chemistry, enamines derived from aldehydes...

A series of mesoionic N-heterocyclic olefins (mNHOs) was synthesized and their reactions with Michael acceptors and CO2 investigated. The outstandingly high nucleophilicities of mNHOs were determin...

The kinetics of the reactions of cyclic α-diazo carbonyl compounds with electrophilic benzhydrylium ions were evaluated to determine the Mayr reactivity descriptors N (and sN) of the nucleophiles....

The nucleophilic reactivities of the hydride donors NADH, NADPH, and BH3CN− in water were quantified using kinetic measurements with benzhydrylium ions as reference electrophiles. All three hydride...

Iridium(phosphoramidite) complexes catalyze an enantio- and diastereoselective three-component coupling reaction of alkenyl boronic esters, organolithium reagents, and secondary allylic carbonates....

Enamines and sulfonium ylides attack the terminal nitrogen of diazoalkanes with rate-determining formation of zwitterions. The measured second-order rate constants were used to determine the one-bo...