A Conjugated Phenylene Nanocage with a Guest-Adaptive Deformable Cavity.

The highly strained, phenylene-derived organic cages are typically regarded as very rigid entities, yet their deformation potential and supramolecular properties remain underexplored. Herein, we report a pliable conjugated phenylene nanocage by synergistically merging rigid and flexible building blocks. The anisotropic cage molecule contains branched phenylene chains capped by a calix[6]arene moiety, the delicate conformational changes of which endow the cage with a remarkably deformable cavity. When complexing with fullerene guests, the cage showcases excellent guest-adaptivity, with its cavity volume capable of swelling by as much as 85 %.

Atom-Transfer Radical Addition to Unactivated Alkenes by using Heterogeneous Visible-Light Photocatalysis.

Heterogeneous visible-light photocatalysis represents an important route toward the development of sustainable organic synthesis. In this study visible light-induced, heavy metal-free atom-transfer radical addition to unactivated terminal olefins is carried out by using the combination of heterogeneous titanium dioxide as photocatalyst and a hypervalent iodine(III) reagent as co-initiator. The reaction can be applied to a range of substrates with good functional-group tolerance under very mild conditions. In addition to a number of commonly used atom-transfer reagents, the relatively challenging chloroform is also suitable.

Two new metabolites from a soil fungus Curvularia affinis strain HS-FG-196.

Two new metabolites, pyrenocine J (1) and pyrenochaetic acid D (2), together with two known metabolites, pyrenocine A (3) and pyrenochaetic acid A (4), were isolated from a soil fungus, Curvularia affinis strain HS-FG-196. Their structures were established by extensive spectroscopic analysis. Compound 1 showed cytotoxic activity against the human hepatic cancer cell line HepG2 with an IC(50) value of 28.5 µg/ml.