Evaluation of water ecological health of Yanhe River based on benthic fauna integrity index.

Yanhe River Basin is located in the hilly gully area of the Loess Plateau with serious soil erosion. Strong human activities in the middle and lower reaches lead to fragile ecological environment. Soil erosion status varies among different geomorphic units within the watershed (loess liang hilly and gully region, loess mao hilly and gully region, and broken platform region). In this study, we surveyed the benthic community from the Yanhe River Basin in April (spring) and October (autumn) of 2021. To evaluate the water ecological health status of the watershed and investigate the effects of different geomorphic units on the benthic integrity of the benthos, we constructed the benthic-index of biotical integrity (B-IBI) based on the biological data. We identified a total of 113 species of 73 genera in 4 phyla of benthic fauna, with aquatic insects as the dominant taxa in both seasons. Through screening 26 candidate indicators, we found that the spring B-IBI consisted of three indicators: relative abundance of individuals of dominant taxonomic units, family biotic index (FBI), and relative abundance of predator individuals, and that autumn B-IBI was composed of the number of taxonomic units of Ephemeroptera, FBI value, and the relative abundance of predator individuals. Results of the B-IBI evaluation showed that 83.3% of the sampling sites in the upper mainstem and tributaries were at a healthy condition, while only 28.6% sampling sites in the middle and lower mainstem and tributaries were at a healthy condition. In addition, the health status of the watershed was better in spring than in autumn. The Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric tests showed that benthic density, species number, and B-IBI percentile scores in the fragmented loess area were significantly higher in spring than in autumn, and significantly lower in autumn than in the loess liang hilly and gully region and loess mao hilly and gully region, being mainly caused by the increasing erosion due to the concentrated rainfall in wet season. Results of the redundancy analysis showed that key environmental factors affecting benthic community structure in spring were boulder substrate, chlorophyll-a, oxidation reduction potential, turbidity, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen, and were nitrate-nitrogen, oxidation reduction potential, and pH in autumn.

Stereodivergent Construction of 1,3-Chiral Centers via Tandem Asymmetric Conjugate Addition and Allylic Substitution Reaction.

Herein, we report a synthesis of cyclohexanones bearing multi-continuous stereocenters by combining copper-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of dialkylzinc reagents to cyclic enones with iridium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic substitution reaction. Good to excellent yields, diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity can be obtained. Unlike the stereodivergent construction of adjacent stereocenters (1,2-position) reported in the literature, the current reaction can achieve the stereodivergent construction of nonadjacent stereocenters (1,3-position) by a proper combination of two chiral catalysts with different enantiomers.

Ligand-Accelerated Palladium(II)-Catalyzed Enantioselective Amination of C(sp2)-H Bonds.

The first example of the Pd(II)-catalyzed enantioselective amination of aryl C-H bonds is reported. The key to the successful realization of this asymmetric catalytic transformation was the identification of mono-N-protected α-amino-O-methylhydroxamic acid (MPAHA) ligands, which promote reactivity under mild conditions and control enantioselectivity. The counteranions in the solvent medium, hexafluoroacetylacetate and acetate, were also found to play key roles in stereocontrol and reactivity enhancement.

Enantioselective Copper-Catalyzed Remote C(sp3)-H Alkynylation of Linear Primary Sulfonamides.

The highly efficient copper-catalyzed enantioselective alkynylation of the remote C(sp3)-H bond on linear primary sulfonamides is presented here using a radical relay strategy. The chiral box-copper complex, which is used to recapture the in-situ-generated alkyl radical via a 1,5-HAT strategy, is the key to success, affording the chiral alkynes after a following reductive elimination. A general substrate scope, mild conditions, and excellent regio- and enantioselective control are demonstrated in this method.