José Luis Mascareñas, CiQUS researcher and former Scientific Director, served as Scientific President of the 2025 Bürgenstock Conference —becoming only the third Spanish scientist to hold this position in the six-decade history of the event. His role is particularly significant given the unique and highly selective character of the conference, which gathers each year around 140 participants in a secluded setting to discuss cutting-edge and often unpublished research across the molecular sciences. Among the invited plenary lecturers, in addition to the opening by Nobel Laureate David MacMillan; Erick Carreira, editor-in-chief of JACS; Andreas Pfaltz, pioneer in asymmetric catalysis and former Bürgenstock President; and Hagan Bayley, one of the inventors of DNA sequencing.

External link: https://www.usc.es/ciqus/en/news/ciqus-stands-out-prestigious-burgenstock-conference

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Abstract: The photocatalytic generation and trapping of alkyl radicals is a powerful synthetic tool in organic chemistry, but it remains underexplored in biological settings. Here, we present two photoredox systems that leverage green- or red-light irradiation for the activation and subsequent Giese coupling of redox-active alkyl phthalimide esters. Besides utilizing mild low-energy light sources, these reactions operate with biocompatible BnNAH or NADH as electron donor. Notably, they display compatibility with air, water and biologically relevant conditions, including cell-culture media or even cell lysates. This work marks a significant step towards integrating synthetic alkyl-radical chemistry into biological settings.

External link: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/ob/d5ob00476d

We are really pleased to announce here that our research article at ACS Catal., entitled "Bis-CF3-bipyridine Ligands for the Iridium-Catalyzed Borylation of N-Methylamides" and authored by D. Marcos-Atanes, G. Jiménez-Osés and J. L. Mascareñas has been accepted and it's already on-line.

Abstract: Bipyridine and phenanthroline are well-established neutral ligands for promoting iridium-catalyzed borylations of aromatic C–H bonds. However, their use with aliphatic substrates is almost uncharted. Herein we demonstrate that introducing CF substituents at the 5- and 5′-positions of bipyridine generates ligands that enable an efficient and regioselective iridium-catalyzed borylation of the methyl group in a broad variety of methylamides. The reaction shows broad functional group tolerance and exhibits remarkable selectivity, offering a powerful approach for the borylation of challenging aliphatic C–H bonds. Mechanistic investigations, including computational analysis, suggest that the accelerating effect of the ligand is likely associated with the formation of non-covalent dispersion interactions between the carbonyl amide of the substrates and the trifluoromethylated pyridine rings of the ligand.

External link: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acscatal.5c00933

External link: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101214053?s=09

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