The novel supported iridium complex catalyst was synthesized through the immobilization of the iridium complex onto vinylpyridine and divinylbenzene copolymer. In order to avoid the iridium releasing, vinylpyridine was used to provide the chelating sites. The catalytic activity was investigated through the visible light mediated cyclization of tertiary anilines and maleimides. The catalyst showed high activity and stability with the average isolated yield over 50%. The heterogeneous process greatly simplified catalyst recovery and product purification, which was quite superior to homogeneous iridium complexes. Compared with transition metal complexes such as Ru(bpy)3Cl2 or Ir(ppy)2(dtbbpy)PF6, advantages of this supported iridium complex catalyst as the photocatalyst include high hydrophobic BET surface and catalytic activity, low cost, ease of recovering and being able to be used for at least four times without significant decay of catalytic activity.

Perfluoroalkylation of N-alkylhydrazones has been achieved via visible light mediated photoredox reactions between the hydrazone and perfluoroalkyl iodide (RfI). This protocol provides a convenient and efficient access to a series of perfluoroalkylated aromatic aldehyde hydrazones which tolerates a wide range of functional groups on the aromatic ring, and allows the use different types of primary and secondary perfluoroalkyl iodides with up to eight carbon atoms. Furthermore, aliphatic aldehyde hydrazones and N-monosubstituted hydrazones which are unreactive in previously reported hydrazone perfluoroalkylation reactions now take part in the reaction under our reaction conditions to give a satisfactory yield of products. Stern–Volmer quenching studies and spin-trapping experiments indicated that these reactions proceed by free radical addition of the Rf radical to the azomethine atom followed by one electron oxidation of the hydrazyl radical and deprotonation of the diazenium cation.

Surface-modified titanium dioxides by highly dispersed NiO particles have an extended absorption in the visible light region and a reduced hole–electron pair recombination than unmodified TiO2. They have now been successfully applied as highly active heterogeneous photocatalysts in the visible light mediated direct cyclization of tertiary anilines with maleimides to give tetrahydroquinoline products in moderate to high yields at ambient temperature. In contrast with unmodified titanium dioxide catalysts that are conventionally used in a stoichiometric amount in combination with UVA light, only a catalytic amount (1 mol %) of the surface-modified TiO2 catalyst is needed along with visible light to efficiently catalyze the reaction. Compared with transition-metal complexes such as Ru(bpy)3Cl2 or Ir(ppy)2(dtbbpy)PF6, advantages of these surface-modified titanium dioxides as photocatalyst include high catalytic activity, low cost, ease of recovering, and being able to be used for at least nine times without significant decay of catalytic activity.

A new photoinduced three-component reaction between a cyanoarene, an alkene and an N-protected pyrrole has been developed. This reaction extended the scope of the photo-NOCAS reaction by introducing pyrrole as a neutral carbon-centered nucleophile. The cyanoarenes used include tetracyanobenzene (TCB), 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-1,4-dicyanobenzene (TFDCB) and 1,4-dicyanobenzene (DCB). N-Methyl, N-phenyl and N-Boc pyrroles are suitable nucleophiles in the reaction. Taking advantage of the strong electron acceptor ability of the singlet excited TCB, a wide range of alkenes, including the highly electron deficient 4-fluoro-, 4-chloro-, 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorostyrenes and N-methylmaleimide take part in this reaction, leading to the simultaneous 1,2-diarylation of the alkene and the regioselective 2-alkylation of the pyrrole ring via sequential formation of two new C–C bonds between the three reactants.

•Regioselective arylation of N-vinyllactams and methylthiazoles•Z-isomer is the main product of the photoreaction of N-vinyllactams and tetrachlorophthalimides•Reaction mechanism for the metal-free coupling reactions is discussed.Photoinduced reactions of 4,5,6,7-tetrahalophthalimides (1a–1h) with selected N-vinyllactams (N-vinylpyrrolidinone, N-vinylcaprolactam) and methylthiazoles respectively lead to dehydrohalogenative coupling reactions between the phthalimide and these heterocycles. These mild and metal-free coupling reactions result in regioselective and stereoselective arylation of the heterocycles by the phthalimide, with the Z-isomer as the main products. Reaction mechanism for the photo-reactions is discussed

Pyrrolo[1,2-a]imidazole and pyrrolo[2,1-b]thiazole derivatives were synthesized in a one-pot procedure by [3 + 2] cycloaddition reactions of the corresponding imidazolium ylides and thiazolium ylides with an alkene followed by oxidative aromatization of the primary cycloadducts under the action of the mild oxidant tetrakispyridinecobalt(II) dichromate. Antiproliferative activity of 14 new bicyclic N-fused heterocycles against the human hepatocellular liver carcinoma (Hep-G2) cell line were examined by the MTT method. Some of the compounds showed favorable antiproliferative activity, especially compound 3i displayed potent antiproliferative activities with an IC50 value of 0.36 μg/cm3.

The novel efficient complex catalyst containing a Lewis acid and a Brønsted acid have been prepared by the reaction of proline ion liquid and cuprous iodide. The catalyst was characterized by FT-IR techniques using pyridine as probe molecule. A fast, mild, and quantitative procedure for aza-Michael addition reactions between various amines and α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds and nitriles has been developed using the novel complex catalyst. The results showed that the novel catalyst owned high activities for the reactions with excellent yields within 1 min.

Perfluoroalkylation of N-alkylhydrazones has been achieved via visible light mediated photoredox reactions between the hydrazone and perfluoroalkyl iodide (RfI). This protocol provides a convenient and efficient access to a series of perfluoroalkylated aromatic aldehyde hydrazones which tolerates a wide range of functional groups on the aromatic ring, and allows the use different types of primary and secondary perfluoroalkyl iodides with up to eight carbon atoms. Furthermore, aliphatic aldehyde hydrazones and N-monosubstituted hydrazones which are unreactive in previously reported hydrazone perfluoroalkylation reactions now take part in the reaction under our reaction conditions to give a satisfactory yield of products. Stern–Volmer quenching studies and spin-trapping experiments indicated that these reactions proceed by free radical addition of the Rf radical to the azomethine atom followed by one electron oxidation of the hydrazyl radical and deprotonation of the diazenium cation.