SynthCon is a biennial meeting of the synthetic organic chemistry community founded in 2011. In April 2013, SynthCon2 was held in the Yarra Valley with over 50 attendees from around Australia. In this introduction, papers collected for a special Research Front examining the chemistry of this meeting are outlined.

In the search for novel strategies to increase the catalytic power of organocatalysts, recent efforts have been reported whereby ionic liquid (IL) groups have been incorporated into the organocatalyst scaffold. These efforts, although still emerging, have shown a great deal of promise in application to asymmetric transformations and in their potential to assist in the efficient reuse of the catalysts.

A transition in the mechanism of electron transfer from superexchange to hopping is apparent on transitioning from ill-defined shorter peptides to longer helical peptides.

Chemical activation (the formation of ‘hot’ molecules due to chemical reactions) is ubiquitous in flash vacuum thermolysis (FVT) reactions, and awareness of this phenomenon is indispensable when designing synthetically useful gas-phase reactions. Chemical activation is particularly prevalent in azide chemistry because the interesting singlet nitrenes are high-energy intermediates, and their reactions are highly exothermic.

The synthesis and preliminary evaluation of a novel class of angiogenesis inhibitors structurally related to the anticancer drug sunitinib (Sutent®) are described.

Atropisomeric methylene sultams underwent [3+2] cycloaddition with benzonitrile oxide to give 5-spiro isoxazoline adducts with complete regioselectivity and high facial selectivity.

The synthesis of homochiral carbazolones has been investigated by either desymmetrisation of 1,3-cyclohexadione derivatives or palladium catalysed decarboxylative allylation of racemic carbazolone β-ketoesters. The later proved more successful with carbazolones prepared in up to 94 % enantiomeric excess.

Theoretical investigations on the treatment of bicyclic endoperoxides with ozone indicate that the predicted transition states, primary ozonides, and product ozonides are very sensitive to effects of electron correlation and basis set with MP2/6–311G* appearing to be the best level of theory for evaluating such systems.

Stimuli responsive self-assemblies are highly desirable for localised release of encapsulated therapeutics. In this work we show the synthesis and physicochemical characterisation of norbornane-derived amphiphiles bearing Tamoxifen at the polar head group. These compounds show a reversible response to variations in temperature and are the basis of continuing investigations into controlled release in a therapeutic setting.

Isolable 1-(acyloxy)benzotriazoles 1 and 2 are useful reagents for the regioselective acylation of diols and deprotected carbohydrates. 1-(Acyloxy)benzotriazoles exist as a regioisomeric mixture of the O- and N-acylated forms in solution and in the solid state. 1-(Acyloxy)benzotriazole esters have also shown to be potent inhibitors of coronavirus cysteine proteinases.

A novel strongly basic polymer-supported catalyst with a guanidine cross-linked structure has been synthesized, whose thermal stability is higher than the commercial resin 201. The thermal stability mechanism of the resin with a cross-linked structure is also demonstrated. The resin catalyzes Knoevenagel condensation reactions with high yields and can be reused for several cycles without losing efficiency.

Cetrimonium nalidixate salt, when incorporated into a polyurethane coating, leads to complete inhibition of microbiologically influenced corrosion in the presence of several bacteria strains commonly found in marine environments.

Outer sphere electron transfer rate constant between surfactant complex, cis-[Co(en)₂(4CNP)(DA)](ClO₄)₃ with Fe(CN)₆ ^4– increases with concentration of complex in its own self-micelles. Being a structure breaker β-cyclodextrin has decreased the rate. In liposome vesicles the rate constant is different at below and above phase transition temperature.

As a new 3D unit, two transition-metal complex (TMC) cations [Cu₂(2,2′-bim)₃]_0.5²⁺ and [Cu₈(pz)₁₁]_0.5⁴⁺ are introduced to [P₂W₁₈O₆₂]^6–, leading to assembly of the first Wells-Dawson type framework linked by TMC subunits, with cage-like and pillar bolt-type cations.

Unsymmetrical thiourea ligands coordinate in a bidentate manner through the thiourea sulfur atom and a deprotonated thiourea nitrogen atom to Co^III to produce linkage isomers. These isomers have been characterised using NMR and visible spectroscopies.

A bioinspired core-bound polymeric micellar system based on hydrogen bonding and photo-crosslinking of thymine has been prepared. The chemical loading and controlled release potential of these micelles were investigated using 6-mercaptopurine and 6-thioguanine. The results demonstrate that the drug release rates are affected by the hydrogen bonding in the core and can be controlled by changing the size and extent of photo-crosslinkage of the core.

An unprecedented domino alkylation-cyclization-air-oxidation of 2-halo-1,3-dicarbonyl compounds with 2-aminophenols promoted by caesium salts under aerobic conditions for the synthesis of novel alkyl 3-substituted-2-hydroxy-3,4-dihydro-2H-1,4-benzoxazine-2-carboxylates was developed.

The construction of five magnetic Cu^II coordination polymers having two-dimensional layer and one-dimensional chain structures has been successfully achieved by using 2,3-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid (H₂ndc), and their diverse supramolecular structures can be well regulated by incorporating different N-donor co-ligands and reaction conditions.

A general and efficient protocol has been developed to synthesise a series of novel porphyrin dimers with versatile aryl linkers via a simultaneous condensation-cyclisation-oxidation reaction of diverse bis(dipyrromethanes) with dipyrromethane-dicarbinol catalysed by indium(iii) chloride at room temperature in an efficient CH₂Cl₂ and CH₃CN mixed-solvent. The reaction yields increased to 21–26 % based on LCMS and isolated yields were 13–19 % due to the use of the proper mixed-solvent.

A nickel hexacyanoferrate and reduced graphene oxide-modified glassy carbon electrode was prepared by electrodeposition. It was found that this modified electrode had favourable and enhanced electrocatalytic ability towards glucose.

A novel copper cyanide complex Cu(CN)(bipy) with a special helical chain structure was synthesised, which efficiently emits red luminescence.