This study introduces a new class of phenylpyridine-based borenium salts as highly efficient Lewis acid catalysts for carbon–carbon bond formation. The authors demonstrate that these cationic boron species enable the homocoupling of diaryldiazomethanes to form tetraarylethylenes under remarkably mild conditions and with very low catalyst loadings. Compared to conventional neutral boron Lewis acids, the borenium […]

This study investigates the origins and technological development of cobalt-coloured blue glass and smalt pigment production in the 15th–16th centuries in the Ore Mountains region. By analysing glass melts, archaeological glass, metallurgical slag and paint micro-samples, the authors identify distinct elemental signatures linked to changing raw materials and production methods. The results provide new insights […]

This study demonstrates that replacing a planar phenyl group with a 3D ortho-carborane cage in a peptidomimetic inhibitor significantly enhances binding to the parasitic protease SmCB1 and improves anti-schistosomal activity. Structural and quantum-mechanical analyses reveal that this improvement arises from a unique CH-based hydrogen bond and strong electrostatic interactions driven by the large dipole moment […]