Among lanthanide-based compounds, cerium compounds exhibit a significant role in a variety of research fields due to their distinct tetravalency, high economic feasibility, and high stability of Ce(IV) complexes. Herein, a systematic investigation of crystallographic information, chemical properties, and mechanistic formation of the novel Ce(IV) complex synthesized from cerium(III) nitrate hexahydrate and 2,2′-(methylazanediyl)bis(methylene)bis(4-methylphenol) (MMD) ligand has been explored. According to the analysis of the crystallographic information, the obtained complex crystal consists of the Ce(IV) center coordinated with two nitrate ligands and two bidentate coordinated (N-protonated and O,O-deprotonated) MMD ligands. The fingerprint plots and the Hirshfeld surface analyses suggest that the C–H⋯O and C–H⋯π interactions significantly contribute to the crystal packing. The C–H⋯O and C–H⋯π contacts link the molecules into infinite molecular chains propagating along the [100] and [010] directions. Synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) techniques have been employed to gain an understanding of the oxidative complexation of Ce(IV)-MMD complex in detail. This finding would provide the possibility to systematically control the synthetic parameters and wisely design the precursor components in order to achieve the desired properties of novel materials for specific applications.

In this work, four thymol-based benzoxazines were synthesized using four primary amines with different chain lengths, namely methylamine, ethylamine, 1-propylamine, and 1-butylamine, which are then named T-m, T-e, T-p, and T-b, respectively. The optical properties of the synthesized thymol-based benzoxazines were examined via the photoluminescent study of their solutions in acetone. The results show that all the prepared benzoxazines emitted blue light with the maximum wavelengths from 425 to 450 nm when irradiated by the excitation wavelengths from 275 to 315 nm. The maximum excitation wavelengths are found to be 275 nm. The polymerization of the thymol-based benzoxazines is triggered by heat treatments with different conditions (160, 180, and 200 °C for 1 h). According to the FTIR results, the heat-curing process introduces a presence of the OH peak, of which intensity increases as the curing temperature increases. Thermal decompositions of thymol-based benzoxazines regarding TGA analyses reveal the enhancement of thermal stability of the benzoxazines with respect to the N-substituent chain length, as significantly observed the change in the first thermal decomposition at temperature ranged from 253 to 260 °C. Synthesized benzoxazine derivatives are further employed to coat the substrate, e.g., the glass slides. The investigation of the water contact angle shows that the coating of the benzoxazines onto the surface improves the hydrophobicity of the substrate, resulting in the enlargement of the contact angle from 25.5° to 93.3°. Moreover, the anticorrosion performance of the polybenzoxazine coatings is examined using potentiodynamic polarization techniques. The results illustrate the anticorrosion efficiency of the thymol-based polybenzoxazine up to 99.99%. Both hydrophobic and electrochemical studies suggest the feasibility for employing benzoxazines in anticorrosion coating applications.

Melotenine A, isolated from Melodinus tenuicaudatus, possesses significant anticancer activity against several human cancer cell lines. The synthesis of (±)-melotenine A was achieved without the use of any protecting groups in 11 steps with an overall yield of 6.7%. The key steps of our strategy were a Diels–Alder reaction to construct the tetracyclic framework and ring-closing metathesis to form the seven-membered ring of (±)-melotenine A.

Carbohydrates have played an important role in organic synthesis. Since they contain many stereocenters, they have been widely used as chiral-pool starting materials. Herein, we report the asymmetric formal synthesis of (–)-swainsonine, which exhibits anticancer and immunosuppressive activities and inhibits lysosomal α-mannosidase activity, from d-mannose and d-arabinose. The synthesis utilized Zn-mediated Bernet–Vasella reaction, Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons olefination, and Grubbs olefin metathesis as key reactions.

Reported herein is the total synthesis of anticancer pacharin, bauhiniastatin 4, and bauhinoxepins C and D. The synthetic strategy features a cascade reaction involving intermolecular nucleophilic aromatic substitution followed by intramolecular Knoevenagel condensation to form a dibenzo[b,f]oxepine scaffold of these compounds. Pacharin and bauhiniastatin 4 were synthesized in eight steps from 2-methylresorcinol with overall yields of 5.4% and 8.3%, respectively. Similarly, bauhinoxepins C and D were synthesized in seven steps with overall yields of 3.5% and 2.6%, respectively. This methodology offers an efficient route for accessing these natural products with implications for medicinal and synthetic chemistry.