Emissive RNA homonucleosides were added to the growing library of synthetic probes. The emissive nucleobases were constructed in one step from the methallyl C-glycoside of D-ribofuranose, which was prepared stereoselectively. The homonucleosides displayed various emission colors by using a single excitation wavelength that could be fine-tuned merely by changing the carbonyl substituent on the methoxyphenol.

Transient radical cation intermediates generated at electrodes were effectively trapped by reaction partners noncovalently condensed at the surface of an electrode, enabling efficient intermolecular carbon–carbon bond-formation reactions. When the reactions were conducted with surface-condensed electrodes, high reaction efficiencies remained even in the presence of a significantly smaller amount of olefin nucleophiles. The concept of surface-condensed electrodes could offer opportunities for rapid intermolecular reactions.

Although cross-linking reactions serve as a valuable tool for the integration of two or more functionalities or properties, the application of electrochemical synthesis to cross-linking reactions is restricted due to the difficulty of mass transfer. Thus, the primary purpose of this research is to explore electrochemical cross-linking systems to construct a fluorescent probe, triggered by the formation of a covalent linkage. The second purpose is to apply the probe to insoluble targets. Towards these goals, a combination of electrochemically active phenol derivatives and aliphatic alkenes were employed to form polycyclic compounds. Several of the dihydrobenzofuran derivatives formed through [3+2] cyclization reactions exhibited fluorescence. Furthermore, this approach allowed the effective modification of alkene-modified silica gel with electrochemically active species, which enables the construction of fluorescent probes that are triggered by CC bond formation.