A new chiral manganese complex (C1) bearing a tetradentate nitrogen ligand containing chiral bipyrrolidine and benzimidazole moieties was prepared. The structure of C1 was confirmed by ESI-MS and crystallography. This manganese complex is an active catalyst for the asymmetric epoxidation of various olefins with excellent conversion (up to 99 %) and high enantiomeric excess (up to 96 % ee) with hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant in the presence of 2-ethylhexanoic acid or acetic acid. Compared with previous structurally similar manganese complexes with different diamine backbones (C2, cyclohexanediamine; C3, diamine from L-proline), C1 showed improved asymmetric induction, especially for simple olefins such as styrene derivatives and substituted chromene. The possible reasons for the improvement of the ee values are discussed in the text on the basis of the crystal structures of the manganese complexes.

The cobalt–salen complex (C1:[(salen)Co³⁺(OAc)]; salen= N,N′-bis(salicylidene)ethylenediamine, OAc=acetate) was found to efficiently promote the hydration of terminal alkynes to give methyl ketones in the presence of the H₂SO₄ cocatalyst. In addition, the one-pot transformation of alkynes into chiral alcohols through tandem catalysis by catalyst C1 coupled with a ruthenium–TsDPEN complex (C3: [(R,R-TsDPEN)Ru²⁺(cymene)]; TsDPEN=(1R,2R)-N-(p-toluenesulfonyl)-1,2-diphenylethylenediamine, cymene=1-methyl-4-(1-methylethyl)benzene) catalyst was realized with excellent yields and enantioselectivities.

The manganese and iron complexes with the tetradentate N ligand (1R,2R)-N,N'-dimethyl-N,N'-bis(1-methyl-2-benzimidazolylmethyl)cyclohexane-1,2-diamine have been synthesized and characterized. The crystal structure of the manganese complex demonstrates a cis-α configuration. Both the manganese and iron complexes are active catalysts for the asymmetric epoxidation of olefins with H₂O₂ as an oxidant and acetic acid as an additive. Up to 96 % ee was observed for the epoxidation of α,β-unsaturated ketones at −20 °C.

A series of magnetic nanoparticles of ferrite complex oxides were simply prepared by using a citric acid complex method and characterized by using XRD, FT-IR spectroscopy, TEM, the BET nitrogen adsorption/desorption technique, and a vibrating sample magnetometer. The magnetic nanoparticles were used for the N-arylation of nitrogen nucleophiles to form new CN bonds. CuFe₂O₄ nanoparticles calcined at 850 °C exhibited the best activity with moderate to excellent yields under ligand-free conditions. Notably, CuFe₂O₄ is completely recoverable with an external magnet and can be reused eight times without significant loss of catalytic activity.

Chiral bioinspired iron complexes of N₄ ligands based on the ethylenediamine backbone display remarkable levels of enantioselectivity for the first time in the asymmetric epoxidation of α,β-unsaturated ketones using hydrogen peroxide (up to 87% ee) or peracetic acid as oxidant, respectively. Notablely, isotopic labeling with H₂¹⁸O strongly demonstrated that there is a reversible water binding step prior to generation of the significant intermediate. Besides, the complex [L₂Fe(III)₂(μ-O)(μ-CH₃CO₂)]³⁺ usually derived from the decay of the LFe(IV)O species or thermodynamic sinks for a number of iron complexes was identified by HR-MS. In addition, the possible mechanisms were proposed and LFe(V)O species may be the main active intermediate in the catalytic system.

New bifunctional N-oxide salen–Ti^IV complexes and a pyrrolidine salen–Ti^IV complex in combination with achiral N-oxide were developed and applied to the asymmetric addition of trimethylsilyl cyanide to aldehydes. Notably, both enantiomers of trimethylsilyl ethers of cyanohydrins could be easily prepared by modifying the catalysts employed in this reaction, which are based on the same chiral diamine collar derived from L-tartaric acid. The products were obtained generally with moderate to good enantiomeric excesses and excellent yields by using relatively low catalyst loadings and only 1.05 equivalents of trimethylsilylcyanide (TMSCN).

A series of biaryl-bridged salalen ligands together with their titanium complexes have been designed and synthesized. The Ti complexes could serve as highly efficient catalysts for the asymmetric epoxidation of a wide range of olefins, giving the corresponding epoxides with high ee values.

Magnetic nanoparticle-supported Pd/Fe₃O₄ was readily prepared and proved to be versatile catalyst for efficient Suzuki cross-coupling reaction, and the reduction of nitroarenes under mild conditions (balloon H₂ pressure and room temperature). The catalyst could be conveniently recovered and reused several times with sustained catalytic activity.

A new type of chiral tridentate ligands were prepared and their Zn complexes were examined for the asymmetric Friedel-Crafts alkylation of indoles with nitroalkenes, which gave rise to good yields and moderate enantioselectivities.