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A research paper by Emeritus Professor SHIBATA Norio and his colleagues was published in the journal Chemical Science and selected for the "HOT Article Collection" and "Pick of the Week."
Category：News｜Publishing : September 1, 2026
A research paper by Muhamad Zulfaqar Bacho (3rd year doctoral student) of the Nanopharmaceutical Sciences and Emeritus Professor SHIBATA Norio has been published in Chemical Science, the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and has been selected for both the "2026 Chemical Science HOT Article Collection" and the "2026 ChemSci Pick of the Week Collection."
The paper title is "Bidirectional skeletal remodelling of SF5-nitrobenzenes into azepine, bicyclic, and benzimidazole frameworks".
In this study, we developed a "bidirectional skeleton reconstruction method" that allows us to convert nitrobenzene, which has an SF5 group with strong electron-withdrawing properties and unique stereochemical characteristics, into completely different skeletons (azepine, fused ring structure, benzimidazole) by controlling the reaction pathway. This is a novel molecular transformation strategy that enables the flexible construction of complex fluorine-containing molecular frameworks, which was previously difficult to achieve.
"HOT Article" features particularly important findings from the published papers, while "Pick of the Week" highlights the most noteworthy research among them and is widely publicized.
This achievement provides design guidelines for novel functional molecules that can replace PFAS (perfluorinated compounds), which have become a global challenge in recent years, and is expected to make a significant contribution to environmentally friendly fluorine chemistry and sustainable materials development.
For further details on the research, please refer to the university's press release (published March 27, 2026).
Press release: "Toward a New Era of PFAS-Free Synthesis: An Innovative Synthesis Method for SF5 Heterocyclic Rings Achieved Through Skeletal Editing"
Paper information
<Publication Journal> Chemical Science
<Published paper> Bidirectional skeletal remodeling of SF5-nitrobenzenes into azepine, bicyclic, and benzimidazole frameworks
<Author name> Bacho, MZ; Wu, S.; Muramatsu, T.; Nagababu, C.; Harano, D.; Ochiai, S.; Shibata, N.* *Corresponding author
<DOI>DOI: 10.1039/D6SC01441K
<URL>https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2026/sc/d6sc01441k
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