Actions on sustainable food production and consumption for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework

Current food production and consumption trends are inconsistent with the Convention on Biological Diversity’s 2050 vision of living in harmony with nature. Here, we examine how, and under what conditions, the post-2020 biodiversity framework can support transformative change in food systems. Our analysis of actions proposed in four science-policy fora reveals that subsidy reform, valuation, food waste reduction, sustainability standards, life cycle assessments, sustainable diets, mainstreaming biodiversity, and strengthening governance can support more sustainable food production and consumption. By considering barriers and opportunities of implementing these actions in Peru and the United Kingdom, we derive potential targets and indicators for the post-2020 biodiversity framework. For targets to support transformation, genuine political commitment, accountability and compliance, and wider enabling conditions and actions by diverse agents are needed to shift food systems onto a sustainable path

Exploring The Reactivity Of Donor-Acceptor Cyclopropanes And The Synthesis Of (+/-)-Quebrachamine

The development and utility of cyclopropanes is an ever-growing field within organic chemistry. In particular, donor-acceptor cyclopropanes have been used in a vast array of methods to access a variety of different hetero and carbocyclic molecular scaffolds. Recently, we have developed a Zn(NTf2)2 catalyzed tandem reaction consisting of a nucleophilic ringopening of 1,1-cyclopropanediesters by 2-alkynyl indoles followed by a Conia-ene ring closure, resulting in the efficient one-step synthesis of tetrahydrocarbazoles. These adducts may be further elaborated to carbazoles. The scope and limitations of this method were determined along with a mechanistic study into the function of the zinc catalyst. In an expansion of our work with 1,1-cyclopropanediesters, we have explored the reactivity and utilization of hemimalonate cyclopropanes. To this end, we have developed two unique methods exploring the self-activating nature of these cyclopropanes under catalyst free conditions. Cyclopropane hemimalonates, when treated with sodium azide, undergo a tandem ring-opening decarboxylation to produce γ-azidobutyric acids in good yields. These adducts were hydrogenated to form γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) methyl esters. Additionally, cyclopropane hemimalonates have led to the facile synthesis of γ-substituted butanolides. Under microwave irradiation, cyclopropane hemimalonates undergo rapid conversion to butanolides in the presence of inorganic salts with an unprecedented retention of stereochemistry. This unique process, in conjunction with a newly developed crossmetathesis method, has been applied to the total synthesis of the naturally occurring, (R)- dodecan-4-olide. Finally, recent efforts to develop a unified approach to piperidine-containing indole natural products have shown great promise. A preliminary investigation into the prospect of a common synthetic intermediate for the synthesis of a variety of indole alkaloids has led to a synthesis of substituted piperidinones and the corresponding piperidines. These common natural product cores are accessed via a reductive amination/lactamization sequence of dimethyl 3-ethyl-3-formylpimelate. The synthetic utility of this initial study has been displayed in the formal synthesis of (+/-)-quebrachamine