Challenging assumptions of the enlargement literature : the impact of the EU on human and minority rights in Macedonia

This article argues that from the very start of the transition process in Macedonia, a fusion of concerns about security and democratisation locked local nationalist elites and international organisations intoa political dynamic that prioritised security over democratisation. This dynamic resulted in little progress in the implementation of human and minority rights until 2009, despite heavy EU involvement in Macedonia after the internal warfare of 2001. The effects of this informally institutionalised relationship have been overlooked by scholarship on EU enlargement towards Eastern Europe, which has made generalisations based on assumptions relevant to the democratisation of countries in Eastern Europe, but not the Western Balkans

Europeanization without substance? EU-Turkey relations and gender equality in employment

This paper focuses on EU-Turkey relations through gender-related employment policy practices. We argue that Turkey is undergoing a process of ‘Europeanization without substance’, in which vague commitments and policy initiatives to enhance female labour force participation coexist uneasily with a contravening political discourse. This is not merely the result of a stalemate in accession negotiations, nor does it stem from the diversity of employment practices across the Union. It rather results from the deliberative discourses used by Turkey’s political leadership to selectively appropriate certain aspects of Europeanization to further a politically motivated agenda that, in essence, negates gender equality altogether. This, we argue in turn, is reflected in a set of practices, policy initiatives, and public statements that make substantive progress in EU-Turkey relations harder. This process is facilitated by the diminishing emphasis placed by the EU on gender equality in employment as manifested by the evolution of gender equality practices at EU level and reinforced by austerity-led policies during the economic crisis

Visible Light Activation of Boronic Esters Enables Efficient Photoredox C(sp2^2)-C(sp3^3) Cross-Couplings in Flow

We report herein a new method for the photoredox activation of boronic esters. Using these reagents, an efficient and high-throughput continuous flow process was developed to perform a dual iridium- and nickel-catalyzed C(sp$^2$)–C(sp$^3$) coupling by circumventing solubility issues associated with potassium trifluoroborate salts. Formation of an adduct with a pyridine-derived Lewis base was found to be essential for the photoredox activation of the boronic esters. Based on these results we were able to develop a further simplified visible light mediated C(sp$^2$)–C(sp$^3$) coupling method using boronic esters and cyano heteroarenes under flow conditions.Novartis Pharma AG, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Grant IDs: EP/K0099494/1, EP/K039520/1

Visible Light Activation of Boronic Esters Enables Efficient Photoredox C(sp2^2)-C(sp3^3) Cross-Couplings in Flow

We report herein a new method for the photoredox activation of boronic esters. Using these reagents, an efficient and high-throughput continuous flow process was developed to perform a dual iridium- and nickel-catalyzed C(sp$^2$)–C(sp$^3$) coupling by circumventing solubility issues associated with potassium trifluoroborate salts. Formation of an adduct with a pyridine-derived Lewis base was found to be essential for the photoredox activation of the boronic esters. Based on these results we were able to develop a further simplified visible light mediated C(sp$^2$)–C(sp$^3$) coupling method using boronic esters and cyano heteroarenes under flow conditions.Novartis Pharma AG, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Grant IDs: EP/K0099494/1, EP/K039520/1

High-pressure effects on the Diels-Alder reaction in room temperature ionic liquids

The effect of pressure on the Diels-Alder reaction was examined in room temperature ionic liquids, followed by high-pressure FT-IR spectroscopy using pressures up to 150 MPa. Pressure enhances the kinetic sensitivity of the reaction. The kinetic effect of fluorophobic interactions was examined using ionic liquids with fluorous cations. Ionic liquids in combination with ZnI2 as a Lewis acid catalyst were also studied under high pressure

The Politics of EU Conditionality

in International Influence Beyond Conditionality: Postcommunist Europe after EU Enlargement (Routledge, ed. Volume