Themed collection Most cited Features from 2016, 2017

This feature article discusses the range of stereospecific transformations available to enantioenriched boronic esters, and their applications in synthesis.

Significant progress has been accomplished in directed C–H functionalization through the use of earth-abundant and inexpensive first-row transition metals.

This Feature Article presents and discusses the use of different methods to quantify and explore the steric impact of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands.

This feature article presents the principles and most recent examples of organic molecules in which long lived and highly intense room-temperature phosphorescence is switched on by rigidification of the matrix in a crystal or in a polymer or by interaction with other molecules.

Experimental evidence for long range surface forces in ionic liquids is collated and examined, key outstanding questions are identified, and possible mechanisms underpinning these long range forces are explored.

This review article summarizes the advance of pillar[n]arene chemistry in terms of its application in biological and related fields.

We discuss the properties and potential future applications in catalysis, sensing and materials of ligands based on mechanically interlocked molecules.

We highlight recent progress from our labs for the development of fluorescent glycoprobes for sensing ions/lectins and targeted detection of intracellular species, including the construction of their 2D material composites for targeted fluorescence imaging and theranostics.

ALD archetype and deviations from it.

In this review we look beyond CH₃NH₃PbI₃ to other ns² containing solar absorbers, with the aim of identifying those materials likely to achieve high efficiencies.

This feature article covers the molecular recognition of pillar[5]arenes and neutral guests, and its application in making supramolecular structures, polymers and functional materials.

The development of solution-based anion receptor molecules which exploit halogen bonding interactions is an emerging area of research. This Feature Article reviews recent advances which have been made in this rapidly developing field, surveying the use of iodoperfluoroarene, haloimidazolium and halotriazole/triazolium halogen-bond-donor motifs in anion receptor design and describing the application of mechanically interlocked rotaxane and catenane frameworks as halogen bonding anion host systems.

Development of mechanochemistry for API synthesis and pharmaceutical solid form screening signals the emergence of medicinal mechanochemistry – a discipline at the interface of medicinal chemistry and sustainable synthesis.

This feature article discusses the rational control of nano-scale metal catalysts for catalytic biomass transformation.

This feature article reviews the recent achievements of rhodium-catalyzed annulation of arenes with alkynes through weak chelation-assisted C–H activation, which sets a stage for the synthesis of diverse appealing polycyclic compounds.

Anion–π interactions, intuitively repulsive forces, turned from controversial to a well-established non-covalent interaction over the past quarter of a century.

The need for establishing the bases and definitions of photoluminescent nanodots is discussed and their state-of-the-art in analytical and biomedical research fields is highlighted.

Recent advancements in luminescent materials containing polyhedral boron clusters are summarised in this review article.

Cocrystals, a long known but understudied class of crystalline solids, have attracted interest from crystal engineers and pharmaceutical scientists in the past decade and are now an integral part of the preformulation stage of drug development.

Recent advances in photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ with H₂O using semiconductor-based catalysts have been highlighted.