Themed collection #MyFirstChemSci 2025

This review highlights the mechanisms underlying the unique fluorogenic properties of tetrazine-functionalized labels and proposes new strategies to enhance fluorogenicity in the near-infrared region.

Machine learning of melanin chemical space for bio-optoelectronic applications.

PepINVENT introduces a generative model for designing peptides that extend beyond natural amino acids, enabling non-traditional peptide discovery and optimization.

Using total scattering and simulations, we describe how different salt species influence zwitterion cluster morphologies in water.

Using ultrafast time-resolved IR spectroscopy, we find that charge-transfer excitation does not always localise on the strongest electron donor–acceptor pair. Solvation is another crucial factor which determines where the exciton is trapped.

A general chemoproteomic profiling approach for oxidoreductases with conceptually novel probes based on diarylhalonium salts is reported.

Pincer palladium complexes with an appended naphthalene-diimide unit show ‘fluoride-induced’ redox switchable behavior in a series of Pd(II)/Pd(IV) related stoichiometric and catalytic processes.

A series of novel reactions of the complexes [Cp*(CO)₂MSi–Tbb] (M = Cr – W) are presented substantiating the synthetic potential of metal-silicon triple bonds.

The one-pot synthesis of valuable E-chalcones is achieved using a multifunctional Ru@SiO₂-[Pd–NHC] catalytic system combining molecular and nanoparticle sites for efficient carbonylative Sonogashira coupling and selective hydrogenation.

Spray-drying, a rapid, continuous, and widely used industrial process that atomizes microdroplets and dries them in a hot gas stream, is employed to conduct chemical reactions for the synthesis of small organic molecules such as paracetamol.

We report a convenient and inexpensive two-step synthesis to organyl-substituted 1,2,3-benzodiazaborines (DABs), leading to a series of luminescent borates derived therefrom.

In this manuscript, the piezochromism and thermochromism of phase-stable 2D hybrid perovskites containing a rigid organic bilayer are explored. Dual-band emission from single crystals is linked to emission from both the surface and the bulk.

This study successfully synthesised flavylium-containing polymers via RAFT polymerisation and post-modification, demonstrating tuneable multi-stimuli-responsiveness to pH, light, temperature and solvent.

We report two Cu(I)-tren host molecules with unusual air-stability, as revealed by strong preference for axial CO binding over bent O₂.

A new class of mercapto-NSAIDs that generate persulfide, H₂S, and the NSAID is reported.

Group 13 aminoxy complexes, (L)E(TEMPO)₃ (TEMPO = 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine 1-oxyl; L = THF (tetrahydrofuran) or Py (pyridine); E = Al, Ga, In), display ambiphilic reactivity with H₂ and function as synthons for the preparation of materials.

Thiosemicarbazones exhibit versatile photochromic and supramolecular properties, making them excellent photoswitches for designing systems that respond to external stimuli.

Ligand-directed chemistry (LDchem) sialyltransferases (ST) probes with an O-nitrobenzoxadiazole warhead enable selective fluorescent labelling of a wide range of recombinant STs and native lipooligosaccharide ST (Lst) in Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Developing a self-sensitized catalyst from earth-abundant elements capable of efficient light harvesting and electron transfer is crucial for enhancing the efficacy of CO₂ reduction, environmental cleanup, and improving clean energy prospects.

We computationally investigated the fragmentation pathways of saturated molecules detected in the interstellar medium, demonstrating how high-energy processes drive their transformation into unsaturated species with extended π-bond networks.

Characterization of 2PA of DNA-stabilized silver nanoclusters (Ag_N-DNAs) with far-red to NIR emission identify them as water-soluble two-photon absorbers.

We have demonstrated the synthesis of regio- and diastereoselective cyclobutylated phenothiazines via [2 + 2] visible-light-irradiated cycloaddition and wavelength-gated cycloreversion inside the live cells for cell imaging and drug delivery.