Themed collection 2015 Emerging Investigators by ICF

Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers profiles the contributors to the “Emerging Investigators” themed collection.

This review summarizes the recent progress in the fabrication of MOF-polymer membranes including the challenges, difficulties and corresponding solutions.

This review highlights the recent trends in the heterogeneous hydrogenation of CO₂ to formic acid/formate.

Advances in iron-catalysed cross coupling from 2010–2015 are critically reviewed.

Molecular magnetism is reaching a degree of development that will allow for the rational design of sophisticated systems.

This review summarizes the recent advances in developing CdX (X = S, Se, Te)-based photocatalyst systems for photocatalytic hydrogen production from water.

In this critical review, we mainly focus on the current developments of gas sensors based on typical 2D layered nanomaterials, including graphene, MoS₂, MoSe₂, WS₂, SnS₂, VS₂, black phosphorus (BP), h-BN, and g-C₃N₄.

We review various exfoliation methods and extensive tuning of chemical and physical properties for 2D layered nanomaterials based on intercalation chemistry.

Nanozymes are nanomaterials with enzyme-like characteristics, which have found broad applications in various areas including bionanotechnology and beyond.

Ultralong α-MnO₂ synthesized by a stirring-assisted hydrothermal treatment of bulk MnO₂ efficiently catalyzes the quasi-4-electron oxygen reduction reaction.

Photocatalytic hydrodefluorination of a series of perfluoroarenes by rhodium porphyrin complexes was described. The key intermediate (por)Rh-C₆F₄R underwent fast photo-cleavage of Rh–C bonds to produce hydrodefluorination products.

The CO₂ reaction of a nickel(0) complex involves multiple reaction pathways including tetranickel cluster formation via reductive disproportionation of CO₂.

Here we present two Fe^II coordination polymers that possess discrete compartments suitable for CO₂ physisorption despite the lack of permanent channels.

Chemically modifying electrode surfaces with redox active molecular complexes is an effective route to fabricating tailored functional materials.

This study reported the first system of Fe-porphyrin conjugated network on carbon nanotubes for ORR, which exhibited excellent performance with high catalytic activity, robust stability, and good methanol tolerance.

Six Dy(III)-crown-ether complexes show the effects of coordination anions and geometries on slow magnetic relaxation behaviours.

We have developed a fast and efficient route to obtain perfunctionalized ether-linked alkyl and benzyl derivatives of the closo-[B₁₂(OH)₁₂]²⁻ icosahedral dodecaborate cluster via microwave-assisted synthesis.

Transient technology allows a device to disappear upon application of an external trigger.

Readily synthesized, new bis(arylimino)acenaphthene copper(I) complexes exhibit panchromatic light absorption to the NIR region and function in dye-sensitized solar cells.

We present new ligand platforms for pentagonal bipyramidal metal complexes, and the characterization of the corresponding Zn(II)- and Fe(II)-containing compounds.

UiO-66-NH₂ type materials show excellent capability for removal of Cr(VI) from industrial waste.

Electrochemical water splitting provides a facile method for high-purity hydrogen production, but electro-catalysts with a stable bifunctional activity towards both oxygen and hydrogen evolution have been rarely developed.

Alkoxide-intercalated NiFe-layered double hydroxides were synthesized via the nonaqueous methanolic route. These magnetic nanosheets can be exfoliated in water and exhibit an outstanding behaviour as OER electrocatalysts.

The binding of O₂ at a four-coordinate cobaltous porphyrin site within a metal–organic framework is examined through single-crystal X-ray diffraction, EPR spectroscopy, and O₂ adsorption measurements.

We report two polynuclear nickel(II) compounds whose supramolecular structures are controlled by small inorganic templating anions and π-conjugated Schiff-base ligands (L·SMe³⁻ and HL·SMe²⁻) with peripheral, structurally exposed methylthioether groups.

The homo- and heterocoupling of molecular terminal iridium(IV) and iridium(V) nitrides is examined. The experimental coupling rates are discussed based on a computational analysis of the transition states.

Structural variations of a flavonoid framework noticeably tune the interaction and reactivity of flavonoids with metals, Aβ, and metal–Aβ.

[5,15-Di(4-aminophenyl)-10,20-diphenylporphyrinato]zinc(II) was found to electropolymerize on electrodes such as glassy carbon (GC), indium tin oxide (ITO), and tin oxide, to form a redox-active, stable, and reproducible π-conjugated polymer.

Application of alternative “click” strategies (metal-free photoclick and one-pot click) to cymantrene and ferrocene derivatives yielded novel metal-containing conjugates.

The impartment of Brønsted acidity into a zeolitic imidazole framework, ZIF-90 has been achieved via post-synthetically oxidizing the aldehyde group into carboxylate group.

We report here a DCL study of a phenanthroline-based building block focusing on catenane formation with copper templates.

Two record-large odd-numbered Ln₂₇ lanthanide clusters, each one featuring one CO₃²⁻ and eight ClO₄⁻ groups as mixed anion templates, were obtained by controlling the hydrolysis of the Ln³⁺ ions in the presence of simple propionate ligands.

Adducts [Cp′FeI(NHC)] exhibit a highly anisotropic magnetic M_s = ±2 ground state resulting in unusual large spin–lattice (Orbach) relaxation barriers observed by zero-field ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy.

Two new ternary chalcogenide-iodides, Ba₃S₄I₂ and Ba₃Se₄I₂, exhibit both covalent and ionic chemical bonding.

CoS electrocatalysts with various morphologies such as hollow nanoprism, broken nanoprism, and 3D nanoparticle could be obtained by a facile and rapid two-step microwave-assisted synthetic route. The correlation between catalyst morphology and electrocatalytic H₂ evolution performance was systematically studied.

A 3D WSe₂/rGO hybrid nanocomposite was constructed using a one step colloidal synthesis approach, and it exhibited excellent HER performance.

Two low dimensional multifunctional Cu(I) boron imidazolate frameworks displayed unique luminescence mechanochromism, and BIF-40 can load AuPd bimetal nanoparticles directly for further catalysis.

A new family of flexible metal–organic supercontainers exhibit selective binding with cationic guests and tunable supramolecular catalytic activity.

Metallic cobalt nitrides arising from electron delocalization modulation have been proven to be highly efficient OER electrocatalysts.

We demonstrate a turn-on strategy for blue-emitting [Ir(C^N)₂(P^P)]PF₆ complexes and apply them to EL devices.

Co^II complexes bearing sulfonamido ligands derived from tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (H₆tren) assemble into complex architectures in the presence of Group II ions through interactions between the Group II ion and the sulfonyl oxygens.

Slow magnetic relaxation is observed for the first structurally characterized Dy-isocarbonyl complex.

Dicopper(I) dimesoionic carbene complexes are active catalysts for the azide–alkyne cycloaddition reaction and are more active than their mononuclear counterparts.

A mononuclear high-spin (η²-BH₄) nickel(II) complex bearing a macrocyclic tridentate N-donor ligand was prepared and its reactivity was investigated in dehalogenation reactions.

Nano/meso-structuring reduces the thermal conductivity in Ge_1−xBi_xTe samples, which results in a thermoelectric figure of merit, zT, of 1.3 in Ge_1−xBi_xTe.

A synthetic method has been developed for Cu/TiO₂ photocatalysts with hollow structures by templating on metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), which offers versatility to tailor the photocatalyst configurations by simply altering treatment conditions on MOFs.

A novel crystalline thioantimonate prepared by a surfactant-thermal strategy demonstrates high performance as an anode material for Li-ion batteries.

A new oxygen-sensing material with desirable excitation/emission characteristics was achieved by using a simple guest fluorophore.

A series of isoreticular two-dimensional metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) was synthesized with group 11 metals and semirigid ligands that bind in a syn conformation.

The development of layered molybdenum chalcogenides with largely exposed active sites is receiving intense interest because of their potential applications in energy storage and catalysis.