Themed collection Celebrating our 2020 Prize and Award winners

Ring-opening metathesis polymerization-induced self-assembly (ROMPISA) has expanded the preparation of PISA nano-objects beyond radical polymerization approaches. In this highlight article, we summarize current advances and existing challenges in ROMPISA methodologies.

This perspective links the synthesis of MOF Gels to the formation of MOF-monoliths and their resultant properties and application.

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with various structures and properties can be synthesized in solution or on surface.

Naked-eye comparison of reaction profiles is a powerful tool to extract mechanistic information – FAQ, video tutorial and templated examples included.

Thermally assisted delayed fluorescence (TADF) allows for efficient collection of both singlet and triplet excitons with both emitting through the singlet channel.  TADF opens the door to photo- and electroluminescence efficiencies close to 100%.

In this Feature Article we highlight the tremendous progress in solution-processed transition metal dichalcogenides and the molecular approaches employed to finely tune their physicochemical properties.

The real realm and recent advances of piezoelectricity after thinning down to two-dimensional materials have been introduced.

This review summarizes recent advances and highlights the structure–property relationship on metal–organic framework-based materials for carbon dioxide capture and conversion.

A critical analysis of the molecular design strategies employed in the recent progress of non-fullerene electron acceptors for organic photovoltaics.

The geometry of the most regular polycatenanes and weavings, as an extended family of discrete knots and catenanes, is described in terms of sticks and corners in their optimal embeddings.

This review article explores the most common fragmentation reactions for ions generated by ESI in positive and negative modes.

This article reviews recent advances in templating of graphitic carbon nitride materials, with a particular focus on applications in photocatalysis.

Binding saccharides with non-covalent interactions is challenging, especially in the natural medium of water, but synthetic carbohydrate receptors can be surprisingly effective.

Catalytic radical relays are an attractive tool for the rapid construction of complex molecular architectures.

The structures and properties of nitroxide radicals can be readily tailored for use as spin labels in biomolecular EPR spectroscopy.

Circular dichroism spectra of helical bundle (red), beta barrel (blue), and mixed helical/sheet/unordered (green) membrane proteins.

Metabolites present in the corona may play a key role in biological recognition of nanomaterials yet remain a much-overlooked aspect of the corona.

Arsenic is ubiquitous in nature appearing in various chemical forms.

Dual functionalization of chemically exfoliated MoS₂ has been achieved by exploiting coulombic interactions among positively charged molecules and the negatively charged 2D flakes.

MIL-101(Cr)-4F(1%) shows a high uptake and high chemical stability to dry and humid SO₂ and a remarkable cyclability. In situ DRIF spectroscopy upon the adsorption of CO identified the preferential adsorption sites for this MOF material.

A key challenge in the production of lignin-derived chemicals is to reduce the energy intensive processes used in their production.

Caging of a widely used Von Hippel Lindau E3 ligase ligand for targeted protein degradation with PROTACs allows light-activated proteolysis.

The reaction of diphenyltin dihydride with LiAlH₄ gives access to a set of charged tin cages as their lithium salts.

Synthesis of azoles from ortho-substituted anilines and CO₂ is limited by the cyclization reaction and not by CO₂ reduction.

A simple defect engineering approach to systematically tune the band gap of the prototypical zirconium-based metal–organic framework UiO-66 is reported. Defect engineered materials display enhanced photocatalytic activity.

The integration of microfluidic spinning and colloidal crystal microdots enable the colour-encoded hydrogel microfibres with facile and flexible manipulation of the encoding.

A one-pot two-step synthesis of 6-[¹⁸F]fluoro-L-DOPA has been developed, involving Cu-mediated radiofluorination of the corresponding pinacol boronate ester precursor, and validated for production of doses for human use.

An organic “super-electron-donor” is well-suited as a negative electrolyte for nonaqueous redox flow batteries, with a highly negative 2⁺/0 reduction potential, a low mass per electron stored, and good solubility in CH₃CN in both redox states.

Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) hybridisation is highly tolerant to the addition of organic solvent. This finding suggests that PNA could enable the use of a range of water-sensitive chemistries in nucleic acid templating applications.

A class of wide bandgap host materials is introduced as an alternative to carbazole-based hosts to enhance the efficiency and transport properties of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).

MFM-300(Sc) was demonstrated to be an optimal adsorbent for SO₂ capture combining high uptake, good stability and excellent cyclability (facile regeneration at only room temperature). A drastic enhancement on its SO₂ uptake (40%) was achieved when a small amount of EtOH was preliminary adsorbed.

Synthesis of LacNAc with reversible GalTs.

A [2.2.1] aluminium metallobicycle is capable of reversibly inserting CO to form a [2.2.2] metallobicycle at 100 °C.

Dithieno[3,2-b:2′,3′-d]arsole containing donor polymers are reported and investigated in organic solar cell devices for the first time.

The reductive aromatisation of 1,3,5,7-cyclooctatetraene by a dimeric calcium hydride occurs via two electron steps and does not necessitate the formation of radical intermediates.

A series of nine novel Na⁺ selective ratiometric optical probes (S1–S9) have been developed and evaluated both by computational and experimental means.

The first example of an intramolecular hydroarylation of 1,6-en-α-chloro-enamides was achieved by a palladium-catalysed ligand-free reductive Heck cycloisomerisation with no competing Heck-cyclised by-product.

Heterobimetallic An–Mo (An = U, Th) paddlewheel complexes featuring dative Mo → An bonds are reported.

A rhodacycle catalyses efficient hydrogenation of aldehydes, deriving the hydrogen from methanol.

We demonstrate that bisulfite can be used for reduction of a highly electrophilic anthraquinone derivative, N,N′-dimethyl-2,6-diaza-9,10-anthraquinonediium (DAAQ), and subsequent autoxidation generates an equivalent of hydrogen peroxide.

The first general study of aminal radical cyclisations, triggered by reduction of amidines with SmI₂, delivers quinazolinones with complete diastereocontrol.

Substrate binding assays, in vitro proteolytic processing assays, and heterologous lasso peptide production were used to investigate the roles of conserved precursor peptide residues during paeninodin maturation.

“Naked” cationic β-diketiminate Mg and Ca complexes possess high Lewis acidities and bind strongly to neutral benzene or alkyne ligands.

Graphene quantum dots can photosensitize the emission of terbium cations with a photoluminescence efficiency that increases at shorter wavelengths.

A new method for predicting the frequency of extreme air quality events is proposed.

The interaction between Mycobacterium tuberculosis EthR and its operator DNA has been studied by native mass spectrometry, revealing an interesting stoichiometry.

Herein, we describe a regioselective Rh-catalyzed decarboxylative cross-coupling of β-keto acids and alkynes to access branched γ,δ-unsaturated ketones.

A planar heteroacene building block, dithieno[2,3-d;2′,3′-d′]benzo[1,2-b;3,4-b′]dithiophene (DTmBDT), is reported via a facile synthetic procedure.

We report the first thorium–cyclobutadienyl complex, a new type of heteroleptic actinocene, that exhibits ‘an alkene-like’ thorium–η²-cyclooctatetraenyl interaction.

Incorporation of Nb and Mo into conductive metal–organic frameworks enables utilization of the enhanced covalency, redox activity, and spin–orbit coupling of late-row metals to improve the transport and magnetic properties of these materials.

Optimizing binding pocket geometries in MOFs for ideal interaction with target molecules remains a tremendous synthetic challenge. In the new MOF U(bdc)₂, self-adjusting binding pockets flex to bind differently sized guests H₂, CH₄ and DMF.

An in-depth investigation of the CO₂ adsorption kinetics of a promising class of cooperative carbon capture materials offers new insight into their structure-performance properties.

Synergistic effects between –NO₂ groups and open metal sites lead to optimal binding of CO₂ molecules within MFM-102-NO₂via hydrogen bonding to C–H groups.

Time-resolved spectroscopic measurements of ground-state recovery for [Fe(bpy)₃]²⁺ reveal that the solvent can induce an outer-sphere reorganization energy effect on excited-state dynamics involving metal-centered ligand-field electronic states.

Where the sea meets the land: the mupirocin biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) from the terrestrial bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens was repurposed via a plug-and-play approach with heterologous genes from the marine strain that produces thiomarinol.

sp³-C⋯THF tetrel bonding was observed in the crystalline state and in the gas phase. Density functional calculations revealed interaction energies up to −11.2 kcal mol⁻¹ and showed that these adducts are held together mainly by electrostatics.

Functional group interaction profiles are a quantitative tool for predicting the effect of solvent on the free energy changes associated with non-covalent interactions.

Dilute dispersions of poly(lauryl methacrylate)-poly(benzyl methacrylate) diblock copolymer spheres of differing mean diameter are mixed and thermally annealed at 150 °C to produce either spherical or non-spherical nanoparticles of intermediate size.

Experimental and theoretical methods characterize the thermodynamics of electrochemically driven proton-coupled electron transfer processes in bioinspired constructs involving multiple proton translocations over Grotthus-type proton wires.

A highly selective receptor, circular dichroism and chiral competition are combined in this versatile method for D-glucose analysis.

Molecular simulations were used to design large scale loop motions in the enzyme cyclophilin A and NMR and biophysical methods were employed to validate the models.

A palladium-catalyzed allylation of ester-derived boron enolates, which is prepared through 1,4-reduction of α,β-unsaturated ester analogues.

A metal-free, oxidative coupling of phenols with various nucleophiles, including arenes, 1,3-diketones and other phenols, is reported.

A photo-regulated ATP sensor coupled with cationic DQAsomes is developed for spatiotemporally controlled imaging of ATP in the mitochondria of living cells.

A BBB vehicle library is validated, establishing a SAR for uptake. Merging AMT/RMT motifs chemoselectively increased permeability.

Electrochemical C–H activation proceeds at room temperature upon oxidation of a pincer-ligated iridium complex in the presence of base.

Detailed kinetic analysis reveals a complex multi-step mechanism for an amine-thiol “declick” reaction.

The reactions of a series of β-diketiminate stabilised aluminium dihydrides with ruthenium bis(phosphine), palladium bis(phosphine) and palladium cyclopentadienyl complexes is reported.

We report a rapid and efficient method for labelling ultrasound microbubble (MB) agents with a generator-produced PET isotope using a facile ligation between a trans-cyclooctene-modified phospholipid and a new ⁶⁸Ga-HBED-CC-tetrazine tracer. This method provides accessible solutions for in vivo tracking of MBs.

The proton conductivity of barium-based MOFs MFM-510 to MFM-512 are analysed in relation to the absence and presence of free –COOH groups in the pores.