Themed collection 2018 International Open Access Week Collection

This critical review discusses the thermal and photocatalytic mechanisms of one-, two-, four-, six- and eight-electron reduction of CO₂ with metal complex catalysts.

Adhesive curli nanofibers, bacterial biofilms' major protein component, were utilized to mediate the growth of MOFs on various polymeric substrates.

The to date largest comparative study of nine state-of-the-art drug target prediction methods finds that deep learning outperforms all other competitors. The results are based on a benchmark of 1300 assays and half a million compounds.

Elucidation of cholesterol insertion efficiency into phase-transfer vesicles enables the rational design of phase-separated membranes as thermally-responsive platforms for artificial cell construction.

The first ruthenium-catalyzed umpolung carboxylation of hydrazones with CO₂ to generate important aryl acetic acids is reported.

An iron catalyzed method for selective urea synthesis is described. This approach couples methanol and amines to generate diverse organic ureas.

A new concept of formyl group induced ACQ to AIEE transformation is established in naphthalimide congeners. Also, ultradetection of hydrazine via Schiff base complexation over multiple platforms is presented.

Nickel-modified covalent triazine frameworks effectively reduced CO₂ to CO because adsorbed COOH was stabilized on the coordinatively-unsaturated Ni atoms in CTF.

The first water-soluble NIR AIEgen was synthesized and used for ultrafast wash-free cellular imaging and photodynamic cancer cell ablation.

A notable trend in OER activity on transition metal phosphide pre-catalysts is reported. Remarkably, the tri-metallic FeCoNiP pre-catalysts exhibit exceptional apparent and intrinsic OER activities, outperforming many non-precious OER catalysts reported previously.

We report a periodic density-functional theory evaluation of putative frameworks, including a topologically novel arhangelskite (arh) structure, based on the pentazolate ion, the ultimate all-nitrogen, inorganic member of the azolate series of aromatic 5-membered ring anions.

Nanoscopy compatible fluorescent tubulin probes can be used to stain microtubules and chitin-rich taenidia in the insect tracheoles.

An elegant, highly integrated DNA nanomachine powered by endogenous ATP molecules was developed for specific microRNA imaging in living cells.

Introduction of an isopropyl bridge in the triangulenium skeleton leads to a new series of redshifted triangulenium dyes with high fluorescence quantum yields and remarkable long fluorescence lifetime allowing for time-gated cell imaging.

High-throughput identification of GPCR modulators through affinity MS screening.

We demonstrate that a photochromic spironaphthoxazine switch operates with excellent fatigue resistance and high conversion when irradiated at 405/561 nm in a range of media including living cells.

Ni₂P@FePO_x has been synthesized via extraction and selective phosphorization of nickel in NiFe-LDH, and then conversed to a new heterostructure of Ni₂P@NiFe hydroxide (P-NiFe) during water splitting. P-NiFe can act as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting.

Here we report a quinoline-derived ligand that enables the Pd(II)-catalyzed olefination of the C(sp²)–H bond with simple aliphatic alkenes using a weakly coordinating monodentate amide auxiliary.

A self-floating sturdy polymer foam which by itself enables efficient solar steam generation without optical concentration.

A mechanistically distinct, Ni/photoredox-catalyzed arylation of unprotected, native thiols (e.g., cysteine residues) is reported – a process initiated through a visible light-promoted, hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) event under ambient conditions.

We report a near-infrared emissive probe which can detect HOCl in vivo by both fluorescence imaging and the naked eye.

A large scale benchmark for molecular machine learning consisting of multiple public datasets, metrics, featurizations and learning algorithms.

Ultrathin Pt nanoplates exposing {111} facets are synthesized by galvanic-replacement-free templating of conveniently available Ag nanoplates, showing enhanced oxygen reduction activity.

The microscopic interfacial structures for a series of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)/polymer composites consisting of the Zr-based UiO-66 coupled with different polymers are systematically explored by applying a computational methodology that integrates density functional theory calculations and force field-based molecular dynamics simulations.

A method for converting sp³ C–H to C–Br bonds using an N-methyl sulfamate directing group is described. For all sulfamates examined, bromination occurs with high selectivity at the γ-carbon, affording a predictable method for C–H bond halogenation.