Themed collection Catalysis Science & Technology Open Access Spotlight 2026

Esters are of high industrial relevance and can also be prepared by the direct oxidative esterification of aldehydes, alcohols and olefins using carbon-based catalysts with improved activity, selectivity and durability.

Rapid microwave heating combined with tailored catalysts enables superior plastic waste upcycling. Detailed insights into catalyst functions and conversion pathways highlight the potential for bridging lab-scale research to industrial reality.

Herein, we discuss the synthesis and mechanistic aspects underlying the formation of heterocycles, a fundamental class of structural motifs that play a pivotal role in pharmaceuticals, natural products, and functional organic materials.

This study has established oleic acid reaction pathways under long-term continuous-flow hydroprocessing, highlighting the roles of metal and acid sites for efficient deoxygenation, followed by the impact of guaiacol co-feeding.

Lithium nanoparticles exhibit a high capacity for the capture and cleavage of N₂, displaying thermodynamically favourable spontaneous N₂ adsorption and reaction kinetics with accessible energy barriers at mild temperature and pressure.

We developed a copper-catalyzed carbonylative cross-coupling reaction between unactivated alkyl bromides and arylsilanes for the synthesis of ketones.

A new computational model for oxidized carbon black (oCB) surfaces is presented. The study elucidates surface reaction mechanisms, highlighting the role of quaternary ammonium ions for a model S_N2 type reaction when it is supported on oCB.

CO/CO₂ strongly adsorb on Ni, temporarily occupying and blocking active centers and suppressing LOHC hydrogenation. As CO is gradually converted to CH₄ and desorbs, the sites are liberated and hydrogenation resumes.

Design rules for PET glycolysis are established by correlating metal acetate electronegativity with organobase pK_a to predict optimal catalyst pairs. DFT studies support a cooperative single-entity catalytic mechanism.

Ru/C and Pd/C as heterogeneous catalyts can be used for various transformations via dehydration of tert-alcohols.

A high-throughput reactor was designed, validated, and applied to the problem of materials screening and characterization in dilute methane oxidation catalysis.

Several [Cp*Ir(N∩N)SO₄] complexes have been prepared and used for the efficient reduction of various ketones in water without any additives, using formic acid as the hydrogen donor.

SDP is shown to be a simple, cost-effective and scalable method to produce bimetallic LOHC dehydrogenation catalysts with improved activity and stability, achieving similar effects to wet impregnated catalysts.

Network of Rh complexes in SILP system for hydroformylation: we identify [Rh(acac)(CO)(xp)], [Rh(acac)(CO)₂(xp)], and hydride derivatives in reactive gas atmosphere, and show that the IL actively participates in formation of key intermediates.

Ceria shape effects on the redox and catalytic properties of Co/CeO₂ oxides.

Antifluorite-derived Li₇MnN₄ was synthesized, and its ordered crystal structure was resolved. Ammonia decomposition proceeds via lithium amide-imide-nitride transformations, enabling its catalytic performance comparable to Ni-based catalysts.

Hydrothermal aging of Cu-CHA for NH₃-Selective Catalytic Reduction (NH₃-SCR) follows two types of deactivation mechanisms.

Co-immobilization of the enzymes GOx and HRP is achieved within hierarchically mesoporous monolithic silica. The activity of the co-immobilized multi-enzyme conjugate in an assay is up to 143% higher than for the free enzymes in solution.

Design of Pt–Co–In pseudo-binary intermetallic catalysts enables intermetallic phase evolution and switches catalysis from CO₂-ODP to DRP, achieving selective DRP with excellent stability and coke resistance.

The performance of Pd/TiO₂-HY H₂-SCR catalysts was optimized through loading variation, promoter addition, and pairing with a conventional Fe/BEA NH₃-SCR catalyst, with the bifunctional system yielding superior NO conversion and N₂ selectivity.

The KOH treatment of thermally degraded PVC residues produces a microporous carbon support with a BET surface area of 3273 m² g⁻¹. Ru catalysts supported on this carbon exhibit high guaiacol hydrodeoxygenation activity.

When light enters the reaction: tuning the cobalt catalyst active phase and surface chemistry during CO₂ hydrogenation.

Catalytic hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde over Pt NP-decorated TMDs.

Exploiting continuous flow for optimising Ni-catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura reactions; a versatile, sustainable methodology translated directly to the synthesis of complex APIs savolitinib and baxdrostat.

Three-dimensional nanoscale analysis of mesopores provides insights into catalyst preparation by structurally assessing support structure, solids deposition, and activated metals.

The WO₃ loading of WO₃/TiO₂ influences the catalyst's superficial species and acidity, as well as its activity for glycerol dehydration. High acrolein productivity is achieved by balancing the Brønsted acidity with the formation of crystalline WO₃.

Dynamic Sr redistribution in Co/Sr–CeO₂ optimizes the electronic structure, enabling efficient and stable ammonia decomposition.

In this work, the effects of CuCl precursor and Zn and Sn additives on the formation of Cu-based metallic phases as well as on catalytic performance and coke formation were investigated during the early stage of methylchlorosilane synthesis.

Mo-doped NiO/Ni nanoparticles were electrodeposited and annealed (Ar/H₂, 450 °C, 2 h). Mo tuned the NiO electronic structure, accelerating HER and UOR for energy-efficient H₂ production via urea-assisted water electrolysis.

Silicatein-catalysed polymerisation pathways for poly(dimethyl)siloxane (PDMS) synthesis.

Tandem catalysts composed of a Cu-based methanol synthesis catalyst and a mordenite zeolite-based DME carbonylation catalyst converted syngas to methyl acetate and acetic acid with high selectivity at 230 °C and 5 MPa.

Our approach probes confinement by enclosing the chromium active sites within the small mesopores, tuning the oligomerization selectivity towards LAOs ≤ C₁₂ while suppressing PE formation.

A synthetic methodology for the immobilization of solid molecular catalysts (SMCs) in cylindrically shaped porous glass substrates was developed to facilitate their use as formic acid dehydrogenation catalysts in a continuous plug-flow reactor.

4-Nitrophenol reduction by NaBH₄ may proceed via two pathways, one involving dissolved hydrogen. This makes the reaction sensitive to hydrogen transport with important implications for its use as a test reaction.

Pre-catalyst scope and regioselectivity is explored in palladium-catalysed Negishi couplings in deep eutectic solvents. New protocols using cheap and readily available pre-catalysts are presented, in addition to unusual solvent-induced selectivity.

A facile synthesis of metal-free N-doped carbon from acetone aldol reaction products and NH₄Cl for CO₂RR. The optimized catalyst achieves a high Faradaic efficiency of 87.9% for selective CO₂-to-CO conversion at −0.6 V vs. RHE.

High BTEX yield achieved from PAHs using MoO_x/beta catalysts under high H₂ pressure; 52.8 C-mol% BTEX obtained from 2-ring PAHs, because MoO_x can activate H₂ and synergize with Brønsted acid sites. This catalyst offers efficient PAH valorization.

A biobased, halide-free heterogeneous catalyst prepared by grafting L-arginine onto sodium alginate enables the efficient conversion of glycidol and CO₂ into glycerol carbonate.

A heterogeneous photocatalyst with thioxanthone moieties bound to polystyrene is used for alcohol oxidation via singlet oxygen under LED irradiation.

Air-stable ruthenium(II) η⁶-arene isocyanide complexes are versatile catalytic precursors for terminal alkyne dimerization/trimerization in aqueous medium.

This study demonstrates that doping Co into ZnIn₂S₄ significantly enhances its photocatalytic activity for converting 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF), achieving an 88% yield and 90% selectivity.

We investigate the metal oxide support-induced sulfur tolerance of Ni-based methane steam reforming (MSR) catalysts using a combination of ab initio multiscale modelling and experimental MSR testing/catalyst characterisation.

Nanocrystal-amorphous synergistic Ni–Fe–B enables flexible Zn-air batteries.

Hydrogen production at low voltages using biomass feedstock and a catalytic redox mediator is probed by time-resolved XAS, off-gas mass spectrometry and electrochemical analysis.

A flexible, robust, and atom-efficient [Ni(NHC)]-based method for the selective hydrogenation of CC bonds under relatively mild reaction conditions is presented. The catalytic protocol is free from any auxiliary reagents.

Hydrothermal catalyst preparation conditions were optimized for high activity in bio-oil model compound HDO; high sulfur loading and high synthesis temperature were required to obtain catalyst with active sulfide phase and high surface area.

Commercial solid-supported acids enable catalytic Ritter reactions in continuous flow, achieving rapid and scalable amide synthesis.

DFT simulations reveal multiple H₂ activation routes and anisotropic hydrogen diffusion on the ZnO (100) surface during hydrogenation reactions.

This work uncovers alcohol dehydrogenases that enable green, efficient, and selective single-enzyme oxidation of alcohols to carboxylic acids using acetone.