Themed collection Chemical Communications HOT articles

We describe the recent progress in oxidative biomass electrorefining via inner-sphere and outer-sphere anodic reactions.

This article describes recent advances on cobalt-catalyzed regioselective alkyne hydrosilylations enabled by delicate ligand design.

This highlight describes an emerging trend in the C–H activation field: the use of the cyclometallated catalysts for the challenging and unprecedented direct transformations.

Herein, the recent progress of an annulative alkyne-insertion π-extension (AAIPEX) strategy to construct opto-electronically significant cationic polycyclic heteroaromatic compounds (cPHACs) is showcased.

This Feature Article will discuss the fabrication of light-harvesting systems based on water-soluble macrocycles, such as cyclodextrins (CD), pillararenes (PA), calixarenes (CA), cucurbiturils (CB), and other macrocycles.

This feature article discusses the synthetic methods, functionalisation approaches and application potential of pillararene-based molecular-scale porous materials.

This article highlights the unique features of enzymatic noncovalent synthesis (ENS) for generating multimolecular crowding in cells and the relevant applications for biomedicines.

Achievements in Pt nanoalloy catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are summarized from three aspects, namely, strain engineering, stability, and atom utilization efficiency.

Recent progress in the understanding of the electrostatics at the biological phosphate–water interface establishes the interaction strength with water molecules and counterions, the relevant fluctuation timescales and the spatial reach of interactions.

State-of-the-art materials design, structural engineering and computational modeling, and new opportunities to develop sustainable and energy-efficient thermal management materials for future smart buildings.

Nitroaromatic compounds have unique excited state dynamics due to the presence of oxygen-centered non-bonding orbitals.

The recent progress in the synthesis and catalytic application of atomically dispersed metal catalysts on nanodiamond and its derivatives is systematically summarized.

Macrocyclic compounds, including crown ether, cyclodextrin, cucurbituril and pillararene, bound to various specific guest molecules through various non-covalent interactions, can make the system multifunctional and endow system with intelligence.

This feature article describes the development of hydrogen bonded frameworks assembled using amidinium∙∙∙carboxylate hydrogen bonds, and discusses their structures, stabilities and applications.

Over the last decade, high-valent cobalt catalysis has earned a place in the spotlight as a valuable tool for C–H activation and functionalization.

Developing (chemo)enzymatic cascades is very attractive for green synthesis, because they streamline multistep synthetic processes.

This review highlights the recent progress in catalytic asymmetric aza-Cope rearrangement, and covers important features of these studies including catalytic system design, mechanism insight, stereochemistry analysis and synthetic applications.

Endohedral metallofullerenes are fascinating materials. Recent progress on molecular structures and magnetic properties of metallofullerenes is summarized in this feature article.

Acrolein holds excellent potential as a biomarker in various oxidative stress-related diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and inflammatory disorders.

A detailed analysis of the mechanism and model studies of NO reduction by flavodiiron nitric oxide reductases (FNORs) is presented.

Drawing on independent work carried out by academic and industrial researchers using the immobilized TEMPO catalyst SiliaCat TEMPO, in this study, we show how shifting the carboxylation process mediated by TEMPO in solution to a process mediated by the above-mentioned hybrid sol–gel catalyst allows the synthesis of insoluble polysaccharide nanofibers of superior quality, eliminating waste.

Short peptide-based cross β amyloid assemblies can mimic advanced enzyme functions and possibly were the earliest protein folds.

Electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (ENRR) is regarded as a green process for ammonia production. This work provides a comprehensive review on recent advance in the ENRR process. Opportunities and future directions of it are also discussed.

This feature article describes the recent achievements in utilizing diacyl peroxides as arylating and alkylating reagents in organic synthesis via the formation of aryl and alkyl radicals.

This Feature Article describes how cyclic, intramolecularly cross-linked, dendritic, star, bottlebrush, and dendronized polymer architectures can influence the mechanochemical reactivity of polymers.

Intrinsic strategies to inhibit phonon propagation through a crystalline inorganic solid and to achieve low lattice thermal conductivity.

This feature article overviews the development of the conversion of nitrogen molecule into ammonia using molybdenum complexes with a special focus on the reaction mechanism.

Gold-catalyzed synthesis of oligosaccharides is reported by solid-phase methods. The utility of this is demonstrated by the synthesis of branched and linear pentaarabinofuranosides.

The enhanced supramolecular self-assembly behaviors of photo-caged platinum(II) complexes have been triggered by applying light as the external stimulus.

The first catalyzed synthesis of Zn(I)–Zn(I) bonded compounds was realized through nickel-catalyzed dehydrocoupling of zinc(II) hydrides.

A series of thionated perylenediimides with controllable fluorescent, photodynamic and photothermal effects have been synthesized by a one-pot method for multiple cancer phototheranostics.

Selective reduction of aldehydes and ketones to alcohols using KB₃H₈ was achieved in water and THF.

We studied the influence of calixarene structure on transport efficiency of peptides, and provide meaningful information for transport systems.

A copper-catalyzed multicomponent selenosulfonylation of alkynes with sulfur dioxide for the synthesis of β-cyanoalkylsulfonylated vinyl selenides is achieved.

Self-sorting regimes are controlled by adjusting steric interactions in self-assembled coordination cages and equilibration followed by HPLC. Statistical or biased distributions can be obtained, including isolation of a single heteroleptic species.

Macrocyclic iodine(I) complexes with 5–10 Å cavity act as host molecules and encapsulate hexafluorophosphate anions in the gas phase confirmed by ion-mobility spectrometry and DFT calculations.

Bismuth oxyiodide was used as a signal probe to construct a sensitization structure with methylene blue, combined with protein conversion strategy, and a photoelectrochemical biosensor was constructed for detection of prostate-specific antigen.

A straightforward and gram-scale synthesis method was developed to engineer virucidal heparin-mimicking polymers as HSV-1 inhibitors.

A transition-metal-free method for the oxidative C–C homocoupling and tandem oxidation/cross-coupling is reported.

High-quality CoP nanorings (CoP NRs) show high activity towards the nitrate electrocatalytic reduction reaction due to substantial coordinately unsaturated active sites, a high surface area, and available mass transfer pathways.

An unusual rearrangement of saccharin-derived cyclic ketimines (SDCIs) and 3-chlorooxindoles has been developed to provide a series of spiro-1,3-benzothiazine oxindoles.

Rim-differentiated Co-pillar[4+1]arenes with clickable moieties and extra synthetic handles are versatile platforms for self-assembled molecular architectures and biological applications.

A novel carboxylic ester directed umpolung ring opening of functionalized methylenecyclopropanes (MCPs) leading to the rapid construction of isoquinolinone framework.

Selective Negishi cross-coupling of fluorinated aryls with Ni(II) or Pd(II) catalysts made easy using a coupling-promoter ligand.

A pentacoordinate methylidene carbon atom was trapped in a neutral trimetallic aluminum core using a naphthalene bis amidinate ligand. The resulting complex exhibits the shortest equatorial Al–C bond distance reported for Al₃-(μ³-CH₂) moieties.

In this work, high-contrast PET imaging of subcutaneous SNAP-tag expressing tumor xenografts is achieved by bioorthogonal covalent targeting with a novel ¹⁸F-based radioligand in vivo.

A catalytic asymmetric iminium ion cyclization reaction of simple 2-alkenylbenzaldimines using a BINOL-derived chiral N-triflyl phosphoramide was described. The corresponding 1-aminoindenes and tetracyclic 1-aminoindanes are formed in good yields and high enantioselectivities.

A fluorescent, strongly Lewis-acidic borenium cation (Gutmann–Beckett acceptor number >100) was created using a tridentate formazanate ligand. This cation shows a potential utility as a colourimetric reactivity probe.

The OC–COH coupling is kinetically facilitated compared to OC–CHO coupling, which is induced by the optimized composition and electronic structures of copper alloys.

The reaction of a stable silylene with Ph₂CCO and OCCCO respectively afforded the first silaallene oxide and a silylketene, whose hydrolysis furnished a stable methyleneketene.

Magnetostructural correlations: The magnetic relaxation dynamics of three distorted tetrahedral dysprosium aryloxide complexes are shown to vary according to their local coordination environments.

We report reductive dimerization of mixed metal Pd₂Pt or PdPt₂ sandwich complexes. The dimerization occurs through selective Pt–Pt bond formation, and the PdPt₂ dimer has a unique axially chiral structure derived from the heterometal arrangement.

Switchable site selectivity during Pd-catalysed C–H alkenylation of heteroarenes has been linked to a change from selectivity-determining C–H cleavage to C–C formation, respectively, upon substitution of ionic thioether for pyridine dative ligands.

A facile photo-irradiation method is developed to tune active sites over β-Ni(OH)₂ nanosheets for enhanced electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction.

Photoinduced phosphonation of aryl triflates with trialkyl phosphites via a tandem single-electron-transfer, C–O bond cleavage and Arbuzov rearrangement process in the absence of transition-metal and external photosensitizer is reported.

A new strategy for fabricating a plant leaf cuticle-like material has been reported, which repeatedly secretes wax and assembles into crystal platelets upon physical damage, and brings superhydrophobicity back.

Catalytic asymmetric [4+1] spiroannulation of O-pivaloyl oximes with α-diazo homophthalimides has been realized for enantioselective synthesis of spirocyclic imines.

Tertiary cyclopropyl carbagermatranes acting as robust nucleophiles for the synthesis of cyclopropane with quaternary centers.

We report the selective oxidative addition of benzylic C–H bonds in industrially important methylarenes using rare η⁴-arene iridium complexes.

A cocktail [1 + 2] dual-fluorescent probe system could realize the real-time visualization of dynamic iron state changes between Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺.

We investigate the effect of hydrophobic spacer on gel properties in a multicomponent system.

The site-selective N¹-alkylation of benzotriazoles with diazoalkanes is achieved using 10 mol% of B(C₆F₅)₃ as a catalyst.

A galactose-targeting supramolecular photosensitizer system DOX@GP5⊃NBSPD was constructed based on a host–guest inclusion complex, which could achieve the enhanced hypoxic-tumor therapeutic effectiveness by chemo-photodynamic combination.

Modifications of mAβ and hAβ by glycation can differentiate their aggregation and cytotoxicity profiles.

Herein we present a range of new ring expansion reactions of an alumole with heteroatom-containing unsaturated species, providing a range of novel six-, seven- and eight-membered cyclic products with high heteroatom content.

Synergistic covalent-and-supramolecular polymers connected by [2]pseudorotaxane moieties are designed and synthesized, whose unique topological structures lead to materials with mechanically adaptive properties.

The X-ray structure of the {Cu(NH₃)₄[Au(CN)₂]}⁺[Au(CN)₂]⁻ salt is reported showing an unprecedented [d⁹]Cu⋯[d¹⁰]Au coinage bond.

The room-temperature activation of SF₆, a potent greenhouse gas, is reported using a monovalent aluminium(I) reagent to form well-defined aluminium(III) fluoride and aluminium(III) sulfide products.

Triarylborane catalysed cyclopropenation of a arylacetylenes using donor–acceptor diazoesters.

A trimeric ferrocene–pyrene cyclophane interconverts between enantiomeric conformers, a consequence of both ferrocene rotation and the frontier orbitals of pyrene.