Themed collection 2017 Frontier and Perspective articles

The detection of nitro explosives by transition metal complexes/metallosupramolecules with their designs and sensing mechanisms are comprehensively reviewed.

We highlight the recent advances of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) in the field of emerging applications, such as dye sensitized UCNPs, photogene regulation, anti-counterfeiting, and super-resolution imaging. Finally, we discuss the challenges and opportunities in the development of these new applications.

Complexes containing the humble 1,2,3-triazole ring moiety have enabled access to highly tunable with efficient phosphorescence but have also in facilitated access to novel photoreactive excited states yielding highly unusual photochemical reactivity.

This Perspective summarizes recent advances in the biological applications of luminescent rhenium(I) tricarbonyl polypyridine complexes.

Recent advances in crystalline molecular flasks and the crystalline sponge method are reviewed and discussed.

This Perspective highlights recent chemical approaches to perovskite solar cells, including the control of electron-transporting mesoporous TiO₂ and the utilization of nanocarbon materials.

Diphosphorus ligands connected by a single atom (R₂PEPR₂; E = CR₂, CCR₂ and NR) give chelating ligands with very small bite-angles as well as enable access to other properties such as bridging modes and hemilability. This Perspective reviews the properties of diphosphorus ligands featuring a single-atom linker and their applications in catalysis, including transformations of alkenes and transfer hydrogenation and hydrogen-borrowing reactions.

Herein we provide an overview of peptide-based fibrin-targeted probes developed for molecular imaging of thrombosis by different modalities with particular emphasis for nuclear imaging techniques.

Three ways to radioactively label fluoroquinolones are available, thereby creating multiple options for developing a diagnostic for deep-seated bacterial infection.

Radionuclide therapy is a promising type of targeted therapy for cancer and its use is becoming more common in several types of malignant tumors.

Aggregation of misfolded proteins and progressive polymerization of otherwise soluble proteins is a common hallmark of several highly debilitating and increasingly prevalent diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, type II diabetes and Parkinson's, Huntington's and Alzheimer's diseases.

^99mTc-labeled antibiotics, antifungal drugs, antimicrobial peptides and COX-2 inhibitors are comprehensively reviewed.

This review focuses on the comprehensive developments in the field of porphyrin–pincer hybrid organometallic chemistry.

Silylenes 1–4 have great synthetic potential for the synthesis of higher coordinate silicon(II) and silicon(IV) complexes with unprecedented structural motifs.

Incorporation of planarized heteroatom(s) onto the porphyrin periphery is an effective approach to create porphyrin-based functional materials. This review aims to cover a variety of synthetic methodologies that have been developed for the construction of heteroatom-embedded porphyrins as well as their structure–property relationships and possible applications in various research fields.

While metal ions such as copper and zinc are essential in biology, they are also linked to several amyloid-related diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD).

The present review describes the contributions and perspectives in the field of the selective hydrogenation of alkynes involving the utilization of colloidal methodologies.

The development of cation-responsive “pincer-crown ether” complexes featuring tunable hemilability is reviewed in the context of switchable and tunable catalysis.

Gold(I) complexes are an expanding area of investigation due to the possibility of giving rise to supramolecular aggregates with particular morphologies that can be modulated together with their luminescent properties.

Copper complexes could define a promising new class of therapeutics, provided that there is a suitable way in which to formulate them for pharmaceutical use.

This perspective summarizes recent advances in the use of (oxy)nitrides and oxysulfides as light harvesting semiconductors for photocatalytic or photoelectrochemical water splitting.

The synthetic methodologies, physico-chemical peculiarities, properties, and structure of metal chelate dendrimers and star and hyperbranched polymers are considered.

This Perspective highlights the use of chalcogen bonding as a versatile synthon for the synthesis, catalysis and construction of both organic and inorganic materials.

This perspective highlights recent applications of Cp*Co^III catalysts in C–H functionalisation protocols, exemplifying both terminal couplings and heterocycle formation.

This work explores the most recent chemistry of berkelium and californium and how it fits into trends from the periodic table.

The intrinsic ¹ΔM(^37/35Cl) and ¹ΔM(^18/16O) isotope shifts (M = ¹⁹⁵Pt or ¹⁰³Rh) visible in the NMR peak profile, of the [PtCl_n(H₂O)_6−n]⁴⁻ⁿ, [PtCl_6−n(OH)_n]²⁻ (n = 1−6), and [RhCl_n(H₂O)_6−n]³⁻ⁿ (n = 3−6) complexes in aqueous solution at 293 K, unambiguously characterize their structures.

In this review, we summarize the synthesis, photophysical properties and applications of a wide variety of multinuclear complexes consisting of Re(I)-diimine-carbonyl units.

This perspective highlights some studies and insights in the synthesis of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) in a brief and comprehensive manner and summarizes future challenges and developments.

The MLEP is a new, generally applicable measure of the metal–ligand bond strength based on vibrational spectroscopy, replacing the TEP.

This review presents and discusses the use of multidentate silanide ligands in transition metal chemistry depending on their ligand architecture.

Disilametallacyclic species of late transition metals behave as key intermediates for efficient catalytic reactions proceeding through new mechanisms.

Solid-state reactivity and structural transformation in discrete metal complexes, organometallic compounds, metallo-macrocycles and cages driven by photochemical methods are discussed.

This perspective provides a comprehensive description of the different roles of POMs in their interaction with relevant biological molecules.

A review on the chemistry of magnesium porphyrins, which have significant interest owing to the relevance to chlorophyll molecules, is presented with emphasis on bicarbonate adducts of magnesium porphyrin and chlorophyll.

Fabrication strategies for hollow MOF superstructures are classified based on the existence of external templates and the types and properties of templates, and their advantages and disadvantages are reviewed.

Laterally non-symmetric oxa–aza cryptands are versatile supramolecular synthons.

Crystal and electronic structures of seventeen heterometallic one-dimensional chain complexes are reviewed and discussed.

The synthesis, stability and catalytic reactivity of borocations are described in the context of their reaction in frustrated Lewis pair-type processes.

Although β-diketiminate complexes have been widely explored in stoichiometric studies, their use as catalysts is largely underdeveloped.

This review summarizes thioborates and their structural motifs ranging from zero-dimension to three-dimension. The most commonly observed building units of these examples are planar-triangle BS₃ and tetrahedron BS₄. Thioborates possess advantages with respect to their structural diversity, optical nonlinearity, laser-induced damage threshold and transparency range, and represent potentially a rich supply of new nonlinear optical materials.

The perspective article highlights a new strategic synthesis of dinuclear ruthenium(II) complexes acting as active water oxidation catalysts and also reports the development of unique visible-light-responsive giant vesicles, both of which are achieved based on photoisomerization.

Self-assembled metallosupramolecular architectures generated using “click” ligands have become an increasingly popular area of inorganic chemistry.

This perspective highlights the recent developments in the study of the photoluminescent properties of aryl–group eleven complexes. Related properties and applications such as electroluminescence, triboluminescence, mechanochromism, luminescent liquid crystals, low molecular weight gelators and photocatalysts are also discussed.

Studies on the extraction of actinide ions from radioactive wastes have great relevance in nuclear fuel cycle activities, mainly in the back end processes focused on reprocessing and waste management.

The cyclocondensation reaction of primary amines with pnictogen and chalcogen halides is a major preparative route for the generation of inorganic heterocycles involving a Group 15 or 16 element linked to nitrogen.

A brief account has been presented on how the inter-heme interactions in μ-hydroxo diiron(III) bisporphyrins and counter anions can induce significant change in the structure and properties including the iron spin state without affecting the overall topology.

The donor strengths of various mono- and bidentate ligands can be easily compared on a unified ¹³C NMR spectroscopic scale.

This perspective article highlights the basics and applications of luminescence-based sensing of hazardous chemicals, pH, and temperature using rare-earth-based metal–organic frameworks.

Synthesis of vanadium–alkylidene complexes and some reactions have been reviewed; highly active, thermally robust, cis specific ROMP of cyclic olefins has been attained by ligand modification in (imido)vanadium(V)–alkylidene catalysts.

This Frontier article will highlight recent advances in engineering the composition and structure of TMPs for higher water electrolysis performances.

¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, ²³⁸U, ⁷⁹Se, and ⁹⁹Tc sequestrations from aqueous solution by metal–organic framework materials are summarized in this Frontier article.

Potential new catalysts for C–C and C–Het cross-coupling bond-forming reactions.

A series of noncentrosymmetric (NCS) solid solutions and their structure–nonlinear optical property relationship are introduced for designing novel NCS materials more systematically.

Cr(0), Mo(0), and Ni(0) complexes with diisocyanide ligands have recently been discovered as isoelectronic analogues of well-known Fe(II), Ru(II), and Cu(I) complexes.

The construction of complex molecular machines and devices requires control of sub-component self-assembly. Varying the size or angle, and introducing secondary interactions into the backbone allows selective self-sorting between similar sub-components in metal–ligand cage complexes.

In this study, we found that ^99mTc-3Cboroxime has the myocardial retention longer than that of ^99mTc-Teboroxime, and its heart washout kinetics follows a regressive linear relationship over the 60 min period.

A survey is given of recent original structural results on heterometallic species incorporating uranyl ions, particularly with carboxylate ligands.

π-Acid ancillary ligands, reactants, or products can stabilize reactive low valent Ti intermediates through backbonding, and present opportunities for the development of vast new classes of Ti-catalyzed redox reactions with practical applications.

Alkynyl-protected coinage metal nanoclusters show new structural features and have interesting luminescence properties and catalytic behavior.

A brief overview of organically modified cyclosiloxanes with a special focus on their synthesis and photophysical properties is presented.

The latest advances involving the use of copper(I)–NHC complexes as NHC transfer agents are described.