Themed collection Celebrating the ChemSocRev Lectureship winners

With high scalability and independent control over energy and power, redox flow batteries (RFBs) stand out as an important large-scale energy storage system.

The emerging inverse electron demand Diels–Alder (IEDDA) reaction stands out from other bioorthogonal reactions by virtue of its unmatchable kinetics, excellent orthogonality and biocompatibility.

This review summarizes the recent advances in the design and controlled synthesis of Te nanostructures, their novel properties and potential applications.

This review summarizes the latest advances and challenges from a chemistry and material perspective on Li-redox flow batteries that combine the synergistic features of Li-ion batteries and redox flow batteries towards large-scale high-density energy storage systems.

This review covers recent advances in the development of BODIPY-based fluorescent probes for biological studies.

Understanding upconversion nanocrystals: this review intends to summarize instrumental matters related to the characterization of upconversion nanocrystals from surface structures to intrinsic properties to ultimate challenges in nanocrystal analysis at single-particle levels.

The development of mild and general methods for C–S bond formation has received significant attention because the C–S bond is indispensable in many important biological and pharmaceutical compounds.

In this critical review, the latest advances on emerging material systems, i.e., graphene-based macroscopic assemblies and architectures including 1D fibers/ribbons, 2D films/papers, 3D network-structured monoliths and their composite counterparts with either polymers or nano-objects are overviewed. The potential applications of these graphene-based macroscopic assemblies and architectures are also discussed.

Transition metal-mediated chemical conversions have rapidly expanded our intracellular protein chemistry toolbox, which would broaden our view on bioorthogonal chemistry.

This review summarizes recent methodologies for the simultaneous formation of C–CF₃ and C–C or C–heteroatom bonds by formal addition reactions to alkenes.

Nanostructuring is a useful strategy to improve the activity of some known hydrotreating catalysts for electrochemical hydrogen evolution.

In this critical review, the latest advances on nanoparticles–electrospun fibres by post-treatment of the as-prepared electrospun fibres or directly adding nanoparticles into electrospun solution have been overviewed. The application potentials of the nanoparticle–electrospun fibre composites and the trends in this emerging field have been described.

This critical review reports recent advances in the development of metal–organic complexes for optoelectronic applications.

Covalent immobilisation of the spiropyran moiety onto macromolecular supports or inorganic scaffolds allows for the creation of robust dynamic materials.

This review discusses the recent advances on liquid-phase synthesis, modifications, and energy-related applications of nanostructured metal chalcogenide materials.

This review highlights the recent advances in the field of luminescent materials as spectral converters for photovoltaic applications.

In this review, we discuss how metal oxides with designed defects can be synthesized and engineered, to enable heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenation of gaseous carbon dioxide to chemicals and fuels.

Recent advances in the computational techniques and procedures for the design of functional materials are reviewed.

Natural products provide privileged scaffolds for transient receptor potential (TRP) channel engagement and a source for chemical probe and/or lead development.

Nanostructured conductive polymers (nCPs) have aroused considerable research interest owing to their unique properties over their bulk counterparts, such as high electrical conductivity, large surface areas, and shortened pathways for charge/mass transport. These advantageous features make them promising candidates for applications in energy storage devices.

This tutorial review introduces strategies for site-specific protein labeling, and highlights its advantages in solving biological questions.

We highlight methods for the construction of functionalised protein-based capsules and their use in delivery strategies.

Enabling controlled delivery of therapeutic carbon monoxide (CO) using CO-releasing molecules (CO-RMs): principles for the generation of clinically useful CO-RMs.

This tutorial review addresses the structural and electronic aspects of cationic lone pairs in the solid-state.

Selected recent examples are described of how metal-catalysed C–H bond functionalisation has been able to positively affect the synthesis of natural products.

Design and synthesis of fluorescent probes enables imaging of functioning molecules in living cells.

Alkynes react with alkenes in the presence of alkynophilic transition metals via cyclopropylcarbene metal complexes.

In this critical review, the concept of hierarchically assembled construction of bio-inspired structural functional materials is overviewed. The hierarchical structures of natural models, bio-inspired rigid structural materials, functional building blocks, and hierarchical assembly techniques have been reviewed.

Combination of nanoparticles and molecular/supramolecular switches provides a route to new materials in which these two components can affect and modify each other’s behaviour.