Now, Mohammad Asadi and colleagues present Mo3P nanoparticles functionalized with 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium and coated with an anion-exchange ionomer as a catalyst for CO2RR to propane. In 1 M KOH, the researchers report at –0.8 V versus the reversible hydrogen electode (VRHE) a current density of — 395 mA cm–2 and a FE for propane of 91%, which is remarkable as propane is not commonly accessible

Now, Wang et al. present an intensified approach that combines PDH with chemical looping–selective hydrogen combustion under anaerobic conditions in a tandem manner. Their approach involves the use of a multifunctional material, ferric vanadate vanadium oxide (FeVO4–VOx). In this composite, VOx provides dehydrogenation sites, while the adjacent nanoscale FeVO4 acts as an oxygen carrier for the subsequent

Now, Steven G. Boxer and co-workers systematically enhanced the electric fields in the active site of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (LADH) to accelerate the rates of hydride transfer in the reverse reaction transforming aldehydes into alcohols. Hereby, LADH forms a ternary complex with a NADH cofactor and the substrate, whereby the enzyme’s active site Zn+2 and the serine residue at position 48

Now, Paul et al. demonstrate a different method to obtain these structures, by mixing secondary or primary alcohols with vinyl sulfonium ions in the presence of quinuclidine, a photocatalyst (either iridium complex {Ir[dF(CF3)ppy]2(dtbpy)}PF6, where dF(CF3)ppy and dtbpy are ligands 2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-5-(trifluoromethyl)pyridine and 4,4′-di-tert-butyl-2,2′-dipyridyl, respectively, or 1,2,3,5-te

Now, Wang et al. achieve efficient catalytic oxidation of methane to methanol using molecular oxygen in an aqueous medium and in the presence of carbon monoxide (CO). They investigate various monometallic noble metal catalysts, including Au, Rh, Pd and Ir, supported on mordenite (H-MOR, a type of zeolite), and discover that the H-MOR-supported monometallic Au catalyst exhibits the highest activity

Now, Xinhe Bao, Qiang Fu and colleagues synthesize a series of Co3O4:ZnO catalysts by two different methods and obtain different outcomes for CO2 hydrogenation. When Co3O4 is deposited onto ZnO via impregnation (Co3O4/ZnO), the catalyst is selective to CO formation, whereas when Co3O4 and ZnO are physically mixed by mechanical grinding (Co3O4–ZnO), the resulting material is selective to CH4.

Paola Laurino and Moni Hamolsky talk to Nature Catalysis about the Rosalind Franklin Forum for Female Scientists, Open to All (Roz), recalling the forum’s origins and aspirations.

Now, Magda Barecka and colleagues report a process design to concentrate dilute ethanol streams from CO2RR that allows concentrations reaching up to 40 wt% ethanol in water by vacuum membrane distillation (VMD). The researchers first study the vapour–liquid equilibrium of ethanol in common CO2RR electrolytes and identify a greater amount of ethanol evaporation due to the salting-out effect in highly

Focusing on the transamination reaction between ketoacids and amino acids — that nowadays is catalysed by transaminase enzymes with PLP as the cofactor — the researchers initially surveyed metals due to their known activity, biological relevance and environmental abundance, in the presence or absence of the coenzymes PL and PLP (pictured). They used high-purity reagents and identified the role of the

Now, Wang et al. have developed a strategy for covalently immobilizing optically active proline on well-defined metal nanoclusters, integrating organocatalysis and metal catalysis for an efficient and stereocontrolled aldol reaction. The researchers attached either l- or d-proline to Au–Ag nanoclusters by first reacting AgBF4 and the amino acid in the presence of dppfAu2(BF4)2, with dppf being a phosphorous-based

Now, Jeremy M. Baskin and co-workers from Cornell University report the directed evolution of an enzyme to enable the efficient conversion of phosphatidylcholine (PC) — the most abundant cellular membrane lipid — to a range of natural and unnatural lipids with diverse structures and functionalities. The work is based on a microbial phospholipase D (PLD) that can catalyse the exchange of phospholipid

In this Editorial, we provide an overview of the present issue, while introducing some news related to our team.