Enzymes use adaptive catalytic pocket to accelerate catalysis. Recently published in Nature Catalysis, Zhong and coworkers have translated this functionality into a MOF with a Cu-Ni active site in which the Cu-Ni distance changes to stabilize intermediates along the CO2 to CH4 pathway and give rise to exceptional catalytic selectivity.

High-throughput experimentation (HTE) can be a powerful tool in chemical research, and the large datasets it generates could play a role in applying machine-learning methods to chemical predictions. But high-throughput experimentation can sometimes be viewed as inaccessible to the academic chemist. This Voices, in conjunction with our recent panel (https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/16651/499811),

Ei-ichi Negishi will remain known for pioneering and promoting the development of transition-metal catalyzed reactions in organic synthesis as well as fostering excellence and critical thinking among his collaborators. During his lifetime, with his wife Sumire by his side, he conquered many continents: in the chemical world, his name is associated with cross-coupling, cascade reactions, carbopalladation

Direct oxidation of methane to methanol is a highly attractive route for upgrading methane into valued-added product. In June’s issue of Chem, Landong Li and colleagues reported a state-of-art Cu/CHA catalyst, which exhibited outstanding methanol space-time yield of 543 mmol/molCu/h with selectivity up to 91%.

The design of molecular-level communication tools engages the field of nanobiotechnology. In this issue of Chem, Clayden and co-workers report a novel mechanism of spatial molecular communication through a single strand of hydrogen-bonded oligomers. These “minimalistic” polarity switches distinguish themselves from conventional strategies by not employing chiral inversion.

The capture and characterization of highly reactive and short-lived intermediates in organic catalytic reactions are challenging yet are very important for mechanism elucidation. Recently in Matter, Guo and co-workers employed single-molecule electrical spectroscopy (SMES) to detect the key intermediate and analyze the mechanism of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalyzed benzoin reactions.

Achieving stable high-efficiency single-component devices is a challenging problem in the field of organic photovoltaics. Recently in Joule, Min and co-workers reported a single-component organic solar cell using a conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymer (PBDB-T-b-PYT); a remarkable efficiency of 11.32% was realized with impressive photostability and storage stability.

Creep deformation presents as an inevitable drawback for lots of covalent adaptable networks (CANs). Recently in Cell Reports Physical Science, Chen and co-workers employed well-defined tri-block copolymers to construct CANs where the self-assembled microphase separation enables excellent creep resistance by restricting dynamic bond exchanges within isolated domains.

The O–O bond-formation mechanism in water oxidation is still ambiguous even now. In this issue of Chem, Wang and co-workers prove that this mechanism on a Co-based electrocatalyst can switch from a radical coupling pathway to a water nucleophilic attack pathway when the applied potential is lifted.

To reduce the dependence of olefin production on the limited petroleum, considerable efforts have been made in synthesizing olefins from alternative energy resources. Here, we evaluate the techno-economic feasibility of coal-to-olefin technology based on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.

Understanding isomerization in nanoparticles at the atomic level is critical to expanding the diversity of nanomaterials. In this issue of Chem, Xie, Häkkinen, and co-workers describe a new approach to realizing the reversible isomeric transformation of an atomically precise gold nanocluster by engineering intermolecular interactions between cationic surfactants and anionic ligands on the cluster surface

In this issue of Chem, Wang and co-workers report an innovative strategy for activating inert N2 molecules through hydrogen bonding for efficient photocatalytic nitrogen fixation. This preview carefully discusses the mechanism, presents the challenges associated with photocatalytic nitrogen fixation, and proposes methods for enhancing its performance in the future.

Download : Download high-res image (240KB) Download : Download full-size imageNathan Dow is currently a third-year graduate student in the lab of Prof. David MacMillan at Princeton University. He was born in New Hampshire and completed his undergraduate studies in chemistry at Swarthmore College in 2018 after working with Prof. Robert Paley to investigate the diastereoselective nature of intramolecular

In the June issue of Chem, Chilton, Liddle, and colleagues reported the synthesis and characterization of uranium(IV)-oxo and -imido complexes that exhibit anomalously high low-temperature magnetic moments as a result of nearly doubly degenerate spin-orbit ground states. Traditional crystal-field arguments prove paramount in the elucidation of the electronic configuration of the uranium(IV) molecules

Conventional N-alkylation methods have been limited to approaches with high energy barriers and low selectivity. In this issue of Chem, MacMillan and co-workers report an innovative halogen abstraction-radical capture (HARC) strategy via metallaphotoredox catalysis that couples strained and hindered alkyl halides with a diverse range of N-nucleophiles.

Methane (CH4) functionalization is an important field that is traditionally dominated by transition-metal catalysis. In this issue of Chem, Wang and colleagues report the exceptional reactivity of an N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-stabilized hydroborenium cation that allows for the selective C−H activation of CH4, affording value-added borylated products in a transition-metal-free fashion.

Perovskite photovoltaics offer advantages for low-cost, efficient-energy production. However, interfacial losses currently limit device performance and stability. In this issue of Chem, Sutanto et al. visualize the energetic landscape of novel 2D/3D perovskite heterojunctions and thereby demonstrate the potential of optimized 2D perovskite layers as transport layers for high-performance, stable perovskite

In this issue of Chem, Zhou and co-workers report a new strategy for synthesizing optically active N–C axially chiral compounds. In the presence of a chiral norbornene-ester-Pd catalyst, the Catellani reaction of iodobenzene derivatives with N-(2-substituted-phenyl)-2-bromobenzamides proceeds in a highly enantioselective manner to give N–C axially chiral N-aryl-phenanthridinone derivatives.

Diphosphorus is a reactive molecule that can be studied only in the gas phase or in inert gas matrices. In this issue of Chem, Holthausen, Schneider, and co-workers describe the isolation of the first bona fide metal complex of a neutral diphosphorus molecule, a heavy analog of well-established metal dinitrogen compounds.

Terminal iron imido complexes with highly electron-withdrawing N-substituents have remained elusive despite their proposed implication in N-group-transfer chemistry. In a recent issue of Cell Reports Physical Science, Deng and co-workers report the isolation and characterization of an N-trifluoromethyl-substituted Fe(IV) bis-imido species that displays a triplet ground state and undergoes intramolecular

C–H borylation of N-heteroarenes is an efficient yet highly challenging route to borylated aromatics. In a recent issue of Nature, Leonori and co-workers demonstrated a novel strategy toward this end by utilizing a boryl-radical-based Minisci-type reaction that shows orthogonal site selectivity to transition-metal-catalyzed approaches.

Mass demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) consumes enormous resources, thus having a great impact on the battery supply chain. It is essential to create a sustainable manufacturing cycle for LIBs. Recently in Nature, Wooley and collaborators reported an all-polypeptide organic radical battery, demonstrating the potential of sustainable, recyclable metal-free batteries.