Molecules with second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties have received a lot of attention in the last twenty years due to their potential use in photonic devices. In order to have a large second-order NLO response, a compound should not be centrosymmetric, it should have low energy charge-transfer transitions and there should be a large difference between the excited state and ground state dipole

Synthetic chiral polymers play an increasing and prominent role in the field of material science due to special properties different from traditional polymer materials. One distinctive way to prepare well-defined chiral polymers is based on asymmetric kinetic resolution polymerization (AKRP), in which stereoregularity introduced to a polymer chain via kinetic resolution of a racemate preferentially

Metal-organic Frameworks (MOFs) represent a growing field of materials that are receiving widespread attention due to their fascinating structures, intriguing properties, and applications across many disciplines. This review seeks to demonstrate the scope of MOF chemistry which uses the full breadth of the periodic table, whether those elements act as the metals that form the connecting nodes of the

The archetypal temperature-driven valence tautomeric process ‘CoIII(Cat)(SQ)’ ⇌ ‘CoII(SQ)2’ (spin state of cobalt changes from S = 0 to S = 3/2), where Cat2− and SQ·− are catecholato and semiquinonato redox-level, respectively, of the redox-active catecholate. Research on valence tautomerism has made notable advancement not only with new cobalt-catecholate systems but also with other metal ions and

Cleavage of C-C bonds by transition metal complexes is a fascinating organometallic transformation that underpins a range of industrial processes and offers exciting opportunities for development new synthetic methods through reconstruction of hydrocarbon framework. Various examples of single C-C bond cleavage have been extensively covered in recent literature, but equally rich chemistry of metal-mediated

Metal-organic frameworks are novel materials with specific pore-size that presents unlimited applications in material sciences. The presence of metallic ions in the MOF structure offers a redox active material with electrocatalytical properties towards diverse biomolecules, organic compounds and heavy metals. This property can be combined with nanomaterials for create cheap carbon based electrodes

Proteins have received increasing attention as a novel platform for drug delivery and phototheranostic agents that may serve as new nanomedicines. In drug delivery system, proteins can act as powerful tools with self-assembled structures, triggering groups, receptors and agents to enhance cell penetration. Compared to other nanoparticle based theranostics, nano-platforms for theranostics by utilizing

Halogenation is widespread in Nature, as witnessed by the several thousands of naturally occurring halogenated compounds. This review seeks to provide an overview on the pathways and multiple roles of halogenation in Nature, as a source of inspiration to chemists. Remarkably, several halogenation pathways were recently found in humans, sparking an increasing interest into halogens as biomolecular recognition

Sample preparation is a crucial bottleneck in the whole analytical scheme, especially for the determination of trace analytes in complex matrices. To achieve high extraction and clean-up performance with a short analysis time, various functionalized materials are developed as solid-phase sorbents. In recent years, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as promising stationary phases for pharmaceutical

Designing an energy-efficient and cost-effective system for hydrogen (H2) generation from water or proton source remains as a challenge. Precious and rare earth metals such as platinum as well as iron-dependent hydrogenase enzymes showed high activities and efficiencies for H2 generation at low overpotential. However, Pt-based catalysts are non-affordable for large-scale applications due to limited

Redox-inactive and -active metal ions that act as Lewis acids are essential cofactors in modulating the redox reactivity of metal–oxygen complexes and metalloenzymes, such as the manganese(V)-oxo intermediate in the oxygen-evolving complex, where Ca2+ in the Mn4CaO5 cluster is indispensable for the catalytic water oxidation in Photosystem II. Zinc ion is also an essential cofactor in Cu-Zn superoxide

Since the discovery and structural characterization of metal organic polygons and polyhedra (MOPs), scientists have explored their potential in various applications like catalysis, separation, storage, and sensing. In recent years, scientists have explored the potential of supramolecular MOPs in biomedical application. Pioneering works by Ehrlich, Rosenberg, Lippard, Stang and others have demonstrated

High-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have attracted intensive attention owing to their use in portable electronic devices, electric automobiles, etc. The theoretical capacity of graphite is 372 mA h g−1, and therefore, graphite cannot satisfy the ever-increasing demand for high-capacity LIBs. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and their derivatives are considered promising anode materials for

The objective of this paper is to summarise the main achievements concerning the tin and organotin supramolecular chemistry in the last 15 years. Since the last review several compounds have been documented in the literature together with new synthetic approaches and potential applications. It is divided in two parts, according to the forces sustaining the repeating units along with the supramolecular

Plasmonic sensors have been steadily gaining popularity in the fields of biochemical analysis, disease diagnosis and environmental monitoring. Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are extensively used in the plasmonic sensing due to their attractive physicochemical properties. In this review, we first present the structures and properties of

Upconversion (UC) is the process by which the energy of multiple photons is absorbed by a compound and restored in the form of a photon of higher energy than the incident light, resulting in an anti-Stokes process. Although studied theoretically since the middle of the last century and experimentally observed in the 1960′s, the process was up to recently mainly restricted to solid state devices and

Some scientists might consider group 2 chemistry as “boring, closed shell and all ionic, aqueous chemistry, where everything is known! It is not worth investigating”. How wrong they are! Far from forming only purely ionic compounds, this review will shed light on some spectacular molecules, showing that alkaline earth metal ions can behave similar to transition metal ions. After general remarks about

With the industrial development, population increasing and climate change, water pollution becomes a critical issue around the world. As a result, the remediation of water pollution urgently calls for new advanced technologies. This review specifically deals with nanocatalysts and other nanomaterials for water remediation of organic pollutants. It systematically summarizes the types and structures

The elucidation of reaction mechanisms taking place in the excited state is a current challenge for experimental and theoretical chemists. Ru(II) complexes have a long history for photophysics, and there is currently an increasing interest in their photochemistry. Ru(II) complexes provide a vast field of exploration, whether for synthetic purposes, to trigger molecular motions or to release biologically

Enzymes are most efficient catalyst for organic transformations including halogenation of C–H bonds. Most of the halogenating enzymes utilize high valent metal-oxo intermediates for hydrogen atom abstraction (HAA) and subsequent haloalkane formation. Due to high demand of organohalide compounds, many attempts have been made to mimic the active sites of halogenating enzymes in order to achieve efficacy

Imido complexes of early transition metals are key intermediates in the synthesis of many nitrogen-containing organic compounds. The metal—nitrogen double bond of the imido moiety undergoes [2+2] cycloaddition reactions with various unsaturated organic molecules to form new nitrogen—carbon and nitrogen—heteroatom bonds. This review article focuses on reactivity of the terminal imido complexes of Group

Gold compounds have emerged as a novel class of metallodrugs with a promising future in medicinal inorganic chemistry. Despite gold compounds have been intensively investigated for the treatment of many diseases, their mechanism of action is not fully understood at the molecular level. However, the recognition process by proteins is accepted as a key feature for the biological activity of these molecules

The most widely studied spin crossover (SCO) systems are those involving hexacoordinate iron(II) complexes immerse in the “magic” N6 coordination sphere. In this review the properties of SCO-active metal complexes containing unusual metal centres and/or coordination spheres are analysed, except for Fe3+ complexes that have been recently reviewed. The SCO-properties of the less studied SCO metal centres

Recently, synthetic efforts to prepare novel modified porphyrinoid skeletons have been an important area of research due to its promising applications in various fields ranging from material chemistry to life science. The formation of [14]triphyrin(2.1.1) as relatively new congeners among the porphyrinoids seems quite astonishing because porphyrin macrocyclic core itself is perturbed to afford a contracted

The electrocatalytic water splitting is considered as a prospect meaning to address the urgent energy and environmental problems. However, the electrocatalytic water splitting is greatly limited by the high overpotentials of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Especially, OER involves a complex multistep proton-coupled electron transfer process, which demands a high

The electrochemical analysis of molecular catalysts for the conversion of bulk feedstocks into energy-rich clean fuels has seen dramatic advances in the last decade. More recently, increased attention has focused on the characterization of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) containing well-defined redox and catalytically active sites, with the overall goal to develop structurally stable materials that

As a typical green methodology, enzymatic catalysis has been extensively employed in multitudinous chemical and biological transformation procedures. However, intrinsic fragile nature of enzymes makes them prone to denaturation or destabilization in harsh practical conditions, leading to unavoidably shortened lifespan and extremely high cost. It was proven that enzyme immobilization is an efficient