Themed collection Celebrating 15 years of exceptional research in Chemical Science

Small-molecule based fluorescent probes are increasingly important for the detection and imaging of biological signaling molecules due to their simplicity, high selectivity and sensitivity, whilst being non-invasive, and suitable for real-time analysis of living systems.

The vital roles of metals in nutrients and medicines are not accessible to purely organic compounds.

This review summarizes the design and synthesis of bimetallic MOFs and their derivatives, with superior performance to their monometallic counterparts in many applications.

This perspective discusses the main issues with Zn anodes and highlights recent strategies to improve their performance in aqueous zinc ion batteries.

This perspective provides a new look into how electrolyte structure at the interface controls the kinetics of water reduction.

Mechanochemistry is becoming more widespread as a technique for molecular synthesis with new mechanochemical reactions being discovered at increasing frequency. This perspective explores what more it can offer, aside from the clear benefit of reduced solvent consumption.

We highlight recent developments in the synthesis, optical and electronic properties of 3-coordinate boron compounds and their applications in materials.

Single-molecule magnets (SMMs) that contain one spin centre (so-called single-ion magnets) theoretically represent the smallest possible unit for spin-based electronic devices. These molecules hold the promise to revolutionize computing and change the methodology by which we store, employ and process information.

This review describes the importance and usefulness of pot-economy and one-pot reactions in current synthetic organic chemistry.

The use of sulfonyl fluoride probes in chemical biology is reviewed.

In this perspective article, we present the recent achievements in the application of ruthenium complexes as photosensitizers and as photoactivatable prodrugs.

A résumé with outlooks of the chemical/pharmacological investigations and ongoing clinical development of a prototypic ruthenium-based anticancer compound.

The potential of metal–organic frameworks for use in adsorbed natural gas vehicles is discussed.

Significant progress has been accomplished in direct olefinations through twofold C–H bond functionalization of arenes and heteroarenes employing readily accessible, selective and inexpensive ruthenium(II) catalysts.

A review of experimental and theoretical literature across several fields reinforces the conclusion that the terms “pi-stacking” and “pi–pi interactions” do not accurately describe the forces that drive association between aromatic molecules of the types most commonly studied in chemistry or biology laboratories.

Synergistic catalysis, the simultaneous activation of two reacting partners by discrete catalysts to enable new or elusive chemical transformations, is a valuable synthetic strategy that is growing in popularity. This review seeks to describe the new transformations that highlight the rapid onset of this powerful multi-catalysis concept.

The factors generating large single-ion anisotropy in the f-elements are discussed as a tool to guide the design of stronger single-molecule magnets.

In possessing a lone pair of electrons and accessible vacant orbital, singlet carbenes resemble transition metal centers, as shown by the activation of small molecules, and stabilization of highly reactive species.

Pd-catalyzed amination using dialkylbiaryl phosphine ligands has emerged has a powerful tool in organic synthesis, pharmaceutical research and materials science. This perspective provides simple guidelines for the choice of ligand and other reaction variables for this important class of reactions.

In this minireview, we survey recent advances in the development of vitrimer materials. Focus on how to chemically control their material properties is used to highlight challenges for boosting the potential of this emerging class of polymer materials.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a vibrational spectroscopy technique with sensitivity down to the single molecule level that provides fine molecular fingerprints, allowing for direct identification of target analytes.

Cascade reactions that produce multiple chemical bonds in one synthetic operation are important in the efficient construction of complex molecules.

This review summarizes recent advances in the design and synthesis of stable MOFs and highlights the relationships between the stability and functional applications.

Vitrimers possess the unique property that they are malleable while being permanently cross-linked. This mini-review highlights the existing vitrimer systems in the period 2011–2015 with the main focus on their chemical origin.

The enthralling properties of lanthanide luminescence have propelled luminescent probes, tags and materials based on these elements to the forefront of science and technology.

Graphene-based field-effect transistors are ideal sensing platforms for electronic detection of chemicals, biomolecules and living organisms.

A review that highlights water as the logical reaction medium in which organic chemistry can be practiced. The key roles that water can play in directing reaction outcomes, including impacting mechanistic features, are discussed using selected examples.

Involvement of dimethyl carbonate and trifluoromethanesulfonate anions in a hybrid aqueous electrolyte enables the formation of a new Zn²⁺-solvation structure and a ZnF₂–ZnCO₃-rich interphase that stabilizes the Zn battery chemistry.

There is a dire need for new compounds to combat antibiotic resistance: metal complexes might provide the solution. 906 metal complexes were evaluated against dangerous ESKAPE pathogens and found to have a higher hit-rate than organic molecules.

A metal-decorated alkene-linked covalent organic framework is a robust, selective photocatalyst for CO₂ reduction.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging Mn₃O₄ nanozymes effectively protected live mice from ROS-induced ear-inflammation in vivo.

A large scale benchmark for molecular machine learning consisting of multiple public datasets, metrics, featurizations and learning algorithms.

We demonstrate how a deep neural network (NN) trained on a data set of quantum mechanical (QM) DFT calculated energies can learn an accurate and transferable atomistic potential for organic molecules containing H, C, N, and O atoms.

We present stable solid-state perovskite based luminophores with different emission colors via surface protection of CsPbX₃ (X = Br or I) with a polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane.

A supramolecular-gel-based twenty-two-member sensor array has been created by introducing well-designed multi-competitive binding interactions into a supramolecular gel.

A mononuclear Dy(III) complex assembled just from five water molecules and two phosphonic diamide ligands combines the advantages of high anisotropy barrier, high blocking temperature and significant coercivity, apart from its remarkable air- and moisture-stability.

We report a global-hybrid approximation, MN15, to the exchange–correlation functional of Kohn–Sham theory with broadly accurate performance for both multi-reference and single-reference systems.

Can new hybrid perovskites be predicted using the tolerance factor?

Direct splitting of pure water into H₂ and O₂ in a stoichiometric molar ratio of 2 : 1 by conjugated polymers via a 4-electron pathway was established for the first time, as demonstrated here using a g-C₃N₄ polymer and redox co-catalysts of Pt and Co species.

The combination of quantum yield and luminescence quenching measurements provides a method to rapidly characterize the occurrence of chain processes in a variety of photoredox reactions.

Covalent organic nanosheets (CONs) were synthesised from imide functionalised COFs. TfpBDH-CONs exhibit a "turn-on" detection capability for 2,4,6-trinitrophenol in the solid state, but show a "turn-off" detection in the dispersion state.

A new Mg(II) based porous metal–organic framework (MOF) has been synthesized from naphthalenediimide (NDI) chromophoric unit containing linker. This MOF (Mg–NDI) shows instant and reversible photochromism as well as solvatochromic behavior. Due to the presence of electron deficient NDI moiety, this MOF exhibits selective organic amine (electron rich) sensing in solid state.

A reversible photo-induced instability has been found in mixed-halide photovoltaic perovskites that limits the open circuit voltage in solar cells.

Atomically-thin molybdenum nitride nanosheets with exposed active surface sites were successfully prepared, which achieved high activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction.

The concept of tolerance factors is applied quantitatively to hybrid inorganic–organic materials that adopt perovskite-like architectures.

A new hydrazone-based covalent organic framework has been developed as a photocatalyst for visible-light induced hydrogen production.

A simple self-assembled Pd₂L₄ metallosupramolecular cage is shown to bind, then release cisplatin in response to stimuli.

A new mechanism for the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to hydrocarbons is proposed, different from the existing Fischer–Tropsch like mechanisms.

Amorphous molybdenum sulfide films are among the most active non-precious hydrogen evolution catalysts.

The carbon dioxide sorption properties for a series of conjugated microporous polymer networks has been investigated. The carboxylic acid functionalised network shows the highest isosteric heat of sorption for CO₂, supporting recent computational predictions for metal-organic frameworks. Acid functionalised frameworks could therefore outperform amine sorbents in CO₂ capture applications.