Themed collection 2023 Pioneering Investigators

This profile article showcases researchers who have contributed an article to the 2023 Pioneering Investigators collection.

This profile article showcases researchers who have contributed an article to the 2023 Pioneering Investigators collection.

This profile article showcases researchers who have contributed an article to the 2023 Pioneering Investigators collection.

A summary of the applications of MFM-300(Sc), as well as some emerging advanced applications, have been discussed.

2D pnictogens and their cutting-edge precision treatment applications.

The recent progress in designing efficient direct seawater electrolysis systems is discussed in detail, including catalyst design, electrolyser assembly, membrane regulation, and electrolyte engineering.

Expanding the importance of chirality and implementation of stereogenic information within complex molecular design has recently reached a new level: design of innovative enantiopure scaffolds bearing multiple chiral elements.

This review article highlights the recent advances of transition-metal-catalyzed interrupted borrowing hydrogen (IBH) catalysis and its applications in the sustainable and affordable chemical synthesis using alcohols as C1 feedstocks.

We provide comprehensive highlights of the state-of-the-art studies on fluorescent labelling of EVs, covering the various labelling strategies, the biomedical application in vitro, and the study on EV biology in vivo based on bioimaging tools.

The hit finding strategy in drug discovery has undergone a tremendous change in the past decade with the advent of DNA-encoded libraries with diverse chemical libraries.

This Highlight examines key strategies that have enabled the structural authentication of important species that shed light on fundamental on-cycle intermediates in transition-metal-catalysed cross-couplings.

Prochiral 2,5-cyclohexadienones, being stable and easily accessible, are privileged key building blocks for the synthesis of complex molecules and bioactive natural products.

Organic thermoelectric generators are devices based on organic (semi)conductors that allow to recycle waste heat by partially converting it to electrical power.

This article highlights the development of bioinspired supramolecular materials, i.e., synthetic extracellular matrices and membrane-deforming materials, mimicking the contact events seen at bio-interfaces for applications in injured brain regeneration and in vivo delivery.

Design strategies for efficient π-conjugated polymer-based photocatalysts, and the progress achieved in light-driven chemical transformations using them.

Iminium or azonium ions formed via classical condensation of amines with carbonyls or nitrosoarenes mediate C–H functionalizations of aliphatic amines under metal and oxidant free conditions.

This article discusses the photochemistry of several diazo compounds undergoing visible light-mediated photolysis to generate free carbenes (or other highly reactive intermediates), which can be sequentially trapped by different reacting partners.

This feature article highlights the latest developments and our strategies in organelle-specific nanomaterial delivery within plants.

Biogenetic space-guided synthesis is a tool to design efficient chemical syntheses of complex terpenoids by evaluating their surrounding biogenetic space.

This feature article outlines the triplet harvesting via Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) from both the fundamental aspects to emerging applications in optoelectronics and bioimaging.

This feature article summarizes the recent research progress in the preparation methods of 3D graphene/MOF composites and their derivatives as well as their applications in the fields of electrochemical energy storage and conversion.

The efficient catalytic conversion of chitin enables the material cycle through natural carbon and nitrogen fixation.

This review revisits critical descriptors to assess the performance of Zn–air batteries. The recent progress of inorganic nanoporous metal films as self-standing air electrodesfor Zn–air batteries is systematically summarized and analyzed.

Synthetic DNA walkers that traverse stochastically on 2D and 3D tracks pave a promising way to design biosensors for diverse analytical applications.

Numerous physical and chemical processes contribute to tip-enhanced Raman spectral nano-images.

This feature article reviews the recent progress of protein labeling in live cells with aryl azides induced by visible-light irradiation.

Stemming from distinct thermal phenomena, heat-mediated optical rotation of tiny objects is stimulating advances in a wide range of fields, including single-cell mechanics, 3D bio-imaging, and micro/nanomotors.

NMR spectroscopy is a powerful approach for the analysis of mixtures. This feature article describes a selection of methods that aim to address the complexity, the low concentrations, and the changing nature that mixtures can display.

The fluorescent properties of pomalidomide derivatives have been utilised to develop a high-throughput imaging method suitable for rapid screening of protein degrader candidates.

The moss-like Fe–Ni(OH)₂@NiSe₂ catalyst shows good catalytic ability for nucleophiles (e.g., ammonia, methanol and urea). Notably, the electrocatalytic activity for the urea oxidation reaction is the best, and it shows good electrochemical stability.

In situ remote sensing of carbonate anions is enabled by incorporation of lanthanides in layered double hydroxides (LDHs). Quantification of carbonate immobilized in LDHs is here illustrated by following the visible luminescence of Eu³⁺-doped LDHs.

Ferrocene-grafted/loaded stable metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as photocatalysts can improve the light absorption and photogenerated charge migration efficiently, and thus enhanced CO₂-to-HCOOH photoreduction activity.

Cyclisation of aryl amines onto tethered arynes affords selective access to phenanthridine derivatives via simple switch of reaction environment.

α-Substituted methylsulfinamide are prepared through the homologation of electrophilic N-sulfinylamines with Li-CHXY reagents.

Single-barrel scanning electrochemical cell microscopy has been used for the first time to achieve localized polymerization of acrylamide at a surface with fine control over the reactions and the resulting polymer features formed.

An organofunctionalised hybrid polyoxometalate bearing Ru antennae exhibits selective CO₂ electrochemical reduction to C1 feedstocks.

A new Cu porphyrin bearing meso-(o-carborane) substituents is designed and synthesized and displays much higher activity than o-carborane-free analogues for the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction in both organic and aqueous solutions.

Using a combination of accessible multinuclear NMR techniques to quantify phospholipid membrane headgroup composition and molecular level mode of action.

The first example of asymmetric alkene–alkene reductive coupling is demonstrated via visible-light-fueled photoredox/cobalt dual catalysis.

We present the extremophilic bacterium Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum SolV as a platform for the selective recovery of rare earth elements (REE).

The observation of incomplete on/off switching of rsGreen1 at different pH as well as a different initial first cycle can be quantitatively described by our simple 4-state model presented in this work.

A multifunctional ionogel is developed and explored as a flexible conductor by combining thermally-initiated ring-opening polymerization of a dynamic deep eutectic solvent (DDES) containing α-lipoic acid as well as multiple dynamic interactions.

We develop a novel calcium-triggered membrane fusion strategy for synthetic cells by regulating DNA-mediated membrane fusion with membrane-bound polyethylene glycol polymeric chains that are cleavable by the calcium-activated protease calpain-1.

A surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active metasurface composed of metallic nanohole arrays and metallic nanoparticles is developed.

Linear and macrocyclic oligo(phenylene iminoboranes) with ferrocenyl side groups have been prepared, selective macrocyclization proceeds without a template.

We report two bifunctional (pyridyl)carbene-iridium(I) complexes that catalyze ketone and aldehyde hydrogenation at ambient pressure.

Modulated self-assembly protocols are used to develop facile, HF-free syntheses of the archetypal flexible PCP, MIL-53(Cr), and novel isoreticular analogues MIL-53(Cr)-Br and MIL-53(Cr)-NO₂, which adsorb and sense SO₂.

Zr-MOF membranes for removing water from organic solvents (ethyl acetate, ethanol, acetic acid) existing in esterification reaction.

Understanding the roles played by wall thickness in determining the plasmonic properties of Ag–Au nanocages from both experimental and theoretical perspectives.

Go-Al! low valent aluminium scores a Hat-trick by converting C₆₀ to a tri-substituted molecular aluminium fulleride.

A series of ring expansion reactions of PO-containing molecules have been developed for the synthesis of medium-sized ring cyclic phosphonate esters and phosphonamidates.

Simple chemical reactions are rationally introduced to achieve mono- and dual-functionalized multilayer coatings for raising of the oil contact angle and rolling of beaded oil-droplets underwater, only in the presence of targeted toxic chemicals.

A Rh-catalyzed [2+2+2] cycloaddition approach for the synthesis of BMIDA-functionalized arenes is reported.

A dimeric magnesium hydride cluster has been synthesized. In the solid state it features a hydride ion that is coordinated to four magnesium ions at the same time in an unusual nearly square-planar fashion.

The conjugation of photoactive benzophenone with diphenylalanine yielded a self-assembling photocatalyst that was probed in the E → Z photoisomerisation of stilbene derivatives.

We herein describe the cell-specific release of alcohol-containing payloads via a sulfatase-sensitive linker in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

The strategic inclusion of nucleic bases adenine, cytosine, and thymine, in the form of outer coordination sphere, positively impacts the electro- and photocatalytic H₂ production by cobaloxime cores.

A low-cost N/S co-doped carbon cloth is made by pyrolysis recycling of waste facial masks as robust free-standing electrodes for flexible anti-freezing quasi-solid-state supercapacitors with high energy and good low temperature adaptability.

Neodymium complexes were synthesized and employed as efficient initiators for the random copolymerization of TMC and L-LA under mild conditions.

Atomically-dispersed Pd species supported on MnO₂ synthesized by the chemisorption of Pd(tricyclohexylphosphine)₂ catalyze the low temperature (295–323 K) oxidation of CO to CO₂.

Salmon calcitonin (sCT) is a polypeptide hormone available in the clinic.

2-Substituted pyrrolinium cations are reduced to air and moisture stable 2,2′-bipyrrolidines − the newly formed carbon–carbon single bond is electron-rich and may be utilized as an organic electron donor for various chemical transformations.

Desulfurization is a versatile synthetic tool in organic synthesis, particularly in peptide chemistry, where it offers an effective conversion strategy for compounds that contain mercaptan groups.

NHC-catalyzed remote activation of C(sp³)–H and asymmetric [12+2] cycloaddition reaction for access to structurally complex bioactive indole derivatives.

A new class of self-assembled bidentate NDI-derived ligands featuring π–π interactions is described, which were successfully used in rhodium-catalyzed enantioselective hydrogenation of diverse olefins.

Pre-coordination to a transition metal by the terminal donor groups of a tri-dentate ligand is a common way to stabilise elusive groups, to achieve unprecedented bond activation and to develop novel modes of metal–ligand-cooperation for catalysis.

We introduce a bio-inspired copper cubane-type water oxidation catalyst, and we track its transformations and electrocatalytically active species with comprehensive in situ and post-catalytic techniques.

Herein we report the design and synthesis of a terphen[n]arene derivative functionalised with sulfate acid ester groups.

Significant enhancement of electrocatalytic properties is achieved through the incorporation of oxygen-vacancies in a perovskite oxide, while retaining the structure.

A novel chemical metabolomics tool for quantification of short-chain fatty acids in bacterial cultures that is compatible with global metabolomics analysis due to the use of a limited sample volume.