Articles in 2022

Carbonyl catalysis is mainly limited to strongly activated primary amines. Now, a chiral bifunctional pyridoxal organocatalyst is developed that enables the activation of the inert α C(sp³)–H bond of NH₂-unprotected benzylamines affording chiral β-aminoalcohols with high diastereo- and enantioselectivities.

Copper is unique among CO₂ electrocatalysts owing to its ability to produce multicarbon products at high rates; however, achieving selectivity for specific products remains challenging. Here, Cu surfaces decorated with alkaline earth metal oxides are found to strongly favour alcohols over hydrocarbons.

Hydrogen oxidation reactions in hydroxide exchange membrane fuel cells have slow kinetics. Switching from platinum group metal (PGM) electrocatalysts to those that are PGM-free is a challenging task as the latter are prone to oxidation. Now, stable and active nickel–molybdenum–niobium catalysts are introduced for this type of fuel cell.

Photosynthetic semiconductor biohybrids represent a viable approach to solar-to-chemical production but it remains challenging to tap their full potential. Now, a microbe–quantum dot hybrid has been developed for simultaneous fixation of CO₂ and N₂ with internal quantum efficiencies approaching the theoretical limits.

Artificial enzymes capable of catalysing significant transformations are highly desired but usually suffer from limitations in structural design and poor efficiency. Now, a monolayered metal–organic framework is reported as an editable biomimetic platform to achieve exceptional artificial photosynthesis performance.

The hydrogenation of CO₂ into more valuable hydrocarbons is potentially attractive in the context of greenhouse gas removal schemes, although the efficiency of such processes is still limited. Now, a GaZrO_x oxide catalyst working in combination with an H-SSZ-13 zeolite enables the highly efficient hydrogenation of CO₂ to propane with minimal by-product production.

Metal utilization is important for the overall efficiency of heterogeneous catalysts, but reducing the amount of precious active phases is challenging due to intrinsic properties such as structure sensitivity. Now Hensen and colleagues engineer the interfaces of supported cobalt catalysts to overcome such structure sensitivity limitations in CO₂ hydrogenation.

Carbon dioxide reforming can be used to valorize hydrocarbon-containing CO₂ streams without the use of external reductants, but existing methods remain inefficient. Here, an HZSM-5-encapsulated nickel catalyst is introduced that features a remarkable methane dry reforming activity combined with high methane utilization.

Material–microbe hybrids represent a promising strategy for harnessing biochemical reactivity using sunlight, yet little is known about the effect of the interaction on the organism. Here the interface of a CO₂- and N₂-fixing bacterium to CdTe alters its biochemical pathways, resulting in quantum efficiency close to the theoretical limit.

Artificial enzymes have shown promise for a variety of applications, although their performance is hampered by the limited tunability of current designs. This work introduces a class of artificial enzymes based on metal–organic framework monolayers that feature an amino acid-coordinated metal centre and photoactive cofactors and can be assembled into an efficient artificial photosynthesis system.

Hydroxide exchange membrane fuel cells operating in alkaline electrolyte are more cost-effective than their proton exchange membrane counterparts, but their performance is still considerably lower. Now, a Ni–Mo–Nb metallic glass is put forward as a hydrogen oxidation reaction catalyst with high activity and stability in alkaline electrolyte.

Chiral piperidines are of importance in drug synthesis, but effective and broadly applicable methods for their production remain scarce. Now, a reductive Rh-catalysed method is developed for the introduction of chiral primary amines into reduced pyridinium salts, affording optically active piperidines.

The composition of an electrolyte has a significant effect on electrocatalytic reaction rates and product selectivities. One mechanism by which spectator alkali cations can dictate reaction kinetics is now better understood.