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A nanodroplet sequential fusion strategy is presented that can be used to precisely synthesize branched silica nanotrees, creating complex and functional inorganic superstructures.
By removing water from crystalline molecular complexes, microporous metal–organic framework glasses are formed. The glasses can be obtained in monolithic shapes by melt-quenching.
Triaryloxonium salts are used as aryne precursors under mild and operationally simple conditions, allowing high functional-group tolerance, and cycloaddition reactions are used to trap the arynes generated.
Enantioselective synthesis of medium-sized rings by organocatalytic cycloadditions offers opportunities that are complementary to metal-catalysed cycloadditions. This Review discusses the ability of organocatalytic cycloadditions to synthesize stereodefined medium-sized ring architectures, critically evaluates current synthetic strategies, and highlights avenues for further development.
A β-lactone compound — globilactone A — has been discovered through genome mining and heterologous expression of a biosynthetic gene cluster. Biosynthetic investigations unveiled the mechanism of the formation of the cyclopentane-β-lactone core.
A macroscale scaffolding strategy for building arches and curved surfaces is translated to the molecular level for the face-selective design of zeolitic metal–organic frameworks (ZMOFs).
Design principles are established for the colloidal synthesis of core–shell nanoparticles, which serve as precursors for the general and predictable synthesis of high-entropy alloy nanoparticles as monodisperse samples.
Catalytic enantioselective synthesis of all-carbon quaternary stereocentres is a long-term challenge in organic synthesis because of substantial steric repulsion and dissimilarities between the substituents around the stereocentre. This Review presents how the desymmetrization strategy plays an important role in constructing these types of motifs.
Palladium-catalysed dicarbonylation using two different nucleophiles enables the selective synthesis of unsymmetrical diamides and amido esters in a single step.
A chemoenzymatic strategy is introduced whereby a glycan backbone is assembled enzymatically to give a core oligosaccharide that is subjected to chemical manipulations to install terminal epitopes. A library of oligosaccharides containing the human natural killer-1 epitope was synthesized, enabling evaluation of the binding specificities of serum antibodies of patients with anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein neuropathy.
Performing enantioselective photocatalytic reactions with visible light is a challenging task that has seen substantial advances with the development of new catalysts. Although many approaches utilize dual-catalytic systems in which the photocatalyst is separate from the chirality-inducing moiety, in this Review bifunctional photocatalysts that perform both roles are discussed.
Combined N-heterocyclic carbene and photoredox-catalysed strategies for the acylation of arenes offer regiocontrol that is complementary to Lewis-acid-mediated Friedel–Crafts approaches.
A kinetically controlled solution-phase synthesis produces nanoparticles of defined shape and multimetallic surface composition for catalytic applications.
A hybrid carbon nanotube/molecular catalyst achieves highly selective electrochemical conversion of CO to methanol via mechanistic-guided optimizations.
The electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) balances the hydrogen evolution reaction when splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. This review highlights the need for new theory, electrochemistry and operando spectroscopy to enable knowledge-driven synthesis of new OER electrocatalysts.
A strategy for the transition-metal-free C(sp2)−C(sp3) cross-coupling of α-(pseudo)halo aliphatic ketones and arylboronic acids via a 1,4-metallate shift is demonstrated. The reaction proceeds under mild conditions in the presence of base, and offers an operationally simple method for the construction of C(sp2)−C(sp3) bonds.
The combination of photocatalysis and nickel catalysis enables the multicomponent synthesis of N-alkyl anilines through tandem C–N transposition and C–H alkylation of alkylamines.
Enantioselective electrocatalysis is emerging as an increasingly versatile tool in organic synthesis. Now, by applying asymmetric Lewis acid catalysis with an elaborated ligand design, radical electrochemical amination is accomplished with full selectivity control.
