Reviews & Analysis

Carbon capture and utilization offers a solution to reducing CO₂ emissions, but economic feasibility presents a barrier to adoption. Now, an electrochemical reaction is introduced that integrates H₂ production with CO₂ capture and utilization to produce ethylene carbonate with a high yield in aqueous solution. A techno-economic analysis indicates the economic viability of this strategy.

Enzymes catalyse radical-mediated fluorine atom transfer reactions for enantioselective C(sp³)-F bond formation.

Photocatalysts are crucial to diverse applications, but a challenge is the simultaneous and efficient delivery of photogenerated charges and mass to the catalytic sites. Now, through the systematic design of the skeleton and pores, a covalent organic framework is developed for the efficient photosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide using only water, air and light.

Palladium can be stabilized in the zero-oxidation state with one, two or three anionic aluminium ligands to produce mono-, di- or trianionic complexes, respectively. The palladium centres in the resulting complexes are highly negatively charged, and this electron richness enables the trianionic complex to undergo a hitherto hypothetical oxidative addition reaction with a diboron species.

Carbon-based fuels and value-added chemicals can be produced sustainably using electrochemical CO₂ reduction (CO₂R). This Review examines the expansion of scope through the coupling of CO₂R with heteroatomic co-reactants.

Geometry control in organic reactions can be used to promote dynamic processes or stabilize reactive transition states. This Review discusses the concept of geometry control, its impact on transition states and bonding, as well as the reactivity and properties that emerge as a consequence of constraining molecules.

A one-pot method is introduced for synthesizing highly reactive and potentially chiral low-valency Ga(i) complexes, facilitating their application as a versatile catalyst.

An artificial metalloenzyme based on streptavidin with a biotinylated Rh(III) cofactor provides enantioselective access to various isoindolones with different functional groups. Rational engineering of the streptavidin scaffold reverses the stereoselectivity, offering an enantiodivergent method for the synthesis of isoindolones.

A high-symmetry tetrahedral cage made using smaller tripodal cages at its four vertices shows a high surface area for CO₂ and SF₆ adsorption.

A diazapentadienyl radical featuring a disubstituted carbon centre is discovered allowing the isolation and structural characterization of a stable secondary carbon radical.

Photoinduced C(sp³)–H functionalization reactions, through hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) processes, have become a useful tool in synthesis, but challenges remain. This Perspective showcases the potential of pyridine N-oxides as HAT reagents in photoinduced C(sp³)–H functionalization reactions, highlighting how they can be readily tuned to achieve site-selectivity.

Using liquid gallium as an atomically smooth substrate enables the deposition of single-crystal layers of conducting two-dimensional metal–organic frameworks.

Monolayer gold could exhibit properties of benefit to various applications, but has been challenging to synthesize. Now, the exfoliation of two-dimensional single-atom-thick gold layers — termed goldene — is achieved through wet-chemically etching away Ti₃C₂ from Ti₃AuC₂, a nanolaminated MAX-phase. Goldene shows lattice contraction and an increase in the gold 4f binding energy compared with the bulk.

Metal vacancies capable of generating magnetism can be created in 2D semiconductors by atomic-scale etching induced by electron-beam irradiation.

Selection principles for precursors are decoded from phase diagrams and applied to the synthesis of inorganic oxide materials.

d-cyclodextrins are naturally occurring macrocyclic oligosaccharides that act as hosts for hydrophobic guests and are produced on a multi-tonne scale. Now, using chemical synthesis, mirror-image cyclodextrins are produced from l- instead of d-glucose units.

Coupling an exergonic process with an orthogonal, endergonic one has opened the door to drive artificial systems away from equilibrium. Now, this concept is used to bias the outcome of an uphill chemical reaction.

Synthesis of fuels and chemicals from renewable biomass is an important way to achieve sustainable development. This Review summarizes catalyst design for steering interfacial charge transfer and radical intermediate reactions in photocatalytic biorefineries.

By systematically exploring a large chemical space using automated experimentation, a high-performing organic photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution is discovered.