Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Nitriles can be hydrogenated with a variety of precious metal catalysts, yet there is a lack of heterogeneous systems based on affordable metals such as iron. Here, the authors report a silica-supported Fe/Fe–O core–shell catalyst with the ability to hydrogenate nitriles in the presence of aluminium additives.
Surface treatments can tune catalysts’ wettability, which can be used to promote their catalytic performance. Now, a potential-dependent dynamic wetting behaviour of cobalt-based oxide catalysts is identified before and during the oxygen evolution reaction.
Aerobic oxidation of propylene is a potential green route to propylene oxide production without the need for harmful oxidizing or wasteful sacrificial reagents. Here, a proof-of-concept integrated photo-electro-heterogeneous catalytic system performs this reaction using in situ-generated H2O2.
General and efficient methodologies for the construction of homochiral phosphorus stereocentres are sought-after. Now, merging Pd-catalysed cross-coupling with phosphorus arylation of phosphoramidites provides access to a broad array of asymmetric P-compounds by axial-to-central chirality transfer from BINOL.
Hydrogen production from water electrolysis requires high working voltages and produces H2 only at the cathode. Now, H2 generation during the oxidation of biomass-derived aldehydes is combined with the hydrogen evolution reaction on the cathode for low-voltage H2 production.
Soot combustion catalysts are commonly unable to operate at temperatures under 200 °C. Now, an electrification strategy is proposed to decrease the soot ignition temperature at temperatures as low as 75 °C using electrified conductive oxide catalysts.
The Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling (SMC) usually involves a base-mediated transmetalation, which is problematic for substrates with base-sensitive moieties. To tackle this issue, a Lewis acid-mediated SMC reaction is reported allowing high yields for very base-sensitive systems.
Proton exchange membrane water electrolysers require the development of active, stable and cost-effective catalysts for water oxidation. Now, a Ru/α-MnO2 catalyst with in-situ-formed arrays of Ru atoms is presented for acidic water oxidation, which follows the oxide path mechanism and achieves enhanced activity and stability.
The heterogeneity of industrial particulate catalysts is a major obstacle in the study of their deactivation mechanisms. Here, the authors introduce a droplet microreactor capable of sorting fluid catalytic cracking equilibrium catalyst particles in a high-throughput fashion based on their activity.
Exo-selective Diels–Alderases with a broad substrate scope for synthetically valuable reactions are lacking. Now, a highly exo-selective Diels–Alderase compatible with a wide range of diene and dienophile substrates is discovered, its X-ray structure solved and the catalytic mechanism defined.
Layered double hydroxides of transition metals are known to be highly active for water oxidation, but the nature of their active sites and reaction mechanism are still elusive. Now, a monolayer NiCo hydroxide catalyst, in situ prepared on the working electrode, is reported to exhibit valence oscillation and dynamic generation of active sites during water oxidation.
Utilizing the electrophilicity of ambiphilic silyl nitronates in asymmetric synthesis has remained elusive. Now, silylium-based Lewis acids are used for their activation, achieving the catalytic asymmetric nucleophilic addition of silyl ketene acetals to silyl nitronates for the synthesis of β3-amino acids.
Photocatalytic oxidation of methane through oxidative coupling presents a route to higher hydrocarbons but has suffered from low activity and uncontrolled product selectivity. Now, Au nanoparticles loaded onto a ZnO/TiO2 heterostructure are shown to deliver high rate production of ethane.
CO is a common product of the electrochemical reduction of CO2, but its formation mechanism remains elusive. Here, the authors present a unified mechanistic picture of CO2 reduction to CO on transition metal and single atom catalysts.
Solvent effects play major roles in determining the mechanism of catalytic reactions, but their understanding remains often qualitative. Here, the authors provide a quantitative analysis of the effect of solvents on the catalytic hydrogenation of benzaldehyde on palladium, revealing the solvents’ crucial role in modulating the hydrogen-binding strength.
The fine tuning of the interface between single atoms and their supports may open advantageous reactivity scenarios, although it remains challenging. Now, Liu, Copéret and colleagues address this problem by dispersing Ir(III) species on well-defined single-crystalline MgO(111) 2D nanosheets, achieving a unique reactivity for the coupling of benzene and ethylene.
The mechanism of ammonia synthesis on traditional iron or ruthenium catalysts features a high energetic span. Here, the authors introduce ternary ruthenium complex hydrides of lithium and barium that can activate dinitrogen via a lower-energy path, resulting in the highly efficient production of ammonia under milder conditions.
Ribozymes that use the cellular cofactor S-adenosyl-l-methionine to methylate RNA remained elusive. Now, such a ribozyme is reported by identifying natural sequences that are active in vitro; and crystal structures of the ribozyme with and without the cofactor are determined.
Enantioselective C(sp3)–C(sp3) coupling plays an important role in organic synthesis, but limitations remain. Now, cobalt-catalysed enantioselective C(sp3)–C(sp3) coupling between achiral fluoroalkenes and alkyl halides enables the streamlined and auxiliary-free synthesis of chiral fluoroalkanes.
The challenge in non-oxidative coupling of methane lies in the activation of the first C–H bond while avoiding further dehydrogenations, which lead to the formation of coke. Here, atomically thin platinum nanolayers on two-dimensional molybdenum titanium carbides are reported as a superior catalyst for this reaction owing to reduced coke formation.