Articles in 2017

The synthesis of well-defined planar polymers presents a significant challenge for chemists seeking to investigate their potential for use in emerging technologies. Now, a two-dimensional conjugated aromatic polymer has been synthesized via endogenous solid-state polymerization of pre-arranged monomers, and its performance as an organic anode in an ambient temperature sodium cell tested.

The construction of diversified compound libraries from identical substrates is attractive but remains a challenge in asymmetric synthesis. Here, we demonstrate switchable regioselective [6+2], [4+2] or [2+2] cycloadditions with α′-alkylidene-2-cyclopentenones via mild aminocatalysis, producing a spectrum of chiral frameworks with high structural diversity and molecular complexity.

2-aminothiazole — a hybrid of prebiotic amino acid and nucleotide precursors — sequentially accumulates and purifies glycolaldehyde and glyceraldehyde from complex mixtures in the order required for ribonucleotide synthesis, dynamically resolves glyceraldehyde from its ketose-isomer dihydroxyacetone, and provides the first strategy to select natural amino acids from abiotic aldehydes and ketones.

Understanding how oxygen-evolution reaction (OER) catalysts work is important for the development of efficient energy storage technologies. It has now been shown that lattice oxygen participates in O₂ generation during the OER on some highly active metal oxides and that this behaviour becomes more prevalent with greater metal–oxygen covalency.

NaO^tBu — an alkoxide salt — enables simple access to low-oxidation-state catalysis using sustainable first-row transition metals (Fe, Co, Mn, Ni). The approach works across a wide range of reductive alkene and alkyne functionlization reactions including hydroboration, hydrosilylation, hydrogenation, hydrovinylation and [2π+2π] cyclization reactions.