To combat the climate emergency, the development of less polluting technologies is crucial, but the mechanisms involved in the formation of soot particles are still not fully understood. Here, to fill this gap, the authors quantify and map persistent radicals on soot samples of different maturity extracted from flames using pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance.

Atomically precise thiolate-protected gold nanoclusters present strong near-infrared excitation, long lifetimes, and surface biofunctionality, making them ideal candidates as photosensitizers in photodynamic therapy. Here, the authors evaluate the influence of the ligands and metal core on the efficiency of photoexcited Au₁₀ and Au₂₅ clusters to produce reactive oxygen species, as well as possible biological consequences in living cells.

Macrocycle peptides are promising constructs for imaging and inhibiting extracellular and cell membrane proteins, but their use for targeting intracellular proteins is typically limited by poor cell penetration. Here, the authors report the development of a cell-penetrant high-affinity peptide ligand targeted to the phosphorylated Ser474 epitope of the (active) Akt2 kinase.

Monitoring of the hypertension drug felodipine is important to avoid unwanted side effects from high concentrations, but its sensitive detection remains challenging. Here, combining the advantages of ratiometric luminescence probes and near-infrared lanthanide luminescence sensing, multi-emission near-infrared magnetic core-shell nanoparticles based on lanthanide metal–organic frameworks are synthesized using a layer-by-layer method and shown to have excellent temperature and felodipine detection abilities.

Metal complexes are often used as catalysts for oxidation reactions, however, there are open questions about the role of the decomposition products in the catalytic process. Here, the authors explore the potential role of decomposition products in the oxidation of cyclohexene using a manganese(III) complex catalyst adsorbed on an SBA-15 substrate.

Group 10 metal species are commonly used to activate Si–H and Si–Si bonds, but their preferred reactivity towards Si–H vs Si–Si activation is poorly understood. Here, Pt(0) species are shown to selectively activate the Si–H bonds in a linear tetrasilane, whereas Pd(0) preferentially activates the Si–Si bonds.

Efforts are ongoing to address inequities in scientific fields. Here, the author provides a critical look at the practice and culture of science with calls to action to broaden participation and recognition of talented members from marginalized groups in the chemical sciences.

As Communications Chemistry turns five, the Editors reflect on the journal’s values, achievements, and ambitions for the years to come.

Economical and high-efficiency synthesis of single-atom catalysts is a tremendous challenge hampering their large-scale industrialization, which is mainly attributed to the complex equipment and processes necessary for both top-down and bottom-up synthesis methods. Now, a facile three-dimensional printing approach tackles this dilemma. From a solution of printing ink and metal precursors, target materials with specific geometric shapes are prepared with high output, directly and automatically.

Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) underlies the formation of intracellular membraneless compartments in biology and may have played a role in the formation of protocells that concentrate key chemicals during the origins of life. While LLPS of simple systems, such as oil and water, is well understood, many aspects of LLPS in complex, out-of-equilibrium molecular systems remain elusive. Here, the author discusses open questions and recent insights related to the formation, function and fate of such condensates both in cell biology and protocell research.

Efforts to address equitable access to education and research in chemistry are ongoing in many countries around the world. Here, Professor Hind A. Al-Abadleh provides a personal account of her contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion in the Canadian chemistry community.

Combining the superior photovoltaic performance of three-dimensional perovskites and the intrinsic durability of two-dimensional perovskites, the construction of 3D/2D perovskite bilayer heterojunctions is a promising strategy to realize efficient and stable perovskite solar cells, but it is still a challenge to control the phase purity, film thickness, orientation, and crystal structure of 2D perovskites. Now, a solution-processing strategy has overcome this challenge by directly coating a tailored single-crystal 2D perovskite ink on as-prepared 3D perovskite films, resulting in effective, ultra-stable and phase-pure 3D/2D perovskite bilayer heterojunctions.