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Numerous methods for transition metal-catalysed hydrosilylation exist but iridium catalysis offers attractive advantages. Here the authors describe a broadly-applicable method for the Markovnikov hydrosilylation of terminal alkynes using a commercial iridium catalyst.
The reactivity of small molecule gases at high pressure has implications for astrochemistry. Here helium is shown in silico to form stable compounds with water and ammonia at gigapascal pressures.
White beetle scales strongly scatter white light, whilst being very thin. Here, the authors measured the internal scale nanostructure for the beetles, Cyphochilus and L. stigma, and demonstrate that the optical structure can be simulated using liquid–liquid phase separation nanostructures, pointing to this as the formation mechanism.
Partitioning of volatile organic compounds between air and airborne particles is usually treated as an equilibrium process. Here mass spectrometry is used to measure the dynamic isothermal partitioning of such compounds, finding that gas-to-particle mass transfer is rapid in the lower atmosphere.
Bacteriophages are widely used in nanotechnology. Here the specific intermolecular forces controlling interactions between a bacteriophage peptide and several self-assembled monolayers are probed and shown to depend on pi-pi stacking and hydrophobic interactions.
Exfoliation of layered materials is a common route to 2D materials. Here an amorphous copolymer of benzoquinone and pyrrole is exfoliated to yield an active HER catalyst.
Lithium oxygen batteries are prone to degradation resulting from the applied overpotential. Here the surface functionalisation of titanium nitride and carbide MXenes is studied theoretically and shown to reduce the overpotential by up to 80% and to enhance ORR by a factor of 60 compared to common graphene-based catalysts.
Selective labeling of biomolecules is a powerful technology for chemical biology. Here a silver-catalysed chemoselective modification of cysteine residues by isoxazolinium reagents is described.
Near-infrared fluorescence probes that respond to pH are effective tools to analyse pH-driven biological processes but share common limitations. Here the authors report a germanium-rhodamine based near-infrared probe with appropriate pKa value for biological applications and improved photostabillity and quantum yield.
The details of interaction of organic acids with metal oxide surfaces are of wide interest in heterogeneous catalysis. Here the authors use combination of theory and experiments to study the adsorption of formic acid on magnetite surface revealing the details on the atomic scale adsorption mechanism.
Perovskites are widely studied as components of solar cells but their synthesis often involves toxic reagents. Here lead-free bismuth-based perovskites are synthesised using a non-toxic solvent and shown to achieve power conversion efficiencies of up to 1.62 % under 1 sun illumination for up to 300 h.
Molecular photoswitches can imbue materials with striking properties. Here a mixture of two photoswitchable diarylethenes forms both water-retentive and water-repellent crystals, causing small water drops to be retained while larger drops are repelled, akin to the behaviour of termite wings.
Irradiation of titanium dioxide creates electronically trapped states which play a key role in solar energy conversion. Here, intrinsic electron trapping under aprotic conditions is experimentally shown to exhibit different spectroscopic properties than the conventional blue colour observed under protic conditions.
Hydrogen diffusion in spintronic materials is of great fundamental interest but investigating it in nontransparent metallic materials remains a challenge. Here the authors monitor real-time hydrogen diffusion in palladium rich magnetic alloy films using magneto-optical Kerr effect.
Carboxylic acids and amines constitute a big part of aerosol particles but the precise details of their formation mechanism are still under investigation. Here, the authors use Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics simulations combined with experiments to measure the morphology and kinetics of particle formation.
Indole-fused polycyclic alkaloids are present in numerous bioactive natural products. Here an enantioselective N-heterocyclic carbene-catalysed Friedel–Crafts alkylation/annulation cascade using acyl azolium salts as the electrophile provides access to these products with high stereoselectivity.
Magnesium-sodium dual-ion batteries are promising for energy storage but their utility is limited by low oxidative stability of dual-ion electrolytes. Here, the authors demonstrate an oxidatively stable sodium-ion electrolyte and a sodium-ion conductive β-alumina membrane on the cathode side of the battery.
The merger of chemical and biocatalysis can offer powerful new options to synthetic chemists. Here a combination of a nickel-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura reaction and an enzymatic stereoselective reduction provides enantiomerically-enriched alcohols from amides in a single reaction vessel, in water.
Oligomerisation is widely used to engineer proteins and peptides with desirable properties. Here, covalent homodimers and heterodimers of fluorescent proteins are designed in silico and experimentally shown to exhibit differing spectral properties depending upon the structure of the protein-protein interface.
Oxidised copper complexes are important bioinorganic intermediates, and many typically react as electrophiles. Here a copper(II) hydroperoxo complex is shown to be nucleophilic towards acyl chlorides and aldehydes