News & Views

A synthetic DNA enzyme catalyses the formation of a native phosphodiester bond between two RNA fragments, but the molecular details of the mechanism remained elusive. Research using computational and biochemical approaches now suggests that the DNA enzyme recruits two magnesium ions to assist in the catalysis of RNA ligation.

Given the fact that sodium is the most abundant alkali metal on Earth, the direct and indirect use of organosodium compounds in palladium-catalysed carbon–carbon bond forming reactions is an attractive alternative for sustainable organic synthesis.

Good durability and activity of single Ru atom catalysts is critical for their large-scale utilization in electrochemical water splitting. Now, both of these properties can be better controlled through compressive strain engineering.

High-yield production of a functionally active mimic of particulate methane monooxygenase in Escherichia coli has been presented. Investigation of its catalytic mode clarifies the role of duroquinol in biomimetic methanol production.

The diversity of engineered amine dehydrogenases for reductive amination remains limited. Now, native amino dehydrogenases offering a different sequence space and catalytic features are discovered — enhancing and broadening the biocatalysis toolbox.

The asymmetric synthesis of chiral γ-lactams is difficult and laborious; typically requiring pre-functionalization of starting materials. Now, a highly efficient alternative approach employing direct C−H amidation via chiral hydrogen-bond-donor catalysts has been developed.

The selective electrochemical conversion of ketones to value-added products still represents a challenge, due to a lack of fundamental understanding. Now, a principle has been revealed that allows the steering of the electroreduction of aliphatic ketones on platinum by carefully controlling the coordination number of the platinum atoms.

The synthesis of highly branched low molecular weight products — potential synthetic lubricants — directly from ethylene is challenging when highly efficient early transition metal catalysts are employed. Now, an alkane soluble co-catalyst permits the synthesis of such polyethylenes using a zirconium catalyst in a saturated hydrocarbon solvent, where competitive solvent coordination at the active site of the catalyst is relatively unimportant.

Optimization of catalytic stereoselectivity for new substrates often requires a time consuming experimental process, and high-accuracy molecular modelling remains intractable for comprehensive virtual screening. Now, highly enantioselective rhodium hydrogenation catalysts have been identified using a rapid computational transition-state analysis protocol and then experimentally verified.

Nanoscale texture of electrocatalysts, enabled by the tools of nanoscience, is emerging as an important lever for the control of electrochemical reaction pathways.

A crucial malonic acid moiety in the antibiotic malonomycin has been shown to be installed by a bacterial vitamin K-dependent (VKD) carboxylase orthologue.

The biosynthesis of the pharmacophoric tetrahydropyran of the clinically important antibiotic mupirocin remained enigmatic for a long time. Now, research shows that this ring is formed by a unique epoxidation–epoxide-opening cascade starting from a non-activated alkane.

Single-atom catalysts recently attracted considerable research interest for heterogeneous electrocatalysis, including the oxygen reduction reaction. Now, an intriguing two-step approach towards a less explored atomic nitrogen-coordinated manganese with a high loading density has been developed.

Indirect methods are generally adopted to elucidate complicated mechanisms of transition metal catalysis. Now, a way to directly observe transient manganese species and monitor key reaction steps has been established by using time-resolved multiple-probe spectroscopy.

Despite being used as a water-oxidation catalyst in alkaline electrolysis for over a century, the details of how Ni–Fe (oxy)hydroxide catalysts function remains unclear. Now, using a nanoparticle model system, the intrinsic activity and underlying catalytic mechanism is probed.

The mechanism of methanol coupling to methyl formate over single-crystal gold catalysts has been firmly established but barely reconciled with experiments performed under practical conditions. Now, a method to close this gap has been reported, which enables the prediction of the reaction´s selectivity for a broad range of experimental conditions.

The electroreduction of CO represents a promising approach toward artificial hydrocarbon synthesis, but its rate is limited by the sluggish transport of CO in aqueous electrolytes. Recent work shows how the issue can be circumvented by using gas diffusion electrodes.

Development of an earth-abundant and inexpensive copper-based catalyst is desirable for CO₂ hydrogenation. Now, the combined application of a stable copper hydride and a Lewis pair is shown to effect activation of CO₂ as well as heterolysis of H₂, achieving significant turnover numbers.

Heterogeneous photocatalysts are rarely employed in industry for the synthesis of commodity chemicals due to efficiency problems. Now, a photochromic Bi₂WO_6–x/amorphous-BiOCl composite is reported, which features a remarkable activity for the photocatalytic oxidation of toluene into benzaldehyde and benzoic acid.

Artificial metalloenzymes generally consist of a synthetic (organo)metallic catalyst incorporated into a protein. Asymmetric catalysis by such metalloenzymes could result by virtue of the chiral protein environment. Now, redox-sensitive anchoring enables reversible incorporation of an iridium catalyst for transfer hydrogenation.