Volume 4 Issue 12, December 2021

A new class of catalysts based on ternary ruthenium complex hydrides are developed for low-temperature ammonia synthesis. They support a non-dissociative reaction path for dinitrogen reduction, in which lithium or barium cations stabilize the N_xH_y intermediates and the electron- and H-rich [RuH₆]^4– anionic centres facilitate an energetically balanced multi-step reaction for ammonia synthesis.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.