PH ylides such as H₂C=PH₃ are considerably higher in energy than their corresponding phosphines H₃C−PH₂. Using bis(sulfonyl)methyl substituents, the first PH ylides stable at ambient conditions could be isolated in solution and in the solid state. They are ideal precursors to carbanionic phosphines with exclusive phosphine reactivity and thus to highly electron-rich phosphines.

The encapsulation of Schiff base-like zinc(II) complexes into micelles derived from polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) diblock copolymers that offer coordination sites was investigated. Incorporation and ligation results in strongly emissive micelles with enhanced quantum yields and thermal stability compared to the neat complex in pyridine. The responsivity towards medium and acidity was utilized to design a turn-on emission sensor material upon micelle formation.

Inspired by the highly efficient information transmission of biologically active compounds in nerve systems, a well-controllable capture/release of biologically active ions is achieved by a switchable supercapacitor.

Amorphous red phosphorus (a-P) can be described on the atomic scale by combining emerging machine-learning-based and dispersion-corrected DFT approaches. The a-P models reported here complete the first-principles stability range of the phosphorus allotropes, and they allow for new insight into chemical bonding and electronic states.

Symbiosis: A novel redox-switchable N-heterocyclic carbene architecture based on pyrazine-diimine systems is presented. We demonstrate its ambiphilicity in the reversible activation of alcohols and amines. This scaffold is capable of ligating two metals simultaneously, and the resulting heterobimetallic complexes can be reversibly oxidised and reduced.

An amorphous/graphitic hybrid material is synthesized by growing nanoscale graphite crystallites in a non-nano polymer-derived carbon by catalytic graphitization. An active dehydrogenation catalyst is obtained by creating accessibility to these graphitic domains via selective oxidation. This carbon dehydrogenation catalyst offers a 10-fold increase in space-time-yield in the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethanol compared to a carbon nanotube benchmark.

We report the first solvent-free pathway to access carboxylated chitin and cellulose nanocrystals with excellent mass balance. It relies on a new mechanochemical method coined high-humidity shaker aging (HHSA), involving mild grinding of the polysaccharide with ammonium persulfate followed by an aging phase under high-humidity and on a shaker plate.

The carbon nitride supported Fe single-atom catalyst (Fe₁/CN) with a Fe loading of 11.2 wt % was developed to generate 100 % ¹O₂ by activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS). The adsorption of terminal O and oxidation of PMS by Fe-N₄ sites played the most important roles for ¹O₂ generation with 100 % selectivity. As a result, the Fe₁/CN activated PMS system exhibited strong resistance to various factors during the degradation of organic pollutants.

Mechanocatalytic ammonia synthesis over Fe catalysts promoted by alkali metals, especially Rb or Cs, is possible under ball milling. The reaction proceeds at appreciable rates at room-temperature and down to atmospheric pressure in a continuously operating system under gas flow.

Simultaneous formate formation from CO₂ reduction and cellulose oxidation is enabled by a biohybrid photocatalyst with formate dehydrogenase immobilized on titanium dioxide. The semi-artificial photocatalytic system can be further immobilized onto floating hollow glass microspheres allowing vertical solar light illumination with optimal light exposure of the photocatalyst and thereby mimicking the trajectory of real sunlight.

A Cu-CuI composite catalyst achieves a remarkable C₂₊ partial current density of 591 mA cm⁻² at −1.0 V vs. RHE, substantially higher than Cu or CuI alone. It is ascribed to the presence of residual Cu⁺ and adsorbed iodine species which improve CO adsorption and facilitate C−C coupling during CO₂ electroreduction.

Two-dimensional excitonic networks were assembled using wireframe DNA nanostructures as templates to direct the formation of cyanine dye aggregates. The interconnected networks with programmable sizes and geometries present strongly coupled excitonic features and have been shown to mediate long-range exciton migration up to 100×100 nm for efficient photon capture and energy transfer.

In this work we overcome current limitations of biomass furanic platforms, namely the lack of sustainable nitrogen in cellulose-based furfurals and the lack of reactivity of chitin-based ones. To this end, a tandem dehydration/oxidative cleavage of N-acetylglucosamine delivers a new nitrogen-rich furfural. We further demonstrate the utility of the new furan as a valuable monomer for synthetic chemistry and as a bioconjugation tool.

Combining two types of dynamic covalent chemistries within a single network enables a chemically recyclable crosslinked material with excellent mechanical performances. Virgin-quality monomers can be recovered and reused by efficient depolymerization under mild conditions.

A variety of renewable polymers has been synthesized from easily accessible biobased hydroxyaldehydes and dihydrosilanes. Using low catalyst loadings of platinum complexes, different polymer architectures were obtained, from random to alternated copolymers. The intrinsic chemical recyclability of these poly(silylether)s is also highlighted.

While it resembles high density polyethylene with regard to its mechanical properties and solid-state structure and has a high melting point (T_m=96 °C), the novel polyester-2,18 material at the same time fully hydrolyzes in in vitro enzymatic degradation studies and mineralizes under industrial composting conditions (ISO standard 14855-1) within two months.

The efficient conversion of “non-polymerizable” γ-valerolactone and its derivatives is presented. The abundant but unexploited renewable feedstocks give new sustainable polythioesters with tunable materials properties through the establishment of the first isomerization-driven ring-opening polymerizations of corresponding thionolactone intermediates via the development of a new simple and robust [Et₃O]⁺[B(C₆F₅)₄]⁻ cationic initiator.

A mixed-ligand gateway gives new lanthanide materials with multiple functionalities which often do not coexist. Ln₂(SeO₃)₂(SO₄)(H₂O)₂ materials are capable of generating coherent light through the second-harmonic generation and exhibiting magnetic anisotropy facilitated by large spin-orbit coupling. This result shares new ideas for harmonizing optical and magnetic properties in single systems at the atomic level.

Temperature-reliable low-dimensional (LD) perovskites (1D PTAPbI₃ and 2D PTA₂PbI₄) are demonstrated to form in situ at grain boundaries and surfaces of CsPbI₃ perovskite. As-formed LD perovskites can effectively passivate the defects in CsPbI₃ films and prevent moisture intrusion as well. This PTAI-based LD-decorated CsPbI₃ perovskite solar cell exhibits a record efficiency of 21.0 % with enhanced stabilities.

A new class of molecules displaying an inversion of the lowest singlet and triplet excited states has been identified through computational screening of synthesized structures. This observed behavior is attributed to a high-symmetry pentalene core motif, which is stabilized via aromaticity.