Attaching or embedding biological or artificial molecular pumps to or into a surface or interface to achieve compartmentalization enables their unidirectional molecular motion to be organized in a confined environment. This approach led to the discovery of the phenomenon of mechanisorption and paves the way towards building highly complex organized molecular architectures.

The field of framework nucleic acids (FNAs) has been advancing in biomedicine over the past decade. Its recent integration with nuclear medicine imaging has broadened our understanding of the bio-interfacing of FNAs. In this Minireview, we survey and discuss nuclear imaging of FNAs in vivo with the aim of highlighting outstanding questions on nano–bio interactions and potential directions for translation.

Persistent infections and deaths caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a worldwide health issue. Molecularly imprinted polymers that are antibody mimics with selective recognition sites for a target molecule can fight these bacteria on several fronts. The targets range from endotoxins, β-lactamase and adhesins to biofilm components and quorum sensing messengers.

Die gezielte Steuerung mehrstufiger Reaktionen mit definierter räumlicher Anordnung ist ein Kernziel der Katalyse, das unter dem Begriff vektorielle Katalyse zusammengefasst wird. Wir zeigen ein Grundsatzbeweis für ein metallorganisches Gerüst (MOF)-basiertes vektorielles Katalysesystem, indem wir zwei verschiedene Nano-MOFs an präzisen räumlichen Positionen in einem mikrofluidischen Reaktor verankern und ihre Leistung bei der Katalyse einer zweistufigen Reaktionsfolge untersuchen.

Electrified reverse water-gas-shift (eRWGS™) enables production of sustainable carbon-based chemicals from CO₂ compatible with existing industrial processes. Herein we demonstrate the advantages of a methanation active catalyst, including superior activity, favorable temperature profile, and suppression of carbon formation.

The shape of nanoparticles is a crucial parameter that affects their fundamental properties. Herein, we report a straightforward approach wherein addition of a small organic molecule (transformer) can induce metamorphosis of the nanoparticle shape without altering the chemical structure of the constituent polymers. Importantly, this method is applicable to various block copolymers without requiring the synthesis of stimuli-responsive polymers.

A simple, cell-permeable source of Pd^II is intracellularly reduced to the catalytically active Pd⁰ through the addition of sodium ascorbate. Controlled in-cell generation of Pd⁰ enables Pd-mediated bioorthogonal intracellular activation of caged cytotoxic drugs and fluorophores in cancer cells.

Two unprecedented hydrogenation reactions are disclosed, commencing with geminal delivery of both H-atoms of H₂ to the triple bond of a propargyl alcohol derivative. When catalyzed with cationic ruthenium complexes, the resulting pianostool carbenes are so “hot” that they are readily intercepted by tethered nucleophiles, resulting in cycloisomerization or [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement reactions.

Less symmetry, more diversity: Here we show that gene duplication and fusion to break structural symmetry, allowing independent sequence diversification of neighboring subunits by directed evolution, is a powerful strategy to boost catalysis by a promiscuous homohexameric 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase (4-OT), enabling efficient asymmetric Michael additions.

“Dendron-assembled supramolecules” constructed by self-assembly based on coordination chemistry and polymer chemistry serve as flexibly designable supramolecular huge templates and demonstrate the first-ever precise synthesis of quasi-sub-nanomaterials. This concept for the creation of larger inorganic nanomaterials using even larger organic molecules will provide a crucial key to exploring the last frontier in nanoscience.

Light-controllable, chemoselective hydroboration of ketoacids is reported using a well-defined cobalt hydride catalyst. Excellent selectivities can be achieved, with acids reacting in the dark and ketones in the light. This approach can be further extended to other functional groups.

Halenium affinity (HalA) guided design leads to stereoselective bromospiroketalization of alkyl ketones, templated by a tethered 2-tetrahydropyranyl(THP)-protected alcohol. Subtle alteration of the reaction conditions provides either the bromospiroketals or the dibromospiroketals.

A doubly B-doped hexabenzopentacene was designed based on presynthetic DFT calculations, predicting intriguing optoelectronic properties. Subsequently, the electron-deficient, NIR-emitting B-doped polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon was prepared via six net C−H borylations from an unfunctionalized alkene in a two-pot synthetic procedure. The structure obtained by X-ray crystallography confirmed an enhanced π-conjugation upon cyclization compared to non-fused derivatives.

The rhodium- and acid-catalyzed dearomative cyclopropanation of naphthols from cyclopropene ring-opening has been described. The reaction is scalable and highly chemoselective, and the vinyl cyclopropane products can be uniquely diversified. Experimental and computational studies support the proposed mechanism.

A functionalized polyurethane is used as an additive to self-heal a CsPbIBr₂ film by a disulfide-exchange reaction upon heat treatment. The inorganic CsPbIBr₂ perovskite solar cell achieves a champion efficiency of 10.61 % with efficiency recovery after heat treatment.

A multi-stimuli-responsive tetraarylsuccinonitrile (TASN) chromophore is chemically introduced into a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) network through a facile thiol-ene photoaddition method. The obtained TASN-LCE soft actuators not only exhibit reversible shape-morphing and reversible color-changing behavior in response to heat and mechanical compression, but also have excellent self-healing, reprogramming and recycling characteristics.

Ab initio prediction of thermodynamic parameters leads to a predictive synthesis strategy utilizing solid carbon for facile preparation of a series of magnesium vanadate compounds. ²⁵Mg solid-state NMR spectroscopy of these compounds is shown to be a practical way for characterizing their local Mg structures.

Protein and strain engineering combined. The combination of two engineered enzymes (a methyltransferase and an ammonia lyase) and an engineered E. coli strain (for regeneration of the SAM cofactor) has been developed to enable a fully biocatalytic one-pot methylation–hydroamination cascade. As an example, the synthesis of l -veratrylglycine from renewable lignin-derived ferulic acid has been demonstrated, in high yield and excellent ee.

The synthesis of finned ferrierite produces a zeolite with reduced mass transport limitations, thereby enhancing its catalyst lifetime and increasing its selectivity to isobutene in tests of 1-butene isomerization. These findings highlight the advantages of introducing fins through facile and tunable post-synthesis modification to impart material properties that are otherwise unattainable by conventional synthesis methods.

A novel quadruple helicene having two [6] and two [7]helicene moieties fused in a contorted framework was synthesized by the Scholl reaction of a perylene-containing substrate. The quadruple helicene exhibits unusual near-infrared absorption and emission and its isolated enantiomers exhibit electronic circular dichroism in the near-infrared and visible-light regions.

Ordered PtFeIr intermetallic nanowires supported on commercial carbon were synthesized. Coating with SiO₂ and the addition of Ir enabled the integrity of the nanowire structure to be maintained during their transformation from a disordered fcc-phase to an ordered fct-phase. The fct-phase nanowires exhibited much better ORR activity and structural and electrochemical stability than the fcc-phase ones.

A general approach to degradable vinyl random copolymers via photocontrolled radical ring-opening cascade copolymerization (rROCCP) is developed. A variety of acrylates or acrylamides can be copolymerized with the macrocyclic allylic sulfone with near-unity comonomer reactivity ratios at all feed compositions. The unusual reversible inhibition of chain propagation by sulfur dioxide in rROCCP was resolved by reducing the solubility of sulfur dioxide.

We characterized the first plant cycloartane glycosyltransferase AmGT8 from A. membranaceus. Its mutants A394F, A394D, and T131V were discovered using semi-rational design, which showed specific 6-O, 3-O, and 2′-O glycosylation activities, respectively. This study uncovered a conserved residue critical for the regiospecificity of plant glycosyltransferases.

A nanohook-equipped bionanocatalyst can firstly hook to bacteria and biofilm, then catalyze H₂O₂ to generate toxic hydroxyl radicals for localized disinfection. Upon the near-infrared laser irradiation, the bionanocatalyst can generate heat, which simultaneously accelerates the catalytic therapy and enables the heat ablation against bacteria.

Polyacrylonitrile which has C≡N groups was introduced to passivate the uncoordinated lead cations in perovskite films. The coordination of C≡N with the lead cation was much stronger than that of the normally used C=O group. It could also reduce the I/Pb ratio at the film surface. The device efficiency was improved from 21.58 % to 23.71 %, with the open-circuit voltage enhanced from 1.12 V to 1.23 V.

In stark contrast to poorly electrophilic classical σ-donating spectator ligands, we show that geometrically constrained low-coordinate, cationic Ge^II and Sn^II ligands remain highly electrophilic in the coordination sphere of Ni⁰, despite being σ-donors; binding of nucleophiles and fluoride abstraction at the donor atom is demonstrated, alongside the capacity to catalyse the hydrosilylation of alkenes and alkynes.

A new class of colloidal carbon-nitride-like quantum dots, C₄NQDs, and their functional composites have been introduced. They show interesting fluorescence/room-temperature-phosphorescence dual-mode emission for advanced optical encryption. They also show edge-selective adsorption-catalysis toward sulfur chemistry in Li−S cells by exploiting the functional group and edge effects of quantum dots.

Ni^III-NCF with enhanced nickel–oxygen covalency is obtained by manipulating the spin state of Ni²⁺ in Ni^II-NCF, which facilitates formation of nanosheet-like Li₂O₂ among Ni^III-NCF nanowire arrays upon discharging. This enables small charge/discharge overvoltages, superior rate capability, and long cycling stability.

Mesoporosity engineering is demonstrated as an efficient route for boosting catalytic selectivity of Pd-based nanobundle catalysts in the semihydrogenation of alkynes. Mechanistic studies reveal that the continuous crystalline framework and penetrated mesoporous channel of mesoporous Pd-based catalysts synergistically weaken the adsorption and binding strength of alkenes and energetically disable further over-hydrogenation of alkenes to alkanes.

To enable access to hypericin, a phytochemical with promising medicinal properties but low natural abundance, a strategy involving structure-based modification and organization of the microbial biosynthetic steps was developed without knowing its biosynthetic pathway in native plants. The designed consecutive reactions (see scheme) occurred in repurposed cells, thus circumventing the complex plant secondary metabolism.

Di-initiating frustrated Lewis pairs promoted compounded sequence control to achieve one-step synthesis of the well-defined triblock copolymers. The resulting thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) exhibit much superior mechanical properties to those of methyl methacrylate-based TPEs and maintain TPEs properties at temperatures as high as 180 °C.

The smart nano-proteolysis targeting chimeras (nano-PROTACs) are developed for photo-metabolic cancer immunotherapy. SPN_COX-mediated therapy can not only improve tumor immunogenicity but also induce targeted intratumoral degradation of COX-1/2 via the ubiquitin-proteasome system, leading to the depletion of prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) and reprogramming of the immunosuppressive TME to inhibit tumor growth, metastasis, and recurrence.

An up-conversion nanoparticles and Mn^II-based perovskite core–shell heterostructures nanocomposite was successfully synthesized for the first time, which showed dual-color emissions under the excitation of UV light and IR laser. This work suggests its potential in high-quality optical anticounterfeiting.

A symmetric all-organic proton battery is developed in mild ZnSO₄ electrolyte, which exhibits enhanced electrochemical performance and broadens proton-based battery chemistry.

A novel and facile strategy for the design and synthesis of highly luminescent copper halide hybrid structures by fabricating a coordinated anionic inorganic module in these ionic species is reported. By using this approach, a family of strongly blue-emitting copper halide hybrid ionic structures has been prepared with high internal quantum yields (IQYs) up to 98 %.

Hindered tetraphenylethylene (TPE) helicates, with a completely immobilized propeller-like conformation through substitution at the 2,6-positions of the phenyl rings, were prepared by a short synthetic route. These helicates, with their many modification positions, show deep-blue to violet emission, circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) that can be tuned over a wide range, and highly enantioselective chiral recognition.

Toward molecular quantum computing, the system needs to have good coherence, scalability, and addressability. Using endohedral nitrogen fullerenes with long coherence time, this work tackled the remaining two challenges by molecular modification and ensemble alignment. The refined molecular system scales up to four addressable quantum levels and enables the first implementation of geometric phase manipulation using pure electron paramagnetic resonance.

Hierarchical mechanical responses, from elastic and elasto-plastic bending to exceptional malleability, have been realized at different stress and temperature conditions in crystals of a rhenium oxyacid salt. The extent of the molecular rotations/translations in the mechanism is governed by the crystal structure.

A modular synthesis of α-fluoroamides from easily available aldehydes and tertiary amines has been developed, in which the multiple roles of the unique difluorocarbene reagent TMSCF₂Br (TMS=trimethylsilyl) is the key to the success of this multicomponent process.

High-performance asymmetric supercapacitors based on hierarchical-ordered ZIF−L(Zn)@Ti₃C₂T_x core–sheath fibers have been developed by microfluidic assembly and microchannel reaction methods. Due to an in situ Ti−O−Zn/Ti−F−Zn bonding bridge, well-developed micro-/mesoporosity and fast interfacial charge transfer, supercapacitors deliver high energy density, large capacitance, long-term stability and natural sunlight-induced self-powered applications.

The wide applicability of the redox-driven encapsulation of polyoxometalates (POMs) within single-walled carbon nanotubes is shown, demonstrating that the level of carbon oxidation and the efficacy of the filling are determined by the frontier orbital energies of the POM. Nanoencapsulation is found to confer significant stability to polyoxomolybdates despite their inherent lability.

A universal, feasible, and simple approach for dynamic tunable afterglow systems based on a simple radiative energy transfer mechanism is presented. The persistent luminescence (τ>0.7 s) can be reversibly converted between different colors in the solid, solution, and gel states by controlling the isomerization of the energy acceptor through a simple radiative energy transfer (reabsorption) mechanism.

Potion from the ocean: New peptide antibiotics from a sponge-derived bacterium are reported, featuring chlorination and an unusual amino-capped C-terminus. Studies on isolation, structure elucidation, biosynthesis, total synthesis, and structure–activity relationships are presented.

Plasmon-enhanced electrochemistry (PEEC) was systematically investigated on a single nanoparticle level using nanoparticle impact electrochemistry, which enables in-depth understanding of the thermodynamics and kinetics of the system, allowing quantitative analysis of the increased reaction possibility and the decreased activation energy. This work reveals the intrinsic physicochemical information at the nano-confined domains.

A series of solution-processable, crystalline porous materials were prepared and used as textiles coatings to spontaneously convert absorbed oxygen from air into reactive oxygen species (ROS) upon absorption of daylight, and long-termly store ROS in dark conditions. This work paves the way for further developing self-cleaning textile coatings for the rapid deactivation of highly infectious pathogenic bacteria under both daylight and light-free conditions.

The coordination of monomeric LiCH₂R (R=H, CH₃) and LiC₆H₅ molecules to a Mo₂ core is reported. The molecular structures of the new complexes were analyzed both in solution by NMR spectroscopic techniques and in the solid state and gas phase by X-ray and computational studies.

The prototypal member of a new family of hybrid ultramicroporous material, SOFOUR-1-Zn, uses earth-friendly sulfate anions to selectively capture C₂H₂ from C₂H₂/CO₂ mixtures, enabling recovery of both gases at high purities even from trace mixtures.

An intrinsically chiral SuFEx (sulfur–fluorine exchange) click reaction was used to produce a series of configurationally chiral high-molecular-weight polymers. This step-growth polymerization occurs with high efficiency and enantiospecifically (ee>98 %).

A modification procedure on a 15-component building block of achiral Ln₂₄Ti₈ wheel-like assemblies has been developed to obtain new accessible building blocks, resulting in a pair of new chiral enantiomers in elusive Ln–Ti systems.

The first structural characterizations of these simple fluoro-nitrogen cations have been accomplished. It is shown that the hybridization of the central nitrogen atom and of the number of fluorine substituents are the determining factors governing the N−F bond lengths which decrease from 1.40 Å to 1.26 Å with increasing fluorine substitution and increasing s-character of the nitrogen atom.

A seed iteration method to synthesize macro–meso–micro hierarchical K-Chabazite nanocrystal (≈50 nm) aggregates with enhanced mass transfer rate and adsorption capacity of CH₄ to effectively separate CH₄/N₂ is reported, which has significant potential for low-concentrated coalbed methane enrichment.

Cyclodextrins with multiple pyrene units exhibited bright circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). Owing to their good molar extinction coefficients (ϵ≈10⁵ M^-1 cm^-1), polarized emission with a good dissymmetry factor (|g_lum|≈10^-2), and quantum yield (Φ_f≈0.5), the CPL brightness (B_CPL) reached 340 M^-1 cm^-1.

A carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX)-anchored photosensitizer CA-Re was developed. It is capable of inducing and self-reporting membrane rupture upon irradiation, as well as evoking pyroptosis to activate anti-tumor immunity.

DNA-Origami-Nanostrukturen werden mit lichtempfindlichen Reaktionszentren ausgestattet, die reaktive Sauerstoffspezies bei ihrer charakteristischen Wellenlänge erzeugen. Dadurch wird die Polymerisation der Katecholamine Dopamin und Norepinephrin ausgelöst, sodass die Polymerablagerung auf der DNA-Origami-Vorlage unabhängig gesteuert werden kann. Darüber hinaus verändern die Polymerringe die Wechselwirkung zwischen DNA-Origami-Objekten und Zellmembranen und fördern so deren Aufnahme in die Zellen.