The latest developments in the large-scale production of carbon quantum dots by using microwave, ultrasonic, plasma, magnetic hyperthermia, and microfluidic techniques are outlined. The synthetic methods for generating carbon dot/polymer composites are summarized, whereby the carbon quantum dots can serve as fillers, monomers, or initiators. Promising applications, current challenges, and future perspectives are also highlighted and discussed.

Spatiotemporal delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing machinery is of great importance for developing chemical biology tools for manipulating cellular DNA sequences to treat genetic disorders. This Minireview provides an overview of synthetic approaches and specific chemistries that have been used to develop stimuli-responsive vehicles for CRISPR/Cas9 delivery and genome editing in a controlled manner.

Multicolor fluorescent polymeric hydrogels (MFPHs), rising stars of luminescent materials, are the marriage of multicolor fluorescent materials and polymeric hydrogels. They have many extraordinary properties, such as a tissue-like modulus, an intrinsic soft and wet nature, and fluorescence color change. In this Review, recent progress in MFPHs is summarized, with a particular focus on the construction methods and important applications.

Recently, hitherto elusive acid- and base-free main group carbonyl analogues (R₂E=O) derived from group 13 to 15 elements have been isolated in crystalline form. Their unperturbed nature elicits exciting new chemistry, spanning the vista from classical organic carbonyl-type reactions to transition metal-like oxide ion transfer chemistry.

Circadian rhythms are present in most if not all animals, plants, and even photosynthetic cyanobacteria. These cyanobacterial clocks as well as plant clocks are very different from those of animals, with no credible homology between the different clock proteins. Therefore circadian rhythms probably emerged multiple times in evolution, which underscores their importance.

Two novel nanoclusters Au₄₈(m-MB)₂₆ and Au₄₆(m-MBT)₂₆ have been synthesized and fully characterized, and the traceless removal of two kernel atoms in metal nanoclusters has been achieved for the first time. The two kernel atoms reduction leads to the photoluminescence quantum yield (QY) increase by almost four times. In addition, kernel bond length dependent photoluminescence and kernel charge state were first revealed.

Harmful UV light and surface defects accelerate the degradation of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A tautomeric “sunscreen” molecule can be used to protect the PSC from UV degradation and enable molecular defect passivation (defect formation energy: −1.35 eV) through interactions between functional groups and defects. This strategy provides high-efficiency PSCs with long-term UV stability.

Targeting actin requires spatiotemporal control of drug activity. Optojasps are photo-switchable small molecules, providing direct optical spatiotemporal control of the actin cytoskeleton. We present high-resolution cryo-EM structures of both isomeric states of an optojasp bound to F-actin and describe in detail the binding pocket and conformational changes associated with switching of the azobenzene.

Extremely stable Blatter's type organic radicals grafted into the mesoporous silica show advanced relaxation properties at room temperature. Electron spin decoherence time exceeds that in many other qubit candidates, allowing efficient spin manipulation at ambient conditions. The tuneable multifunctional nature of such composite materials promotes them as promising nanoplatforms for developing new spin-based quantum bits.

An iodine-assisted method has been developed for etching bulk Ti₃AlC₂ in anhydrous acetonitrile (CH₃CN), resulting in 2D MXene sheets (Ti₃C₂T_x, T=O, OH) with intact lattice, high yield (71 %), large size (1.8 μm) and ultimate thickness (<5 nm). 2D MXene sheets present great ambient stability in water for at least 2 weeks and high gravimetric capacitances of 293 F g⁻¹ at 1 mV s⁻¹ when serving as electrode materials for supercapacitors.

With the interfacial jamming of nanoparticles (NPs), a load-bearing network of NPs forms as the areal density of NPs increases, converting a liquid-like assembly into a solid-like assembly. Real-time fluorescence imaging has been used to probe the evolution of the interfacial dynamics of nanoparticle surfactants at the water/oil interface by using aggregation-induced emission as a reporter for the transition of the assemblies into the jammed state (see graph).

Fifteen global minima of the CE₃M₃⁺ (E=S–Te and M=Li–Cs) series contain a true planar hexacoordinate carbon. The chemical bonding analyses indicate that the carbon atom is covalently bonded to three chalcogens and ionically connected to the three alkali metals.

It is a tough task to achieve IR-light-driven CO₂ reduction. Herein, an element-doped ultrathin metallic photocatalyst is designed to achieve IR-light-driven CO₂ reduction. Among the reported single-component photocatalysts, the most efficient IR-light-driven CO₂ reduction is realized by Ni-doped CoS₂ nanosheets.

Ultra-low molecular weight disaccharide–polyolefin conjugates with cellobiose, lactose and maltose head groups and atactic polypropene tails, such as 1, provide highly ordered and exceptionally stable thermotropic hexagonal perforated lamellar (HPL) and double gyroid (DG) nanostructured phases. The unique stability of this DG phase extends further down to the two-dimensional limit of 15 nm in which film thickness, l, is now less than the surface-oriented unit cell height, h_DG.

The asymmetric synthesis of N-substituted α-amino esters has been achieved, in high yields and excellent enantioselectivities, employing sequence diverse metagenomic imine reductases (IREDs).

A new and reversible 1-dimensional DNA nanostructure, assembled from DNA triplexes and G-quadruplexes, is reported. These “TQ Hybrid” nanostructures require potassium ions and acidic pH to form and are easily disassembled by removal of either requirement. We anticipate that they will find unique and varied application as communication modules, sensors, logic gates, and in diverse other uses of DNA nanotechnology.

Nitrosobenzene can simultaneously activate the C−H bonds of aldehydes and the C−B bonds of boronic acids triggering a C−C bond-forming process that leads to the synthesis of ketones via an intramolecular migration from boron to carbon. These findings constitute a transition-metal-free practical, scalable, and operationally easy method for the synthesis of ketones.

Cationic dioxa[6]helicene oxidizes alkyl amines to enamines and further reacts in situ as an electrophile to form, in one-pot multi-step cascades, fully delocalized mono or bis donor-π-acceptor coupling products. This original approach provides chiral cyanine-like chromophores that absorb up to the NIR and fluoresce alike, with intense NIR ECD (Δϵ up to 60 M⁻¹ cm⁻¹). DFT showcases the importance of conformers in the strong chiroptical response.

A direct catalytic asymmetric addition of acetonitrile to aldehydes with high enantioselectivity is achieved by the strategic use of a sterically demanding Ni^II pincer carbene complex. This afforded highly enantioenriched β-hydroxynitriles.

An efficient electrochemical radical silyl-oxygenation of electron-deficient alkenes is demonstrated, which gives access to a variety of highly functionalized silicon-containing molecules, including β-silyl-cyanohydrin derivatives in good yields with excellent chemo- and regio-selectivity under mild conditions without the use of transition-metal catalyst or chemical oxidant.

Janus Ga/Zn micromotors powered by bubbles are presented as an integrated platform with autonomous movement, self-degradability, and bacteriostatic capacity. The micromotors are applied to the active target treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection.

Self-condensation of ϵ-GeAl₁₂⁸⁺ upon thermal aging is proposed as the mechanism for the formation of tetrameric [Ge₄O₁₆Al₄₈(OH)₁₀₈(H₂O)₂₄]²⁰⁺ (Ge₄Al₄₈²⁰⁺).

The first potent and selective small-molecule SETDB1 tandem tudor domain (TTD) inhibitor, (R,R)-59, is reported. (R,R)-59 is an endogenous binder-competitive inhibitor and also showed activities in intact cells. The enantiomer (S,S)-59 did not show any activity.

Twelve sugars, differing in size and stereochemistry, were used as building blocks in a modular, efficient four-step synthetic route to multifunctional BODIPY glycoconjugates with high fluorescence and hydrophilicity. The chiral information was transferred unchanged, thereby providing complex and distinct probes for target-oriented binding studies and specific in vivo imaging.

An iron-catalyzed rearrangement of 1,2,3,4-tetrazole is developed over the competitive C(sp³)–H amination. This catalytic rearrangement follows an unprecedented metalloradical activation mechanism. Employing the developed method, a wide number of complex-N-heterocyclic product classes have been accessed.

Indolyloxazole alkaloids are widespread natural products with diverse bioactivities but previously unknown biosynthesis. Transposon mutagenesis, heterologous pathway expression, and labeling experiments provide evidence for a Pseudomonas pathway involving oxazole formation by cyclization as a new reaction type catalyzed by a desaturase-like enzyme.

A method for catalytic kinetic resolution (KR) of acyclic α-substituted β-hydroxy amides was developed via enantioselective acylation of primary alcohol with an N-heterocyclic carbene. Enhanced selectivity was realized for the catalytic KR process using cyclic tertiary amine as a base additive. Diastereomeric transition state models are proposed to rationalize the origin of enantioselectivity.

A revised structure of natural cyclic depsipeptide MA026 with tight junction opening activity was established by physicochemical analysis and confirmed by its total solid-phase synthesis. Bioinformatic analysis of the putative MA026 biosynthetic gene cluster demonstrated that the stereochemistry of amino acid residue in the revised structure can be reasonably explained.

The limited current density, production rate as well as selectivity hinder the improvement of HCOOH production from CO₂ electroreduction. Here, bismuth/cerium oxide (Bi/CeO_x) displays outstanding performances for CO₂ electroreduction to HCOOH, which not only shows excellent selectivity, but also achieves a high current density (149 mA cm⁻²) and especially the maximum HCOOH production rate (2600 μmol h⁻¹ cm⁻²) ever reported.

The [Fe^II(C₆F₅Tp)₂] complex is converted through melting from a crystal phase showing a very gradual spin-crossover to another one showing a broad hysteretic spin-transition. The uncommon “rounded” hysteresis occurs in a non-cooperative SCO system. It is due to a symmetry-breaking phase transition that is triggered when roughly ca. 50 % of the SCO complexes are switched.

This work highlights diversity-oriented access to cyclopentenoid indoles and indole-alkaloid like structures which is pillared on an unprecedented latent reactivity of γ-aminoenones. The transformation highlights γ- or β,γ-functionalization of enones to generate new structural space. A reverse-aza-Piancatelli rearrangement seemed to be operating, which should invoke new attributes to its mechanism.

An easily synthesized building block BNT and a relevant polymer PBNT-BDD featuring B-N covalent bond were synthesized for application in solar cells. The polymer offered a power conversion efficiency of 16.1 %, a nonradiative recombination energy loss of 0.19 eV, and a singlet-triplet gap as low as 0.15 eV, demonstrating the promising prospect of B-N-containing materials in organic photovoltaics.

Enabled by a Pd/Cu cooperative catalyst system, the first example of defluorinative carbonylative coupling has been established. With gem-difluoroalkenes and aryl iodides as the substrates, this methodology offers flexible and facile access to privileged α-fluorochalcones under mild reaction conditions in moderate-to-excellent yields.

Nuclear spin optical rotation (NSOR) signals are enhanced by hyperpolarization of nuclear spins using dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization. The signal enhancement leads to the measurement of the NSOR constant of dimethyl sulfoxide. A spectroscopy based on hyperpolarized NSOR offers the possibility to provide information on ground and excited electronic states in molecules, localized to an NMR-addressable site.

The first enantioselective reductive cyanation and phosphonylation of secondary amides have been achieved by the combination of iridium with chiral thiourea catalysis. The protocol is highly efficient and enantioselective, providing a novel route for the synthesis of optically active α-aminonitriles and α-aminophosphonates from bench-stable feedstocks.

This contribution describes the observation of spin–electric coupling utilizing electric-field-modulated ESR (EFM-ESR) spectroscopy for single-crystals of a spin triangle which is characterized by the strong magnetic anisotropy of the individual cobalt(II) centers and a pronounced sensitivity of the molecular energy levels on the relative orientation of their magnetic axes as well as the exchange coupling between them.

Rapid RAFT 3D Printing: Photoinduced RAFT polymerization is applied to 3D printing, resulting in rapid prints with a broad window of operation. High resolution surface patterning from the 3D printed objects is readily achieved by reactivation of dormant RAFT functionalities in the polymeric material.

Calbistrin biosynthesis involves an unusual dual-functional polyketide synthase CalA, which synthesizes both of the two structurally distinct moieties of calbistrins. The product divergence is intriguingly controlled by two trans-acting enzymes, a trans-acting enoylreductase CalK and a trans-acting C-methyltransferase CalH, to yield the decalin and polyene portions, respectively.

Artificial bipyridine-containing peptide ligands encode in their sequence the stereoselective folding into chiral three-stranded Fe^II or Co^II peptide helicates and as kinetically inert dinuclear Co^III complexes by in-situ oxidation. These peptide helicates selectively label DNA replication foci in functional cells.

Laser-mediated free-radical footprinting of an integral membrane protein (IMP) is described. Compared to canonical footprinting, the approach exploits tip sonication to ensure efficient transport of a highly hydrophobic perfluoroalkyl iodide to footprint transmembrane domains. This approach, which is amenable to native IMP structures, yields 100 % coverage for tyrosine, and it is compatible with standard proteomic mass spectrometric analysis.

Highly substituted polyalkyl furans can be synthesized using sequential Michael–Heck reactions between functionalized (Z)-β-halo allylic alcohols and activated alkynes. This method provides facile access to tetraalkyl furans containing a C2-carboxyalkyl chain, which is readily functionalized to enable the total syntheses of several classes of bioactive furans, including furanoterpenes, polyketides, and furan fatty acids.

An in situ technique is presented that closes the gap between catalyst degradation studies in real devices and fundamental electrochemical analyses. The method involves direct measurement of platinum dissolution in realistic catalyst layers and through Nafion membranes. The impact of catalyst loading and electrode–electrolyte interface on platinum dissolution, as well as transport behavior of dissolved Pt species through Nafion membranes, are investigated.

In a heterogeneous Fenton-type FeN_x/C catalyst, Fe-N_x sites and graphene-encapsulated Fe/Fe₃C nanoparticles promote the efficient generation of hydroxyl radicals from H₂O₂ for the highly selective oxidation of methane to formic acid. The reaction mechanism at the active sites has been studied.

Highly selective chiral self-sorting. The chiral self-sorting behavior of large cubic [8+12] salicylimine cage compounds was investigated, revealing a high selectivity for the most symmetric cage compounds, for which an explanation is presented. The properties of the isolated enantiopure and meso cage compounds were investigated by single crystal X-ray diffraction and gas sorption measurements showing high porosities and selectivities.

An intra-crystalline electron lever strategy is proposed by constructing Mn-doped BiFeO₃ nanocrystals with a Mn⁴⁺−O−Fe³⁺ bond lever, which can specifically increase the local electron density of the Fe reaction centre to improve the kinetics of chemodynamic therapy. This method is promising in future research on the quantitative regulation of electron density and on-demand chemical reactivity adjustment.

Structurally characterizing new and poorly crystalline materials such as covalent organic frameworks is highly challenging. The dynamic protocol of this work overcomes this challenge through a systematic likelihood ordering based on intuitive heuristics and X-ray diffraction patterns. It succeeds in unambiguously identifying a material's atomic-level structure, accounting for the operando conditions and inherent temporal character of experiments.

By integrating organelle-specific targeting and NIR-light-mediated photoactivation with DNA sensor technology, precise imaging of a specific enzyme in a chosen organelle (e.g., mitochondria or nucleus) was possible (see picture). The spatiotemporal control enabled imaging of enzyme translocation at subcellular resolution in response to oxidative stress in vitro and in vivo.

A porous covalent organic framework (^GlueCOF) carrying guanidinium ion pendants has been developed that can accommodate guests and bind to biopolymers. The strong bio-adhesive nature of ^GlueCOF was used to noncovalently bind to calmodulin (CaM), which acted as a gating component for the guest-loaded 1D nanopores (^CaMCOF⊃guest). The conformational change of the CaM gate upon selective binding with Ca²⁺ enabled the release of guest molecules.

Ferroptosis is a new form of regulated cell death and holds promise for tumor inhibition. However, it is difficult to remotely control the initiation and execution of ferroptosis in specific sites. This study reports a biocompatible and biodegradable biopolymeric nanoplatform for tumor-targeted ferroptosis therapy, of which the pro-ferroptotic activities could be activated in an on-demand manner using near-infrared light as the triggering signal.

Inspired by reversible ice adhesion, a reversible ionic crystal (IC) based gel adhesive was prepared, which showed superstrong and reversible adhesion due to the phase transition of ICs. In addition, the reversible adhesion can be adjusted by heating and light, and be effectively monitored by resistance and capacitance.

Solid-state filling of a stable phosphorus ylid open-cage fullerene is followed by heating, inducing an in situ intramolecular Wittig reaction to reduce the size of the cage opening and trapping a single gas atom or molecule inside. Expensive gases can be compressed to high pressure, leading to high incorporation of the endohedral species. Cage closure steps allow preparation of gram-scale endohedral fullerenes including ³He@C₆₀, HD@C₆₀, and Ne@C₆₀.

Four catcher-type conjugated macrocycle polymers (CMP-n, n=1–4) have been designed and synthesized successfully, exhibiting interesting application in CO₂ and I₂ uptake. The CMP-2 is able to capture CO₂ with excellent selectivity and the CMP-4 is capable of adsorbing iodine with outstanding capacity.

An electrochemical strategy has been developed for the oxidative cleavage of C(OH)−C bonds using a manganese-doped cobalt oxyhydroxide catalyst under mild conditions. Preliminary studies demonstrate its application in upgrading lignin-derived products with C(OH)-C or C(O)-C motifs, electrorefining them into valuable oxygenates, such as benzoate and adipate.

A robust porous biological HOF with bpy docking groups has been designed, prepared, and post-modified to precisely load Re(bpy)(CO)₃Cl as molecular catalyst on the basis of the hydrogen-bonded and π-π stacking metal-free G-quadruplex moieties. With the help of the sensitizer, the post-functionalized HOF promotes efficient and selective CO₂-to-CO conversion in a heterogeneous system under the visible-light irradation.

Two cryptic self-resistance mechanisms involving C-5 phosphorylation and N-7′ acetylation were discovered in Streptomyces tenebrarius to avoid auto-toxicity during apramycin biosynthesis. Characterization of the corresponding enzymes revealed the apramycin's assembly line at the pseudotrisaccharide stage.

An enantioselective intramolecular hydroacylation of 3-enals involving alkene isomerization was developed for the efficient construction of C₃-chirogenic cyclopentanones with satisfactory yields, diastereoselectivities, and enantioselectivities.

Direct reaction between nitrogen and tantalum at approximately 100 GPa results in the energetic nitrogen-rich compounds TaN₄ and TaN₅, which feature N₄ chains and unprecedented branched single-bonded polymeric nitrogen chains in the crystal structures, respectively. TaN₅ possesses an extraordinary volumetric energy density of 18 kJ cm⁻³, exceeding well-known high-energy-density materials.

New materials can be created without the need to follow conventional criteria and routes to synthesis. We demonstrate this for Ge–Sn, a system actively investigated for optoelectronic applications to overcome conventional cubic Si's deficiencies. Ge and Sn are however unreactive in the bulk, but we remove reactivity barriers and form a different structure, a simple new cubic solid solution.

A detection system was devised to screen dehydrogenase enzymes (DH) at ultrahigh-throughput in in vitro droplet compartments. An NAD(H) analogue and a DH DNA library were co-immobilised on beads. Water-in-oil emulsion droplets containing cell-free expression mix and substrate allow compartmentalised protein production and catalysis. A fluorescent sensor of NAD(H) redox state was loaded onto beads, allowing bulk sorting of 2×10⁴ DH variants in a day by flow cytometry.

Bifunctional hypervalent iodine reagents for two-component cysteine-cysteine and cysteine-lysine stapling are reported. Efficient and selective stapling on non-protected peptides was observed, and post-stapling modification could be easily achieved using reactive esters or cycloaddition on the thioalkynes formed on the cysteine residue. One stapled peptide displayed both enhanced helicity and binding to the MDM2 protein.

High-silica CHA zeolite membranes show ultra-high Kr/Xe selectivity and superior hydrothermal stability. Together with their irradiation stability, high-silica CHA zeolite membranes can pave the way to enrich radioactive ⁸⁵Kr from xenon for a notable decrease in the volatile nuclear waste volume.

In this work, the synthesis and total structure determination of a novel Ag₄₄(EBT)₂₆(TPP)₄ nanocluster, the first analogue of [Ag₄₄(SR)₃₀]⁴⁻, are reported. The identical size as well as similar core- and different surface-structures of these two nanoclusters enable the study of the structural effect on the optical and photophysical properties. The novel surface structure plays a crucial role in the enhancement of NIR-II photoluminescence.

CO₂ photoreduction with Ni-ZrO₂ as a catalyst under UV/Vis light was monitored by ¹³C-labeled mass chromatography, FTIR spectroscopy, and EXAFS. The interplay of bicarbonate reduction to CO over ZrO₂ owing to charge separation by light with subsequent hydrogenation of CO over Ni heated from light enabled CO₂ reduction to methane.

Novel biohybrid systems are created for light-driven H₂ production by using non-photosynthetic microorganisms self-photosensitized with CdS nanoparticles. An outstanding biohybrid system using D. desulfuricans displays high H₂ production activity, high stability and a remarkable solar efficiency.

Global switch for local effect: The linear fusion of (aza)acene and a redox switchable macrocycle (i.e. triphyrin(2.1.1)) gives a set of fused systems merging two π-conjugated clouds. A competition between local and global effects can be distinguished as documented in spectroscopic properties with a domination of (aza)acene diatropic current obtained after a redox switching within the macrocyclic flank.

Simultaneous chemical analysis and spatial mapping of homopolymers used for energy storage and molecular feedstock in biological tissues are challenging using conventional MS imaging. Here, the spatial and size distributions for oligomers from polyhydroxybutyrate, polysaccharide, and polyglutamic acid are profiled in rhizobia-infected soybean root nodules by MS imaging using nanophotonic ionization from silicon nanopost arrays and MALDI.

A single iron atom catalyst composed of atomically-dispersed iron sites anchored on a N,O-doped carbon matrix with an inverse opal structure is developed to accelerate nitrogen reduction reaction kinetics for efficient conversion of N₂ into NH₃.

The first catalytic enantioselective desymmetrizing Fischer indolization of prochiral diketones, containing enantiotopic carbonyl groups, is developed and shown to proceed through dynamic kinetic resolution. Catalyzed by a combination of a spirocyclic chiral phosphoric acid and ZnCl₂, this reaction delivers cyclopenta[b]indolones, containing an all-carbon quaternary stereocenter, with up to 98.5:1.5 e.r.

Membrane anchoring photosensitizers with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics were designed for cancer cell ablation via photo-activated pyroptosis.

Tetrahedral and hexahedral coordination cages with one or two missing linkers, as well as regular trigonal prismatic cages, are synthesized by employing steric hindrance of organic linkers to manipulate coordination modes of lanthanide(III) ions. The defective cages, especially the hexahedral cage, are conformationally flexible and adapt its structure to accommodate various guest molecules with sizes comparable or much larger than the cavity portals that are not accessible to the non-defective cage.

Cu₄TiSe₄ is a unique example of a non-toxic and low-cost material that exhibits a lattice ultra-low thermal conductivity of 0.19 Wm⁻¹ K⁻¹ at room temperature. The main contribution to the unusually low thermal conductivity is connected with the atomic lattice and its dynamics.

Six-level energy systems are constructed through the cascaded occurrence of excited-state intramolecular proton transfer consisting of a first ultrafast proton transfer of <430 fs and a following dominant and irreversible proton transfer of ca. 1.6 ps, which support the NIR single-mode lasing at 854 nm for exploiting energy-level systems of OSSLs, especially at the NIR region from 780 to 2500 nm.

The well-known electron acceptor perylenediimide (PDI) is covalently attached to semiconducting MoS₂, thus exposing the MoS₂ material's electron donating potential in the novel MoS₂–PDI hybrid.

A mild, surface-specific method for the surface functionalization of few-layer black phosphorus nanosheets is developed using a family of photolytically generated nitrenes (RN) from the corresponding azides. By embedding spectroscopic tags in the organic backbone, a multitude of techniques can be used to investigate the chemical structure of the modified nanosheets.

A B-Cu gas diffusion electrode (GDE) system was developed for highly selective CO₂ conversion to C₂₊ products at high relevant current densities by mitigating the flooding problem and tuning the three-phase boundary. Anodic protection by sacrificial Zn nanosheets remarkably improved the long-term stability for CO₂ electroreduction at high current densities.