The cover picture shows the enzymatic synthesis of a diastereomer of abyssomicin derivative using the Diels–Alderase, AbyU, which catalyzes stereoselective intramolecular Diels–Alderase-cycloaddition to form the spirotetronate moiety with a 15S configuration during abyssomicin C biosynthesis. AbyU is shown to convert the native substrate of another Diels-Alderase, AbmU; to a new abyssomicin derivative with a 15R configuration, which is the enantiomeric counterpart to the native AbmU-catalysed product. More details are discussed in the article by Ju et al. on page 1871—1877.

Shi epoxidation is an extremely powerful tool to access optically active epoxides. Several generations of chiral ketones have been developed to realize the asymmetric epoxidation of trans-, trisubstituted olefins, cis-olefins, terminal olefins, and tetrasubstituted olefins. Due to its reliability and high regio- and enantioselectivity, Shi epoxidation has been widely applied in the synthesis of complex natural products and biologically active molecules. More details are discussed in the article by Du et al. on page 2016—2026.

Asymmetric aminocatalysis has become one of the most powerful strategies for the transformations of carbonyl substances over the past two decades. Here, we describe the research from our laboratory that significantly expands the horizon of aminocatalysis. It includes the development and application of cinchona-based primary amines, fruitful reactions based on HOMO-raising strategy, and the disclosure of amine/thiol double activation catalysis.

The well-defined conformational properties of axially chiral compounds bring extraordinary values to an assortment of bioactive molecules, advanced materials, organocatalysts as well as chiral ligands in asymmetric transformations. The demonstrated usefulness and untapped potential of axially chiral structural motifs stimulate increasing efforts to develop novel and efficient approaches for their preparation. In this regard, the chiral phosphoric acids broadly used in asymmetric Brønsted acid catalysis have shown high relevance for atroposelective synthesis as well. Our strong interest in reaction chemistry of atropisomers has established a rewarding research programme in our group. The course of studies will be recounted in this account, with discussion focused on the use of chiral phosphoric acids to catalyze construction of several key axially chiral structures such as BINAM, BINOL, NOBIN, arylquinones, SPINOL, arylpyrrole analogues and axially chiral alkenes.

The serendipitous discovery of dumb-bell-shaped C₁₂₀ under high-speed vibration milling conditions is described. The mechanochemical synthesis of encapsualted C₁₂₀, the cross-dimer C₁₃₀, trimer C₁₈₀, bridged C₆₀ dimers and other molecules is presented.

A single particle-based confocal laser scanning microscopy was developed for the visual detection of copper ions in confined space by using fluorescence microparticle, AuNCs/ZIF-8, which was synthesized by coating gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) onto the outer surface of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8). The synthesized AuNCs/ZIF-8 exhibits turn-off responses for Cu²⁺ via fluorescence quenching in the range of 2—15 μmol·L^–1 with a detection limit of 0.9 μmol·L^–1. Different distribution of AuNCs on the different surfaces of single ZIF-8 crystal and similar fluorescence quenching dynamics on the different surfaces of single AuNCs/ZIF-8 were obtained.

This work reveals the electronic structure and stability of B_nX_n^0/2- (n = 4, 6; X = H, F, Cl, Br, I, At, Ts) clusters through a chemical bonding point of view.

Poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide-b-poly(4-tert-butoxystyrene-co-pentafluorostyrene) particles with inverse bicontinuous phases were prepared via polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). The effect of solvent composition and the degrees of polymerization of the core-forming and the stabilizer block was investigated.

A method for photoinduced NaI-promoted radical borylation of aliphatic halides and pseudohalides has been developed that enables synthesis of a series of alkylboronates.

A general and practical protocol for the construction of diversified sulfur heterocycles has been described through organic electrosynthesis means. In undivided cell, dihydrothiophenes, thiazolines and 1,4-dithiines could be easily generated from various available β-ketothioamides under metal-free and external oxidant-free conditions. The transformation underwent smoothly under mild conditions and could be easily scaled-up. Moreover, different sulfur heterocycles were generated through varying solvent and DABCO could enable the HAT process of this transformation.

Two orientations of the azide-alkyne click chemistry mediated enrichment for secretome analysis resulted in significantly different background contaminants from serum-containing conditioned medium.

The Ni₂P nanosheets have been synthesized by two steps of hydrothermal and phosphating. The prepared Ni₂P NS can be used as an electrochemical platform to detect acetaminophen in commercial medical drugs.

A Lewis acid catalyzed cascade reaction of ketone phosphorylation has been developed that enables synthesis of vinylphosphonate derivates in moderate to excellent yields.

Fully-deprotected peptide acyl hydrazides can be converted into their corresponding selenoesters upon treatment with acetylacetone, tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine and diphenyldiselenide in aqueous buffer. This reaction enabled one-pot selenoesterification, ligation and desulfurization in the synthesis of protein targets.

AbyU is shown to convert the native substrate 4 of another Diels-Alderase (DAase), AbmU, to a new abyssomicin derivative, abyssomicin 7. Abyssomicin 7 is a diastereomer of the AbmU-derived, abyssomicin 6.

Double-shelled Fe₂N@TiO₂@C submicrocubes with porous Fe₂N yolk are successfully fabricated by a multistep templating method. Benefiting from the structural and compositional merits, the as-obtained Fe₂N@TiO₂@C yolk-shell submicrocubes deliver high specific capacity, long-term cyclability, and remarkable rate property.

As zinc ion battery cathode material, the NH₄V₄O₁₀·0.28H₂O microflowers deliver a high discharge capacity (410 mA·h·g^–1 at 0.2 A·g^–1) and an ideal rate performance, which is significantly better than most vanadium-based materials. The ex-situ and in-situ characterizations demonstrate the impressive electrochemical performance, which can be attributed to the ammonium ion and structural water co-assisted Zn²⁺ intercalation/de-intercalation.

The electron-rich asymmetrical coordinated Fe grafted onto 1T MoS₂ can activate dinitrogen and react with water to form ammonia (12.5% yield in mole) at room temperature and atmosphere pressure.

A divergent and efficient method for preparing pyrido[2,3,4-kl]acridine and pyrido[4,3,2-kl]acridine alkaloid is reported. This method featured a novel remote palladium-catalyzed reductive cyclization with Mo(CO)₆ as reductant by nitro biarenes, and a wide scope of substrates were tolerated and total 34 analogues containing the two types of polycyclic heteroaromatic skeleton were prepared. Furthermore, the potential synthetic application of this method was demonstrated by the accomplishment of synthesis of norsegoline, styelsamine C and the necatorone skeleton.

A room temperature highly enantioselective rhodium(I)-catalyzed C(sp³)—H functionalization of 1,4-cyclohexadienes with α-aryl-α-diazoacetates was accomplished by means of carbene-induced C—H insertion process using a chiral bicyclo[2.2.2]-octadiene as ligand. The reaction allows access to a broad range of C—H insertion products in good yields with good to excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee). By employing this protocol, a diverse variety of gem-diaryl-containing highly enantiomerically enriched acetates can be easily obtained.

A general method for asymmetric synthesis of chiral 1,3-disubstituted allylsilanes was developed, including a new copper(I)-NHC complex-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-conjugate silylation of α,β-unsaturated sulfones and Julia-Kocienski olefination.

When the NB-PDMAEMA macromonomer with high density of tertiary amine groups undergoes ROMP, the third generation Grubbs catalyst is inactive due to the coordination of the tertiary amine groups with the ruthenium metal center, the polymerization is thus inhibited. Our work is to insert proper length non-coordinating spacer chain between the norbornenyl groups and the PDMAEMA chains, which changes the local environment of the ruthenium center to non-coordinating, the ROMP of the NB-PS-b-PDMAEMA is controlled.

The aggregation behavior of polymer donor has profound impact on the blend film morphology and final device performance. In this work, the aggregation behavior of polymer donor was tuned by molecular weight control to form favorable three-phase system morphology. Consequently, the optimal device achieved a splendid PCE of 17.1% and FF of 78.2%.

Ternary clusters [As₃MAs₃Pb₃]³⁻ (M = Nb, Ta), directly extracted from quaternary intermetallic solid K₈MPbAs₅, are made up of electron-deficient transition atoms, an As₃ triangle and a hypho As₃Pb₃ unit. The σ-aromaticity of the [Pb₃]²⁻ unit was demonstrated by DFT calculations.

A highly enantioselective synergistic bimetallic Pd/Cu catalysis with a single chiral ligand affording optically active 2,3-butadienyl α-amino acids derivatives is described. The product can be converted to useful basic chemicals, such as α-amino acid and β-amino alcohol bearing an allenic moiety, and bicyclic skeleton.

This work employs the density functional theory to deal with eight geometry types of monomer and trigger complex through two pathways of catalysis reaction to proceed the ring-opening polymerization of lactide leading to the identical polymer product. The ring-opening mechanism is revealed, and the whole polymerization process is summarized.

The first enantioselective total synthesis of (–)-pallambins A—D has been achieved. The described synthesis avoids protecting-group manipulations by designing highly chemo- and stereoselective transformations.

Fifteen 5,9-epoxygrayanane diterpenoids including fourteen new ones were isolated from the leaves of Rhododendron micranthum. Epoxymicranthols A—C (1—3) represent the first examples of 14α-hydroxygrayanane diterpenoids. Epoxymicranthols C—F (3—6) are the first examples of 10β-hydroxy-5,9-epoxygrayanane diterpenoids. All the isolates exhibited significant analgesic activities. A preliminary structure-activity relationship is discussed.

A series of fluorescent polymers in hexagonal columnar liquid crystals were prepared, and their mesomorphic behaviors and emission wavelengths were tuned by the lengths of flexible spacers.

This review describes the initial discovery of Shi epoxidation, the development of the carbohydrate-based chiral ketones, and the typical applications of Shi epoxidation in the synthesis of complex compounds.

Structural DNA nanotechnology has established an attractive toolbox for biological analysis and medical detection. In this mini review, we focus on the research progress of in situ analysis of DNA nanostructured biosensors in confined space.

Recently, nanopores have been used to sense a variety of analytes, including DNA, RNA, proteins, enzymes, small molecules, cancer cells, and metal ions, and can also provide information on biomolecular structures.

Intramolecular charge transfer in donor-acceptor conjugated carbon nitride polymers synthesized by different methods is reviewed. The resultant effects on electronic structure including light absorption and charge separation are systematically discussed.

The inside back cover picture shows an electrochemical acetaminophen sensor based on Ni₂P nanosheets. It is worth mentioning that the present sensor exhibits a wide linear range of 0.5 μmol/L—4.5 mmol/L, a moderate sensitivity of 131.1 μA·mmol^–1·L·cm^–2, a low detection limit of 0.107 μmol/L, as well as excellent selectivity, robust stability and reliable repeatability. Comfortingly, the sensor can be employed for quantitative detection of acetaminophen in commercial medical drugs. More details are discussed in the article by Lu et al. on page 1849—1854.

This paper reported the discovery of several uncommon cytotoxic bis-quinolizidine alkaloids from the Hainan sponge Neopetrosia chaliniformis. Their structures were unambiguously determined by extensive spectroscopic and single-crystal X-ray analyses. More details are discussed in the article by Li et al. on page 1838—1842.