The cover picture shows facile photochemical synthesis, direct in situ TEM characterization, and effective catalytical applications of sponge‐like porous Pd nano particles. In situ liquid cell TEM observation not only confirms the actual existence of the sponge‐like Pd in a liquid solution, but also shows such Pd nanostructure is in a dynamic stable state, which is beneficial for the material exchange and the catalytic performance improvement. The expected catalytic activity improvement is supported by such as the 4‐nitrophenol reduction reactions, which is important both for the environment and the industry. More details are discussed in the article by Chen et al. on page 565–569.
The inside cover picture shows in situ construction of highly emissive Pt(II) metallacycles upon irradiation. The self‐assembled diarylethene‐containing metallacycles can realize supramolecular transform from the open‐ring isomers to their closed‐ring ones under UV irradiation. Moreover, the closed‐ring isomers featured a relatively high fluorescence quantum yield. This property of “turn‐on” fluorescence switching provides a new method to construct highly emissive supramolecular fluorescent materials by light stimulus. More details are discussed in the article by Yang et al. on page 323–329.
The back cover picture shows an efficient organic ligand‐free heterogeneous catalytic system for hydroformylation of olefins with simple Rh particles as the catalyst. The Rh black catalyst showed good catalytic activity for a broad substrate scope including the aliphatic and aromatic olefins, affording the desired aldehydes in good yields. The catalyst could be reused several times without loss of activity under identical reaction conditions, and the Rh leaching was negligible after each cycle. More details are discussed in the article by Shi et al. on page 139 ‐ 143.
Reactions of homoleptic rare‐earth aryloxides based Lewis pairs with organic azides were investigated, which gave either bimetallic rare‐earth azide complexes in an end‐to‐end fashion or FLP‐type 1,1‐addition product depending on the nature of azide reagents. The current reaction was found to be applicable for Lewis acids across the full range of rare‐earth metals. More details are discussed in the article by Xu et al. on page 559—564.
The cover picture shows a microporous separator which is a key component to determine the safety and performance of lithium‐ion battery (LIB). In China, the LIB separators were totally imported from abroad before 2008. Based on the extensive studies on the pore formation mechanisms, Fu et al. realized the industrialization of LIB separators successfully. Nowadays, China has become the biggest producer of LIB separators in the word. More details are discussed in the article by Fu et al. on page 1207–1215.
In this paper, we design a new interrupted AST‐type zeolitic imidazolate framework with cub and interrupted ast cages, which exhibits permanent porosity, high hydrophobicity and strong solid‐state photoluminescent properties. More details are discussed in the article by Wang & Zhang et al. on page 449–452.
The back cover picture shows the first LA‐catalyzed [3+2]IMCC of GDA‐epoxides with carbon‐carbon double bonds. This provides an efficient and general strategy for construction of bridged oxa‐[n.2.1] skeletons. A novel SN‐like mechanism through a carbon‐carbon bond cleavage of epoxide ring has been proposed. The colorful fireworks in the picture imply the generation of skeletal diversity from the epoxide‐diene, and express a dedication to the 100th Anniversary of Nankai University as well. More details are discussed in the article by Wang et al. on page 695–699.
Cryo‐electron diffraction tomography (Cryo‐EDT) has been developed to determine the crystal structures of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) and their host‐guest interaction at the atomic precision, whose crystals are only submicron‐sized, organic, porous, and dynamic. The keys of 3D electron diffraction (3D‐ED) techniques are low‐dose beam, sample cryo‐handling, fast data collection, sensitive detector, and direct space structure solution. We envision the development of COF chemistry will be propelled by such powerful 3D‐ED techniques for a better understanding at the molecular level and correlation of structures to chemicophysical properties. More details are discussed in the article by Zhang et al. on page 1153—1166.
The cover picture shows A new strategy for preparing antimicrobial peptides from the natural occurring peptide gramicidin A has been developed by simply removing its N‐terminal formyl group and decoration at the terminal NH2 group. The peptides are able to selectively insert into Gram‐positive bacterial membrane to form transmembrane channels but not that of erythrocyte membrane, which leads to their high antimicrobial activity and low hemolytic toxicity. More details are discussed in the article by Hou et al. on page 25–29.
This special issue of the Journal of the Chinese Chemical Society is dedicated to Prof. Chien-Hong Cheng on the occasion of his 70th birthday. 12 articles/reviews representing cutting-edge research carried out by many of Prof. Cheng's friends, colleagues, former students and coworkers are collected in this issue.
The cover picture shows a synergistically directed assembly route towards novel multi‐component coordination architectures driven by aromatic donor‐acceptor and coordination interactions. The huge structural discrepancies between coronene donor present and absent experiments clearly prove the significance of aromatic donor‐accepter pairs and their inherent cooperation mechanism in these assembly processes. More details are discussed by Bu et al. on page 871–877.
5‐Bromofuran‐2‐carboxylates were conducted in a palladium‐catalyzed reductive homocoupling reactions in the presence of alcohols as the reductant to afford [2,2’]bifuran‐5,5’‐dicarboxylic acid esters, which are essential monomers of poly(ethylene bifuranoate), serving as an green and versatile alternative polymer for traditional poly(ethylene terephthalate). More details are discussed in the article by Yin and Jiang et al. on page 62—68.
The cover picture shows an efficient one‐pot condensation of maleimide derivatives in the presence of acetic acid and water to afford a series of benzene triimides (BTIs). The structure, physicochemical properties and electrochemistry behavior of BTIs were systematically investigated. Owing to the planar structure and unique electron‐deficient nature, BTIs can self‐assemble into different motifs. More details are discussed by Wang et al. on page 684–688.
The back cover picture shows an electrochemical strategy for the borylation of aryl iodides via a radical pathway using current as a driving force. This method features mild reaction conditions, good functional groups tolerance, and prompt reaction time. EPR, CV and DPV experiments verified the formation of aryl radicals in this electrochemical borylation reaction, and the current plays an important role in the generation of radical intermediate. More details are discussed in the article by Mo et al. on page 347–351.
This review summarizes key development of N‐heterocyclic carbene organic catalysis, with a particular focus on the basic activation and reaction modes enabled by NHCs. More details are discussed in the article by Chi et al. on page 1167—1202.
Glycerol molecules can be selectively converted into 1,2‐propanediol in water by the way of Ni‐based Great‐Wall Catalysts with Beacon‐like macropores and Passage‐like mesoporous channels. Otherwise, an amount of by‐product lactic acid was produced via rearrangement from glycerol. More details are discussed in the article by Zhang & Ma et al. on page 439–444.
The love story of “Niu Lang and Zhi Nv” is one of the most famous tales in China. The couple separated by the Tianhe river were able to meet each other once a year with the help of numerous magpies who built a colorful bridge across the river. With this backdrop, Y.‐F. Han et al. present in their article a metal‐carbene‐templated photochemistry in solution. Assisted by the bridge of carbene‐metal‐carbene units, two olefin substrates can reach each other closely, leading to photodimerization and the formation of cyclobutane derivatives. More details are discussed in the article by Han et al. on page 1147–1152.
The cover picture shows Schilancidilactones A, B and Schilancitrilactones A, B, C all belong to schinortriterpenoid. Preliminary bioassay shows some of them possess fascinating bioactivities, such as antitumor, antihepatitis, and anti‐HIV‐1 activities. The total synthesis of Schilancidilactones A, B and Schilancitrilactones A, B, C has been accomplished from the common intermediates for the first time by Tang group. An intramolecular radical cyclization, late‐stage halogenation and AIBN‐mediated or Ni‐catalyzed intermolecular radical cross coupling reaction were employed as the key steps. More details are discussed in the article by Tang et al. on page 255–268.
The function of the type II peptidyl carrier protein (PCP) ColA1a in collismycin (COL) biosynthesis was characterized in this study. ColA1a was involved in the selection and loading of picolinic acid (PA), instead of normal amino acid substrates, as the origin of ring B in COLs. The 2.1 Å crystal structure of ColA1a was solved. Primary and tertiary structural comparison of ColA1a with other PCPs revealed the structural basis for their typical α‐helical bundles. More details are discussed in the article by Ma et al. on page 963—969.
The inside cover picture shows a palladium‐catalyzed asymmetric dihydroxylation of 1,3‐dienes with catechols utilizing chiral pyridinebis(oxazoline) ligand. The reaction is proposed to proceed via a cascade Wacker‐type hydroxypalladation/asymmetric allylation process. This methodology provides a direct and straightforward synthesis to prepare chiral 2‐substituted 1,4‐benzodioxane motifs in moderate to good yield and enantioselectivity from readily available starting materials. More details are discussed in the article by Gong et al. on page 226–232.
