Iron‐Promoted C?C Bond Formation in the Gas Phase

An unusual iron transfer and carbon–carbon coupling take place in gas‐phase ionized mixtures containing ferrocene and dichloromethane. Ferrous chloride and the protonated benzenium ion are eventually formed by a thermal and efficient reaction, through stable intermediates that undergo a remarkable reorganization. The mechanism of the concerted iron extrusion, carbon–chlorine bond activation and carbon–carbon bond formation is elucidated by electronic structure calculations that show the crucial role of iron.     

”Our work showed how pretty damn good that material is“

Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics ”for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two‐dimensional material graphene“. Nachrichten aus der Chemie asked Andre Geim what he likes most about graphene and if he, too, believes that this new form of carbon could be the silicon of the future.     

Radially Inwardly Aligned Hierarchical Porous Carbon for Ultra-Long-Life Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Rational design of hollow micro- and/or nano-structured cathodes as sulfur hosts has potential for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries. However, their further commercial application is hindered because infusing sulfur into hollow hosts is hard to control and the interactions between high loading sulfur and electrolyte are poor. Herein, we designed hierarchical porous hollow carbon nanospheres with radially inwardly aligned supporting ribs to mitigate these problems. Such a structure could aid the sulfur infusion and maximize sulfur utilization owing to the well-ordered pore channels. This highly organized internal carbon skeleton can also enhance the electronic conductivity. The hollow carbon nanospheres with further nitrogen-doping as the sulfur host material exhibit good capacity and excellent cycling performance (0.044 % capacity degradation per each cycle for 1000 cycles).