Studying growth : The diffusion‐controlled kinetic (DCK) model and the surface chemical thermodynamics (SCT) model have been successfully applied to interpret the nucleation and growth mechanism of CeF3 (see TEM images) and NaCeF4 nanocrystals, and may generally give light to the size‐control and morphology prediction of rare‐earth fluorides at the nanoscale level.
Visible improvements : Owing to the plasmon resonance of silver nanoparticles deposited on the surface of AgBr, the newly‐prepared plasmonic photocatalyst Ag§AgBr has a strong absorption in the visible region (see picture) and shows high efficiency in the photodegradation of organic pollutants under visible light.
A regio‐ and stereocontrolled solution for a selective modification at the C‐2 or C‐4 position of N‐acetylneuraminic acid involves the use of allylic substitution catalyzed by palladium. As illustrated in the scheme, regioselective malonylation is under the strict influence of the ligands associated with the allylpalladium complex.
Ultrafast light‐induced processes in a series of π‐conjugated mono‐, bis‐, tris‐ and tetrakis(terpyridine) derivatives are investigated by femtosecond time‐resolved spectroscopy. Non‐exponential excited‐state dynamics involving singlet–triplet intersystem crossing are observed which span from picoseconds to nanoseconds (see figure).
Borenes and boranes : Silylaminoiminoborenes, such as depicted, were isolated after treatment of halogen triels with silylaminofluoroboranes. In addition, novel aryl‐ and silyl‐substituted diaminofluoroboranes were also prepared in order to substantiate this reaction route.
Supramolecular chirality and liquid crystalline OFET : Achiral end‐capped oligothiophenes can be tuned to exhibit supramolecular chirality with unique striped textures showing distinct circular dichroism signals as well as a highly ordered SmE phase that leads to high hole carrier mobility.
Arene control : Anticancer complexes [Ru(arene)Cl(en)]+ (arene=p‐cymene or biphenyl; en=ethylenediamine) bind to surface histidine (His128, His247, His510) and methionine (Met298) residues in human albumin, but only the p‐cymene complex can gain entry to the crevice containing the free cysteine thiolate (Cys34) and induce oxidation to sulfinate.
Crystal‐clear structures : The first crystal structures of organometallic pincer–cutinase hybrids (see figure) provide insight into the 3D structural arrangement of both the protein and the organometallic pincer moiety, and reveal different binding modes for different pincers.
In‐source oxidation : In‐source photocatalytic redox reactions for inducing peptide fragmentation are achieved on a TiO2‐derived target plate during laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry in the presence of samples and glucose acting as both an electron donor and a hole conductor (see scheme).
Let it shine! The impact of the anchoring group on photovoltaic performance by a series of phthalocyanine sensitisers (see figure) has been demonstrated.
High pressure under the spotlight : A new milliliter‐scale reactor is developed for using supercritical CO2 to perform continuous photo‐oxidation reactions. Changing from a traditional microliter‐scale batch reaction to 8 hours of reaction using the new reactor gives a 3000‐fold scale‐up of the oxidation of α‐terpinene (see picture).
Special delivery! Polyionic complex (PIC) micelles that contain the charge‐conversional moieties citaconic amide or cis‐aconitic amide were developed for cytoplasmic protein delivery. The increase of the charge density on the protein cargo helped the stability of the PIC micelles without cross‐linking, and the charge‐conversion in endosomes induced the dissociation of the PIC micelles to result in efficient endosomal release (see picture).
As easy as 1, 2, 3 : A palladium‐catalyzed three‐component coupling generates α,β‐unsaturated γ‐amino acids in a single step (see scheme). The reaction is believed to involve migration of a vinyl substituent to a highly electrophilic palladium carbene. Unlike previous synthetic approaches, this synthesis provides access to γ‐amino acids with non‐natural side chains.
Predicting single‐molecule magnets? Magnetic anisotropy, a property that plays a key role in single‐molecule magnets (SMMs), has been analyzed by using theoretical methods. Mononuclear complexes and the dependence of the magnetic anisotropy on their geometrical and electronic structure, as well as how such mononuclear complexes must be combined as building blocks to obtain polynuclear complexes with large anisotropy (see figure) are considered.
The light fantastic : Two new 2‐(benzo[b]thiophene‐3‐yl)pyrroles have been synthesized, and are shown to exhibit optical properties that are promising for optoelectronic materials and devices such as highly efficient fluorescent sensors (see scheme). In addition a new BODIPY fluorophore, derived from 2‐(benzo[b]thiophene‐3‐yl)pyrrole, was also isolated and shows good spectroscopic properties in solution which are fully preserved in the solid state.
