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.
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.
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.
Two‐dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) usually have poly‐phases, such as 2H, 3R and 1T. Controlling the structure phase of 2D TMDs is the key for engineering the physical and chemical properties of the materials and hence is vital to the applications. Many approaches, including doping/intercalation, alloying, defects, strain, electric field and so on, have been developed to tune the thermodynamic stability of the different phases of TMDs and then phase selective synthesis or controlled phase conversion has been achieved. More details are discussed in the article by Xie et al. on page 753–760.
The inside cover picture shows the hydrogen transfer process of the production of acetic acid from ethanol and water mixture catalyzed by iridium catalyst owning bpyO ligand. A DFT mechanistic study indicates that the cooperation of the iridium center and bpyO ligand plays an important role in the catalytic activity, and that the hydrogen release process from the iridium center is the rate‐determining step. More details are discussed in the article by Lei et al. on page 883–886.
The cover picture shows a highly enantioselective organocatalytic protonation of monofluorinated silyl enol ethers to α‐secondary α‐fluoroketones using water as proton source. Notably, in the presence of D2O and MeOD, the facile access of chiral α‐deuterated α‐fluoroketones in excellent enantioselectivity is achieved. More details are discussed by Zhou et al. on page 799–806.
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 inside cover picture shows the development of chiral pyridoxal and pyridoxamine catalysts by mimicking vitamin B6‐dependent enzymes. These chiral pyridoxals and pyridoxamines displayed extraordinary catalytic performances in asymmetric biomimetic transamination and Mannich reaction, to give various chiral α‐amino acids and α,β‐diamino acid esters in good yields with excellent diastero‐ and/or enantioselectivities. The research has provided some useful information for further applications of the catalytic power of vitamin B6 in the area of asymmetric cayalysis. More details are discussed in the article by Zhao et al. on page 103–112.
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 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.
The inside cover picture shows the journey of developing PIP amine directing group for C—H activation, from controlling the reactivity and diastereoselectivity to enantioselectivity. In the presence of Pd or base metal catalysts, PIP amine enabled the activation of inert C—H bonds to form diverse C—C and C—heteroatom bonds. Its tuneable structure has triggered the design of chiral auxiliaries for diastereoselective C—H activation. More recently, enantioselective activation of unbiased methylene C—H bonds has been achieved by cooperative effects between PIP amine and axial chiral ligands. More details are discussed in the article by Shi et al. on page 647–656.
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.
The cover picture shows the copper‐catalyzed Ullmann‐Ma reaction of aryl halides with nucleophiles by the assistance of two‐generation ligands, amino acids and oxalic diamides or related amides. Ullmann‐Ma reaction is one of the most important transformations for the construction of aryl carbon‐carbon and carbon‐heteroatom bonds in organic chemistry. For the details about the history, development, scope and applications of Ullmann‐Ma reaction, please see the article by Cai et al. on page 879–893.
The back cover picture shows a supramolecularly‐controlled topochemical reaction of conjugated dienes under irradiation in homogeneous system. Using this method, the cyclooctadiene‐cored derivatives are synthesized very efficiently. Moreover, the cyclooctadiene tetraimidazolium derivatives can be applied as fluorescent chemosensors for thymine in aqueous solution at physiological pH (7.4). More details are discussed in the article by Han et al. on page 1040—1044.
Metal‐air batteries have achieved great proceedings in the past decade. This review summarizes progresses of cathode evolution and anode protection strategies in the area of Li/Na‐air batteries and prototypes of flexible batteries are presented. More details are discussed in the article by Zhang et al. on page 32—42.
The cover picture shows the construction of interfacial inorganic nanostructures and their application in electrocatalysis. In this review, we begin with the controllable synthesis of three classic configurations on interfacial nanostructured materials by briefly introducing some recent advances in interfacial engineering. More importantly, we concentrate on several typical model studies of inorganic heterogeneous nanostructured electrocatalysts for different energy conversion reactions, due to the special interface and synergistic effect. More details are discussed in the article by Xi et al. on page 772–782.
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.
The cover picture shows that a new class of axially chiral aryl‐alkene‐indole frameworks has been constructed by the strategy of designing 3‐alkynyl‐2‐indolylmethanols as versatile reactants for catalytic asymmetric cyclizations. This approach represents the first catalytic asymmetric construction of axially chiral alkene‐heteroaryl scaffolds, which will add a nascent member to the atropisomeric family. The authors devised the innovative strategy to construct the intriguing axially chiral frameworks, just like Nuwa used the 'five‐colored stone' to mend the sky in the mythology of ancient China. More details are discussed in the article by Shi and Jiao et al. on page 543—552.
A copper‐catalyzed aerobic oxidative ring expansion reaction of isatins with 1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroisoquinoline for the synthesis of tetracyclic quinazolinones has been developed. The capacity of the resultant 5H‐isoquinolino[1,2‐b]quinazolin‐8(6H)‐one for a range of palladium‐catalyzed directing C—H activation has been further demonstrated, thus giving a broader access to diverse tetracyclic quinazolinones. More details are discussed in the article by Xiao and Deng et al. on page 87—92.
The cover picture shows an approach toward less‐trace SpyTag‐SpyCatcher ligation. A proteolytic recognition sequence has been engineered into the second loop of SpyCatcher to produce SpyCatcherDDDDK variant. The reaction between SpyTag and SpyCatcherDDDDK is highly efficient both in vivo and in vitro, producing a stable covalent complex. The complex can be further cleaved at the second loop by enterokinase, resulting in only a small scar after ligation. This protocol adds to the expanding toolbox of genetically‐encoded peptide‐protein chemistry for protein topology engineering. More details are discussed in the article by Zhang et al. on page 113–118.
