Top down goes bottom up : A family of microporous interpenetrating diamond frameworks can be constructed from a pentanuclear tetrahedral complex with nitrate groups at the apical positions as an inorganic precursor. A “bottom‐up” methodology was used for substitution of the nitrate groups by linear ditopic carboxylate ligands (see picture). The Langmuir surface area of the resulting frameworks is higher than that of classical zeolites.
Slip between the sheets! The intercalation properties of lamellar solid acids have a profound impact on nitrogen doping as well as on the resultant visible‐light photocatalysis, and the effects depend strongly on the protonic acidities of the samples (see figure).
A new class of tetrathiafulvalene‐based microstructures fabricated by coordinative self‐assembly has been prepared by a solution process. Upon incorporation of Pb2+ and Zn2+ ions, 1D wirelike microstructures and spherical polymer particles were achieved, respectively (see picture). The neutral coordination polymers are conductive and magnetic at room temperature without external manipulation.
Efficient and general conditions for the formation of stereodefined trisubstituted alkenes by using the rhodium‐catalyzed reaction of unactivated Baylis–Hillman adducts with either organoboronic acids or potassium trifluoro(organo)borates are reported (see scheme).
Silica scaffolding : By employing functionalized mesoporous SBA‐15 silica, novel fluorescent cruciform‐silica hybrid materials are generated which preserve the desirable solution properties of cruciforms in the solid state for potential use in sensory schemes.
Buckybowls : The adsorption of penta‐tert‐butylcorannulene, a molecule with fivefold symmetry, on Cu(111), a surface with threefold symmetry, is investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy complemented by structure calculations. The symmetry mismatch is resolved by the formation of threefold‐symmetric subunits consisting of three molecules, which combine with single molecules to form a nearly perfect filling of the plane (see picture).
Change happens : Acridine–carbon nanotube nanohybrids were built (see figure) and their photoinduced electron‐transfer properties investigated, showing variable behaviour depending on the acridine partner.
Fast detection of cellular thiols in aqueous medium was achieved using a newly developed fluorescence probe (see picture). Based on this probe, a high‐throughput fluorescence assay for glutathione reductase was developed.
A facile wet route was applied to prepare a series of chalcogenide semiconductor nanocrystals (see figure) in controllable shapes and sizes, while a general bottom‐up approach was adopted to transform these cyclohexane‐soluble monodisperse nanocrystals into water‐soluble colloidal spheres.
