The cover picture shows that the radical sam enzyme hpnh catalyzes the coupling of an extremely hydrophilic substrate s‐adenosylmethionine (sam) and an extremely hydrophobic substrate hopene, producing adenosylhopane as a key intermediate in bacteriohopanepolyol biosynthesis. Coupling of the two substrates with totally distinct properties is somewhat analogous to the “1 up, 1 down” buddy system in freediving, in which one diver dives down and the other stays above the surface. Meeting the buddy in the middle way in the late stage of diving is always the most gratifying moment for the divers. More details are discussed by zhang et al. on page 39—42.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Chiral structure is very common in nature. especially, the chiral materials could rotate the polarized light. Light‐matter interaction is very important for process of nature. Inorganic nanomaterials with unique chiral configuration and suitable size have shown exquisitely chiral recognition and selective catalysis function, similar to natural restriction endonuclease. There are no unbridgeable gulf between organic molecules and inorganic materials. The physical and chemical mechanisms involved in chiral phenomenon are very helpful to exploit novel application of chiral materials in biological sensing, imaging, gene editing and information communications. More details are discussed in the article by Kuang et al. on page 25—31.
The inside back cover picture depicts the inverse-electron-demand Diels–Alder reactions of 2-pyrones with various readily available dihydropyrroles and dihydrofurans. By the catalysis of lanthanide salts, these reactions occur with high yields and enantioselectivities, thus providing a step-economical synthetic platform for densely functionalized cis-hydroindoles and cis-hydrobenzofurans. The synthetic utility of this approach is demonstrated by the concise synthesis of (–)-α-lycorane and (–)-lycorine alkaloids. More details are discussed in the article by Cai et al. on page 21—26.
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 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.
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.
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 cover picture shows a facile synthetic methodology towards S-fused multi-membered polycyclic heterocycles containing five-membered thiophene, six-membered thiopyran, and seven-membered thiepine. A construction strategy for thermally stable thiepine derivatives is thus established. More details are discussed in the article by Zhou et al. on page 13—20.
The cover picture shows the molecular modeling software package SPONGE (Simulation Package tOward Next GEneration molecular modeling). SPONGE is designed to be efficient and highly modulated. Especially, advanced machine learning algorithms can be easily merged into MD simulations by using SPONGE. All these features increase the power of SPONGE for modeling and simulation of complex chemical and biological systems. More details are given in the article by Gao et al. on page 160–168.
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.
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 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 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.
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 a simple, inexpensive and robust method on defluorosilylation of diverse fluoroalkenes with silylboronates in the presence of alkoxy base to directly synthesize various silylated fluoroalkenes. Density functional theory calculations revealed that transient silyl anion complex undergoes SN2’ or SNV substitution, which is responsible for this base‐mediated defluorosilylation reaction, thus obviating the need for copper salts. More details are discussed in the article by Shi et al. on page 1009–1014.
