Reactions of homoleptic rare‐earth aryloxides based Lewis pairs with organic azides were investigated, which gave either bimetallic rare‐earth azide complexes in an end‐to‐end fashion or FLP‐type 1,1‐addition product depending on the nature of azide reagents. The current reaction was found to be applicable for Lewis acids across the full range of rare‐earth metals. More details are discussed in the article by Xu et al. on page 559—564.
The cover picture shows a critical review on the organic reactions catalyzed by dinucleating complexes via metal‐metal cooperation. The reaction modes for the catalysis involving late transition metals are including the bimetallic co‐activation of single molecules and dual‐activation of two molecules. More details including the pathways of the metal‐metal cooperation are discussed by Zeng et al. on page 185—201.
The inside cover picture shows in situ construction of highly emissive Pt(II) metallacycles upon irradiation. The self‐assembled diarylethene‐containing metallacycles can realize supramolecular transform from the open‐ring isomers to their closed‐ring ones under UV irradiation. Moreover, the closed‐ring isomers featured a relatively high fluorescence quantum yield. This property of “turn‐on” fluorescence switching provides a new method to construct highly emissive supramolecular fluorescent materials by light stimulus. More details are discussed in the article by Yang et al. on page 323–329.
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 development of azobenzene‐containing polymers (azopolymers) opens up an avenue for controlling their properties and functions with light. These polymers show shape changes and mechanical responses under the stimulation of light via photoisomerization of azobenzene groups. Herein, this report focuses on the growing research on moving polymers via photoisomerization, including their moving mechanisms and various applications. More details are discussed in the article by Wu et al. on page 1019—1022.
This cover picture shows a heterogeneous photocatalytic decarboxylative coupling reaction of imidazo-fused heterocycles with N-arylglycines. In this reaction, eco-friendly carbon nitride nanosheet is found to be an efficient and recyclable photocatalyst, which could be recovered and reused at least 7 times. More details are given in the article by Yu et al. on page 97–103.
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.
5‐Bromofuran‐2‐carboxylates were conducted in a palladium‐catalyzed reductive homocoupling reactions in the presence of alcohols as the reductant to afford [2,2’]bifuran‐5,5’‐dicarboxylic acid esters, which are essential monomers of poly(ethylene bifuranoate), serving as an green and versatile alternative polymer for traditional poly(ethylene terephthalate). More details are discussed in the article by Yin and Jiang et al. on page 62—68.
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 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.
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.
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 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 an efficient one‐pot condensation of maleimide derivatives in the presence of acetic acid and water to afford a series of benzene triimides (BTIs). The structure, physicochemical properties and electrochemistry behavior of BTIs were systematically investigated. Owing to the planar structure and unique electron‐deficient nature, BTIs can self‐assemble into different motifs. More details are discussed by Wang et al. on page 684–688.
The cover picture shows that sequential 1,1‐dihydrosilylation of terminal aliphatic alkynes with primary silanes enabled by one earth‐abundant cobalt catalyst has been developed. This protocol is operationally simple using readily available aliphatic alkynes, including simple acetylene and complex drug derivative, for efficient access to valuable gem‐bis(dihydrosilyl)alkanes in highly regioselective and atom‐economic manners. Corresponding asymmetric transformations are achieved with excellent enantioselectivities. More details are discussed in the article by Lu et al. on page 457–461.
The inside cover picture shows a simple and efficient method for the synthesis of chiral β‐lactams via Pd(II)‐catalyzed intramolecular enantioselective amination of methylene C(sp3)?H bonds. The magical combination of 2‐pyridinylisopropyl (PIP) auxiliary and 3,3’‐substituted BINOL‐type ligands proves to be a general solution for the asymmetric functionalization of unbiased methylene C(sp3)?H bonds. More details are discussed by Shi et al. on page 242—246.
The inside cover picture shows an electrochemical oxidative Csp3‐H/S‐H activation with hydrogen evolution for the synthesis of tetrasubstituted olefins. This method features very high atom economy, besides hydrogen gas, under the base‐free, transition met‐al‐free, and oxidants‐free conditions, no other by‐products were generated. More details are discussed in the article by Lei et al. on page 547–551.
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.
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.
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.
