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 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.
The development of chiral boron Lewis acids is highly essential for the chemistry of frustrated Lewis pairs. Three protocols including hydroboration, substitution and in situ hydroboration, have been successfully established to access the chiral boron Lewis acids. A rapid growth for the metal‐free asymmetric hydrogenation and hydrosilylation has therefore been achieved in the past decade. More details are discussed in the article by Du et al. on page 625—634.
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.
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 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 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 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 alkoxy radicals derived from cyclic hemiacetals are generated through visible-light-induced electron transfer with NaI and Ph3P as the catalyst. Subsequent β-scission generates carbon-centered radicals, which are trapped by cinnamic acids, aryl alkenes, vinylboronic acid and silyl enol ether to deliver the corresponding C—C bond forming products. More details are discussed in the article by Wang et al. on page 259–264.
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 bifunctional roles of CH3COO– (complexation effect and decreasing temperature of PVP complete decomposition) are utilized to synthesize electrospun LaCoO3 perovskites at a low‐temperature 400 °C. The obtained material can be applied in the catalytic oxidation of volatile organic compounds, like stable propane. More details are discussed in the article by Luo and Qian et al. on page 144 ‐ 150.
Carbonate electrolytes are not stable in Li-O2 batteries due to the attack of O2−. However, in Li-O2/CO2 batteries the generated O2− can be captured by CO2 to stabilize carbonate electrolytes. Thanks to the high-voltage resistance and good Li reversibility, they are excellent electrolytes for long-life Li-O2/CO2 batteries. More details are discussed in the article by Zhang et al. on page 314–321.
This cover picture describes that MOF-based artificial and semi-artificial photosynthesis systems have been sustainably catalyzing the CO2 reduction, H2 evolution, and other chemical processes upon sun-light irradiation. In such a way, our Earth was successfully protected from pollution and energy crisis due to the depletion of fossil fuels and excessive CO2 emission. More details are discussed in the article by Li et al. on page 335–354.
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 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 back cover picture shows an efficient organic ligand‐free heterogeneous catalytic system for hydroformylation of olefins with simple Rh particles as the catalyst. The Rh black catalyst showed good catalytic activity for a broad substrate scope including the aliphatic and aromatic olefins, affording the desired aldehydes in good yields. The catalyst could be reused several times without loss of activity under identical reaction conditions, and the Rh leaching was negligible after each cycle. More details are discussed in the article by Shi et al. on page 139 ‐ 143.
Interfacial engineering is expected to be a feasible strategy to improve the charge transport properties of the hole transport layer, which is of crucial importance to boost the device performance of organic solar cells. In this study, the doping of F4‐TCNQ and N719 dye in the hole transport layer with and without integrating a graphene quantum‐dots layer has been explored in non‐fullerene acceptor‐based organic solar cells. More details are discussed in the article by Feng et al. on page 817–822.
The cover picture shows the structure of a Pd(II)‐enaminone complex which is prepared from Pd(OAc)2 and NH2‐featured enaminone, as well as its application in catalyzing the Suzuki‐Miyaura cross coupling reaction. As unprecedented Pd(II)‐organic species, it has been broadly used to catalyze the Suzuki‐Miyaura reaction of aryl bromides/chlorides and exhibited evidently superior catalytic activity over those commercially available Pd‐catalysts. Alongside the efficient and broad catalysis in Suzuki‐Miyaura reaction in clean aqueous medium, simply modifying reaction conditions and the enaminone structure in the Pd(II)‐enaminone complex, the homo‐coupling of aryl boronic acids can also be efficiently executed. The results disclose the application promise of enaminones in new frontiers of organometallics and catalysis. More details are discussed in the article by Wan et al. on page on page 254—258.
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 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.
