A Low‐Temperature Molecular Precursor Approach to Copper‐Based Nano‐Sized Digenite Mineral for Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution Reaction

In the urge of designing noble metal‐free and sustainable electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), herein, a mineral Digenite Cu₉S₅ has been prepared from a molecular copper(I) precursor, [{(PyHS)₂Cu^I(PyHS)}₂](OTf)₂ ( 1 ), and utilized as an anode material in electrocatalytic OER for the first time. A hot injection of 1 yielded a pure phase and highly crystalline Cu₉S₅, which was then electrophoretically deposited (EPD) on a highly conducting nickel foam (NF) substrate. When assessed as an electrode for OER, the Cu₉S₅/NF displayed an overpotential of merely 298±3 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm^?2 in alkaline media. The overpotential recorded here supersedes the value obtained for the best reported Cu‐based as well as the benchmark precious‐metal‐based RuO₂ and IrO₂ electrocatalysts. In addition, the choronoamperometric OER indicated the superior stability of Cu₉S₅/NF, rendering its suitability as the sustainable anode material for practical feasibility. The excellent catalytic activity of Cu₉S₅ can be attributed to the formation of a crystalline CuO overlayer on the conductive Cu₉S₅ that behaves as active species to facilitate OER. This study delivers a distinct molecular precursor approach to produce highly active copper‐based catalysts that could be used as an efficient and durable OER electro(pre)catalysts relying on non‐precious metals.     

Zero‐Dimensional Hybrid Cd‐Based Perovskites with Broadband Bluish White‐Light Emissions

Recently, low‐dimensional organic‐inorganic hybrid metal halide perovskites acting as single‐component white‐light emitting materials have attracted extensive attention, but most studies concentrate on hybrid lead perovskites. Herein, we present two isomorphic zero‐dimensional (0D) hybrid cadmium perovskites, (HMEDA)CdX₄ (HMEDA=hexamethylenediamine, X=Cl ( 1 ), Br ( 2 )), which contain isolated [CdX₄]^2? anions separated by [HMEDA]²⁺ cations. Under UV light excitation, both compounds display broadband bluish white‐light emission (515 nm for 1 and 445 nm for 2 ) covering the entire visible light spectrum with sufficient photophysical stabilities. Remarkably, compound 2 shows a high color rendering index (CRI) of 83 enabling it as a promising candidate for single‐component WLED applications. Based on the temperature‐dependent, powder‐dependent and time‐resolved PL measurements as well as other detailed studies, the broadband light emissions are attributed to self‐trapped excitons stemming from the strong electron‐phonon coupling.     

Hyperbranched Poly(ester‐enamine) from Spontaneous Amino‐yne Click Reaction for Stabilization of Gold Nanoparticle Catalysts

Hyperbranched polymers have garnered much attention due to attractive properties and wide applications, such as drug‐controlled release, stimuli‐responsive nano‐objects, photosensitive materials and catalysts. Herein, two types of novel hyperbranched poly(ester‐enamine) (hb‐PEEa) were designed and synthesized via the spontaneous amino‐yne click reaction of A₂ monomer (1, 3‐bis(4‐piperidyl)‐propane (A_2a) or piperazine (A_2b)) and B₃ monomer (trimethylolpropanetripropiolate). According to Flory's hypothesis, gelation is an intrinsic problem in an ideal A₂+B₃ polymerization system. By controlling the polymerization conditions, such as monomer concentration, molar ratio and rate of addition, a non‐ideal A₂+B₃ polymerization system can be established to avoid gelation and to synthesize soluble hb‐PEEa. Due to abundant unreacted alkynyl groups in periphery, the hb‐PEEa can be further functionalized by different amino compounds or their derivates. The as‐prepared amphiphilic PEG‐hb‐PEEa copolymer can readily self‐assemble into micelles in water, which can be used as surfactant to stabilize Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) during reduction of NaBH₄ in aqueous solution. As a demonstration, the as‐prepared PEG‐hb‐PEEa‐supported AuNPs demonstrate good dispersion in water, solvent stability and remarkable catalytic activity for reduction of nitrobenzene compounds.     

Silicon Carbide Supported Palladium‐Iridium Bimetallic Catalysts for Efficient Selective Hydrogenation of Cinnamaldehyde

Selective hydrogenation of α,β‐unsaturated carbonyls into saturated carbonyls is important to obtain remunerative products. However, it is still a challenge to achieve high activity and selectivity under mild conditions. Herein, Pd, Ir and bimetallic Pd‐Ir nanoparticles were uniformly deposited with high dispersity on the surface of SiC by a facile impregnation method, respectively. The as‐prepared Pd/SiC catalysts efficiently hydrogenate cinnamaldehyde to hydrocinnamaldehyde at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, and the activity of Pd/SiC is observed further enhanced by adding Ir component (conversion of 100%). In addition, the dependence of Pd‐Ir catalyst activity on Pd/Ir molar ratio confirms a synergistic effect between Ir and Pd, which originates from the electron transfer between Pd and Ir.     

Direct Transformation of Arenols Based on C—O Activation

In the view of substrate availability, atomic efficiency and cost, directly using arenols as coupling partners in cross‐coupling, would be one of the most attractive goals. Up to date, many efforts have been made to activate the C—O bond of phenols with different strategies, for example, through in‐situ formed intermediates, through a catalytic reductive dearomatization‐condensation‐rearomatization sequence or catalytic deoxygenation. In this review, we summarized recent advances in cross‐couplings of arenols as the electrophiles via C—O activation.     

Biomimetic Asymmetric Reduction of Quinazolinones with Chiral and Regenerable NAD(P)H Models

A facile approach to chiral dihydroquinazolinone derivatives has been described via biomimetic asymmetric reduction of quinazolinones with chiral and regenerable NAD(P)H models. The utility of this method was demonstrated by a concise synthesis of the bromodomain protein divalent inhibitor.     

Encrypting Chemical Reactivity in Protein Sequences toward Information‐Coded Reactions†

Controlling chemical reactivity has been the central theme in chemistry. Herein, we review the recent progress on the development of genetically encoded protein coupling reactions and their potential applications. The chemical reactivity is encoded in the protein sequences. The information is read out by folding and molecular recognition between two reactive components and subsequently translated into chemical bonding via autocatalysis. It has emerged as a unique way to tune the chemical reactivity and is regarded as one type of information‐coded reactions. Not only has it received many applications such as protein topology engineering, bioconjugation, biomaterials and synthetic biology, but also its principle may be extended beyond protein chemistry to enable new modes of supramolecular interactions that promote chemical bonding and that are simultaneously reinforced by covalent bonds.     

Detection of Dexamethasone Sodium Phosphate in Blood Plasma: Application of Hematite in Electrochemical Sensors

We studied sensor application of a graphene oxide and hematite (α‐Fe₂O₃/GO) composite electrode well‐characterized by the SEM and XRD. Through differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), oxidation of dexamethasone sodium phosphate (DSP) was studied at the surface of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with graphene oxide nanosheets (GO) and the α‐Fe₂O₃/GO composite. The values of the transfer coefficient (α) and the diffusion coefficient (D) of DSP were 0.5961 and 4.71×10^?5 cm² s^?1 respectively. In the linear range of 0.1–50 μM, the detection limit (DL) was 0.076 μM. In the second step, a GCE was modified with α‐Fe₂O₃/GO composite and the DSP measurement step was repeated to analyzed and compare the effects of hematite nanoparticles present on graphene oxide surfaces. According to the results, α and D were 0.52 and 2.406×10^?4 cm² s^?1 respectively and the DL was 0.046 μM in the linear range of 0.1–10.0 μM. The sensor is simple, inexpensive and uses blood serum.     

Dual Amperometric Immunosensor for Improving Cancer Metastasis Detection by the Simultaneous Determination of Extracellular and Soluble Circulating Fraction of Emerging Metastatic Biomarkers

This paper reports the development of a dual immunosensor using magnetic microcarriers (MBs) and amperometric transduction at dual screen‐printed carbon electrodes (SPdCEs) for the simultaneous determination of two biomarkers: interleukin‐13 receptor α2 (IL‐13Rα2) and E‐cadherin (E‐CDH), with both extracellular and soluble fraction; oncogenic and tumor suppressor markers, respectively, of great relevance in metastatic processes. The implemented methodology involved the formation of sandwich‐type immunocomplexes using specific capture antibodies immobilized onto carboxylic acid magnetic microbeads (HOOC‐MBs), and biotinylated detector antibodies labeled with streptavidin?horseradish peroxidase conjugates (Strep‐HRP). The amperometric detection was performed by addition of hydrogen peroxide in the presence of hydroquinone (HQ) as the redox mediator. The dual immunosensing platform provided linear calibration ranges suitable for the determination of both biomarkers in liquid and solid clinical specimens as well as excellent selectivity against other cancer biomarkers. This simple handling dual bioplatform was applied to the determination of the soluble and extracellular fraction of the target biomarkers in serum and paraffined‐embedded tissues from colorectal cancer (CRC) patients diagnosed at different tumor grade. The obtained results reveal great potential of this configuration to improve the reliability in diagnosing metastatic CRC.