The Front Cover represents the three formation routes of zeolite from different starting materials. Zeolites are crucial industrial catalysts, whereas their crystallization mechanism is still unclear, limiting their rational functional design. Nao Tsunoji and co-workers present the synthesis–structure–catalysis relation of CHA zeolite to get fundamental knowledge for intentionally controlling the function of zeolites. Different starting materials provide three different formation pathways to form CHA zeolites with different properties in the presence of tetraethylammonium hydroxide as an inexpensive organic structure directing agent. The knowledge related to origin of the catalytic durability was obtained based on their structural character, crystallization mechanism, and exhaust gas purification ability. More information can be found in the Research Article by Nao Tsunoji and co-workers (DOI: 10.1002/cctc.202400459).

2D MoS₂/BiOBr van der Waals heterojunctions can be used for photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen production. The Cover Feature shows a MoS₂/BiOBr heterojunction working as a photocathode. The photogenerated electrons from BiOBr mainly flow into two directions: one is migrating towards the MoS₂ surface, driving the hydrogen evolution reaction; the other is accumulating on BiOBr and reduces BiOBr to metallic Bi. However, in a heterojunction with small ratio of MoS₂, the electrons are prone to transfer to MoS₂, thus decreasing the accumulation of electrons on BiOBr and preventing it from deactivation. More information can be found in the Research Article by Mengjiao Wang, Francesco Lamberti, and co-workers (DOI: 10.1002/cctc.202400282).

The development of efficient metallic electrocatalysts is essential for realizing the potential of water splitting as a sustainable energy source. Compared with the early discovered electrodes with crystalline structure, the amorphous metallic glass-oxide assembly outperforms many transition and precision metal-based oxides and their composite forms regarding oxygen electroactivity and stability.

In analogy with carbocatalysis, thermal catalysis on extended surfaces of Group 15 elements is coined here as “pnictocatalysis” (phospho-, arsene-, antimony- and bismuth-catalysis). We show the few examples reported so far, which however include C−C, C−O, C−S, C−N and C-halide bond-forming reactions, thus showcasing the synthetic potential of this new type of catalysis.

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs), or fluorescent carbon nanoparticles, have attracted a lot of attention due to their many uses in chemical sensing, biomedical imaging, nanotechnology, photovoltaics, LEDs, and hydrogen production. This review's main goal is to provide a detailed analysis and highlight the revolutionary potential of CQDs in advancing hydrogen-generating technology.

Salvinorin A, a potent human hallucinogen, uniquely activates the kappa-opioid receptor (κ-OR) with high efficacy and selectivity. Its novel structure lacks nitrogenous components, distinguishing it from other opioids. With a complex trans-decalin core and δ-lactone fused with a furan moiety, synthetic access to Salvinorin A remains challenging due to a sensitive epimerizable center. Despite considerable synthetic efforts, only nine syntheses have been produced. This review aims to offer insights into the primary strategies employed to accomplish the syntheses documented thus far.

This review describes the overview of mechanistic and kinetics insights for guiding the design of catalysts for selective hydrogenation of functionalized nitroarenes to produce anilines, and summarizes the strategies developed for controlling the selectivity to target product, including isolating active sites, constructing synergistic active sites and regulating local environments of active sites.

CDs are promising electrocatalysis for HER, OER, ORR, CO₂RR and other reactions. This review aims to help readers better understand the application of CDs in the field of electrocatalysis, reveal the reasons that affect electrocatalytic performance, and guide for further constructing more efficient, stable, and green electrocatalysts.

MOF supported single-atom catalysts (SACs) have been shown remarkable potential in the energy-related application. This review summaries the reported fabrication strategies, characterizations, and energy related applications of MOF-based SACs, and highlight the challenges and future directions of MOF-based SACs.

Carbon-Nitrogen bond formation plays a key role in the synthesis of functional organic intermediates. This review comprehensively summarized the N-methylation transformation of amine with methanol through the catalytic system of homogenous, heterogenous and photocatalyst, including that of mechanism study. Finally, the development direction of catalyst design for N-methylation was prospected.

This review highlights the contributions Temporal Analysis of Products and Steady-State Isotopic Transient Kinetic Analysis have made for elucidating mechanistic and kinetic aspects of oxidative coupling of methane, CO/CO₂ hydrogenation, metathesis of ethylene with 2-butenes, acrolein oxidation, methanol conversion, and non-oxidative propane dehydrogenation. We focus on clarifying individual reaction pathways including the kind, concentration, and lifetime of reactive surface intermediates.

This review unravels the recent achievements in electrocatalysts for alkaline seawater oxidation through interface engineering. We define the interface types and classify them based on the interfacial configurations. Then, we summarize the recent studies on electrocatalysts developed through interface engineering to elaborate the interfacial effects on promoting the OER processes in both alkaline electrolyte and seawater.

The helical structure is adopted to achieve the periodic surface curvature for carbon-based skeleton to regulate the electronic structure of electrocatalyst, which endows carbon-based materials with special catalytic properties. In this Concept, synthesis strategies of different characteristics, and further corresponding heteroatom load for helical carbon-based skeleton are summarized.

On a daily basis, we perform multiple functions, often working double shifts. It is about time chemical reactions do the same. This concept article introduces one-pot transformations that occur in different sites of the same molecule simultaneously with the hydroformylation reaction.

Hydrogen shows promise for a sustainable energy future, but current electrolysis faces challenges due to the high energy demand of the anode oxygen evolution reaction (OER). This study focuses on integrated electrolysis that replaces OER with specific anodic oxidations and offers insights for cost-effective and highly efficient hydrogen production systems.

The combination of cobalt and photoredox catalysis displays high activity in the cycloaddition reactions of unsaturated substrates bearing a 1,6-diyne motif. This Concept outlines recent progress in the study of cycloaddition reactions mediated by Co/photoredox cooperative catalysis. Versatile polycyclic products can be obtained via metallole intermediates, which can facilitate the activation of σ-bonds such as C−O and C−H bonds.

Novel alkane dehydrogenation routes, including CO₂ assisted dehydrogenation, chemical looping oxidative dehydrogenation, dual-path dehydrogenation and auto-accelerated multiple alkane dehydrogenation routes, are highlighted in this Concept. Rational design of corresponding catalysts, proper choice of reaction conditions and the in depth understandings on the reaction mechanism and structure-function relations are summarized as the key in these reaction routes.

The selective catalytic reduction of NO_x with NH₃ was tested using CHA zeolites synthesized from different starting materials in the presence of tetraethylammonium hydroxide. Stepwise gel preparation (SGP) promoted the formation of abundant paired aluminum sites, which resulted in the high catalytic performance and high hydrothermal stability of the obtained CHA zeolite.

In MoS₂/BiOBr photocathode, the active electrons from both UV light and electric field can either reduce the adsorbed H* on the edge of MoS₂ to H₂ or reduce BiOBr to Bi. Varying the MoS₂ content in the HJ impacts the stability of BiOBr in PEC HER. HJs with 1 % MoS₂ enhance BiOBr stability, while those with 50 % accelerate BiOBr reduction.

High catalytic performance of the iridium-polymer complex for the dehydrogenative oxidation of alcohols was demonstrated. Bipyridonate moiety in the polymer structure acts as a cooperative “functional ligand”, realizing the enhancement of dehydrogenation of various alcohols. Further, recovered catalyst could be reused without loss of catalytic efficiency at least ten times.

Classical mechanisms for the oxygen reduction reaction on metal electrodes require an adsobrate free surface. On the example of Ru single crystal electrodes, which are never free from adsorbates, we show that depending on the potential and electrolyte the reaction is either inhibited or can even lead to the formation of significant amounts of hydrogen peroxide.

Vicinal diones and α-keto esters are demonstrated to be electrophiles of both natural and computationally designed aldolases with various catalytic mechanisms, facilitating efficient asymmetric synthesis of small molecules with tertiary alcohols.

Honeycomb carbon monoliths with different textural properties and surface chemistry were obtained from by stereolithography 3D printing of tannin-based resins. These new, architected materials have shown interesting performance as catalysts for the ozonation of oxalic acid and as catalyst supports for the hydrogenation of bromate ions in solution. They thus highlight the potential of 3D carbons for heterogeneous catalysis as an alternative to macro-structured carbonaceous catalysts.

Stable Cu catalysts for ethanol dehydrogenation: Low-cost diamines of ethylenediamine and propanediamine were effective chelators to encapsulate Cu species into the framework of MFI under basic and thermal conditions, resulting in >96 % ethanol conversion and 98 % acetaldehyde selectivity in the 300 h time on stream for the ethanol direct dehydrogenation reaction.

The confinement effect provided by the resorcinarene hydrogen bonded capsule in the presence of HCl accelerates the isomerization of cannabidiol leading to cyclic and hydrated products that are uncommon compared to the same reaction with traditional strong Brønsted acids, thus widening the chemical scenario provided by the capsule.

Especially from the IR data it is visible that the vibrational bands are shifted to lower wavenumbers with increasing Co^II substitution degree, indicating that Co^II is successfully incorporated into the Keggin structure.

Donor-Acceptor Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) are excellent photocatalysts with tunable band positions and good charge mobility. Three pyrene-based COFs are synthesized for the aerobic coupling of amines with blue-LED irradiation. The selective amine coupling proceeds with an apparent quantum yield of 11.3 % at 420 nm. All COFs are stable and recyclable.

The enzyme CbA5H from Clostridium beijerinckii, the only known [FeFe]-hydrogenase able to survive exposure to oxygen, was evaluated here in biotechnologies for sustainable chemical synthesis. Enzyme production was optimized in a scalable bioreactor. CbA5H was purified aerobically, characterized using benchtop activity assays, and used to drive biocatalytic hydrogenations for example in the preparation of pharmaceutical fragment (3)-quinuclidinol at 0.4 g scale.

The synthetic pathway for (R)-Etiracetam critically hinges on (R)-alpha-ethyl-2-oxo-1-pyrrolidineacetic acid ((R)-AEOPA). We divided the synthesis of (R)-AEOPA into two steps of enzymatic and chemical synthesis, and focused on enzymatic synthesis of intermediates (R)-4-(carboxypropylamino) butyric acid ((R)-4-CPAB), The strains with high yield of (R)-CPAB were obtained by structural mechanism analysis and protein engineering.

The first example of using polymethylhydrosiloxane (PMHS), a major chemical waste from the silicon industry, as stoichiometric hydrosilane source for the aerobic Wacker-type oxidation of olefins into ketones is reported thanks to an Earth-abundant-based cobalt catalyst. The catalysis occurs at industrially-relevant conditions, namely 70 °C and one bar of oxygen pressure with ethanol as a relatively green solvent.

The Oxygen Evolution Activity of NiFe films with different thickness was monitored over 1000 potential sweep cycles, revealing the optimal mass loading needed to maintain catalytic activity while avoiding excessive material consumption.

Co-based catalysts, recognized for preferentially converting O₂ to H₂O₂, shift selectivity to H₂O production in the presence of thiolate donors in the first coordination sphere. Transitioning from Mn or Fe to Co, using the same N2S2 ligand, also alters selectivity, highlighting the impact of the nature of the metal ion.

Molecular dynamics and QM/MM calculations are carried out to provide mechanistic insights on the hydrolysis of dermatan sulfate by the Ca²⁺-dependent iduronate-2-sulfatase, an enzyme is involved in the occurrence of Hunter disease. The computations highlight the role played by the amino acids in the substrate binding as well as in the catalytic reaction.

Magnetically reusable carbon nanotubes coated Co-based catalysts was used in the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of nitroarenes with different hydrogen donors, such as hydrazine hydrate, formic acid and isopropanol.

For the first time, hydroxyapatite supported nickel catalyst has been investigated in tri-reforming of methane for syngas production. Excellent activity, selectivity and stability could be achieved under unfavorable reaction conditions of methane reforming.

Cobalt(III) porphyrin-ArIO adduct complexes have been synthesized and characterized. The O−I bond cleavage of cobalt(III) porphyrin-ArIO adduct is promoted in the presence of acid, forming cobalt(III) porphyrin π-cation radical species, which is much more reactive than the corresponding adduct species in electron transfer reactions. While the oxidation of metal centre is inhibited due to the “oxo-wall” for late transition metals.

A first catalytic and asymmetric synthesis of medicinally relevant tetrahydro-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones and unprecedented 1,5-dihydro-4,1-benzoxazepin-3(2H)-ones, has been developed. The telescoped approach relies on the use of commercially available reagents, recyclable organocatalyst and a single solvent. The heterocycles were isolated in good overall yield (30-69 %) and satisfactory to high enantioselectivity (up to 98 % ee).

The co-doping of P and O in Oct PtCo/C has been found to significantly enhance ORR (oxygen reduction reaction) activity through strain and ligand effects. Simultaneously, the robust interaction between Co and O effectively impedes Co dissolution, thereby markedly improving the stability of the catalyst.

Pd nanoparticles (about 2 nm) with uniform distribution were formed on NH₂-MIL-53 despite of high loading, by a facile equilibrium adsorption method. The obtained catalysts showed high activity for catalytic reduction of nitrite in water, due to the preferential exposure of Pd(111) facets on Pd nanoparticles.

An unprecedented tri-hybrid material, PMo₁₂@MOF-808@SBA-15, revealed a notable catalytic performance and robustness to desulfurize a multicomponent model fuel containing approximately 1500 ppm of sulfur. It demonstrated an enhanced activity and recyclability relatively to the parent's composites, PMo₁₂@MOF-808 and PMo₁₂@SBA-15.

A significant gap exists in the theoretical understanding of the interplay between different kinetics and mass transport in molecular electrocatalysis within confined spatial domains. Here, an expression for the current-potential-time response of a catalytic reaction occurring under these conditions is presented. From this approach, the effects of finite diffusion on the efficiency of these processes can be quantified.

This study explores the aqueous oxidation of Glycolaldehyde to Formic Acid catalysed by H₅PV₂Mo₁₀O₄₀ in aqueous and aqueous-methanolic solution gaining deep mechanistical insights using Multinuclear high-resolution Flow NMR spectroscopy.

The catalytic performance of a series of gold complexes based on ferrocenyldiphosphines with or without ylide substituents was compared in the hydroamination and hydrohydrazination of alkynes. Each introduction of a ylide group resulted in a significant increase in activity, resulting in highly active catalysts for a variety of substrates.

In this work, Ag-IL/AC catalysts were synthesized by loaded ILs phase dispersion technique, the presence of ILs stabilized the Ag species to maintain the Ag⁺ state and improved the dispersion of the Ag species. As a result, the catalytic performance of the Ag-IL/AC catalysts was 2.5 times higher than that of the conventional Zn/AC catalysts at a low-temperature of 180 °C.

Sonogashira Coupling after 1,4-Palladium Migration: An aryl to vinyl 1,4-palladium migration/ Sonogashira Coupling sequence has been achieved for the highly stereoselective synthesis of multi-substituted 1,3-enynes.

Transient in situ DRIFTS investigation of CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol over unsupported CuGa and CuGaN (with N doping) catalysts was conducted. N doping could possibly promote the formation of Cu⁺ sites and weak the CO interaction on catalyst surface, while prohibited the reduction of Ga₂O₃ to oxygen-deficient Ga₂O_3-x. H₂/D₂ isotope exchange SSITKA results confirm that the Cu⁺-bound formates could possibly serve as key intermediates for methanol synthesis.

In situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of a reaction at the solid-liquid interface is performed in a lab-based system under ultra-high vacuum conditions (UHV). To enable this, a PDMS/Au-supported transfer process is demonstrated that reliably produces continuous, high-quality and contamination-free suspended graphene windows which successfully seal liquids and high pressure (~1 bar) gases.

Harnessing synergistic interaction in BeSi based hetero-biatomic catalyst supported on two-dimensional network to promote CO₂ reduction to value added chemicals and fuels in a green and efficient manner.

A tandem catalytic protocol for the selective synthesis of α-alkylated ketones and β-alkylated secondary alcohols directly from epoxide and alcohol coupling is developed by employing a phosphine-free, air and moisture stable Ir(III) complex bearing 2-(2-benzimidazolyl)-6-hydroxypyridine ligand using considerably lower base at lower temperature. Several control experiments are carried out to understand the catalytic process.