In a recent issue of Cell Reports Physical Science, Bent and co-workers studied the electrochemical conversion of four typical nickel-based precatalysts toward alkaline oxygen evolution reaction and the effect of iron impurities on their conversion and catalytic activity. This is undoubtedly a key guide for designing alkaline oxygen evolution precatalysts.

In a recent issue of Nature Chemistry, Zhang and coworkers showed that the ATP-dependent N-nitrosylase Tri17 can catalyze azide synthesis. Tri17 is a promiscuous enzyme that can catalyze N-nitrosylation of various substrates. When specific substrates were used, it also catalyzed the dehydration of the N-nitroso moiety to synthesize an azide moiety.

In a recent issue of Nature Catalysis, Rost et al. directly visualized the step bunching on flame-annealed Pt(111)-vicinal surfaces at high step densities using in situ electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (EC-STM). This phenomenon originates from the increased step-step repulsive interaction between closely distanced steps, and the surface-free energy will be lowered when forming bunched

Understanding the evolution of Cu-based catalysts during electrochemical CO2 reduction (ECR) remains challenging. The study by Lim et al. in Joule devises an operando scanning transmission X-ray microscopy to investigate the dynamic phase transformations of Cu catalysts and reveals that Cu2+ species play a crucial role in enhancing C–C coupling. The findings inform the authors of an approach to dynamically

In a recent issue of ACS Energy Letters, Resasco and his colleagues examine how different alkali metal cations impact the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) over a series of metal catalysts. They conclude that a metal catalyst exhibits cation-dependent ORR rates when its potential of zero total charge is positive of the ORR potential window. Such cation effects are rationalized by considering how the

In a recent article published in Nature, Melchiorre and coworkers illuminated enzymatic iminium ions formed through the condensation of 2-deoxyribose-5-phosphate aldolase with enals, triggering photodecarboxylication in the active site, and enabling photoenzymatic stereospecific radical coupling. This elegant work broadens the reactivity of enzymes and achieves a “memory of chirality” scenario.

The development of an economically feasible system for the electrochemical treatment of nitrate-rich wastewater is hampered by the complexity of the matrices. The use of membrane-free systems can be beneficial to avoid contamination by organic impurities and dissolved salts, but their implementation is challenging considering that ammonia is susceptible to anodic oxidation. This article previews a

In a recent article, Conk and colleagues report a new pathway for closed-loop chemical recycling of polyolefin plastic waste. The authors discovered a new catalytic composition for tandem cracking and ethenolysis that yields 90% propylene from polyethylene at 320°C.

In a recent issue of Nature Catalysis, Yu and Shao-Horn et al. describe the impact of cations on the electrochemical reduction of CO2 to methanol with Co phthalocyanine complexes deposited onto carbon nanotubes. Their findings that the catalysis is enhanced opens wide and stimulating perspectives.

(Chem Catalysis 4, 101115; September 19, 2024)

Recently, Li’s group designed a conceptually novel radical strategy for site-selective functionalization of ultra-remote arene C–H bond. The arenes were activated by intramolecular nitrogen-centered radical instead of generally used C–H metalation. The NHC-catalyzed radical cross-coupling acts as the key step to forging C–C bond at the para position of the arenes.

In the current issue of Chem Catalysis, Zhu and co-workers report the construction of a neotype strong metal-support interaction between Ni nanoparticle and BaCO3 via H2 reduction and CO2 hydrogenation. The migration of BaCO3 onto Ni nanoparticles leads to the formation of porous overlayers, which not only stabilized the Ni nanoparticles against sintering but also formed abundant Ni-BaCO3 interfaces

The quest for low-cost, Earth-abundant catalysts for hydrogen oxidation reactions (HORs) in anion-exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) has led to significant advancements in recent years, yet challenges pertaining to the stability of non-platinum-group metal catalysts operational conditions still remain. The study by Zhou et al. in Nature Energy presents an innovative approach to enhance the stability

In this issue of Chem Catalysis, Joanna Wencel-Delord et al.1 present a new surfactant featuring a specific ligation motif for selective coordination of Ru catalysts. This surfactant enables direct arylation reactions on highly functionalized substrates under exceptionally mild conditions, showcasing the potential for micellar catalysis to become a precision chemistry tool.