Catalysis

Great progress has been made in the development of bifunctional oxide-zeolite catalysts to tackle the selectivity challenge in syngas chemistry. Here the authors show syngas conversion can be steered along a highly active and selective pathway towards light olefins via ketene acetate (acetyl) intermediates.

Circumventing the linear scaling relationship in the semi-hydrogenation is challenging. Here the authors report a method for breaking the scaling relationships using ordered mesoporous carbon-supported Pd nanocatalysts with d-electron gain by p-block atoms occupying interstitial sites in the lattice as a greener alternative to Lindlar catalysts for the selective hydrogenation of alkynols.

Although the combination of photo- and nickel catalysis has garnered intense interest in the preceding years, the mechanisms by which these transformations occur are to some degree unresolved. Here the authors provide computational and spectroscopic support for a Dexter energy-transfer mechanism in the context of a C(sp3)–H alkylation.

Radical reaction pathways have evolved sufficiently that C(sp³)–H bonds may now be viewed as strategic ‘reagents’ for bond formation in synthetic organic chemistry. This Review highlights the diverse approaches for C(sp³)–H functionalization and cross-coupling reactions, emphasizing radical-relay reactions.

Guided by high-throughput computational screening, we report the preparation of hydrogen-bonded cobaltoporphyrin frameworks and demonstrate the achievement of high activity and selectivity for electrochemical H₂O₂ production in acid.

The atomic structure of heterogeneous catalysts is usually a blackbox. Here the authors demonstrate large-scale machine learning atomic simulations help to resolve the catalyst structure and reaction mechanism of encapsulated PtSnO_x clusters in zeolite that feature a mortise-and-tenon joinery structure and the superior activity towards propane dehydrogenation.