Developing bioorthogonal reactions that enable investigation of biological processes is an important aim in chemical biology. Here, the authors report the malononitrile addition to azodicarboxylate (M...

Classical upconversion employs sensitizers and annihilators as two distinct molecular species and is, therefore, classified as heteromolecular. Homomolecular upconversion, the unification of both role...

Affinity-driven reactions have allowed chemists to perform site-selective modifications of native proteins. By combining the high cysteine chemoselectivity of hypervalent iodine-based ethynylbenziodox...

Promotional effects are ubiquitous across catalytic processes involving supported nanoparticles, where additional elements, known as promoters, significantly enhance the catalytic performances (activity, selectivity, and/or stability) of nanoparticles. However, the inherent complexity of catalytic materials, comprising multiple species located both in the bulk and at the surface, makes it difficult to pinpoint the role of promoters at the molecular level. In this study, we disentangle the effect of alloying and interfacial sites in a low-temperature reverse water–gas shift (RWGS) reaction, a key process in the chemical industry, by precisely constructing catalysts featuring narrowly dispersed alloyed PtCr nanoparticles with or without Cr(III) interfacial sites. Notably, we show that a catalyst containing exclusively PtCr alloys, PtCr@SiO2, displays a substantial increase in catalytic activity compared to monometallic Pt@SiO2, while having additional Cr(III) interfacial sites (PtCr-Crint@SiO2) further improves the catalyst performance. In situ spectroscopic results reveal that the PtCr alloy facilitates a redox reaction pathway, whereas the presence of Cr(III) interfacial sites greatly facilitates CO2 adsorption and opens an additional formate-mediated pathway, further accelerating the reaction. These findings highlight the power of well-defined model systems in elucidating the promotional effects at the molecular level.

Si-doping is found to switch the reactivity of cobalt catalysts in CO2 hydrogenation from methanation to the reverse water–gas shift reaction. Using a surface organometallic chemistry approach, cobal...

#LCSOJournalClub 206.1(Highlighted in picture): An enantioselective organocatalytic annulation of unsaturated aldehydes and BCBs reported by Peng-Fei Xu and co-workers from Lanzhou University in Nat....

Covalent inhibitors are powerful entities in drug discovery. Now the amino acid selectivity and reactivity of a diverse electrophile library have been assessed proteome-wide using an unbiased workflow...

PhD Project - [FSE Bicentenary PhD] New Electrosynthetic Strategies to Nitrile Covalent Warheads, and Their Application to the Development of Electrochemically-Activated Prodrugs for Targeted Drug-De...

Herein, we report a photocatalytic method for the selective functionalization of α-C(sp3)-H bonds adjacent to the nitrogen atom in amides. By harnessing a synergistic combination of hydrogen atom transfer (HAT), consecutive photoinduced electron transfer (ConPET), and reductive radical-polar crossover, we efficiently incorporated high-value electrophiles, including CO2, 13CO2, and deuterium, at the α-N position. The transformation proceeds in moderate to high yields across a diverse range of amides, representing a significant advancement in both isotopically labeled α-amino acid synthesis and amide deuteration.

#LCSOJournalClub 205.1 (highlighted in picture): A method for the synthesis of 2-methyl propellane and its applications reported by Bruno Linclau and co-workers from Ghent University in Chem. Eur. J....

In this work, the ability of 1,2-bis(dicyanomethylene)cyclopropanide substituents to enable inter-anion interactions has been expanded to chalcogen bonding. An anionic selenium-based chalcogen-bond do...

Looking forward to the 60th Birthday Symposium of my friend and colleague Prof. Jieping Zhu today at EPFL Chemistry !