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Au/C single-site catalysts have been validated commercially for acetylene hydrochlorination, but they have previously been prepared using highly oxidizing acidic solvents or additional ligands. It has now been shown that they can be made by impregnation of a metal salt from an acetone solution—generating catalysts with comparable activity to those synthesized by the other methods.

The Fischer–Tropsch reaction is one of the key means of producing synthetic fuels. Here a deposition method to disperse cobalt nanoparticles across an alpha alumina support is shown to produce a highly stable system capable of withstanding demanding conditions while providing excellent activity.

The creation of artificial metalloenzymes compatible with complex biological settings could enable broad applications. Now a de novo-designed artificial metalloenzyme containing an abiological ruthenium cofactor is reported and optimized for ring-closing metathesis in the cytoplasm of whole cells.

Volcano plots are useful catalyst design tools for acidic oxygen reduction reaction, but have proved less successful for alkaline oxygen reduction reaction. Here, a modified volcano plot for this environment is developed and used to design PdH_x@Pt nanosheets with high oxygen reduction reaction performance.

The development of robust catalysts that could work under industrial-scale current densities remains a challenge for chlor-related reactions. Here, the authors report an activation method for designing efficient ruthenium single-atom catalysts that enhance chlor-related production and recycling.

A COVID vaccine developer, an Arctic voyager and a prime minister are some of the people behind the year’s big research stories.

Acceptorless dehydrogenation of simple alkanes and alcohols provides useful functionality and typically requires precious metal catalysts. Here, the authors dehydrogenate unactivated alkanes and alcohols at room temperature using earth-abundant metals with hydrogen as the sole by-product.

Druckman et al. document gaps in trust in scientists in the USA. People from groups less represented among scientists (for example, women and those with lower economic status) are less trusting. Increasing the representation of these groups within science increases trust.

Thermoelectric materials can convert temperature gradients into electrical potential; however, traditional materials have unfavorable mechanical, optical, and electrical properties for devices. Here, the authors design an ionic hydrogel system optimizing these properties for human-machine interface devices.

Candida albicans must adapt to hypoxia. Here, the authors discover the sterol C4-methyl oxidase (SMO) Erg251 is essential for extreme hypoxic growth, as well as virulence and colonization, and that SMO inhibitors have therapeutic potential.

The assembly and analysis of a 37-year satellite database covering almost 400 mining districts in 49 countries shows that a rise in river mineral mining has substantially increased riverine sediment load in tropical rivers worldwide.

Utilizing “Chemistry at a point”, Ni is exsolved from a perovskite lattice under deposited Pt nanoparticles. This yields even smaller Ni Pt alloy nanoparticles on a perovskite nanofiber structure, exhibiting high catalytic activity.

People living with HIV (PLHIV) on antiretroviral therapy (ART) remain highly susceptible to pneumococcal colonisation and disease. In an analysis of 132 adults in Malawi, the authors report that long-term ART does not restore nasal mucosal immunity.

While transition metal nitrides are promising low-cost electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline media, a fundamental understanding of their activity is still lacking. Here MnN nanocuboids with well-defined surface structures are investigated, providing atomistic insight and mechanistic understanding.

An iron-catalysed method for the direct ³H labelling of pharmaceuticals by hydrogen isotope exchange using tritium gas is reported; the site selectivity of the iron catalyst is orthogonal to currently used iridium catalysts and allows isotopic labelling of complementary positions in drug molecules.

Enantioconvergent reactions convert both enantiomers of a racemic starting material into a single enantioenriched product. All currently known enantioconvergent processes necessitate the loss or partial loss of the racemic substrate’s stereochemical information. Now, an alternative approach has been developed that proceeds with full retention of the racemic substrate’s configuration.

Alkaline polymer electrolyte fuel cells are promising power sources, but performance is limited by catalytic activity. Here the authors report a non-precious metal-based catalyst for electrocatalytic oxygen reduction that imparts outstanding fuel cell performance.

Benzothiophenes are common motifs in bioactive compounds, but selective functionalization at C3 is challenging. Here the authors report a method starting from benzothiophene S-oxides via an interrupted Pummerer reaction, giving access to a range of C3-alkylated and -arylated products.

Design of artificial photosynthetic systems that mimic the complex supramolecular structures in natural systems remains a grand challenge. Here self-assembled nanomicelles containing Zn porphyrins and Co porphyrins as photosensitizer and catalyst achieve selective photocatalytic CO₂-to-CH₄ conversion in water.

Replacement of platinum is important for lowering the cost of fuel-cell electrocatalysts, but less precious alternatives such as palladium are hindered by lower durability. Here, the authors show that incorporation of trace amounts of gold improves the durability of palladium based oxygen reduction catalysts.

Efficient electrocatalysts are critical for the development of methanol fuel cell technology but most catalysts reported to date suffer from low durability. Here, the authors report platinum-nickel hydroxide-graphene ternary hybrid catalysts with durability extended by two to three orders of magnitude.

Understanding the active state of electrocatalysts during operation is crucial for advancing catalyst development. Here, the authors report an operando X-ray absorption spectroscopic study revealing a structural change in Mn spinel oxide electrocatalysts in a fuel cell.

NaO^tBu — an alkoxide salt — enables simple access to low-oxidation-state catalysis using sustainable first-row transition metals (Fe, Co, Mn, Ni). The approach works across a wide range of reductive alkene and alkyne functionlization reactions including hydroboration, hydrosilylation, hydrogenation, hydrovinylation and [2π+2π] cyclization reactions.

The widespread use of fuel cells requires improved catalysts to reduce oxygen efficiently at the cathode. It is shown that model, well-characterized size-selected Pt_xY nanoparticles can be synthesized by the gas aggregation technique, and that they are highly active for this reaction.

Water oxidation is key to the production of chemical fuels from electricity. Now, guided by theory, NiCoFeP oxyhydroxide catalysts have been developed that require an overpotential lower than that required by IrO₂. In situ soft X-ray absorption studies of neutral-pH NiCoFeP catalysts indicate formation of Ni⁴⁺, which is favourable for water oxidation.

Extracting signals from noise is challenging in single-particle catalysis. Here, the authors use deep learning to enhance mass spectrometry, enabling detection of reactions on single nanoparticles.

Aldol condensation is an important reaction in polymer synthesis, but due to the lack of reliable analytical methods, direct evidence of the polymer microstructure and sequence has remained elusive. Here, the authors combine electrospray deposition and scanning tunnelling microscopy to image four n-type polymers at sub-monomer resolution, revealing and quantifying unexpected structural defects intrinsic to the aldol condensation process.

The presence and mobility of metal-rich sulfides in lower crustal magma chambers can act as a gateway for metals to be trapped, or released into ascending magmas that are then able to form upper crustal porphyry copper and gold deposits.

Exposure to synthetic and natural toxicants is a major risk factor in the etiology of disease. Here, authors describe the development of a method to quantify >80 xenobiotics and apply it to assess early-life exposure in vulnerable infants.

The sustainable and scalable synthesis of chiral amines remains a significant challenge in industrial chemistry, particularly due to the limitations of current biocatalytic processes in achieving high productivity and selectivity at scale. This study reports a dynamic kinetic resolution strategy that integrates flash thermal racemization with enzymatic resolution in a continuous flow system, achieving unprecedented productivity, excellent enantioselectivity, and industry-relevant green chemistry metrics at scales up to 100 grams.

The authors present a Mn incorporation strategy to enhance the stability of PdH_x metallenes by locking interstitial H atoms via strong electronic interactions in the immiscible alloy, resulting in an improved alkaline oxygen reduction reaction activity and stability at working temperature around 353 K.

Data suggest an inverse relationship exists between where plant diversity occurs in nature and where it is housed. This disparity persists across physical and digital botanical collections despite overt colonialism ending over half a century ago.

Electrochemical reduction of CO2 to formic acid is a promising and sustainable pathway for valuable chemical generation. However, direct production of formic acid rather than formate is challenging. Herein the authors report a zero-gap membrane electrode assembly architecture with perforated cation exchange membrane for the direct electrochemical synthesis of formic acid from CO2.

Early cancer detection by cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is challenged by the low amount of tumour DNA in cfDNA, tumour heterogeneity and the small patient cohorts. Here, the authors develop a method, cfMethyl-Seq, for cost-effective methylome profiling of cfDNA and for detecting and locating cancer.

In-depth characterization of complex glycomes is complicated by the immense structural diversity of glycans. Here, the authors present a mass spectrometry-based strategy for untargeted, sensitive glycan profiling and identify 167 N-glycan compositions in total human plasma.

It is of high interests to develop new catalysts for selective CO2 electroreduction. Here the authors investigate two-dimensional transition metal carbides for CO2 to methane conversion with superior activity, selectivity and low overpotentials.

With the yearly exodus from labs and lecture theatres imminent, Nature's regular reviewers and editors share some tempting holiday reads.

We report that fatigue cracks in pure metals can undergo intrinsic self-healing; they were observed to heal by crack flank cold welding induced by local stress state and grain boundary migration.

Despite the abundance and non-toxic nature of sodium, organosodium reagents have rarely been used in organic synthesis. Now iron-catalysed homocoupling and C(sp²)–C(sp³) cross-coupling reactions of arylsodium compounds are reported. The observed C(sp²)–C(sp³) cross-coupling reactivity of arylsodium reagents is enabled by Lewis donor additive N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine.

Late-stage functionalization of complex drug molecules is challenging. To address this problem, a discovery platform based on geometric deep learning and high-throughput experimentation was developed. The computational model predicts binary reaction outcome, reaction yield and regioselectivity with low error margins, enabling the functionalization of complex molecules without de novo synthesis.

The chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect offers a unique approach to control and manipulate electron spin properties. In this Review, we summarize how the CISS effect is being leveraged to improve efficiency in energy science technologies.

All or nothing.

The zinc-sensor protein Zur in a marine cyanobacterium is distinct from those in other bacteria in structure and location of its sensory zinc site, and facilitates growth across a range of zinc concentrations via activation of a metallothionein gene.