Review Articles in 2014

Energy storage using batteries offers a solution to the intermittent nature of energy production from renewable sources; however, such technology must be sustainable. This Review discusses battery development from a sustainability perspective, considering the energy and environmental costs of state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries and the design of new systems beyond Li-ion. Images: batteries, car, globe: © iStock/Thinkstock.

A critical overview and analysis of contemporary screening approaches toward the discovery of new reactivity is provided. A breakdown of each approach in terms of strategy, practicality and utility from the perspective of a synthetic chemist is also given, as well as considerations on the future of high-throughput screening in reaction discovery.

This Review draws an analogy between acid–base catalysis and redox catalysis. The 'electron is a catalyst' paradigm unifies mechanistically an assortment of synthetic transformations that otherwise have little or no apparent relationship. Various radical cascades catalysed by the electron are discussed.

Ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) is enhancing many areas of (bio)chemical analysis because it can separate ions both by their mass-to-charge ratio and differences in their cross-sectional area. IM-MS can be used for structural characterization, enhanced analysis of complex mixtures or to gain insights into conformational dynamics.