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This study demonstrates a sustainable photocatalytic route for the production of ethylene glycol and H₂ using methyl tert-butyl ether as the substrate, offering a greener alternative to energy-intensive, petroleum-based industrial processes.

Aromatic and aliphatic nitriles are important precursors required for many important compounds. Here, the authors report the relatively environmentally benign synthesis of a range of nitriles from alcohols treated with ammonia and oxygen in the presence of graphene supported non-noble metal oxide catalysts.

Hydrogen carriers play an important role in the hydrogen economy. Now, methyl formate is proposed as a suitable chemical hydrogen source for a carbon-neutral hydrogen energy cycle, and faster catalytic hydrogen production rates are achieved compared with those from the widely investigated formic acid and methanol.

Using CO2 as C1-feedstock for the chemical industry has attracted great attention. Here the authors develop a two-step cascade process to perform catalytic carbonylations of olefins, alkynes, and aryl halides using CO₂ and H₂.

Liquid (organic) hydrogen carriers form a toolbox for the storage and transport of green hydrogen but organic salts have been scarcely investigated. Here, the authors present a potassium formate/potassium bicarbonate hydrogen storage and release energy system, that is applicable and shows stability over months.

The search for new carbon-based hydrogen storage materials attracts scientists from various disciplines. Now, carbon-neutral hydrogen storage-release is reported based on dual-functional roles of formamides and uses non-noble, Fe-based catalyst.

Core–shell nanoparticles can be used to release hydrogen from formic acid and could provide a convenient method for storing hydrogen.

Formic acid is a convenient hydrogen storage medium with storage release occurring via reversible hydrogenation of CO₂ and facilitated by noble metal-based catalysts. Now, reversible storage release is demonstrated using a non-noble, Mn-based catalyst in the presence of an amino acid.

Nitrile reduction is a simple method for the generation of amines, though successful catalysts use expensive precious metals such as ruthenium. Here, the authors use an iron complex, demonstrating its application in the hydrogenation of nitriles and dinitriles to primary amines.

Pyrolysis of defined nitrogen-ligated cobalt acetate complexes onto a commercial carbon support transforms the complexes into heterogeneous Co₃O₄ materials. These reusable non-noble-metal catalysts are highly selective for the industrially important hydrogenation of structurally diverse and functionalized nitroarenes to anilines.

The area of catalytic dehydrogenation is largely dominated using precious metals. Here the authors introduce a new class of more affordable Co-based catalysts, where highly dispersed single-metal sites work synergistically with small, well-defined nanoparticles to enable efficient formic acid dehydrogenation

A method for the selective deuteration of anilines, indoles, phenols and heterocyclic compounds, including natural products and other bioactive molecules, has been developed. The nanostructured iron catalyst that underpins this process is prepared by combining cellulose with iron salts and has been used for the preparation of deuterated compounds on up to a kilogram scale.

An efficient, low-temperature, aqueous-phase method of producing hydrogen gas from methanol using ruthenium complexes is described, which could make the transport of hydrogen — and hence its use for clean-energy generation — feasible.

Access to renewable hydrogen represents an important target for the success of the hydrogen economy. Now, a one-pot method is presented for the conversion of cellulosic biomass into hydrogen via formic acid as the intermediate, followed by its application to a fuel cell.

Hydrogenation of functionalized substrates often relies on expensive noble metal—based catalysts. Jagadeesh et al. detail the hydrogenation of nitroarenes and the reductive amination of aldehydes with nitroarenes performed with an iron-based catalyst.

Nanocatalysts made up of Co₃O₄ surrounded by nitrogen-doped graphene layers are excellent activators of H₂ and O₂ for the hydrogenation and oxidation of organic compounds. They are environmentally benign, as water is the only reaction by-product.