Dedioxygenation of acids to phosphorus compounds

Dedioxygenative transformations of carboxylic acids, particularly those applicable to both aromatic and aliphatic acids, remain relatively limited because of the presence of multiple C–O bonds with distinct properties. Although other approaches feature a broad substrate scope, they inevitably yield carbon-deleted products and are often restricted to aromatic carboxylic acids. Recently, a dedioxygenative reaction of carboxylic acids to form phosphorus compounds was developed from aromatic and aliphatic starting materials, with a broad substrate scope and excellent functional group tolerance.

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Enantioselective cross-dehydrogenative C(sp3)–heteroatom bond formation via copper catalysis

Heteroatom-bearing carbon stereocenters serve as key functional groups in natural products and pharmaceuticals. Among the various approaches for accessing these important motifs, enantioselective cross-dehydrogenative coupling stands out as an efficient and streamlined strategy where the new carbon–heteroatom bond is formed directly from C–H and X–H coupling partners while simultaneously controlling the generated stereocenter. Copper is a particularly attractive catalyst for this type of transformation due to its abundance, low cost, and unique redox properties. In contrast to the well-developed copper-catalyzed C(sp3)–C bond formation using a cross-dehydrogenative coupling strategy, the corresponding enantioselective C(sp3)–heteroatom bond formation is much less explored. Nonetheless, recent developments are starting to change the situation, and in this opinion article, we highlight these achievements along with persisting challenges and opportunities for future development. Continued efforts in this field will deliver a general platform for streamlined access to various pharmaceutically important motifs.

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Catalytic asymmetric synthesis strategies of helically chiral molecules

Catalytic asymmetric synthesis serves as a powerful strategy for producing optically active molecules. While breakthroughs in central, axial, and planar chirality have laid a solid foundation for exploring helical chirality, this field still lags behind in available synthetic methods and in quantity. Despite recent achievements, a systematic review focusing on the asymmetric construction of helical core frameworks remains notably absent. This review provides an in-depth overview of strategies and detailed examples for synthesizing helicenes and helicene-like molecules. It delves into underlying mechanisms and highlights persistent challenges in this demanding field. By synthesizing current knowledge and outlining future directions, this review aims to accelerate breakthroughs and promote a more balanced advancement across all classes of chiral compounds.

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Advances in crown ether-based lithium isotope separation technologies

The global demand for lithium isotope products is increasing rapidly due to the development of next-generation thorium-based molten salt reactors and controlled fusion reactors. However, the lack of efficient lithium isotope separation technology is a key bottleneck hindering industrial applications. The use of crown ether molecules for this purpose is driving progress toward solutions to this issue. This review evaluates current progress in crown ether-based separation strategies for lithium isotopes, discussing extraction, adsorption, and migration. We shed light on their innovations and industrial applications and highlight future directions for the field, including multistage separation systems and long-term, stable, and stackable isotope separation effects.

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Evaluating photochemically induced deformation of organic materials

Photochromic molecules absorb photons and undergo bond rearrangements, which, within a solid matrix, can drive deformation and directly convert photon energy into mechanical work. Recent decades have witnessed rapid development of photoswitches and optomechanical materials, offering promise for remotely controlled robots, minimally invasive procedures, and sunlight-responsive structures. However, a lack of consensus on how to evaluate their performance makes it difficult to directly compare different materials. In addition, improvements are needed before photomechanical devices will be practical in most applications. In this feature review, we focus on figures of merit for photochemical actuators and discuss design principles to further improve performance.

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Visualizing polymer dynamics: from covalent fluorophores to intrinsic clusteroluminescence

Visualizing polymer dynamics, spanning from molecular-scale events to macroscopic changes, is essential for understanding material behavior and enabling smart, adaptive functions. This review highlights strategies for constructing self-reporting polymers with stimulus-responsive fluorescence. It covers covalent approaches that use microenvironment-sensitive luminogens as initiators or monomer components, alongside intrinsic clusteroluminescence from nonconjugated polymers. These strategies enable direct, real-time, noninvasive monitoring of dynamic processes such as polymerization, mechanical deformation, conformational transitions, degradation, drug delivery, and secondary-structure changes. The review summarizes design principles, working mechanisms, and applications and discusses current achievements, critical challenges, and future directions. By offering an integrated framework connecting these strategies, this review aims to deepen understanding of polymer dynamics through luminescent signals and to inspire next-generation self-reporting functional polymers.

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Uncapped carbon chains unlock quasi-ballistic transport

By successfully wiring uncapped one-dimensional carbon chains directly to gold electrodes, Morris et al. unlocked nearly length-independent, quasi-ballistic charge transport, experimentally achieving the long-sought theoretical limit of carbyne for molecular nanoelectronics.

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Nitrous oxide as an electrophile in synthetic chemistry

Nitrous oxide (N2O), colloquially known as ‘laughing gas’, is an inert, small gas molecule that presents a significant environmental concern. Valorization of N2O as both an oxidant and a nitrogen source has posed a long-standing challenge for synthetic chemists. In the past decade, there has been significant progress in this field, especially in reactions of N2O with strong nucleophiles, including dipolarophiles and electron-rich metal complexes. Although N2O is weakly reactive, it generally functions as an electrophile at its N terminus, a mode of reactivity that has been used in the preparation of a number of synthetically important molecules. Recent advances in 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition chemistry, computational-modeling, and the catalytic valorization of N2O hold promise that the next 10 years will be equally exciting for the field.

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Single-atom catalysts for cross-coupling reactions

As essential tools in synthetic chemistry, cross-coupling reactions have been limited by the difficulty of recovering homogeneous catalysts and the low activity of heterogeneous catalysts. Single-atom catalysts (SACs), which combine high atomic utilization with easy separation, not only match but even surpass the performance of homogeneous catalysts. This review clarifies the unique mechanisms of SACs in cross-coupling reactions, which differ from traditional homogeneous pathways, analyzes the key roles of supports and ligands, and summarizes breakthroughs achieved with SACs in this field. Finally, opportunities and challenges are outlined to provide guidance for the rational design of efficient and stable SACs and to promote their practical application in cross-coupling chemistry.

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Biohybrid materials enable efficient biosynthesis of chemicals

Microbial biosynthesis of chemicals faces major bottlenecks, including low metabolic efficiency, limited substrate utilization, and weak stress tolerance. Biohybrid materials provide a promising route to address these limitations through defined interfacial interactions between functional materials and microorganisms. In this review, material–microbe hybrid systems are defined as integrated platforms in which the material component directly contributes to electron or photon delivery, cell protection, immobilization, or spatial organization. We summarize the principal challenges in microbial chemical production and critically evaluate recent advances in inorganic, organic, and composite material–microbe hybrids for bio-based chemical synthesis. Future development should address material toxicity, electron-transfer efficiency, microbial robustness, scale-up production, and regulatory considerations to advance sustainable biomanufacturing.

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From polymerization to polymer backbone editing

Rather than creating new polymers, Hill et al. report the chemical editing of existing polyesters. Their carbonyl-to-thiocarbonyl strategy converts polycaprolactone into poly(thionocaprolactone), enabling selective backbone modification, tunable material properties, and altered degradation behavior. The study positions polymer backbone editing as a complementary strategy to polymer synthesis for designing sustainable materials.

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Engineering functional perovskite and pyrochlore complex oxide catalysts

Perovskite and pyrochlore compounds exhibit excellent thermal stability and open structures, which meet most of the active site requirements for the oxidative coupling of methane reaction, making them an important class of widely studied catalysts. These two types of composite oxides not only share similar structures but also possess unique characteristics. This review systematically compares their crystal phase structures and the effects of coordination environment, lattice parameters, subphase structures, oxygen mobility/vacancies, and surface alkalinity on the active sites, as well as the reaction performance. By summarizing current modification strategies for the two types of compounds, effective methods to tune and optimize their catalytic properties are proposed, and future prospects are presented.

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Photoisomerization-driven smart polymer adhesives: mechanisms and latest applications

Smart polymer adhesives (SPAs) that respond to light enable precise, noncontact, and dynamic control over interfacial adhesion. This review focuses on a key subset, photoisomerization-driven SPAs, which operate via three fundamental strategies: solid–liquid transitions for rapid debonding, macroscopic shape deformation for clean detachment, and the in situ generation of noncovalent crosslinks for robust adhesion enhancement. By integrating molecular photoswitches—namely azobenzenes, spiropyrans, and hydrazones—into macromolecular architectures, these materials unlock cutting-edge applications in soft robotics, dynamic microfabrication, stretchable electronics, and nondestructive biomedical interfaces. Finally, we evaluate current structural and mechanistic limitations and outline future directions toward visible-light actuation and diversified photoswitch platforms, aiming to guide the design of next-generation programmable smart adhesives.

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Current trends in chemical recycling of polymers based on selective bond cleavage

Chemical recycling through selective bond cleavage is advancing toward milder conditions and broader polymer applicability. This forum highlights recent progress in reactive solvent–catalyst systems, dynamic covalent chemistries, and enzymatic recycling for depolymerizing thermoplastics, thermosets, and composites, and outlines challenges currently limiting the translation of these strategies into practical recycling technologies.

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A Dual-Use Design Logic for chemical and biochemical engineering

In chemical and biochemical engineering, core research outputs, such as advanced polymers, process intensification, and energy storage systems, often have potential relevance to civilian and defence applications. Yet researchers are largely unprepared to recognise or responsibly develop this potential, and many avoid the topic for fear of bureaucratic burden. Based on recent European Commission reports and university guidelines, we propose the Dual-Use Design Logic (DUDL), a four-phase framework to advance civil–defence synergies in scientific research. DUDL helps researchers integrate dual-use considerations from the project ideation stage, identify legitimate application pathways, and design proportionate safeguards without imposing unnecessary administrative burden. Its effective implementation, however, will require institutions to build compliance capacity. We illustrate DUDL using our research on silicone elastomers for extreme environments.

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Mechanistic principles of photosystem II-inspired water oxidation

Catalytic water oxidation is the central challenge in photosynthesis and artificial solar fuel production, yet the mechanistic basis of O–O bond formation remains unresolved. In photosystem II, the Mn4CaO5 oxygen evolving complex (OEC) performs four-electron/four-proton water oxidation, but whether O–O bond formation proceeds via water nucleophilic attack or metal oxo/oxyl radical coupling remains debated. Here, we argue that recent structural and spectroscopic advances in the native OEC, together with bioinspired studies, are redefining this problem. We highlight high-valent metal oxygen intermediates as mechanistic fingerprints and show how redox-inactive Ca2+ and its surrogates tune Lewis acidity and the secondary sphere to balance O–O bond formation with O2 release. Finally, plastoquinone-inspired platforms reveal design principles for next-generation bioinspired water oxidation catalysts.

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Boronic-ester-based vitrimers for next-generation sustainable materials

Plastics are essential materials in our daily lives. Designing circular polymer materials with sustainable end-of-life processes is an important and rapidly growing research field. Athanassiou and colleagues developed dynamic boronic-ester vitrimers with excellent mechanical properties and biodegradability, representing a significant achievement in the field of dynamic polymers toward this goal.

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High-entropy ruthenium oxides for acidic water oxidation

The acidic oxygen evolution reaction is a cornerstone of Power-to-X conversion technologies, such as proton exchange membrane water electrolysis. However, the practical use of active ruthenium (Ru)-based oxides is limited by electrochemical instability. High-entropy oxides (HEOs) have emerged as promising candidates to overcome these durability challenges. This review provides an incisive analysis of Ru-based HEO design strategies, focusing on how multi-elemental integration modulates the physicochemical environment to suppress Ru dissolution and regulate lattice oxygen participation. We systematically examine the synergy between compositional diversity and structural integrity, evaluating diverse Ru-based HEO architectures. By categorizing stabilization strategies such as lattice distortion and coordination tuning, this review aims to bridge high-entropy theory with the design of robust, high-performance electrocatalysts for next-generation energy systems.

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Enantioselective contrathermodynamic olefin isomerization

Catalytic asymmetric olefin isomerization is a powerful strategy for the synthesis of allylic stereocenters from simple olefin precursors. Conventional thermal methods generally favor the formation of the thermodynamically more stable olefin isomer, while access to less stable positional isomers is limited by microscopic reversibility. As a result, enantioselective contrathermodynamic isomerization requires a mechanism that can distinguish the starting alkene from the higher-energy product while also enforcing stereocontrol.

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Rewriting N-terminal cysteine chemistry for peptide-bicycle evolution

New strategies to access peptide bicycles are in demand for peptide engineering. Recent work from Liu et al. presents a thiol-retaining N-terminal cysteine chemistry approach, providing a programmable platform for peptide bicycle construction and phage-display-compatible drug discovery.

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Alkylidene polyhydroxyalkanoates close the loop

Polyhydroxyalkanoates are promising sustainable polyesters, but thermal degradation and decarboxylative carbon loss hinder selective recycling. In a recent study published in Science, Zhou et al. demonstrated that β-alkylidene functionalization suppresses these pathways, enabling near-quantitative monomer recovery and hydrogenation-tunable performance across fibers, thermoplastics, and hot-melt adhesives.

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Tweaking regiochemistry in single-atom insertion

Late-stage diversification of aza-heterocycles emphasizes precise control of nitrogen location, which has a profound impact on pharmaceutical activity. Single-atom insertion into indoles has largely been limited to the 1,3-relationship between the newly added atom and the indole nitrogen through the participation of the enamine-like C2–C3 bond. However, a rare 1,4-relationship has now been achieved by exploiting NO as an internal nitrogen source. Its unusual 1,3-transposition enables activation of the formerly inaccessible C3–C9 bond.

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Rieske oxygenases: Promising biocatalysts for bioremediation and synthesis

Rieske oxygenases (ROs) can catalyze a wide array of oxidative transformations, encompassing hydroxylation, demethylation, carbocyclization, desaturation, N-oxygenation, C–C, C–N, and C–S bond cleavage, C–H amination, sulfoxidation, and epoxidation. This extensive reaction scope, combined with broad substrate tolerance, underscores their potential for development into promising biocatalysts. ROs have demonstrated pivotal roles in the bioremediation of environmental pollutants and offer a sustainable alternative to traditional chemical catalysts for producing value-added compounds. While previous reviews have covered their catalytic diversity, mechanisms, and engineering, this review focuses on the current applications, challenges, and future prospects of employing ROs in bioremediation and chemoenzymatic synthesis. Our goal is to provide insights that will guide the development of ROs into efficient, stable, and broadly applicable biocatalysts.

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Chemical in vitro models: assessing antibody quality attributes

Therapeutic antibody development traditionally relies on costly, time-consuming animal studies. This review examines how defined chemical models—including phosphate-buffered saline and continuous-flow dialysis systems—reliably predict antibody degradation, potentially reducing animal testing. By controlling physiological variables (pH, temperature, and redox potential), these models accurately predict pathways: deamidation, isomerization, pyroglutamate formation, thiol-disulfide exchange, and glycation. They are particularly valuable during early development with limited clinical material. Chemical in vitro approaches outperform traditional serum-based systems through superior control and reproducibility. We identify gaps, notably the lack of predictive oxidation models, and propose next-generation systems incorporating trace metals and antioxidants to simulate in vivo catalytic pathways. These advances align with the 3Rs principles (Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement) while accelerating development timelines and improving quality assurance.

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Intrinsic plasticization: a molecular design strategy for bioplastics

Intrinsic plasticization enables flexibility in bioplastics through molecular modification rather than using external plasticizers. By modifying polymer architecture, this approach can improve performance and stability. However, challenges in scalability, trade-offs in property performance, and sustainability remain, highlighting the need for integrated design approaches that link chemistry, processing, and real-world applications.

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Entropy-driven chemically recyclable polymers from strained monomers

Depolymerization-based chemical recycling offers a promising route to a circular plastic economy but faces a trade-off between polymerization and depolymerization. Sun and colleagues recently addressed this challenge with strained bridged bicyclic monomers for metathesis polymerization, using entropy as a powerful and effective design principle.

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