Reviews & Analysis

Advances in photoredox catalysis have led to considerable developments in organic chemistry and its applied subfields. We discuss the development of low-energy light-absorbing photocatalysts and their use in synthesis, polymer chemistry, and biology.

One electron σ-bonds were first proposed in 1931 but most discussion since then has been at a theoretical level. The first experimentally observed single-electron C–C bond both advances our fundamental understanding of bonding and provides the basis of an approach to creating a new class of molecules.

Advances in activatable organic photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy are reviewed, highlighting novel synthetic methodologies, their integration into bioconjugates, and their potential in antimicrobial and anticancer treatments, addressing off-target toxicity and enhancing targeted ablation of pathogenic cells.

Supramolecular metal-based structures have immense potential for biomedical applications as multimodal theranostic platforms. This Review gives an overview of the design principles and synthetic strategies; it also highlights the achievements in the field of radiochemistry.

Porous nanoreactors are a class of nanometre-sized materials with embedded catalytic sites. These reactors can be single- or multi-compartmented, and with or without shells, providing a multi-scale material that can be tailored to various applications such as catalysis, energy storage and bioengineering.

Flexizymes can be used to prepare nonproteinogenic aminoacyl-tRNAs (npAA-tRNAs) by activating amino acids with suitable leaving groups, leading to ribosomal incorporation of npAAs by genetic code reprogramming. This enables the ribosomal synthesis of unique peptides and proteins containing various npAAs.

Chiral phase-transfer catalysts are practical and powerful organocatalysts for asymmetric synthesis. This Review illustrates notable recent advances of chiral phase-transfer catalysts, including challenges, limitations and potential solutions, as well as future opportunities to improve sustainability.

To date, monomer yields from lignin are limited to those attainable through C–O bond cleavage. Cleaving C–C bonds often leads to deleterious product degradation and low monomer yields. Herein we review lignin C–C cleavage reports and advocate for a standardized reporting of yields.

Ni-catalysed chain-walking blossomed as an effective synthetic tool to functionalize C(sp³)–H bonds in hydrocarbon chains. This Review provides a detailed overview of the most recent advances in this field, focusing on site-selective and regioselective manipulations at previously out-of-reach C(sp³)–H sites.

Water is essential for life but paradoxically considered detrimental to the origins of life. Here, we discuss whether avoiding hydrolysed monomers and exploiting the chemical energy in prebiotic precursors may hold the missing key to unlocking biopolymer synthesis.

Monoborylated alkanes display diverse reactivity and broad application; however, despite an increasing number of approaches to access them, multiborylated alkanes have yet to realize their synthetic potential. This Review highlights the current state-of-the-art in approaches to and synthetic applications of multiborylated alkanes.

Quantifying molecular complexity has the potential to enhance retrosynthetic analysis and, thus, aid the development of efficient total syntheses. This Perspective discusses methods for rigorous, reproducible complexity measurement, highlighting their potential to revolutionize traditional complex molecule synthesis and uncover new synthetic opportunities.

Rate-limiting conformational changes often gate the formation of catalytically active metalloenzyme states. We review examples of the interplay between macroscopic changes in protein molecular structure and subatomic changes in metallocofactor electronic structure that together enable precision control over nature’s redox machines.

The origins of complex life forms from simple chemicals remain one of the most enigmatic mysteries. This Review explores how non-equilibrium chemical-based systems can exhibit living matter-like properties with an outlook that connects the possibility of diversification, adaptation and evolution.

We describe recent advances in the understanding of covalency in the f element–other element bond through the synergistic application of computational quantum chemistry with nuclear magnetic resonance and X-ray spectroscopies.

Biomolecular condensates help organize cell components under normal conditions but can also be involved in pathological protein aggregation when condensate proteins carry mutations or under stress conditions. This Review discusses the possible mechanisms behind such aggregation processes that potentially lead to neurodegenerative diseases.

Photoclick reactions have found applications ranging from surface functionalization and polymer crosslinking to protein labelling and bioimaging, but they typically require near-UV and mid-UV light to proceed. This Review presents and discusses strategies and recent advances for long wavelength-driven photoclick reactions.

Disorder in redox-active monolayers arising from pinhole defects, loose packing, heterogeneous distribution of redox-active headgroups, and lateral interactions between immobilized redox-active molecules can cause non-ideal cyclic voltammetry behaviour.

Compartmentalization is crucial for life’s evolution. Yet, the origin of modern phospholipid membranes and their species-dependent homochirality remains unknown. Amphiphile detection in extraterrestrial samples suggests diverse interstellar chemistry, enriching Earth’s prebiotic chemistry with vital membrane precursors. Moreover, chiroptical properties guide research into membrane homochirality origins.

In this Review, synthetic approaches to polycyclic scaffolds, which can act as saturated, three-dimensional bioisosteric replacements of ortho-substituted, meta-substituted and multi-substituted benzenes, are discussed. Their application in medicinal chemistry is also summarized.