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Accurate identifying and in‐depth understanding of the defect sites in a working nanomaterial could hinge on establishing specific defect‐activity relationships. Yet, atomically precise coinage‐metal nanoclusters (NCs) possessing surface vacancy defects are scarce primarily owing to challenges in the synthesis and isolation of such defective NCs. Herein we report a mixed‐ligand strategy to synthesizing an intrinsically chiral and metal‐deficient copper hydride‐rich NC [Cu57H20(PET)36(TPP)4]+ (Cu57H20). Its total structure (including hydrides) and electronic structure are well established by combined experimental and computational results. Crystal structure reveals Cu57H20 features a cube‐like Cu8 kernel embedded in a corner‐missing metal‐ligand shell of Cu49(PET)36(TPP)4. Single Cu vacancy defect site occurs at one corner of the shell, evocative of mono‐lacunary polyoxometalates. Theoretical calculations demonstrate that the above‐mentioned point vacancy causes one surface hydride exposed as an interfacial capping μ3‐H−, which is accessible in chemical reaction, as proved by deuterated experiment. Moreover, Cu57H20 shows catalytic activity in the hydrogenation of nitroarene. The success of this work opens the way for the research on well‐defined chiral metal‐deficient Cu and other metal NCs, including exploring their application in asymmetrical catalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enantioselective α‐oxidative coupling of enals with carboxylic acids was developed via the umpolung of an NHC‐bound enolate with an iodine(III) reagent. The corresponding α‐acyloxyl‐β,γ‐unsaturated esters were afforded in good yields, with high regio‐ and enantioselectivities. The key step of the reaction involves the formation of enol iodine(III) intermediate from the enolate with iodosobenzene, which changes the polarity of α‐carbon of the enal from nucleophilic to electrophilic, and thus facilitates the subsequent addition of carboxylate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NOx− reduction acts a pivotal part in sustaining globally balanced nitrogen cycle and restoring ecological environment, ammonia (NH3) is an excellent energy carrier and the most valuable product among all the products of NOx− reduction reaction, the selectivity of which is far from satisfaction due to the intrinsic complexity of multiple‐electron NOx−‐to‐NH3 process. Here, we utilize the Schottky barrier‐induced surface electric field, by the construction of high density of electron‐deficient Ni nanoparticles inside nitrogen‐rich carbons, to facilitate the enrichment and fixation of all NOx− anions on the electrode surface, including NO3− and NO2−, and thus ensure the final selectivity to NH3. Both theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that NOx− anions were continuously captured by the electrode with largely enhanced surface electric field, providing excellent Faradaic efficiency of 99 % from both electrocatalytic NO3− and NO2− reduction. Remarkably, the NH3 yield rate could reach the maximum of 25.1 mg h−1 cm−2 in electrocatalytic NO2− reduction reaction, outperforming the maximum in the literature by a factor of 6.3 in neutral solution. With the universality of our electrocatalyst, all sorts of available electrolytes containing NOx− pollutants, including seawater or wastewater, could be directly used for ammonia production in potential through sustainable electrochemical technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enantioselective N‐heterocyclic carbene catalyzed [3+3] annulation of α‐bromoenals by dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of enamines and normal resolution of α,α‐disubstituted imines were developed. The corresponding substituted dihydropyridones were isolated in good yields with excellent diastereo‐ and enantioselectivities, and a high selective factor (up to 83) was realized for the resolution of α,α‐disubstituted imines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Engineering the adsorption of molecules on active sites is an integral and challenging part for the design of highly efficient transition‐metal‐based catalysts for methanol dehydrogenation. A Mott–Schottky catalyst composed of Ni nanoparticles and tailorable nitrogen‐doped carbon‐foam (Ni/NCF) and thus tunable adsorption energy is presented for highly efficient and selective dehydrogenation of gas‐phase methanol to hydrogen and CO even under relatively high weight hourly space velocities (WHSV). Both theoretical and experimental results reveal the key role of the rectifying contact at the Ni/NCF boundaries in tailoring the electron density of Ni species and enhancing the absorption energies of methanol molecules, which leads to a remarkably high turnover frequency (TOF) value (356 mol methanol mol−1 Ni h−1 at 350 °C), outpacing previously reported bench‐marked transition‐metal catalysts 10‐fold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum-chemical calculations at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ level of theory show that beryllium subfluoride, Be2F2, has a bond dissociation energy of De=76.9 kcal mol−1, which sets a record for the strongest Be−Be bond. The synthesis of this molecule should thus be possible in a low-temperature matrix. The discus-shaped species Be2B8 and Be2B7− possess the shortest Be-Be distance for a molecule in the electronic ground state, but there is no Be−Be bond. The cyclic species Be2B8 and Be2B7− exhibit double aromaticity with 6σ and 6π electrons, which strongly bind the Be2 fragment to the boron atoms. The very short interatomic distance between the beryllium atoms is due to the Be−B σ and π bonds, which operate like spokes in a wheel pressing the beryllium atoms together. The formation of the Be−B bonds has effectively removed the electronic charge of the valence space between the beryllium atoms. Along the Be-Be axis, there are two cage critical points adjacent to a ring critical point at the midpoint, but there is no bond critical point and no bond path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The catalytic cyclocondensation of in situ activated α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids was developed. N-heterocyclic carbenes efficiently catalyzed the generation of a,bunsaturated acyl azolium intermediates from α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids via in situ generated mixed anhydrides for the enantioselective [3+2] and [3+3] cyclocondensation with aamino ketones and alkyl(aryl)imines, respectively. The corresponding pyrrolidinones and dihydropyridinones were isolated in good yields with high to excellent enantioselectivities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient synthesis of cyclic polymers has received much attention in polymer chemistry field. Although photochemical cycloaddition of terminal π‐bonded units provides a plausible way toward cyclic polymerization, it remains challenging to avoid side reactions by manipulating the reaction selectivity. Herein supramolecular confinement has been developed as a promising strategy to address this issue, by introducing highly directional hydrogen bonds to the photo‐reactive cyanostilbenes. The cyanostilbenes units on both ends of a telechelic macromonomer are orientationally aligned with high local concentrations, yielding [2+2] photo‐cycloaddition products upon 430 nm light irradiation. It leads to the formation of cyclic polymers in the self‐assembled state, in stark contrast to Z‐E isomerization of cyanostilbenes in the monomeric state. Overall, supramolecular confinement effect exemplified in the current study provides new avenues toward cyclic topological polymers with high synthetic efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supramolecular chirogenesis has emerged as an effective strategy to access symmetry breaking in artificial systems. However, the chirogenic signals suffer from high susceptibility toward environmental variations. An effective strategy has been developed to address this issue by constructing platinum(II)‐based tweezer/guest complexes stabilized by two‐fold donor–acceptor and PtII–PtII metal–metal interactions. Upon guest encapsulation, the two pincers on the achiral PtII tweezer undergo a stereospecific twist to minimize steric repulsion, thus locking tweezer/guest complexes into the preferred chiral conformations. The induced chiroptical effects display outstanding solvent and temperature tolerance, ascribed to the balance between electrostatic and desolvation effects for the involved non‐covalent interactions. Moreover, hierarchical and multi‐component supramolecular assembly of tweezer/guest complexes provide a convenient way to modulate chirogeneic signals for their intensities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planar boron clusters have often been regarded as "π‐analogous" to aromatic arenes because of their similar delocalized π‐bonding. However, unlike arenes such as C5H5− and C6H6, boron clusters have not previously shown the ability to form sandwich complexes. In this study, we present the first sandwich complex involving beryllium and boron, B7Be6B7. The global minimum of this combination adopts a unique architecture having a D6h geometry, featuring an unprecedented monocyclic Be6 ring sandwiched between two quasi‐planar B7 motifs. The thermochemical and kinetic stability of B7Be6B7 can be attributed to strong electrostatic and covalent interactions between the fragments. Chemical bonding analysis shows that B7Be6B7 can be considered as a [B7]3−[Be6]6+[B7]3− complex. Moreover, there is a significant electron delocalization within this cluster, supported by the local diatropic contributions of the B7 and Be6 fragments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC)‐catalyzed enantioselective Mannich‐type reactions of the biomass‐derived platform compound 5‐(chloromethyl)furfural (CMF) with imines were developed. A series of high‐value‐added chiral amines were afforded in good to high yields with excellent regio‐ and enantioselectivities. The bifunctional NHC derived from ʟ‐pyroglutamic acid efficiently steered the remote addition of the trienolate intermediate to the imine in a highly stereocontrolled manner. This represents the first enantioselective reaction proceeding via an NHC‐bound trienolate intermediate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new class of beryllium‐boron clusters, beryllo‐borospherene, is described herein theoretically. When beryllium is gradually added to the B12 motif, it undergoes drastic structural modifications. The global minimum of the Be4B12+ cluster is an Archimedean beryllo‐borospherene in a 2A1 electronic ground state, composed of four boron triangles linked at each corner, resulting in a truncated tetrahedron with four B6 rings capped with four beryllium atoms. Beryllium forms strong bonding with the boron clusters through strong electrostatic and covalent interactions. For instance, the bonding between a beryllium atom and Be3B12 unit is best described as a Be+ fragment in a 2P excited state forming a strong and polarized electron‐sharing bond with Be3B12, followed by several dative interactions by employing its vacant s, p, and very high‐lying d orbitals. Counterintuitively, for an s‐block element, the p orbitals of beryllium are the most crucial atomic orbitals for bonding rather than s orbitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Platinum (Pt) is the most effective bench‐marked catalyst for producing renewable and clean hydrogen energy by electrochemical water splitting. There is demand for high HER catalytic activity to achieve efficient utilization and minimize the loading of Pt in catalysts. In this work, we significantly boost the HER mass activity of Pt nanoparticles in Ptx/Co to 8.3 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C by using Co/NC heterojunctions as a heterogeneous version of electron donors. The highly coupled interfaces between Co/NC and Pt metal enrich the electron density of Pt nanoparticles to facilitate the adsorption of H+, the dissociation of Pt−H bonds and H2 release, giving the lowest HER overpotential of 6.9 mV vs. RHE at 10 mA cm−2 in acid among reported HER electrocatalysts. Given the easy scale‐up synthesis due to the stabilization of ultrafine Pt nanoparticles by Co/NC solid ligands, Ptx/Co can even be a promising substitute for commercial Pt/C for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorescent materials with bright emission in versatile media are important for their practical applications, which require to lower the susceptibility of triplet excitons to surroundings. Herein a non‐covalent clipping strategy has been developed to attain this objective, by designing a tweezer receptor to encapsulate PtII‐based triplet emitters through two‐fold π‐stacking interactions. The PtII emitters display robust phosphorescence by virtue of synergistic rigidifying and shielding effects, which are hardly influenced by emitter concentration, oxygen content, and solvent polarity changes. The phosphorescent colors are elaborately modulated by varying ligand substitutes on PtII emitters. Circularly polarized phosphorescence is further amplified for chiral PtII emitters, by taking advantage of dual phosphorescence and chirality enhancement upon non‐covalent tweezer complexation. Overall, the clipping approach paves the way for the development of high‐performance phosphorescent materials with bright emission, environmental robustness, and facile color tunability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The merging of photoredox catalysis and N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalysis for γ‐ and ϵ‐alkylation of enals with alkyl radicals was developed. The alkylation reaction of γ‐oxidized enals with alkyl halides worked well for the synthesis γ‐multisubstituted‐α,β‐unsaturated esters, including those with challenging vicinal all‐carbon quaternary centers. The synthesis of ϵ‐multisubstituted‐α,β‐γ,δ‐diunsaturated esters by an unprecedented NHC‐catalyzed ϵ‐functionalization was also established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The exploitation of metal‐free organic polymers as electrodes for water splitting reactions is limited by their presumably low activity and poor stability, especially for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) under more critical conditions. Now, the thickness of a cheap and robust polymer, poly(p‐phenylene pyromellitimide) (PPPI) was rationally engineered by an in situ polymerization method to make the metal‐free polymer available for the first time as flexible, tailorable, efficient, and ultra‐stable electrodes for water oxidation over a wide pH range. The PPPI electrode with an optimized thickness of about 200 nm provided a current density of 32.8 mA cm−2 at an overpotential of 510 mV in 0.1 mol L−1 KOH, which is even higher than that (31.5 mA cm−2) of commercial IrO2 OER catalyst. The PPPI electrodes are scalable and stable, maintaining 92 % of its activity after a 48‐h chronoamperometric stability test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An intriguing structural transition from the quasi‐planar form of B12 cluster upon the interaction with lithium atoms is reported. High‐level computations show that the lowest energy structures of LiB12, Li2B12, and Li3B12 have quasi‐planar (Cs), tubular (D6d), and cage‐like (Cs) geometries, respectively. The energetic cost of distorting the B12 quasi‐planar fragment is overcompensated by an enhanced electrostatic interaction between the Li cations and the tubular or cage‐like B12 fragments, which is the main reason of such drastic structural changes, resulting in the smallest tubular (Li2B12) and cage‐like (Li3B12) boron structures reported to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]