Volume 8 Issue 2, February 2024

Providing a stable and reliable supply of electrons is crucial for the future of quantum computing processors. Here, electron withdrawing groups are added to species which improve the flow of electrons.

By drawing inspiration from ion transport in biology, researchers have developed highly selective channels for the separation and enrichment of Li⁺ ions from complex aqueous solutions.

The reduction of molecular species containing arene to alkali metal cation interactions with other alkali metals has been found to contradict the expectation provided by simple considerations of relative reduction potentials.

Thirty-four years ago, Curry and Rumelhart described a neural network-based approach to annotate tandem mass spectra. Their ideas foreshadowed several important developments in computational mass spectrometry over the past decade, but many of the challenges they discuss remain relevant today.

This Review introduces solar reforming as an emerging technology to produce sustainable fuels and chemicals from diverse waste feedstocks using sunlight. The chemistry and concept of solar reforming, suggestions of key metrics and proposed directions to realize solar-powered refineries for a future circular economy are discussed.

Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases are key enzymes in biomass processing and pathogenicity. They are, to our knowledge, the first known copper enzymes capable of utilizing H₂O₂ to hydroxylate C–H bonds. This Review draws a portrait of the catalytic paths at play and highlights outstanding questions in their reactivity.

This Review highlights the strategies and challenges for targeting RNA with small molecules in medicinal chemistry. It emphasizes their potential as drugs and tools for understanding complex biological processes while encouraging chemists to contribute to this field for future advances.

Performing logical operations with molecular excitons may provide opportunities for developing ultrafast, subnanometre and biocompatible computational architectures. This Roadmap outlines a framework for using multiexcitonic processes such as singlet fission and triplet–triplet annihilation to drive logical devices.