Coordination chemistry articles from across Nature Portfolio

Biological and synthetic catalysts often utilize iron in high oxidation states (+IV and greater) to perform challenging molecular transformations. A coordination complex featuring an Fe(VII) ion has now been synthesized through sequential oxidations of nonheme iron–nitrido precursors.

The tunable design of molecular catalysts presents opportunities for the control of product selectivity in CO₂ reduction, yet to date, complexes capable of producing multicarbon products have been elusive. Here, a Br-bridged dinuclear Cu(I) complex that turns over C₃H₇OH is reported.

Hydrogen isotope effect in metal-hydrogen systems disturbs precise Deuterium/Tritium (D/T) ratio control. Here, the authors demonstrate a local coordination strategy that comprises thermodynamic destabilization with vibration enhancement of interstitial isotopes for isotope engineering.

Chemical reduction of alkali cations to their metals is extremely challenging. Here, the authors synthesized a series of redox-active borate anions stabilized by bipyridine ligands which can reduce lithium ions generating elemental lithium metal and borate radicals.

The spontaneous recombination of photogenerated radicals surrounded by solvent molecules is an important energy-wasting elementary step in photoredox reactions. Now the decisive role that cage escape plays in these reactions is shown in three benchmark photocatalytic reactions, with quantitative correlations observed between photoredox product formation rates and cage escape quantum yields.

The effective control of chirality on surfaces is crucial for applications such as enantioselective heterogeneous catalysis and nonlinear optics. Here, the authors study the on-surface synthesis of organometallic polymers and their chiral expression on Ag(110), demonstrating that kinetic effects play an important role in determining polymer chirality.

Dual-controlled molecular release is of importance in the construction of controlled delivery systems with high anti-interference capabilities, but has been underexplored in the context of guest release from supramolecular entities. Here, the authors report a coordination cage whereby changes in both the coordinative metal cation and the solvent system are needed to induce guest release.

Biological and synthetic catalysts often utilize iron in high oxidation states (+IV and greater) to perform challenging molecular transformations. A coordination complex featuring an Fe(VII) ion has now been synthesized through sequential oxidations of nonheme iron–nitrido precursors.

A metal templating approach can be used to generate homo- and heterointerlocked cage structures.