Photochemistry articles from across Nature Portfolio

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is one of the most important fluorescence mechanisms, with multi-step FRET systems enabling sequential energy transfer as seen in natural photosynthetic systems. Here, the authors review recent progress in exploiting discrete supramolecular assemblies to achieve multi-step FRET between donors and multiple acceptors.

Chiral recognition of amino acids with luminescence, despite its advantages, is usually slow and lacks generality. Here, the authors demonstrate that L-phenylalanine derived benzamide can manifest the structural difference between the natural, left-handed amino acid and its right-handed counterpart via the difference in room-temperature phosphorescence, irrespective of the specific chemical structure.

A robust and efficient dye-sensitized NiO bio-hybrid photocathode based on a redox polymer and [FeFe]- hydrogenase has been developed to couple with a BiVO₄ photoanode for water splitting without applied bias.

Photocatalytic H₂O₂ production using Au is hindered by its inherently weak O₂ adsorption. Herein, the authors modify the electronic structure of Au with MoS_x to form electron deficient Au sites to promote O₂ adsorption and H₂O₂ production.

Photosynthesis in biological systems occurs in a noisy environment that reduces the lifetime of coherences in the excitation energy transfer. Here the author demonstrate that long-lasting coherences are protected by quantum phase synchronization, realized in dimers by exciton-vibrational coupling where energy dissipation occurs predominantly in resonant anti-symmetric collective modes.

By confining and concentrating light in a nanometric volume at the apex of a metallic tip, sub-molecule-scale control of a basic photochemical reaction — phototautomerization — is now shown to be possible. Applicable to other photo-induced reactions, this technique signals a new strategy for the synthesis of complex molecules on surfaces.

Dinitrogen (N₂) fixation to ammonia (NH₃) is typically challenging under mild conditions. Now, lithium hydride (LiH) is shown to mediate photodriven N₂ fixation under ambient conditions. Under ultraviolet illumination, LiH is photolysed to release H₂, leaving electrons residing in surface hydrogen vacancies, which facilitate N₂ activation and photocatalytic NH₃ synthesis.

The visible-light-driven thiolate-catalysed carboxylation of C(sp²)–H bonds in azines using CO₂ is demonstrated. This procedure can be applied to various azine substrates to obtain a range of N-heteroaromatic carboxylic acids with different functionalities, including bioactive molecules and carboxylated N-ligands.