A Heterogeneous Acid-Base Organocatalyst For Cascade Deacetalisation-Knoevenagel Condensations.

Multifunctional heterogeneous catalysts are an effective strategy to drive chemical cascades, with attendant time, resource and cost efficiencies by eliminating unit operations arising in normal multistep processes. Despite advances in the design of such catalysts, the fabrication of proximate, chemically antagonistic active sites remains a challenge for inorganic materials science. Hydrogen-bonded organocatalysts offer new opportunities for the molecular level design of multifunctional structures capable of stabilising antagonistic active sites.

Strategic design of VO encased in N-doped carbon as an efficient electrocatalyst for the nitrogen reduction reaction in neutral and acidic media.

Electrocatalytic nitrogen fixation to ammonia (NH), a precursor for fertilizer production and a promising energy carrier, has garnered widespread interest as an environment-friendly and sustainable alternative to the energy-intensive fossil-feedstock-dependent Haber-Bosch process. The large-scale deployment of this process is contingent on the identification of inexpensive, Earth-abundant systems that can operate efficiently, irrespective of the electrolyte pH for the selective production of NH. In this regard, we discuss the scalable synthesis of VO anchored on N-doped carbon (VO2@CN), and its applicability as a robust electrocatalyst for the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR).

Melamine-Based Hydrogen-bonded Systems as Organoelectrocatalysts for Water Oxidation Reaction.

Applications of small organic molecules and hydrogen-bonded aggregates, instead of traditional transition-metal-based electrocatalysts, are gaining momentum for addressing the issue of low-cost generation of H to power a sustainable environment. Such systems offer the possibility to integrate desired functional moieties with predictive structural repetition for modulating their properties. Despite these advantages, hydrogen-bonded organic systems have largely remained unexplored, especially as electrocatalysts.