CO fixation: cycloaddition of CO to epoxides using practical metal-free recyclable catalysts.

The conversion of CO into valuable chemicals is a crucial field of research. Cyclic organic carbonates have attracted great interest because they can be prepared under mild conditions and because of their structural versatility which enables a large variety of applications. Therefore, there is a need for potent and yet practical catalysts for the cycloaddition of CO to cyclic carbonates that are able to combine availability, low cost and an adequate performance.

Catalytic Strategies for the Cycloaddition of CO to Epoxides in Aqueous Media to Enhance the Activity and Recyclability of Molecular Organocatalysts.

The cycloaddition of CO to epoxides to afford versatile and useful cyclic carbonate compounds is a highly investigated method for the nonreductive upcycling of CO. One of the main focuses of the current research in this area is the discovery of readily available, sustainable, and inexpensive catalysts, and of catalytic methodologies that allow their seamless solvent-free recycling. Water, often regarded as an undesirable pollutant in the cycloaddition process, is progressively emerging as a helpful reaction component.

Revisiting the Potential of Group VI Inorganic Precatalysts for the Ethenolysis of Fatty Acids through a Mechanochemical Approach.

The utilization of biobased feedstocks to prepare useful compounds is a pivotal trend in current chemical research. Among a varied portfolio of naturally available starting materials, fatty acids are abundant, versatile substrates with multiple applications. In this context, the ethenolysis of unsaturated fatty acid esters such as methyl oleate is an atom-economical way to prepare functional C10 olefins with a biobased footprint.

Catalysts Prepared from Atomically Dispersed Ce(III) on MgO Rival Bulk Ceria for CO Oxidation.

Atomically dispersed cerium catalysts on an inert, crystalline MgO powder support were prepared by using both Ce(III) and Ce(IV) precursors. The materials were used as catalysts for CO oxidation in a once-through flow reactor and characterized by atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy, X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and temperature-programmed reduction, among other techniques, before and after catalysis. The most active catalysts, formed from the precursor incorporating Ce(III), displayed performance similar to that reported for bulk ceria under comparable conditions.

Heavy-element production in a compact object merger observed by JWST.

The mergers of binary compact objects such as neutron stars and black holes are of central interest to several areas of astrophysics, including as the progenitors of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), sources of high-frequency gravitational waves (GWs) and likely production sites for heavy-element nucleosynthesis by means of rapid neutron capture (the r-process). Here we present observations of the exceptionally bright GRB 230307A. We show that GRB 230307A belongs to the class of long-duration GRBs associated with compact object mergers and contains a kilonova similar to AT2017gfo, associated with the GW merger GW170817 (refs.