A research team led by Ke-Yin Ye and Yuqi Lin at Fuzhou University developed an electrochemically mediated dearomatization saturation strategy, successfully achieving chemo, regio, and stereoselective multifunctionalization reactions of pyridine. This strategy provides an efficient synthetic route for the one-step construction of complex three-dimensional piperidine skeletons with four convertible functional groups. Mechanistic studies show that cyanogen bromide generated in situ by electrochemical processes can initiate the dearomatization of pyridine, thereby generating a dihydropyridine intermediate. This intermediate, through intramolecular anodic carbon effects and CH···π interactions, synergistically regulates the stereochemical selectivity of the subsequent electrochemical ortho-bifunctionalization process, thus achieving highly selective transformation. The article was published as an open access Research Article in CCS Chemistry, the flagship journal of the Chinese Chemical Society.

MIT researchers discovered that dendrites, cracks that harm the performance of solid-state batteries, can grow at far lower stresses than previously understood. The findings reveal why developing stronger solid electrolytes alone hasn’t solved the dendrite problem; more chemically stable materials will be needed to finally fulfill the promise of these batteries.

Their mass is extremely low, but how light are neutrinos really? A collaboration comprising German and international research groups has optimized its experiments to determine the mass of these “ghost particles”. In doing so, they succeeded in further adjusting downward the upper limit on the neutrino mass scale that had previously been determined in similar experiments. As part of the “Electron Capture in Ho-163 Experiment” (ECHo), the researchers are using the isotope Holmium-163 (Ho-163), whose decay processes allow for conclusions on the neutrino mass. According to ECHo spokesperson Prof. Dr Loredana Gastaldo, a scientist at Heidelberg University’s Kirchhoff Institute for Physics, the current results verify that even larger-scale investigations will be feasible in future to get even closer to the mass of neutrinos and ultimately precisely determine it.

Solar energy is a promising source of green energy, yet conventional solar cells cannot fully utilize it due to efficiency limits in semiconductors. Researchers have now found a strategy to overcome this barrier with a new design strategy for exciton amplification. Using a molybdenum-based “spin-flip” emitter, they harvest multiplied excitons generated by singlet fission. The system achieves quantum yields of around 130%, surpassing the conventional 100% limit and opening possibilities for solar cells and LEDs.

Researchers at The University of Osaka have developed a polymer material that combines high mechanical durability with controllable enzymatic degradation. The material contains movable cross-links formed by cyclodextrin rings that slide along polymer chains. By using light to control the position of these rings, enzymatic degradation can be switched on or off and even spatially patterned.

Catalytic CO₂ utilization (CCU) offers a pathway to turn power plant emissions into valuable fuels and chemicals, but deploying these complex technologies has been hindered by safety and economic hurdles. A new review led by Xiansheng Li from China Datang Technology Innovation Co., Ltd. provides a pragmatic, three-tiered engineering framework to help utilities, investors, and policymakers navigate this challenge, offering a clear path from scientific concept to bankable project.