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The New Journal of Chemistry is a publication that focuses on the chemical sciences and aims to connect researchers worldwide. The document provided is a contents list for the journal's 2024 edition. It includes papers on various topics such as membrane modification, nanoparticle synthesis, targeted therapy, catalysis, and material properties. Two specific papers are highlighted: one discusses the use of cationic lipids in non-viral gene delivery, while the other explores the confinement of metal-organic framework (MOF) etching-induced hollow structures for enhanced activation of peroxymonosulfate. The journal is published by The Royal Society of Chemistry and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. [Extracted from the article]

Chiral surfaces are an object of interest due to their application in catalysis, separation and sensors. Such surfaces can exhibit chirality on the molecular or supramolecular level. Previously, we have studied the thermodynamic features of adsorption on non-porous surfaces with supramolecular chirality. However, for their application in enantiomer separation, enantioselectivity and capacity should be greater. Porous adsorbents are promising for this purpose. In this work, the enantioselectivity of copper borophosphate LiCu2[BP2O8(OH)2] was studied. This zeotype material was obtained by hydrothermal synthesis without any source of chirality. Supramolecular chirality was achieved by spontaneous symmetry breaking via Viedma ripening. XRD and SEM were used to prove the synthesis accuracy. Enantioselectivity during adsorption was studied using the adsorption isotherms of α-pinene and limonene enantiomer analysis. The experimental isotherms were approximated by Langmuir, Dubinin–Radushkevich, Freundlich and Fowler–Guggenheim equations. The t-test was used to prove the reliability of the differences in enantiomer adsorption. The isosteric heats of adsorption were calculated from the adsorption isotherms. The data obtained have shown the ability of the LiCu2[BP2O8(OH)2] surface to recognize both α-pinene and limonene enantiomers. The molecules of α-pinenes adsorbed without pores, with the maximum enantioselectivity coefficient of 1.23 at 80 °C. Limonene molecules adsorbed in pore volume as single molecules or 1D chains. This phenomenon was proved by analysis of isosteric heats. The enantioselectivity of copper borophosphate to limonenes and α-pinenes was similar. The ability of pores with supramolecular chirality (and without molecular chirality) to recognize enantiomers was discovered in this paper for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lactic acid is an important organic acid with wide applications, and preparation of lactic acid from biomass-derived 1,2-propanediol was considered a green reaction route. In this paper, a Cu modified Au/γ-Al2O3 catalyst was designed for the oxidative esterification of 1,2-propanediol to methyl lactate in an alkali-free methanol system. The structural properties of the Au–Cu/γ-Al2O3 catalyst were characterized by various characterization methods, and interaction between Au nanoparticles and Cu species was discovered. Moreover, the catalytic tests showed that the Cu modified Au/γ-Al2O3 catalysts exhibited higher methyl lactate selectivity than the monometallic Au/γ-Al2O3 catalyst. It was revealed that the synergistic effect between the Au nanoparticles and Cu species could promote the oxidation of primary hydroxyl groups of 1,2-propanediol to produce methyl lactate and reduce the generation of by-products. In addition, a reasonable reaction pathway for the oxidative esterification of 1,2-propanediol was proposed based on the comparative experiments. These findings may provide favorable guidance for design of Au based nanocatalysts for the oxidative esterification of alcohols to esters and carboxylic acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CuO/CeO2 catalysts were widely studied as an alternative to precious metal catalysts, and the Cu–Ce synergy was essential to improve the catalytic performance. In this paper, the effects of CuO loading on Cu–Ce synergy in CuO/CeO2 nanorod catalysts and their performance in toluene combustion were systematically investigated. It was found that non-equilibrium plasma facilitated the dispersion of CuO active species on the CeO2 surface. With the increase of the CuO loading from 1 wt% to 4 wt%, the Cu–Ce synergistic effect was gradually improved, which generated Cu+/Cu2+ and Ce3+/Ce4+ redox electron pairs. The highest oxygen vacancy concentration and Cu+ content of CuCe-4 (4 wt%) resulting from strong Cu–Ce synergy accelerated the activation of chemisorbed oxygen and consequently improved the efficiency of toluene catalytic combustion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible microcircuits are developing rapidly with the trends of miniaturization and foldability in modern electronic products. The chemical growth welding technique of silver seeds offers several advantages, including compatibility with a wide range of substrates, ease of operation, and room temperature growth, making it a promising method for use in the manufacturing of flexible electronics. In this paper, we demonstrated a feasible solution based on silver seeds and the chemical welding process of copper at near room temperature. The growth of copper microcircuits was directly determined by the size and distribution of silver seeds. Seeding parameters for preparing long copper microcircuits were optimized, and two types of possible defects in the as-prepared copper microcircuits were analyzed. Based on the optimized parameters, patterned fine copper microcircuits and large-area copper wires were prepared, and the conductivity and fatigue resistance were verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensitive detection of glucose is important for public health, but non-enzymatic glucose biosensors still face significant challenges. In this paper, a novel and sensitive non-enzymatic glucose sensor was developed by in situ preparation of CuO nanorod-supported NiCo LDH nanosheet arrays on copper foam (CuO@NiCo LDH NSAs/CF). Because the hierarchical core–shell nanostructure provides more active sites and increases the exposed surface area of the catalyst, the catalytic activity of the electrode was significantly increased. As a working electrode, the CuO@NiCo LDH NSAs/CF catalyst showed good glucose sensing performance in a linear range of 0.6 μM–3 mM and a detection limit of 0.16 μM (S/N = 3). The sensor also showed repeatable responses over a month with negligible interference, and satisfactory recoveries with real human serum samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the water dissociation abilities of transition metals Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, and surface Cr incorporated into Co, Ni, and Cu matrix were estimated using density functional theory. The calculations indicate that the transition metal matrix can markedly affect the ability of surface Cr to promote H2O dissociation. The barriers of the H2O dissociation step on Cr, Co, Ni, and Cu increase in sequence. After introducing Cr into a transition metal matrix, the H2O dissociation ability of Cr reduces. Compared with pure metals, doping the Co surface with Cr is less favorable for H2O dissociation and introducing Cr onto Ni and Cu surfaces can accelerate the H2O dissociation reaction and Cr–Ni has stronger H2O dissociation ability than Cr–Cu. The electron distribution calculations show that the electron deviation levels from Cr to the metal matrix are a key factor in affecting the H2O dissociation ability of surface Cr, and strong electron deviation is advantageous. The adsorption calculations reveal that the OH-binding energy of catalyst cannot relate to its H2O dissociation ability and follows a rough volcano relationship with its alkaline HER performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphines bearing guanidine substituents at the backbone are attractive hybrid ligands that have not yet received adequate attention. This paper describes group 11 metal complexes of a guanidine-substituted triphenylphosphine, viz., N′′-[2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl]-N,N′-diisopropylguanidine (1). Reactions of 1 with Cu(I) and Ag(I) precursors yielded the P,N-chelate complexes [M(1-κ2P,N)2]X, where M/X = Cu/BF4, Cu/Br, Ag/SbF6 and Ag/Br. Conversely, reacting 1 and the hydrochloride 1·HCl with [AuCl(SMe2)] produced the corresponding phosphine complexes [AuCl(1-κP)] and [AuCl(1H-κP)]Cl, which were further converted into [{μ(P,N)-1}2Au2][SbF6]2 and [AuCl(1H-κP)][SbF6], respectively, by reacting with Ag[SbF6]. These compounds and the bis-phosphine complex [Au(1-κP)2][SbF6] were studied as precatalysts in the Au-mediated cyclisation of N-propargylbenzamide and the addition of benzoic acid across terminal alkynes. Of the Au(I)-1 complexes studied, the complex [{μ(P,N)-1}2Au2][SbF6]2 was particularly attractive as a stable and well-defined, silver-free precatalyst, which can be conveniently activated in situ by the addition of a protic acid (either as an additive or a substrate). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Justicia adhatoda is commonly known as Malabar nut or adulsi and extensively used for various medicinal applications such as bleeding disorders, piles, and hemorrhage, particularly musculoskeletal and cardiac diseases. Development of medicinal plant extract-derived metal nanoclusters for the detection of biomolecules has received great attention in recent years. In this paper, bluish-green fluorescent copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) are synthesized with a quantum yield of 17.12% via green chemistry using Justicia adhatoda plant extract as a template. The morphology, size, surface chemistry and elemental oxidation states of the J. adhatoda–Cu NCs are confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic techniques. In the presence of myoglobin, the emission peak of J. adhatoda–Cu NCs at 478 nm was drastically quenched and similarly the emission peak was greatly enhanced with the addition of L -thyroxine. Moreover, the J. adhatoda–Cu NC-based fluorescent probe exhibited high sensitivity for myoglobin and L -thyroxine with detection limits of 1.92 and 7.4 nM, respectively. Moreover, the J. adhatoda–Cu NCs acted as probes for the imaging of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. This method was successfully applied to quantify myoglobin in biofluids and L -thyroxine in pharmaceutical samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A zirconium-MOF with a sulphonic acid functionalized biphenyldicarboxylic acid linker was synthesized by a solvothermal process. The material was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, infrared (IR) spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and FESEM analysis. The fluorescence sensing experiment towards the detection of Cu2+ was carried out. The detection time for Cu2+ was only 15 s with a very low limit of detection, which is 0.22 μM. The Stern–Volmer constant was found to be 5.5 × 105 M−1. For easy handling and real field application purposes, we developed a paper-strip based sensing device. The systematic study of the mechanism by EDX, PXRD, TRPL, and UV-Vis spectroscopy revealed that the quenching of fluorescence intensity by copper(II) was due to the fluorescence resonance energy transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the electro-catalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) of synthesized copper tungsten oxide@reduced graphene oxide (CuWO4@rGO) nanocomposites. The prepared CuWO4@rGO nanocomposites show bifunctional electro-chemical performances for the HER and OER via water splitting reactions in alkaline (0.5 M KOH) and acidic (0.5 M H2SO4) media. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) reveal superlative HER and OER performances of the CuWO4@rGO nanocomposites. The onset over-potentials of the CuWO4@rGO nanocomposites were found to be ∼270 and ∼330 mV for the OER in 0.5 M KOH and 0.5 M H2SO4, respectively, while the onset potentials were found to be ∼180 and ∼135 mV for the HER in 0.5 M KOH and 0.5 M H2SO4, respectively. The CuWO4@rGO nanocomposites also showed lower Tafel slopes of ∼110 and ∼315 mV dec−1 for the OER in 0.5 M KOH and 0.5 M H2SO4, respectively, while the Tafel slopes of the CuWO4@rGO nanocomposites were found to be ∼192 and ∼212 mV dec−1 for the HER in 0.5 M KOH and 0.5 M H2SO4, respectively. Hence, the small energy loss of low-cost electro-catalysts during electro-chemical water splitting reactions reveals comparable HER/OER performances with noble electro-catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]