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Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) show excellent stability, high porosity, and a designable skeleton, making them an ideal platform for gas capture. Here, two microporous COFs (M-COFs) were synthesized using short building blocks, which were advantageous for gas uptake through the pores. Additionally, the presence of abundant oxygen and nitrogen atoms on the walls of M-COFs further improved the gas uptake ability through weak interactions. Notably, the M-COFs exhibited high gas capture values (carbon dioxide: 72.5 cm3 g−1; methane: 35.2 cm3 g−1; iodine: 4.74 g g−1). This design has opened a new pathway for enhancing gas capture, hence addressing urgent environmental issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of highly efficient electrocatalysts for urea oxidation reaction (UOR) is crucial for reproducible and clean energy technologies. Herein, dual-phased nickel-based cost-effective catalyst nickel phosphide (Ni2P)-nickel metaphosphate (Ni2P4O12) microspheric nanoparticles were fabricated through a two-step hydrothermal-phosphorization process by preciously controlling the feeding ratios of the Ni precursor and the P source. It merely needs a potential of 1.35 V vs. RHE to deliver a current density of 10 mA cm−2 with a small Tafel slop of 55 mV dec−1 and maintains high catalytic activity for 10 h in 1.0 M KOH with 0.33 M urea solution. The synergy effect and modulation of the electronic structure between Ni2P and Ni2P4O12 could be the reason for the good UOR performance. This work provides a new perspective for the further design of high-performance electrocatalysts in diverse energy fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) are a unique class of materials that combine pre-designable π-conjugation with permanent micro-porosity. Here, two CMPs without pyridine units (CMP-1 and CMP-2) and pyridine-based CMPs (P-CMP-1 and P-CMP-2) were constructed via a pre-designable strategy. Interestingly, the P-CMPs anchored active pyridine groups in the backbone and possessed high micro-porosity. The P-CMPs exhibited high CO2 capture values via weak supramolecular interaction, which are much higher than those of CMPs without pyridine units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient enantioselective Hosomi–Sakurai reaction catalyzed by a chiral Ce(OTf)3/PyBox complex has been explored. In the presence of 20 mol% of a chiral catalytic complex prepared in situ from Ce(OTf)3 and 2,6-bis[(S)-4-isopropyloxazolin-2-yl]pyridine {(S)-i-Pr-PyBox} or tetraphenyl substituted (S)-i-PrPyBox, the enantioselective allylation of aldehydes with allyltrimethylsilane proceeded smoothly at room temperature and provided the homoallylic alcohols in good yield (up to 95%) and excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]