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Chemical routes for the synthesis of nanostructures are fundamental in nanoscience. Among the different strategies for the production of nanostructures, this article reviews the fundamentals of the bottom-up approaches, focusing on wet chemistry synthesis. It offers a general view on the synthesis of different inorganic and hybrid organic–inorganic nanostructures such as ceramics, metal, and semiconductor nanoparticles, mesoporous structures, and metal–organic frameworks. This review article is especially written for a wide audience demanding a text focused on the basic concepts and ideas of the synthesis of inorganic and hybrid nanostructures. It is styled for both early researchers who are starting to work on this topic and also non-specialist readers with a basic background on chemistry. Updated references and texts that provide a deeper discussion and describing the different synthesis strategies in detail are given, as well as a section on the current perspectives and possible future evolution

The reactions of some structures to different external stimuli can be used for therapeutic purposes. In particular, in photodynamic therapy (PDT), a light-sensitive compound or structure, commonly named a photosensitizer (PS), is able to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) after being irradiated with light in the presence of oxygen. Such ROS are effective in destroying cells and can be used as therapeutic agents to treat some skin and eye diseases, as well as certain types of cancer. This review will summarise the current state-of-the-art in PDT, with special focus on the different available photosensitizers, their chemistry, their incorporation into different nanostructures, and some of the current targeting strategies

The application of phosphinite-thioglycosides and phosphine-thioglycosides ligands in the Rh(I)-catalyzed 1,4-addition of phenylboronic acid to cyclohexenone is reported. Among the ligands tested, phosphinite-thioglycoside 3 and phosphine-thioglycoside 10, bearing a 1,2-cis arrangement of the two heteroatoms, have exhibited the best results in terms of reactivity and enantioselectivity. Interestingly, ligands 3 and 10, both derived from D-sugar are able to generate the addition product of the phenylboronic acid to the cyclohexenone with opposite configuration, behaving thus as enantiomers