Resonant X-ray excitation of the nuclear clock isomer 45Sc nature.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nature.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have well-defined active sites, making them of potential interest for organic synthesis1–4. However, the architecture of these mononuclear metal species stabilized on solid supports may not be optimal for catalysing complex molecular transformations owing to restricted spatial environment and electronic quantum states5,6. Here we report a class of heterogeneous geminal-atom catalysts (GACs), which pair single-atom sites in specific coordination and spatial proximity. Regularly separated nitrogen anchoring groups with delocalized π-bonding nature in a polymeric carbon nitride (PCN) host7 permit the coordination of Cu geminal sites with a ground-state separation of about 4 Å at high metal density8. The adaptable coordination of individual Cu sites in GACs enables a cooperative bridge-coupling pathway through dynamic Cu–Cu bonding for diverse C–X (X = C, N, O, S) cross-couplings with a low activation barrier. In si
Mar 11 2021 Read 205 Times
Author: Robert P. Rambo on behalf of Diamond Light Source Ltd
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In 2020, the most significant application of Soft-condensed matter (SCM) science was, undoubtedly, the development of the COVID vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna which are composed of a synthetic messenger RNA encapsulated within a lipid nanoparticle [1]. SCM science drives continued improvements to quality of life as SCM science is integral to a broad range of industrial sectors. These sectors include food safety and waste, agriculture, polymers, coatings, additive manufacturing, lubricants and additives, personal care, electronics, energy storage, transportation, health and medicine.
SCM materials occur over a range of physical states that include liquid, semi-solid, waxes, glasses and aerosols. This necessitates a complementary and diverse suite of instrumentation and methodologies for understanding how molecular details give rise to th