Nature synthesisPub Date : 2025-09-04DOI: 10.1038/s44160-025-00860-1
Achyut R. Gogoi, Ángel Rentería-Gómez, Tong-De Tan, Jun Wei Ng, Ming Joo Koh, Osvaldo Gutierrez
{"title":"Iron-catalysed radical difunctionalization of alkenes","authors":"Achyut R. Gogoi, Ángel Rentería-Gómez, Tong-De Tan, Jun Wei Ng, Ming Joo Koh, Osvaldo Gutierrez","doi":"10.1038/s44160-025-00860-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44160-025-00860-1","url":null,"abstract":"Transition metal-catalysed difunctionalization of alkenes enables the rapid construction of complex molecules by converting a flat C(sp2)–C(sp2) π-fragment to form a three-dimensional structure with neighbouring sp3-hybridized carbons and two new C(sp3)–G bonds (G = carbon, heteroatom, halogen and so on) in a single step. Iron catalysis is attractive because of its lower cost, higher Earth abundance, lower mining carbon footprint and lower toxicity in comparison to traditional transition metal catalysts, but lags behind nickel and palladium in terms of synthetic applications and mechanistic understanding. Here we present an overview of recent reaction development progress and unmet challenges in iron-catalysed difunctionalization reactions, with a focus on three-component radical cross-coupling processes that use commercially available iron salts in combination with readily available ligands. For each case, we highlight the mechanistic insights gained from (in)organic synthesis, computational modelling and spectroscopic techniques that advance our understanding and guide the development of new transformations. Three-component, iron-based catalytic transformations offer a promising and sustainable approach to building complex molecules in a single step. This Review highlights advances and ongoing challenges in the development of iron-catalysed difunctionalization of alkenes. Mechanistic insights that enhance our understanding and guide the development of new transformations are discussed.","PeriodicalId":74251,"journal":{"name":"Nature synthesis","volume":"4 9","pages":"1036-1055"},"PeriodicalIF":20.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145123650","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature synthesisPub Date : 2025-09-03DOI: 10.1038/s44160-025-00873-w
Atsushi Wakamiya, Nam-Gyu Park
{"title":"Synthesis and purification of materials for scalable perovskite solar cells","authors":"Atsushi Wakamiya, Nam-Gyu Park","doi":"10.1038/s44160-025-00873-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44160-025-00873-w","url":null,"abstract":"The synthesis and purification of perovskite precursors and charge-transport materials are critical for achieving stable, high-efficiency lab-scale devices and for the scalable industrial production of perovskite solar cells.","PeriodicalId":74251,"journal":{"name":"Nature synthesis","volume":"4 9","pages":"1033-1035"},"PeriodicalIF":20.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145123700","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature synthesisPub Date : 2025-09-02DOI: 10.1038/s44160-025-00888-3
Joel Cejas-Sánchez
{"title":"Chiral aza-helicene-based tandem solar cells","authors":"Joel Cejas-Sánchez","doi":"10.1038/s44160-025-00888-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44160-025-00888-3","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":74251,"journal":{"name":"Nature synthesis","volume":"4 9","pages":"1022-1022"},"PeriodicalIF":20.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145123647","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature synthesisPub Date : 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1038/s44160-025-00885-6
Jet-Sing M. Lee
{"title":"Perovskites on the block","authors":"Jet-Sing M. Lee","doi":"10.1038/s44160-025-00885-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44160-025-00885-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":74251,"journal":{"name":"Nature synthesis","volume":"4 9","pages":"1024-1024"},"PeriodicalIF":20.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145123649","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature synthesisPub Date : 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1038/s44160-025-00886-5
Alexandra R. Groves
{"title":"Efficient quasi-two-dimensional perovskite solar cells","authors":"Alexandra R. Groves","doi":"10.1038/s44160-025-00886-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44160-025-00886-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":74251,"journal":{"name":"Nature synthesis","volume":"4 9","pages":"1021-1021"},"PeriodicalIF":20.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145123696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature synthesisPub Date : 2025-08-12DOI: 10.1038/s44160-025-00846-z
Qing Zhang, Nils J Flodén, Yongliang Zhang, Jielin Yang, Philip Kohnke, José Danglad-Flores, Eric T Sletten, Peter H Seeberger, Liming Zhang
{"title":"A broadly applicable stereospecific glycosylation.","authors":"Qing Zhang, Nils J Flodén, Yongliang Zhang, Jielin Yang, Philip Kohnke, José Danglad-Flores, Eric T Sletten, Peter H Seeberger, Liming Zhang","doi":"10.1038/s44160-025-00846-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44160-025-00846-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The development of a general strategy for stereospecific construction of every type of glycosidic linkage remains a much sought-after yet unrealized goal. Such a strategy would be particularly useful in the context of complex glycan syntheses. Glycosylations involving an S<sub>N</sub>2 mechanism are ideal to ensure stereospecificity but have been challenging to implement in a manner conferring generality across a range of sugars. Here we disclose a stereospecific glycosylation method that accommodates a broad range of monosaccharides, including hexopyranoses (for example, glucose, galactose, mannose, fucose, alluronate, 2-azido-2-deoxyglucose and 2-azido-2-deoxygalactose) and pentofuranoses (for example, arabinose, ribose, xylose and lyxose). Mild activation with an electrophilic bromine reagent results in complete inversion of the anomeric configuration and excellent yields for many glycosylations. The method proved reliable in multistep oligosaccharide syntheses and automated glycan assembly.</p>","PeriodicalId":74251,"journal":{"name":"Nature synthesis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":20.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12463317/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145187804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature synthesisPub Date : 2025-07-30DOI: 10.1038/s44160-025-00864-x
Luca Cusin, Piotr Cieciórski, Samuel Van Gele, Fabian Heck, Simon Krause, Pawel W. Majewski, Bettina V. Lotsch, Wojciech Danowski, Paolo Samorì
{"title":"Author Correction: Synthesis of micrometre-thick oriented 2D covalent organic framework films by a kinetic polymerization pathway","authors":"Luca Cusin, Piotr Cieciórski, Samuel Van Gele, Fabian Heck, Simon Krause, Pawel W. Majewski, Bettina V. Lotsch, Wojciech Danowski, Paolo Samorì","doi":"10.1038/s44160-025-00864-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44160-025-00864-x","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":74251,"journal":{"name":"Nature synthesis","volume":"4 8","pages":"1018-1018"},"PeriodicalIF":20.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44160-025-00864-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145123619","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}