Oxidation is a key transformation in chemistry being involved in a wide range of processes. In natural products, this reaction plays a critical role in the biosynthesis of several classes from different sources. In this context, the oxidation of menthol to menthone is an important reaction with a variety of applications in several fields, such as natural products, organic synthesis, and medicinal chemistry. Considering this, the present article aims to review different methodologies and oxidation reagents capable of performing this transformation, including the green chemistry process.

Extensive auxiliary density functional theory (ADFT) computations were performed to study the most stable structures, stabilities and chemical reactivity toward O ₂ of bimetallic Ni _mCu _n ( m + n ≤ 6) clusters. The shape of the most stable structures changes as the number of Ni and Cu atoms of the system under study increases with a consequent change of the energy, magnetic and reactivity properties. All obtained minimum-energy structures for these bimetallic systems composed with three and four atoms possess triangular and rhombic structures, respectively. According to our computations, the most stable structures for Ni ₄Cu, Ni ₃Cu ₂, and Ni ₂Cu ₃ clusters are trigonal-bipyramidal, while, for the NiCu ₄ cluster, two structures were identified as the most stable (with planar and trigonal-bipyramidal structures, respectively). The most stable structure for the Ni ₅Cu cluster is octahedral, while for the Ni ₄Cu ₂, Ni ₃Cu ₃, Ni ₂Cu ₄, and NiCu ₅ clusters, an incomplete pentagonal bipyramid was found as the ground-state structure. For all cluster sizes, as the number of Cu atoms in the system increases, the magnetic moment per atom tended to decrease. The O ₂ adsorption on bimetallic Ni _mCu _n ( m + n = 6) clusters is more favored when O ₂ binds by a bridge-type bond. Moreover, our computations indicate that O ₂ is preferentially adsorbed on the Ni atoms of bimetallic Ni _mCu _n ( m + n = 6) clusters.

The bandgap ( E_g) of conjugated materials effects a variety of critical properties such that efforts to control the bandgap have become a basic tenet in the design of conjugated polymers. One goal of such efforts is to minimize the E_g with the goal of producing technologically useful low bandgap ( E_g < 1.5 eV) polymers. This perspective will introduce the two primary approaches to low E_g polymers ( i.e., quinoidal systems and donor-acceptor frameworks) and discuss important new directions for both design principles.

The results of the first tests aimed to assess antifouling activity of new AquaSun sol-gel paint coated on shipbuilding steel immersed in highly polluted port seawaters, compared to a state-of-the-art self-polishing commercial silyl acrylate antifouling topcoat containing high amounts of cuprous oxide and copper pyrithione, are promising.

More attentions have been paid for developing anti-counterfeiting technologies to fight the endless emergence of fake and inferior products. Compared with inorganic quantum dots, colloidal carbon dots (C-dots) are emerging fluorescent nanomaterials, which have been used for various types of optical and electrical applications, because they have composition-dependent optical properties, including high quantum yield, tunable absorption/emission spectra and good chemical-/photo-stability. In this minireview, we summarized and updated the most recent research works for the use of colloidal C-dots for optical anticounterfeiting applications. We focus on the fluorescent, persistent luminescence and phosphorescent C-dots. In the end, we enclosed this minireview with our owner perspectives on the challenges of C-dots based anticounterfeiting.

Phosgene, an important chemical warfare agent (CWA), has received great attention in the field of counterterrorism and public safety monitoring. Developing new sensing methods/tools for efficient detection of phosgene is an urgent challenge to be solved. For chemists, it is pivotal to create fast, low cost, portable, selective, sensitive, as well as visualizable chemical sensors/probes for real-time phosgene detection. This article reviewed and discussed current trend and statement of phosgene-specific fluorescent probes, providing concise “fast glance” and systematic “big picture” to the related researchers and public safety engineers. Moreover, the outlook in this field was also stated.

A two-dimensional layered metal-organic framework, [Eu(C ₂₆H ₁₅NO ₄)Cl] _n (EuCDDB), was synthesized by the reaction of EuCl ₃·6H ₂O and 4,4'-(9 H-carbazole-3,6-diyl)dibenzoic acid (H ₂CDDB) through one-pot solvothermal process, and characterized by several technologies of single-crystal X-ray diffraction, powder X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectrum. The crystal structure reveals that hydrogen bonding interaction happens between NH groups and coordinated chloride ions from the adjacent coordination layers, meanwhile, well-opened one-dimensional channel allows the accommodation of water molecules. These characteristics endow EuCDDB with a considerable proton conductivity of 3.70 × 10 ^-6 S cm ^-1 under 90 °C and relative humidity of 90%. In addition, EuCDDB also exhibits turn-on luminescent sensing on DMF molecules by enhanced Eu ³⁺ red emission resulting from efficient ligand-to-metal energy transfer process.