In this work, smart edible coating and films with excellent UV barrier properties were prepared from alginate, whey protein isolate, and curcumin. The primary focus of this investigation centered on assessing the impact of whey protein and curcumin on the physical and functional properties of the alginate films. Whey protein reduced the film transparency while simultaneously enhancing the hydrophobicity and antioxidant properties of the alginate film. Curcumin imparted a yellow hue to the film, consequently decreasing the transparency of the film. It also substantially improved hydrophobicity, antioxidant activity, and UV-blocking efficiency within the films. Remarkably, curcumin demonstrated a significant reduction in the water vapor transmission rate of the film. For the preservation of apples, a higher concentration of curcumin was required, which effectively suppressed the respiration rate and moisture loss post-harvest, resulting in an extended shelf-life for the apples. As a result, the coated apples exhibited significantly reduced enzymatic browning and weight loss in comparison to their uncoated counterparts. Furthermore, these curcumin-containing films underwent a reversible color change from orange to red when exposed to ammonia vapor. This attribute highlights the potential of the developed coating and film as a smart, active food packaging solution, particularly for light-sensitive food products.

Catalytic partial oxidation of methane presents a promising route to convert the abundant but environmentally undesired methane gas to liquid methanol with applications as an energy carrier and a platform chemical. However, an outstanding challenge for this process remains in developing a catalyst that can oxidize methane selectively to methanol with good activity under continuous flow conditions in the gas phase using O₂ as an oxidant. Here, we report a Fe catalyst supported by a metal-organic framework (MOF), Fe/UiO-66, for the selective and on-stream partial oxidation of methane to methanol. Kinetic studies indicate the continuous production of methanol at a superior reaction rate of 5.9 × 10^-2 μmol_MeOH g_Fe^-1 s^-1 at 180 °C and high selectivity toward methanol, with the catalytic turnover verified by transient methane isotopic measurements. Through an array of spectroscopic characterizations, electron-deficient Fe species rendered by the MOF support is identified as the probable active site for the reaction.

Fourteen three-dimensional (3D) lanthanide coordination polymers (CPs) with dicarboxylate mixed ligands, [Ln(fum)_1.5(H₂O)₂]·0.5(H₂bdc)·H₂O (Ln = Sm (1), Tb (2)), [Ln₂(fum)₂(bdc)(H₂O)₄]·2H₂O (Ln = Sm (3), Eu (4), Tb (5), Er (6)), [Ln(fum)_0.5(bdc)] (Ln = Sm (7), Eu (8), Tb (9), Er (10)), and [Ln₂(bdc)₂(ox)(H₂O)₄]·0.7H₂O (Ln = Sm (11), Gd (12), Tb (13), Dy (14)), have been synthesized hydrothermally from the self-assembly of lanthanide(III) ions (Ln³⁺), fumaric acid (H₂fum), and terephthalic acid (H₂bdc) in the presence of potassium hydroxide at different temperatures. The compounds fall into four classes. Compounds 1 and 2 were isolated from hydrothermal reactions performed at a relatively low temperature of 100 °C and found to crystallize in the triclinic space group P. The 3D framework is assembled from 2D layers of [Ln(fum)(H₂O)₂] units pillared by the chelating fum ligands and has 1D rhombic channels templated by H₂bdc and lattice H₂O molecules. The framework presents a binodal (4,5)-connected tcs topology with the point symbol (4⁴·6²)(4⁴·6⁶). Raising the reaction temperature to 140 °C resulted in the formation of compounds 3–6. These materials crystallize in the monoclinic system with the polar space group P2₁ and feature a 3D network constructed from dinuclear {Ln₂(OCO)₆(H₂O)₄} units interlinked by fum and bdc ligands, showing a uninodal 6-connected two-fold interpenetrated pcu topology. The small channels of the framework are occupied by lattice H₂O molecules. Further increase of the reaction temperature to 160 °C gave rise to the formation of compounds 7–10, crystallizing in the orthorhombic space group Pbca. The 3D framework is generated from 2D corrugated sheets of [Ln(fum)]²⁺ bound by bdc ligands and contains no intercalated H₂O molecules in the lattice. The framework possesses a trinodal (4,6,7)-connected net with the point symbol (4²·6⁴)₂(4⁶·6⁸·8)(4¹²·6⁹)₂. Finally, compounds 11–14 contained an in situ generated oxalate (ox) ligand formed under hydrothermal conditions conducted at a high reaction temperature of 180 °C. These compounds crystallize in the monoclinic space group P2₁/c and possess a 3D open framework consisting of a dinuclear [Ln₂(ox)(H₂O)₄]²⁺ unit linked by bridging bdc ligands and has small void channels occupied by lattice H₂O molecules. The frameworks were topologically simplified as a binodal (4,5)-connected tcj/hc net with a total point symbol of (4²·5²·7²)(4²·5³·7⁵). In the solid state at room temperature, the Tb (2, 5, 9, and 13) and Eu (4 and 8) compounds emit green and red light, respectively.

Dinuclear copper complex with tridentate ligand and anthracene linkage catalyses 2-electron reduction of O₂.

Two-dimensional (2D) halogen-bonded organic frameworks were readily engineered by strong and directional effects of the primary Br⋯O and the secondary Br⋯π halogen bonding interactions from the tetrabromobenzene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid (H₂Br₄BDC) building molecule involving 100% supramolecular yields. The 2D assembly can function as a host layered framework for the intercalation of various guest solvents including acetone (ATN), ethanol (EtOH), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and ethylene glycol (EG) resulting in a 1 : 2 host : guest complexation stoichiometry viz. H₂Br₄BDC·2S (S = ATN (1_ATN), EtOH (2_EtOH), DMSO (3_DMSO), and EG (4_EG)). All the solvates show remarkable similarities in their 2D layered sheets and the bilayer distance significantly responds to the size, shape, molecular conformation, and strength of the hydrogen bonding capability of the intercalated solvent molecules. The transition between solvate formation and desolvation was found to be facile and reversible upon the desolvation–resolvation process. The estimated Br⋯O halogen bonding energy of the solvates is in the −0.6 to −1.7 kcal mol⁻¹ range, which was determined by quantum-mechanical calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Furthermore, to quantitatively identify the host–guest intermolecular interactions of these solvates, they were visually compared by Hirshfeld surface analysis.