In this report, we have presented a novel route to attach molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) on the surface of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) through covalent bonding. First, the surface of rGO was modified with maleic anhydride (MA) via a Diels-Alder reaction using a deep eutectic solvent (DES). Next, 3-propyl-1-vinylimidazolium molecular units were anchored and polymerized in the presence of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) using chloramphenicol (CAP) as the template. Primarily, we investigated the effect of the molar ratio of individual precursors on the adsorption capacity of synthesized materials and accordingly fabricated the electrochemical sensor for CAP detection. Electrochemical results evidenced that the covalent bonding of MIP units enhanced the sensitivity of the respective sensor toward CAP in water as well as in real honey samples with high selectivity, stability, and reproducibility. This synthesis strategy involves the covalent binding of MIP on rGO materials via click chemisty under sonication power excluding harmful solvents and energy-intensive processes and thus could be a motivation for developing future electrochemical sensors through similar "green" routes.

Direct selective transformation of greenhouse methane (CH₄) to liquid oxygenates (methanol) can substitute energy‐intensive two‐step (reforming/Fischer–Tropsch) synthesis while creating environmental benefits. The development of inexpensive, selective, and robust catalysts that enable room temperature conversion will decide the future of this technology. Single‐atom catalysts (SACs) with isolated active centers embedded in support have displayed significant promises in catalysis to drive challenging reactions. Herein, high‐density Ni single atoms are developed and stabilized on carbon nitride (NiCN) via thermal condensation of preorganized Ni‐coordinated melem units. The physicochemical characterization of NiCN with various analytical techniques including HAADF‐STEM and X‐ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) validate the successful formation of Ni single atoms coordinated to the heptazine‐constituted CN network. The presence of uniform catalytic sites improved visible absorption and carrier separation in densely populated NiCN SAC resulting in 100% selective photoconversion of (CH₄) to methanol using H₂O₂ as an oxidant. The superior catalytic activity can be attributed to the generation of high oxidation (Ni^III═O) sites and selective C─H bond cleavage to generate •CH₃ radicals on Ni centers, which can combine with •OH radicals to generate CH₃OH.

A strategy for the synthesis of a gold-based single-atom catalyst (SAC) via a one-step room temperature reduction of Au(III) salt and stabilization of Au(I) ions on nitrile-functionalized graphene (cyanographene; G-CN) is described. The graphene-supported G(CN)-Au catalyst exhibits a unique linear structure of the Au(I) active sites promoting a multistep mode of action in dehydrogenative coupling of organosilanes with alcohols under mild reaction conditions as proven by advanced XPS, XAFS, XANES, and EPR techniques along with DFT calculations. The linear structure being perfectly accessible toward the reactant molecules and the cyanographene-induced charge transfer resulting in the exclusive Au(I) valence state contribute to the superior efficiency of the emerging two-dimensional SAC. The developed G(CN)-Au SAC, despite its low metal loading (ca. 0.6 wt %), appear to be the most efficient catalyst for Si-H bond activation with a turnover frequency of up to 139,494 h^-1 and high selectivities, significantly overcoming all reported homogeneous gold catalysts. Moreover, it can be easily prepared in a multigram batch scale, is recyclable, and works well toward more than 40 organosilanes. This work opens the door for applications of SACs with a linear structure of the active site for advanced catalytic applications.

We report a catalyst-free pathway for the polymerization of furfuryl alcohol (FA) into poly(furfuryl alcohol) (PFA) using a deep eutectic solvent (DES) system. The DES prepared by mixing choline chloride (ChCl) and zinc chloride (ZnCl₂) to polymerize FA in high yield under comparatively moderate reaction conditions. The FA conversion was found to increase with increasing reaction temperature and weight ratio of DES/FA. The highest yield of PFA (92.5%) was achieved at 80 °C in 4 h using a weight ratio of DES : FA of 10. FT-IR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR, TGA, XRD and DSC analytical techniques were used to elucidate the structure and thermal behavior of the end product to confirm the successful formation of PFA. Moreover, we investigated the kinetics and calculated the activation energy for the reaction. A plausible mechanism for the reaction was proposed, focusing on the important role of the Ch⁺ cation to initiate the polymerization process. The main advantage of this work is the exploitation of DES systems as a recyclable medium that can efficiently catalyze FA polymerization without using any external solvent and catalyst.