NHC-AuNPs prepared via chlorido(1,3-dimethyl-N-Boc-O-methylhistidin-2-ylidene)gold(i), an NHC–Au(i) complex, affords AuNPs containing not just Au(0), but also Au(i).

Five isostructural lanthanide MOFs, [Ln(1κOO′,2κO′′,3κO′′′,4κO′′′′-μ₄-L)(NO₃)(DMF)₂]_n·n(DMF) {Ln = La³⁺ (1), Ce³⁺ (2), Nd³⁺ (3), Sm³⁺ (4) and Dy³⁺ (5); L = 5-[2-{2,4,6-trioxotetrahydropyrimidin-5(2H)-ylidene}hydrazinyl]isophthalate; DMF = N,N′-dimethyl formamide}, based on dicarboxyl-functionalized arylhydrazone of barbituric acid were synthesized under solvothermal conditions. They were characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric and X-ray diffraction analyses. Crystal structure analysis revealed that these frameworks possess a similar type of two dimensional (2D) structure with a dinuclear {Ln₂(COO⁻)₂} unit acting as a secondary building block. Topological analysis shows that these frameworks display a 3,6-connected kgd; Shubnikov plane (3.6.3.6)/dual net. They exhibit excellent heterogeneous catalytic activities (compound 2 is the most active one) towards the cyanosilylation of aldehydes under solvent-free conditions. These catalysts can be recycled at least up to five cycles without a loss of activity. Compounds 1–5 exhibit luminescence properties in the solid state at room temperature.

Self‐assembly processes guide disordered molecules or particles into long‐range organized structures due to specific supramolecular interactions among the building entities. Herein, we report a unique evaporation‐induced self‐assembly (EISA) strategy for four different silica nanoparticle systems obtained through peptide functionalization of the particle surface. First, covalent peptide‐silica coupling was investigated in detail, starting with the grafting of a single amino acid (L‐serine) and expanded to specific small peptides (up to four amino acids) and transferred to different particle types (MCM‐48‐type MSNs, solid nanoparticles, and newly developed virus‐like nanoparticles). These materials were investigated regarding their ability to undergo EISA, which was shown to be independent of particle type and amount of peptide anchored to their surface. This EISA‐based approach provides new possibilities for the design of future advanced drug delivery systems, engineered hierarchical sorbents, and nanocatalyst assemblies.

Solvothermal reaction of zinc(II) and cadmium(II) salts with 5-propionamidoisophthalic acid (H₂L1) and 5-benzamidoisophthalic acid (H₂L2) in the presence or absence of an auxiliary ligand gives rise to a series of 1D, 2D and 3D Zn(II) or Cd(II) self-assembled metal–organic frameworks as revealed by X-ray diffraction structural analyses: [Zn(μ-L1-μ-1κOO′:2κO′′)(formamide)₂]_n (1), [{Zn₂(μ-L1-1κO:2κO′)₂(4,4′-bipyridine)₂(H₂O)}·2(DMF)·5(H₂O)]_n (2), [Cd(μ-L1-μ-1κO²O′:2κO′′²O′′′)(DMF)]_n (3), [{Zn(μ-L2-1κO:2κO′)(4,4′-bipyridine)(H₂O)}·(H₂O)]_n (4) and [{Cd(μ-L2-μ-1κO²O′:2κO′′²O′′′)(formamide)(4,4′-bipyridine)}·(formamide)]_n (5), which are also characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The different architectures found in 1–5 result from the coordination modes of the carboxylate groups, which can assume nonbridging monodentate (in 1, 2 and 4), bridging bidentate (also in 1), bridging chelate (in 3 and 5) and chelate bidentate (also in 5) coordination. While 1 and 5 possess one dimensional double chain type structures, 3 has a 1D cyclic type structure and 2 and 4 have 2D or 3D wave-like structures, respectively. Topological analysis has shown that 1 and 5 have a 3-connected uninodal net with a topological type SP1-periodic net, 2 has a 2,4-connected binodal net, 3 has a 4-connected uninodal net structure and 4 has a more complex 2,2,2,4-connected tetranodal net. Frameworks 1–5 act as heterogeneous catalysts for the transesterification reaction of different carboxylate esters, with 4 showing the highest activity. These heterogeneous catalysts can be recycled without losing activity.