Cover Feature: Fundamental Insights into the Covalent Silane Functionalization of NiFe Layered Double Hydroxides (Chem. Eur. J. 29/2020)

2020

Fundamental Insights into the Covalent Silane Functionalization of NiFe Layered Double Hydroxides

2020

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are a class of 2D anionic materials exhibiting wide chemical versatility and promising applications in different fields, ranging from catalysis to energy storage and conversion. However, the covalent chemistry of this kind of 2D materials is still barely explored. Herein, the covalent functionalization with silanes of a magnetic NiFe-LDH is reported. The synthetic route consists of a topochemical approach followed by anion exchange reaction with surfactant molecules prior to covalent functionalization with the (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) molecules. The functionalized NiFe-APTES was fully characterized by X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, e…

Cover Feature: Few‐layer Black Phosphorous Catalyzes Radical Additions to Alkenes Faster than Low‐valence Metals (ChemCatChem 8/2020)

2020

Interface Amorphization of Two‐Dimensional Black Phosphorus upon Treatment with Diazonium Salts

2021

Abstract Two‐dimensional (2D) black phosphorus (BP) represents one of the most appealing 2D materials due to its electronic, optical, and chemical properties. Many strategies have been pursued to face its environmental instability, covalent functionalization being one of the most promising. However, the extremely low functionalization degrees and the limitations in proving the nature of the covalent functionalization still represent challenges in many of these sheet architectures reported to date. Here we shine light on the structural evolution of 2D‐BP upon the addition of electrophilic diazonium salts. We demonstrated the absence of covalent functionalization in both the neutral and the r…

Few-layer Black Phosphorous Catalyzes Radical Additions to Alkenes Faster than Low-valence Metals

2020

Abstract The substitution of catalytic metals by p‐block main elements has a tremendous impact not only in the fundamentals but also in the economic and ecological fingerprint of organic reactions. Here we show that few‐layer black phosphorous (FL‐BP), a recently discovered and now readily available 2D material, catalyzes different radical additions to alkenes with an initial turnover frequency (TOF0) up to two orders of magnitude higher than representative state‐of‐the‐art metal complex catalysts at room temperature. The corresponding electron‐rich BP intercalation compound (BPIC) KP6 shows a nearly twice TOF0 increase with respect to FL‐BP. This increase in catalytic activity respect to t…

Cover Feature: Few‐layer Black Phosphorous Catalyzes Radical Additions to Alkenes Faster than Low‐valence Metals

2020

The Cover Feature shows how phosphorene can catalyse different radical additions to alkenes. These catalysts have an initial turnover frequency up to two orders of magnitude higher than representative state–of–the–art metal complex catalysts at room temperature. In their Full Paper, M. Tejeda-Serrano et al. describe how the electron–richness of the 2D material, either phosphorene or graphene, parallels the catalytic activity of different low-valence iron compounds as metal catalysts. These results showcase the advantages of substituting metals by p–block main-group elements not only because of their positive economic and ecological fingerprint, but also because of their higher catalytic eff…