In this week’s review, G. Bertrand et al. discuss the chemistry of stable cyclic carbenes and related species. What makes neutral carbon ligands strong competitors to established phosphorus ligands? In a Minireview, M. Groll et al. describe the reductive dehydroxylation of allyl alcohols by IspH protein in the biosynthesis of isoprenoids. In an Essay, W. Kirmse looks back on the beginnings of N-heterocyclic carbene chemistry. The Highlights deal with the linking of mechanically interlocked chiral molecules (I. M. Dixon and G. Rapenne) and the development of DNA sequencing up to the Neandertal genome (F. Schulz et al.).
In the Communications section, M. D. Burke et al. introduce an iterative cross-coupling strategy for the synthesis of complex polyene motifs in all stereoisomeric forms. Y. Grin et al. demonstrate that the structural pattern of Laves phases NM2 (see picture) are stabilized by a charge transfer from M to N. The preparation and detection of a borole radical was achieved by H. Braunschweig et al. M. Fujita et al. report on the stable trapping of cyclopentadiene in networked molecular capsules.
