The optimization of nanoparticles as catalysts for oxygen reduction in fuel cells is the subject of the Review by S. Sun et al. this week. How can size, form, composition, and structure be controlled precisely—with and without platinum? In a Minireview, P. S. Hanley and J. F. Hartwig discuss the insertion of non-activated alkenes into metal–oxygen and metal–nitrogen bonds. The Highlights deal with electron tomography for atomic-resolution imaging of crystal structures (B. Zhang and D. S. Su) and the radical mechanism of bacterial methanogenesis (W. Buckel).
In the Communications section, S.-H. Yu et al. introduce a Ni/NiO/CoSe2 hybrid material as an efficient catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (see picture). Z. Shi and T.-P. Loh succeeded in the organocatalytic synthesis of highly functionalized pyridines at room temperature. L. Weiner et al. present nitroxyl radicals for EPR studies of electron-transfer reactions.
