In the first Review in this issue, A. Duschek and S. F. Kirsch show that 2-iodoxybenzoic acid is a simple oxidating agent with a variety of applications. In another Review, J. Ge and Y. Yin discuss the self-organization processes that produce responsive photonic crystals, the properties of which can be tuned through external stimuli. What opportunities for applications do such materials offer? In a Minireview, J.-Q. Yu et al. describe the use of passive F+ oxidants to control the selectivity of reductive eliminations of high-valent metal species. How the use of platinum can be minimized in hydrogen-evolving electrodes is the subject of a Highlight by I. E. L. Stephens and I. Chorkendorff.
In the Communications section, B. Boitrel et al. present a dinuclear HgII complex with a regular porphyrin ligand (see picture). K. A. Jørgensen et al. describe an asymmetric organocatalytic one-pot strategy to octahydroacridines. R. E. Gyurcsányi et al. demonstrate how nanopores can be used as ion sensors. K. Wieghardt et al. found theoretical and experimental evidence for redox activity of beta-diketiminate ligands.
