A Cu-catalyzed selective aerobic heterocoupling of terminal alkynes is disclosed, which enables the synthesis of a broad range of unsymmetrical 1,3-diynes in good to excellent yields. The results disprove the long-held belief that homocouplings are exclusively favored in the Glaser-Hay reaction.

Developing low cost, long life, and high capacity rechargeable batteries is a critical factor towards developing next‐generation energy storage devices for practical applications. Therefore, a simple method to prepare graphene‐coated FeS2 embedded in carbon nanofibers is employed; the double protection from graphene coating and carbon fibers ensures high reversibility of FeS2 during sodiation/desodiation and improved conductivity, resulting in high rate capacity and long‐term life for Na+ (305.5 mAh g−1 at 3 A g−1 after 2450 cycles) and K+ (120 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1 after 680 cycles) storage at room temperature. Benefitting from the enhanced conductivity and protection on graphene‐encapsulated FeS2 nanoparticles, the composites exhibit excellent electrochemical performance under low temperature (0 and −20 °C), and temperature tolerance with stable capacity as sodium‐ion half‐cells. The Na‐ion full‐cells based on the above composites and Na3V2(PO4)3 can afford reversible capacity of 95 mAh g−1 at room temperature. Furthermore, the full‐cells deliver promising discharge capacity (50 mAh g−1 at 0 °C, 43 mAh g−1 at −20 °C) and high energy density at low temperatures. Density functional theory calculations imply that graphene coating can effectively decrease the Na+ diffusion barrier between FeS2 and graphene heterointerface and promote the reversibility of Na+ storage in FeS2, resulting in advanced Na+ storage properties.

COVID-19 has broken out rapidly in nearly all countries worldwide, and has blossomed into a pandemic. Since the beginning of the spread of COVID-19, many scientists have been cooperating to study a vast array of old drugs and new clinical trial drugs to discover potent drugs with anti-COVID-19 activity, including antiviral drugs, antimalarial drugs, immunosuppressants, Chinese medicines, M pro inhibitors, JAK inhibitors, etc. The most commonly used drugs are antiviral compounds, antimalarial drugs and JAK inhibitors. In this review, we summarize mainly the antimalarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, the antiviral drugs Favipiravir and Remdesivir, and JAK inhibitor Ruxolitinib, discussing their biological activities, clinical trials and synthesis progress.

The surface functionality of Au38S2(SAdm)20 nanoclusters (-SAdm = adamantanethiolate) in the presence of α-, β-, and γ-cyclodextrins (CDs) is studied. The supramolecular chemistry and host-guest interactions of CDs and the protecting ligands of nanoclusters are investigated using UV-vis and NMR spectroscopies, MALDI mass spectrometry, and molecular dynamics simulations. In contrast to α- and γ-CDs, the results show that β-CDs are capable of efficiently chemisorbing onto the Au38S2(SAdm)20 nanoclusters to yield Au38S2(SAdm)20-(β-CD)2 conjugates. MD simulations revealed that two -SAdm ligands of the nanoparticle with the least steric hindrance are capable to selectively be accommodated into hydrophobic cavity of β-CDs, as furthermore confirmed by NMR spectroscopy. The conjugates largely improve the stability of the nanoclusters in the presence of strong oxidants (e.g., TBHP). Further, the electrochemical properties of Au38S2(SAdm)20 nanoclusters and Au38S2(SAdm)20-(β-CD)2 conjugates are compared. The charge transfer to the redox probe molecules (e.g., K3Fe(CN)6) in solution was monitored by cyclic voltammetry. It is found that β-CDs act as an umbrella to cover the fragile metal cores of the nanoclusters, thereby blocking direct interaction with destabilizing agents and hence quenching the charge transfer process.