We present a blueprint for aromatic C-H functionalization via a combination of photocatalysis and cobalt catalysis and describe the utility of this strategy for benzene amination and hydroxylation. Without any sacrificial oxidant, we could use the dual catalyst system to produce aniline directly from benzene and ammonia, and phenol from benzene and water, both with evolution of hydrogen gas under unusually mild conditions in excellent yields and selectivities.

mance of CDs, novel methods have been proposed. Element doping is considered one of the effective strategies for improved fluorescence QYs. Sun et al. used a series of N-containing bases to synthesize nitrogen-doped CDs with a QY of 94%. [22] Yang and his colleagues condensed citric acid with ethylenediamine to obtain CDs with a QY of up to 80%. [23] Naumov et al. used glucosamine hydrochloride and thiourea as precursors to synthesize nitrogensulfur co-doped graphene quantum dots with a QY of 60%. [24] Nevertheless, obtaining long-wavelength emission CDs and multicolor emission CDs is still difficult. To this end, researchers have proposed another strategy, that is, to purify CDs or obtain multicolor CDs by adjusting the type and ratio of the solvents through a chromatographic column. Jiang and co-workers used three isomers of phenylenediamine as precursors to obtain blue, green, and red CDs and purified them by silica gel column chromatography. [25] Xiong et al. used silica gel column chromatography to separate the reaction solution and obtained CDs with visible light emissions. [26] Usually, the multicolor CDs obtained by silica column chromatography have a narrow emission wavelength range, and the QY is greatly improved, which provides conditions for the further application of CDs.However, column chromatography requires many organic solvents, which are cumbersome and time-consuming and easily cause CD loss. Therefore, the direct determination of polychromatic CDs by controlling various preparation conditions instead of silica column chromatography has become a popular research topic in recent years. Fan and co-workers reported a method for preparing multicolor CDs. They used two isomers of diaminonaphthalene and citric acid as precursors to obtain five-color CDs by controlling the reaction time or adding sulfuric acid. [27] Sun et al. obtained a series of CDs with different emission colors by adjusting the reaction temperature and the ratio of citric acid to urea. [28] In these reports, two conditions need to be adjusted simultaneously to obtain poly chromatic CDs, which requires more steps and makes the synthesis process time-consuming.In this study, a simple method for preparing multicolor CDs only by controlling the ratio of reactants in the asparagine (Asn) and p-phenylenediamine reaction system was proposed. To the In a reaction system of asparagine and p-phenylenediamine, blue, green, orange, and red carbon dots (CDs) are successfully prepared by adjusting the ratio of the two reactants. The obtained multicolor CDs have excellent stable properties and high fluorescence quantum yields (up to 74%). Clarifying the luminescence mechanism of multicolor CDs is based on the investigation of the composition, structure, and fluorescence properties of the CDs combined with quantum chemistry calculations. A high-quality white light-emitting diode (LED) with CIE color coordinates (0.33, 0.33) is successfully fabricated using a multicolor CD-epoxy resin composite, and its color temperature and color rendering index a...

In this communication, a novel chemiluminescence phenomenon was observed for the as-prepared carbon nanodots (CDs) in a concentrated sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution. The generation of superoxide anion radical (O2˙(-)) directly provides evidence for the excellent electron-donating ability of CDs.

Optical tweezers have been widely used to manipulate biological and colloidal material, but the diffraction limit of far-field optics makes focused beams unsuitable for manipulating nanoscale objects with dimensions much smaller than the wavelength of light. While plasmonic structures have recently been successful in trapping nanoscale objects with high positioning accuracy, using such structures for manipulation over longer range has remained a significant challenge. In this work, we introduce a conveyor belt design based on a novel plasmonic structure, the resonant C-shaped engraving (CSE). We show how long-range manipulation is made possible by means of handoff between neighboring CSEs, and we present a simple technique for controlling handoff by rotating the polarization of laser illumination. We experimentally demonstrate handoff between a pair of CSEs for polystyrene spheres 200, 390, and 500 nm in diameter. We then extend this technique and demonstrate controlled particle transport down a 4.5 μm long "nano-optical conveyor belt."

We propose a method for peristaltic transport of nanoparticles using the optical force field over a nanostructured surface. Nanostructures may be designed to produce strong near-field hot spots when illuminated. The hot spots function as optical traps, separately addressable by their resonant wavelengths and polarizations. By activating closely packed traps sequentially, nanoparticles may be handed off between adjacent traps in a peristaltic fashion. A linear repeating structure of three separately addressable traps forms a "nano-optical conveyor belt"; a unit cell with four separately addressable traps permits controlled peristaltic transport in the plane. Using specifically designed activation sequences allows particle sorting.

Duan and Y. Liu. W. Zhong directed the review layout design, coordinated the writing efforts, and prepared the sections of Introduction and outlook and opportunities sections.

We report a practical method for the alkylation of N−H bonds with alkanes using a photoinduced copper(II) peroxide catalytic system. Upon light irradiation, the peroxide serves as a hydrogen atom transfer reagent to activate stable C(sp 3 )− H bonds for the reaction with a broad range of nitrogen nucleophiles. The method enables the chemoselective alkylation of amides and is utilized for the late-stage functionalization of N−H bond containing pharmaceuticals with good to excellent yields. The mechanism of the reaction was preliminarily investigated by radical trapping experiments and spectroscopic methods.

Two new non-centrosymmetric polar quaternary selenides, namely, RbZn In Se and CsZn In Se , have been synthesized and structurally characterized. They exhibit a 3D diamond-like framework (DLF) consisting of corner-shared MSe (M=Zn/In) tetrahedra, in which the A ions are located. Both compounds are thermally stable up to 1300 K and exhibit large transmittance in the infrared region (0.65-25 μm) with measured optical band gaps of 2.06 eV for RbZn In Se and 2.11 eV for CsZn In Se . Inspiringly, they exhibit a good balance between strong second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency (3.9 and 3.5×AgGaS ) and high laser-induced damage thresholds (13.0×AgGaS ). Theoretical calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) methods confirm that such strong SHG responses originate from the 3D DLF structure.