The ability to precisely engineer nanostructures is crucial for a wide range of applications in areas such as electronics, optics, and biomedical sciences. Here, the authors present an approach for templated growth of gold nanoparticle assemblies leveraging the weak van der Waals forces between metal atoms and small molecular templates in superfluid helium.

Large classes of metal clusters are expected to have dipole-allowed electronic transitions in the near-infrared, but precise experimental characterization of such low-lying states is lacking. Here, the authors probe cationic cobalt clusters of 4 to 15 atoms using IR photofragmentation spectroscopy with krypton as a messenger atom to show that low-lying electronic excited states are responsible for the size-dependent radiative decay of these highly excited clusters.

Photolysis can induce the homolytic cleavage of chemical bonds through the excited state under specific irradiation wavelengths, producing free radical species. Here, the authors report the photoinduced homolysis of electronegative interelement bonds (N–Cl, N–F, and O–Cl bonds) using light with wavelengths longer than that predicted for the S₀–S_n or S₀–T_n transitions, initiating diverse radical reactions.

Data-driven computational methods have demonstrated promising potential in predicting compound activities from chemical structures, however, unbiased practical applications remain challenging due to the lack of proper benchmarking methods. Here, the authors develop a benchmark termed CARA to eliminate the biases in current compound activity data by using new train-test splitting schemes and evaluation metrics, revealing accurate and informative model performances.

Membranization of coacervate microdroplets can stabilize coacervates and enable the construction of hierarchical protocells by using various interfacial layers. Here, the authors demonstrate the modulation of interfacial membrane fluidity and thickness of dextran-bound coacervate protocells by adjusting the molecular weight of dextran or through enzymatic hydrolysis, achieving control over colloidal stability, interfacial molecular transport and cell-protocell interactions.

Enzymes play an important role in organic synthesis thanks to their high selectivity, however, such selectivity limits their substrate scope and hampers their wide application. Here, the authors report an approach to rationally select enzymes with proposed functionalities based on sequence analysis, exploring the substrate scope of 4-phenol oxidases by in silico sequence-function correlation analysis.

Extraterrestrial carbon gives insights into the origin of life and processes that took place billions of years ago in our solar system. Here, the authors provide an overview of what is known and of unanswered questions with a meteoritical focus.

Rare-earth telluride clusters enable the construction of highly crystalline rare-earth tellurides, but a general route for preparing such clusters is lacking. Now, a facile reduction approach produces rare-earth clusters supported by (poly)tellurido ligands, including a tri-tellurido ligand with a three-center, four-electron bonding structure.

The chemical reduction of group 1 metal cations to their zero-valent species is challenging. Now, a bipyridine-stabilized borate anion joins the ranks of suitable reducing agents and also proves active in the two-electron reduction of CO₂.

FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) data practices are necessary to expedite knowledge discovery, encourage collaboration, and optimise resource use, fostering a robust foundation for future scientific progress. Here, the authors explore the use of FAIR practices to advance materials chemistry research, examining key repositories, highlighting their role in sharing scientific data, and examining the accessibility of these approaches.

Communications Chemistry is pleased to introduce a Collection of articles focused on organomediated polymerization. Here, the Guest Editors highlight the themes within and look towards the future of this research field.