Engineering Supramolecular Hybrid Architectures with Directional Organofluorine Bonds

Layered Metal-Organic Chalcogenides: 2D Optoelectronics in 3D Self-Assembled Semiconductors

Molecular self-assembly offers an effective and scalable way to design nanostructured materials with tunable optoelectronic properties. In the past 30 years, organic chemistry has delivered a plethora of metal-organic structures based on the combination of organic groups, chalcogens, and a broad range of metals. Among these, several layered metal-organic chalcogenides (MOCs)─including "mithrene" (AgSePh)─recently emerged as interesting platforms to host 2D physics embedded in 3D crystals. Their combination of broad tunability, easy processability, and promising optoelectronic performance is driving a renewed interest in the more general material group of "low-dimensional" hybrids. In addition, the covalent MOC lattice provides higher stability compared with polar materials in operating devices. Here, we provide a perspective on the rise of 2D MOCs in terms of their synthesis approaches, 2D quantum confined exciton physics, and potential future applications in UV and X-ray photodetection, chemical sensors, and electrocatalysis.

Time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography for investigating structural dynamics of chemical systems

Time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography (TR-SFX) has emerged as a crucial tool for studying the structural dynamics of proteins. In principle, TR-SFX has the potential to be a powerful tool not only for studying proteins but also for investigating chemical reactions. However, non-protein systems generally face challenges in indexing due to sparse Bragg spots and encounter difficulties in effectively exciting target molecules. Nevertheless, successful TR-SFX studies on chemical systems have been recently reported in a few instances, boding well for the application of TR-SFX to study chemical reactions in the future. In this context, we review the static SFX and TR-SFX studies conducted on chemical systems reported to date and suggest prospects for future research directions.