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1. Cobalt‐Catalyzed Allylic Alkylation at sp ³ ‐Carbon Centers

   https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202401707  

   Joseph, Ebbin; Tunge, Jon A (August 2024, Chemistry – A European Journal)

   Abstract The rising demand and financial costs of noble transition metal catalysts have emphasized the need for sustainable catalytic approaches. Over the past few years, base‐metal catalysts have emerged as ideal candidates to replace their noble‐metal counterparts because of their abundance and easiness of handling. Despite the significant advancements achieved with precious transition metals, earth‐abundant cobalt catalysts have emerged as efficient alternatives for allylic substitution reactions. In this review, allylic alkylations at sp³‐carbon centers mediated by cobalt will be discussed, with a special focus on the mechanistic features, scope, and limitations. 

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2. Dynamic structural evolution of MgO-supported palladium catalysts: from metal to metal oxide nanoparticles to surface then subsurface atomically dispersed cations

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D4SC00035H  

   Chen, Yizhen; Rana, Rachita; Zhang, Yizhi; Hoffman, Adam S; Huang, Zhennan; Yang, Bo; Vila, Fernando D; Perez-Aguilar, Jorge E; Hong, Jiyun; Li, Xu; et al (May 2024, Chemical Science)

   Supported noble metal catalysts, ubiquitous in chemical technology, often undergo dynamic transformations between reduced and oxidized states—which influence the metal nuclearities, oxidation states, and catalytic properties. 

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3. Atomically Dispersed Metal Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction: Two‐Electron vs. Four‐Electron Pathways

   https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202424161  

   Yu, Ao; Yang, Yang (April 2025, Angewandte Chemie International Edition)

   Abstract Developing eco‐friendly electrochemical devices for electrosynthesis, fuel cells (FCs), and metal‐air batteries (MABs) requires precisely designing the electronic pathway in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) process. Understanding the principle of developing low‐cost, highly active, and stable catalysts helps to reduce the usage of noble metals in ORR. Atomically dispersed metal catalysts (ADMCs) emerge as promising alternatives to replace commercial noble metals due to their high utilization of active metal atoms, high intrinsic activity, and controllable coordination environments. In this review, the research tendency and reaction mechanisms in ORR are first summarized. The basic principles concerning the geometric size and chemical coordination of two‐electron ORR (2e⁻ORR) catalysts were then discussed, aiming to outline the evolution of material design from 2e⁻ORR to four‐electron ORR (4e⁻ORR). Subsequently, recent advances in ADMCs primarily investigated for the 4e⁻ORR are well‐documented. These advances encompass studies on M−N−C coordination, light heteroatom doping, dual‐metal atoms‐based coordination, and interaction between nanoparticle (NPs)/nanoclusters (NCs) and atomically dispersed metals (ADMs). Finally, the setups for 2/4e⁻ORR applications, key challenges, and opportunities in the future design of ADMCs for the ORR are highlighted. 

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4. A paired alkaline electrolyzer for furfural oxidation and hydrogen evolution over noble metal-free NiFe/Ni and Co/MXene catalysts

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D4GC04447A  

   Liu, Xiaopeng; Albloushi, Mohammad; Galvin, Michael; Schroeder, Connor W; Wu, Yue; Li, Wenzhen (October 2024, Green Chemistry)

   A paired alkaline electrolyzer with non-noble metal catalysts was developed, demonstrating higher performances of furfural oxidation on NiFe/Ni foam at the anode and hydrogen evolution on Co/MXene at the cathode under practical current densities. 

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5. High‐Valence Metal Modulating Lattice Oxygen in High‐Entropy Layered Double Hydroxides for Enhanced Oxygen Evolution Reaction

   https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202518240  

   Zhong, Xiahua; Wang, Hong‐Yi; Zhang, Chen; Wang, Wenhu; Nelson, Christopher T; He, Xiaoqing; Sun, Qingqing; Gibson, Benjamine G; Neupane, Manish; Deng, Baolin; et al (November 2025, Advanced Functional Materials)

   Abstract The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is hindered by sluggish kinetics due to its complex four‐electron, proton‐coupled mechanism. While noble metal oxides like IrO₂and RuO₂are effective OER catalysts, their high cost and unsatisfactory stability limit large‐scale applications. High‐entropy layered double hydroxides (HE‐LDHs) offer a promising alternative by enabling multi‐metallic site tuning and entropy‐driven phase stabilization. Herein, VCoNiCuZn and MoCoNiCuZn HE‐LDHs respectively modulated by high‐valence V⁴⁺/V⁵⁺and Mo⁶⁺are hydrothermally synthesized on Ni foam. The MoCoNiCuZn HE‐LDH achieved an overpotential of 186 mV at 10 mA cm⁻², which is significantly lower than that of 306 mV obtained from CoNiCuZn LDH. The strong M‐O covalency induced by high‐valence metals facilitates charge redistribution andd‐porbital overlap, activating lattice oxygen and promoting the lattice oxygen mechanism (LOM). The resulting OER performance surpasses most reported multi‐principal element materials and rivals noble‐metal‐doped LDHs. Moreover, high‐entropy stabilization presents excellent structural durability and long‐term electrochemical stability, highlighting the promise of noble‐metal‐free HE‐LDHs for water splitting. 

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