From beer to breadboards: yeast as a force for biological innovation.

The history of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, aka brewer's or baker's yeast, is intertwined with our own. Initially domesticated 8,000 years ago to provide sustenance to our ancestors, for the past 150 years, yeast has served as a model research subject and a platform for technology. In this review, we highlight many ways in which yeast has served to catalyze the fields of functional genomics, genome editing, gene-environment interaction investigation, proteomics, and bioinformatics-emphasizing how yeast has served as a catalyst for innovation. Several possible futures for this model organism in synthetic biology, drug personalization, and multi-omics research are also presented.

Indirect H2O2 synthesis without H2.

Industrial hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is synthesized using carbon-intensive H2 gas production and purification, anthraquinone hydrogenation, and anthrahydroquinone oxidation. Electrochemical hydrogenation (ECH) of anthraquinones offers a carbon-neutral alternative for generating H2O2 using renewable electricity and water instead of H2 gas. However, the H2O2 formation rates associated with ECH are too low for commercialization. We report here that a membrane reactor enabled us to electrochemically hydrogenate anthraquinone (0.25 molar) with a current efficiency of 70% at current densities of 100 milliamperes per square centimeter. We also demonstrate continuous H2O2 synthesis from the hydrogenated anthraquinones over the course of 48 h. This study presents a fast rate of electrochemically-driven anthraquinone hydrogenation (1.32 ± 0.14 millimoles per hour normalized per centimeter squared of geometric surface of electrode), and provides a pathway toward carbon-neutral H2O2 synthesis.

A Highly Stable Organic Radical Cation.

Functionalization of a methylviologen with four methyl ester substituents significantly facilitates the first two reduction steps. The easily generated radical cation shows markedly improved air stability compared to the parent methylviologen, making this derivative of interest in organic electronic applications.

Functional conjugated pyridines via main-group element tuning.

Pyridine-based materials have seen widespread attention for the development of n-type organic materials. In recent years, the incorporation of main-group elements has also explored significant advantages for the development and tunability of organic conjugated materials. The unique chemical and electronic structure of main-group elements has led to several enhancements in conventional organic materials. This Feature article highlights recent main-group based pyridine materials by discussing property enhancements and application in organic electronics.

A Convenient N-Arylation Route for Electron-Deficient Pyridines: The Case of π-Extended Electrochromic Phosphaviologens.

A simple and representative procedure for the synthesis of N,N'-diarylated phosphaviologens directly from both electron-rich and electron-poor diaryliodonium salts and 2,7-diazadibenzophosphole oxide is reported. The latter are electron-deficient congeners of the widely utilized N,N'-disubstituted 4,4'-bipyridinium cations, also known as viologens, that proved to be inaccessible by the classical two-step route. The single-step preparation method for phosphaviologens described herein could be extended to genuine viologens but reached its limit when sterically demanding diaryliodonium salts were used. The studied phosphaviologens feature a significantly lowered reduction threshold as compared to all other (phospha)viologens known to date due to the combination of an extended π-system with an electron deficient phosphole core. In addition, a considerably smaller HOMO-LUMO gap was observed due to efficient π-delocalization across the phosphaviologen core, as well as the N-aryl substituents, which was corroborated by quantum chemical calculations. Detailed characterizations of the singly reduced radical species by EPR spectroscopy and DFT calculations verified delocalization of the radical over the extended π-system. Finally, to gain deeper insight into the suitability of the new compounds as electroactive and electrochromic materials, multicolored proof-of-concept electrochomic devices were manufactured.

Synthesis and tunability of highly electron-accepting, N-benzylated "phosphaviologens".

We report a structure-property study on phosphoryl-bridged viologen analogues with a remarkably low reduction threshold. Utilizing different benzyl groups for N-quaternization, we were able to confirm the p-benzyl substituent effect on the electronic tunability of the system while maintaining the characteristic chromic response of viologens with two fully reversible one-electron reductions. Due to the considerably increased electron-acceptor properties of the phosphoryl-bridged bipyridine precursor, N-benzylation was found to be very challenging and required the development of new synthetic strategies toward the target viologen species. This study also introduces a new and convenient way for the anion exchange of viologen systems by utilizing methyl triflate. Finally, the practical utility of the new species was verified in simplified proof-of-concept electrochromic devices.

Phosphorus-containing materials for organic electronics.

Phosphorus-based materials have received widespread attention in recent years, in particular as possible candidates for practical application in organic electronics. The geometry and electronic nature of phosphorus make it a favorable heteroatom for property tuning in order to obtain better performing organic electronics. This Focus Review discusses recent structural modifications and syntheses of phosphorus-based materials, illustrates property tuning at the same time, and highlights specific examples for device applications.

Organic n-type materials for charge transport and charge storage applications.

Conjugated materials have attracted much attention toward applications in organic electronics in recent years. These organic species offer many advantages as potential replacement for conventional materials (i.e., silicon and metals) in terms of cheap fabrication and environmentally benign devices. While p-type (electron-donating or hole-conducting) materials have been extensively reviewed and researched, their counterpart n-type (electron-accepting or electron-conducting) materials have seen much less popularity despite the greater need for improvement. In addition to developing efficient charge transport materials, it is equally important to provide a means of charge storage, where energy can be used on an on-demand basis. This perspective is focused on discussing a selection of representative n-type materials and the efforts toward improving their charge-transport efficiencies. Additionally, this perspective will also highlight recent organic materials for battery components and the efforts that have been made to improve their environmental appeal.