From carbon dioxide to starch: no plants required Many plants turn glucose from photosynthesis into polymers that form insoluble starch granules ideal for long-term energy storage in roots and seeds. Cai et al . developed a hybrid system in which carbon dioxide is reduced to methanol by an inorganic catalyst and then converted by enzymes first to three and six carbon sugar units and then to polymeric starch. This artificial starch anabolic pathway relies on engineered recombinant enzymes from many different source organisms and can be tuned to produce amylose or amylopectin at excellent rates and efficiencies relative to other synthetic carbon fixation systems—and, depending on the metric used, even to field crops. —MAF

Synergistic coordination between isonicotinate (ina) and 1,2‐benzenedicarboxylate (bdc) ligands under hydrothermal conditions results in the formation of two new coordination polymers, [Er7(μ3‐O)(μ3‐OH)6(bdc)3](ina)9[Cu3X4] (X=Cl, Br). Wheel‐shaped [Er36(μ3‐OH)30(μ3‐O)6(bdc)6]54+ ions form a 2D network (see picture), which is further pillared by [Cu3X4(ina)6]4− to give a 3D framework.

New layered compounds, (V0.5Cr0.5)3AlC2, (V0.5Cr0.5)4AlC3, and (V0.5Cr0.5)5Al2C3 were synthesized by reactive hot pressing V, Cr, Al, and graphite powders. The crystal structures of these new phases were determined using a combination of X‐ray diffraction and scanning transmission electron microscopy. (V0.5Cr0.5)3AlC2 is isotypical to Ti3AlC2; while (V0.5Cr0.5)4AlC3 has the Ti4AlN3 or α‐Ta4AlC3‐type crystal structure. (V0.5Cr0.5)5Al2C3 is formed by periodically stacking of half‐unit cells of (V0.5Cr0.5)2AlC and (V0.5Cr0.5)3AlC2.