Anisotropic structure is key for exploring the biomimetic functions of anisotropic hydrogels. However, the anisotropic hydrogel study should not be limited to its architecture design but must include the understanding and improvement of the internal interaction among their components. Herein, a noncovalent mediated assembly strategy is proposed to simultaneously improve the chitin chain mobility and enhance the interfacial interaction, for achieving anisotropic chitin/2D material (molybdenum disulfide and brushite as example) hydrogels via mechanical deformation. Tannic acid (TA) is used to i) introduce the dynamic noncovalent crosslinking structure among the chitin chains for affording considerable molecular mobility to allow chitin chains alignment under mechanical deformation; ii) enhance chitin–2D interfacial interaction for benefiting 2D materials orientation under the chitin chains driving. The design concept achieves multiple noncovalent assembly crosslinks (chitin–chitin, chitin–TA, and chitin–TA–2D) and biomimetic anisotropic nanofibrous morphology, leading to the superior mechanical performance. The anisotropic chitin–TA/brushite hydrogel effectively accelerates bone regeneration by promoting cell osteogenic differentiation and directional migration, showing potential in tissue engineering. It is anticipated that the noncovalent mediated assembly concept could be used to fabricate other polymer based composite anisotropic hydrogels for diverse applications.

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About one‐third of the world's entire food production is lost or wasted every year, in which the perishables such as fruits and vegetables account for the largest proportion due to their short shelf life. Therefore, it has attracted great attention to the development of food preservation. In this paper, a simple strategy for food preservation is developed. Chitin nanofiber aqueous suspension is used as the substrate, and ferulic acid (FA) acts as the physical crosslinker to obtain a multifunctional composite protective coating for fruits. The results of Zeta potential, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) indicate that there are multiple noncovalent interactions between FA and chitin nanofibers. The chitin/FA coating films show superior mechanical properties, water and oxygen resistance. They could effectively reduce the water loss rate, delay ripening, and resist oxidation and microbial invasion for the fresh strawberries and fresh‐cut apples, indicating the potential in food preservation.

A series of macrocyclic bis(carbene) ligands were synthesized by linking 2,2″-bis(imidazole)terphenyl with a methylene, ethylene, propylene, or borate unit. Coordination complexes of iron were synthesized with the macrocyclic (bis)carbene ligands linked by alkyls from the reactions with Fe{N(SiMe 3 ) 2 } 2 and 5% w/w Na/NaCl. The resulting Fe(0) compounds have unusually short Fe−C bonds with the central arene of the terphenyl. The borate linked ligand was used to synthesize the isoelectronic Co(I) compound which shows similar structural characteristics to the iron compounds. We have characterized these compounds by spectroscopic methods, X-ray singlecrystal diffraction analysis, and cyclic voltammetry.