The foreword to this special issue dedicated to Professor Len Lindoy provides a biographical introduction and an account of his distinguished career. It also summarises the articles in the issue, which have been contributed by Professor Lindoy’s many friends and collaborators in Australia and around the world.

A N,N-dibenzylacetoamide derivative of p-tert-octylcalix[4]arene has been synthesised and its solvent extraction of precious metals in nitric acid media was investigated for determining the effects of extractant concentration and its contact time as well as nitric acid concentration in comparison with a N,N-diethylacetoamide derivative.

Thiaoxaaza macrocycles incorporating NO₂S₂ (L¹) and NO₂S₃ (L²) donors were employed and their silver(i) nitrate complexation in solid and solution states was investigated.

The influence of organic backbone on the bonding modes of the dicarboxylates, conformations of the of the long and flexible dipyridyl ligand, and pore size in isoreticular metal–organic frameworks formed by three double pillared-layer Co^II metal–organic frameworks with a pcu topology is discussed.

1-(4,2′:6′,4″-Terpyridin-4′-yl)ferrocene offers a fixed V-shaped N,N″-donor set, but this does not lead to a predictable assembly algorithm; polymer and metalloamacrocycle formations compete. Similar competitive behaviour is observed in coordination assemblies based on 1-(4,2′:6′,4″-terpyridin-4′-yl)ferrocene, with the greater conformational flexibility of the latter adding to the non-predictability of the assembly process.

A series of rare earth (RE) 3-(4′-methylbenzoyl)propanoate (mbp^–) complexes [RE(mbp)₃(H₂O)] (RE = Y, La, Ce, Nd, Ho, Er) have been prepared by either metathesis reactions between the corresponding rare earth chloride and Na(mbp) or protolysis of rare earth acetates by the free acid.

Structures of [Co(NH₃)₆][Ln(dipic)₃] hydrates have been analysed in terms of the weak interactions occurring between the achiral cation and the chiral anions.

Cobalt(ii) complexes with terpyridine-type ligands, [Co(n-pyterpy)₂](ClO₄)₂ (n = 3 (1), 4 (2)), show different molecular assemblies depending on the nitrogen position in the pyridine substituent. The cooperativity estimated from the magnetic behaviour reflects their assembly nature.

In this work, oxidative stress (OS) models of methanol in mice were successfully established. The experimental results clearly demonstrated that methanol could stimulate the production of hydroxyl radicals in the liver of mice to induce OS. Rhubarb and vitamin C were found to have a protective effect on the liver of mice under acute OS.

Nickel–iron hydrogenases produce and consume hydrogen using elaborate electron and proton transport machinery. Although synthetic modelling of nickel–iron hydrogenases has developed rapidly, it has largely ignored aspects of substrate transfer. Reported here are nickel–iron mimics bearing redox-active ferrocenyl ligands, these trinuclear systems representing advanced models of the native enyzmes.

The transition metal complexes of picolylcyanoacetamides with thiocyanate are presented. Discrete tetrahedral, octahedral, and polymeric structures were isolated, and for cobalt(ii) complexes the magnetic susceptibility was measured.

Functionalised ruthenium(ii) bisterpyridine complexes refuse to obey crystal-engineering hydrogen-bond instructions.

Racemic 4 melts above 350°C despite its low molar mass and absence of Pauling hydrogen bonding. X-Ray and Hirshfeld surface analyses reveal excellent complementarity between homochiral molecules of 4, and layers of opposite handedness are linked by the aza-1,3-peri hydrogen interaction. Weak intermolecular forces are discussed in context of the Lipinski ‘rule of 5’ solubility criteria.

Two new triarylamine-based ligands containing the bispyrazolylmethane moiety and their Ru^II terpyridine complexes exhibit interesting electrochemical and spectroscopic properties. In particular, formation of the triarylamine radical cation leads to an electrochemically induced dimerization process.

Electron-withdrawing or hydrogen-bond accepting groups increase the strength of salicylaldehyde hydrazone Cu extractants by three orders of magnitude.

The chemical mutability of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) is an advantageous feature that allows fine-tuning of their physical and chemical properties. Herein, we report the successful isoreticulation of a MOF by modifying the steric bulk and length of the original ligand separately and in combination.

The current study presents various Co^II bispidine complexes, including a complex with L¹ that reacts with dioxygen to produce a Co^III product with the N³-monodeprotonated tetradentate bispidine fragment and a coordinated picolinate originating from L¹.

The syntheses and structure investigations of four new 3d transition metal complexes with a flexible N₄O₂-donor hexadentate Schiff-base ligand are described. The molecular structures of the Fe^III, Co^III, and Ni^II mononuclear complexes demonstrate distorted octahedral coordination geometry. The Cu^II complex shows a trinuclear structure.

The synthesis and characterisation of two 28-membered, 2,2′-bipyridine-containing macrocycles is reported.

The co-crystallisation of the linear halogen-bond donor 1,4-DITFB with three symmetric dipyridylacetylacetone isomers produces four different halogen-bonded networks.

N,N′-Bis(3-alkoxy-2-hydroxybenzyl)cyclohexane-1.2-diamines (alkoxy = OCH₃, OC₂H₅) form, with zinc acetate and lanthanide nitrate (Ln = Gd, Tb, Er, Yb) in methanol, the isostructural heterodinuclear complexes [Zn(L)(µ-CH₃COO)Ln(NO₃)₂]. In these complexes, zinc(ii) is coordinated by an N₂O₃ donor set with trigonal bipyramidal geometry, whereas the lanthanides possess an O₉ coordination environment in a capped square antiprismatic configuration.

Two novel oxovanadium(iv) compounds were synthesised and characterised. Their crystal structures and anticancer activities were studied. Compound 2 was found to have strong anticancer activities towards A549 (human lung carcinoma cell line).

The synthesis of DAHA-EDTA is a simple two-step high-yielding process. Its use for Cu-64 radiolabelling of the B72.3 whole antibody was investigated. The biodistribution in LS174t tumour-bearing mice showed high uptake in the tumour and rapid clearance from the blood within 24 h.

A series of bis-pyridyl linkers are combined with the {Fe(NCS)₂} motif to form a family of seven coordination polymer analogues with a stacked (4,4)-grid topology. The resulting Fe^II coordination environment is well established to give rise to spin crossover behaviour, yet these materials remain in the high-spin state to low temperature. This comparative study provides insight into the critical influence of framework structure on producing spin crossover.

Crystal structure determination on the mixed ligand complex [Ru(tpy)(L1)](ClO₄)₂ (tpy = 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine; L1 = 4′-(ferrocenylmethylaminomethylphenyl)terpyridine) shows the ferrocenyl group to be located as remotely as possible from the Ru^II centre. This may explain the fact that emission from the Ru^II centre is detectable even at room temperature in solution.

Two Q[10]-based supramolecular assemblies were prepared via different approaches, and these Q[10]-based supramolecular assemblies possess porous features that suggest that Q[n]-based compounds could be used to manufacture molecular sieves and sensors and applied in absorption and separation technologies

The proton conductivity of graphene oxide has been reduced by 25 % after three years of aging due to the decrease in oxygen content and interlayer distance.