ABSTRACT
Beluga whales play a critical role in the subsistence economies and cultural heritage of Indigenous communities across the Arctic, yet the effects of Indigenous hunting on beluga whales remain unknown. Here, we integrate paleogenomics, genetic simulations, and stable δ13C and δ15N isotope analysis to investigate 700 y of beluga subsistence hunting in the Mackenzie Delta area of northwestern Canada. Genetic identification of the zooarchaeological remains, which is based on radiocarbon dating, span three time periods (1290 to 1440 CE; 1450 to 1650 CE; 1800 to 1870 CE), indicates shifts across time in the sex ratio of the harvested belugas. The equal number of females and males harvested in 1450 to 1650 CE versus more males harvested in the two other time periods may reflect changes in hunting practices or temporal shifts in beluga availability. We find temporal shifts and sex-based differences in δ13C of the harvested belugas across time, suggesting historical adaptability in the foraging ecology of the whales. We uncovered distinct mitochondrial diversity unique to the Mackenzie Delta belugas, but found no changes in nuclear genomic diversity nor any substructuring across time. Our findings indicate the genomic stability and continuity of the Mackenzie Delta beluga population across the 700 y surveyed, indicating the impact of Inuvialuit subsistence harvests on the genetic diversity of contemporary beluga individuals has been negligible.
Subject(s)
Beluga Whale , Animals , Beluga Whale/genetics , Northwest Territories , Female , Male , Hunting , Nitrogen Isotopes/analysis , Carbon Isotopes/analysis , DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics , InuitABSTRACT
Although it has previously been shown that Neanderthals contributed DNA to modern humans, not much is known about the genetic diversity of Neanderthals or the relationship between late Neanderthal populations at the time at which their last interactions with early modern humans occurred and before they eventually disappeared. Our ability to retrieve DNA from a larger number of Neanderthal individuals has been limited by poor preservation of endogenous DNA and contamination of Neanderthal skeletal remains by large amounts of microbial and present-day human DNA. Here we use hypochlorite treatment of as little as 9 mg of bone or tooth powder to generate between 1- and 2.7-fold genomic coverage of five Neanderthals who lived around 39,000 to 47,000 years ago (that is, late Neanderthals), thereby doubling the number of Neanderthals for which genome sequences are available. Genetic similarity among late Neanderthals is well predicted by their geographical location, and comparison to the genome of an older Neanderthal from the Caucasus indicates that a population turnover is likely to have occurred, either in the Caucasus or throughout Europe, towards the end of Neanderthal history. We find that the bulk of Neanderthal gene flow into early modern humans originated from one or more source populations that diverged from the Neanderthals that were studied here at least 70,000 years ago, but after they split from a previously sequenced Neanderthal from Siberia around 150,000 years ago. Although four of the Neanderthals studied here post-date the putative arrival of early modern humans into Europe, we do not detect any recent gene flow from early modern humans in their ancestry.
Subject(s)
Genome/genetics , Neanderthals/classification , Neanderthals/genetics , Phylogeny , Africa/ethnology , Animals , Bone and Bones , DNA, Ancient/analysis , Europe/ethnology , Female , Gene Flow , Genetics, Population , Genomics , Humans , Hypochlorous Acid , Male , Siberia/ethnology , ToothABSTRACT
A novel experimental protocol based on a reverse micellar method is presented for the synthesis of graphene oxide (GO)-based hybrids with spin crossover nanoparticles (SCO NPs) of the 1D iron(II) coordination polymer with the formula [Fe(NH2trz)3](Br2). By introducing different quantities of 0.5% and 1.0% of GO (according to iron(II)) into the aqueous phase, two hybrids, NP4 and NP5, were synthesized, respectively. The morphological homogeneity of the NPs on the surface of the GO flakes is greatly improved in comparison to the pristine [Fe(NH2trz)3](Br2) NPs. From the magnetic point of view and at a low magnetic sweep rate of 1 K/min, a two-step hysteretic behavior is observed for NP4 and NP5, where the onset of the low-temperature second step appeared at 40% and 30% of the HS fraction, respectively. For faster sweep rates of 5-10 K/min, the two steps from the cooling branch are progressively smeared out, and the critical temperatures observed are T1/2↑ = 343 K and T1/2↓ = 288 K, with a thermal width of 55 K for both NP4 and NP5. A Raman laser power-assisted protocol was used to monitor the thermal tolerance of the hybrids, while XPS analysis revealed electronic interactions between the SCO NPs and the GO flakes.
ABSTRACT
Modern humans arrived in Europe ~45,000 years ago, but little is known about their genetic composition before the start of farming ~8,500 years ago. Here we analyse genome-wide data from 51 Eurasians from ~45,000-7,000 years ago. Over this time, the proportion of Neanderthal DNA decreased from 3-6% to around 2%, consistent with natural selection against Neanderthal variants in modern humans. Whereas there is no evidence of the earliest modern humans in Europe contributing to the genetic composition of present-day Europeans, all individuals between ~37,000 and ~14,000 years ago descended from a single founder population which forms part of the ancestry of present-day Europeans. An ~35,000-year-old individual from northwest Europe represents an early branch of this founder population which was then displaced across a broad region, before reappearing in southwest Europe at the height of the last Ice Age ~19,000 years ago. During the major warming period after ~14,000 years ago, a genetic component related to present-day Near Easterners became widespread in Europe. These results document how population turnover and migration have been recurring themes of European prehistory.
Subject(s)
Ice Cover , White People/genetics , White People/history , Animals , Biological Evolution , DNA/analysis , DNA/genetics , DNA/isolation & purification , Europe , Female , Founder Effect , Genetics, Population , History, Ancient , Human Migration/history , Humans , Male , Middle East , Neanderthals/genetics , Phylogeny , Population Dynamics , Selection, Genetic , Sequence Analysis, DNA , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Several studies have suggested that introgressed Neandertal DNA was subjected to negative selection in modern humans. A striking observation in support of this is an apparent monotonic decline in Neandertal ancestry observed in modern humans in Europe over the past 45,000 years. Here, we show that this decline is an artifact likely caused by gene flow between modern human populations, which is not taken into account by statistics previously used to estimate Neandertal ancestry. When we apply a statistic that avoids assumptions about modern human demography by taking advantage of two high-coverage Neandertal genomes, we find no evidence for a change in Neandertal ancestry in Europe over the past 45,000 years. We use whole-genome simulations of selection and introgression to investigate a wide range of model parameters and find that negative selection is not expected to cause a significant long-term decline in genome-wide Neandertal ancestry. Nevertheless, these models recapitulate previously observed signals of selection against Neandertal alleles, in particular the depletion of Neandertal ancestry in conserved genomic regions. Surprisingly, we find that this depletion is strongest in regulatory and conserved noncoding regions and in the most conserved portion of protein-coding sequences.
Subject(s)
Neanderthals/genetics , Selection, Genetic/genetics , Alleles , Animals , Conserved Sequence/genetics , DNA/genetics , Europe , Evolution, Molecular , Gene Flow/genetics , Humans , RNA, Untranslated/genetics , White People/geneticsABSTRACT
With increasing concerns for global warming, the solar-driven photocatalytic reduction of CO2 into chemical fuels like methanol is a propitious route to enrich energy supplies, with concomitant reduction of the abundant CO2 stockpiles. Herein, a novel single atom-confinement and a strategy are reported toward single ruthenium atoms dispersion over porous carbon nitride surface. Ruthenium single atom character is well confirmed by EXAFS absorption spectrometric analysis unveiling the cationic coordination environment for the single-atomic-site ruthenium center, that is formed by Ru-N/C intercalation in the first coordination shell, attaining synergism in N-Ru-N connection and interfacial carrier transfer. From time resolved fluorescence decay spectra, the average carrier lifetime of the RuSA-mC3 N4 system is found to be higher compared to m-C3 N4 ; the fact uncovering the crucial role of single Ru atoms in promoting photocatalytic reaction system. A high yield of methanol (1500 µmol g-1 cat. after 6 h of the reaction) using water as an electron donor and the reusability of the developed catalyst without any significant change in the efficiency represent the superior aspects for its potential application in real industrial technologies.
ABSTRACT
Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have aroused great attention due to their high atom efficiency and unprecedented catalytic properties. A remaining challenge is to anchor the single atoms individually on support materials via strong interactions. Herein, single atom Co sites have been developed on functionalized graphene by taking advantage of the strong interaction between Co2+ ions and the nitrile group of cyanographene. The potential of the material, which is named G(CN)Co, as a SAC is demonstrated using the electrocatalytic hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR). The material exhibits excellent catalytic activity for HzOR, driving the reaction with low overpotential and high current density while remaining stable during long reaction times. Thus, this material can be a promising alternative to conventional noble metal-based catalysts that are currently widely used in HzOR-based fuel cells. Density functional theory calculations of the reaction mechanism over the material reveal that the Co(II) sites on G(CN)Co can efficiently interact with hydrazine molecules and promote the NH bond-dissociation steps involved in the HzOR.
ABSTRACT
SUMMARY: We present a new R package admixr, which provides a convenient interface for performing reproducible population genetic analyses (f3, D, f4, f4-ratio, qpWave and qpAdm), as implemented by command-line programs in the ADMIXTOOLS software suite. In a traditional ADMIXTOOLS workflow, the user must first generate a set of text configuration files tailored to each individual analysis, often using a combination of shell scripting and manual text editing. The non-tabular output files then need to be parsed to extract values of interest prior to further analyses. Our package simplifies this process by automating all low-level configuration and parsing steps, making analyses as simple as running a single R command. Furthermore, we provide a set of R functions for processing, filtering and manipulating datasets in the EIGENSTRAT format. By unifying all steps of the workflow under a single R framework, this package enables the automation of analytic pipelines, significantly improving the reproducibility of population genetic studies. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The source code of the R package is available under the MIT license. Installation instructions, reference manual and a tutorial can be found on the package website at https://bioinf.eva.mpg.de/admixr. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Subject(s)
Software , Reproducibility of Results , WorkflowABSTRACT
Superconductivity in polycrystalline and thin-film MgB2 is strongly affected by the termination of its surface, but a reliable determination of the surface termination is still a challenging task of surface chemistry. Here, the surface properties of superconducting MgB2 were investigated using a combination of inverse gas chromatography and van der Waals corrected density functional theory calculations. The dispersive surface energy was measured as a function of the surface coverage and its value (58 mJ m-2 to 48 mJ m-2) was verified by high-level non-local EXX + RPA calculations, which predicted that the dispersive contribution to the cleavage energy was 56 mJ m-2. The isosteric adsorption enthalpies of cyclohexane, dioxane, acetone and acetonitrile molecules were measured on an MgB2 sample and compared to the DFT calculated enthalpies for the Mg-terminated MgB2, B-terminated MgB2 and MgO(001) surfaces. The close agreement between theory and experiment for the Mg-terminated surface suggested that the magnesium termination is the dominant surface phase of MgB2. Thus, combining inverse gas chromatography experiments with theoretical calculations may provide information about the surface termination.
ABSTRACT
The kinetics and mechanism of ferrate(iv), (v) and (vi) transformations in water and in polar organic solvents (namely ethanol and tetrahydrofuran) have been investigated by the method of 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy of frozen solutions. Ethanol with a very limited amount of water under an inert atmosphere, significantly slows down the transformation reactions of ferrates(iv and v) and provides direct proof of the existence of intermediate states. Simultaneously, ethanol is oxidized to caboxylates in the close vicinity of the surface of ferrate crystallites as proven by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. On the contrary, any transformation of ferrate(vi) in pure ethanol (with a very limited amount of water) was not observed. Mössbauer spectroscopy of frozen solutions enabled us to experimentally identify and quantify intermediates of ferrate(iv) and ferrate(v) transformations for the first time. Sodium ferrate(iv) in its tetrahedral form, Na4FeO4, undergoes a two-step charge disproportionation to Fe(iii) and Fe(vi) via a Fe(v) intermediate without any evolution of oxygen in polar protic and aprotic solvents, specifically 2Fe(iv) â Fe(iii) + Fe(v), and Fe(iv) + Fe(v) â Fe(iii) + Fe(vi), i.e. in sum 3Fe(iv) â 2Fe(iii) + Fe(vi). Ferrate(v) (K3FeO4) transforms to Fe(iii) and Fe(vi) without any indication of the Fe(iv) intermediate within the detection limit of the method. In addition to a charge disproportionation reaction proceeding in polar liquids, 3Fe(v) â Fe(iii) + 2Fe(vi), a competitive reduction of Fe(v) directly to Fe(iii) accompanied by oxygen evolution takes place in water. Oxygen evolution was also measured for ferrate(iv and vi) transformations in water, but to a higher and a smaller extent compared to ferrate(v), respectively. The thermodynamics of the suggested ferrate(iv) and ferrate(v) transformation pathways was examined by DFT calculations.
ABSTRACT
Nitrogen doping opens possibilities for tailoring the electronic properties and band gap of graphene toward its applications, e.g., in spintronics and optoelectronics. One major obstacle is development of magnetically active N-doped graphene with spin-polarized conductive behavior. However, the effect of nitrogen on the magnetic properties of graphene has so far only been addressed theoretically, and triggering of magnetism through N-doping has not yet been proved experimentally, except for systems containing a high amount of oxygen and thus decreased conductivity. Here, we report the first example of ferromagnetic graphene achieved by controlled doping with graphitic, pyridinic, and chemisorbed nitrogen. The magnetic properties were found to depend strongly on both the nitrogen concentration and type of structural N-motifs generated in the host lattice. Graphenes doped below 5 at. % of nitrogen were nonmagnetic; however, once doped at 5.1 at. % of nitrogen, N-doped graphene exhibited transition to a ferromagnetic state at â¼69 K and displayed a saturation magnetization reaching 1.09 emu/g. Theoretical calculations were used to elucidate the effects of individual chemical forms of nitrogen on magnetic properties. Results showed that magnetic effects were triggered by graphitic nitrogen, whereas pyridinic and chemisorbed nitrogen contributed much less to the overall ferromagnetic ground state. Calculations further proved the existence of exchange coupling among the paramagnetic centers mediated by the conduction electrons.
ABSTRACT
The fabrication of nanoparticles using different formulations, and which can be used for the delivery of chemotherapeutics, has recently attracted considerable attention. We describe herein an innovative approach that may ultimately allow for the selective delivery of anticancer drugs to tumor cells by using an external magnet. A conventional antitumor drug, cisplatin, has been incorporated into new carboxymethylcellulose-stabilized magnetite nanoparticles conjugated with the fluorescent marker Alexa Fluor 488 or folic acid as targeting agent. The magnetic nanocarriers possess exceptionally high biocompatibility and colloidal stability. These cisplatin-loaded nanoparticles overcome the resistance mechanisms typical of free cisplatin. Moreover, experiments aimed at the localization of the nanoparticles driven by an external magnet in a medium that mimics physiological conditions confirmed that this localization can inhibit tumor cell growth site-specifically.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents/administration & dosage , Carboxymethylcellulose Sodium/chemistry , Cisplatin/chemistry , Cisplatin/pharmacology , Folic Acid/chemistry , Magnetite Nanoparticles/chemistry , Platinum/chemistry , Antineoplastic Agents/chemistry , Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacokinetics , Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology , Carboxymethylcellulose Sodium/pharmacokinetics , Cell Line, Tumor , Cisplatin/administration & dosage , Cisplatin/pharmacokinetics , Drug Delivery Systems , HumansABSTRACT
Evaporation of a drop of biomolecular solution on a solid surface typically creates a ring-shaped drying pattern, formed by the so-called "coffee ring" effect. The size and shape of the "coffee ring" pattern is strongly dependent on the properties of the surface as well as on the deposited molecular solution or suspension. In this paper, we tested six types of surfaces differing in their physico-chemical surface characteristics (contact angles, wettability and roughness) as well as in the presence or absence of a base metal layer. The tested surfaces include two fluorocarbon coated metallic surfaces (commercial SpectRIM™ from Tienta Sciences, Inc. based on a smoothed stainless steel and non-commercial aluminium surface), three silanized glass surfaces and polished CaF2. The results showed that the formation of a "coffee ring" was influenced by surface wettability as well as by lipid concentration in the drop. Drop coating deposition Raman (DCDR) spectroscopy was used to compare the ability of the tested surfaces to preconcentrate molecules in the ring and therefore improve detection sensitivity. It was shown that surfaces with a contact angle of 90° and higher produce smaller drying patterns than more hydrophilic surfaces. In these drying patterns, the model liposomes were more efficiently preconcentrated, which resulted in a higher Raman signal of the liposomes. The applicability of surfaces with static contact angles less than 90°, high water contact angle hysteresis and no metal layer (silanized glass, CaF2) is limited to samples with high liposome concentrations.
ABSTRACT
Superhydrophobic/superoleophilic composites HFGO@ZIF-8 have been prepared from highly fluorinated graphene oxide (HFGO) and the nanocrystalline zeolite imidazole framework ZIF-8. The structure-directing and coordination-modulating properties of HFGO allow for the selective nucleation of ZIF-8 nanoparticles at the graphene surface oxygen functionalities. This results in localized nucleation and size-controlled ZIF-8 nanocrystals intercalated in between HFGO layers. The composite microstructure features fluoride groups bonded at the graphene. Self-assembly of a unique micro-mesoporous architecture is achieved, where the micropores originate from ZIF-8 nanocrystals, while the functionalized mesopores arise from randomly organized HFGO layers separated by ZIF-8 nanopillars. The hybrid material displays an exceptional high water contact angle of 162° and low oil contact angle of 0° and thus reveals very high sorption selectivity, fast kinetics, and good absorbencies for nonpolar/polar organic solvents and oils from water. Accordingly, Sponge@HFGO@ZIF-8 composites are successfully utilized for oil-water separation.
ABSTRACT
The field of biosensing would significantly benefit from a disruptive technology enabling flexible manufacturing of uniform electrodes. Inkjet printing holds promise for this, although realizing full electrode manufacturing with this technology remains challenging. We introduce a nitrogen-doped carboxylated graphene ink (NGA-ink) compatible with commercially available printing technologies. The water-based and additive-free NGA-ink was utilized to produce fully inkjet-printed electrodes (IPEs), which demonstrated successful electrochemical detection of the important neurotransmitter dopamine. The cost-effectiveness of NGA-ink combined with a total cost per electrode of $0.10 renders it a practical solution for customized electrode manufacturing. Furthermore, the high carboxyl group content of NGA-ink (13 wt%) presents opportunities for biomolecule immobilization, paving the way for the development of advanced state-of-the-art biosensors. This study highlights the potential of NGA inkjet-printed electrodes in revolutionizing sensor technology, offering an affordable, scalable alternative to conventional electrochemical systems.
Subject(s)
Biosensing Techniques , Dopamine , Electrochemical Techniques , Graphite , Ink , Printing , Biosensing Techniques/instrumentation , Graphite/chemistry , Electrochemical Techniques/methods , Electrochemical Techniques/instrumentation , Dopamine/analysis , Electrodes , Equipment Design , Nitrogen/chemistry , HumansABSTRACT
Acetaminophen (APAP) is a well-known type of over-the-counter painkillers and is frequently found in surface waterbodies, causing hepatotoxicity and skin irritation. Due to its persistence and chronic effects on the environment, innovative solutions must be provided to decompose APAP, effectively. Innovative catalysts of tungsten-modified iron oxides (TF) were successfully developed via a combustion method and thoroughly characterized using SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, a porosimetry analysis, Mössbauer spectroscopy, VSM magnetometry, and EPR. With the synthesis method, tungsten was successfully incorporated into iron oxides to form ferrites and other magnetic iron oxides with a high porosity of 19.7 % and a large surface area of 29.5 m2/g. Also, their catalytic activities for APAP degradation by activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) were evaluated under various conditions. Under optimal conditions, TF 2.0 showed the highest APAP degradation of 95 % removal with a catalyst loading of 2.0 g/L, initial APAP concentration of 5 mg/L, PMS of 6.5 mM, and pH 2.15 at room temperature. No inhibition by solution pHs, alkalinity, and humic acid was observed for APAP degradation in this study. The catalysts also showed chemical and mechanical stability, achieving 100 % degradation of 1 mg/L APAP during reusability tests with three consecutive experiments. These results show that TFs can effectively degrade persistent contaminants of emerging concern in water, offering an impactful contribution to wastewater treatment to protect human health and the ecosystem.
ABSTRACT
Correction for 'α-Fe2O3/TiO2 3D hierarchical nanostructures for enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting' by Hyungkyu Han et al., Nanoscale, 2017, 9, 134-142, https://doi.org/10.1039/C6NR06908H.
ABSTRACT
One of the goals of population genetics is to understand how evolutionary forces shape patterns of genetic variation over time. However, because populations evolve across both time and space, most evolutionary processes also have an important spatial component, acting through phenomena such as isolation by distance, local mate choice, or uneven distribution of resources. This spatial dimension is often neglected, partly due to the lack of tools specifically designed for building and evaluating complex spatio-temporal population genetic models. To address this methodological gap, we present a new framework for simulating spatially-explicit genomic data, implemented in a new R package called slendr (www.slendr.net), which leverages a SLiM simulation back-end script bundled with the package. With this framework, the users can programmatically and visually encode spatial population ranges and their temporal dynamics (i.e., population displacements, expansions, and contractions) either on real Earth landscapes or on abstract custom maps, and schedule splits and gene-flow events between populations using a straightforward declarative language. Additionally, slendr can simulate data from traditional, non-spatial models, either with SLiM or using an alternative built-in coalescent msprime back end. Together with its R-idiomatic interface to the tskit library for tree-sequence processing and analysis, slendr opens up the possibility of performing efficient, reproducible simulations of spatio-temporal genomic data entirely within the R environment, leveraging its wealth of libraries for geospatial data analysis, statistics, and visualization. Here, we present the design of the slendr R package and demonstrate its features on several practical example workflows.
ABSTRACT
Ancient genome sequencing technologies now provide the opportunity to study natural selection in unprecedented detail. Rather than making inferences from indirect footprints left by selection in present-day genomes, we can directly observe whether a given allele was present or absent in a particular region of the world at almost any period of human history within the last 10,000 years. Methods for studying selection using ancient genomes often rely on partitioning individuals into discrete time periods or regions of the world. However, a complete understanding of natural selection requires more nuanced statistical methods which can explicitly model allele frequency changes in a continuum across space and time. Here we introduce a method for inferring the spread of a beneficial allele across a landscape using two-dimensional partial differential equations. Unlike previous approaches, our framework can handle time-stamped ancient samples, as well as genotype likelihoods and pseudohaploid sequences from low-coverage genomes. We apply the method to a panel of published ancient West Eurasian genomes to produce dynamic maps showcasing the inferred spread of candidate beneficial alleles over time and space. We also provide estimates for the strength of selection and diffusion rate for each of these alleles. Finally, we highlight possible avenues of improvement for accurately tracing the spread of beneficial alleles in more complex scenarios.
Analyzing the genomes of our ancient ancestors can reveal how certain traits spread through the human population over the course of evolution. Mutations that make individuals better equipped to survive their environment are more likely to be passed on to the next generation and become more common. For example, a genetic variant that enables adult people to digest sugars in dairy products has become more common in humans over time. Yet evolution does not only happen across time: it transverses space as well. Modeling the geographic spread of such genetic mutations is challenging using existing methods. To overcome this, Muktupavela et al. developed a new computational method that uses modern and ancient human genomes to study the evolution of specific genetic variants across space and time. The tool can determine where certain variants first emerged, how quickly they spread across geographic areas, and how rapidly they became prevalent in human populations. Muktupavela et al. applied their new method, which was based on a previously published framework, to track the spread of two common genetic variations that have previously been reported to be subject to natural selection: one that allows adult humans to digest dairy products, and another associated with skin pigmentation. They found that the mutation that enabled dairy consumption originated around what is now southwestern Russia or eastern Ukraine. The variation then spread westward, becoming increasingly more common over the course of the Holocene. The mutation related to skin pigmentation emerged further south than the dairy-related variation, and then also spread westward. Massive human migrations during the Neolithic and Bronze Age eras may have helped disperse both variants. The model developed by Muktupavela et al. could help scientists track the geographic spread of other genetic variants in human populations, as well as provide new insights into how humans adapt to changing environmental conditions. Incorporating major events into the model, like mass migrations or glacial retreats, may lead to even more insights.
Subject(s)
Selection, Genetic , Humans , Alleles , Gene FrequencyABSTRACT
A general cobalt-catalyzed N-alkylation of amines with alcohols by borrowing hydrogen methodology to prepare different kinds of amines is reported. The optimal catalyst for this transformation is prepared by pyrolysis of a specific templated material, which is generated in situ by mixing cobalt salts, nitrogen ligands and colloidal silica, and subsequent removal of silica. Applying this novel Co-nanoparticle-based material, >100 primary, secondary, and tertiary amines including N-methylamines and selected drug molecules were conveniently prepared starting from inexpensive and easily accessible alcohols and amines or ammonia.