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Rational synthesis of large polycyclic molecules is on its way. A bottom-up strategy for molecular assembly to tailor-make new molecules has been applied to fabricate nanographenes.
Helical macromolecules are ubiquitous in nature, and almost always adopt a one-handed conformation. Synthetic systems, in contrast, are typically obtained in racemic right- and left-handed mixtures. A helical phenylene oligomer has now been prepared that forms a non-racemic mixture on crystallization, and on oxidation locks one conformation in.
Transition-metal carbenes and alkylidenes are sometimes considered similar species with subtly different bonding and reactivities. Investigations into scandium and yttrium carbenes have raised questions about our understanding — and definition — of these widely used compounds.
The self-assembly of molecules into porous two-dimensional networks on surfaces has been well studied in recent years, but now the concept has been extended to three dimensions with a little help from fullerene molecules.
Principles based on overlaps and interactions between bonding and antibonding orbitals are known to control chemical reactivity. This Perspective discusses how, for reactions and kinetics of bioinorganic species, particular pathways are also exchange-enhanced — that is, favoured by an increase in the number of unpaired and spin-identical electrons on a metal centre.
The annual Bürgenstock conference brings together a select band of chemists to talk about the many different facets of stereochemistry, and the unique format of the meeting encourages plenty of discussion and debate alongside the traditional lectures and poster presentations.
Self-assembly typically occurs through reversible interactions that slowly arrange building blocks into the most thermodynamically favoured structure. The involvement of enzymatic catalysis in the process has now enabled the rapid construction of a variety of low-defect architectures.
Testing for enzymes is important for diagnosing various medical conditions but can be problematic because of the complexity of physiological media such as blood. Now, a method of detecting phospholipases has been developed that neatly couples their concentration with the aggregation of gold nanoparticles.
Chemically derived graphene oxide (GO) has recently moved on from simply being a graphene precursor to attracting interest for its own properties. This Review discusses how the presence of oxygenated groups and domains of sp2- and sp3-hybridized carbons makes GO tunable and promising for various physical and biological applications.
The mutual and specific recognition that can be exhibited between 'host' and 'guest' molecules occurs over very small length scales, but this phenomenon has now been demonstrated using macroscopic gels that self-assemble before your eyes.
An organocatalytic method for constructing biaryls joins an increasing number of articles reporting metal-free analogues to reactions that traditionally have required a transition-metal catalyst. What does it take to prove that metal is not involved, and does it really matter?
Computational studies have been used to accurately model the properties of a metal–organic framework. The material, subsequently synthesized, lived up to the predicted high surface area and sorption ability.
Hydration is known to affect molecular-recognition processes, such as those between proteins and ligands. Now, theoretical simulations provide thermodynamic insight into cavity–ligand binding, revealing how it is predominantly driven by the behaviour of the few surrounding water molecules.
The dynamics of a complex chemical reaction that occurs through a well-defined intermediate have been followed at the single-molecule level using a 'nanoreactor' set-up, revealing a primary hydrogen isotope effect that is invisible to ensemble experiments.
Chemists have now prepared the longest known stable subunit of the elusive all-carbon polymer — carbyne. Their results suggest that carbyne itself would have a polyyne-like rather than a cumulene structure.
Compression of the active sites of enzymes has been linked to the bulk of amino acid side chains, but now experiments highlight that the harder we look, the more curious the relationship between protein structure and function becomes.
When it comes to porosity, the materials that spring to mind are typically one-, two- or three-dimensional extended networks. In this Perspective, discrete organic molecules are discussed that form porous solids — either owing to hollow molecular structures or simply through inefficient packing — with different properties from those of extended networks.