Looking Back

Our editors have sifted through 50 years of Nature and selected a number of exciting chemistry papers that 'caught our eye'. Have a favourite? Think we missed one? Let us know what you think (and see what people are saying about them) on our blog.

• Structure of chlorodesoxypatulinic acid

  • Woodward, R. B. & Singh, G.
  • Nature 165, 928–930 (10 June 1950)
  • doi:10.1038/165928b0
  • PDF (295K)

• Determination of the absolute configuration of optically active compounds by means of X-rays

  • Bijvoet, J. M, Peerdeman, A. F. & van Bommel, A. J.
  • Nature 168, 271–272 (18 August 1951)
  • doi:10.1038/168271a0
  • PDF (216K)

• Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid

  • Watson, J. D. & Crick, F. H. C.
  • Nature 171, 737–738 (25 April 1953)
  • doi:10.1038/171738a0
  • PDF (275K)

• Man-made diamonds

  • Bundy, F. P., Hall, H. T., Strong, H. M & Wentorf, R. H.
  • Nature 176, 51–55 (9 July 1955)
  • doi:10.1038/176051a0
  • PDF (648K)

• Structure of vitamin B₁₂

  • Crowfoot Hodgkin, D. et al.
  • Nature 178, 64–68 (14 July 1956)
  • doi:10.1038/178064a0
  • PDF (236K)

• A three-dimensional model of the myoglobin molecule obtained by X-ray analysis

  • Kendrew, J. C. et al.
  • Nature 181, 662–666 (8 March 1958)
  • doi:10.1038/181662a0
  • PDF (680K)

• Biological activity of synthetic prostaglandins

  • Ramwell, P. W., Shaw, J. E., Corey, E. J. & Andersen, N.
  • Nature 221, 1251–1253 (29 March 1969)
  • doi:10.1038/2211251b0
  • PDF (361K)

• Electrochemical photolysis of water at a semiconductor electrode

  • Fujishima, A. & Honda, K.
  • Nature 238, 37–38 (7 July 1972)
  • doi:10.1038/238037a0
  • PDF (207K)

• Stereochemistry of phosphoryl group transfer using a chiral [¹⁶O, ¹⁷O, ¹⁸O] stereochemical course of alkaline phosphatase

  • Jones, S. R., Kindman, L. A. & Knowles, J. R.
  • Nature 275, 564–565 (12 October 1978)
  • doi:10.1038/275564a0
  • PDF (225K)

• 'Melting ice' I at 77 K and 10 kbar: a new method of making amorphous solids

  • Mishima, O., Calvert, L.D. & Whalley, E.
  • Nature 310, 393–395 (2 August 1984)
  • doi:10.1038/310393a0
  • PDF (316K)

• Large losses of total ozone in Antarctica reveal seasonal ClOχ/NOχ interaction

  • Farman, J. C., Gardiner, B. G. & Shanklin, J. D.
  • Nature 315, 207–210 (16 May 1985)
  • doi:10.1038/315207a0
  • PDF (395K)

• C₆₀: Buckminsterfullerene

  • Kroto, H. W., Heath, J. R., O'Brien, S. C., Curl, R. F & Smalley, R. E.
  • Nature 318, 162–163 (14 November 1985)
  • doi:10.1038/318162a0
  • PDF (216K)

• A receptor for the immunosuppressant FK506 is a cis-trans peptidyl-prolyl isomerase

  • Harding, M. W., Galat, A., Uehling, D. E. & Schreiber, S. L.
  • Nature 341, 758–760 (26 October 1989)
  • doi:10.1038/341758a0
  • PDF (348K)

• Positioning single atoms with a scanning tunneling microscope

  • Eigler, D. M. & Schweizer, E. K.
  • Nature 344, 524–526 (5 April 1990)
  • doi:10.1038/344524a0
  • PDF (531K)

• In vitro selection of RNA molecules that bind specific ligands

  • Ellington, A. D. & Szostak, J. W.
  • Nature 346, 818–822 (30 August 1990)
  • doi:10.1038/346818a0
  • PDF (497K)

• Solid C₆₀: a new form of carbon

  • Krätschmer, W., Lamb, L. D., Fostiropoulos K. & Huffman, D. R.
  • Nature 347, 354–358 (27 September 1990)
  • doi:10.1038/347354a0
  • PDF (573K)

• Light-emitting diodes based on conjugated polymers

  • Burroughes, J. H. et al.
  • Nature 347, 539–541 (11 October 1990)
  • doi:10.1038/347539a0
  • PDF (339K)

• Synthesis from DNA of a molecule with the connectivity of a cube

  • Chen, J. H. & Seeman, N. C.
  • Nature 350, 631–633 (18 April 1991)
  • doi:10.1038/350631a0
  • PDF (605K)

• A low-cost, high-efficiency solar cell based on dye-sensitised colloidal Ti0₂ films

  • O'Regan, B. & Grätzel, M
  • Nature 353, 737–740 (24 October 1991)
  • doi:10.1038/353737a0
  • PDF (539K)

• A new type of synthetic peptide library for identifying ligand-binding activity

  • Lam, K. S. et al.
  • Nature 354, 82–84 (7 November 1991)
  • doi:10.1038/354082a0
  • PDF (477K)

• Generation and use of synthetic peptide combinatorial libraries for basic research and drug discovery

  • Houghten, R. A. et al.
  • Nature 354, 84–86 (7 November 1991)
  • doi:10.1038/354084a0
  • PDF (449K)

• Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon

  • Iijima, S.
  • Nature 354, 56–58 (7 November 1991)
  • doi:10.1038/354056a0
  • PDF (518K)

• Ordered mesoporous molecular sieves synthesized by a liquid-crystal template mechanism

  • Kresge, C. T., Leonowicz, M. E., Roth, W. J., Vartuli, J. C. & Beck, J. S.
  • Nature 359, 710–712 (22 October 1992)
  • doi:10.1038/359710a0
  • PDF (504K)

• Self-assembling organic nanotubes based on a cyclic peptide architecture

  • Ghadiri, M. R., Granja, J. R., Milligan, R. A., McRee, D. E. & Khazanovich, N.
  • Nature 366, 324–327 (25 December 1993)
  • doi:10.1038/366324a0
  • PDF (501K)

• Crystal structure of a bacterial non-haem iron hydroxylase that catalyses the biological oxidation of methane

  • Rosenzweig, A. C., Frederick, C. A., Lippard, S. J. & Nordlund, P.
  • Nature 366, 537–543 (9 December 1993)
  • doi:10.1038/366537a0
  • PDF (1,092K)

• Total synthesis of taxol

  • Nicolaou, K. C. et al.
  • Nature 367, 630–634 (17 February 1994)
  • doi:10.1038/367630a0
  • PDF (617K)

• A chemically and electrochemically switchable molecular shuttle

  • Bissell, R. A, Córdova, E., Kaifer, A. E. & Stoddart, J. F.
  • Nature 369, 133–137 (12 May 1994)
  • doi:10.1038/369133a0
  • PDF (596K)

• Self-replication of complementary nucleotide-based oligomers

  • Sievers, D. & von Kiedrowski, G.
  • Nature 369, 221–224 (19 May 1994)
  • doi:10.1038/369221a0
  • PDF (417K)

• Homogeneous catalysts based on silane dendrimers functionalized with arylnickel(II) complexes

  • Knapen, J. W. J. et al.
  • Nature 372, 659–663 (15 December 1994)
  • doi:10.1038/372659a0
  • PDF (493K)

• Asymmetric autocatalysis and amplification of enantiomeric excess of a chiral molecule

  • Soai, K., Shibata, T., Morioka, H. & Choji, K.
  • Nature 378, 767–768 (28 December 1995)
  • doi:10.1038/378767a0
  • PDF (353K)

• Organization of 'nanocrystal molecules' using DNA

  • Alivisatos, A. P. et al.
  • Nature 382, 609–611 (15 August 1996)
  • doi:10.1038/382609a0
  • PDF (795K)

• Total synthesis of brevetoxin A

  • Nicolaou, K. C. et al.
  • Nature 392, 264–269 (19 March 1998)
  • doi:10.1038/32623
  • PDF (368K)

• A homochiral metal-organic porous material for enantioselective separation and catalysis

  • Seo, J. S. et al.
  • Nature 404, 982–986 (27 April 2000)
  • doi:10.1038/35010088
  • PDF (325K)

• Peptide cyclization catalysed by the thioesterase domain of tyrocidine synthetase

  • Trauger, J. W., Kohli, R. M., Mootz, H. D., Marahiel, M. A. & Walsh, C. T.
  • Nature 407, 215–218 (14 September 2000)
  • doi:10.1038/35025116
  • PDF (156K)

• A chemical switch for inhibitor-sensitive alleles of any protein kinase

  • Bishop, A. C. et al.
  • Nature 407, 395–401 (21 September 2000)
  • doi:10.1038/35030148
  • PDF (225K)

For a selection of chemistry papers that recently appeared in Nature, Nature Chemical Biology, Nature Materials and Nature Methods, please click here.

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