Volume 2 Issue 7, July 2018

Aquo complexes at salt surfaces feature in important processes such as salt dissolution and water desalination. Scanning tunnelling microscopy and atomic force microscopy have afforded the first real-space data concerning the structures and dynamics of single aquo complexes.

Digoxin is a widely used heart drug, but metabolism by bacteria in the human gut leads to variable efficacy. The enzyme responsible has now been identified and characterized.

The design of machines in the nanodimesional space is advancing fast. Ben Feringa and co-workers now report on solvent-driven aggregations of molecular motors into nanodimesional bowl-shaped objects and show how molecular rotation can be controlled in such confined volumes.

Metal–ligand interactions are attracting growing attention for the design of new drugs. Current simulation approaches help us gain deep atomistic understanding of the metal–ligand interactions for the discovery and development of potent metalloenzyme inhibitors and metallodrugs.

Proteins, DNA and RNA can be used to build functional nanostructures. This Review compares protein and DNA/RNA in terms of biochemical properties and ease of engineering in three major areas of application: biomolecular recognition, biocatalysis and structural support.

This Review describes excited-state intramolecular proton-transfer (ESIPT) reactions with amines as proton donors. Systematic variation of N−H bond strength, acidity and reaction rate enables ESIPT kinetics and thermodynamics to be correlated and new molecules to be designed for sensing and optoelectronics applications.