Browse Articles

Supramolecular assembly has been used to design and create new proteins capable of performing biomimetic functions in complex environments such as membranes and inside living cells.

Interlocked molecules represent some of the most challenging synthetic targets in terms of non-natural products. It has now been demonstrated how a cyclic [3]catenane composed of three mutually interpenetrating rings can be prepared in two stages using a selective imine exchange reaction on a self-assembled triangular precursor.

Long-lived molecular collision complexes — or ‘resonances’ — are difficult to identify experimentally. Now crossed-beam experiments and quantum calculations are reported for rotationally inelastic CO−He collisions at energies corresponding to temperatures as low as 4 K. Quantum dynamical resonances that are predicted by theory were detected and fully characterized.

A method to predict the stability, structure and properties of as-yet-unreported materials has been devised. For 18-valence electron ABX materials, 15 such ‘missing’ compounds identified to be thermodynamically stable were successfully synthesized, and showed crystal structures and properties in good agreement with the predicted ones.

Ferroelectric materials hold much promise for the development of devices such as nonvolatile memories, sensors and nonlinear optic materials. This Review describes the molecular features required to devise organic molecular ferroelectrics, and presents the supramolecular chemistry strategies available for controlling molecular organization and dynamics across different length scales.

The extraction of (bio)molecules from fluid mixtures is vital for applications ranging from biomedical diagnostics to environmental analysis. Now a robust chemomechanical sorting system for the extraction of thrombin is described in which pH-dependent binding of the analyte to a specific aptamer is combined with volume changes of the pH-responsive hydrogel in a biphasic microfluidic regime, resulting in a catch-and-release system.

Two metallacages containing Pt(II) phosphine centres bridged by organic donors are shown to display dynamic emission behaviour across a range of concentrations. At low concentrations, the individual cages emit. At high concentrations, or on introduction of additional solvents, aggregation occurs that manifests in colour-tunable fluorescence and white-light emission in THF.

Designing synthetic molecular receptors that can differentiate between specific monosaccharide guests is very challenging. Now, a helically folded oligoamide that selectively encapsulates fructose has been designed using an iterative approach that exploits the modular structure of folded synthetic oligomer sequences, in conjunction with molecular modelling and structural characterization.

A minimal cell — one that has all the minimum requirements for life — is still a complex entity comprising informational, compartment-forming and metabolic subsystems. Here it is shown that, contrary to previous assumptions, a common prebiotically plausible chemistry can give rise to building blocks for all the subsystems.

Photoelectrochemical water-splitting produces hydrogen at the cathode and oxygen at the anode. The anode reaction is, however, kinetically unfavourable. Now, reduction of water at the cathode has been combined with oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural at the anode resulting in a photoelectrochemical cell that produces fuel and a useful platform chemical.

Externally applied mechanical forces can steer molecules along reaction paths that are otherwise inaccessible. Single-molecule force spectroscopy has now been used to quantify the force required to induce symmetry-forbidden reactivity in three different reactions and compare their behaviour to that of the symmetry-allowed analogues.

DNA nanotubes are attractive building blocks for the assembly of complex arrays. An efficient solid-state synthesis for producing surface-grafted, robust nanotubes has now been devised. Rungs are incorporated in a stepwise manner so that each one is addressable. Using fluorescent tags, the nanotube growth was visualized at the single-molecule level.

The ability of enzymes to direct the synthesis of complex natural products from simple starting materials is epitomized by terpene biosynthesis. Now, a supramolecular catalyst has been shown to mimic some of the reactivity of this process.

The structure of liquid water is intensely studied, but it is not clear what happens to it when a surface is introduced. Now with the aid of X-ray spectroscopy it has been found that water molecules at the interface with a gold electrode have a different structure than in the bulk.

Nanoporous carbon is attractive for separation purposes, but its use for low-pressure water capture has remained a challenge. Carbon cuboids have now been prepared that combine high hydrophilicity with a microporous architecture suitable for efficient trapping of atmospheric water vapour.