Browse Articles

Liquid crystal elastomers that expand or contract on exposure to light can be used to drive a macroscopic motor

Seven different metal atoms are brought together by a carbon-rich ligand to form a unique multinuclear complex

A counterintuitive approach that destroys stereochemistry twice and then re-introduces it enables a highly selective and protecting-group-free total synthesis of a scarce natural product with interesting biological properties

Simplifying the calculations used to determine how strongly hydrocarbons bind to metal surfaces may lead to less expensive hydrogenation catalysts

Studying the interconversion of the different crystalline forms of cocoa butter may lead to a better understanding of fat bloom in chocolate and how it may be prevented

The metabolites of single yeast cells can be measured using an advanced mass spectrometry technique

Stereochemical information at the periphery of a dendrimer is relayed to its centre by locking the conformation of an otherwise freely rotating single bond

The simple rules describing how electrons move through molecules do not apply to cross-conjugated molecules

The Lewis acidity of a compound can be manipulated using a light-sensitive molecular switch

Gold nanoparticles can used to convert misfolded proteins into a structure that closely resembles their native state, leading to a restoration of their function

The first examples of a nickel-catalysed cross-coupling of simple aryl methyl ethers with boronic esters will further improve the utility of the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling

Replacing lanthanum with samarium boosts the critical temperature of the iron pnictide family of superconductors to 43 K

Temperature changes can be used to control the release of guest molecules from a supramolecular capsule with gated pores

The untwisting of a dendron-coated helical polymer during a phase transition drives macroscale motion — enough to move 250 times its weight

A broadband microwave spectroscopy technique sheds new light on conformational isomerization reactions

A new directed-halogenation reaction has enabled the synthesis of a rare marine natural product and paves the way for a thorough investigation of its biological activity

Modified magnetic beads can be used to selectively capture crystals implicated in the development of arthritic joints

Thermal rearrangement yields the first example of a bis-silene — a compound containing two carbon–silicon double bonds

Measurement of the viscosity inside a cell with precision and high spatial resolution can be achieved by studying the fluorescence lifetime of a single molecular rotor

A new polymorph of lithium bromide is predicted to be metastable — and is made by a systematic exploration of synthesis conditions