Volume 1 Issue 4, July 2009

Although many chemists are no strangers to complicated molecular structures, they are less familiar with complex systems and emergent phenomena. Bruce C. Gibb suggests that teamwork is the best way forward for tackling these subjects, and considers how university departments are changing to promote collaboration.

The size and shape of amyloid-β protein assemblies have been studied using electrospray-ionization ion-mobility mass spectrometry, and the protein tetramers and dodecamers have been identified as an important oligomerization state in the development of neurodegenerative disease.

Reducing the manual labour associated with chemical synthesis by using continuous-flow reactors that not only make compounds, but also purify them, opens up new avenues to reaction automation and rapid scale-up.

Clusters of atoms are generally only stable enough to form superatoms when they have filled electron shells, so how can they have magnetic properties?

Chemists are able to synthesize, and deduce the structure of, ever more complex molecules produced by nature, but what does the future hold for this venerable field, and what are the new challenges?

Molecular dynamics simulations have been used to verify and understand recent experimental results that show that Woodward–Hoffmann rules can be circumvented by applying a force across the breaking bond.

The covalent bonding behaviour of carbon is the mainstay of organic chemistry, but in some compounds carbon seems to behave more like a metal.

Complete control over the composition, structure, scale and bulk properties of crystalline materials remains a generally elusive but worthwhile dream. The reversible stepwise assembly of a new porous, crystalline metal–organic material with large chambers now takes us closer to this goal.

The 1,2-diamine motif is found in a number of bioactive natural products, pharmaceuticals, and ligands for organometallic chemistry. Here, the recent advances in the synthesis of such structures by direct metal-catalysed diamination of alkenes are considered, and opportunities for future research in the area identified.

The simplicity and broad applicabilty of atom transfer radical polymerization make it a rapidly developing area of synthetic polymer chemistry. Here, the fundamentals of the technique are discussed, along with how it can be used to synthesize macromolecules with controlled molecular architecture, and how their self-assembly can create nanostructured functional materials.

Materials formed by linking metal ions with organic ligands have potential for gas adsorption and storage, and can be flexible in response to stimuli. Now, suitable organic linkers result in a material that undergoes a large structural change, but does not lose crystallinity.

A systematic variation of ligand properties allows an in-depth experimental and theoretical study of a highly non-canonical bonding situation in certain organic compounds, and provides insight into the criteria that must be fulfilled for such compounds to be truly considered as carbon(0)-containing entities.

Chemistry of palladium in the 0, I, II and IV oxidation states is well established. Here, concerted reductive elimination from bimetallic Pd(III)–Pd(III) complexes is observed for the first time in carbon–heteroatom bond-forming processes relevant to oxidative palladium catalysis.

Some clusters of atoms, such as Al₁₃⁻, can behave as though they are themselves atoms. Most of these ‘superatoms’ have filled shells of paired electrons, but calculations now suggest that a vanadium–caesium cluster with a partially filled d-shell acts like manganese, displaying magnetic properties.

In addition to environmental concerns about ozone, there is some debate regarding its role in biological systems. Researchers have now developed a fluorescent molecular probe that can selectively detect ozone — in preference to other reactive oxygen species — in both atmospheric and biological samples.

Extremely short quintuple bonds between chromium atoms have recently been discovered. Carboalumination reactions have now been performed to further investigate the properties of these unusual bonds, and show that they have interesting analogies to lower-order bonds, as well as revealing more about the nature of quintuple bonds.

Ion-mobility mass spectrometry has been used to identify and characterize the oligomeric assemblies of amyloid-β proteins under physiologically relevant conditions. Hexamers and dodecamers are formed only from Aβ42 proteins and the dodecamer is identified as a candidate for the primary toxic agent in the development of Alzheimer's disease.

The story of the last element to be discovered out of the first 92 catalogued in the periodic table is told by Eric Scerri, who reminds us that technetium can be found a little closer to home than many of us might think.