doi:10.1038/nchem.259
There are many different criteria that can be taken into account when judging the scientific success of individual researchers, but are some more meaningful than others?
Full Text - Who's better, who's best? | PDF (842 KB) - Who's better, who's best?
Subject Category: General chemistry
Bruce C. Gibb
doi:10.1038/nchem.260
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.
Full Text - Reaching out to complexity | PDF (1,443 KB) - Reaching out to complexity
Subject Category: General chemistry
doi:10.1038/nchem.261
Full Text - Our choice from the recent literature | PDF (1,026 KB) - Our choice from the recent literature
doi:10.1038/nchem.262
Full Text - Blogroll: A textbook example | PDF (969 KB) - Blogroll: A textbook example
David E. Clemmer & Stephen J. Valentine
doi:10.1038/nchem.264
The size and shape of amyloid-
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.
Full Text - Bioanalytical chemistryProtein oligomers frozen in time | PDF (836 KB) - Bioanalytical chemistryProtein oligomers frozen in time
Subject Categories: Analytical chemistry | Biochemistry
Peter H. Seeberger
doi:10.1038/nchem.267
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.
Full Text - Organic synthesisScavengers in full flow | PDF (775 KB) - Organic synthesisScavengers in full flow
Subject Categories: Organic chemistry | Synthesis
R. Bruce King
doi:10.1038/nchem.263
Clusters of atoms are generally only stable enough to form superatoms when they have filled electron shells, so how can they have magnetic properties?
Full Text - Theoretical chemistryMagnetic superatoms | PDF (715 KB) - Theoretical chemistryMagnetic superatoms
Subject Category: Theoretical chemistry
Scott J. Miller & Jon Clardy
doi:10.1038/nchem.269
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?
Full Text - Natural productsBeyond grind and find | PDF (1,107 KB) - Natural productsBeyond grind and find
Subject Categories: Chemical biology | Organic chemistry
Neil Withers
doi:10.1038/nchem.270
Full Text - Microstructured particlesSectioned cylinders | PDF (914 KB) - Microstructured particlesSectioned cylinders
Subject Categories: Polymer chemistry | Materials chemistry
Irmgard Frank & Jana Friedrichs
doi:10.1038/nchem.266
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.
Full Text - MechanostereochemistryBreaking the rules | PDF (756 KB) - MechanostereochemistryBreaking the rules
Subject Categories: Theoretical chemistry | Organic chemistry
C. Adam Dyker & Guy Bertrand
doi:10.1038/nchem.265
The covalent bonding behaviour of carbon is the mainstay of organic chemistry, but in some compounds carbon seems to behave more like a metal.
Full Text - Chemical bondingRethinking carbon | PDF (811 KB) - Chemical bondingRethinking carbon
Subject Categories: Organic chemistry | Organometallic chemistry
Michael J. Zaworotko
doi:10.1038/nchem.268
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.
Full Text - Metal–organic materialsA reversible step forward | PDF (769 KB) - Metal–organic materialsA reversible step forward
Subject Categories: Materials chemistry | Supramolecular chemistry
Francesca Cardona & Andrea Goti
doi:10.1038/nchem.256
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.
Abstract - | Full Text - Metal-catalysed 1,2-diamination reactions | PDF (815 KB) - Metal-catalysed 1,2-diamination reactions
Subject Categories: Catalysis | Organic chemistry | Synthesis
Krzysztof Matyjaszewski & Nicolay V. Tsarevsky
doi:10.1038/nchem.257
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.
Abstract - | Full Text - Nanostructured functional materials prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization | PDF (2,292 KB) - Nanostructured functional materials prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization
Subject Categories: Polymer chemistry | Materials chemistry | Nanotechnology
Bo Xiao, Peter J. Byrne, Paul S. Wheatley, David S. Wragg, Xuebo Zhao, Ashleigh J. Fletcher, K. Mark Thomas, Lars Peters, John S. O. Evans, John E. Warren, Wuzong Zhou & Russell E. Morris
doi:10.1038/nchem.254
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.
Abstract - | Full Text - Chemically blockable transformation and ultraselective low-pressure gas adsorption in a non-porous metal organic framework | PDF (657 KB) - Chemically blockable transformation and ultraselective low-pressure gas adsorption in a non-porous metal organic framework | Supplementary information
Subject Categories: Materials chemistry | Inorganic chemistry
Manuel Alcarazo, Christian W. Lehmann, Anakuthil Anoop, Walter Thiel & Alois Fürstner
doi:10.1038/nchem.248
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.
Abstract - | Full Text - Coordination chemistry at carbon | PDF (1,031 KB) - Coordination chemistry at carbon | Supplementary information | Chemical compounds
Subject Categories: Organic chemistry | Organometallic chemistry
See also: News and Views by Dyker & Bertrand
David C. Powers & Tobias Ritter
doi:10.1038/nchem.246
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.
Abstract - | Full Text - Bimetallic Pd(III) complexes in palladium-catalysed carbon–heteroatom bond formation | PDF (1,101 KB) - Bimetallic Pd(III) complexes in palladium-catalysed carbon–heteroatom bond formation | Supplementary information | Chemical compounds
Subject Categories: Catalysis | Organometallic chemistry
J. Ulises Reveles, Peneé A. Clayborne, Arthur C. Reber, Shiv N. Khanna, Kalpataru Pradhan, Prasenjit Sen & Mark R. Pederson
doi:10.1038/nchem.249
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.
Abstract - | Full Text - Designer magnetic superatoms | PDF (456 KB) - Designer magnetic superatoms | Supplementary information
Subject Category: Theoretical chemistry
See also: News and Views by King
Amanda L. Garner, Claudette M. St Croix, Bruce R. Pitt, George D. Leikauf, Shin Ando & Kazunori Koide
doi:10.1038/nchem.240
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.
Abstract - | Full Text - Specific fluorogenic probes for ozone in biological and atmospheric samples | PDF (439 KB) - Specific fluorogenic probes for ozone in biological and atmospheric samples | Supplementary information | Chemical compounds
Subject Categories: Analytical chemistry | Chemical biology | Environmental chemistry
Awal Noor, Germund Glatz, Robert Müller, Martin Kaupp, Serhiy Demeshko & Rhett Kempe
doi:10.1038/nchem.255
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.
Abstract - | Full Text - Carboalumination of a chromium–chromium quintuple bond | PDF (351 KB) - Carboalumination of a chromium–chromium quintuple bond | Supplementary information
Subject Category: Inorganic chemistry
Summer L. Bernstein, Nicholas F. Dupuis, Noel D. Lazo, Thomas Wyttenbach, Margaret M. Condron, Gal Bitan, David B. Teplow, Joan-Emma Shea, Brandon T. Ruotolo, Carol V. Robinson & Michael T. Bowers
doi:10.1038/nchem.247
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.
Abstract - | Full Text - Amyloid-β protein oligomerization and the importance of tetramers and dodecamers in the aetiology of Alzheimer's disease | PDF (517 KB) - Amyloid-β protein oligomerization and the importance of tetramers and dodecamers in the aetiology of Alzheimer's disease | Supplementary information
Subject Category: Analytical chemistry
See also: News and Views by Clemmer & Valentine
Eric Scerri
doi:10.1038/nchem.271
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.
Full Text - Tales of technetium | PDF (1,173 KB) - Tales of technetium
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