doi:10.1038/nchem.434
Perceived lapses in the peer-review process often receive a lot of attention, but the majority of researchers declare themselves satisfied with the system. But if it is broken, how do we fix it?
Full Text - Peer pressure | PDF (97 KB) - Peer pressure
Subject Category: General chemistry
Martin Chalfie
doi:10.1038/nchem.375
Each year since 1951, young researchers and Nobel Laureates have gathered on the shores of Lake Constance for a unique scientific conference. In 2009 the meeting was dedicated to chemistry, and Laureates and students all came away enriched by their experiences.
Full Text - Learning from students at Lindau | PDF (278 KB) - Learning from students at Lindau
Subject Category: General chemistry
Jeffrey R. Lancaster
doi:10.1038/nchem.374
The Nobel Laureate Meetings held on the German island of Lindau bring together some of the world's brightest young minds with those individuals who have reached a pinnacle of scientific achievement. The impact of this unique event on all the delegates — especially the young researchers — is far-reaching.
Full Text - Looking back on Lindau | PDF (357 KB) - Looking back on Lindau
Subject Category: General chemistry
Michelle Francl
doi:10.1038/nchem.425
How long a road is it from physical chemistry to philosophy? Michelle Francl tries to find her way using charts of the intellectual world, old and new.
Full Text - Mapping the two cultures | PDF (420 KB) - Mapping the two cultures
Subject Category: General chemistry
Jan Wouters reviews The Alchemy of Paint: Art, Science and Secrets from the Middle Ages by Spike Bucklow
doi:10.1038/nchem.426
Full Text - Of dragon's blood and chicken bones | PDF (171 KB) - Of dragon's blood and chicken bones
Subject Category: General chemistry
doi:10.1038/nchem.423
Full Text - Our choice from the recent literature | PDF (209 KB) - Our choice from the recent literature
doi:10.1038/nchem.424
Full Text - Blogroll: Lead plays the copper | PDF (125 KB) - Blogroll: Lead plays the copper
Dan L. Sackett & David Sept
doi:10.1038/nchem.427
Identifying inhibitors of protein–protein interactions is an ongoing challenge in the field of drug design, but the use of peptide fragments based on a known binding interface is showing promise.
Full Text - Protein–protein interactionsMaking drug design second nature | PDF (191 KB) - Protein–protein interactionsMaking drug design second nature
Subject Categories: Medicinal chemistry | Theoretical chemistry
Neil R. Champness
doi:10.1038/nchem.418
Chemists have long relied on techniques that give indirect hints and clues as to the structure of the molecules they study, but advances in scanning probe microscopy provide a glimpse of the individual atoms and bonds within pentacene.
Full Text - Molecular imagingThe tip of what can be seen | PDF (136 KB) - Molecular imagingThe tip of what can be seen
Subject Categories: Analytical chemistry | Surface chemistry
Naomi Sakai & Stefan Matile
doi:10.1038/nchem.428
Synthetic vesicles with membranes made from amphiphiles that are fluorescence acceptors encapsulate donor molecules in their cores, and emit different proportions of red, blue and green light depending on pH. The balance of these coloured emissions at pH 9 results in white fluorescence.
Full Text - Functional supramoleculesVesicles head in white direction | PDF (138 KB) - Functional supramoleculesVesicles head in white direction
Subject Categories: Photochemistry | Supramolecular chemistry
Stephen Davey
doi:10.1038/nchem.435
Full Text - X-ray crystallographyTransient trapped | PDF (264 KB) - X-ray crystallographyTransient trapped
Subject Categories: General chemistry | Organic chemistry
David Janes
doi:10.1038/nchem.429
Inorganic semiconductors have long been used to construct rectifying diodes, but making them out of single molecules has remained a challenge. Now, two separate studies have induced rectification behaviour within molecular systems through different approaches.
Full Text - Molecular electronicsRectifying current behaviours | PDF (361 KB) - Molecular electronicsRectifying current behaviours
Subject Category: Nanotechnology
Kimoon Kim
doi:10.1038/nchem.419
The host–guest properties of metal–organic frameworks have usually relied on molecular separation by the pore aperture or non-specific binding with the pore walls. Incorporating supramolecular recognition units into the frameworks has now enabled the docking of a specific guest.
Full Text - Metal–organic frameworksEntering the recognition domain | PDF (173 KB) - Metal–organic frameworksEntering the recognition domain
Subject Categories: Materials chemistry | Supramolecular chemistry
Yoshimitsu Sagara & Takashi Kato
doi:10.1038/nchem.411
Altering the properties of materials by using an external signal, such as light, heat or mechanical stress, is attractive for the preparation of functional materials in diverse fields. This Perspective focuses on liquid and solid materials that change the colour of their luminescence under mechanical pressure, and highlights the structural changes involved.
Abstract - | Full Text - Mechanically induced luminescence changes in molecular assemblies | PDF (1,005 KB) - Mechanically induced luminescence changes in molecular assemblies
Subject Category: Materials chemistry
Thomas J. Boltje, Therese Buskas & Geert-Jan Boons
doi:10.1038/nchem.399
The development of general synthetic strategies for the prepartion of oligonucleotides and peptides has enabled them to be made routinely — often using automated systems. Making complex oligosaccharides is much less straightforward, but advances in areas such as one-pot multi-step protecting-group manipulations, stereoselective glycosylation protocols and chemo-enzymatic methods are offering new opportunities for carbohydrate chemistry.
Abstract - | Full Text - Opportunities and challenges in synthetic oligosaccharide and glycoconjugate research | PDF (669 KB) - Opportunities and challenges in synthetic oligosaccharide and glycoconjugate research
Subject Categories: Chemical biology | Organic chemistry | Synthesis
Xin Zhang, Stefanie Rehm, Marina M. Safont-Sempere & Frank Würthner
doi:10.1038/nchem.368
Artificial vesicles consisting of encapsulated fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-donor molecules and a FRET-acceptor bilayer dye-membrane provide ultrasensitive pH information in aqueous media by displaying pH-dependent fluorescence colour covering the entire visible light range. An exceptional white fluorescence was observed at pH 9.
Abstract - | Full Text - Vesicular perylene dye nanocapsules as supramolecular fluorescent pH sensor systems | PDF (3,842 KB) - Vesicular perylene dye nanocapsules as supramolecular fluorescent pH sensor systems | Supplementary information | Chemical compounds
Subject Categories: Nanotechnology | Supramolecular chemistry
See also: News and Views by Sakai & Matile
Kristin Williams Fiori, Angela L. A. Puchlopek & Scott J. Miller
doi:10.1038/nchem.410
Small peptide-derived catalysts are shown to be effective in the enantioselective sulfonylation of polyols. The observation that, using closely related catalysts, enantiotopic alcohols can be phosphorylated or sulfonylated, raises questions about the details of catalyst–substrate recognition and, from a biomimetic standpoint, the role of histidine residues in enzyme active sites.
Abstract - | Full Text - Enantioselective sulfonylation reactions mediated by a tetrapeptide catalyst | PDF (633 KB) - Enantioselective sulfonylation reactions mediated by a tetrapeptide catalyst | Supplementary information | Chemical compounds
Subject Categories: Organic chemistry | Synthesis
Ismael Díez-Pérez, Joshua Hihath, Youngu Lee, Luping Yu, Lyudmyla Adamska, Mortko A. Kozhushner, Ivan I. Oleynik & Nongjian Tao
doi:10.1038/nchem.392
The properties of molecular electronic devices can be tuned by tailoring the structures of the molecules from which they are built. Researchers now show that two closely related molecules — each containing a string of four aryl groups — behave very differently when strung between gold electrodes, with the non-symmetrical structure leading to diode-like behaviour.
Abstract - | Full Text - Rectification and stability of a single molecular diode with controlled orientation | PDF (1,374 KB) - Rectification and stability of a single molecular diode with controlled orientation | Supplementary information
Subject Category: Nanotechnology
See also: News and Views by Janes
Stefano Pieraccini, Giorgio Saladino, Graziella Cappelletti, Daniele Cartelli, Pierangelo Francescato, Giovanna Speranza, Paolo Manitto & Maurizio Sironi
doi:10.1038/nchem.401
The development of molecules that target protein–protein interactions is one of the main goals of contemporary medicinal chemistry. Computational alanine scanning and molecular dynamics now leads to the identification of two peptide sequences that are important in microtubule assembly, and shows that the in silico activity can be translated into in vitro activity.
Abstract - | Full Text - In silico design of tubulin-targeted antimitotic peptides | PDF (909 KB) - In silico design of tubulin-targeted antimitotic peptides | Supplementary information
Subject Categories: Biochemistry | Physical chemistry | Theoretical chemistry
See also: News and Views by Sackett & Sept
Lara Tauk, André P. Schröder, Gero Decher & Nicolas Giuseppone
doi:10.1038/nchem.400
The properties of surfaces can be tailored by coating them with a thin film of molecules, for example by forming self-assembled monolayers. Now, researchers have shown how dynamic covalent chemistry can be used to reversibly pattern different compounds on to a surface with a high degree of spatial control to produce molecular gradients.
Abstract - | Full Text - Hierarchical functional gradients of pH-responsive self-assembled monolayers using dynamic covalent chemistry on surfaces | PDF (2,454 KB) - Hierarchical functional gradients of pH-responsive self-assembled monolayers using dynamic covalent chemistry on surfaces | Supplementary information | Chemical compounds
Subject Categories: Supramolecular chemistry | Surface chemistry
Robert C. Coffin, Jeff Peet, James Rogers & Guillermo C. Bazan
doi:10.1038/nchem.403
Plastic solar cells contain a blend of conjugated polymer and fullerene electron-acceptor material that phase separates, resulting in the formation of heterojunctions. Improving the performance of these devices requires an understanding of the blend morphology. Now researchers show how a microwave-assisted synthesis method can be used to create structurally diverse copolymers enabling the investigation of their structure–function relationship.
Abstract - | Full Text - Streamlined microwave-assisted preparation of narrow-bandgap conjugated polymers for high-performance bulk heterojunction solar cells | PDF (417 KB) - Streamlined microwave-assisted preparation of narrow-bandgap conjugated polymers for high-performance bulk heterojunction solar cells | Supplementary information | Chemical compounds
Subject Categories: Polymer chemistry | Synthesis
Martin R. Gill, Jorge Garcia-Lara, Simon J. Foster, Carl Smythe, Giuseppe Battaglia & Jim A. Thomas
doi:10.1038/nchem.406
The ability to study structural changes of DNA in live cells is of considerable interest. Here, a dinuclear ruthenium (II) complex that acts as a multifunctional stain for DNA and its use in both luminescence and transmission electron microscopy studies is described.
Abstract - | Full Text - A ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complex for direct imaging of DNA structure in living cells | PDF (747 KB) - A ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complex for direct imaging of DNA structure in living cells | Supplementary information
Subject Categories: Biochemistry | Inorganic chemistry | Photochemistry
Dominik P. Weimann, Henrik D. F. Winkler, Jessica A. Falenski, Beate Koksch & Christoph A. Schalley
doi:10.1038/nchem.431
Full Text - Highly dynamic motion of crown ethers along oligolysine peptide chains | PDF (78 KB) - Highly dynamic motion of crown ethers along oligolysine peptide chains
Eric Scerri
doi:10.1038/nchem.430
Eric Scerri recounts the story of element 87, which after a number of false starts was finally tracked down in France — and named in its honour.
Full Text - Finding francium | PDF (268 KB) - Finding francium
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