Reviews & Analysis

Metamaterials are synthetic materials tailored with unusual properties that are not found in nature. It has now been predicted that they could be engineered with negative refractive index through the use of periodic structures via bottom-up self-assembly synthesis.

The action of ultrasound on mechanically responsive functional groups — so-called mechanophores — embedded in a polymer chain often permits unusual chemical transformations. There is now a systematic effort to quantify the reactivity of mechanophores in relation to their structure.

Valuable insight into the use of lasers to control electron dynamics can be gained by simulations, but these are often limited by the uncertainty in the model systems used. Now, accurate calculations of controlled electron motion in benzene improve on this, while showing that its aromaticity could potentially be 'switched off'.

The design of a small-molecule library for drug discovery attempts to combine the favourable diversity of natural product structures with the modularity of peptide synthesis.

Stacking of a chromophoric molecule in the solid state has been altered rationally by the formation of co-crystals, allowing fine control of luminescence.

Two separate studies show how DNA tiles can be used in automated assembly processes: one system self-replicates, the second assembles the output of a molecular computation.

A reversible covalent reaction in which two oxygen-insensitive radicals combine to form a carbon–carbon bond provides the mechanism by which a polymer gel can self-heal at room temperature without the need for any external stimulus.

The chemical introduction of a photoswitchable ligand into ion channel structures should make it possible to study the diverse roles of neurotransmitters and receptors in the brain.