Articles

Heterogeneous nucleation of metal oxyhydroxides on mineral surfaces is key to environmentally relevant crystal growth and dissolution, but the cation dimerization steps remain largely unexplored. Here, the authors use ab initio molecular dynamics calculations to examine the coordination structure of hydroxide-bridged Cu(II) dimers, and the free energy changes associated with Cu(II) dimerization on silica surfaces.

Mutations to oncogenic protein KRAS are responsible for some of the deadliest cancers, and KRAS is thus a key target for new antitumour agents. Here, a short bis-histidine peptide derived from the αH helix of the cofactor SOS1 is designed and shown to reversibly bind to KRAS with high affinity upon coordination to Pd(II), inhibiting KRAS-activated pathways in live cells.

Detection of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) can allow for early intervention of cardiovascular disease, but is challenging to achieve using conventional materials and instruments owing to it being spectroscopically silent in the UV-visible region. Here, a series of bilanthanide metalorganic frameworks functionalised with a borono group are shown to detect TMAO with high sensitivity and selectivity by exploiting the inverse emission intensity changes of the two lanthanide centres.

Polymer beads are used in the core of magnetic particles, and beads functionalised with paramagnetic molecules are promising as agents for dynamic nuclear polarization. Here, the authors use conventional click chemistry to decorate a polymer bead with 10¹⁴ [2]rotaxanes containing paramagnetic {Cr₇Ni} rings.

Competition between attractive and repulsive interactions between colloidal particles drives the formation of complex assemblies. Here, the authors exploit the dual functionality of magnetic nanoparticle dispersions to simultaneously drive attraction and repulsion between suspended non-magnetic microspheres, allowing for precise tuning of the interaction energy landscape of colloidal particles.

Core-shell particles with thin noble metal shells represent an attractive material class with potential for various applications ranging from catalysis to biomedical applications, but the synthesis of well-defined core-shell architectures remains highly challenging. Here, the authors report the chemically induced self-limiting growth of atomically-thin and homogeneous platinum shells on a variety of gold nanostructures.

Dry reforming of methane into syngas typically requires high temperatures, which can cause aggregation and deterioration of the catalyst. Here, the authors report a lanthanum nickel oxide catalyst prepared by in situ hydrogen reduction of LaNi_0.05Co_0.05Cr_0.9O₃ on a LaCrO₃ perovskite support that remains stable for over 100 h at 750 °C.

Controlled enzymatic DNA synthesis represents an alternative synthetic methodology that circumvents the limitations of traditional soild-phase synthesis. Here, the authors explore the use of 3’-phosphate as a transient protecting group for the controlled enzymatic synthesis of DNA and XNA oligonucleotides.

Halide-based perovskite films are popular absorber materials used in solar cells, but undesired effects such as charge recombination and trapping continue to cap record conversion efficiencies. Here, the authors use femtosecond transient mid-infrared spectroscopy to elucidate electron recombination and trapping in the conduction bands of various compositions of perovskite thin films.

Electrochemical synthesis has become a powerful tool, but the need for an electric power supply has disadvantages when considering sustainable development goals. Here, a streaming potential generated by a laminar flow of electrolyte in a microchannel acts as a driving force for electrode reactions, enabling electrochemical oxidative polymerization of aromatic monomers without an electric power supply.

Gas dehumidification with permeable membranes is typically a technique low in operating costs and environmental impact, making it preferable over condensation or adsorption methods, but membrane permeability and selectivity remain a trade-off. Here, the authors use cerium fluoride oxide mesoporous nanosheets in the ionic liquid [Emim][DCA] as a filler in the polyether block amide PEBAX to achieve a mixed matrix membrane with a water vapour permeability of 4.53 × 10⁵ Barrer and a H₂O/N₂ selectivity of 1.69 × 10⁵.

Carbohydrate–protein interactions are key for cell–cell and host–pathogen recognition, but their hydrophilic nature makes the development of drug-like inhibitors a challenge. Here, screening of fragment libraries identifies metal-binding pharmacophores as novel scaffolds for the inhibition of Ca²⁺-dependent carbohydrate–protein interactions.

Enantioselective hydrogenation of β-amino ketones is a powerful tool to produce bioactive molecules, but their asymmetric transformation is synthetically challenging. Here, an iridium-catalysed system with tridentate ferrocene-based phosphine ligands bearing unsymmetrical vicinal diamine scaffolds is developed for the efficient asymmetric synthesis of diverse γtertiary-amino and γ-secondary-amino alcohols, including intermediates of (S)-duloxetine, (R)-fluoxetine and (R)-atomoxetine.

The detection of glycine in comets is suggestive of a cosmic origin for amino acids on Earth, but the formation of glycine in interstellar media remains poorly understood. Here, infrared spectroscopy shows that the CH₂NH₂ radical can be formed from H + CH₃NH₂ in conditions relevant to dark interstellar clouds, supporting the proposal that glycine could be formed from the reaction of CH₂NH₂ and HOCO radicals.

Phosphoinositide (PIP) species play important roles in a number of cellular events, but the simultaneous quantification of individual PIP species remains challenging using conventional methods. Here, the authors report a supercritical fluid chromatography-mass spectrometry approach to simultaneous measure the molecular species of all seven PIP regioisomers.

N-heterocyclic carbenes are widely exploited as ligands in transition metal catalysis, but are largely limited to N-arylimidazolylidenes. Here, the authors report on the steric and electronic properties of thiazol-2-ylidenes, demonstrating that their enhanced π-electrophilicity makes them attractive as carbene ligands in transition metal-catalysed electrophilic cyclization reactions.

Hybrid organic–inorganic phosphazane macrocycles have been studied for their potentially useful host–guest chemistries, but synthetic routes capable of controlling their size have yet to be reported. Here, a two-step route that exploits pre-arranged building blocks enables the design of an unfolded tetrameric macrocycle.

Probing the chemical compositions of organic aerosol particles is crucial for understanding their growth mechanisms, but methods to directly probe chemical species at aerosol particle surfaces are lacking. Here, in situ surface-specific vibrational sum frequency scattering spectroscopy is shown to directly identify the chemical structures of molecules present on organic aerosol particle surfaces.

N-arylated bicyclic alkaloid skeletons are attractive scaffolds for medicinal chemistry, but aren’t conveniently accessible via the classical Robinson tropane synthesis. Here, a mild and simple visible-light catalyzed radical [3 + 3]-annulation process is designed, affording N-arylated 8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane and 9-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane derivatives with good yields and high diastereoselectivity from readily available starting materials.

Its high nominal voltage, thermal stability, and low toxicity render LiMn₂O₄ a highly promising cathode material for lithium ion batteries, but capacity fading due to unwanted side reactions during cycling remains an issue. Here, the authors show that carbon-coating a LiMn₂O₄ cathode reduces side reactions such as manganese dissolution and manganese oxide formation, thereby improving battery cycling stability.