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Mechanical forces can induce a biochemical response in cells. Now, it is shown that a molecular motor can exert enough force on the surface of a cell to induce a biochemical response too.
Lewis acid additives such as aluminium can enable fascinating new reactivity in transition metal catalysts, but few catalytic intermediates have been characterised. Now, a nickel-aluminium pincer complex offers new mechanistic insight into transmetalation, and new potential for reactivity.
Lithium-ion batteries suffer from declining performance when the electrolyte decomposes. Now, low-dosage cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) visualizes how the common solid electrolyte interface component lithium carbonate decomposes and how additives stabilize the interface.
Contact freezing of water is a very fast and common process that is still not well understood due to challenges in probing this microscopic phenomenon. Now, molecular dynamics simulations help to explain experimental data of contact freezing, showing a connection between water’s suspected propensity to undergo surface freezing and the kinetic enhancement during contact nucleation.
Molecular replication could offer insight into the fundamentals of evolution, but achieving controlled mutation is difficult. Now, a synthetic replicator that allows for simple control over its mutation rate has been reported.
Organizing molecular rotors in highly ordered crystals enables the use of molecular motion to control physical properties. Now, N‑heterocyclic carbene complexes form a basis for molecular gyroscopes in which solid-state emission is quenched by axle rotation.
Platinum catalysts are widely employed for vehicle exhaust treatment, but their activity is poor when the catalyst is cold. Now, precise control of the interfacial structure of platinum sub-nanoclusters on copper-doped ceria delivers excellent activity at low temperatures.
Controlling molecular conformation through macroscopic mechanical stimulus may have applications in chiroptical devices, but achieving this in a 3D material is challenging. Now, a quantitative relationship between stretching of an elastomer and reversible conformational changes of a crosslinked molecule has been established.
Organic materials are highly sensitive to electron beam irradiation and thus easily damaged upon imaging by electron microscopy. Now, low-dose aberration-corrected high resolution transmission electron microscopy allows for less invasive near-atomic-scale imaging of a two-dimensional polymer.
Mass spectrometry allows the pattern of glycosylation in proteins to be mapped, but can be limited by the lability of glycosidic bonds. Now, a method exploiting this lability allows for direct mapping of glycan moieties in glycoproteins.
