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Dimethyl sulfoxide is a commonly used solvent, but its permeability and effect on cells is problematic. Here, an alternative solvent, a zwitterion-type ionic liquid, and its plasma membrane affinity as well as cryo-protecting property and drug-dissolution ability are reported.
Ullmann-type reactions on metal surfaces are widely studied examples of on-surface synthesis. Here the combination of normal incidence X-ray standing wave analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning tunneling microscopy enables the characterisation of molecular conformations in two such reactions.
Amphiphilic cosolvents can cause both swelling and collapse of stimuli responsive polymers, but the mechanisms governing this behavior remain unclear. Here the authors use molecular dynamics simulations to explain interfacial solvation thermodynamics, rationalizing coil-to-globule transitions of thermoresponsive polymers.
Aromatic molecules often afford strong and tunable absorption, desirable for lighting applications, but incorporating them in inorganic structures without luminescence quenching is challenging. Here the broad absorption from terephthalic acid is combined with inorganic fluoride-like lanthanide luminescence in a composite material.
H3+ has great astronomical significance, but its formation mechanisms are not fully understood. Here a combined experimental and theoretical study of H3+ formation dynamics from ethane dications shows that roaming occurs at a much longer timescale than the transition state, and is accompanied by nuclear motion of larger amplitudes.
Paired mass distances can reveal reaction pathways, but this requires individual compounds to be identified. Here, chemical relationships are retrieved directly through untargeted high-resolution paired mass distance analysis of mass spectrometry data.
Experimental methods to evaluate electrocatalytic performance typically only address one sample at a time. Here the authors show that scanning electrochemical microscopy can screen product selectivity and electrocatalytic activity of CO2 reduction catalyst arrays.
Anthracenes typically undergo Diels-Alder reactions or electrophilic substitutions at the central ring, but can be biased towards reacting at the terminal ring by appropriate blocking groups at the 9,10-positions. Here an alternative approach involving electron-donating groups at the 1,4-positions induces regioselective reactivity at the terminal ring.
Serinol nucleic acid and L-threoninol nucleic acid can bind to RNA and DNA, endowing them with potential as nucleic acid-based drugs. Here the authors prepare single crystals of L-aTNA/RNA and SNA/RNA heteroduplexes to further our structural understanding of how synthetic nucleic acids hybridize with natural nucleic acids.
Nicotinamide is commonly used to form cocrystals with drugs, but its crystal polymorphism is poorly understood. Here seven polymorphs, along with two known forms, are identified by melt crystallisation.
Methods to overcome the slow kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction are desirable for a range of renewable energy technologies. Here the authors demonstrate that the rate of oxygen evolution is enhanced upon introduction of hexadecyltrimethylammonium hydroxide into the alkaline electrolyte.
The properties of conducting polymers are known to be controlled by counterions, but this remains poorly understood. Here the aqueous hydrolysis and oxidation of PEDOT is studied as a function of counterion pKa.
Controlling protein–protein interactions through non-covalent bonding is desirable for the assembly of protein arrays. Here the authors demonstrate that pH-tunable π–π stacking interactions between Histidine motifs can direct the assembly of 3D protein arrays.
Metal clusters are known to catalyze hydrogen evolution from water, but reaction mechanisms and reactivities are still not fully understood. Here, mass spectrometry of cationic vanadium clusters reacting with water vapor shows significant hydrogen evolution reactions for V3+, V5+ and V9+ that point to a hydrogen release mechanism from the transition metal cluster cations.
Protein-lipid interactions can mediate the function of membrane proteins. Here coarse-grained molecular dynamics free energy perturbation simulations yield binding free energies for phosphoinositide lipids to hKir channels and mutants, in agreement with electrophysiological measurements.
The nitrogenase FeMo-cofactor is chelated by homocitrate, but the protonation state of this key ligand is debated. Here vibrational circular dichroism studies of the extracted cofactor suggest that it is protonated.
Synthetic polymers bearing carboxylic acid pendants typically require the use of protecting group transformations to access. Here direct polymerization of N-carboxypentyl N-thiocarboxyanhydride derivatives offers access to carboxypolypeptide analogs while avoiding undesired side reactions.
The selective CO2 absorption properties of ionic liquids make them attractive for CO2 capture purposes, but their tendency to crystallize poorly hampers structural investigations. Here a soft crystalline material is used as a surrogate for single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis to visualize interactions between CO2 and NTf2−, the fluorinated component that is responsible for high CO2 solubility.
Formose chemistry has been proposed as a prebiotic route to carbohydrates, but simple mechanisms that impart selectivity are few. Here a range of minerals thought to have existed in the Hadean environment are shown to bias the product distribution of mechanochemical carbohydrate synthesis towards pentoses and hexoses.
Alloy systems like Si/FeSi2 nano composites have great potential as stable anode materials in Li-ion batteries, but their characterization at different scales and throughout their ageing remains challenging. Here the authors use scattering and 2D/3D imaging techniques combined with modeling to elucidate morphology changes upon cycling of the anode.