News & Views

Dynamic covalent chemistry combines the error-correcting behaviour of supramolecular chemistry with the robustness of covalent bonding, but relies on a somewhat limited set of reactions. Now, the classic nucleophilic aromatic substitution (S_NAr) reaction has been shown to be reversible and self-correcting.

Probing single-atom alloys has shown that, when interactions between the components are weak, the electronic structure of the dilute element resembles that of a free atom, making bonding with reactants more like that in molecular homogeneous catalysts.

The structure of an antibiotic that is effective against Gram-positive bacteria, but not against Gram-negative bacteria, has now been modified to improve its effectiveness against Gram-negative bacteria. The approach could help broaden the spectrum of activity of other antibiotics.

Knots have been rigorously studied since the 1860s, but only in the past 30 years have they been made in the laboratory in molecular form. Now, the most complex small-molecule examples so far — a composite knot and an isomeric link, each with nine crossings — have been prepared.

The preparation of three-dimensional frameworks with multiple stereocentres from simple acyclic hydrocarbons represents a challenging transformation. Now, starting from simple and readily available reagents, formation of these complex targets can be achieved in just three catalytic transformations with high levels of stereocontrol.

State-of-the-art quantum simulations predict that solvent molecules may partner with a solute in solution to form stable chemically distinct coordination species that interconvert from one to another. The solvent would thus be directly implicated in chemical reactions.

Specific forms of nitrogen doping can endow carbon-based metal-free materials with electrocatalytic activity. Now, introducing sp-hybridized nitrogen atoms into some acetylenic sites of ultra-thin graphdiyne — a highly π-conjugated lamellar carbon allotrope — has led to excellent oxygen reduction reaction activity.

Potassium channels rapidly move K⁺ ions across cell membranes while blocking Na⁺, but how these two effects are achieved simultaneously has remained unclear. Now, extensive molecular simulations show a single mechanism that features fully dehydrated ions can explain both rapid transport and impeccable selectivity.

Enzymes can perform various biological functions because of their delicately and precisely organized structures. Now, simple inorganic nanoparticles with a rationally designed recognition capability can mimic restriction enzymes and selectively cut specific DNA sequences.

A new pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase/^PyltRNA (PylRS/^PyltRNA) pair that is mutually orthogonal to existing PylRS/^PyltRNA pairs has now been discovered and optimized. This system could enable the site-specific incorporation of a greater number of distinct non-canonical amino acids into a protein.

Sodium chloride phases with unconventional non-1:1 stoichiometries are known to exist under high-pressure conditions. Now, Na₂Cl and Na₃Cl two-dimensional crystals have been obtained under ambient conditions, on graphene surfaces, from dilute solutions.

Certain drug targets have been deemed undruggable because of the difficulty in finding pharmacologically useful inhibitors. Now, two teams have developed exciting technologies for the creation of diverse collections of macrocyclic molecules and have demonstrated their usefulness for discovering macrocyclic inhibitors.

As the most abundant class of biomolecules on Earth, carbohydrates are implicated in a multitude of biological functions. Now, a simple chemical transformation has enabled the direct and selective installation of carbohydrates onto a diverse range of small molecules and peptides.

Molecular vibrations can be highly effective promoters of gas-phase chemistry. Now, measurements show that excited vibrational states can survive on metal surfaces far longer than expected — reshaping our understanding of how vibrational excitation might also promote or modify heterogeneously catalysed chemistry on metals.

The beauty and activity of enzymes inspire chemists to tailor new and better non-biological catalysts. Now, a study reveals that the active sites within heterogeneous catalysts actively cooperate in a fashion phenomenologically similar to, but mechanistically distinct, from enzymes.

Proteins are attractive material building blocks, yet their intrinsic functionality has remained largely untapped. Now, a protein-based material that exhibits controllable self-assembling behaviour has been prepared in a one-pot synthesis by simultaneous use of recombinant expression and post-translational modification.

Ribosomes have now been shown to accept certain initiator tRNAs acylated with aromatic foldamer–dipeptides thereby enabling the translation of a peptide or protein with a short aromatic foldamer at the N-terminus. Some foldamer–peptide hybrids could be cyclized to generate macrocycles that present conformationally restricted peptide loops.

Evolution of highly functionalized DNA could enable the discovery of artificial nucleic acid sequences with different properties to natural DNA. Now, an artificial translation system has been designed that can support the evolution of non-natural sequence-defined nucleic acid polymers carrying eight different functional groups on 32 codons.