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The fluorescence of an organogel mixed with a photochromic compound can be switched off by thermal heating, UV irradiation, or both, thus forming an OR binary logic gate.
Protein imbalances in serum can be correlated with disease, but measurement and subsequent diagnosis is made difficult by the complex composition of serum. Now an array-based sensor, containing synthetic gold nanoparticles and biocompatible green fluorescent protein, has been developed that can detect proteins in undiluted human serum at physiologically relevant concentrations.
Single-walled carbon nanotubes wrapped with a carbohydrate-based polymer bearing diaminophenyl groups can be used to detect nitric oxide (NO) — an important messenger molecule for biological signalling. These polymer–nanotube hybrids are capable of real-time and spatially resolved sensing of NO in living cells, and could ultimately prove useful for in vivo detection.
The two established models of chemical bonding, covalent and ionic, do not accurately describe all forms of bonds. This article explains how 'charge-shift' bonds — with a large covalent–ionic resonance interaction energy — are a third type of bond, and discusses some examples.
The most stable fullerenes obey the isolated-pentagon rule (IPR): hexagons of carbon atoms entirely surround pentagons to minimize strain. Recently, some examples of fused-pentagon fullerenes have been reported and this Review summarizes current work to stabilize non-IPR fullerenes.
Porous metal–organic frameworks are promising for hydrogen storage applications, but adsorption capacities have remained too low for practical use. Now, the adsorption behaviour of such a framework has been modulated by exchanging cations within its pores resulting in either kinetic trapping or enhanced hydrogen affinity.
DNA double helices can be assembled into curved three-dimensional nanostructures, with twists and bends that are finely tuned by the insertion and deletion of base pairs at specific locations.
Better understanding of the fundamental bonding interactions at electrified metal–liquid interfaces is critical for improving the electrochemical reactions of fuel cells, but now traditional models are shown to be insufficient. Using experimental measurements of various electrocatalytic reactions on platinum and density functional theory it is shown that non-covalent interactions must be considered.
An analysis of key intermediates relevant to gold(I) catalysis has been performed using density functional theory. A bonding model is proposed whereby the reactivity of gold(I)-coordinated carbenes is dependent on carbene substituents and ancillary ligands that dictate where these gold structures lie on a continuum ranging from a metal-stabilized singlet carbene to a metal-coordinated carbocation.
New economic and environmentally benign methods for achieving carbon–carbon bond formation are in constant demand. Here, a remarkably efficient and functional-group-tolerant, metal-free reductive cross-coupling of carbonyl compounds with boronic acids is described.
Carbon-nanotube networks have been used to study the sensitivity to molecular oxygen of a dendrimer complexed with europium ions. Optically transparent devices made by coating nanotubes with the metal-containing dendrimer show a linear and reversible electrical response to O2, and may prove useful for oxygen-sensing applications.
An otherwise undesired by-product acts as a ligand for the reaction catalyst, resulting in improved reactivity and selectivity in the oxidation of dienes
