Browse Articles

The intercalation of potassium into a simple aromatic hydrocarbon results in a new class of organic superconductors.

A comparison of models for the sun-protection factor, transparency and production of reactive oxygen species leads to a prediction of the optimum size of titania nanoparticles for use in sunscreen.

A wide range of porous framework materials has been assembled with a modular approach that takes advantage of prefabricated structural building units (SBUs). Now, it has been shown that functional all-inorganic frameworks can be made from a macrocyclic polyoxometalate SBU — that has a built-in aperture approximately 1 nm in diameter — linked together with redox-switchable metal ions.

Nanotubular structures made from different materials are being investigated for applications ranging from sensing to drug delivery, but controlling how they interact with ‘cargo’ molecules has proved challenging. Now, the selective uptake, precise positioning and triggered release of gold nanoparticles has been achieved with nanotubes assembled from triangular DNA building blocks.

Chiral thiols and organosulfur compounds are important in many areas of chemistry but there are relatively few methods available for their efficient enantioselective synthesis. Here, a kinetic resolution of chiral thiols is reported along with a demonstration that a concomitant desymmetrization of the acylating agent is beneficial for the selectivity of both processes.

Charge transport through electron hopping has been observed between π–π stacked perylene derivatives incorporated into DNA hairpin scaffolds.

Molecular dynamics simulations have revealed important mechanistic details about how carbamate is transported from one active site to another within in an enzyme.

The interactions of electrons and water molecules are not just of great fundamental interest but are also studied to understand the role electrons have in damaging biomolecules. Now using ultrafast photoelectron spectroscopy, key details about the energy and lifetime of the hydrated electron in bulk and at an interface have been determined.

The existence of solvated electrons bound at the liquid/water surface has not, until now, been proved experimentally. Here, using ultrafast photoelectron spectroscopy, the existence, vertical binding energies and lifetimes of solvated electrons bound at the water-surface/vacuum interface, and in bulk solution, have been revealed.

Thermally stable stereoisomers can be interconverted by the application of a mechanical force using ultrasound irradiation.

A krypton difluoride coordination compound — where it acts as a ligand to a bromine atom — has been synthesized and studied.

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, but when that picture appears on the front cover of a scientific journal, that estimate is probably a little on the low side.

Monomers that contain masked ketene groups provide new opportunities for facile crosslinking and post-synthetic modification of polymers in a wide variety of materials applications.

The long-awaited first total synthesis of the structurally intriguing natural product palau'amine has now been achieved. The synthesis features cascade reactions and an 'across ring' stitching of a 'macropalau'amine', and sets the bar for future efforts towards an enantioselective variant.

Public acceptance of the expansion of nuclear power may hinge on the safe disposal of nuclear waste. Ion exchangers that remove radioactive metals — such as caesium ions — from the waste could provide part of the answer, so a flexible-framework material that selectively grab them from solution is a step in the right direction.

Herbert Roesky relates how the small, highly electronegative fluorine atom unveiled the chemical reactivity of noble gases and found many practical applications. but it can also render organic compounds highly toxic or pollutants.