Featuring over 60 articles (and growing!), the web theme showcases a collection of cutting edge contributions by international leaders in the field of supramolecular chemistry to mark the International Year of Chemistry 2011.
Browse this exciting web theme today to read the latest urgent communications. You can also catch up on a decade’s worth of progress in supramolecular chemistry by reading the issue’s Highlights in Chemistry.
The 5th International ChemComm Symposium got off to an excellent start in Kyoto, Japan, on Monday (16th May) under the Chairmanship of ChemComm Editorial Board member and distinguished Professor Keiji Maruoka (Kyoto University).
World leading authorities from the USA, UK, the Netherlands, China and Japan arrived on Sunday in time to be treated to a ten course western-style dinner. The dinner was a perfect start to proceedings but even the ten courses could not over-shadow the science that was to follow.
With an audience in excess of 100, I opened the symposium and thanked the local organisers, speakers and poster presenters. Special thanks were also given to Professor Maruoka for all his support in organising the event. As the first session Chair, Professor Maruoka then got things underway.
Professor Tsutomu Katsuki (Kyushu University) was up first, speaking initially about oxidation chemistry using ruthenium but then moving, like nature, to iron, for example. He was followed by Professor Kuiling Ding (Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry) who gave a talk of two halves, covering his group’s ongoing efforts to overcome the challenging issues in both homogenous and heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis.
A quick stop for refreshments was followed by Professor Véronique Gouverneur (University of Oxford) who spoke about her ongoing efforts to develop transition metal-catalysed reactions to generate C–F bonds. Not easy, but made even more challenging by the fact that the methods need to be incredibly quick so they can be used to incorporate hot [18F], which has a very short half-life. Such [18F] labelled compounds are used in positron emission tomography.
Over lunch, the seven speakers interacted with the 35 poster presenters, putting them through their paces, with the five lucky winners scheduled to be announced at the end of the day.
The pace of the event did not slow after lunch. Professor Viresh Rawal (University of Chicago) wowed a packed auditorium with some of his latest results using H-bonded systems for asymmetric catalysis. Before the break, Professor Zhengfeng Xi (Peking University) spoke about the synthesis, unique reactivity, cooperative effect and applications of organo-di-lithio reagents.
The symposium was closed first by Professor Atsuhiro Osuka (Kyoto University), who spoke about some of his beautiful results in the area of Möbius porphrin chemistry, and then by Professor Ben Feringa (University of Groningen). Professor Feringa gave a wonderful overview of some of the ongoing research in his lab exploring chiral space in asymmetric catalysis. Some highlights included the latest examples of C–H and C–C bond formation using monodentate phosphoramidite ligands and also new results in the field of asymmetric catalysis using DNA with his colleague Professor Gerard Roelfes. The later certainly generated a number of interesting questions about the length and sequence requirements of the DNA involved in the reactions.
After the formal poster prize presentations, the speakers and organising committee were treated to a traditional Japanese meal. Before dinner, the historic nature of the Japanese tea ceremony was explained in detail and served to the group by a Maiko (a young training Geiko). Through dinner, the speakers were also treated to some traditional Japanese singing and dancing performed by the Maiko. The music and dance showcased the four seasons of Kyoto.
The dinner finished with the speakers retiring to bed in preparation for their early flight first to Beijing and then Lanzhou, the next venue for the second of three ChemComm symposia.
Robert Eagling
An efficient iron oxide catalysed cross-coupling reaction between organometallic species and cyclic ethers, via activation of C(sp3)-H, has been developed by scientists in India. This is the first example of iron oxide mediated direct C-C bond formation without expensive or toxic ligands.
Metal catalysed cross-coupling reactions for C-C bond formation via C-H activation is a hot topic in catalysis research at the moment. Many reactions via the activation of C(sp2)-H have been reported, but examples via C(sp3)-H activation remain much more elusive.
 Iron oxide mediated C-C bond formation |
Ram Vishwakarma and colleagues at the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine have cleverly devised a cross-coupling reaction that does exactly that. They found that reacting alkyl- and aryl-magnesium halides with tetrahydrofuran (and other cyclic ethers) via activation of the C(sp3)-H results in C-C bond formation. The method is inexpensive (thanks to the cheap iron catalyst) and no toxic ligands are used. |
I’m sure you’ll agree, this is an interesting addition to a hot research area and leaves me wondering about the impact this will have in research laboratories across the globe.
Fancy knowing more about the reaction conditions and substrates used in this reaction? Then download the ChemComm communication, which will be free to access until the 10th June 2011.
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You may also be interested to know that Chemical Society Reviews recently published a themed issue on “C-H functionalisation in organic synthesis” guest edited by Huw M. L. Davies, Justin Du Bois and Jin-Quan Yu. |
 Labelling site for the atpt iodoacetamide structure |
A new thiol-specific reagent can introduce a small bis(methylamino)terephthalic acid fluorophore into proteins. The noninvasive probe has distinct spectroscopic properties and can offer many advantages towards protein labelling, purification, and mechanistic work. Ekaterina Pletneva and her team at Dartmouth College in the US believe that this complex promises to serve as a powerful tool when it comes to studying protein folding and heme redox reactions.
Did you find this result exciting? Then download the ChemComm communication to find out more. The article will be free to access until the 10th June 2011.
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Chemists working at Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany have for the first time studied the host–guest chemistry of organometallic complexes with covalent organic frameworks (COVs).
COVs are the organic analogues of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and are made up of strong organic covalent bonds to form large organic polymers. They have a crystalline structure and have attracted a lot of attention due to their possible applications in gas storage, sensing and catalysis. To date, only the host–guest chemistry of small gas molecules such as CO2 and H2 have been studied in COVs. The team in Germany, led by Roland A. Fischer, set about changing this and demonstrated the use of organometallic molecules as guests.
Using COF-102 as the host, the team looked at the adsorption of FeCp2 , CoCp2 and [Ru(cod)(cot)] within the framework. They found that FeCp2 remained intact within the framework and that it assumed a structure reminscent of the host via π–π interactions. Overall, the work displayed the similarity between COVs and MOFS as hosts for metal complexes.
If you are interested in finding out more on this hot area then why not download the full ChemComm article for free today?
Chinese scientists have confirmed that Naringenin inhibits transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling in living cells.
 Naringenin is a natural predominant flavanone with many pharmacology activities |
TGF-β signalling plays a crucial role in a wide variety of biological processes, such as cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis, and embryonic development. Xiaohong Fang and colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Beijing, and co-workers from nearby Peking University, believe that developing TGF-β signalling inhibitors will help create new therapeutic reagents and anticancer drugs of the future. Here, Fang and his team have shown that Naringenin, a natural flavonone, inhibits this important signalling receptor, evidence supported by single-molecule fluorescence microscopy and single molecule force spectroscopy techniques.
Fancy reading about the techniques used, or finding out more on the inhibition mechanism? Then download the ChemComm communication, which is free to access until the 3rd June 2011! |
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Two dumbbell-shaped polymorphs possess similar packing arrangements, but one shows anomalously anisotropic thermal expansion while the other does not.
Leonard J. Barbour and his team from the University of Stellenbosch, in South Africa and a co-worker from the Polish Academy of Sciences, have investigated these polymorphs further and discovered that by adjusting the molecular stacking angle by approximately 10° effectively disables the molecules’ ability to undergo thermal expansion. Fancy expanding your knowledge? Then why not download the ChemComm communication today and read all about the teams research results? This article is free to access until Friday 3rd June. |
Chemists working at the University of Cambridge in the UK have discovered a new dicopper complex capable of forming diverse supramolecular structures.
The creation of supramolecular structures for a wide variety of uses has been something that chemists have pursued for years and, as such, new methods to access these structures are constantly sought. Jonathan Nitschke and colleagues are prominent figures in this field and have just reported a new copper complex that self assembles into larger architectures.
The team first assembled the copper complex and then showed they could modified it at two points. This is done either by substitution of solvent molecules with ligands capable of linking multiple complexes or by modifying the imine bonds. Using both these approaches and varying the ligands, it was possible to achieve the templated synthesis of 26- and 52-membered macrocycles. More complex assemblies that utilise this approach are currently being investigated.
Interested in finding out more? Then download Nitschke’s ChemComm article for free today. Also why not check out Dr Nitschke’s mini review and edge article form our sister journal Chemical Science?
Reactivity modulation in container molecules
Boris Breiner, Jack K. Clegg and Jonathan R. Nitschke
Chem. Sci., 2011, 2, 51-56
DOI: 10.1039/C0SC00329H, Minireview
Selective anion binding by a “Chameleon” capsule with a dynamically reconfigurable exterior
Yana R. Hristova, Maarten M. J. Smulders, Jack K. Clegg, Boris Breiner and Jonathan R. Nitschke
Chem. Sci., 2011, 2, 638-641
DOI: 10.1039/C0SC00495B, Edge Article
We are delighted to announce a forthcoming web themed issue:
Artificial Photosynthesis
Guest editor: Andrew Benniston (Newcastle University)
Submission deadline: 15th August 2011 EXTENDED TO 30TH SEPTEMBER!!
We are now welcoming submissions for this web theme, which will be a celebration of current achievements and future perspectives in this exciting field of research. Communications covering all aspects of the following areas are encouraged:
All manuscripts will undergo strict peer review and should be very important and conceptually significant in accord with the ChemComm mandate.
Publication of the peer-reviewed articles will occur without delay to ensure the timely dissemination of the work. The articles will then be assembled on the ChemComm website as a web-based thematic issue, to permit readers to consult and download individual contributions from the entire series.
Communications for this web theme can be submitted anytime from now until 30th September using our web submission system. Please add the phrase ‘artifical photosynthesis’ in the comments to the editor field.
Organophosphorus (OP) compounds, such as sarin, are extremely neurotoxic compounds that have been used both in the battlefield and in terrorist attacks, including the Tokyo subway attack in 1995.
Current technologies for detecting OPs are not very practical, say Jean-Pierre Simonato (CEA Grenoble) and colleagues, so they’ve developed a new sensor based on carbon nanotube field-effect transistors.
Find out more in Simonato’s recently published ChemComm communication, free to download until 2nd June.
