Archive for June, 2014

Call for papers: 2015 themed issues

Dalton Transactions coverWe are delighted to announce four new Dalton Transactions themed issues to be published in 2015:

Perovskites
Guest Editors: Professors Russell Morris, Philip Lightfoot (both University of St. Andrews) and J. Paul Attfield (The University of Edinburgh)
Deadline: 16th December 2014

Earth Abundant Element Compounds in Homogeneous Catalysis
Guest Editors: Professors Philip Mountford (University of Oxford), Laurel L. Schafer (University of British Columbia) and Warren E. Piers (University of Calgary)
Deadline: 14th January 2015

New Talent Asia
Guest Editor: Professor Hiroshi Nishihara (The University of Tokyo)
Deadline: 24th February 2015

Fluorine
Guest Editor: Professor Jennifer Love (University of British Columbia)
Deadline: 29th May 2015

Does your research fit into any of these subject areas? If so, we would welcome your contribution. For further details on issue scopes and on how to submit, see below:

How to submit

All types of manuscript – communications, full papers and Perspectives, will be considered for publication. The manuscript should be prepared according to our article guidelines and submitted via our online system.

All manuscripts will be subject to normal peer review and inclusion in the themed issue will be at the discretion of the Guest Editors. Please indicate in your submission which themed issue you would like to be considered for.

Issue scopes

Perovskites
This issue will focus on functional perovskites from the inorganic chemist’s perspective. It will include, but is not limited to: experimental studies on the synthesis, structure and physical/chemical properties of perovskites; chemistry-structure-property relationships; and the design and understanding of perovskite structure and functionality from a theoretical/computational perspective. Contributions are not limited to ‘classical’ inorganic perovskites but can also include hybrid perovskites, ‘MOF’ perovskites, layered perovskite families and related phases (eg. tungsten bronze types).

Earth Abundant Element Compounds in Homogeneous Catalysis
The aim of this themed issue is to showcase the latest research in the development of highly active and selective homogeneous catalysts utilizing earth abundant elements from across the Periodic Table. We believe this will reflect a recent trend in catalysis that seeks to find alternatives to catalysts based on precious metals like Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, or Au and toxic elements like Hg, Bi, In and Pb. We are inviting contributions from researchers utilizing catalysts based on elements from both the s and p block, the more abundant first row transition metals and the lanthanides as catalysts for commodity chemical, fine chemical and polymer synthesis, to emphasise the broad range of activity in this area.

New Talent Asia
This themed issue will focus on all areas of inorganic and organometallic chemistry, inorganic materials science, bioinorganic chemistry and catalysis and aims to reflect the strength and vitality of new inorganic chemistry from the Asia-Pacific region.

Fluorine
This issue will focus on all applications of fluorine in inorganic chemistry. Topics include, but are not limited to: organometallic and coordination complexes using fluorinated ligands, metal-catalysed and metal-mediated fluorination and C–F activation reactions, main group fluoride compounds, solid state metal fluorides, molecular fluoride complexes and materials for fluoride sensing and anion binding. Synthetic, theoretical, catalytic and mechanistic studies will all be suitable, as will any relevant studies on material properties.

Interested in submitting  paper? Please contact us for more information

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Enzyme-Inspiration for a New Nanoswitch

Enzymes function as biological catalysts in a wide array of reactions which are essential for sustaining life. They are almost always large protein molecules which adopt complex three dimensional structures, yet are able to remain structurally dynamic in order to allow the function of the enzyme to be switched on and off.

This feature allows an enzyme’s catalytic activity to be active only when required in the metabolic pathway in which it is involved. For this reason, enzymes have long been a source of inspiration to researchers involved in the design and synthesis of artificial molecular switches and machines.

SARS-CoV 3CLpro is a protease enzyme which is involved in the replication and transcription process of the human coronavirus, the virus which causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). This enzyme is catalytically inactive as a monomer and only functions as a catalyst when it is bound with another monomer in a complex called a homodimer.

Both crystallographic and mutation studies have implicated several amino acid residues in the dimerization process, however the exact mechanism of dimer formation and how this activates the enzyme’s catalytic activity is still unconfirmed.

 Nanoswitch mechanism 

 Scheme 1. Switching between open and close conformations of nanoswitch 1 in response to metal ion addition

Drawing inspiration from this monomer-dimer on-off mechanism, Schmittel and co-workers have devised a molecular switch capable of toggling between monomeric and dimeric forms in response to the addition of different metal ions. With no metal ions present, the triangular framework adopts the ‘OPEN-I’ conformation (Scheme 1). Upon the addition of copper(I) ions, the two pyridine-based ligands come into proximity to mutually coordinate the metal.

This changes the conformation of the framework to the ‘CLOSE’ state. Addition of iron(II) ions to the ‘CLOSE’ state again changes the molecular conformation, as the iron(II) ions occupy the terpyridine moiety and the copper(I) ions move to occupy only the shielded phenanthroline ligand.

This both forms a homoleptic dimer, as the iron(II) ions can coordinate two terpyridine moieties simultaneously from two different molecules, and creates a coordinatively unsaturated copper species which acts as a catalyst for a cyclopropanation reaction. The authors impressively demonstrate the reversibility of each step, with the removal of metal ions changing the framework back to its uncoordinated conformation.

In this way, they have successfully made a molecular switch which responds to a metal ion signal (Fe2+) and turns a catalytic complex on and off. Like SARS-CoV 3CLpro enzyme, the catalytically active state is the homodimer, with the monomeric form being catalytically inactive.

To find out more, read the full article:

A monomer-dimer nanoswitch that mimics the working principle of the SARS-CoV 3CLpro enzyme controls copper-catalysed cyclopropanation
Soumen De, Susnata Pramanik and Michael Schmittle
Dalton Trans. 2014, DOI:10.1039/c4dt01508h


   Dr C. Liana Allen is currently a post-doctoral research associate in the group of Professor Scott Miller at Yale University, where she works on controlling the enantio- or regioselectivity of reactions using small peptide catalysts. Liana received her Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Bath University with Professor Jonathan Williams, where she worked on developing novel, efficient syntheses of amide bonds.
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HOT articles in June

Take a look at our new HOT articles for the month of June and let us know your thoughts below. Remember, these are ALL free to access for four weeks!

Lithium heterocuprates: the influence of the amido group on organoamidocuprate structures
Roberta Bomparola, Robert P. Davies, Stefan Hornaeur and Andrew J. P. White
Dalton Trans., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4DT00965G

Graphical Abstract

Free to access until 30th July 2014


Bent and planar structures of μ–η2:η2-N2 dinuclear early transition metal complexes
Xuelu Ma, Yanhui Tang and Ming Lei
Dalton Trans., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4DT00646A

Graphical Abstract

Free to access until 30th July 2014


Ligand-based photooxidations of dithiomaltolato complexes of Ru(II) and Zn(II): photolytic CH activation and evidence of singlet oxygen generation and quenching
Britain Bruner, Malin Backlund Walker, Mukunda M. Ghimire, Dong Zhang, Matthias Selke, Kevin K. Klausmeyer, Mohammad A. Omary and Patrick J. Farmer
Dalton Trans., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4DT00961D

Graphical Abstract

Free to access until 15th July 2014


Homo- and heteroleptic alkoxycarbene f-element complexes and their reactivity towards acidic N–H and C–H bonds
Polly L. Arnold, Thomas Cadenbach, Isobel H. Marr, Andrew A. Fyfe, Nicola L. Bell, Ronan Bellabarba, Robert P. Tooze and Jason B. Love
Dalton Trans., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4DT01442A

Graphical Abstract

Free to access until 15th July 2014


Syntheses, structures and flexible coordination of sterically demanding di- and “tri”-lithiated methandiides
Christian P. Sindlinger and Andreas Stasch
Dalton Trans., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4DT01185F

Graphical Abstract

Free to access until 15th July 2014


An unusual chiral 3D inorganic connectivity featuring a {Pb18} wheel: rapid and highly selective and sensitive sensing of Co(II)
Yun-Hu Han, Chong-Bin Tian and Shao-Wu Du
Dalton Trans., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4DT00905C

Graphical Abstract

Free to access until 15th July 2014


Versatile redox reactivity of triaryl-meso-substituted Ni(II) porphyrin
Abdou K. D. Dimé, Charles H. Devillers, Hélène Cattey and Dominique Lucas
Dalton Trans., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4DT00221K

Graphical Abstract

Free to access until 8th July 2014


Predicting the spin state of paramagnetic iron complexes by DFT calculation of proton NMR spectra
Andrea Borgogno, Federico Rastrelli and Alessandro Bagno
Dalton Trans., 2014, 43, 9486-9496
DOI: 10.1039/C4DT00671B

Graphical Abstract

Free to access until 8th July 2014


Photoreduction and light-induced triplet-state formation in a single-site fluoroalkylated zinc phthalocyanine
Hans Moons, Andrei Loas, Sergiu M. Gorun and Sabine Van Doorslaer
Dalton Trans., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4DT00621F

Graphical Abstract

Free to access until 8th July 2014


Reversible cargo shipping between orthogonal stations of a nanoscaffold upon redox input
Soumen K. Samanta, Anup Rana and Michael Schmittel
Dalton Trans., 2014, 43, 9438-9447
DOI: 10.1039/C4DT00849A

Graphical Abstract

Free to access until 8th July 2014


Benzo annulated cycloheptatriene PCP pincer iridium complexes
Wolfgang Leis, Sophie Wernitz, Benedikt Reichart, David Ruckerbauer, Johannes Wolfram Wielandt and Hermann A. Mayer
Dalton Trans., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4DT00885E

Graphical Abstract

Free to access until 8th July 2014


Induced circular dichroism of polyoxometalates via electrostatic encapsulation with chiral organic cations
Yizhan Wang, Lei Shi, Yang Yang, Bao Li and Lixin Wu
Dalton Trans., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4DT00866A

Graphical Abstract

 Free to access until 8th July 2014


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