Joanne Thomson – Chemical Communications Blog

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Medicinal hope for injectable hydrogels

08 Oct 2012

Injectable hydrogels with dual ionic properties, biodegradability and low cytotoxicity have been developed by South Korean scientists to deliver proteins therapeutically.

Doo Sung Lee and colleagues from Sungkyunkwan University developed an amphoteric copolymer to form dually cationic and anionic hydrogels, in response to pH and temperature changes. The amphoteric nature of the polymer means it should bind to both cationic and anionic biomolecules, and helps sustained co-delivery of them.

The copolymer changing from sol to gel

Read more in Chemistry World or download Lee’s communication in ChemComm.

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Metal-free resins can drive down cost of solar energy

08 Oct 2012

Solar farm Costly metals in some solar cells could be replaced by cheap resins, according to Korean research.

Dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) are an important class of solar cells, which demonstrate a number of important attributes, such as low cost, flexibility and good efficiency. It is perhaps the most actively researched solar cell technology. However, it is still hindered by expensive components.

Currently, a third of the cost of DSSCs could go towards the noble metal-based dyes used to sensitise the titania photocatalyst, allowing it to harvest the more useful visible part of the spectrum. However, Wonyong Choi and his group at Pohang University of Science and Technology have replaced these dyes with a simple and cheap phenolic resin.

Read more in Chemistry World or read Choi’s communication in ChemComm.

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ChemComm celebrates its first Gold for Gold communication

08 Oct 2012

Eugen Stulz (University of Southampton) and colleagues are the first ChemComm authors to publish a communication as part of our Gold for Gold initiative. Gold Image

Their communication, entitled ‘A DNA based five-state switch with programmed reversibility’ is now free to access for all.

‘I’m delighted that Eugen’s communication is the first open access communication to be published in ChemComm using the RSC’s Gold for Gold programme,’ says Phil Gale, Head of Chemistry at the University of Southampton. ‘This open access programme will allow us to showcase our research to a much wider audience.’

Gold for Gold is an innovative initiative rewarding UK RSC Gold customers with credits to publish a select number of papers in RSC journals via Open Science, the RSC’s Gold Open Access option.

More information on Gold for Gold is available on our website. If you have any questions on the procedure, or are an interested customer from outside the UK, please contact goldforgold@rsc.org.

Also of interest:
Gold for Gold – First Open Access credit used by University of Hull

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Biocatalysis: an article collection

05 Oct 2012

Beers, wines and cheeses are enjoyed around the world today and have been for millennia. In fact the practices of brewing and cheese-making pre-date recorded history so it is difficult to accurately determine when we first started using naturally occurring enzymes and microorganisms to create valuable (and in this case, tastier!) products.

Biocatalysts are of course used in far more diverse applications than the creation of food-stuffs, including in many organic syntheses and in the generation of fine chemicals. Due to their natural design, they can offer superior selectivity for particular products and have a far lower environmental impact than many traditional catalysts. Our knowledge and understanding of biocatalysts has increased dramatically in the last few decades, which has allowed us to develop biologically modified and biomimetic catalysts for a range of applications.

To keep you up to date with the latest advances in this rapidly expanding field we have collected together these high impact articles and made them free to access until the 31^st October!

Click here for the full list of free articles

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ChemComm and the chemistry-biology interface

20 Sep 2012

The chemical sciences make a huge contribution to solving challenges in the biological sciences.

So quite rightly, articles at the chemistry–biology interface make up an important part of ChemComm.

Here’s a selection of some recent articles, all free to access until 19th October:

Nucleic acid aptamers: an emerging frontier in cancer therapy
Guizhi Zhu, Mao Ye, Michael J. Donovan, Erqun Song, Zilong Zhao and Weihong Tan
Chem. Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2CC35042D

Picomolar level profiling of the methylation status of p53 tumor suppressor gene by label-free electrochemical biosensor
Po Wang, Hai Wu, Zong Dai and Xiaoyong Zou
Chem. Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2CC35615E

Oriented Immobilization of Oxyamine-Modified Proteins
Long Yi, Yong-Xiang Chen, Po-Chiao Lin, Hendrik Schroeder, Christof M. Niemeyer, Yaowen Wu, Roger S. Goody, Gemma Triola and Herbert Waldmann
Chem. Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2CC35237K

Colorimetric detection of single-nucleotide polymorphisms with a real-time PCR-like sensitivity
Wei Shen, Huimin Deng, Alan Kay Liang Teo and Zhiqiang Gao
Chem. Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2CC35070J

A bioresponsive controlled-release biosensor using Au nanocages capped with an aptamer-based molecular gate and its application in living cells
Wei Wang, Tao Yan, Shibin Cui and Jun Wan
Chem. Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2CC33165A

Cascade imaging of proteolytic pathway in cancer cell using fluorescent protein-conjugated gold nanoquenchers
Kyoungsook Park, Jinyoung Jeong and Bong Hyun Chung
Chem. Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2CC35687B

Eager for more?

Check out the Nucleic acids: new life, new materials web theme, jointly organised with OBC and RSC Advances.

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Nominations invited for ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2013

05 Sep 2012

We are delighted to invite nominations for ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2013. The lectureship, which is awarded annually, will recognise an emerging scientist in the early stages of their independent academic career.

To qualify
To be eligible for the ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship, the candidate should have completed their PhD on or after 5th September 2004.

The candidate should also have published at least one article in ChemComm during the course of their independent career.

Award details
The recipient of the award will be invited to present a lecture at three different locations over a 12 month period. It is expected that at least one of the locations will be a conference. The recipient will receive a contribution of £1500 towards travel and accommodation costs. S/he will also be presented with a certificate and be asked to contribute a ChemComm Feature Article.

Nominations
Those wishing to make a nomination should send the following details to the ChemComm Editorial Office by 7th December 2012:

Recommendation letter, including the name, contact details and website URL of the nominee.
A one page CV for the nominee, including their date of birth, summary of education and career, list of up to five independent publications, total numbers of publications and patents and other indicators of esteem and evidence of independence.
A copy of the candidate’s best publication to date (as judged by the nominator).
Two supporting letters of recommendation from two independent referees. These should not be someone from the same institution or the candidate’s post doc or PhD supervisor.

The nominator and independent referees are requested to comment on the candidate’s presenting skills.

Please note that self nomination is not permitted.

Selection procedure
The ChemComm Editorial Board will draw up a short-list of candidates based on the information provided by the referees and nominator. Short-listed candidates will be asked to provide a supporting statement justifying why they deserve the award. The recipient of the award will then be selected and endorsed by the ChemComm Editorial Board.

Previous winners

	2012 Professor Hiromitsu Maeda (Ritsumeikan University, Japan) – he’ll be presented with his lecture certificate at ICPOC 21.
	2011 Dr Scott Dalgarno (Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK) – Find out about his Emerging Investigator Lecture tour in China.

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Making light work of hydrogel formation

14 Aug 2012

UK scientists have developed a new way to make hydrogels using light. The hydrogels could be used in a range of applications from cell culture to biosensors.

Graphical abstract: Dipeptide hydrogelation triggered via ultraviolet light Dave Adams, at the University of Liverpool, and colleagues made the hydrogels from dipeptide conjugates using UV light to trigger the gelation. Unlike previous light-activated gelations, the team used a photoacid generator (a molecule that is photolysed by light to produce an acid) to lower the pH of the gelator solution below the apparent pKa of the gelators, resulting in gelation.

The team showed that they could pattern the hydrogel using a photomask. The patterned channels of gels could be used in microfluidics, biosensors and synthetic biomaterials, the team suggest.

Read more about this research in Adams’ ChemComm communication, free to access for a limited period.

Also of interest:
Chem Soc Rev critical review: Supramolecular gels formed from multi-component low molecular weight species

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Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines – free access to articles for limited period

13 Jun 2012

ChemComm Editor Robert Eagling will be attending the seventh International Conference on Porphyrins & Phthalocyanines (ICPP-7) in Jeju, Korea on 1-6 July 2012.

Two of the conference co-chairs – ChemComm Associate Editor Jonathan Sessler and Changhee Lee from Kangwon National University – are the guest editors of ChemComm‘s Porphyrins & Phthalocyanines web theme issue, along with ChemComm Editorial Board member Penny Brothers.

To celebrate this exciting and vibrant area of research, we have made the whole of our Porphyrins & Phthalocyanines web theme FREE to access until 6th July. So don’t delay – view the web theme today!

Will you be attending ICPP-7? Email Robert if you’d like to arrange a meeting. Post your comments on the conference or the web theme below or tweet us @ChemCommun.

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Outstanding organocatalysis – An article collection

13 Jun 2012

Catalysts are key to some of the most important reactions on the planet; a world without the Haber process or catalysts to crack crude oil is difficult to imagine. Not to mention the enzymatic reactions that are crucial to all life on earth.

Organocatalysts are an important class of catalyst and consist of carbon-based molecules often functionalised with oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen or phosphorus. They have shown promise in a range of reactions including hydrogenation, Diels-Alder, Michael and Mannich reactions, and are of particular interest in asymmetric reactions.

To help keep you up-to-date with the latest in cutting-edge organocatalytic research we have made the following articles free to access until 9^th July. After reading all these there will be little you won’t know about the exciting world of organocatalysis!

Click here for the full list of free articles

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Easy synthesis of nanocups and nanopatches

29 May 2012

Graphical abstract: Facile synthesis of functional Au nanopatches and nanocups A gold nanocup – it sounds like something a posh fairy might drink out of. But actually, metal nanocups are promising particles for sensing and nanoelectronics thanks to their plasmon coupling and light scattering properties. Until now, they have been difficult to make but Jinlong Gong at Tianjin University, China, Zhihong Nie, at the University of Maryland, USA, and colleagues have developed a new easy route suitable for large scale synthesis.

The team used a template-free, liquid-liquid interfacial reaction to build up the gold cups round polymer particles. These so called ‘patchy particles’ are themselves attractive as building blocks for nanostructures due to the directional interactions between the metal patches. Removing the polymers using organic solvent revealed the nanocups with diameters as small as 76 nm. The team demonstrated that the cups can enhance surface enhanced Raman scattering intensity up to the order of 10⁸.

Find out more – download Gong’s ChemComm communication

Want to learn more about surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy? Check out the ChemComm web theme >

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Chemical Communications Blog

Author Archive

Medicinal hope for injectable hydrogels

Metal-free resins can drive down cost of solar energy

ChemComm celebrates its first Gold for Gold communication

Biocatalysis: an article collection

ChemComm and the chemistry-biology interface

Nominations invited for ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2013

Making light work of hydrogel formation

Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines – free access to articles for limited period

Outstanding organocatalysis – An article collection

Easy synthesis of nanocups and nanopatches

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