Chinese chemists have prepared graphene via carbonisation of microwave-synthesised metal phthalocyanine, followed by a rapid cooling process. They controlled the thickness of the graphene by using different coolants.
Download their ChemComm communication, free to access until 24th December, to find out more.
A platinum(II)-based major groove binder was identified as a potent human topoisomerase IIα poison, showing anti-proliferation activities in human cancer cells.
Chi-Ming Che and colleagues from the University of Hong Kong were able to stabilise the covalent TopoIIα–DNA cleavage complex and induce cancer cell death with its high potency – apparently it’s significantly higher than a clinically used TopoIIα poison.
Fancy reading more? Then why not download the article today and blog some comments below. The communication, published in ChemComm will be free to access until the 24th December.
Chemists in Denmark have developed a procedure for modifying the surface of SU-8 microparticles and then using it for quantitative multi-step organic synthesis.
SU-8 is a novolac-epoxy resin used in the field of microfabrication and micropatterning. Thomas Nielsen, at Technical University of Denmark, and colleagues demonstrated how common linkers can be attached to the support surface and effectively used for solid-supported synthesis.
They report transformations including reduction, oxidation, multi-step peptide synthesis and metal-catalysed cycloaddition and cross-coupling reactions in their ChemComm communication, free to download until 24th December.
Peptide–polymer nanotapes can be decorated with diverse functionalities thanks to a versatile strategy developed by scientists in Germany.
Hans Börner, at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, and colleagues modified self-assembled nanotapes of poly(ethylene oxide)–peptide conjugates by a simple amine–azide transfer to create azide-containing nanofibres. Using click chemistry, they then introduced different carboxyl-bearing entities to modulate the calcium binding properties of the nanotapes.
To find out more, download Börner’s communication, which is free to access until 9th December.
Also of interest: Anti-wrinkle creams aided by nanotapes
A new, highly effective β-diketiminatophosphane palladium catalyst can be used in fluoride-free Hiyama coupling reactions of unactivated aryl chlorides in water.
Myung-Jong Jin and colleagues from the Inha University, in Korea, have published their findings in ChemComm. Fancy finding out more about this catalyst and the reaction conditions required? Then download the article today, which is free to access until the 9th December and why not blog some comments below too!
This is the first time, say scientists in China, that copper-catalysed decarboxylative reactions have enabled cross-coupling of alkynyl carboxylic acids with aryl halides, under relatively mild reaction conditions.
Jingsong You, Ying Xue and colleagues from Sichuan University in China believe the process is not only simple and convenient in terms of the reaction conditions and purification, but also tolerant of a variety of functional groups. This is a practical route to give unsymmetric internal arylalkynes. The team have also shown that benzofurans can be smoothly prepared by a one-pot domino protocol on the basis of decarboxylative cross-coupling of 2-iodophenol.
The team have published their findings in ChemComm so why not download the article today, which will be free to access until the 9th December.
A team of scientists from Canada and Korea have developed a mutant glycosidase enzyme that can catalyse the synthesis of an O-linked sugar called isoprimeveroside in near quantitative yield.
Stephen Withers, at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and colleagues report their findings in their ChemComm communication, which is part of the ChemComm ‘Enzymes & Proteins’ web-based themed issue. The communication is free to access until 9th December 2010.
Simple aromatic compounds can self-assemble into low-dimensional aggregates with controlled architecture, according to US scientists.
Yi Liu, at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and colleagues have shown that single molecule-thick two-dimensional nanosheets self-assemble from symmetric hexakis(alkoxy)triphenylene derivatives, and then further stack to give multilayered nanofibres.
Anisotropic nanostructures of organic semiconductors have good electronic and optical properties, making them suitable morphologies for advanced optoelectronic applications. But controlling the ordering of such materials at the molecular level remains a challenging task as it is affected by many structural and environmental aspects.
This simple solution process provides an attractive and convenient bottom-up path to hierarchical self-assembly nanostructures, Liu says.
For more information, read Liu’s ChemComm communication, free to access until 9th December.
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A collaboration of Finnish and Russian scientists has resulted in the creation of a gold-diphosphine helical cage that plays host to small organic molecules, like dichloromethane and carbon disulphide. Igor Koshevoy and colleagues from the University of Eastern Finland, and Sergey Tunikv and co-workers from St. Petersburg State University have shown that the assembly of these cages occur via an unprecedented transformation.
Why not discover what is so unprecedented about the transformation process and download the article today? The authors have published their results in ChemComm, which will be free to access until the 9th December.
Organic conjugated poymer networks are found to be promising candidates for photocatalytic water splitting, say scientists in Germany.
Klaus Müllen and colleagues from the Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz and the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, report a straightforward synthesis that leads to fully organic photocatalysts showing enhanced long-time stability.
Would you like to read more? Then why not download the article today, which has been published in ChemComm and will be free to acess until the 9th December.
