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Sustainable Inorganic Chemistry – free content for a limited period

22 Mar 2012

ChemComm is delighted to be sponsoring the forthcoming Symposium on Sustainable Inorganic Chemistry along with the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry. The symposium will take place at the ACS Spring 2012 National Meeting & Exposition in San Diego starting on 25th March.

To celebrate we’ve made some articles published by the symposium speakers free to access for a limited period.

We hope you enjoy these articles – but don’t delay! Free access only runs until 1st April.

Selective liquid phase oxidation with supported metal nanoparticles
Nikolaos Dimitratos, Jose A. Lopez-Sanchez and Graham J. Hutchings
Chem. Sci., 2012, 3, 20-44

Mesoscopic organic nanosheets peeled from stacked 2D covalent frameworks
Yugen Zhang, Meixuan Tan, Hai Li, Yuangang Zheng, Shujun Gao, Hua Zhang and Jackie Y. Ying
Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 7365-7367

Self-assembly in the electrical double layer of ionic liquids
Susan Perkin, Lorna Crowhurst, Heiko Niedermeyer, Tom Welton, Alexander M. Smith and Nitya Nand Gosvami
Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 6572-6574

Continuous flow organometallic catalysis: new wind in old sails
Ulrich Hintermair, Giancarlo Franciò and Walter Leitner
Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 3691-3701

CO₂ selectivity of a 1D microporous adenine-based metal–organic framework synthesised in water
Kyriakos C. Stylianou, John E. Warren, Samantha Y. Chong, Jeremy Rabone, John Bacsa, Darren Bradshaw and Matthew J. Rosseinsky
Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 3389-3391

Room temperature oxidation of methyl orange and methanol over Pt–HCa₂Nb₃O₁₀ and Pt–WO₃ catalysts without light
Emiliana Dvininov, Upendra A. Joshi, James R. Darwent, John B. Claridge, Zhongling Xu and Matthew J. Rosseinsky
Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 881-883

Tunable, light-assisted co-generation of CO and H₂ from CO₂ and H₂O by Re(bipy-tbu)(CO)₃Cl and p-Si in non-aqueous medium
Bhupendra Kumar, Jonathan M. Smieja, Alissa F. Sasayama and Clifford P. Kubiak
Chem. Commun., 2012, 48, 272-274

Photocatalytic H₂ evolution from neutral water with a molecular cobalt catalyst on a dye-sensitised TiO₂ nanoparticle
Fezile Lakadamyali and Erwin Reisner
Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 1695-1697

Transition metal catalysed ammonia-borane dehydrogenation in ionic liquids
William R. H. Wright, Emily R. Berkeley, L. R. Alden, R. Tom Baker and Larry G. Sneddon
Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 3177-3179

Co and Mn polysiloxanes as unique initiator–catalyst-systems for the selective liquid phase oxidation of o-xylene
Tobias Förster, Stephan A. Schunk, Andreas Jentys and Johannes A. Lercher
Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 3254-3256

@ChemCommun Follow the symposium at #CCsymp

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New drug delivery agents

22 Mar 2012

Platinum complexes have been employed as anti-cancer drugs for years despite significant side effects. Second generation metal-complex anti-cancer drugs in contrast are still in their infancy, and suffer from low solubility and high reactivity, leading to deactivation before the drug can reach its target.

To overcome these problems, scientists in Australia have developed a gold-based drug chemically incorporated in a polymeric micelle as a drug delivery agent. The resulting molecules showed potent in vitro antitumour activity in human ovarian carcinoma cells.

Link to journal article
Micelles based on Gold-Glycopolymer Complexes as New Chemotherapy Drug Delivery Agents
S Pearson, W Scarano and M H Stenzel
Chem. Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2cc30510k

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Ambient pressure XPS on the cheap

21 Mar 2012

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is capable of characterising the surface composition, oxidation state and electron state of materials. Unfortunately, it uses electrons and so common XPS machines must work at vacuum pressures. But how could you use XPS under ambient pressure?

One option would be to use public synchrotron facilities but access is through proposal review and available time is restricted so it is not feasible for day-to-day studies. Another option would be to follow the lead of Franklin Tao and build an inexpensive, ambient pressure XPS machine in-house.

Such a machine is ideal for catalytic studies. Previously scientists investigated catalysts with conventional vacuum XPS before and after experiments. Tao’s machine enables him to investigate catalyst surface changes during reaction conditions, something that required synchrotron facilities until now. The machine’s novel reaction cell allows XPS measurements to be carried out at up to 25-50 Torr using an inexpensive bench top X-ray source.

: external view of the reaction cell

In addition to the ambient pressure XPS functionality, an on-line mass spectrometer allows correlation between catalytic performance and surface chemistry. Tao has demonstrated this novel machine by investigating the oxidation and reduction of ceria under real reaction conditions.

With day-to-day ambient pressure XPS now within reach of every research group, catalytic studies under reaction conditions have received a significant boost.

To find out more, download the ChemComm article today.

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Stopping bugs in their tracks

20 Mar 2012

To prevent the spread of bugs, scientists in Switzerland have starved microbes of phosphate by using lanthanum oxide nanoparticles. The nanoparticles compete against the microbes for available phosphate and so the microbes can’t grow. The team says that the strategy is of particular technical interest as it can bypass toxic material release and provides an antimicrobial solution with small environmental footprint.

Link to journal article
Phosphate starvation as an antimicrobial strategy: the controllable toxicity of lanthanum oxide nanoparticles
L C Gerber et al
Chem. Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2cc30903c

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Cheap and non-toxic porphyrins for detecting cells deep within the body

08 Mar 2012

Near-infrared fluorescent imaging can be used for rapid and sensitive detection of cells deep within the body. However, common NIR dyes and quantum dots are expensive and/or toxic.

Porphyrins are economical fluorescent dyes, but their emission and excitation wavelengths are shorter than the NIR region and they can be toxic and poorly water-soluble. Scientists in Japan have made silica–porphyrin hybrid nanotubes that have no acute toxicity and higher water solubility compared to porphyrin. They used them to label macrophages, injected them into mice and tracked their distribution by fluorescence imaging with good results.

Link to journal article
Silica/Porphyrin Hybrid Nanotubes for In Vivo Cell Tracking by Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging
K Hayashi, M Nakamura and K Ishimura
Chem. Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2cc17444h

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Micro power for micro devices

08 Mar 2012

An easy way to make high-performance micro-supercapacitors based on nanocrystal building blocks has been developed by scientists in the US and China. Micro-power sources have become a key component for micro-electronics but they are expensive and difficult to make. To demonstrate their concept, the team made nanoporous thin-film pseudocapacitor electrodes that showed ultrafast lithium storage kinetics, high capacitance and excellent cycling stability, giving them great promise for high energy and high power micro-device applications.

Link to journal article
Ready Fabrication of Thin-Film Electrodes from Building Nanocrystals for Micro-Supercapacitors
Z Chen et al
Chem. Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2cc30406f

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Hydrogen storage material reaches 12wt% release of pure hydrogen at moderate temperature

08 Mar 2012

Ammine aluminium borohydrides are promising materials for hydrogen storage but they have low hydrogen capacities and sluggish kinetics under moderate temperatures.

Now, by changing the coordination number of ammonia and adopting mixed cations, scientists in China have found an ammine aluminium borohydride that releases over 12wt% of pure hydrogen at 120^oC. This is well above the minimum abundance of hydrogen required for on-board applications, they say.

Link to journal article
Ammine aluminum borohydrides: an appealing system releasing over 12 wt.% pure H2 under moderate temperature
Y Guo et al
Chem Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2cc30751k

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Sustainable Inorganic Chemistry Symposium at Spring ACS Meeting

07 Mar 2012

We are delighted to announce the forthcoming Symposium on Sustainable Inorganic Chemistry sponsored by ChemComm and the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry, which will be held at the ACS Spring 2012 National Meeting & Exposition.

Date: 25-27 March 2012
Location: San Diego Convention Center – Room 9, San Diego, USA

With 22 invited talks across three days by both world-leading authorities and incredibly talented emerging researchers, the symposium will cover CO₂ capture and recycle; energy storage; photovoltaics; water purification; unconventional resources; and energy efficiency, all of which are underpinned by inorganic chemistry.

View the schedule >

ChemComm Editor Robert Eagling is co-organiser of the symposium – let him know if you plan to attend.

@ChemCommun Follow the symposium at #CCsymp

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ChemComm–RSC Prizes and Awards Symposium in Oxford

06 Mar 2012

We are delighted to announce the forthcoming ChemComm–RSC Prizes & Awards Symposium jointly organised with the RSC Dalton Division.

Date: Wednesday 23rd May 2012
Location: University of Oxford, UK
Time: 11am – 6.45 pm

The purpose of this event is to bring together scientists in a stimulating and friendly environment to recognise the achievements of individuals in advancing the chemical sciences and also to foster collaborations. The symposium will appeal to academic and industrial scientists with an interest in inorganic and supramolecular chemistry. Attendance at the symposium is FREE OF CHARGE and student participation is strongly encouraged.

The following distinguished scientists have agreed to speak:

Professor Manfred Scheer, University of Regensburg, Germany (ChemComm sponsored speaker) – Polyphosphorus Ligands in Supramolecular Chemistry
Professor Kay Severin, EPFL, Switzerland (ChemComm sponsored speaker) – Multicomponent Assembly of Molecular and Polymeric Nanostructures
Professor Andrew Cooper, University of Liverpool, UK (ChemComm sponsored speaker) – Porous Organic Cages: MOFs Minus the Metals?
Professor Lawrence Que, University of Minnesota, USA (Inorganic Mechanisms Award 2011 Winner) – C-H Bond Cleavage by High-Valent Non-haem Iron-Oxo Complexes
Professor Russell Morris, University of St Andrews, UK (Applied Inorganic Chemistry Award 2011 Winner) – Adsorption, storage and delivery of medically important gases in porous solids
Dr Jonathan Nitschke, University of Cambridge, UK (Corday-Morgan Prize 2011 Winner ) – Designing complexity and function within self-assembled chemical systems

To register for the symposium, please complete the online registration form.

For further details, please contact Richard Walker.

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ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2012: The winner is….

05 Mar 2012

On behalf of the ChemComm Editorial Board, I am delighted to announce that Professor Hiromitsu Maeda (Ritsumeikan University, Japan) has won the ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2012.

This annual award recognises an emerging scientist in the early stages of their independent academic career. The Editorial Board commended Professor Maeda’s contributions to the fields of organic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry and materials science.

‘Maeda is doing extremely exciting and innovative work in soft materials and particularly switchable gels chemistry,’ says ChemComm Associate Editor Jonathan Steed. ‘As one of the first people to recognise that gel rheology can be switched by simple host guest interactions, he has recently produced a startling and exquisite range of highly engineered compounds showing fascinating properties as smart materials.’

Further details of Professor Maeda’s lectureship, including lecture locations, will be announced soon.

To find out more about Professor Maeda’s work, read some of his latest articles:
Charge-based and charge-free molecular assemblies comprising π-extended derivatives of anion-responsive acyclic oligopyrroles
Yuya Bando, Shohei Sakamoto, Ippei Yamada, Yohei Haketa and Hiromitsu Maeda
Chem. Commun., 2012, 48, 2301-2303

Solid-state supramolecular assemblies consisting of planar charged species
Yohei Haketa, Mayumi Takayama and Hiromitsu Maeda
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2OB07059F

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Chemical Communications Blog

Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Sustainable Inorganic Chemistry – free content for a limited period

New drug delivery agents

Ambient pressure XPS on the cheap

Stopping bugs in their tracks

Cheap and non-toxic porphyrins for detecting cells deep within the body

Micro power for micro devices

Hydrogen storage material reaches 12wt% release of pure hydrogen at moderate temperature

Sustainable Inorganic Chemistry Symposium at Spring ACS Meeting

ChemComm–RSC Prizes and Awards Symposium in Oxford

ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2012: The winner is….

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