Chemical Communications Blog

Elizabeth New: Winner of the 2017 ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship

09 Jun 2017

On behalf of the ChemComm Editorial Board, we are delighted to announce Elizabeth New from the University of Sydney, Australia, as the winner of the 2017 ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship – congratulations, Liz!

Elizabeth New

Liz finished her BSc (Advanced, Hons 1 and Medal) and MSc in Chemistry at the University of Sydney before embarking on a PhD programme at Durham University, UK, working with Professor David Parker. After being awarded her PhD in Chemistry in January, 2010, she was a Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley within the group of Professor Christopher Chang. She then returned to the University of Sydney as an ARC DECRA Fellow to start her independent research career in 2012, establishing herself at the cutting-edge of molecular imaging and developing novel chemical imaging tools to supplement existing imaging platforms.

She developed the first set of reversible sensors for cellular redox environment containing flavins as the sensing group, including the first examples of ratiometric reversible cytoplasmic sensing, reversible mitochondrial sensing, and ratiometric mitochondrial sensing. She has also developed the first fluorescent sensor for a platinum metabolite, enabling the unprecedented visualisation of cisplatin metabolism, and a subsequent sensor to study the metabolism of transplatin analogues. Her research group is one of the very few in the world to be investigating cobalt complexes as responsive magnetic resonance contrast agents, and she has developed new methods for ratiometric fluorescent sensing, as well as new strategies to control subcellular targeting. Her research excellence has been recognised by a number of awards, among them the NSW Early Career Researcher of the Year (2016) and the Asian Biological Inorganic Chemistry Early Career Researcher Award (2014).

Passionate about communicating science, she has spoken about her research to high school students (as the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Nyholm Youth Lecturer, 2014-5, and the RACI Tasmanian Youth Lecturer, 2017), to the general public (as a NSW Young Tall Poppy Awardee, 2015), and to politicians and policy-makers (as elected executive member of the Australian Academy of Science’s Early-Mid Career Researcher Forum). She is currently a Senior Lecturer and Westpac Research Fellow in the School of Chemistry at the University of Sydney, where her group continues to focus on the development of molecular probes for the study of biological systems.

As part of the Lectureship, Elizabeth will present a lecture at three locations over the coming year, with at least one of these events taking place at an international conference, where she will be formally presented with her Emerging Investigator Lectureship certificate. Details of her lectures will be announced in due course – keep an eye on the blog for details.

Read these articles by Elizabeth New:

A cobalt(II) complex with unique paraSHIFT responses to anion
E. S. O’Neill, J. L. Kolanowski, P. D. Bonnitcha and E. J. New
Chem. Commun., 2017, 53, 3571-3574
DOI: 10.1039/C7CC00619E, Communication

On the outside looking in: redefining the role of analytical chemistry in the biosciences
Dominic J. Hare and Elizabeth J. New
Chem. Commun., 2016, 52, 8918-8934
DOI: 10.1039/C6CC00128A, Feature Article
From themed collection 2016 Emerging Investigators

Fluorescent sensing of monofunctional platinum species
Clara Shen, Benjamin D. W. Harris, Lucy J. Dawson, Kellie A. Charles, Trevor W. Hambley and Elizabeth J. New
Chem. Commun., 2015, 51, 6312-6314
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC08077G, Communication, Open Access

Imaging metals in biology: balancing sensitivity, selectivity and spatial resolution
Dominic J. Hare, Elizabeth J. New, Martin D. de Jonge and Gawain McColl
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2015, 44, 5941-5958
DOI: 10.1039/C5CS00055F, Tutorial Review, Open Access

A FRET-based ratiometric redox probe for detecting oxidative stress by confocal microscopy, FLIM and flow cytometry
Amandeep Kaur, Mohammad A. Haghighatbin, Conor F. Hogan and Elizabeth J. New
Chem. Commun., 2015, 51, 10510-10513
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC03394B, Communication

The annual ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship recognises emerging scientists in the early stages of their independent academic career. Nominations for the 2018 Emerging Investigator Lectureship will open later in the year – keep an eye on the blog for details, and read more about our previous winners.

2016: Ang Li from the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, China

2015: Deanne D’Alessandro from the University of Sydney, Australia

Yong Sheng Zhao from the Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, China

2014: Xinliang Feng from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Germany

2014: Tomislav Friščić from McGill University, Canada

2014: Simon M. Humphrey from the University of Texas at Austin, USA

2013: Louise A. Berben from the University of California at Davis, USA

2013: Marina Kuimova from Imperial College London, UK

2012: Hiromitsu Maeda from Ritsumeikan University, Japan

2011: Scott Dalgarno from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK

Also of interest: You can read the 2016 ChemComm Emerging Investigators Issue which highlights research from outstanding up-and-coming scientists and watch out for our 2017 Emerging Investigators issue – coming very soon. You can also take a look at our previous Emerging Investigator issues in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

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Congratulations to the 2017 Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize winner: Tom de Greef

08 Jun 2017

By Laurent Mathey, Development Editor.

Tom will speak at the 2017 International Conference on Molecular Systems Engineering (ICMSE) in Basel, as well as at the 2017 International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (ISMSC) being held in Cambridge in conjuction with ISACS: Challenges in Organic Materials & Supramolecular Chemistry

ChemComm is pleased to announce Dr.ir. Tom de Greef, of the Biomedical Engineering department of Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, as the recipient of this year’s Cram Lehn Pedersen award in Supramolecular Chemistry, a prestigious prize awarded annually by the ISMSC International Committee to young researchers. Our warm congratulations to Tom!

Dr.ir. Tom de Greef

The prize, sponsored by ChemComm and named in honour of the winners of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, recognises significant, original and independent work in supramolecular chemistry by emerging investigators. Scientists who gained their PhD less than ten years previous are eligible for the prize.

Tom is an associate professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology and FMS member, and will receive the award during the 2017 International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (ISMSC) which will take place in Cambridge (U.K.).

We are also delighted to announce that the 2017 International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (ISMSC) will be held in conjuction with ISACS: Challenges in Organic Materials & Supramolecular Chemistry.

Our plenary speakers will be:

François Diederich (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
David Leigh (The University of Manchester, UK)
Jeffrey Long (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
Vivian Yam (University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)
Xi Zhang (Tsinghua University, China)

Full details of all the confirmed speakers may be found on the event website.

We hope you can join us in Cambridge, UK – save the dates 2–6 July 2017!

Tom will also be speaking at the first biannual International Conference on Molecular Systems Engineering (ICMSE) in Basel 27 to 29 August 2017, in Basel, Switzerland.

ICMSE is a unique event in the emerging field of molecular systems engineering, and has the potential of leading to a long-term paradigm shift in molecular sciences. The three-day conference will be held at the University of Basel (Kollegienhaus, Petersplatz 1).

Download the conference flyer (pdf) for more details and book your place now!

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Siliconrhodamine Probes Enable Bio-imaging with Super-resolution

08 Jun 2017

By Rebecca Withers.

Written by Tianyu Liu, University of California, Santa Cruz

Intracellular imaging is used to reveal fine details of live organisms. It is an indispensable component for the exploration of biomolecular processes in living cells. Super-resolution microscopy (SRM) is an emerging intracellular imaging technique which can acquire images of much higher resolution than those collected by conventional optical microscopy. Currently, the greatest challenge facing SRM is to develop imaging probes that are suitable for site-specific tagging of intracellular biomolecules. Such probes must be biocompatible, membrane-permeable, intensively fluorescent and photo-stable.

Writing in ChemComm., Dr. Peter Kele and coworkers at Research Center for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences have developed a group of siliconrhodamine probes that permit the labelling of intracellular proteins with excellent selectivity as well as fast response time (within 10 min).

The synthesized siliconrhodamine probes consist of a siliconrhodamine backbone anchored with a carboxyl group. The carboxyl group is responsible for the polarity-responsive property of the probes. When bound to polar protein surfaces, the probes exist in a fluorescent form. While upon non-specific binding to hydrophobic surfaces, the probes change their configurations and consequently, the fluorescence is lost. This conversion process is based on an intra-molecular Diels-Alder reaction (Figure below) that can be readily initiated by a polarity change without interrupting native biochemical processes in cells. Such a mechanism provides the probe biocompatibility and fast response characteristics.

The probe has been demonstrated for site-specific super-resolution imaging for live cells. The figure below depicts the experimental results collected using a mammalian cell. The cyan colored image (left) presents the actual cell image (as the reference). The middle magenta colored image was obtained by using one of the synthesized imaging probes. The overlay image (right) exhibits near-perfect co-localization of the reference and labelling images, indicating the probe’s excellent selectivity. Moreover, the labelling process is efficient with the probe concentration as low as 1.5 μM, and the duration as short as 10 min.

These stable, efficient, and biocompatible probes could profoundly advance super-resolution imaging of various intracellular structures.

To find out more please read:

Bioorthogonal Double-Fluorogenic Siliconrhodamine Probes for Intracellular Super-resolution Microscopy
Eszter Kozma, Gemma Estrada Girona, Giulia Paci, Edward A Lemke and Peter Kele
DOI: 10.1039/C7CC02212C

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ChemComm trials double-blind peer review option

25 May 2017

By Jeanne Therese Andres.

Authors can opt for anonymity in peer review

You asked, we listened. And now we invite you to join us as we explore a different approach to peer review.

From 3 July 2017, for a period of 12 months, we are offering our authors a choice on how their manuscripts will be peer reviewed on ChemComm:

Single-blind peer review – where reviewers are anonymous but author names and affiliations are known to reviewers.

Double-blind peer review – where authors’ and reviewers’ identities are concealed from each other.

The choice of which peer review model should be used for each manuscript will be completely up to authors. However, as an author, if you opt for the double-blind process you will need to anonymise your manuscript before submission, avoiding mention of any information that might give your identity away. Authors who choose this option will be responsible for ensuring their submission is anonymised; we have prepared a checklist to help you.

As a reviewer for ChemComm, you may be invited to review a manuscript that has been anonymised. All communication with you regarding double-blind manuscripts will omit author and affiliation details.

Why a double-blind trial?

ChemComm has always used the traditional, single-blind peer review model favoured by most scientific journals, and we continue to trust in the effectiveness of this system.

However, we have listened to feedback from some members of the chemical science community and we have seen the growing interest in double-blind peer review. Proponents of double-blind review suggest that it can reduce the impact of biases, both obvious and subtle, conscious or otherwise, on peer review. These biases could be based on gender, ethnicity, author affiliation, and so on. In response to this feedback from parts of our community, we decided to see for ourselves how ChemComm can offer authors the option of anonymity, and whether this is something that our community values.

Because the evidence for the effectiveness of double-blind in reducing bias is not clear cut¹, we will carry out a 12-month trial to gather our own evidence. We want to understand the true demand for double-blind review from our authors and, where possible, to measure any differences in the effectiveness of the peer review between the two approaches.

So why not take part in our 12-month experiment – both single- and double-blind peer review options will be available for submissions to ChemComm from the 3^rd of July. Authors need only select the double-blind option upon submission to choose this process.

We value your feedback and, as part of the trial, we will be asking all authors and reviewers to complete a short survey about their experience – please do share your thoughts on peer review, whether single- or double-blind, with us. After the trial, we will share the results of our experiment with the community and use the evidence gathered to make a decision about using double-blind review in future.

At ChemComm, we are proud to be the leading journal for urgent, high-quality communications from across the chemical sciences – publishing 100 issues a year.

Read more about this trial in our guidelines for authors and reviewers.

¹Bob O’Hara. “Peer Review Week: Should we use double blind peer review? The evidence…” (Methods.blog, the official blog of Methods in Ecology and Evolution) and references therein. 22 Sept 2016. Available at: https://methodsblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/22/peer-review-week-should-we-use-double-blind-peer-review-the-evidence/

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Destruction and Reconstruction of Nanorods Controlled by Visible Light

18 May 2017

By Rebecca Withers.

Written by Tianyu Liu, University of California, Santa Cruz

Supramolecular smart materials are a family of materials composed of several molecules. They have the ability to change their configurations in response to external stimuli such as the presence of enzymes, light irradiation, and changes in pH. This property can be manipulated for a variety of applications including drug delivery and tissue engineering.

In recent years, pH-responsive supramolecular smart materials have been intensively investigated due to the simplicity of pH alteration. However, adjusting pH can have undesired consequences. First, chemical species other than the supramolecular materials (e.g., acid and base) are needed for tuning pH. The involvement of external reagents hinders the readiness of operation. Additionally, the use of acid and base inevitably introduces waste products, which could eventually suppress the stimulus-response activity of the smart materials. Therefore, developing alternative ways to initiate the configuration modification of the supramolecular smart materials is highly desirable.

In a recent ChemComm. publication, Professor Heng-Yi Zhang, Professor Yu Liu and coworkers from Nankai University, China have developed supramolecular smart nanorods consisting of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and 4,4’-bipyridine-coordinated zinc ions. In the presence of protonated merocyanine (MEH) in water, the nanorods are able to dissociate upon visible light illumination and reconstruct themselves when placed in the dark (Figure above).

The method by which these structures can reconfigure involves a light-driven proton transfer process (Figure below). MEH molecules absorb energy from visible light and subsequently release their protons to the surroundings. These free protons then combine with the 4,4’-bipyridine (DPD). The protonated DPD molecules lose their coordination ability and disassemble with zinc ions. As a result, the entire nanorod structure collapses. When no light is present, the aforementioned proton transfer process is reversed and the nanorods are reformed. Such a process is highly reversible with no observable light-responsive activity loss for at least five cycles.

The demonstrated light-responsive supramolecular nanorods enable facile operations with no additional chemicals. This technology opens up endless new opportunities in remote control of light-responsive processes.

To find out more please see:

Light-controlled reversible self-assembly of nanorod suprastructures

Jie Guo, Heng-Yi Zhang, Yan Zhou and Yu Liu

DOI:10.1039/C7CC03280C

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Commemorating Michael Faraday (1791-1867) – call for papers in physical chemistry

16 May 2017

By Aneesa Ahmed.

This year we are commemorating the 150^th anniversary of the death of Michael Faraday, perhaps one of the most prolific and influential scientists who ever lived. His ground-breaking research into the relationship between electricity and magnetism ultimately led to the invention of the electric motor.

One of his most well-known creations, the Faraday cage, is the basis of MRI machines which are routinely used for a range of medical diagnoses. He also discovered benzene, pioneered research into nanotechnology, and gave his name to the Faraday Effect, Faraday’s Law, and the SI unit of capacitance, the farad.

At the Royal Society of Chemistry, we are honouring Michael Faraday with a special Chemical Communications web themed issue, highlighting key discoveries and developments in physical chemistry.

We encourage you to submit your best research to be included in this unique collection! More information about our article types can be found here. Submit at www.rsc.org/ChemComm by 31st July 2017! Please note that all submissions will be subject to peer review in accordance with the journal’s quality and standards. If you are interested in this opportunity, please email chemcomm-rsc@rsc.org

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High Content & Phenotypic Screening 2017

10 Apr 2017

By Rebecca Withers.

High Content and Phenotypic Screening 2017 will be held at Holiday Inn, Cambridge, UK from 25th – 26th April.

This conference brings together researchers from both academia and industry, and will discuss the development of techniques and tools implemented in High Content technologies and Phenotypic Screening applications.

Hot topics to be covered include 3D cell based screening methods, high content screening and data management, the use of model organisms and novel approaches for phenotypic screening.

Key date:

19 April – Poster Submission Deadline

Find out more here

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ChemComm poster prize winner at UCCS 2017

04 Apr 2017

By Laurent Mathey, Development Editor.

March 27-29, 2017 at the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center

The 2017 University of California Symposium for the Chemical Sciences (UCSCS) was held on March 27-29, 2017 at the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center and was attended by over 100 University of California graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

The UCCS is a symposium for current graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in all fields of chemistry from all campuses of the University of California. The whole conference is organised by graduate students and postdocs from the UC campuses. The first UCCS meeting was held in March 2016, at the Lake Arrowhead conference center in Lake Arrowhead.

ChemComm is proud to announce that the ChemComm Poster Prize was awarded to Dr Emilia Pecora de Barros from the University of California San Diego (Chemical Biology/Biochemistry division). Dr Jennifer Griffiths awarded the prize on behalf of the journal.

Dr Pecora de Barros’ poster title was Electrostatic interactions as mediators in the allosteric activation of PKA RI alpha.
Well done Emilia!

Dr Jennifer Griffiths (left) awarding the ChemComm prize to Dr Emilia Pecora de Barros (right)

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ChemComm symposia on energy science and materials

15 Mar 2017

By Laurent Mathey, Development Editor.

9 October 2017, Beijing, China
11 October 2017, Tianjin, China
13 October 2017, Dalian, China

Organized jointly by ChemComm and local institutes in China, the ChemComm symposia on energy science and materials consist of a series of one-day symposia to be held in three different cities ‒ Beijing, Tianjin and Dalian (please see the linked events below).

The theme of the symposia is energy science and materials, with a particular focus on sustainable energy and fuels, and will feature leading researchers from around the world.

Speakers at each symposium include leading international speakers and renowned scientists from institutions in China. These symposia are devoted to recent advances and new trends in energy science as well as interdisciplinary studies at its interfaces with other subjects, like new materials, nanotechnology, photocatalysis, CO₂ conversion, photonics and biotechnology. The symposia are free to attend for all, however, we ask participants to register.

Together with our local hosts, ChemComm warmly invites you to take part in these symposia ‒ we look forward to welcoming you in Beijing, Tianjin and Dalian.

The standard registration deadline is set for the 17^th September 2017. Please find out more for each event on the symposia’s respective websites.

ChemComm Symposia on Energy Science and Materials

Beijing Symposium
9 October 2017
Beijing, ChinaChaired by Professor Suojiang Zhang

Prof. Zhang

Tianjin Symposium
11 October 2017
Tianjin, ChinaChaired by Chem Soc Rev Advisory Board Member Professor Jinlong Gong

Prof. Gong

Dalian Symposium
13 October 2017
Dalian, ChinaChaired by ChemComm Associate Editor Professor Can Li

Prof. Li

Meet our ChemComm Associate Editors Professor Amy Prieto and Professor Dan Gamelin, ChemComm Advisory Board Member Professor Douglas MacFarlane, and Nanoscale Associate Editor Dr Serena Corr at the symposia!

Profs. Prieto, Gamelin, MacFarlane and Corr (left to right)

Our Deputy Editor Dr. Jeanne Andres will also be there at the conference. Ask her about ChemComm at the symposia!

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Improving Sodium-Ion Batteries for Large-Scale Energy Storage

09 Mar 2017

By Victoria Corless.

One of the greatest global challenges is the ever-growing demand for reliable, large-scale energy production.

The depletion of cost-effective fossil fuels and concerns about climate change are driving the need for clean energy sources derived from renewable technologies. Wind and solar power show significant potential as sustainable alternatives however, both solar photovoltaics and wind energy display intermittent output which has led to concerns regarding reliability for global energy production. As a result, there has been an increased demand for the development of large-scale energy storage.

Among energy storage technologies, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) predominate however lithium’s high cost, abundance, unevenglobal distribution and safety concerns have limited its widespread application. In recent years, researchers have become interested in high energy sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) as a safer and less expensive alternative. Nevertheless, their inferior electrochemical performances, due to the larger size and heavier mass of sodium ions, has become a major hurdle in the development and implementation of SIBs.

In a recent ChemComm publication, Prof. Jun Chen of Nankai University has demonstrated the improved capabilities of SIBs using a manganite hydroxide (MnOOH)-based anode.

In the past, transition metal oxides, such as MnOx-based materials, have been used in LIBs as they possess a high theoretical capacity and—in some cases—improved conductivity. In this study by Chen and co-workers, MnOOH nanorods (figure, top) were synthesized, and were shown to display a higher initial Coulombic efficiency and rate performance compared to MnO2 (a common anode material in LIBs). Cyclic voltammetry (figure, bottom) and various other spectroscopic techniques were used to investigate the electrochemical properties and storage behaviour of MnOOH-SIBs. These experiments showed improvements in charge capacity and overall rate performance when compared to other transition metal oxides and sulfides.

The results of this work show promise toward the fabrication of high-performance SIBs which are encouraging alternatives for energy storage due to sustainable cost, improved thermal stability and transport safety. The performance of SIBs still lags behind that of LIBs but this study, among others, demonstrates that new electrode materials need to be explored in the development of SIBs and solving large-scale energy storage challenges.

To find out more see:

MnOOH nanorods as high-performance anodes for sodium ion batteries
Lianyi Shao, Qing Zhao and Jun Chen
DOI: 10.1039/C7CC00087A

Victoria Corless is currently completing her Ph.D. in organic chemistry with Prof. Andrei Yudin at The University of Toronto. Her research is centred on the synthesis of kinetically amphoteric molecules, which offer a versatile platform for the development of chemoselective transformations with particular emphasis on creating novel biologically active molecules.

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Chemical Communications Blog

Elizabeth New: Winner of the 2017 ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship

Congratulations to the 2017 Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize winner: Tom de Greef

Siliconrhodamine Probes Enable Bio-imaging with Super-resolution

ChemComm trials double-blind peer review option

Destruction and Reconstruction of Nanorods Controlled by Visible Light

Commemorating Michael Faraday (1791-1867) – call for papers in physical chemistry

High Content & Phenotypic Screening 2017

ChemComm poster prize winner at UCCS 2017

ChemComm symposia on energy science and materials

ChemComm Symposia on Energy Science and Materials

Improving Sodium-Ion Batteries for Large-Scale Energy Storage

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