Chemical Communications Blog

Fluorescently finding a specific disease marker needle in a biological haystack

01 Apr 2016

By Anthea Blackburn, Web Science Writer.

In a recent ChemComm Feature Article, researchers from the University of Bath review and highlight advances in the combination of carbohydrates and boronic acids to detect fluorescently disease markers. Anthea Blackburn explains further…

The early detection and monitoring of disease is a somewhat recent advancement in healthcare that offers the significant advantage of being able to treat an illness in its initial stages, rather than once it has already manifested itself in the patient. Such a feat requires, however, the ability to see very specific and characteristic disease markers in situ, not unlike the search for a needle in a haystack.

Luckily, with the advent of fluorescence (and other) imaging techniques, methods have been developed whereby, in combination with contrast agents that are able to interact with specific molecules in the body, cell chemistry and function can be observed with high sensitivity, and, more importantly, abnormalities in these processes noticed in real time.

The art and ultimate success of this fluorescence imaging comes from the design of the contrast agent employed – the probe should be able to selectively recognise and target the relevant disease marker reversibly and under biological conditions. A number of approaches currently exist that meet these requirements, one of which is the boronic acid recognition motif that is able to act as a molecular receptor for the 1,2- and 1,3-diols commonly expressed in carbohydrates and complex glycoproteins. Tony James and his team from the University of Bath, whose own research focuses on such use of boronic acid receptors in the detection of carbohydrates, have summarised the recent and exciting advances in this particular field of selective biological imaging.

The well-known and strong affinity of boronic acids for carbohydrates offers a convenient means of detecting commonly expressed markers in diseases including some cancers, as well as Alzheimer’s, autoimmune, and heart diseases. As such, the attachment of this relatively simple chemical moiety to fluorescent small molecular, polymeric or benzoxaborale-based probes offers a diagnostic tool that is able to detect, monitor, and aid in the personalised treatment of such significant and life-changing diseases.

This Feature Article convincingly highlights the impact that boronic acid-based fluorescence imaging will ultimately have on a range of important clinical and theranostic practices and their successes.

Read this hot ChemComm article in full:

Boronic acids for fluorescence imaging of carbohydrates

X. Sun, W. Zhai, J. S. Fossey and T. D. James

Chem. Commun., 2016, 52, 3456–3469

DOI: 10.1039/C5CC08633G

About the Writer:

Anthea Blackburn is a guest Web Writer for Chemical Communications. Anthea hails from New Zealand, carried out her graduate studies in mechanostereochemistry under the guidance of Prof. Fraser Stoddart in the US, and has recently relocated to live in London. She is a recent addition to the Econic Technologies team, where she is working on the development of new catalysts for the environmentally beneficial preparation of polycarbonates from CO₂.

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Hot ChemComm articles for March

17 Mar 2016

By Bethany Johnson.

Take a look at this selection of recently published referee-recommended articles – all are free to read* until 17 April.

Printed microelectrodes for scalable, high-areal-capacity lithium–sulfur batteries
Craig Milroy and Arumugam Manthiram
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC10503J, Communication

C5CC10503J GA

Lanthanide-based luminescence biolabelling
Mohamadou Sy, Aline Nonat, Niko Hildebrandt and Loïc J. Charbonnière
DOI: 10.1039/C6CC00922K, Feature Article

C6CC00922K GA

Superior anti-CO poisoning capability: Au-decorated PtFe nanocatalysts for high-performance methanol oxidation
Zhao Cai, Zhiyi Lu, Yongmin Bi, Yaping Li, Yun Kuang and Xiaoming Sun
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC10513G, Communication

C5CC10513G GA

Pharmaceutical nanocrystals confined in porous host systems – interfacial effects and amorphous interphases
N. Sonnenberger, N. Anders, Y. Golitsyn, M. Steinhart, D. Enke, K. Saalwächter and M. Beiner
DOI: 10.1039/C6CC00962J, Communication
From themed collection Pharmaceutical Solids

C6CC00962J GA

Rupture force of cell adhesion ligand tethers modulates biological activities of a cell-laden hydrogel
Min Kyung Lee, Jooyeon Park, Xuefeng Wang, Mehdi Roein-Peikar, Eunkyung Ko, Ellen Qin, Jonghwi Lee, Taekjip Ha and Hyunjoon Kong
DOI: 10.1039/C6CC00036C, Communication

C6CC00036C GA

High-symmetry hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks: air separation and crystal-to-crystal structural transformation
Dong-Dong Zhou, Yan-Tong Xu, Rui-Biao Lin, Zong-Wen Mo, Wei-Xiong Zhang and Jie-Peng Zhang
DOI: 10.1039/C6CC00366D, Communication

C6CC00366D GA

*Access is free through a registered RSC account

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Hypervalent iodine reagent’s aversion to conversion

14 Mar 2016

By Bethany Johnson.

Richard Massey writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

Computational studies have unpicked the surprising stability behind high-energy fluorinating reagent Togni reagent I.

Togni reagents – named after creator Antonio Togni – are trifluoromethylating agents that introduce the CF3 group often found in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. They’re members of a family of benziodoxole-based hypervalent iodine reagents that transfer atoms or functional groups loaded onto their oxygen and hypervalent iodine-containing five-membered ring. Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in ChemComm – it’s free to access until 21 April 2016:
Why does Togni’s reagent I exist in the high-energy hypervalent iodine form? Re-evaluation of benziodoxole based hypervalent iodine reagents
Tian-Yu Sun, Xiao Wang, Hao Geng, Yaoming Xie, Yun-Dong Wu, Xinhao Zhang and Henry F. Schaefer III
DOI: 10.1039/C6CC00384B, Communication

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Enzyme mutagenesis sweetens prebiotics

19 Feb 2016

By Bethany Johnson.

Eleanor Hall writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

Sugar lumps European scientists have developed an enzyme to cleanly and cheaply produce a healthier sugar with prebiotic properties.

Prebiotics – compounds that nourish the good bacteria in our gut – have become important synthetic targets due to their potential role in preventing diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. There are a limited number currently available for use in food, and most do not have the additional benefit of tasting sweet. Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in ChemComm – it’s free to access until 30 March 2016:
Converting bulk sugars into prebiotics: semi-rational design of a transglucosylase with controlled selectivity
Tom Verhaeghe, Karel De Winter, Magali Berland, Rob De Vreese, Matthias D’hooghe, Bernard Offmann and Tom Desmet
Chem. Commun., 2016, DOI: 10.1039/C5CC09940D, Communication

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Solar cells firing on all cylinders

15 Feb 2016

By Bethany Johnson.

William Bergius writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

Scientists in china have manufactured cylindrical dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) capable of generating a stable electrical output at different times of the day. Compared to their traditional flat counterparts, if correctly positioned so that the sun moves around their axis, their output is far less dependent of the angle of the sun. Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in ChemComm – it’s free to read* until 22nd March 2016:
Cylindrical dye-sensitized solar cells with high efficiency and stability over time and incident angle
Qunwei Tang, Lei Zhang, Benlin He, Liangmin Yu and Peizhi Yang
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC10105K, Communication

*Access is free through a registered RSC account

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Top 25 ChemComm articles October–December 2015

11 Feb 2016

By Bethany Johnson.

The 25 most-downloaded ChemComm articles in the fourth quarter of 2015 were as follows:

Design and synthesis of nitrogen-containing calcined polymer/carbon nanotube hybrids that act as a platinum-free oxygen reduction fuel cell catalyst
Tsuyohiko Fujigaya, Takeshi Uchinoumi, Kenji Kaneko and Naotoshi Nakashima
Chem. Commun., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1CC11303H, Communication

Improvement of oxygen reduction reaction and methanol tolerance characteristics for PdCo electrocatalysts by Au alloying and CO treatment
Yu-Chen Wei, Chen-Wei Liu and Kuan-Wen Wang
Chem. Commun., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1CC15110J, Communication

Ultrasensitive electrochemical immunoassay of proteins based on in situ duple amplification of gold nanoparticle biolabel signals
Xiaoli Qin, Aigui Xu, Ling Liu, Wenfang Deng, Chao Chen, Yueming Tan, Yingchun Fu, Qingji Xie and Shouzhuo Yao
Chem. Commun., 2015, DOI: 10.1039/C5CC01439E, Communication

Multifunctional catalysis by Pd-polyoxometalate: one-step conversion of acetone to methyl isobutyl ketone
Robert D. Hetterley, Elena F. Kozhevnikova and Ivan V. Kozhevnikov
Chem. Commun., 2006, DOI: 10.1039/B515325E, Communication

The surface chemistry of metal–organic frameworks
Christina V. McGuire and Ross S. Forgan
Chem. Commun., 2015, DOI: 10.1039/C4CC04458D, Feature Article
From themed collection 2015 Emerging Investigators

Production of few-layer phosphorene by liquid exfoliation of black phosphorus
Jack R. Brent, Nicky Savjani, Edward A. Lewis, Sarah J. Haigh, David J. Lewis and Paul O’Brien
Chem. Commun., 2014, DOI: 10.1039/C4CC05752J, Communication

π-Electron rich small molecule sensors for the recognition of nitroaromatics
Sankarasekaran Shanmugaraju and Partha Sarathi Mukherjee
Chem. Commun., 2015, DOI: 10.1039/C5CC07513K, Feature Article

Nanostructured electrochromic smart windows: traditional materials and NIR-selective plasmonic nanocrystals
Evan L. Runnerstrom, Anna Llordés, Sebastien D. Lounis and Delia J. Milliron
Chem. Commun., 2014, DOI: 10.1039/C4CC03109A, Feature Article

Yttrium alkyl complexes with a sterically demanding benzamidinate ligand: synthesis, structure and catalytic ethene polymerisation
Sergio Bambirra, Daan van Leusen, Auke Meetsma, Bart Hessen and Jan H. Teuben
Chem. Commun., 2003, DOI: 10.1039/B208502J, Communication

Graphene quantum dots: emergent nanolights for bioimaging, sensors, catalysis and photovoltaic devices
Jianhua Shen, Yihua Zhu, Xiaoling Yang and Chunzhong Li
Chem. Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2CC00110A, Feature Article

Reduction of graphene oxide viaL-ascorbic acid
Jiali Zhang, Haijun Yang, Guangxia Shen, Ping Cheng, Jingyan Zhang and Shouwu Guo
Chem. Commun., 2010, DOI: 10.1039/B917705A, Communication

Aggregation-induced emission: phenomenon, mechanism and applications
Yuning Hong, Jacky W. Y. Lam and Ben Zhong Tang
Chem. Commun., 2009, DOI: 10.1039/B904665H, Feature Article

Key processes in ruthenium-catalysed olefin metathesis
David J. Nelson, Simone Manzini, César A. Urbina-Blanco and Steven P. Nolan
Chem. Commun., 2014, DOI: 10.1039/C4CC02515F, Feature Article

Recent developments in transition metal carbides and nitrides as hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts
Wei-Fu Chen, James T. Muckerman and Etsuko Fujita
Chem. Commun., 2013, DOI: 10.1039/C3CC44076A, Feature Article
From themed collection Electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

A facile synthesis of UiO-66, UiO-67 and their derivatives
Michael J. Katz, Zachary J. Brown, Yamil J. Colón, Paul W. Siu, Karl A. Scheidt, Randall Q. Snurr, Joseph T. Hupp and Omar K. Farha
Chem. Commun., 2013, DOI: 10.1039/C3CC46105J, Communication

Layered double hydroxides toward electrochemical energy storage and conversion: design, synthesis and applications
Mingfei Shao, Ruikang Zhang, Zhenhua Li, Min Wei, David G. Evans and Xue Duan
Chem. Commun., 2015, DOI: 10.1039/C5CC07296D, Feature Article

A superior catalyst with dual redox cycles for the selective reduction of NOx by ammonia
Zhiming Liu, Yang Yi, Junhua Li, Seong Ihl Woo, Baoyi Wang, Xingzhong Cao and Zhuoxin Li
Chem. Commun., 2013, DOI: 10.1039/C3CC43041C, Communication

Rapid synthesis of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) nanocrystals in an aqueous system
Yichang Pan, Yunyang Liu, Gaofeng Zeng, Lan Zhao and Zhiping Lai
Chem. Commun., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0CC05002D, Communication

Aerobic oxidation catalysis with stable radicals
Qun Cao, Laura M. Dornan, Luke Rogan, N. Louise Hughes and Mark J. Muldoon
Chem. Commun., 2014, DOI: 10.1039/C3CC47081D, Feature Article

Strongly green-photoluminescent graphene quantum dots for bioimaging applications
Shoujun Zhu, Junhu Zhang, Chunyan Qiao, Shijia Tang, Yunfeng Li, Wenjing Yuan, Bo Li, Lu Tian, Fang Liu, Rui Hu, Hainan Gao, Haotong Wei, Hao Zhang, Hongchen Sun and Bai Yang
Chem. Commun., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1CC11122A, Communication

Synthesis and catalytic properties of MIL-100(Fe), an iron(III) carboxylate with large pores
Patricia Horcajada, Suzy Surblé, Christian Serre, Do-Young Hong, You-Kyong Seo, Jong-San Chang, Jean-Marc Grenèche, Irene Margiolaki and Gérard Férey
Chem. Commun., 2007, DOI: 10.1039/B704325B, Communication

Nano-structured ternary niobium titanium nitrides as durable non-carbon supports for oxygen reduction reaction
Minghui Yang, Abigail Rose Van Wassen, Rohiverth Guarecuco, Héctor D. Abruña and Francis J. DiSalvo
Chem. Commun., 2013, DOI: 10.1039/C3CC45732J, Communication

Chemical synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles
Taeghwan Hyeon
Chem. Commun., 2003, DOI: 10.1039/B207789B, Feature Article

Yolk/shell nanoparticles: new platforms for nanoreactors, drug delivery and lithium-ion batteries
Jian Liu, Shi Zhang Qiao, Jun Song Chen, Xiong Wen (David) Lou, Xianran Xing and Gao Qing (Max) Lu
Chem. Commun., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1CC13658E, Feature Article

Exploration of the medical periodic table: towards new targets
Nicolas P. E. Barry and Peter J. Sadler
Chem. Commun., 2013, DOI: 10.1039/C3CC41143E, Feature Article
From themed collection Medicinal Inorganic Chemistry

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Véronique Gouverneur – our new ChemComm Chair

03 Feb 2016

By Jeanne Therese Andres.

We warmly welcome Professor Véronique Gouverneur as the new Editorial Board Chair of ChemComm

ChemComm is delighted to announce Professor Véronique Gouverneur as its new Editorial Board Chair.

Professor Véronique Gouverneur (and friend!)

Véronique Gouverneur, who is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, leads a dynamic research group and holds a tutorial fellowship in organic chemistry at Merton College Oxford. She has been internationally recognised for her outstanding and original work in fluorine chemistry, and has recently been awarded the Tetrahedron Chair for 2016. She was also the Blaise Pascal Chair from 2012 to 2014, and is currently holding a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2013-2018).

Her research aims to develop new approaches to address long-standing problems in the synthesis of fluorinated analogues of natural products, pharmaceutical drugs and molecular [18F] labelled probes for PET imaging.

Véronique takes on the role from Professor Richard R. Schrock, our previous Chair, to whom we remain extremely grateful for his vision and leadership for ChemComm, throughout a period of exceptional development and continued success for the journal. As he now passes the baton, we look forward to working with Véronique towards an even more exciting and dynamic future for ChemComm.

A very warm welcome to Véronique from all of us here at ChemComm!

Read some of Véronique’s recent publications in ChemComm and other Royal Society of Chemistry journals:

Synthesis and characterization of a novel N–F reagent derived from the ethano-Tröger’s base: ¹J_FN coupling constants as a signature for the N–F bond
Raul Pereira, Jamie Wolstenhulme, Graham Sandford, Timothy D. W. Claridge, Véronique Gouverneur and Ján Cvengroš
Chem. Commun., 2016,52, 1606-1609
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC08375C, Communication

Methylation followed by fluorination of the ethano-Tröger’s base affords a novel N–F reagent more reactive than Selectfluor bis(tetrafluoroborate). This study provides ¹J_FN coupling constants to characterize the N–F group.
Asymmetric ¹⁸F-fluorination for applications in positron emission tomography
Faye Buckingham and Véronique Gouverneur
Chem. Sci., 2016, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C5SC04229A, Minireview
Open Access

Coordination diversity in hydrogen-bonded homoleptic fluoride–alcohol complexes modulates reactivity
Keary M. Engle, Lukas Pfeifer, George W. Pidgeon, Guy T. Giuffredi, Amber L. Thompson, Robert S. Paton, John M. Brown and Véronique Gouverneur
Chem. Sci., 2015,6, 5293-5302
DOI: 10.1039/C5SC01812A, Edge Article
Open Access

A dual radiolabelling approach for tracking metal complexes: investigating the speciation of copper bis(thiosemicarbazonates) in vitro and in vivo
Rebekka Hueting, Veerle Kersemans, Matthew Tredwell, Bart Cornelissen, Martin Christlieb, Antony D. Gee, Jan Passchier, Sean C. Smart, Véronique Gouverneur, Ruth J. Muschel and Jonathan R. Dilworth
Metallomics, 2015,7, 795-804
DOI: 10.1039/C4MT00330F, Paper

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A nitro boost for solid oxides

22 Jan 2016

By Bethany Johnson.

Hugh Cowley writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

Scientists in Germany have made tetranitratoethane (C₂H₂N₄O₁₂), a solid oxidiser with one of the highest oxygen contents ever synthesised. This research is part of an international search for new oxidisers to replace toxic ammonium perchlorate (NH₄ClO₄). Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in ChemComm – it’s free to read until 29 February 2016:
Tetranitratoethane
Dennis Fischer, Thomas M. Klapötke and Jörg Stierstorfer
Chem. Commun., 2016,52, 916-918, DOI: 10.1039/C5CC09010E, Communication

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Ethanol to butanol conversion shows sustainable potential

13 Jan 2016

By Bethany Johnson.

Elisabeth Ratcliffe writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

Scientists in the US have come up with a simple way to convert ethanol into 1-butanol, in what could be an important step forward for renewable energy.

Ethanol can be made by fermenting biomass. However, ethanol presents problems as a fuel, such as low energy density compared to petrol, corrosiveness towards engine technology and fuel pipelines, and since it reacts with water, it can separate out from fuel blends over time. Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in ChemComm:
Upgrading ethanol to 1-butanol with a homogeneous air-stable ruthenium catalyst
K T Tseng et al, Chem. Commun., 2016, DOI: 10.1039/c5cc09913g

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Hot and cold cells: sensitive thermometers for biomaterials

23 Dec 2015

By Iain Larmour, web science writer.

Iain Larmour is a guest web writer for ChemSci. He has researched a wide variety of topics during his years in the lab including nanostructured surfaces for water repellency and developing nanoparticle systems for bioanalysis by surface enhanced optical spectroscopies. He currently works in science management. In his spare time he enjoys reading, photography, art and inventing.

Lanthanide metal–organic frameworks (Ln-MOFs) have recently received increased interest due to their interesting and useful luminescence characteristics, such as large Stokes shifts, long luminescence lifetime and a wide emission range – all the way from ultraviolet to near-infrared. Furthermore, the luminescence of these materials shows strong temperature dependence, which makes them excellent candidates for the development of luminescent thermometers.

Ln-MOF thermometers have recently been realised through the mixed lanthanide MOF approach, whereby two distinct lanthanide ions are incorporated into the MOF structure. There is an excellent linear correlation between the intensity ratio of the emissions from the two lanthanide ions and temperature. Such ratiometric luminescent thermometers have distinct advantages over conventional thermometers due to their fast response, high sensitivity and non-invasive operation.

Guodong Qian and team from Zhejiang University recently designed a novel mixed Ln-MOF thermometer with excellent sensitivity over the physiological temperature range (293-313K) by incorporating Ytterbium and Neodymium into the MOF. With excitation and luminescence in the near infrared window, this thermometer is harmless to biological tissues and its resolution is high enough to measure the temperature differences in pathological cells. These characteristics make this luminescent thermometer ideal for biological sensing.

Emission spectra of Nd0.577Yb0.423BDC-F4 in the range of 293–313 K excited at 808 nm; inset: temperature dependence of the normalized intensity of the corresponding transitions.

To find out how more about this thermometer, read the paper in ChemComm today!

A near infrared luminescent metal-organic framework for temperature sensing in the physiological range
Xiusheng Lian, Dian Zhao, Yuanjing Cui, Yu Yang and Guodong Qian
Chem. Commun., 2015, 51, Advanced Article
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC07532G

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Chemical Communications Blog

Fluorescently finding a specific disease marker needle in a biological haystack

Hot ChemComm articles for March

Hypervalent iodine reagent’s aversion to conversion

Enzyme mutagenesis sweetens prebiotics

Solar cells firing on all cylinders

Véronique Gouverneur – our new ChemComm Chair

A nitro boost for solid oxides

Ethanol to butanol conversion shows sustainable potential

Hot and cold cells: sensitive thermometers for biomaterials

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