Chemical Communications Blog

Electric switch makes helix change hands

07 Sep 2015

Elisabeth Ratcliffe writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

Electric fields can switch both the net dipole moment and the helical handedness of helical supramolecular structures, according to a theoretical study by scientists in India.

Benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamide (BTA) molecules self-assemble, by hydrogen bonding, into columnar structures with a macrodipole moment along their stacking direction. Each BTA molecule can form three hydrogen bonds by using oxygen atoms in the amide groups and the direction of these hydrogen bonds determines the direction of the dipole moment. Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Application of an electric field in the direction opposite to that of the macrodipole reverses the handedness of the structure

You can read the original journal article in ChemComm – it’s free to download until 14 October 2015:
External electric field reverses helical handedness of a supramolecular columnar stack
Karteek K. Bejagam, Chidambar Kulkarni, Subi J. George and Sundaram Balasubramanian�
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC05569E, Communication

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ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2015: Winners and lectures announced

04 Sep 2015

By Jeanne Therese Andres.

On behalf of the ChemComm Editorial Board, we are delighted to announce the winners of the 2015 ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship: Deanna D’Alessandro (synthetic inorganic chemistry and molecular materials), University of Sydney, Australia, and Yong Sheng Zhao (organic nanophotonic materials), Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Congratulations to Deanna and Yong Sheng!

Yong Sheng Zhao

Yong Sheng kicked off his Lectureship tour at the Asian Pacific Conference on Chemistry of Materials (APCCOM) 2015 on 20 August, followed by a presentation at the 6th International Conference on Nanoscience and Technology (ChinaNANO 2015) on 04 September, both events located in Beijing. His tour will culminate at the Royal Society of Chemistry’s 2nd Asian-European Symposium on Organic Optoelectronics on 27-29 October 2015 in Edinburgh, where he will be awarded with his official Lectureship certificate.

Deanna D'Alessandro

Deanna will deliver her inaugural ChemComm EMI Lecture at a symposium on Metal-Organic Frameworks: Synthesis, Properties and Applications at Pacifichem 2015 in Hawaii this December. Further details of her Lectureship tour, including additional lecture locations, will be announced in due course.

This annual lectureship recognises an emerging scientist in the early stages of their independent academic career. For information on previous winners see our website.

Also of interest: You can now read the 2015 ChemComm Emerging Investigators Issue which highlights research from outstanding up-and-coming scientists. There is a mix of Feature articles and Communications, as well as a Profile of this year’s contributors, with cool photos to spotlight our authors at work or at play – look out for the famed Faraday Loving Cup, some serious curling, the Great Wall of China, and once again, as last year, a pumpkin is involved! You can also take a look at our previous Emerging Investigator issues in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Yong Sheng Zhao presents his first ChemComm EMI Lecture at the APCCOM 2015 in Beijing

Soon to come: We will soon be launching our forthcoming 2016 ChemComm Emerging Investigators issue – watch this space for more details.

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Hot ChemComm articles for September

04 Sep 2015

By Bethany Johnson.

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

Solid electrolyte interphase in semi-solid flow batteries: a wolf in sheep’s clothing
E. Ventosa, G. Zampardi, C. Flox, F. La Mantia, W. Schuhmann and J. R. Morante
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC04767F, Communication

C5CC04767F GA

A new label-free strategy for a highly efficient chemiluminescence immunoassay
Zhanjun Yang, Yue Cao, Juan Li, Juntao Wang, Dan Du, Xiaoya Hu and Yuehe Lin
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC05337D, Communication

C5CC05337D GA

A luminescent ruthenium(II) complex for light-triggered drug release and live cell imaging
Nora Karaoun and Anna K. Renfrew
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC05172J, Communication

C5CC05172J GA

Tuning the properties of the UiO-66 metal organic framework by Ce substitution
Farid Nouar, Matthew I. Breeze, Betiana C. Campo, Alexandre Vimont, Guillaume Clet, Marco Daturi, Thomas Devic, Richard I. Walton and Christian Serre
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC05072C, Communication

C5CC05072C GA

Biologically inspired non-heme iron-catalysts for asymmetric epoxidation; design principles and perspectives
Olaf Cussó, Xavi Ribas and Miquel Costas
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC05576H, Feature Article

C5CC05576H GA

Confined chromophores in tobacco mosaic virus to mimic green fluorescent protein
Quan Zhou, Fengchi Wu, Man Wu, Ye Tian and Zhongwei Niu
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC05751E, Communication

C5CC05751E GA

*Access is free through a registered RSC account

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Synthetic stomach membrane to minimise animal tests

02 Sep 2015

By Bethany Johnson.

Jennifer Newton writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

The hydrogel successfully mimiced porcine gastric mucosa in mucoadhesion testing experiments

Scientists in the UK have made a synthetic surface that could replace animal tissues in liquid drug formulation tests.

‘Mucosal membranes like those in the nasal cavity, mouth, eyes, stomach, bladder and vagina are continuously being washed with biological fluids. The majority of drugs administered to these surfaces will get washed away, reducing drug absorption and efficiency of any therapy,’ explains Vitaliy Khutoryanskiy, from the University of Reading, who led the work. Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in ChemComm – it’s open access:
Novel glycopolymer hydrogels as mucosa-mimetic materials to reduce animal testing
Michael T. Cook, Sarah L. Smith and Vitaliy V. Khutoryanskiy
Chem. Commun., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC02428E, Communication

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Coordinating nature and photochemistry to create hydrogen

28 Aug 2015

By Anthea Blackburn, Web Science Writer.

Researchers from Chicago have studied the hydrogen production possible in a ruthenium(II)–ferredoxin–cobaloxime catalytic biohybrid . Anthea Blackburn writes more.

When we look to our future energy resources, the need to realise new means of renewable energy is immediately obvious. Much research is being carried out around the world into the development of systems that can generate energy – from H₂ to biofuels to solar fuels – all of which place great importance on high efficiency and sustainability.

Looking at the world around us for inspiration, the obvious candidate is the photosynthetic process, where visible light is employed to convert CO₂ and H₂O into chemical energy. This process involves the transport of electrons through a complex series of intricately aligned porphyrin-related and protein biomolecules. We can explore the development of a system that mimics the behaviour of natural systems, with respect to the relay of electrons along a series of molecules, or, alternatively, we can take the components in these systems and exploit their properties in combination with other electronically-active but non-natural molecules.

Upon photoexcitation of [Ru(bpy)3]2+, electron transfer through a ferredoxin scaffold to a cobaloxime catalyst facilitates the production of hydrogen. It is the latter approach which Lisa Utschig and her team from Argonne National Laboratory, near Chicago in the US, employed to generate a molecular system capable of photocatalysing the production of hydrogen. In their biohybrid system, the photosensitiser ruthenium(II) tris(bipyridine), ferredoxin (a water-soluble electron transfer protein), and cobaloxime (a cobalt(II)-based catalyst), were combined to generate a miniature reaction center that mimics those which occur in biological systems. However, the Utschig group’s system has a smaller molecular weight, which allows for characterisation of the electronic processes that occur in the system.

Lisa and her colleagues found that the presence of ferredoxin in the catalytic system acted as a scaffold to stabilise the charge-separated state necessary for electron transfer and the desired production of H_2.They also observed that the catalytic behaviour of the Ru(II)–Co(II) pair was only possible in the presence of ferredoxin, which acted to extend the lifetime of the otherwise transient Co(I), allowing the desired reaction to occur.

In order to fully understand and enhance the properties of the molecular systems developed to fulfil the increasing need for energy alternatives, we need to be able to probe the structure and processes that occur in the molecule; the use of smaller analogs to those that exist in nature offers a means by which to achieve this goal. The photoactivated catalyst discussed in this work is an important step forward in the development of an optimized system for use in solar fuel production.

Read this hot ChemComm article in full:
Aqueous light driven hydrogen production by a Ru–ferredoxin–Co biohybrid
S. R. Soltau, J. Niklas, P. D. Dahlberg, O. G. Poluektov, D. M. Tiede, K. L. Lulfort and L. M. Utschig
Chem. Commun., 2015, 51, 10628–10631
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC03006D

Biography

Anthea Blackburn is a guest web writer for Chemical Science. She hails originally from New Zealand, and is a recent graduate student of Northwestern University in the US, where she studied under the tutelage of Prof. Fraser Stoddart (a Scot. There, she exploited supramolecular chemistry to develop multidimensional systems and study the emergent properties that arise in these superstructures. When time and money allow, she is ambitiously attempting to visit all 50 US states.

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How could a tree make tramadol?

27 Aug 2015

By Bethany Johnson.

Andrea McGhee writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

Researchers in France, Switzerland and Cameroon are convinced that the African pin-cushion tree produces the well-known painkiller Tramadol and are determined to prove it. Back in 2013, a team led by neuroscientist Michel de Waard, of the Joseph Fourier University, claimed that significant quantities of the drug were present in the root bark extract of Nauclea latifolia, which has long been used by locals in West and Central Africa to treat pain and disease.

Last year another team, led by Michael Spiteller who is based at the Technical University of Dortmund, Germany, ran some tests of their own and cast doubt on these findings. Read the full article in Chemistry World»

N. latifol grows widely in Cameroon and is used by traditional healers to treat a wide variety of complaints. Image courtesy of Scott Zona / Wikipedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Read the original journal article in ChemComm – it’s free to read until 7th October:
Biomimetic synthesis of Tramadol
Florine Lecerf-Schmidt, Romain Haudecoeur, Basile Peres, Marcos Marçal Ferreira Queiroz, Laurence Marcourt, Soura Challal, Emerson Ferreira Queiroz, Germain Sotoing Taiwe, Thierry Lomberget, Marc Le Borgne, Jean-Luc Wolfender, Michel De Waard, Richard J. Robins and Ahcène Boumendjel
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC05948H, Communication

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Molecular Sierpinski triangles get stability upgrade

19 Aug 2015

By Bethany Johnson.

Jennifer Newton writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

Metal–nitrile coordination bonds hold the structures together

Earlier this year we reported that scientists in China had built molecular Sierpiński triangles from small aromatic building blocks. Now, another team in China has constructed fractal triangles on the molecular scale and this time, they’re much more robust. Read more in Chemistry World»

You can read the original journal article in ChemComm – it’s free to access until 28th September:
On-surface construction of a metal–organic Sierpiński triangle
Qiang Sun, Liangliang Cai, Honghong Ma, Chunxue Yuan and Wei Xu
Chem. Commun., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC05554G, Communication

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Top 25 ChemComm articles April–June 2015

04 Aug 2015

By Bethany Johnson.

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

A power-free microfluidic chip for SNP genotyping using graphene oxide and a DNA intercalating dye
Jing Li, Yan Huang, Dongfang Wang, Bo Song, Zhenhua Li, Shiping Song, Lihua Wang, Bowei Jiang, Xingchun Zhao, Juan Yan, Rui Liu, Dannong He and Chunhai Fan
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC40680F, Communication

A novel one-pot method for the synthesis of substituted furopyridines: iodine-mediated oxidation of enaminones by tandem metal-free cyclization
Rulong Yan, Xiaoni Li, Xiaodong Yang, Xing Kang, Likui Xiang and Guosheng Huang
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC08834D, Communication

Perovskite solar cells prepared by flash evaporation
Giulia Longo, Lidón Gil-Escrig, Maarten J. Degen, Michele Sessolo and Henk J. Bolink
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC01103E, Communication

Bio-inspired CO₂ conversion by iron sulfide catalysts under sustainable conditions
A. Roldan, N. Hollingsworth, A. Roffey, H.-U. Islam, J. B. M. Goodall, C. R. A. Catlow, J. A. Darr, W. Bras, G. Sankar, K. B. Holt, G. Hogarth and N. H. de Leeuw
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC02078F, Communication

Heterostructured magnetic nanoparticles: their versatility and high performance capabilities
Young-wook Jun, Jin-sil Choi and Jinwoo Cheon
DOI: 10.1039/B614735F, Feature Article

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

Selective guest sorption in an interdigitated porous framework with hydrophobic pore surfaces
Satoshi Horike, Daisuke Tanaka, Keiji Nakagawa and Susumu Kitagawa
DOI: 10.1039/B703502K, Communication

Layer-by-layer assembly of graphene and gold nanoparticles by vacuum filtration and spontaneous reduction of gold ions
Byung-Seon Kong, Jianxin Geng and Hee-Tae Jung
DOI: 10.1039/B821920F, Communication

Asymmetric catalysis activated by visible light
Eric Meggers
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC09268F, Feature Article

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

Graphene quantum dots: emergent nanolights for bioimaging, sensors, catalysis and photovoltaic devices
Jianhua Shen, Yihua Zhu, Xiaoling Yang and Chunzhong Li
DOI: 10.1039/C2CC00110A, 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
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC03109A, Feature Article

The rechargeable aluminum-ion battery
N. Jayaprakash, S. K. Das and L. A. Archer
DOI: 10.1039/C1CC15779E, Communication

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

Smart surface of water-induced superhydrophobicity
Xing Wang, Guangyan Qing, Lei Jiang, Harald Fuchs and Taolei Sun
DOI: 10.1039/B902360G, Communication

A highly selective fluorescent sensor for glucosamine
Tam Minh Tran, Yuksel Alan and Timothy Edward Glass
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC00415B, Communication

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

Self-assembled sorbitol-derived supramolecular hydrogels for the controlled encapsulation and release of active pharmaceutical ingredients
Edward J. Howe, Babatunde O. Okesola and David K. Smith
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC01868D, Communication

Pro-fragrant ionic liquids with stable hemiacetal motifs: water-triggered release of fragrances
H. Q. Nimal Gunaratne, Peter Nockemann and Kenneth R. Seddon
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC00099H, Communication

Aromatic donor–acceptor interactions in non-polar environments
Giles M. Prentice, Sofia I. Pascu, Sorin V. Filip, Kevin R. West and G. Dan Pantos
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC00507H, Communication

Wet chemical synthesis of silver nanorods and nanowires of controllable aspect ratio
Nikhil R. Jana, Latha Gearheart and Catherine J. Murphy
DOI: 10.1039/B100521I, Communication

Palladium-catalyzed ring opening of norbornene: efficient synthesis of methylenecyclopentane derivatives
Xin-Xing Wu, Yi Shen, Wen-Long Chen, Si Chen, Xin-Hua Hao, Yu Xia, Peng-Fei Xu and Yong-Min Liang
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC02246K, Communication

A facile solvothermal growth of single crystal mixed halide perovskite CH₃NH₃Pb(Br_1-xCl_x)₃
Taiyang Zhang, Mengjin Yang, Eric E. Benson, Zijian Li, Jao van de Lagemaat, Joseph M. Luther, Yanfa Yan, Kai Zhu and Yixin Zhao
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC01835H, Communication

Microfluidic synthesis of chitosan-based nanoparticles for fuel cell applications
Fatemeh Sadat Majedi, Mohammad Mahdi Hasani-Sadrabadi, Shahriar Hojjati Emami, Mojtaba Taghipoor, Erfan Dashtimoghadam, Arnaud Bertsch, Homayoun Moaddel and Philippe Renaud
DOI: 10.1039/C2CC33253A, Communication

Conversion of a metal–organic framework to N-doped porous carbon incorporating Co and CoO nanoparticles: direct oxidation of alcohols to esters
Yu-Xiao Zhou, Yu-Zhen Chen, Lina Cao, Junling Lu and Hai-Long Jiang
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC01588J, Communication

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Antifreeze polymer protects cells as they thaw

30 Jul 2015

By Bethany Johnson.

Thadcha Retneswaran writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

Researchers have synthesised a polymer that limits ice crystal growth in frozen red blood cells as they thaw. The polymer is set to pave the way for similar synthetic structures that mimic the properties of natural antifreeze proteins.

Antifreeze proteins have been a hot topic since they were first discovered in Antarctic fish in the 1960s. They have a wide range of potential applications in aerospace, the food industry and in biomedicine, where they are used in cryopreservation.

During cryopreservation, cells and tissues are stored at sub-zero temperatures and thawed before use. However, frozen cells can be damaged as they defrost. When ice melts, it can refreeze into larger crystals that puncture cells from the outside. This process, called recrystallisation, is especially damaging for organs and blood bags, which defrost over a long time. Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in ChemComm:
Rational, yet simple, design and synthesis of an antifreeze-protein inspired polymer for cellular cryopreservation
Daniel E. Mitchell, Neil R. Cameron and Matthew I. Gibson
Chem. Commun., 2015, 51, 12977-12980, DOI: 10.1039/C5CC04647E, Communication