Chemical Communications Blog

Top 25 most downloaded ChemComm articles from October–December 2014

04 Mar 2015

Read on to find out which ChemComm articles your colleagues were downloading between October and December 2014!

Synthesis CdSe_xS_1−x core/shell type quantum dotsvia one injection method
Liang-Yih Chen, Ching-Hsiang Chen, Chih-Hsiang Tseng, Feng-Lu Lai and Bing-Joe Hwang
DOI: 10.1039/C0CC04074F

Graphene/graphite sheet assisted growth of high-areal-density horizontally aligned carbon nanotubes
Huanhuan Xie, Rufan Zhang, Yingying Zhang, Wenlin Zhang, Muqiang Jian, Chunya Wang, Qi Wang and Fei Wei
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC04434G

Solution-processable n-type and ambipolar semiconductors based on a fused cyclopentadithiophenebis(dicyanovinylene) core
Xueliang Shia, Jingjing Changa and Chunyan Chia
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC43680B

Diastereomeric ratio determination by high sensitivity band-selective pure shift NMR spectroscopy
Ralph W. Adams, Liam Byrne, Péter Király, Mohammadali Foroozandeh, Liladhar Paudel, Mathias Nilsson, Jonathan Clayden and Gareth A. Morris
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC49659G
Open Access

NMR methodology for complex mixture ‘separation’
Nicholle G. A. Bell, Lorna Murray, Margaret C. Graham and Dušan Uhrín
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC48907H
Open Access

Streptavidin binding as a model to characterize thiol–ene chemistry-based polyamine surfaces for reversible photonic protein biosensing
Eva Melnik, Paul Muellner, Ole Bethge, Emmerich Bertagnolli, Rainer Hainberger and Michael Laemmerhofer
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC48640K
Open Access

A new approach to improve cycle performance of rechargeable lithium–sulfur batteries by inserting a free-standing MWCNT interlayer
Yu-Sheng Su and Arumugam Manthiram
DOI: 10.1039/C2CC33945E

Electrically-driven modulation of surface-grafted RGD peptides for manipulation of cell adhesion
Minhaj Lashkor, Frankie J. Rawson, Alex Stephenson-Brown, Jon A. Preece and Paula M. Mendes
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC06649A
Open Access

Efficient photovoltaic and electroluminescent perovskite devices
Lidón Gil-Escrig, Giulia Longo, Antonio Pertegás, Cristina Roldán-Carmona, A. Soriano, Michele Sessolo and Henk J. Bolink
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC07518H

Phthalocyanines: a new class of G-quadruplex-ligands with many potential applications
Hidenobu Yaku, Takeshi Fujimoto, Takashi Murashima, Daisuke Miyoshi and Naoki Sugimoto
DOI: 10.1039/C2CC31037F

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

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
Open Access

Rh(III)-catalyzed oxidative C–H bond arylation with hydroquinones: sustainable synthesis of dibenzo[b,d]pyran-6-ones and benzo[d]naphtho[1,2-b]pyran-6-ones
Wei Yang, Shan Wang, Qian Zhang, Qun Liu and Xianxiu Xu
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC08260E

A zirconium squarate metal–organic framework with modulator-dependent molecular sieving properties
Bart Bueken, Helge Reinsch, Nele Reimer, Ivo Stassen, Frederik Vermoortele, Rob Ameloot, Norbert Stock, Christine E. A. Kirschhock and Dirk De Vos
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC03764B
Open Access

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

Energy level tuning of TPB-based hole-transporting materials for highly efficient perovskite solar cells
Yakun Song, Songtao Lv, Xicheng Liu, Xianggao Li, Shirong Wang, Huiyun Wei, Dongmei Li, Yin Xiao and Qingbo Meng
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC06493C

Ni-Catalyzed α-arylation of esters and amides with phenol derivatives
Eva Koch, Ryosuke Takise, Armido Studer, Junichiro Yamaguchi and Kenichiro Itami
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC08426H
Open Access

Bifunctional covalent organic frameworks with two dimensional organocatalytic micropores
Digambar Balaji Shinde, Sharath Kandambeth, Pradip Pachfule, Raya Rahul Kumar and Rahul Banerjee
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC07104B

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes and graphene composite structures for energy and catalytic applications
Won Jun Lee, Uday Narayan Maiti, Ju Min Lee, Joonwon Lim, Tae Hee Han and Sang Ouk Kim
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC00146J

Bay-linked perylene bisimides as promising non-fullerene acceptors for organic solar cells
Wei Jiang, Long Ye, Xiangguang Li, Chengyi Xiao, Fang Tan, Wenchao Zhao, Jianhui Hou and Zhaohui Wang
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC47204C

Selective oxidation of CO in the presence of H₂, H₂O and CO₂via gold for use in fuel cells
Philip Landon, Jonathan Ferguson, Benjamin E. Solsona, Tomas Garcia, Albert F. Carley, Andrew A. Herzing, Christopher J. Kiely, Stanislaw E. Golunski and Graham J. Hutchings
DOI: 10.1039/B505295P

A porous metal–organic framework with –COOH groups for highly efficient pollutant removal
Qi Zhang, Jiancan Yu, Jianfeng Cai, Ruijing Song, Yuanjing Cui, Yu Yang, Banglin Chen and Guodong Qian
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC06648K

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

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

14.8% perovskite solar cells employing carbazole derivatives as hole transporting materials
Sang Do Sung, Min Soo Kang, In Taek Choi, Hong Mo Kim, Hyoungjin Kim, MunPyo Hong, Hwan Kyu Kim and Wan In Lee
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC06716A

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Spicing up MOFs

03 Mar 2015

By Bethany Johnson.

Victoria Richards writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

Curcumin is top of the ingredients list for a highly porous metal–organic framework (MOF) being developed by scientists in China that demonstrates a unique co-release drug delivery system.

MOFs have shown huge potential as drug carriers thanks to their large voids capable of encapsulating a wide variety of guest molecules. However, they are typically built from expensive, petrochemical-derived organic linkers, which, unfortunately, are not biocompatible. To overcome this, a team led by Guangshan Zhu, of Jilin University, has constructed a MOF exclusively from biologically friendly zinc ions and bioactive curcumin – the yellow pigment in the popular Indian spice turmeric, known for its potent anti-cancer properties.

Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in ChemComm – it’s free to access until 13th April:
A highly porous medical metal–organic framework constructed from bioactive curcumin
Hongmin Su, Fuxing Sun, Jiangtao Jia, Hongming He, Aifei Wang and Guangshan Zhu
Chem. Commun., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC10159F, Communication

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Biochemical Logic Systems – closed-loop “Sense/Act” operations

26 Feb 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.

When research in a particular area reaches saturation point, the question of future applications becomes critically important. This recent Feature Article in ChemComm considers molecular logic gates, which have not yet achieved pure computational applications (with their hoped for advantages) due to limitations caused by noise build-up and cross-talk between various biomolecular elements. Thus they are unable to compete with electronic computing devices. The authors ask the question: what potential applications are there that justify the continued research in this field?

Evgeny Katz from the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Science at Clarkson University with Sergiy Minko from the Nanostructured Materials Lab at the University of Georgia lead the reader through a short overview of potential answers. These include “smart” switchable membranes, electrodes, biofuel cells and drug-releasing systems.

The use of biochemical data processing to produce a yes/no answer provides the opportunity for direct coupling with signal-responsive materials to produce a closed-loop “sense/act” operation. This ability has the potential to transform the field of biosensors and bioactuators.

(A) A biocatalytic cascade activated by enzyme–substrate inputs and resulting in the in situ produced pH changes. (B) The logic circuitry equivalent to the biocatalytic cascade. (C) pH-switchable electrode interface modified with a polymeric brush.

The authors could be considered brave to ask the question of such a popular focus of research, but this article provides an opportunity for reflection and thought about what biochemical computing research can uniquely achieve. Having read this article I was left with a sense of excitement at the specific in vivo sensing possibilities that biochemical computing provides. To find out if you think the opportunities are exciting too, read the article today!

To read the details, check out the ChemComm article in full:
Enzyme-based logic systems interfaced with signal-responsive materials and electrodes
Evgeny Katz and Sergiy Minko
Chem. Commun., 2015, 51, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC09851J

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Ring closing highlights hydrogen bonding

23 Feb 2015

By Bethany Johnson.

Cally Haynes writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

The discolouration rate of a fluorescent dye can act as a visual marker for changes in hydrogen bonding environment, new research shows.

Colourless spiropyrans undergo ring opening to form brightly coloured merocyanines on exposure to UV light. Merocyanines are thermally unstable and relax back to the colourless spiropyrans over time. The merocyanines designed by Simone Ciampi, from the University of Wollongong, Australia, and his colleagues contain a catechol group that can form intramolecular hydrogen bonds, which stabilises the open form and slows down discolouration. However, polar solvents can out-compete intramolecular hydrogen bond formation, and speed up discolouration. In this way, Ciampi’s team were able to visualise the hydrogen bonding character of solvents by adding their dye and observing the rate at which it discoloured.

Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in ChemComm:
Decoloration rates of a photomerocyanine dye as a visual probe into hydrogen bonding interactions
Simone Ciampi, Paul K. Eggers, Naomi L. Haworth, Nadim Darwish, Pawel Wagner, Michelle L. Coote, Gordon G. Wallace and Colin L. Raston
Chem. Commun., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC09857A, Communication

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Unexpected success with luminescent liquid crystals

13 Feb 2015

By Bethany Johnson.

Hugh Cowley writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

A simple and effective procedure to incorporate strongly-emitting inorganic clusters into nematic liquid crystals has been reported by a team from France. By combining the supramolecular paradigms of host–guest chemistry and electrostatic interactions the team have overcome previously insurmountable limitations of liquid crystalline materials.

Liquid crystals, which exhibit long-range directional order but also flow like a liquid, are a prominent feature of modern technology. They are commonly used as temperature sensors and their nematic phase is an integral component in liquid crystal display (LCD) technology.

Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in ChemComm – it’s free to access until 19th March:
From metallic cluster-based ceramics to nematic hybrid liquid crystals: a double supramolecular approach
Susanta K. Nayak, Maria Amela-Cortes, Claire Roiland, Stéphane Cordier and Yann Molard
Chem. Commun., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC10085A, Communication

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Exploiting the chirality of DNA

10 Feb 2015

By Bethany Johnson.

Elisabeth Ratcliffe writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

Scientists in France and Germany have made use of DNA as part of a catalytic system for various enantioselective alkylations and addition reactions.

DNA has emerged as an innovative way of controlling the chirality of a reaction product; by binding catalysts in such a way that one enantiomer is preferentially generated. The chiral nature of the helix makes it ideal for asymmetric catalysis. However, this field of research is still in its infancy…

Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in ChemComm – it’s free to access until 19th March:
DNA-cellulose: an economical, fully recyclable and highly effective chiral biomaterial for asymmetric catalysis
Erica Benedetti, Nicolas Duchemin, Lucas Bethge, Stefan Vonhoff, Sven Klussmann, Jean-Jacques Vasseur, Janine Cossy, Michael Smietana and Stellios Arseniyadis
Chem. Commun., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC10190A, Communication

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A sticky way to inspect self-cleaning glass

06 Feb 2015

By Bethany Johnson.

Anisha Ratan writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

Reusable colour-changing sticky labels that act as a cheap and easy way to check the activity of photocatalysis-based self-cleaning glass have been designed by scientists in the UK.

Interest in self-cleaning technologies, including semiconductor photocatalysis (SPC), has been on the increase since the commercialisation of self-cleaning glass by Pilkington in 2001. However, SPC, a process by which light activation of a surface coating, usually titanium dioxide, facilitates the breakdown of organic dirt, is difficult to measure as most coatings are invisible to the eye.

Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original journal article in ChemComm – it’s free to access until 12th March:
Smart, reusable labels for assessing self-cleaning films
A. Mills and N. Wells
Chem. Commun., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC09734C, Communication

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Graphene looks to doped superbenzene to overcome electronic hurdles

05 Feb 2015

By Bethany Johnson.

Jennifer Newton writes about a hot ChemComm article for Chemistry World

Building graphene from carefully-modified superbenzene segments has been proposed as a way to help graphene overcome a major stumbling block limiting its application in electronic devices – by opening its bandgap to make it a true semiconductor.

Intrinsically, graphene is a semimetal with no bandgap. Boron nitride can afford graphene the electronic properties desired for atomically thin circuits. However, positioning these boron nitride-groups in just the right places to properly regulate electron flow through graphene is difficult.

Read the full article in Chemistry World»

Read the original article in ChemComm – it’s free to access until 11th March:
Synthesis, structure and properties of C3-symmetric heterosuperbenzene with three BN units
Xiao-Ye Wang, Fang-Dong Zhuang, Xin-Chang Wang, Xiao-Yu Cao, Jie-Yu Wang and Jian Pei
Chem. Commun., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC10105G, Communication

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Accessing Chiral Space with Visible Light

03 Feb 2015

By Tezcan Guney, Web Science Writer.

Researchers have made tremendous efforts to unlock stereoselective, catalytic organic transformations. In this recent ChemComm Feature Article, Professor Eric Meggers, one of the pioneers in the field of photoredox catalysis, provides a comprehensive review of the recent advances in asymmetric catalysis driven by visible light.

Asymmetric catalysis has been one of the most attractive yet challenging areas of organic chemistry for the synthesis of unique, biologically active natural products such as Taxol, Rapamycin, or Vinblastine that possess numerous stereocenters.

C4CC09268F ga Recently, visible light, a sustainable and affordable energy resource, gained substantial interest with its capability to selectively access chiral molecules from prochiral substrates without undesirable by-products. Transformations including aldehyde α-functionalization and [2+2] cycloadditions demonstrate the potential of visible light in the presence of a photosensitizer.

These photosensitizers are typically ruthenium or iridium complexes that can facilitate electron/energy transfer upon photoinduction. In most cases, a photoredox catalyst has to be coupled with a chiral co-catalyst to introduce stereocenters in the products.

Notable advances in the Meggers, Melchiorre, and MacMillan research groups have recently demonstrated that photoactivation can be achieved with a single chiral photosensitizer to provide products of high enantiomeric excess and good yield.

This inspirational review was just published in Chemical Communications as a Feature Article. I recommend reading “Asymmetric catalysis activated by visible light” (DOI: 10.1039/c4cc09268f) by Professor Eric Meggers to learn more about the recent advances with mechanistic details and his forecast for one of the rapidly-growing research topics in organic chemistry.

This article is free to access until 17th March.* Download it here:
Asymmetric catalysis activated by visible light
Eric Meggers �
Chem. Commun., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC09268F, Feature Article

Dr. Tezcan Guney is a guest web writer for Chemical Communications. Dr. Guney received his Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry at Iowa State University with Prof. George Kraus, where he focused on the synthesis of biologically active polycyclic natural products and multifunctional imaging probes. Currently, he is a postdoctoral research scholar at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York with Prof. Derek Tan, contributing to the efforts to access biologically active small molecules using the diversity-oriented synthetic approach.

*Access is free through a registered RSC account

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Hot ChemComm articles for January

23 Jan 2015

By Bethany Johnson.

Here are some of the latest referee-recommended articles in ChemComm – all free to access for a limited time:

Multiplex plasmonic anti-counterfeiting security labels based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering
Yan Cui, In Yee Phang, Yih Hong Lee, Mian Rong Lee, Qi Zhang and Xing Yi Ling
Chem. Commun., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC08596E, Communication
From themed collection 2015 Emerging Investigators

c4CC08596E ga

A tale of two forces: simultaneous chemical and acoustic propulsion of bimetallic micromotors
Wei Wang, Wentao Duan, Zexin Zhang, Mei Sun, Ayusman Sen and Thomas E. Mallouk
Chem. Commun., 2015,51, 1020-1023
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC09149C, Communication

C4CC09149C ga

Nanoparticle–blood interactions: the implications on solid tumour targeting
James Lazarovits, Yih Yang Chen, Edward A. Sykes and Warren C. W. Chan
Chem. Commun., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC07644C, Feature Article

C4CC07644C ga

Bulk graphdiyne powder applied for highly efficient lithium storage
Shengliang Zhang, Huibiao Liu, Changshui Huang, Guanglei Cui and Yuliang Li
Chem. Commun., 2015,51, 1834-1837
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC08706B, Communication

C4CC08706B ga

Cascade catalysis – strategies and challenges en route to preparative synthetic biology
Jan Muschiol, Christin Peters, Nikolin Oberleitner, Marko Mihovilovic, Uwe Bornscheuer and Florian Rudroff
Chem. Commun., 2014, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC08752F, Feature Article
From themed collection Directed Evolution

c4cc08752f-ga

Virus-like particles as virus substitutes to design artificial virus-recognition nanomaterials
Sabine Sykora, Alessandro Cumbo, Gaël Belliot, Pierre Pothier, Charlotte Arnal, Yves Dudal, Philippe F.-X. Corvini and Patrick Shahgaldian
Chem. Commun., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC08843C, Communication

C4CC08843C ga

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Chemical Communications Blog

Spicing up MOFs

Biochemical Logic Systems – closed-loop “Sense/Act” operations

Ring closing highlights hydrogen bonding

Unexpected success with luminescent liquid crystals

Exploiting the chirality of DNA

A sticky way to inspect self-cleaning glass

Graphene looks to doped superbenzene to overcome electronic hurdles

Accessing Chiral Space with Visible Light

Hot ChemComm articles for January

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