Chemical Society Reviews Blog

Journal lectureships 2017 – nominations open!

01 Nov 2016

Know an outstanding emerging scientist who deserves recognition? Nominate now for the 2017 ChemComm and Chem Soc RevEmerging Investigator Lectureships

We are pleased to welcome nominations for the 2017 Emerging Investigator Lectureships for ChemComm and Chem Soc Rev.

All nominations must be received by Monday, 30 January 2017.

Nominations are open for these journal lectureships – only one entry needed per nominee, as each nomination will be considered for both competitions as appropriate.

ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship
• Recognises emerging scientists in the early stages of their independent academic career
• Eligible nominees should have completed their PhD on or after the 15th September 2008, and should also have published as least one article in ChemComm during the course of their independent career

Chem Soc Rev Emerging Investigator Lectureship
• Recognises emerging scientists who have made significant contributions to their research field
• Eligible nominees should have completed their PhD on or after the 15th September 2008

Lectureship details
• Recipients of these lectureships will each be invited to present a lecture at three different locations over a 12-month period, with at least one of these events taking place at an international conference.
• Each recipient will receive a contribution of £1500 towards travel and accommodation costs for their lectures, as well as a certificate.
• Recipients will be asked to contribute a review article for the specific journal awarding their lectureship.

How to nominate
Self-nomination is not permitted. Nominators must send the following to the editorial team via chemcomm-rsc@rsc.org OR chemsocrev-rsc@rsc.org by Monday, 30 January 2017. Each nomination will be considered for both lectureships.
• Recommendation letter, including the name, contact details and website URL of the nominee.
• A one-page CV for the nominee, including their date of birth, summary of education, career and key achievements, a list of up to five of their top independent publications, total numbers of publications and patents, and other indicators of esteem, together with evidence of career independence.
• A copy of the candidate’s best publication to date (as judged by the nominator).
• Two supporting letters of recommendation from two independent referees. These should not be someone from the same institution or the candidate’s post doc or PhD supervisor.

The nominator and independent referees should comment on the candidate’s presenting skills.

Incomplete nominations or those not adhering to the above requirements will not be considered, and nominees will not be contacted regarding any missing or incorrect documents.

Selection procedure
• The editorial team will screen each nomination for eligibility and draw up a shortlist of candidates based on the nomination documents provided.
• Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide a brief supporting statement summarising their key achievements, highlighting the impact of their work and justifying why they deserve the specific lectureship for which they have been entered.
• Recipients of each lectureship will then be selected and endorsed by a selection panel composed of members of each journal’s Editorial Board. Winners of the lectureships will be announced in the first half of 2017.

NB: Please note that members of the selection panel from the ChemComm and Chem Soc Rev Editorial Boards are not eligible to nominate, or provide references, for these lectureships.

For any queries, please contact the editorial team at chemcomm-rsc@rsc.org or chemsocrev-rsc@rsc.org.

Comments Off on Journal lectureships 2017 – nominations open!

CRISPR-Cas9 and the evolution of targeted genomic engineering

17 Oct 2016

By Michaela Mühlberg.

Written by Victoria Corless

Advances in the development of genomic engineering have unprecedented potential to make significant impacts on the future of health and research. Since their development, genetic editing tools have become a major hot topic not only within the scientific community but also with the general public. Precise and facile methods of modifying gene sequences provide us with the ability to understand and even cure some of our deadliest genetic diseases however, this has also raised ethical questions as to what can (and perhaps should) be achieved.

In their most basic form, genome editing technologies are proteins that can cleave DNA in a site specific manner and cause alterations such as inactivation of specific genes, correction of mutated sequences or insertion of intact genes into a target DNA sequence. This cumulates into a downstream phenotypic change within the cell that not only allows biologists to study normal gene function but also carries tremendous therapeutic relevance.

A recent Tutorial Review by Debojyoti Chakraborty and Souvik Maiti published in Chemical Society Reviews describes the development, evolution and future of genetic editing technologies and molecular tools such as zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), site specific recombinases, and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR). Of those listed, the CRISPR-Cas9 system is by far the most precise, efficient, inexpensive and easy-to-use tool for genetic manipulation and has been proven to work on virtually any living cell in almost any organism. In the short amount of time since its development, CRISPR-Cas9 has reinvented the way in which scientists are carrying out genetic research and approaching gene therapy.

CRISPR-Cas9 is distinct from conventional gene therapies which are often only capable of crudely placing genetic material at a random location within the cell. The idea behind CRISPR-Cas9’s mechanism and its precision is derived from innate bacterial immune systems which use arrays of short repeats in the microbial genome, termed CRISPR, to protect themselves from foreign genetic material. The CRISPR-Cas9 system is made up of the Cas9 protein that snips the DNA strands and an RNA component that directs the complex to the correct sequence. The cell’s natural machinery then repairs the cut but it is error-prone and will likely make a mistake that will result in termination of that gene’s function. This allows scientists to determine the gene’s role in cellular function. An interesting example of this was recently published in Chemical Science by Peter Leadlay of Cambridge University and Yuhui Sun of Wuhan University School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and describes the application of this genomics-based approach in determining the biosynthetic pathway of thiotetronate antibiotics. Alternatively, the cut can be repaired using a DNA template provided by the researchers to edit nearly any sequence at any site in the genome.

The CRISPR-Cas9 system has been demonstrated in numerous studies to be a highly efficient tool for gene-editing and has resulted in significant advancements within the field of genomics. There are however, as with any new technology, limitations and gaps in our understanding that need to be addressed before clinical applications can be considered. Unsurprisingly, a lot of research is being focused on tackling these issues. The potential to rewrite the human genome to alter disease states, perhaps enhance our ability to fight infectious diseases and even alter pathways involved in aging is incredible but will inevitably come with a spectrum of ethical, social and intellectual challenges. In any case, these are exciting times and these inventions stand to change the future of medicine.

To find out more see:

CRISPR/Cas9: a historical and chemical biology perspective of targeted genome engineering
Amrita Singh, Debojyoti Chakraborty and Souvik Maiti
DOI: 10.1039/C6CS00197A

A genomics-led approach to deciphering the mechanism of thiotetronate antibiotic biosynthesis
W. Tao, M. E. Yurkovich, S. Wen, K. E. Lebe, M. Samborskyy, Y. Liu, A. Yang, Y. Liu, Y. Ju, Z. Deng, M. Tosin, Y. Sun and P. F. Leadley
DOI: 10.1039/C5SC03059E

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.

Comments Off on CRISPR-Cas9 and the evolution of targeted genomic engineering

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016

05 Oct 2016

By Cesar Palmero.

Congratulations to the winners this year

The prestigious Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016 was awarded jointly to Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa for their outstanding contributions to the design and synthesis of molecular machines. Many congratulations to all of them!

To mark this special occasion, we would like to highlight our most recent review on this area:

Man-made molecular machines: membrane bound

Matthew A. Watson and Scott L. Cockroft
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2016, Advance Article

DOI: 10.1039/C5CS00874C

We also invite you to read the recent manuscripts published by the Nobel Prize winners in Chem Soc Rev and other journals in our portfolio:

Wavelength-selective cleavage of photoprotecting groups: strategies and applications in dynamic systems
Mickel J. Hansen, Willem A. Velema, Michael M. Lerch, Wiktor Szymanski and Ben L. Feringa
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2015, 44, 3358-3377
DOI: 10.1039/C5CS00118H, Tutorial Review

Cooperative capture synthesis: yet another playground for copper-free click chemistry
Xisen Hou, Chenfeng Ke and J. Fraser Stoddart
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2016, 45, 3766-3780
DOI: 10.1039/C6CS00055J, Tutorial Review

A metal–organic framework immobilised iridium pincer complex
Martino Rimoldi, Akitake Nakamura, Nicolaas A. Vermeulen, James J. Henkelis, Anthea K. Blackburn, Joseph T. Hupp, J. Fraser Stoddart and Omar K. Farha
Chem. Sci., 2016, 7, 4980-4984
DOI: 10.1039/C6SC01376G, Edge Article

End-capping of amphiphilic nanotubes with phospholipid vesicles: impact of the phospholipid on the cap formation and vesicle loading under osmotic conditions
Petra M. Erne, Peter Štacko, Derk Jan van Dijken, Jiawen Chen, Marc C. A. Stuart and Ben L. Feringa
Chem. Commun., 2016, 52, 11697-11700
DOI: 10.1039/C6CC05101D, Communication

Reversible gel–sol photoswitching with an overcrowded alkene-based bis-urea supergelator
Sander J. Wezenberg, Christelle M. Croisetu, Marc C. A. Stuart and Ben L. Feringa
Chem. Sci., 2016, 7, 4341-4346
DOI: 10.1039/C6SC00659K, Edge Article

Porphyrinic supramolecular daisy chains incorporating pillar[5]arene–viologen host–guest interactions
Maher Fathalla, Nathan L. Strutt, Srinivasan Sampath, Khabiboulakh Katsiev, Karel J. Hartlieb, Osman M. Bakr and J. Fraser Stoddart
Chem. Commun., 2015, 51, 10455-10458
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC03717D, Communication

Synthesis of a metal-free coordinating ring via formation of a cleavable [2]catenane
Frédéric Niess and Jean-Pierre Sauvage
Chem. Commun., 2013, 49, 10790-10792
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC46452K, Communication

Great expectations: can artificial molecular machines deliver on their promise?
Ali Coskun, Michal Banaszak, R. Dean Astumian, J. Fraser Stoddart and Bartosz A. Grzybowski
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 19-30
DOI: 10.1039/C1CS15262A, Tutorial Review

If you wish, you can read all RSC manuscripts by Prof. Ben L. Feringa, by Prof Jean-Pierre Savage and by Sir J. Fraser Stoddart.

Comments Off on Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016

Top 10 Reviewers for Chemical Society Reviews

23 Sep 2016

By Cesar Palmero.

Many thanks to our reviewers and community

In celebration of Peer Review Week, with the theme of Recognition for Review, we would like to highlight the top 10 reviewers for Chemical Society Reviews in 2016, as selected by the editor for their significant contribution to the journal.

Top 10 Reviewers for Chemical Society Reviews:
– Professor Jonathan Lovell – University of Buffalo, USA
– Professor Rein Ulijn – CUNY Advanced Science Research Center , USA
– Dr Chunyi Zhi – City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
– Dr Eric Rivard – University of Alberta, Canada
– Dr Jie-Peng Zhang – Sun Yat-Sen University, China
– Dr Kim Baines – University of Western Ontario, Canada
– Dr Stephen Goldup – University of Southampton , UK
– Professor Beat Fierz – EPFL, Switzerland
– Professor Graham Hutchings – Cardiff University , UK
– Professor Katsuhiko Ariga – National Institute for Materials Science, Japan

We would like to say a massive thank you to these reviewers as well as the Chemical Society Reviews board and all of the chemistry community for their continued support of the journal, as authors, reviewers and readers.

Comments Off on Top 10 Reviewers for Chemical Society Reviews

2016 Emerging Investigator Lectureship: Gonçalo Bernardes

22 Sep 2016

By Cesar Palmero.

Read more details about Dr Gonçalo Bernardes’s Lectureship

Dr Gonçalo Bernardes (University of Cambridge, UK), one of the winners of the 2016 Chem Soc Rev Emerging Investigator Lectureship, is currently on his Lectureship tour.

He graduated from the University of Lisbon in 2004 and completed his D.Phil. at the University of Oxford, UK in 2008 under the supervision of Professor Ben Davis working on reaction engineering for site-selective protein modification. He then undertook postdoctoral work at the Max-Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Germany under the guidance of Prof Peter Seeberger. He currently leads a research group at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge where he holds a prestigious Royal Society University Research Fellowship.

Gonçalo recently attended the XXIV EFMC-ISMC Symposium, where he delivered his RSC Prize Lecture.

“Chemical Pharmacology of Protein Conjugates and Natural Products”
2016 Chem Soc Rev Emerging Investigator Lectureship
XXIV EFMC International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry
28 August – 1 September 2016. Manchester, United Kingdom

He was also formally awarded his Lectureship certificate by Richard Kelly, Executive Editor (Royal Society of Chemistry).

Photograph: © Fabien Venturi
Richard Kelly (left) awards the Chem Soc Rev Emerging Investigator
Lectureship 2016 to Dr Gonçalo Bernardes (right)

Did you know? Gonçalo kept a trip diary of his SAFEA-RSC Visiting Researcher Programme China, where he gave the first talk of his Chem Soc Rev Emerging Investigators Lectureship tour earlier this year.

Read more about his trip diary in China on MyRSC, the online chemistry community.

Comments Off on 2016 Emerging Investigator Lectureship: Gonçalo Bernardes

Top 10 most accessed Chem Soc Rev articles from April – June 2016

19 Aug 2016

By Charlotte Rowley.

From April – June 2016, our most downloaded Chem Sov Rev articles were:

Microfluidic lab-on-a-chip platforms: requirements, characteristics and applications

Daniel Mark, Stefan Haeberle, Günter Roth, Felix von Stetten and Roland Zengerle

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2010, 39, 1153-1182

DOI: 10.1039/B820557B, Critical Review

Selection of boron reagents for Suzuki–Miyaura coupling

Alastair J. J. Lennox and Guy C. Lloyd-Jones

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2014, 43, 412-443

DOI: 10.1039/C3CS60197H, Review Article

The chemistry of graphene oxide

Daniel R. Dreyer, Sungjin Park, Christopher W. Bielawski and Rodney S. Ruoff

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2010, 39, 228-240

DOI: 10.1039/B917103G, Critical Review

An overview of nanoparticles commonly used in fluorescent bioimaging

Otto S. Wolfbeis

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2015, 44, 4743-4768

DOI: 10.1039/C4CS00392F, Review Article

MOF positioning technology and device fabrication

Paolo Falcaro, Raffaele Ricco, Cara M. Doherty, Kang Liang, Anita J. Hill and Mark J. Styles

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2014, 43, 5513-5560

DOI: 10.1039/C4CS00089G, Review Article

Heterogeneous photocatalyst materials for water splitting

Akihiko Kudo and Yugo Miseki

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2009, 38, 253-278

DOI: 10.1039/B800489G, Critical Review

Heterogeneous catalysis for sustainable biodiesel production via esterification and transesterification

Adam F. Lee, James A. Bennett, Jinesh C. Manayil and Karen Wilson

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2014, 43, 7887-7916

DOI: 10.1039/C4CS00189C, Review Article

A review of electrode materials for electrochemical supercapacitors

Guoping Wang, Lei Zhang and Jiujun Zhang

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 797-828

DOI: 10.1039/C1CS15060J, Critical Review

Lithium and sodium battery cathode materials: computational insights into voltage, diffusion and nanostructural properties

M. Saiful Islam and Craig A. J. Fisher

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2014, 43, 185-204

DOI: 10.1039/C3CS60199D, Review Article

Biosensors: sense and sensibility

Anthony P. F. Turner

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2013, 42, 3184-3196

DOI: 10.1039/C3CS35528D, Tutorial Review

Comments Off on Top 10 most accessed Chem Soc Rev articles from April – June 2016

2016 Emerging Investigator Lectureship: Guihua Yu

19 Jul 2016

By Cesar Palmero.

Find more details about Dr Guihua Yu’s Lectureship

Dr Guihua Yu (University of Texas at Austin), one of the winners of the 2016 Chem Soc Rev Emerging Investigator Lectureship, is currently on his Lectureship tour.

Guihua recently delivered in Asia (China and Singapore) two of his three lectures:

“Lithium Redox Flow Batteries Towards Large-Scale Energy Storage”
2nd International Symposium on Energy Conversion and Storage
Organised by the Organization Committee and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM)
Xiamen University, China, 15-17 June 2016

“Two-Dimensional Materials for Flexible Energy Storage Devices”
IUMRS-ICEM2016
International Union of Materials Research Societies – International Conference on Electronic Materials
Suntec, Singapore, 4-8 July 2016

Guihua will next be speaking at the ACS symposium “ENFL: 2D Materials: Graphene & Beyond & their Device Applications” in Philadelphia on 24 August 2016, where he will be formally awarded with his Lectureship certificate.

Watch this place for more details soon!

Meet the team:

Photograph of Dr Jeanne Andres
Dr Jeanne Andres (Deputy Editor of Chemical Society Reviews) will be attending the Fall ACS meeting in Philadelphia. She would love to hear about your research and meet with our readers, authors and referees. Please do get in touch with Jeanne if you would like to arrange a meeting in advance.

Comments Off on 2016 Emerging Investigator Lectureship: Guihua Yu

Chem Soc Rev Impact factor soars high at 34.09

28 Jun 2016

By Jeanne Therese Andres.

And our Immediacy index is number one in general chemistry

It is with great pleasure that we announce that Chem Soc Rev’s Impact factor has risen to 34.09 – its highest ever – according to the latest citation data released by Thomson Reuters in its 2015 Journal Citation Reports®.

With this, we maintain our position as the second top journal in multidisciplinary chemistry – thank you to all of our authors, referees, readers, Associate Editors, and Editorial and Advisory Board members for being an essential part of Chem Soc Rev’s continuing success.

We are proud to be the home of high impact, succinct and reader-friendly reviews from across the breadth of the chemical sciences, with a truly international authorship and a global audience.

And with our Immediacy index at an all-time high of 9.592 – higher than those of our key competitors, and an impressive 26% increase from last year – we are on track to make an even bigger impact in years to come.

Read our most highly cited reviews below. C6CS90001A

Tutorial reviews

Recent advances in semiconductors for photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical water splitting
Takashi Hisatomi, Jun Kubota and Kazunari Domen
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2014, 43, 7520-7535
DOI: 10.1039/C3CS60378D, Tutorial Review
From themed collection Catalysis for Production of Renewable Energy

Recent progress in the development of near-infrared fluorescent probes for bioimaging applications
Zhiqian Guo, Sookil Park, Juyoung Yoon and Injae Shin
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2014, 43, 16-29
DOI: 10.1039/C3CS60271K, Tutorial Review

How to produce white light in a single-phase host?
Mengmeng Shang, Chunxia Li and Jun Lin
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2014, 43, 1372-1386
DOI: 10.1039/C3CS60314H, Tutorial Review

Review articles

Luminescent metal–organic frameworks for chemical sensing and explosive detection
Zhichao Hu, Benjamin J. Deibert and Jing Li
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2014, 43, 5815-5840
DOI: 10.1039/C4CS00010B, Review Article
From themed collection Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs)

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide nanosheet-based composites
Chaoliang Tan and Hua Zhang
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2015, 44, 2713-2731
DOI: 10.1039/C4CS00182F, Review Article
From themed collection 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenide (TMD) Nanosheets

Earth-abundant cocatalysts for semiconductor-based photocatalytic water splitting
Jingrun Ran, Jun Zhang, Jiaguo Yu, Mietek Jaroniec and Shi Zhang Qiao
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2014, 43, 7787-7812
DOI: 10.1039/C3CS60425J, Review Article
From themed collection Catalysis for Production of Renewable Energy

Applications of metal–organic frameworks in heterogeneous supramolecular catalysis
Jiewei Liu, Lianfen Chen, Hao Cui, Jianyong Zhang, Li Zhang and Cheng-Yong Su
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2014, 43, 6011-6061
DOI: 10.1039/C4CS00094C, Review Article
From themed collection Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs)

Chem Soc Rev uses a formal online submission system for review proposals, incorporated into our existing online system. Please upload your completed proposal form online, and read our Author Guidelines for details.

Read more about the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journals 2015 impact factors

*The Impact factor provides an indication of the average number of citations per paper. Produced annually, Impact factors are calculated by dividing the number of citations in a year to articles published in the preceding two years, by the number of citeable articles published in the preceding two years. The journal Immediacy index indicates how quickly articles in a journal are cited, and is calculated by dividing the number of citations to articles published in a given year by the number of articles published in that year. Data based on 2015 Journal Citation Reports^®, (Thomson Reuters, 2016).

Comments Off on Chem Soc Rev Impact factor soars high at 34.09

Hot Chem Soc Rev articles for March

17 Mar 2016

By Bethany Johnson.

Here are some of the latest referee-recommended articles published in Chem Soc Rev – all free to read until 17 April!

Metal-containing and related polymers for biomedical applications
Yi Yan, Jiuyang Zhang, Lixia Ren and Chuanbing Tang
DOI: 10.1039/C6CS00026F, Review Article

C6CS00026F GA

New perspectives in organolanthanide chemistry from redox to bond metathesis: insights from theory
Christos E. Kefalidis, Ludovic Castro, Lionel Perrin, Iker Del Rosal and Laurent Maron
DOI: 10.1039/C5CS00907C, Review Article

C5CS00907C GA

Man-made molecular machines: membrane bound
Matthew A. Watson and Scott L. Cockroft
DOI: 10.1039/C5CS00874C, Tutorial Review

C5CS00874C GA

Filling the gap between the quantum and classical worlds of nanoscale magnetism: giant molecular aggregates based on paramagnetic 3d metal ions
Constantina Papatriantafyllopoulou, Eleni E. Moushi, George Christou and Anastasios J. Tasiopoulos
DOI: 10.1039/C5CS00590F, Review Article

C5CS00590F GA

*Access is free through a registered RSC account

Comments Off on Hot Chem Soc Rev articles for March

Chemical Society Reviews Blog

Journal lectureships 2017 – nominations open!

CRISPR-Cas9 and the evolution of targeted genomic engineering

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016

Top 10 Reviewers for Chemical Society Reviews

2016 Emerging Investigator Lectureship: Gonçalo Bernardes

2016 Emerging Investigator Lectureship: Guihua Yu

Chem Soc Rev Impact factor soars high at 34.09

Hot Chem Soc Rev articles for March

Links

Categories

Archives

Meta