Dalton Transactions Blog

 Prof. Douglas Stephan and Dalton Transactions

This year, we are celebrating the 50^th volume of Dalton Transactions by taking a look at some of our authors who have published over 50 articles in the journal. This week we learn what Dalton Transactions means to Professor Douglas Stephan.

Our authors at a glance:

Professor Douglas Stephan is based at the University of Toronto’s Department of Chemistry, where his research focuses on main group and organometallic chemistry, Frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) and catalysis. He chooses to publish in Dalton Transactions as it is “the signature journal for inorganic chemists around the world” reaching a broad readership across the inorganic community.

Please can you summarise your most recent research published in Dalton Transactions?

In our latest Dalton paper, we prepared the first stable C-B-N-substituted borinium cation [MesBNⁱPr₂][B(C₆F₅)₄] and examined its reactivity. We demonstrated that in reactions with isothiocyanate and carbodiimides, insertion into a  B-C bond affords nitrilium and borenium amidinate salts, respectively.

How do you intend to expand upon your research in the future?

We are continuing to broaden the use of main group reagents for stoichiometric and catalytic FLP chemistry of interest. We are particularly focused on novel bond-forming reactions as well as avenues to the activation of very strong bonds.

What would you say are the biggest barriers which need to be overcome to expand your research?  

We are learning new rules for the reactivity of main group chemistry, the challenge is seeing the broader implications and applications.

You’ve published over 50 articles in Dalton Transactions, which of these works do you find to be most interesting/significant for our broad inorganic audience?

Of our work published in Dalton Transactions, we have had a number of papers that have addressed aspects of FLP chemistry and new Lewis acids. I believe that some of these papers find readers outside of the main group or even inorganic communities.

Outside of your own research, please suggest a Dalton Transactions article which you think has made a significant contribution to its field?

Most recently I have been very excited to read the work from the group of Sjoerd Harder. One such paper was: Calcium catalyzed enantioselective intramolecular alkene hydroamination with chiral C2-symmetric bis-amide ligands

What advice do you have for young researchers new to your field?

The most interesting observations are often those that are contrary to the expected. When that happens, do not dismiss it as an error, embrace it as an opportunity.

What does Dalton Transactions mean to you?

Dalton Transactions is the signature journal for inorganic chemists around the world.

Why do you choose to publish in Dalton Transactions?

I choose Dalton as it is a journal for the broad inorganic community that has a broad readership.

What is your experience of publishing with Dalton Transactions?

I have always felt that work submitted to Dalton has been reviewed in a fair and timely fashion.

You can check out Douglas’ most recent Dalton Transactions article on the insertion reactions of the C–B–N-substituted  borinium cation [MesBNⁱPr₂]⁺ below.

Insertion reactions of the C–B–N-substituted borinium cation [MesBNⁱPr₂]⁺

Karlee L. Bamford and Douglas W. Stephan,

Dalton Trans., 2020, 49, 17571-17577

Check out the full collection of recent research published in Dalton Transactions by all of our featured Golden Authors in our Celebrating our Golden Authors collection.

Prof. Catherine Housecroft, Prof. Ed Constable and Dalton Transactions

This year we are celebrating the 50^th volume of Dalton Transactions, by taking a look at some of our authors who have published over 50 articles in the journal. This week we learn what Dalton Transactions means to Professor Catherine Housecroft and Professor Ed Constable.

Our authors at a glance:

Professor Catherine Housecroft and Professor Ed Constable are a married chemical partnership. They are based at the University of Basel’s Department of Chemistry, where their joint research interests include coordination chemistry and supramolecular chemistry, in addition to sustainable and materials chemistry.  They choose to publish in Dalton Transactions as the journal provides “strong support to authors, rigorous and fair refereeing, and rapid production from acceptance to print”, and has evolved and developed throughout their scientific careers, to reflect their interests and activities.

Please can you summarise your most recent research published in Dalton Transactions?

Light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) represent an alternative technology and device architecture to the well-established OLED lighting devices. The architecture of a LEC is substantially less complex than an OLED allowing the construction of more robust devices under less demanding fabrication conditions. Inorganic complexes are widely used as emitters in both LECs and OLEDs, with the most effective utilizing the rare and expensive element iridium. We are developing emissive heteroleptic copper(I) complexes for incorporation into the emissive layers of LEC devices to substitute for the non-sustainable iridium species.

How do you intend to expand upon your research in the future?

A significant expansion of research is not an option beyond the next two years, when we reach retirement age. Nevertheless, until that point we will continue to improve the performance of materials to be used in the establishment and optimization of sustainable technologies. After that, we will continue with our contributions to the Swiss and European chemistry communities, both in terms of educational and research contributions and in involvement with national and international efforts relating to scientific coordination, editorial coordination and scientific integrity.

What would you say are the biggest barriers which need to be overcome to expand your research?

Getting older!

You’ve published over 50 articles in Dalton Transactions, which of these works do you find to be most interesting/significant for our broad inorganic audience?

Probably the most interesting are:

4,2′:6′,4”-Terpyridines: diverging and diverse building blocks in coordination polymers and metallomacrocycles and Synthesis and coordination behaviour of 6,6’-bis(2-pyridyl)-2,2’:4’,4’’:2’’,2’’’-quaterpyridine – back-to-back 2,2’:6’,2’’-terpyridine.

These two papers represent the beginning and a recent overview of our journey with terpyridine ligands from “simple” mononucleating species to core components in coordination networks.

Outside of your own research, please suggest a Dalton Transactions article which you think has made a significant contribution to its field?

The Frontier and Perspective articles collection published in 2020, contains some inspiring articles. It is hard to choose a single contribution from these Frontiers and Perspectives articles, but one that stands out is – Recent advances in iron-complexes as drug candidates for cancer therapy: reactivity, mechanism of action and metabolites Mathilde Bouché, Cécilia Hognon, Stéphanie Grandemange, Antonio Monari and Philippe C. Gros

What advice do you have for young researchers new to your field?

It would be too easy to make a trite response here. But we resist this temptation. We make three observations. Firstly, read the literature – but not too carefully. If you read everything about a topic, you rapidly come to the conclusion that there is either nothing left to do or, even worse, that you are unworthy to make a contribution. Secondly, don’t be afraid to make mistakes or instigate projects that fail. Some of our best and most interesting results came from failed experiments or misguided hypotheses. Finally, we simply quote Arthur C. Clarke, “If an elderly but distinguished scientist says that something is possible, he is almost certainly right; but if he says that it is impossible, he is very probably wrong.”

What does Dalton Transactions mean to you?

On the one hand, this journal has evolved and developed throughout our scientific careers and reflects our interests and activities. Although we have not been active for the entire 50 years, we are certainly aware of the content and the changes in editorial style and scientific management over this period. The other great importance that Dalton Transactions holds for us is a link with the history of our discipline – John Dalton, together with Antoine Lavoisier and Dmitry Mendeleev, transformed inorganic chemistry and provided the intellectual basis for its modern all-encompassing success.

Why do you choose to publish in Dalton Transactions?

Dalton Transactions has always been a journal of choice for us in the fields of core and applied coordination chemistry as well as metallosupramolecular chemistry – its long standing tradition of publishing high quality research is critical to us in reaching the correct audience. Now, the Read and Publish scheme for hybrid journals is a valuable means of fulfilling our national funding agency’s requirement for Open Access publishing.

What is your experience of publishing with Dalton Transactions?

Throughout our independent research careers, Dalton Transactions has provided strong support to authors, rigorous and fair refereeing, and rapid production from acceptance to print. The changes that have occurred in the transmogrification of J. Chem. Soc. A through J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans. to the current Dalton Transactions reflect both the best aspects of contemporary publishing and the recognition that “the new” may not always be “the best”. The journal has always managed to keep a balance between the contemporary and the flashy! The approachability of the editorial staff (yes they really are human) is one of the great pleasures of publishing with the RSC. Anecdotes of publishing in Dalton abound, but we have memories from the late eighties of the heated discussions about “the f-word” (sulfur not sulphur) and also recall the time when Dalton employed an in-house nomenclature expert who would correct your compounds to some version of IUPACese. Our recollections are that these were not always consistent, very rarely met with the approval of the community and rolled over and died when confronted with transition metal clusters.

You can check out Catherine and Ed’s most recent Dalton Transactions article on phosphane tuning in heteroleptic [Cu(N^N)(P^P)]+ complexes below.

Phosphane tuning in heteroleptic [Cu(N^N)(P^P)]+ complexes for light-emitting electrochemical cells

Brunner, A. Babaei, A. Pertegás, J. M. Junquera-Hernández, A. Prescimone, E. C. Constable, H. J. Bolink, M. Sessolo, E. Ortí and C. E. Housecroft,

Dalton Trans., 2019, 48, 446-460

Check out the full collection of recent research published in Dalton Transactions by all of our featured Golden Authors in our Celebrating our Golden Authors collection.

Prof. Euan Brechin and Dalton Transactions

This year, we are celebrating the 50^th volume of Dalton Transactions by taking a look at some of our authors who have published over 50 articles in the journal. This week we learn what Dalton Transactions means to Professor Euan Brechin.

Our author at a glance:

Professor Euan Brechin is based at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Chemistry, where his research is centered upon synthetic coordination chemistry and molecular magnetism. He chooses to publish in Dalton Transactions as he finds the journal showcases “the best contemporary general and inorganic chemistry from around the world”, and covers a diverse range of research across all areas of inorganic chemistry; from which he draws inspiration.

Please can you summarise your most recent research published in Dalton Transactions?

Our most recent work has focused on understanding, experimentally and theoretically, the magneto-structural relationships in a variety of 3d coordination compounds made with both flexible and rigid organic ligands.

How do you intend to expand upon your research in the future?

Current projects include constructing molecular iron oxides conforming to Platonic/Archimedean solids and/or mineral phases, exploiting host-guest chemistry to manipulate magnetic properties in 0-3D materials, and using supramolecular chemistry to build molecules for quantum information processing.

What would you say are the biggest barriers which need to be overcome to expand your research?

Lack of time to think, compounded by my inefficient use of that time and my stupidity. Sometimes the wheels turn slowly, and my moments of inspiration are fleeting. Beer helps, as does just sitting down and talking to people. Let’s hope we can get back to both soon. In terms of UK research in general, it’s funding and the way we fund. Other countries do it much better. We should be funding curiosity driven science based solely on quality, regardless of the individual, institution, field or cost. If governments and administrators have even a brief look through the history of science they will realise this is how major breakthroughs occur and long standing impact is created. We should not be pouring money down administratively driven, fashionable rabbit holes. Investment in infrastructure and diversity in science is as important as it is in every other walk of life.

You’ve published over 50 articles in Dalton Transactions: which of these works do you find to be most interesting/significant for our broad inorganic audience?

I’ve no idea! I always think my most interesting paper is the next one.

Outside of your own research, please suggest a Dalton Transactions article which you think has made a significant contribution to its field?

Tough, and unfair, to pick just one. The great thing about Dalton Transactions is the diversity of science it covers and the ideas I pick up from reading papers in seemingly unrelated fields. Finding the time to read journals is an increasingly difficult thing these days, but when I do it’s always fun and it always inspires me to try something new.

What advice do you have for young researchers new to your field?

Do the science you really want to do, the science that really excites you regardless of how niche you, or anybody else, may think it is. I think everyone does their best work when they love what they are doing. Papers and funding will follow. Stay positive, and don’t get disheartened when you get rejections. It happens to all of us all the time. The one in a hundred acceptance letter makes you forget the rejections.

What does Dalton Transactions mean to you?

As a UK scientist, RSC journals are always my first choice for publishing. Perhaps that’s a little sentimental but I think there should be a strong connection/bond between a national society and its scientists. That sense of community is undervalued, but I think it’s important and I hope it’s never lost.

Why do you choose to publish in Dalton Transactions?

I really like the journal and the breadth of science it contains, and I love being able to publish my science in a journal showcasing the best contemporary general and inorganic chemistry from around the world.

What is your experience of publishing with Dalton Transactions?

Almost always great, with a wee hiccup here and there (on both sides) – but that’s to be expected after 20 years of being an academic. The staff have always been professional. They have also been really friendly, personable and good fun. I shouldn’t name-drop, but Helen Lunn has been exceptionally helpful (and patient) over many years.

You can check out Euan’s most recent Dalton Transactions article on the structural manipulation of a series of Ni₄ defective dicubanes below.

The structural manipulation of a series of Ni4 defective dicubanes: Synthesis, X-ray Structures, Magnetic and Computational analyses

Sidney S. Woodhouse, Tyson N. Dais, Emily H. Payne, Mukesh K. Singh, Euan K. Brechin and Paul G. Plieger*

Dalton Trans., 2021, 50, 5318-5326

Check out the full collection of recent research published in Dalton Transactions by all of our featured Golden Authors in our Celebrating our Golden Authors collection.