Author Archive

Protecting marble monuments

Chemistry World has highlighted, in a recent article, work published in NJC by Dr Massimiliano Arca (Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy) and his colleagues. The authors have made a new oxamate salt that could help protect monuments from weathering. In their study, they show that the introduction of structural modifications on the oxamate anion provides a promising tool for the development of protective agents for calcareous stones.

Restoration-of-marble_DSC_0082_630m

The treatment was tested on marble statues by Giuseppe Maria Sartorio in the Monumental Cemetery of Bonaria in Cagliari, Sardinia © Paola Meloni

You can access the original NJC article:
Oxamate salts as novel agents for the restoration of marble and limestone substrates: case study of ammonium N-phenyloxamate
Laura Maiore, M. Carla Aragoni, Gianfranco Carcangiu, Ombretta Cocco, Francesco Isaia, Vito Lippolis, Paola Meloni, Arianna Murru, Alexandra M. Z. Slawin, Enrica Tuveri, J. Derek Woollins and Massimiliano Arca.
New J. Chem., 2016, Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ02505B.

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NJC issue 02 now online

NJC Feb 2016 OFC - themed issue POMs-SOMsThe February issue of NJC is a part-themed one devoted to Emergent Polyoxometalates and Soft-oxometalates. The NJC team thanks all of the authors for their contributions, as well as the two Guest Editors, Professors Debbie Crans (Colorado State University, USA) and Soumyajit Roy (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, India). Two Perspectives, 4 Letters and 16 research papers illustrate new advances in polyoxometalate-containing systems, with emphasis on those for which non-covalent organization creates new structures with new properties.

Read the Themed Issue Editorial

NJC Feb 2016 IFC - Prof. LhotakThe inside cover is proposed by Prof. Pavel Lhoták (University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Czech Republic) to illustrate a Paper in which the authors report on the application of organomercurial intermediates for the introduction of aryl moieties using Pd-catalyzed arylation, and for the preparation of the corresponding thiacalixarene dimers, so far unknown in thiacalixarene chemistry.

They show that their reaction enables the introduction of aryl moieties into the meta– or para-positions of the thiacalix[4]arene skeleton, thus leading to unique substitution patterns in thiacalixarene chemistry.

Arylation of thiacalix[4]arenes using organomercurial intermediates
F. Botha, V. Eigner, H. Dvořáková and P. Lhoták.
New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 1104-1110. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ02427G.

See the full issue table of contents

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NJC issue 01 now online

NJC Jan 16 OFC - Dr BenedictThis first issue of 2016 features a cover designed by Dr Jason Benedict (University at Buffalo, USA) to illustrate an article in which he and his co-workers show the design, synthesis and characterization of a photo-responsive linker that is subsequently reacted to yield metal–organic framework (MOF) single crystals.
Their analysis of the potential energy surface associated with rotation of one thiophene group reveals a number of key energetic minima, only one of which is expected to be photoactive. This study shows that future photo-responsive MOFs can utilize the unique microenvironment of void spaces to stabilize selected atropisomers for advanced light-responsive crystalline materials.

The role of atropisomers on the photo-reactivity and fatigue of diarylethene-based metal–organic frameworks
Ian M. Walton, Jordan M. Cox, Cassidy A. Benson, Dinesh (Dan) G. Patel, Yu-Sheng Chen and Jason B. Benedict.
New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 101-106. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ01718A.
NJC Jan 2016 IFC - Dr Liang

The inside cover was proposed by Dr Erjun Liang (Zhengzhou University, China). In their work, the authors demonstrate that introducing amorphous NiO electrocatalysts onto the surface of ZnO nanorod photoanodes can largely improve their photoelectrochemical performance. Their results seem to be a promising solution to develop a high-performance photoelectrochemical photoanode.

Amorphous NiO electrocatalyst overcoated ZnO nanorod photoanodes for enhanced photoelectrochemical performance
Yanchao Mao, Yongguang Cheng, Junqiao Wang, Hao Yang, Mingyang Li, Jian Chen, Mingju Chao, Yexiang Tong and Erjun Liang.
New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 107-112. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ01815C.

To access the table of contents of the January 2016 issue, click here.

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2015 Winners of the New Journal of Chemistry Poster Prize

New Journal of Chemistry is delighted to present the five winners of the NJC poster prizes awarded in 2015.

WGidt - NJC Poster prize 2015Wjatscheslaw Gidt (Ph.D. student working in the group of Prof. Helmut Sitzmann at the Technischen Universität Kaiserslautern, Germany) received the award at the 13th Ferrocene Colloquium (held in Leipzig last winter) for his poster entitled “Synthesis, Structure and Reactivity of the Chromium Complexes [4CpCrX]2 (X = OAc, Cl, I, OTf)”.

His study shows that paramagnetic cyclopentadienylmetal halides of nickel, cobalt and iron, with bulky alkylcyclopentadienyl ligands, are very reactive starting materials for the formation of novel organometallic compounds capable of carbon-carbon bond formation or cleavage.

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This summer, at the International Conference on Advanced Inorganic Complex Nanomaterials held in Namur, Belgium, two young scientists were honoured.SoraChoi - NJC Poster prize 2015

Sora Choi (Ph.D. student under the supervision of Prof. Moonhyun Oh at the Yonsei University, Korea) won a poster prize for her work “Structural and Morphological Transformation of Metal-Organic Frameworks via Destruction and Reconstruction Pathways” in which she reports the structural and morphological transformations of three-dimensional Kagome-like structured hexagonal lumps (In-MIL-68, [In(OH)(BDC)]n) with blunted ends, into three-dimensional quartz structured hexagonal rods (QMOF-2, [InH(BDC)2]n) with pointed ends.

CedricMarien - NJC Poster prize 2015

Cédric Marien (Ph.D. student with Didier Robert at the University of Strasbourg, France and the INRS, Canada) received the award for his research that aims to develop TiO2 based nanostructures for the photo(electro)catalytic removal of organic compounds in water. His poster “Removal of organic pollutants by photocatalysis with TiO2 nanotubes” reported TiO2 nanotubes electrochemically grown on titanium foils. The study shows that the photocatalytic activity of the tubes depends on their morphology, particularly on the internal diameter and wall thickness.

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The XIII International Symposium on Bioinorganic Chemistry held in Karpacz, Poland, in September, also revealed two young talented chemists.

KSokolowski- NJC Poster prize 2015The award-winning poster of Kamil Sokołowski (postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in the research group of Prof. Janusz Lewiński), entitled “Bio-inspired fixation of CO2 on organozinc hydoxides: efficient routes to novel nanomaterials based on zinc carbonates”, summarized his Ph.D. project. The presented research demonstrated that carbon dioxide in combination with well-defined organozinc hydroxides of the type [RZnOH]n or [(R)xZny(L)z(OH)n], can be successfully utilized for the formation of novel molecular organozinc carbonates, as well as meso- and microporous materials with unique physicochemical properties. The studies underline the great potential of simple organozinc precursors featuring CO2-reactive Zn–OH groups and proton-reactive Zn–C bonds for the design of new functional materials based on zinc carbonate components.

Joanna_Watly - NJC Poster prize 2015Joanna Wątły (Ph.D. student under the supervision of Prof. Henryk Kozlowski at the University of Wroclaw, Poland) was also recognised for her work, “The Impact of the Cu(II) Coordination on the Structural and Thermodynamic Properties of Poly-His Peptides”, in which she studied the coordination of Cu(II) with (His)6-tag peptide (used in IMAC chromatography) and peptide fragments from snake venoms. The results showed that all studied peptides have a high affinity towards Cu(II) ions. Formation of an α-helical structure induced by metal-ion coordination and the occurrence of polymorphic binding states is very characteristic for these peptides, but the most interesting results were obtained for a snake venom peptide fragment with nine histidine residues. The specific role of these nine His residues in venom is unknown, but this peptide may play a key role in the interaction with metal ions and consequently in the inhibition of the snake metalloproteases.

Congratulations to all five winners !

We wish them continuing success in their research and send them our best wishes for 2016!

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NJC issue 12 now online

NJC Dec 15 OFC - Dr Tsunashima

The seasonal design of December’s outside cover from Dr Ryo Tsunashima (Yamaguchi University, Japan) illustrates a study in which the authors report the synthesis and acid-base properties of a proton-bridged biaryl compound based on pyridylazulene.

Dr Tsunashima and his colleagues show that the intramolecular proton bridge between bipyridyl groups behaves as a chelating ligand to accommodate protons in solution, followed by stabilization of a unique steric structure.

Synthesis and acid–base properties of a proton-bridged biaryl compound based on pyridylazulene
Kazuki Ninomiya, Yumi Harada, Tomoaki Kanetou, Yuma Suenaga, Toshihiro Murafuji and Ryo Tsunashima. New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 9079-9085. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ01651G.

NJC Dec 15 IFC - Dr De Luca
The inside cover of NJC is proposed by Dr Giuseppina De Luca (Università della Calabria, Italy). Dr De Luca and her co-authors focused their study on the behavior of naproxen and flurbiprofen—common anti-inflammatory drugs—in solution using NMR spectroscopy for understanding and rationalizing their biological role and possibly for designing improved analogues.

The strategy adopted in this work represents an effective way for probing the probability distributions of dissolved small to medium-size flexible molecules.

The conformational behaviour of naproxen and flurbiprofen in solution by NMR spectroscopy
Maria Enrica Di Pietro, Christie Aroulanda, Giorgio Celebre, Denis Merlet and Giuseppina De Luca. New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 9086-9097. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ01753J.

See the full content of the December issue here

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NJC issue 11 now online

NJC Nov 2015 OFC - Dr Ohmura

The November outside cover was designed by Dr Ryo Ohmura (Keio University, Japan).

Clathrate hydrates are crystalline solid compounds enclosing molecules called the “guest” in the cages consisting of hydrogen-bonded water molecules called the “host”.

In their study, Dr Ohmura and his co-workers observed the formation and growth of hydrate crystals formed with CH4 + CO2 mixed gas at the gas/liquid interface and in liquid water saturated with the guest gas. They also observed the morphology and the lateral growth rate of CO2 hydrates to compare with CH4 + CO2 hydrates.

Their results suggest that the crystal morphology of the CH4 + CO2 hydrate may be controlled by the guest composition dissolved in the liquid phase and not on the feed gas composition. Based on these observations, the authors discuss the implications for the process design of hydrate-based technologies.

Crystal growth of clathrate hydrates formed with methane + carbon dioxide mixed gas at the gas/liquid interface and in liquid water

Hiroki Ueno, Hotaka Akiba, Satoru Akatsu and Ryo Ohmura.

New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 8254-8262. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ01080B.

Access the entire table of contents of this issue here

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NJC issue 10 now online

NJC Oct OFC -  Prof. EldemannThis month, guest editors Professors Frank T. Edelmann (Madgeburg, Germany) and Peter Junk (James Cook University, Australia) are pleased to present a part-themed issue on ‘Frontiers of Organo-f-element Chemistry‘. The 26 contributions show that organo-f-element chemistry continues to be one of the most attractive fields for potential applications in homogeneous catalysis and organic synthesis.

As part of the Pacifichem 2015 conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (December 15–20, 2015), there will be a symposium devoted to the same topic as this themed issue. This symposium will focus on recent advances and future directions in the organometallic chemistry of lanthanide and actinide elements. It is intended to cover all fundamental and technological aspects of organo-f-element chemistry.

NJC Oct IFC - Prof. Wang

Read the Editorial here

The inside cover illustrates an article by Professor Guozhong Wang (Chinese Academy of Sciences, China) and his co-workers. Focusing on removing persistent organic pollutants, the authors present a new photocatalytic degradation pathway of 2,4,4′-trichlorobiphenyl, involving the outright degradation into long-chain alkanes via ring-opening reactions, using a highly-active photocatalyst: Ag nanoparticle decorated flower-like ZnO-nanosheet-assembled ZnO microspheres.

Photocatalytic degradation of 2,4,4′-trichlorobiphenyl into long-chain alkanes using Ag nanoparticle decorated flower-like ZnO microspheres

Quan Deng, Haibin Tang, Gang Liu, Xiaoping Song, Shenhong Kang, Huimin Wang, Dickon H. L. Ng and Guozhong Wang, New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 7781-7785. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ00343A.

Access the full issue table of contents here

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NJC issue 09 now online

NJC OFC Sept 2015 - Dr KumarDr Pradeep Kumar (CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, India) proposed the outside cover this month to illustrate a paper in which he and his colleagues synthesize, characterize and evaluate aminoglycoside-conjugated silica nanoparticles [S–X NPs, where X = gentamicin (G), neomycin (N) or kanamycin (K)] for their antimicrobial activity against clinical pathogens and kanamycin-resistant E. coli. The results demonstrate the excellent efficacy of nanomaterial-based antimicrobial agents against nosocomial as well as antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of aminoglycoside-conjugated silica nanoparticles against clinical and resistant bacteria
Shrish Agnihotri, Rajiv Pathak, Diksha Jha, Indrajit Roy, Hemant K. Gautam, Ashwani K. Sharma and Pradeep Kumar, New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 6746-6755. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ00007F.NJC IFC Sept 2015 - Dr Tang

The inside cover was designed by Dr Zi-Rong Tang (Fuzhou University, China). In their paper, the authors synthesize one-dimensional (1D) CdS nanowire—CeO2 nanoparticle composites. According to Dr Tang and co-workers, this study provides useful information on the fabrication of 1D semiconductor—metal oxide composites with improved photoactivity for selective organic transformations and water splitting to hydrogen under ambient conditions.

One-dimensional CdS nanowires–CeO2 nanoparticles composites with boosted photocatalytic activity
Xin Zhang, Nan Zhang, Yi-Jun Xu and Zi-Rong Tang, New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 6756-6764. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ00976F.

Find out more about the September issue here

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NJC issue 08 now online

NJC Aug OFC 2015 - Dr LennartsonThis month, the outside cover was created by Dr Anders Lennartson (Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden).

In their Paper article, Dr Lennartson and his colleague, Dr Håkansson, discuss the chirality of five-coordinate enantiomers displaying mono- and bi-dentate ligands by optical resolution of three complexes. They discovered that the crystallization of two of the complexes was influenced by undetectable amounts of an unidentified source of optical activity.

Absolute asymmetric synthesis of five-coordinate complexes
Anders Lennartson and Mikael Håkansson.
New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 5936-5943. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ00254K.

NJC Aug IFC 2015 - Prof. Nabeshima

The inside cover, designed by Prof. Tatsuya Nabeshima (University of Tsukuba, Japan), illustrates a Letter article in which the authors focus on the photophysical and heavy metal cation sensing properties of a series of novel BODIPY derivatives. These, or similar compounds, might find application as tools for the detection of environmental polarity changes in biological samples, as well as for monitoring Hg2+ and Pb2+ contamination in such samples.

Biphenyl appended BODIPY derivatives showing combined environmental polarity and heavy metal cation sensing functionality
Gary James Richards, Yuki Gobo, Masaki Yamamura and Tatsuya Nabeshima.
New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 5886-5889. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ00611B.

Click here to read the full August issue.

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Origin of Life article in NJC highlighted in Chemistry World

The Chemistry World article Study probes role of chemical corruption in origin of life written by Heather Powell covers a recently published NJC article by Prof. Lindsey. Find out why using pure compounds might not always be the best strategy.

PrebioticChemistry_shutterstock_120155071_630m

You can also access the original article by Prof. Jonathan Lindsey (North Carolina State University) and his colleagues:

Complexity in structure-directed prebiotic chemistry. Effect of a defective competing reactant in tetrapyrrole formation
Richard M. Deans, Vanampally Chandrashaker, Masahiko Taniguchi and Jonathan S. Lindsey.
New J. Chem., 2015, Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ01474C.

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