NJC Blog

Dr Sudeshna Chandra (NMIMS University, India) designed this month’s outside cover. It illustrates an article in which the authors propose a novel electrochemical immunosensor, based on a redox-active ferrocenyl dendrimer on a glassy carbon electrode, for the detection of cancer biomarkers.

Fabrication of a label-free electrochemical immunosensor using a redox active ferrocenyl dendrimer
Sudeshna Chandra, Christian Gäbler, Christian Schliebe, Heinrich Lang and Dhirendra Bahadur,  New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 9046-9053. DOI: 10.1039/C6NJ00830E.

The inside cover is proposed by Dr Raz Jelinek (Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel). According to Dr Jelinek and his co-workers, the analysis of artworks and identification of their molecular components is very important to choose proper conservation strategies and monitor their restoration. In their study the authors present an application of spin-coated polydiacetylene films for in situ colorimetric sensing of a selection of organic materials present in paintings. Their study shows that the polydiacetylene technology might open new analytical avenues in molecular analysis, in general, and more specifically for painting restoration and conversation science.

Colorimetric analysis of painting materials using polymer-supported polydiacetylene films
Alexander Trachtenberg, Orit Malka, Kaviya Parambath Kootery, Stella Beglaryan, Danilo Malferrari, Paola Galletti, Silvia Prati, Rocco Mazzeo, Emilio Tagliavini and  Raz Jelinek, New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 9054-9059. DOI: 10.1039/C6NJ02092E.

Also read the short Focus review by Dr Martín Labarca (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina). Dr Labarca addresses the problem of the status of the element of atomic number zero or “neutronium”. According to him, it is more cautious from both a scientific and a philosophical standpoint, to think of the neutron just as a structural component of an element.

An element of atomic number zero?
Martín Labarca, New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 9002-9006. DOI: 10.1039/C6NJ02076C.

Browse the full table of contents of the November issue to discover the other studies conducted by our authors here.

Prof. Noritaka Mizuno (The University of Tokyo, Japan) designed this month’s outside cover. It illustrates an NJC Letter in which Prof. Mizuno and his colleagues present for the first time the efficient catalytic desulfurization-oxygenation of secondary and tertiary thioamides into amides using O₂ as the terminal oxidant and water as the oxygen source. Their results show that various kinds of structurally diverse thioamides could be applied to this catalytic system. They use phosphovanadomolybdic acids, possessing both acidic and oxidation properties, the key to realizing this transformation as the efficient catalytic one.

Phosphovanadomolybdic acid catalyzed desulfurization–oxygenation of secondary and tertiary thioamides into amides using molecular oxygen as the terminal oxidant, Ning Xu, Xiongjie Jin, Kosuke Suzuki, Kazuya Yamaguchi and Noritaka Mizuno, New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 4865-4869. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ03579A.

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This month’s issue also features a Perspective review by Dr Radovan Šebesta (Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia) and his two co-workers, which focuses on a methodology affording diversely substituted chiral carbonyl compounds. Enamines, formed from the corresponding carbonyl compounds and appropriate chiral amine catalysts, can be oxidized to radical cation species. These radical cations can be intercepted by a range of SOMO-philic reagents, such as alkenes, arenes and some heteroatom-based reagents. They show that asymmetric singly occupied molecular orbital (SOMO) catalysis is a useful tool for enantioselective allylic alkylation, enolation, arylation, carbo-oxidation, vinylation, alkynylation, or intermolecular alkylation of carbonyl compounds, predominantly aldehydes. This new bond-forming methodology can find application in the construction of both natural products as well as medicinal agents.

Enantioselective organocatalysis using SOMO activation, Mária Mečiarová, Pavol Tisovský and Radovan Šebesta, New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 4855-4864. DOI: 10.1039/C6NJ00079G.

To browse the entire table of contents of the June issue, click here. And to sign up for the free e-alerts, so as not to miss a single issue of NJC, click here.

The first spring issue cover was designed by Prof. Ying Zhou (Southwest Petroleum University, China) to illustrate a study in which the authors stress the important role of hydrothermal treatment parameters for the oil remediation performance of the material.

The authors investigated the effects of various reducing agents with different temperatures and reaction times on the density, specific surface area, strength, morphology and adsorption performance of the prepared graphene aerogels. Their results provide hints to select a reducing agent to prepare a graphene aerogel for oil sorption.

Hydrothermal formation of graphene aerogel for oil sorption: the role of reducing agent, reaction time and temperature. Wenchao Wan, Fei Zhang, Shan Yu, Ruiyang Zhang and Ying Zhou, New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 3040-3046. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ03086B.

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NJC also invites you to read the two Perspective reviews in this month’s issue:

• Profs. Wen He and Xudong Zhang (Qilu University of Technology, China) and their co-workers focused their review of hybrid cathode materials on composites of LiFePO4 or Li3V2(PO4)3 with other lithium-metal compounds. They note the challenges still facing researchers to bring the understanding of these materials to the point where they can be used in lithium ion batteries.

Recent progress in hybrid cathode materials for lithium ion batteries. Chuanliang Wei, Wen He, Xudong Zhang, Jianxing Shen and Jingyun Ma, New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 2984-2999. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ02212F.

• In the second review, Prof. Moo Hwan Cho (Yeungnam University, South Korea) and his colleagues focus on the major developments in the synthesis of N-doped TiO₂ and its possible applications for the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants and environmental remediation under visible light irradiation.

Nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide (N-doped TiO2) for visible light photocatalysis. Sajid Ali Ansari, Mohammad Mansoob Khan, Mohd Omaish Ansari and Moo Hwan Cho, New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 3000-3009. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ03478G.

Access the full issue table of contents

Professor Alberto Marra (Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier, France) designed the outside cover of this month’s issue, based on the van Gogh painting The Mulberry Tree. In the accompanying Perspective article, Professor Marra and his co-workers review the different strategies developed to synthesize multivalent architectures, from the total synthesis of divalent iminosugars to the preparation of complex systems bearing twenty-five iminosugar units. They also compare the enzyme inhibitory properties of the various multivalent iminosugars prepared to date in order to infer the valence and the three-dimensional arrangement required for the most efficient inhibition activity.

Synthesis and biological properties of multivalent iminosugars
Renaud Zelli, Jean-François Longevial, Pascal Dumy and Alberto Marra
New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 5050-5074. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ00462D.

Access the full table of contents of this issue here

Dr Christer Aakeröy (Kansas State University, USA) designed the outside cover this month. In their article, Dr Aakeroy and his colleagues describe how a simple electrostatic view of hydrogen bonds can lead to predictable and highly site-specific molecular recognition events.

The deceptively simple act of molecular recognition is achieved by balancing a range of non-covalent forces, and the synthesis of more complex architectures requires a systematic and targeted application of hierarchical self-assembly. By addressing specific questions about how small molecules prefer to bind to each other, it may be possible to devise reproducible and reliable links between molecular structure and practical methodologies for directed non-covalent synthesis.

Molecular electrostatic potential dependent selectivity of hydrogen bonding, Christer B. Aakeröy, Tharanga K. Wijethunga and John Desper, New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 822-828. DOI: 10.1039/C4NJ01324G

The inside cover is proposed by Dr Gilles Gauthier (Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia) and co-workers to illustrate their study on the influence of the Mn precursor on the formation of polytypes.

The authors studied in detail the phenomenon and also prepared a new polytype using a specific chemical route. The results show that even small changes in the mean oxidation state of the transition metals can guide a synthesis route in different ways and lead to different polytypes.

Their work contributes to the understanding of the solid state reactivity, giving new insights in the synthesis of new compounds,  destined for magnetic materials and other applications.

Influence of the synthesis route on the formation of 12R/10H-polytypes and their magnetic properties within the Ba(Ce,Mn)O₃ family, Mario A. Macías, Olivier Mentré, Caroline Pirovano, Pascal Roussel, Silviu Colis and Gilles H. Gauthier, New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 829-835. DOI: 10.1039/C4NJ00798K

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This month’s issue also contains a Perspective review article on the structural development of simple molecular gelators from n-alkanes and the properties of the complex gels that they can form.

Systematic modifications of alkane-based molecular gelators and the consequences to the structures and properties of their gels, Michael A. Rogers and Richard G. Weiss, New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 785-79. DOI: 10.1039/C4NJ01439A

Also read the two Comments in which Professor Perrin and Professor Halevi debate the origin of secondary deuterium isotope effects.

Comment on “The role of electrostatic induction in secondary isotope effects on acidity” by E. A. Halevi, New J. Chem., 2014, 38, 3840, Charles L. Perrin, New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 1517-1521. DOI: 10.1039/C4NJ01887G

Reply to the ‘Comment on “The role of electrostatic induction in secondary isotope effects on acidity”’ by C. L. Perrin, New J. Chem., 2015, 39, DOI: 10.1039/C4NJ01887G, E. Amitai Halevi, New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 1522-1524. DOI: 10.1039/C4NJ02267J