NJC Blog

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.

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

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

Dr 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.

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

This 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.

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.

This month, the outside cover illustrates a paper written by Dr João Rocha (University of Aveiro, Portugal) and his three colleagues.

The authors have been interested in the design of new metal organic frameworks (MOFs) with Ln active sites for light-emitting devices. Recently, they have shown that post-synthetic modification of MOFs is an excellent route for preparing infrared and visible-light emitters. In this article, they wish to extend their studies to other linker modifications, in order to firmly establish the general character of this approach. Their method allows preservation of the original MOFs structure with the addition of new properties, combining the microporosity of the MOFs host and the functionality of lanthanide ions.

Engineering lanthanide-optical centres in IRMOF-3 by post-synthetic modification
Reda M. Abdelhameed, Luis D. Carlos, Artur M. S. Silva and João Rocha.
New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 4249-4258. DOI: 10.1039/C4NJ02382J.

Our inside cover is proposed by Professor Qin Wei (University of Jinan, China).

Professor Wei and his co-workers developed an electrochemiluminescent immunosensor based on CdS–Fe3O4 nanocomposites for the detection of Ochratoxin A. Their method provides a powerful avenue for the design of an ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescence detection method, showing great promise in food detection.

An electrochemiluminescent immunosensor based on CdS–Fe3O4 nanocomposite electrodes for the detection of Ochratoxin A
Xiaohui Lv, Yueyun Li, Tao Yan, Xuehui Pang, Lihua Hu, Bin Du and Qin Wei.
New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 4259-4264. DOI: 10.1039/C5NJ00320B.

Discover the full June issue here