Functionalised AFM tip helps researchers see crude oil in a new dimension
Following on from their previous work on identifying the structures of asphaltenes, researchers from Switzerland, the US and Spain have proven that they can identify tetrahedrally co-ordinated carbon backbones in model asphaltene molecules, and distinguish them from their planar aromatic counterparts.
Read the full story by Philippa Matthews in Chemistry World.
Ortho-diethynylbenzene dianion is the strongest base ever made
Source: © Royal Society of Chemistry
The superbasic ortho-diethynylbenzene dianion (red) readily abstracts protons from many weak acids
The methyl anion H3C– was the strongest known base for 30 years, until Tian and colleagues made the lithium monoxide anion in 2008, which has held the record since. Now, scientists in Australia have knocked LiO– down to second place, making a gas-phase dianion with the highest basicity ever found.
Superbases with high proton affinities like n-butyl lithium and sodium hydride are fundamental to organic synthesis. Chemists use them to deprotonate weak acids – the weaker the acid, the stronger the base needed to deprotonate it.
Read the full story by Will Bergius in Chemistry World.
B L J Poad et al., Chem. Sci., 2016. DOI: 10.1039/c6sc01726f
On 28 November 2016, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Chemical Society Publications Division, ACS Publications, both signed the ORCID Open Letter committing to unambiguous identification of all authors that publish in our journals.
The official press release can be found here: http://rsc.li/orcid
In brief, this partnership with ORCID will resolve ambiguity in researcher identification caused by name changes, cultural differences in name presentation, and the inconsistent use of name abbreviations, thereby ensuring their contributions are appropriately recognized and credited.
Researchers in China have designed multi-talented materials with mix-and-match functionalities, such as shape memory, self-healing or colour changes, which can be triggered by stimuli such as heat, light or voltage.
Source: © Royal Society of Chemistry - The polymer can heal a scratch (top left) or hole (bottom left) within 10 seconds when exposed to light
Stimuli-responsive polymers adapt to environmental changes, making them useful for applications such as drug delivery systems that exploit differences in pH to direct medicines to the required organs or thermochromic coatings for windows reversibly tint the glass in response to temperature.
However, integrating responsivity to numerous stimuli in smart polymers ‘in particular when considering a simple and feasible synthetic route’, has been challenging, notes Patrick Théato, from the University of Hamburg, Germany, who wasn’t involved in this work.
Read the full article in Chemistry World >>>
Multi-stimuli responsive and multi-functional oligoaniline-modified vitrimers
Qiaomei Chen, Xiaowen Yu, Zhiqiang Pei, Yang Yang, Yen Wei and Yan Ji
Chem. Sci., 2016, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C6SC02855A, Edge Article
In celebration of Peer Review Week, with the theme of Recognition for Review, we would like to highlight the top 10 reviewers for Chemical Science in 2016, as selected by the editor for their significant contribution to the journal.
Top 10 Reviewers for Chemical Science:
– Professor Takashi Hisatomi – University of Tokyo, Japan
– Professor Jun Kubota – Fukuoka University, Japan
– Dr Thomas Snaddon – Indiana University, USA
– Professor Dr Frank Würthner – Universität Würzburg, Germany
– Professor Kazuhiko Maeda – Tokyo Institute of Technology , Japan
– Professor Stefan Matile – University of Geneva, Switzerland
– Professor Dr Gilles Gasser – University of Zurich, Switzerland
– Professor Jonathan Nitschke – University of Cambridge, UK
– Professor Atsushi Fukuoka – Hokkaido University, Japan
– Professor Chunhai Fan – Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, CAS, China
– Professor Juyoung Yoon – Ewha Womans University, Republic of Korea
We would like to say a massive thank you to these reviewers as well as the Chemical Science board and all of the chemistry community for their continued support of the journal, as authors, reviewers and readers.
Since Chemical Science was launched in 2010, we have been overwhelmed by the support of our global community. And with our latest Impact factor at 9.144, according to citation data released by Thomson Reuters in its 2015 Journal Citation Reports®, we are truly grateful to all of you – our authors, referees, readers, Associate Editors, and Editorial and Advisory Board members – for your enthusiastic support towards the journal’s success.
In less than six years, Chemical Science has grown and developed into one of the world’s leading chemistry journals, maintaining a strong and sustained impact, even as we saw significant growth in the number of articles published in recent years.
And having gone open access in 2015, it continues to be free to read, as well as free for authors to publish in – all publication charges continue to be waived. Therefore through Chemical Science your high-quality work can be freely read, with absolutely no barriers, by your peers and by researchers around the world.
We want our momentum to keep on building
With increasing submissions, this does mean that now – more than ever – it is essential that we publish only the best of the best, nothing less than the most exceptional science. For us, it’s all about quality and excellence, recognition and visibility, as we aim higher for the rest of 2016 and beyond.
We aim for Chemical Science to be the global home for cutting-edge solutions to today’s most pressing challenges, communicated worldwide, without barriers – will you join us as we move closer to our vision?
Then submit only your top-quality work to Chemical Science, and be a key part of the solution.
Top cited Chemical Science articles:
Perspectives and Minireviews
Evaluating metal–organic frameworks for natural gas storage
Jarad A. Mason, Mike Veenstra and Jeffrey R. Long
Chem. Sci., 2014, 5, 32-51
DOI: 10.1039/C3SC52633J, Perspective
Earth-abundant hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts
James R. McKone, Smaranda C. Marinescu, Bruce S. Brunschwig, Jay R. Winkler and Harry B. Gray
Chem. Sci., 2014, 5, 865-878
DOI: 10.1039/C3SC51711J, Minireview
Transition metal-catalyzed direct nucleophilic addition of C–H bonds to carbon–heteroatom double bonds
Xi-Sha Zhang, Kang Chen and Zhang-Jie Shi
Chem. Sci., 2014, 5, 2146-2159
DOI: 10.1039/C3SC53115E, Minireview
NKP-1339, the first ruthenium-based anticancer drug on the edge to clinical application
Robert Trondl, Petra Heffeter, Christian R. Kowol, Michael A. Jakupec, Walter Berger and Bernhard K. Keppler
Chem. Sci., 2014, 5, 2925-2932
DOI: 10.1039/C3SC53243G, Perspective
Edge articles
A dual emission fluorescent probe enables simultaneous detection of glutathione and cysteine/homocysteine
Xiao-Feng Yang, Qian Huang, Yaogang Zhong, Zheng Li, Hua Li, Mark Lowry, Jorge O. Escobedo and Robert M. Strongin
Chem. Sci., 2014, 5, 2177-2183
DOI: 10.1039/C4SC00308J, Edge Article
Sandmeyer trifluoromethylthiolation of arenediazonium salts with sodium thiocyanate and Ruppert–Prakash reagent
Grégory Danoun, Bilguun Bayarmagnai, Matthias F. Gruenberg and Lukas J. Goossen
Chem. Sci., 2014, 5, 1312-1316
DOI: 10.1039/C3SC53076K, Edge Article
Photoredox activation and anion binding catalysis in the dual catalytic enantioselective synthesis of β-amino esters
Giulia Bergonzini, Corinna S. Schindler, Carl-Johan Wallentin, Eric N. Jacobsen and Corey R. J. Stephenson
Chem. Sci., 2014, 5, 112-116
DOI: 10.1039/C3SC52265B, Edge Article
A pillar[5]arene/imidazolium [2]rotaxane: solvent- and thermo-driven molecular motions and supramolecular gel formation
Shengyi Dong, Jiayin Yuan and Feihe Huang
Chem. Sci., 2014, 5, 247-252
DOI: 10.1039/C3SC52481G, Edge Article
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. Data based on 2015 Journal Citation Reports®, (Thomson Reuters, 2016).
The 5th International Conference on Metal-Organic Frameworks & Open Framework Compounds (MOF 2016) is the premier conference on open framework materials, which represent a fast-growing new field of chemistry.
Held 11th-15th September 2016 in beautiful Long Beach, California, this year’s conference will provide a comprehensive overview of the latest research encompassing Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs), and recent additions to the field of nanoporous materials, such as molecular cage compounds.
Chemical Science and CrystEngComm proudly sponsor this conference, which will feature a number of lectures by both established researchers from across the globe and early-career scientists who are making recent, novel contributions. Contributed oral and poster presentations and a commercial exhibition will also add to the mix.
Mark your calendar today and register now!
Meet the team:
Dr Jeanne Andres (Deputy Editor of Chemical Science) will be attending the event. 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.
Scientists’ discovery that π electron repulsion is more important than previously thought might change our understanding of conjugation. The effect is behind peculiar irregularities in bond lengths and resonance energies of conjugated molecules that our textbooks cannot explain.
Conjugated molecules like 1,3-pentadiene have π electrons that are delocalised across several bonds. Conjugation lowers a molecule’s overall energy and makes it more stable. However, a few years ago, researchers from Long Island University, US, claimed that conjugation could actually destabilise some molecules. They calculated cyanogen (NC–CN) to be less stable than its non-conjugated analogue ethylenediamine (H2NCH2–CH2NH2). Many researchers have tried to disprove this, but so far, no one has been able to give a simple explanation for these apparently counterintuitive results.
Read the full article in Chemistry World>>>
It is just a few weeks until the International Symposia on Advancing the Chemical Sciences (ISACS) symposia take the series to Brazil for the first time.
Register by 1 September, 2015 to secure your place
We will have a lively programme discussing the current Challenges in Chemical Renewable Energy with researchers from across the globe, incuding:
James Durrant (Imperial College London, UK)
Eduardo Falabella (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and PETROBRAS, Brazil)
Marc Fontecave (Collège de France, France)
Hubert Girault (Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, Switzerland)
Ernesto R. Gonzalez (University of São Paulo, Brazil)
Daniel Nocera (Harvard University, USA)
Erwin Reisner (University of Cambridge, UK)
Keith Waldron (Institute of Food Research, UK)
Karen Wilson (Aston University, UK)
Check out the full provisional programme on our website.
*Students, take advantage of a generous discount: $80 for Royal Society of Chemistry/Brazilian Chemical Society members and $90 for non-members!*
Our hope is that delegates will be exposed to new areas of research, encouraging the cross fertilization of ideas. We look forward to seeing you in Brazil!
Professor Shankar Balasubramanian gives the opening talk at ISACS 16
From 15-18th June, the lecture theatre at ETH Zurich was almost full as delegates from 26 different countries gathered to hear the latest research in the field of Chemical Biology as we continued our series of International Symposia on Advancing the Chemical Sciences.
Across the 4 days of the conference we were treated to a diverse range of topics, from the very beginnings of life as we know it with John Sutherland to the latest diagnostic markers in various stages of clinical trials with Annette Beck-Sickinger, Yasuteru Urano and others. We also enjoyed various contributions on the latest synthetic developments to smooth the process of discoveries and heard about the latest natural product being identified and their potential applications.
Helma Wennemers (Scientific Committee Chair) and Heather Montgomery (Deputy Editor) present the Chemistry World poster prize to Oliver ThornSeshold
Eugenio Indrigo with his Chemical Science poster prize certificate
We were delighted to have an enthusiatic participation in our “flash” poster presentations (just three minutes each) and overall around 80 posters were displayed and discussed during the event.
The Chemical Science sponsored poster prize was won by Eugenio Indrigo (University of Edinburgh) for his poster on “Palladium mediated chemistry in living cells, while the Chemistry World poster prize (and associated mug!) was won by Oliver ThornSeshold (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich). Congratulations to them both!
Peng Chen is presented with the 2014 Chem Soc Rev Emerging Investigator lectureship
The final talk of the meeting was the 2014 Chem Soc Rev Emerging Investigator lecture, given by Prof. Peng Chen (Peking University) entitled “Exogenous chemistry for intracellular protein manipulations” and was an impressive overview of the exciting work being done in his lab.
We look forward to announcing the next installment of the ISACS conference series on the theme of Challenges in Chemical Biology in the near future…
Can’t wait to get involved? Find out about the ISACS symposia still to come this year:
ISACS 17: Challenges in Chemical Renewable Energy
8-11 September 2015, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Early bird registration deadline: 20 July 2015
ISACS 18: Challenges in Organic Materials and Supramolecular Chemistry
19-21 November 2015, Bangalore, India
Poster abstract deadline: 7 September 2015
