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ChemSci Pick of the Week video abstracts

14 Feb 2019

We’ve produced video abstracts for our latest two ChemSci Pick of the Week articles! Check them out below – we hope you enjoy watching them!

Catalytic asymmetric allylation of aldehydes with alkenes through allylic C(sp³)–H functionalization mediated by organophotoredox and chiral chromium hybrid catalysis

Harunobu Mitsunuma, Shun Tanabe, Hiromu Fuse, Kei Ohkubo and Motomu Kanai

DOI:10.1039/C8SC05677C

An Al-doped SrTiO₃ photocatalyst maintaining sunlight-driven overall water splitting activity for over 1000 h of constant illumination

Hao Lyu, Takashi Hisatomi, Yosuke Goto, Masaaki Yoshida, Tomohiro Higashi, Masao Katayama, Tsuyoshi Takata, Tsutomu Minegishi, Hiroshi Nishiyama, Taro Yamada, Yoshihisa Sakata, Kiyotaka Asakura and Kazunari Domen

DOI:10.1039/C8SC05757E

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Chemical Science prize winner at IPEROP19

08 Feb 2019

Chemical Science, Sustainable Energy & Fuels, and Energy & Environmental Science were delighted to recently support the Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics (IPEROP19) conference that took place in Kyoto, Japan from 28-29^th January 2019. On behalf of the Royal Society of Chemistry, we would like to congratulate the following prize winners who won a £200 book voucher each. A particular mention to the Chemical Science winner, Chieh-Ting Lin of Professor James Durrant’s group at Imperial College London:

Chemical Science winner: Lin, Chieh-Ting (Imperial College London)
“Probing the Enhanced Stability Against Oxygen Induced Photodegradation by Selection of Transport Layer and Defect Passivation”

Energy & Environmental Science winner: Yamaguchi, Mayu (Waseda University)
“Perovskite Precursor Solution Tuned with Polymer Addition for Effective Formation of the Photovoltaic Layer”

James Durrant (Sustainable Energy & Fuels Editor-in-Chief), Mayu Yamaguchi, Juan Bisquert (Energy & Environmental Science and Sustainable Energy & Fuels Advisory Board member)

Sustainable Energy & Fuels winner Mantulnikovs, Konstantins (EPFL)
“Differential Response of the Photoluminescence and Photocurrent of Polycrystalline CH3NH3PbI3 and CH3NH3PbBr3 to the Exposure to Oxygen and Nitrogen”

Juan Bisquert (Energy & Environmental Science and Sustainable Energy & Fuels Advisory Board member), James Durrant (Sustainable Energy & Fuels Editor-in-Chief), Konstantins Mantulnikovs, Hideo Ohkita and Atsushi Wakamiya

Awards presented by James Durrant, Editor-in-Chief of Sustainable Energy & Fuels

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Toshiharu Teranishi joins Chemical Science as an Associate Editor

31 Jan 2019

We are delighted to announce that Professor Toshiharu Teranishi has joined Chemical Science as our newest Associate Editor.

Professor Teranishi is a Professor at the Institute for Chemical Research at Kyoto University. He received his PhD from The University of Tokyo under the direction of Prof. Naoki Toshima in 1994, and spent seven and a half years at Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology as an Assistant Professor and an Associate Professor. In 2004, he moved to University of Tsukuba as a Full Professor, and moved to Kyoto University in 2011. He is a vice president of the Society of Nano Science and Technology, Japan, and an associate member of Science Council of Japan.

His current research interests include the precise structural control of inorganic nanomaterials and structure-specific functions for high-performance devices and photo-energy conversion and welcomes submissions in these areas.

Toshiharu has selected 5 fantastic Chemical Science articles that he would like to share with you. We hope you enjoy reading them!

Perspective

Plasmon-induced charge separation: chemistry and wide applications
Tetsu Tatsuma, Hiroyasu Nishi and Takuya Ishida
Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 3325-3337
DOI: 10.1039/C7SC00031F

Edge Articles

Bio-inspired design: bulk iron–nickel sulfide allows for efficient solvent-dependent CO2 reduction
Stefan Piontek, Kai junge Puring, Daniel Siegmund, Mathias Smialkowski, Ilya Sinev, David Tetzlaff, Beatriz Roldan Cuenya and Ulf-Peter Apfel
Chem. Sci., 2019, 10, 1075-1081
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC03555E

Understanding the visible-light photocatalytic activity of GaN:ZnO solid solution: the role of Rh2−yCryO3 cocatalyst and charge carrier lifetimes over tens of seconds
Robert Godin, Takashi Hisatomi, Kazunari Domen and James R. Durrant
Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 7546-7555
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC02348D

Efficient cleavage of aryl ether C–O linkages by Rh–Ni and Ru–Ni nanoscale catalysts operating in water
Safak Bulut, Sviatlana Siankevich, Antoine P. van Muyden, Duncan T. L. Alexander, Georgios Savoglidis, Jiaguang Zhang, Vassily Hatzimanikatis, Ning Yan and Paul J. Dyson
Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 5530-5535
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC00742J

Visualizing the bidirectional electron transfer in a Schottky junction consisting of single CdS nanoparticles and a planar gold film
Zhimin Li, Yimin Fang, Yongjie Wang, Yingyan Jiang, Tao Liu and Wei Wang
Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 5019-5023
DOI: 10.1039/C7SC00990A

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Infographics – ChemSci Pick of the Week

30 Jan 2019

As part of our ChemSci Pick of the Week scheme, two of our newest Picks now come with handy infographics! Check them out below:

Hollow nanoreactors for Pd-catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura coupling and O-propargyl cleavage reactions in bio-relevant aqueous media

Paolo Destito, Ana Sousa-Castillo, José R. Couceiro, Fernando López, Miguel A. Correa-Duarte and José L. Mascareñas

10.1039/C8SC04390F

A Molecular Picture of Surface Interactions of Organic Compounds on Prevalent Indoor Surfaces: Limonene Adsorption on SiO₂

Yuan Fang, Pascale Lakey, Saleh Riahi, Andrew McDonald, Mona Shrestha, Douglas J Tobias, Manabu Shiraiwa and Vicki Grassian

10.1039/C8SC05560B

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HOT Chemical Science articles for October

07 Nov 2018

We are happy to present a selection of our HOT articles over the past month. To see all of our HOT referee-recommended articles from 2018, please find the collection here.

As always, Chemical Science articles are free to access.

Enhanced annihilation electrochemiluminescence by nanofluidic confinement
Hanan Al-Kutubi, Silvia Voci, Liza Rassaei, Neso Sojic and Klaus Mathwig
Chem. Sci., 2018, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC03209B, Edge Article

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Mechanistic investigation into the C(sp3)–H acetoxylation of morpholinones
Cornelia S. Buettner, Darren Willcox, Ben. G. N. Chappell and Matthew J. Gaunt
Chem. Sci., 2018, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC03434F, Edge Article

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Ir(III)-catalyzed ortho C–H alkylations of (hetero)aromatic aldehydes using alkyl boron reagents
Xiao-Yang Chen and Erik J. Sorensen
Chem. Sci., 2018, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC03606C, Edge Article

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Direct observation of the intermediate in an ultrafast isomerization
Tyler M. Porter, Jiaxi Wang, Yingmin Li, Bo Xiang, Catherine Salsman, Joel S. Miller, Wei Xiong and Clifford P. Kubiak
Chem. Sci., 2018, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC03258K, Edge Article

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Structural control of polyelectrolyte/microemulsion droplet complexes (PEMECs) with different polyacrylates
Miriam Simon, Patrick Krause, Leonardo Chiappisi, Laurence Noirez and Michael Gradzielski
Chem. Sci., 2019, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC04013C, Edge Article

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Reversibility and reactivity in an acid catalyzed cyclocondensation to give furanochromanes – a reaction at the ‘oxonium-Prins’ vs. ‘ortho-quinone methide cycloaddition’ mechanistic nexus
Christian D.-T. Nielsen, Wouter J. Mooij, David Sale, Henry S. Rzepa, Jordi Burés and Alan C. Spivey
Chem. Sci., 2018, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC04302G, Edge Article

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Mutant Enzymes and Frankenstein Catalysts

04 Oct 2018

I know what you’re thinking: “Autumn is here! Who needs sunny weather and optimism? Sign me up for grey skies and vitamin D supplements!”. Oh you weren’t thinking that? Me neither. Well perhaps Halloween gives you more joy, along with the chance to see one of your colleagues dressed up like Freddy Mercury (‘Hg’ emblazoned on their chest, classic) at the departmental party?

In the spirit of Halloween, Simone Morra and Anca Pordea at the University of Nottingham have synthesized a mutant alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme turned Frankenstein catalyst, by replacing the zinc catalytic site with a covalently-bound rhodium(III) complex. The resulting mutant/transition-metal composite was used in combination with the wild-type enzyme to synthesize the chiral alcohol (S)-4-phenyl-2-butanol.

Like many hybrid systems, the purpose of combining enzymatic with transition metal catalysis is to take advantage of the benefits of each. Millions of years of evolution have produced enzymatic catalysts that function under mild conditions, in aqueous solvents, with impressive selectivity and high catalytic efficiency. But the narrow range of conditions that enzymes operate under can be disadvantageous in a synthetic setting. On the other hand, transition metal catalysts are versatile and can be easily customised, reacting with a liberty that would make the most promiscuous of enzymes blush.

Unfortunately, developing multi-component systems that utilise both transition metal and enzymatic catalysis is not as simple as combining them in a single mixture, as mutual deactivation often results. The authors found that encasing the transition metal complex in an enzyme provided a physical shield against inhibition, and preserved the activity of both the wild type enzyme and the rhodium(III) complex.

Synthesis of chiral alcohols via two interconnected cycles: the wild type enzyme (native ADH) reduces the ketone to the alcohol using NADPH as a reducing agent. NADPH is regenerated using the mutant enzyme containing a rhodium active site (chemically modified ADH) with formic acid as the terminal reductant. Alcohol dehydrogenase

Synthesis of chiral alcohols via two interconnected cycles: the wild type enzyme (native ADH) reduces the ketone using NADPH as a reducing agent. NADPH is regenerated by the mutant enzyme containing a catalytically-active rhodium complex (chemically modified ADH) with formic acid as the terminal reductant.

Two interconnected catalytic cycles were responsible for synthesis of the chiral alcohol. In the first, the wild type enzyme effected reduction of 4-phenyl-2-butanol, a process that relies on the biological reductant nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH). In the second cycle, NADPH was recycled using the composite rhodium(III) complex/mutant enzyme, with formic acid as the stoichiometric reductant. The rate of alcohol formation was slow (turnover frequency of 0.02 s^-1) and the transition-metal catalysed process was deemed to be rate limiting (compare to turnover frequencies of 4.8 s^-1for enzymatic systems). However, near perfect enantioselectivity was obtained (>99% ee).

This research demonstrates one way that transition metal catalysts can augment the scope of co-factor-dependent enzymes. Furthermore, devising strategies to prepare metal-complex/enzyme bioconjugates might have value for small molecule synthesis due to the second coordination sphere that enzymes offer; an encased steric environment to guide the reaction outcome is a valuable approach to improving selectivity in catalytic reactions.

To find out more please read:

Biocatalyst-artifical metalloenzyme cascade based on alcohol dehydrogenase

Simone Morra, Anca Pordea.
Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 7447-7454
DOI: 10.1039/c8sc02371a

About the author

Zoë Hearne is a PhD candidate in chemistry at McGill University in Montréal, Canada, under the supervision of Professor Chao-Jun Li. She hails from Canberra, Australia, where she completed her undergraduate degree. Her current research focuses on transition metal catalysis to effect novel transformations, and out of the lab she is an enthusiastic chemistry tutor and science communicator.

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HOT Chemical Science articles for September

04 Oct 2018

We are happy to present a selection of our HOT articles over the past month. To see all of our HOT referee-recommended articles from 2018, please find the collection here.

As always, Chemical Science articles are free to access.

Selective and catalytic carbon dioxide and heteroallene activation mediated by cerium N-heterocyclic carbene complexes
Polly Louise Arnold, Ryan Kerr, Catherine Weetman, Scott Doherty, Julia Rieb, Kai Wang, Christian Jandl, Max McMullon, Alexander Pöthig, Fritz Elmar Kühn and Andrew D Smith
Chem. Sci., 2018, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC03312A, Edge Article

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Ratiometric fluorescent probes for capturing endogenous hypochlorous acid in the lungs of mice
Xinfu Zhang, Weiyu Zhao, Bin Li, Wenqing Li, Chengxiang Zhang, Xucheng Hou, Justin Jiang and Yizhou Dong
Chem. Sci., 2018, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC03226B, Edge Article

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Surprising solvent-induced structural rearrangements in large [N⋯I+⋯N] halogen-bonded supramolecular capsules: an ion mobility-mass spectrometry study
Ulrike Warzok, Mateusz Marianski, Waldemar Hoffmann, Lotta Turunen, Kari Rissanen, Kevin Pagel and Christoph A. Schalley
Chem. Sci., 2018, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC03040E, Edge Article

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Advanced microRNA-based cancer diagnostics using amplified time-gated FRET
Xue Qiu, Jingyue Xu, Jiajia Guo, Akram Yahia-Ammar, Nikiforos-Ioannis Kapetanakis, Isabelle Duroux-Richard, Julia J. Unterluggauer, Nicole Golob-Schwarzl, Christophe Regeard, Catherine Uzan, Sébastien Gouy, Michael DuBow, Johannes Haybaeck, Florence Apparailly, Pierre Busson and Niko Hildebrandt
Chem. Sci., 2018, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC03121E, Edge Article

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Atomic structure of boron resolved using machine learning and global sampling
Si-Da Huang, Cheng Shang, Pei-Lin Kang and Zhi-Pan Liu
Chem. Sci., 2018, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC03427C, Edge Article

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Spontaneous growth of 2D coordination polymers on functionalized ferromagnetic surfaces
Michele Mattera, Víctor Rubio-Giménez, Sophie Delprat, Richard Mattana, Pierre Seneor, Sergio Tatay, Alicia Forment-Aliaga and Eugenio Coronado
Chem. Sci., 2018, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC03067G, Edge Article

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TPCB Symposium poster prize winner

18 Sep 2018

The 14th Annual Tri-Institutional Chemical Biology Symposium took place on 11th September at The Rockefeller University in New York. The Symposium was a great success and we look forward to supporting it again next year.

The winner of the Chemical Science poster prize was Chen Chen, pictured below. Congratulations to Chen!

You can keep up to date with the plans for 2019 by following the TPCB website here.

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EuroBIC 14

10 Sep 2018

This August saw the occasion of the 14th European Biological Inorganic Chemistry Conference (EuroBIC), held at the University of Birmingham in the UK. With an excellent line up of internationally renowned plenary and keynote speakers the event was a huge success, attracting around 400 attendees.

The Royal Society of Chemistry was pleased to support the event, offering poster prizes of books and book vouchers. The winners of RSC vouchers were:

Raul Berrocal-Martin (University of Glasgow) – Dalton Transactions Poster Prize
Wilma Neumann (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) – Metallomics Poster Prize
Ying Zhou (University of Hong Kong) – ChemComm Poster Prize
Leon Jenner (University of East Anglia) – Chemical Science Poster Prize

The following presenters also won the RSC Highly Commended Poster Awards:

Gloria Vigueras Bautista (University of Murcia)
Nicolai Burzlaff (Friedrich-Alexander University)
Samya Banerjee (University of Warwick)
Riccardo Bonsignore (Cardiff University)
Philip Ash (University of Oxford)

Dalton Transactions associate editor Nils Metzler-Nolte (Ruhr-Universität Bochum) and Chemical Science assistant editor William King were on hand to award the prizes.


Raul Berrocal-Martin (left) receiving the Dalton Transactions prize from Nils Metzler-Nolte (right)	Ying Zhou (left) receiving the ChemComm prize from Nils Metzler-Nolte (right)

Leon Jenner (left) receiving the Chemical Science prize from William King (right)	Gloria Vigueras Bautista (left) receiving a Highly Commended Poster Prize from William King (right)

Riccardo Bonsignore (left) receiving a Highly Commended Poster Prize from William King (right)	Philip Ash (left) receiving a Highly Commended Poster Prize from William King (right)

The RSC offers a hearty congratulations to all poster prize winners!

Next year the 19th International Conference on Biological Inorganic Chemistry (ICBIC 19) will be held in Interlaken, Switzerland – August 11th to 16th. The next European Biological Inorganic Chemistry Conference (EuroBIC 15) will be held in Reykjavik, Iceland, in August 2020.

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HOT Chemical Science articles for August

05 Sep 2018

We are happy to present a selection of our HOT articles over the past month. To see all of our HOT referee-recommended articles from 2018, please find the collection here.

As always, Chemical Science articles are free to access.

Conformational selectivity and high-affinity binding in the complexation of N-phenyl amides in water by a phenyl extended calix[4]pyrrole
L. Escobar, A. Díaz-Moscoso and P. Ballester
Chem. Sci., 2018, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC03034K, Edge Article

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ZrMOF nanoparticles as quenchers to conjugate DNA aptamers for target-induced bioimaging and photodynamic therapy
Yuan Liu, Weijia Hou, Lian Xia, Cheng Cui, Shuo Wan, Ying Jiang, Yu Yang, Qiong Wu, Liping Qiu and Weihong Tan
Chem. Sci., 2018, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C8SC02210K, Edge Article