One Heck of a reaction : Treatment of arylboronic acids or aryltrifluoroborates with vinyl acetate by using a palladium(II) catalyst gives the corresponding styrenes (see scheme). No palladium reoxidant is needed and the vinylation is performed under non‐inert conditions
Recycling of “green” solvents : Recycling of ionic liquids with high efficiency is of key importance on going from the laboratory‐scale to large‐scale industrial application of these solvents.
Getting stuck in : A hydrophobic molecular rod with terminal fluorescent moieties has been synthesized. The insertion of the rod into membranes was investigated and shown to incorporate efficiently into model and biological membranes (see picture; gray C, blue N, red O). Those rods can be used as stable membrane‐associated anchors for functionalization of membrane surfaces.
Seeing is believing : In light of recent advances, the pros and cons of using electrons and X‐rays for in situ studies of catalysts are analyzed: by using X‐rays the structure of bound reactants at steady state are obtained from extended X‐ray adsorption fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS) data (see graph), thereby affording mechanistic insights.
Seven in one blow : The efficient formation of mixed disulfides on the thiol‐rich fusion protein A followed by subsequent intein cleavage gave the fragment B with all seven cysteines protected against oxidation. The native chemical ligation of B with synthetic glycopeptide thioesters provides glycoproteins.
No flame, no gain : A hypergolic mixture is composed of stable species that readily react/ignite on molecular contact. Both the anion and the cation in an ionic liquid play prominent roles in determining hypergolic properties as well as ignition delay times. With the 2,2‐dialkyltriazanium cation, salts with nitrate, chloride, nitrocyanamide, and dicyanamide anions are hypergolic.
Gal‐PUGNAc (see picture), a highly selective inhibitor for β‐hexosaminidases HEXA and HEXB is cell‐permeable and modulates the activity of HEXA and HEXB in tissue culture, increasing ganglioside GM2 levels. Gal‐PUGNAc should allow the role of these enzymes to be studied at the cellular level without generating a complex chemical phenotype from concomitant inhibition of O‐GlcNAcase.
Imprinting nanoparticles : Core‐shell bovine hemoglobin (BHb) imprinted magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with a mean diameter of 210 nm have been synthesized for the first time. The imprinted magnetic nanoparticles could easily reach the adsorption equilibrium and magnetic separation under an external magnetic field, thus avoiding problems related to the bulk polymer.
Clones on film : 7‐mer peptides that bind to azobenzene‐containing polymer films were selected from a phage library under visible light. Isolated clones showed greater affinities to the films under ultraviolet light than those under visible light. Furthermore, the peptide binding responds to the photoinduced isomerization of azobenzene groups.
Nanoantennas for ions : Silicon microcolumn arrays harvest light from a laser pulse to produce ions. The system behaves like a quasi‐periodic antenna array with ion yields that show profound dependence on the plane of polarization and the angle of incidence of the laser beam. Photonic ion sources promise to enable enhanced control of ion production on a micro‐ and nanometer scale and direct integration with miniaturized analytical devices.
Efficient route : A novel RhI‐catalyzed regio‐ and stereospecific carbonylation reaction of (1‐alkynyl)cyclopropyl ketones by selective activation of a carbon? carbon σ bond of the cyclopropane ring was demonstrated (see scheme). This method provides a general, efficient, stereoselective route to synthesise 1,3,5‐trisubstituted and 1,3,5,6‐tetrasubstituted 5,6‐dihydrocyclopenta[c]furan‐4‐one with convertible functional groups.
Shining metal cups : A luminescent tube of triangular cross‐section and stoppered by a silver ion (see picture: Re yellow, N blue, O red) is formed in two steps from commercial materials. The silver ion can be removed to give a tube, and both species are potential hosts for small ions and molecules; a change in luminescence is triggered by the encapsulation of silver.
Cohesion matters! The correlation between the conformational rigidity of the polyelectrolyte and the size and stability of the globular assembly is discussed in this review article. Some examples of models for the association of polyelectrolytes to globular assemblies are shown here.
In control : A new catalytic vinylogous Mukaiyama aldol reaction provides products with high diastereo‐ and enantioselectivities (up to 99 % de and ee; see scheme). The relative and absolute stereochemistry of a representative product was rigorously assigned by NMR and CD spectroscopies (measured and calculated), X‐ray diffraction, and quantum‐chemical calculations.
Shine a light with cyanates : A novel approach for the synthesis of urea complexes and homoleptic cyanates of alkaline earth metals and europium is described. The compounds have been fully characterized, including their magnetism and temperature‐dependent luminescence properties (see graphic).
Insensitive energetic salts : A series of furazan‐functionalized tetrazolate‐based energetic salts (see figure) were synthesized and characterized. All of the salts exhibit excellent thermal stabilities and high positive heats of formation.
W415 is a chiral smectic compound with a remarkably weak temperature dependence of its giant electroclinic effect in the liquid crystalline smectic A* phase. Furthermore it possesses a high spontaneous polarization in the smectic C* phase. The origin of this striking electroclinic effect is the co‐occurrence of a de Vries‐type ordering with a weak first‐order tilting transition (see the synchroton X‐ray scattering profiles).
