Special delivery! Polyionic complex (PIC) micelles that contain the charge‐conversional moieties citaconic amide or cis‐aconitic amide were developed for cytoplasmic protein delivery. The increase of the charge density on the protein cargo helped the stability of the PIC micelles without cross‐linking, and the charge‐conversion in endosomes induced the dissociation of the PIC micelles to result in efficient endosomal release (see picture).
Light aqueduct: Periodic mesoporous organosilica exhibits strong light absorption due to densely packed organic chromophores within the pore walls. Light energy absorbed by 125 biphenyl groups in the pore walls is funneled into a single coumarin 1 molecule in the mesochannels with almost 100 % quantum efficiency, and results in significant enhancement of emission from the coumarin 1 dye.
Confined in a molecular corral : A supramolecular network changes the mechanism by which underpotential deposition (UPD) of copper proceeds on a gold electrode modified by a self‐assembled monolayer (SAM). Lateral diffusion of Cu adatoms is suppressed between adjacent cells of a network/SAM hybrid structure. Instead, UPD occurs by direct deposition into the SAM filled pores of the network, where the Cu adatoms are confined.
Fully loaded : Noncovalent anchoring of liposomes into polymer multilayered films with cholesterol‐modified polymers allows the preparation of capsosomes—liposome‐compartmentalized polymer capsules (see picture). A quantitative enzymatic reaction confirmed the presence of active cargo within the capsosomes and was used to determine the number of subcompartments within this novel biomedical carrier system.
Double protection : Efficient Fmoc‐based solid‐phase synthesis (SPPS) of sulfotyrosine (sY) peptides is achieved by incorporating the sY residue(s) as a dichlorovinyl‐protected (DCV) sulfodiester(s) and using 2‐methylpiperidine for Fmoc removal. After removal of the other protecting groups, the DCV group could be cleaved by mild hydrogenolysis giving the sY peptides in good yield.
Let′s resolve our differences : Implementation of an enantioselective Michael addition followed by an intramolecular aldol reaction catalyzed by two phosphoric acids has enabled the synthesis of cyclohexenone derivatives with excellent enantioselectivities. Prominent kinetic resolution was observed in the latter reaction. Ar=aromatic group, X=H, halogen, Y=H, Me, halogen.
One stereocenter makes all the difference : The synthesis and biological evaluation of 17‐epi‐cortistatin A is reported from a common intermediate used to procure natural cortistatin A. The synthesis features a unique stereocontrolled Raney‐Ni reduction process that can be employed to reliably produce both α‐ and β‐configured D‐ring aryl steroids. Biological evaluations of these “cortalogs” are reported for the first time.
Guest‐love‐ometer : The equilibrium inside–outside atropisomeric ratio of ortho‐substituted phenyl cavitands shows a strong solvent dependence. The competition between the ortho‐substituent and the solvent guest for the bowl cavity leads to a sensitive system for the measurement of relative guest binding affinities.
Well concealed : 1,2‐oxazines such as 1 rearrange under Lewis acidic conditions to bicyclic products of type 2 , which can be incorporated into oligosaccharides as protected amino sugar equivalents. Subsequent reductive steps provide unusual oligosaccharides 3 having C2‐branched 4‐amino sugar units. Most of the reactions proceed with excellent stereocontrol and allow the synthesis of a collection of stereoisomers.
The fibril structure formed by the amyloidogenic fragment SNNFGAILSS of the human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) is determined with 0.52 Å resolution. Symmetry information contained in the easily obtainable resonance assignments from solid‐state NMR spectra (see picture), along with long‐range constraints, can be applied to uniquely identify the supramolecular organization of fibrils.
Supramolecular chirality and liquid crystalline OFET : Achiral end‐capped oligothiophenes can be tuned to exhibit supramolecular chirality with unique striped textures showing distinct circular dichroism signals as well as a highly ordered SmE phase that leads to high hole carrier mobility.
Prominent donors : A pyridyl, an imidazolyl, and a pyrazolyl donor function are part of the novel tripodal ligand depicted, which thus combines three of the most prominent donors applied in ligands for bioinorganic chemistry within one coordination unit. To exploit its behaviour and potential, first investigations have been carried out in relation to catechol dioxygenase mimicry.
