No solo dancers: The temperature dependence of dielectric spectra suggests that the lower‐frequency relaxation dominating the dynamics of imidazolium‐based room temperature ionic liquids cannot be solely due to independent rotational diffusion of the cations (see picture), but must also include cooperative motions of the surrounding particles.
The fiveway junction : The synthesis of ligands with five symmetrically diverging binding sites is described and their assembly into large spherical structures (such as that shown here) investigated.
Just five steps! The synthesis of a phosphonate‐linked aminoglycoside‐coenzyme A derivative (see scheme) that includes a Michael addition in water has been realized in just five steps.
Ordered microporous carbon : The mechanism of an electrical double‐layer capacitor containing zeolite‐templated carbons as model microporous materials was investigated in detail (see figure). Its three‐dimensionally ordered and connected micropores were found to greatly reduce ion‐transfer resistance and, therefore, exhibited a high rate performance.
Pd 0 does the trick! Alkenyl silanes are efficiently cyclopropanated by diazoalkanes at low Pd loadings (see scheme). Clear evidence for the involvement of a Pd0 resting state for this reaction is given.
Towards polythiophene polyrotaxanes : The β‐substituted terthiophene [2]rotaxanes have been synthesized (see figure). Basic optical and electrochemical properties of the synthesized [2]rotaxanes are also reported.
Skillfully attached! meso–meso‐Linked diporphyrins can be efficiently and selectively functionalized with multiple unsaturated carboxylic acid groups through iridium and rhodium catalyses. This post‐modification strategy allows fine‐tuning of energy levels of each porphyrin unit.
Confined, but happy : The triflate salt of a germanium(II) dication, an atomic cation of a nonmetal, was isolated by encapsulation in [2.2.2]cryptand (see formula and molecular structure in the crystal). The cryptand satisfies the electron demand of the cation and sterically protects it (see space‐filling depiction, right).
The light‐induced formation of a covalent bond between an alkene group and a tetrazole moiety has been used for the selective labeling of proteins in vitro and in live cells. This bioorthogonal ligation initiated by brief irradiation with UV light leads to a fluorescent pyrazoline adduct (see scheme).
Finding a clear route to new structures : The design of an adaptable time warping (ATW) methodology (see figure) for automatically, quickly, and reliably deciphering X‐ray diffraction patterns is described.
A reaction with many facets : The facile dehydrogenative synthesis of a borylene complex (left in scheme) from a dihydroborane (right), proceeds reversibly at room‐temperature. The implications of this reaction for the fields of inorganic, main‐group, and hydrogen‐storage chemistry are covered in this Highlight.
A short chemoenzymatic formal synthesis of oseltamivir from ethyl benzoate has been achieved. The key steps involve a toluene dioxygenase‐mediated dihydroxylation, hetero‐Diels–Alder cycloaddition, and generation of C4 acetamido functionality. The formal synthesis of oseltamivir is achieved in ten steps and incorporates a unique translocation of the olefin with concomitant elimination of the C2 hydroxy group (see scheme).
Protein roll call : Peptide‐based building blocks, in which both an α‐helix‐forming segment and a β‐sheet segment are located within a single macrocyclic structure, self‐assemble into α‐helix‐decorated artificial proteins. This approach provides a starting point for developing artificial proteins that can modulate α‐helix‐mediated interactions occurring in a multivalent fashion.
Anisotropy counts: A brief review of the main physical properties of elongated magnetic particles (EMPs) is presented. The most important characteristic of an EMP is the additional contribution of shape anisotropy to the total anisotropy energy of the particle, when compared to spherical magnetic particles. The electron micrograph shows Ni‐ferrite microrods fabricated by the authors.
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
