Stop the breathing : As the organic bridging ligands become more elaborate and large, the resulting MOFs tend to experience significant framework distortion (i.e., breathing) upon solvent removal. Rigidification of MOFs that are built from elongated tetracarboxylate bridging ligands by unusual interlocking and interpenetration leads to highly porous and robust hybrid materials.
Active RNase glycoprotein from three pieces : The glycoprotein enzyme ribonuclease C, which contains a complex saccharide N‐glycan, was synthesized by sequential native chemical ligation. An optimized ligation and isolation protocol allowed the efficient assembly and refolding of the 124 amino acid enzyme.
Silica scaffolding : By employing functionalized mesoporous SBA‐15 silica, novel fluorescent cruciform‐silica hybrid materials are generated which preserve the desirable solution properties of cruciforms in the solid state for potential use in sensory schemes.
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
A reputation restored : Eligio Perucca (see photo) first observed the enantioselective adsorption of a racemic mixture to a chiral crystal (NaClO3) in Turin in 1919. However, this milestone in enantioselective chemistry and chiroptics went unnoticed. Identified previously as a coward who refused in 1941 to supervise the research of the budding stereochemist Primo Levi because of the race laws, Perucca was opposed to the fascist regime.
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.
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.
The true ground state of 1 is a matter of debate, but for clarity and convenience the allene resonance form 1 a , is the most appropriate. The arguments for aromaticity made by Christl and Engels are shown to be incorrect.
