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.
Molecular organization : Chiral benzene tricarboxamides with methyl substituents at defined positions self‐assemble into supramolecular polymers of preferred helicity by three‐fold α‐helical‐type hydrogen bonding. The odd–even effect is operative and all derivatives are liquid crystalline showing a Colho phase (see figure).
Dramatic rate enhancement of reductive elimination of [Ar‐Pd‐C] was observed in the presence of a phosphine/electron‐deficient olefin ligand. Through systematic kinetic investigations of the Negishi coupling of ethyl 2‐iodobenzoate with alkylzinc chlorides (see scheme), the rate constants for reductive elimination of [Ar‐Pd‐C] were determined to be greater than 0.3 s?1, which is about four or five orders of magnitude greater than values reported previously.
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.
Two series of BODIPY dyes with substituents either in the α positions or in the β positions and different conjugation lengths were synthesized by means of iridium‐catalyzed borylation and rhodium‐catalyzed Heck‐type addition (see scheme). The α‐ and β‐substituted series show completely different photophysical properties. BODIPY=boron dipyrrin.
A limited number of poly(ethylene oxide)‐substituted perylene bisimides, some of which are equipped with terpyridine ligands for transition‐metal coordination (see structure), combine different types of noncovalent interactions to yield optoelectronically active organic materials with different types of supramolecular morphologies.
Bringing order : A new class of periodic mesoporous organosilicas (PMOs) with a urea‐bridged organosilica precursor under acid‐catalyzed and inorganic‐salt‐assisted conditions was obtained. The large‐pore hybrid materials have ordered mesostructure with uniform pore size distributions, which can be seen from the TEM images.
Round and round : Covalently bound spokes induce an efficient template‐directed cyclization towards a rigid molecular wheel (see figure) and afford dramatically increased shape‐persistence properties compared with non‐strutted macrocycles.
Fruity electrodes : A simple bottom‐up self‐assembly method was used to fabricate rambutan‐like tin–carbon (Sn@C) nanoarchitecture (see scheme, green Sn) to improve the reversible storage of lithium in tin. The mechanism of the growth of the pear‐like hairs is explored.
Different lights, different selectivies : Luminescence of a new guanidinium 3,3′‐functionalized bipyridyl–RuII complex has been studied for sensing of several anions. L ‐Glutamate and dihydrogenphosphate are both detected by photoluminescence and electrochemiluminescence. However, the complex displays differential selectivities for these anions depending on the sensing channels (see scheme).
The center of it all : An antitumor‐active trinuclear platinum complex forms unprecedented interstrand cross‐linked triadducts with 18‐mer DNA duplexes (see figure; complex in yellow with the platinum centers in red) and behaves differently from its dinuclear analogue.
A general solution : In situ synchrotron X‐ray scattering in a high‐pressure pulsed injection reactor (see picture) shows that magnetite nucleation and growth are temporally separated. Gram‐scale crystalline, pure phase, superparamagnetic magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized without surfactants in supercritical water in less than one hour using a laboratory‐scale continuous‐flow reactor.
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.
Click to view : Glycopolymers can be used to display glycans on microarrays in native‐like architectures. The structurally uniform alkyne‐terminated mucin mimetic glycopolymers (see picture; TR=fluorophore) were printed on azide‐functionalized chips by microcontact printing in the presence of a copper catalyst. The surface‐bound glycopolymers bind lectins in a ligand‐specific manner.
Don't cry! The attachment of ferrocene moieties on the surface of carbon nano‐onions influences the electrochemical properties of these moieties and the photophysical properties of the carbon nano‐onions (see figure). Quantum chemical calculations confirm that the spectral properties of carbon nano‐onions depend on their size and the degree of functionalisation.
Going through the phases : The title reaction was found to proceed by an initial base‐mediated isomerization to allenyl esters and subsequent phase transfer catalyzed alkylation at the α position of the ester (see scheme).
Phosphorus meets carbohydrates : Dimethyl phosphite reacts with ceric(IV) ammonium nitrate (CAN) to give phosphonyl radicals that add to glycals 1 . The derivatives 2 were isolated in high yields and during a subsequent Horner–Emmons reaction underwent an interesting elimination to give 3,6‐dihydro‐2H‐pyrans 3 . The short sequence with simple precursors is applicable to the transformation of hexoses, pentoses, and disaccharides. Bn=benzyl.
A trap that closes with a “click” : The copper‐catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition can occur in different G‐quadruplex structures (see scheme). The species trapped by the click reaction can then be separated and analyzed. By using this approach, a DNA–RNA hybrid‐type G‐quadruplex structure formed by human telomeric DNA and RNA sequences was detected.
Easy and direct : Regioselective Mizoroki–Heck‐coupling reactions using heteroaromatic tosylates as electrophiles were achieved, thus providing direct and easy access to highly functionalized α‐heteroarylvinyl amides and ethers.
