Aluminium speciation : Aluminium speciation in NTf2 ionic liquids has a strong influence on its electrodeposition from the liquid mixture. This work probed the nature of these species and proposes that the electroactive species involved are either [AlCl3(NTf2)]? or [AlCl2(NTf2)2]? (e.g., see figure).
High pressure under the spotlight : A new milliliter‐scale reactor is developed for using supercritical CO2 to perform continuous photo‐oxidation reactions. Changing from a traditional microliter‐scale batch reaction to 8 hours of reaction using the new reactor gives a 3000‐fold scale‐up of the oxidation of α‐terpinene (see picture).
A POM to remember : Hexanuclear FeIII polyoxometalate (POM) single‐molecule magnets (see structure) can be noncovalently assembled on the surface of single‐wall carbon nanotubes. Complementary characterization techniques (see TEM image and magnetic hysteresis loops) demonstrate the integrity and bistability of the individual molecules, which could be used to construct single‐molecule memory devices.
Broken‐symmetry DFT calculations on transition‐metal clusters with more than two centers allow the hyperfine coupling constants to be extracted. Application of the proposed theoretical scheme to a tetranuclear manganese complex that models the S2 state of the oxygen‐evolving complex of photosystem II yields hyperfine parameters that can be directly compared with experimental data. The picture shows the metal–oxo core of the model and the following parameters; exchange coupling constant Jij, the expectation value of the site‐spin operator , and the isotropic hyperfine coupling parameters.
The oriented attachment (OA) mechanism has been investigated as an important process in the formation of anisotropic nanostructures such as depicted. The results showed that the control of a desired phase in this system may be attained by the control of OA mechanism through pH value, obtaining several morphologies.
A pigment of your imagination : A range of polycrystalline solid solutions of a zinc‐rich Znx?1MnxO system (see figure) have been prepared and studied in terms of their colour, diffuse reflectance spectra, Mn valence state and electronic structure. The intense optical absorption arises from Mn2+ doping and is thought to be due to forbidden or partially forbidden transitions between the valence and the conduction band.
Breaking the molecular symmetry by protonation of germylene 1 is the key step in the synthesis of the germyliumylidene 2 , which is stabilized by an intramolecular interaction with a distant imido group.
Unprecedented direct zincation of toluene can be achieved by using a bimetallic base that bypasses the acidic methyl group and instead affords a statistical mixture of the meta and para deprotonated regioisomers (see scheme).
Pyridine attacks : Nucleophilic addition of pyridine derivatives to a doubly linked corrole, which is a stable singlet biradical species, occurs at the bay area with high regioselectivity to provide zwitterionic dimers (see picture; Ar=C6F5). Charge transfer between the anionic corrole and the pyridinium groups induces effective fluorescence quenching of the corrole dimer, which can be utilized for selective fluoride ion recognition.
A simple and scalable method is presented for harvesting, purification, and on‐chip processing of mammalian plasma membrane vesicles (PMVs) optimized for downstream proteome analysis. After immobilization on a microfluidic flowcell of PMVs, the embedded membrane proteins are proteolytically digested, and the peptides harvested and analyzed by LC‐MS/MS. Over 93 % of the detected proteins are plasma‐membrane‐derived.
Making circles with N and O : Cyclic tripeptides containing an unnatural Cα‐tetrasubstituted THF amino acid are prepared by copper(I) and palladium(0)‐catalyzed N‐ and O‐arylation reactions. The reactions give access to side chain‐modified derivatives of the unnatural amino acid and macrocyclic peptidomimetics.
Taking the air! A PdII‐catalyzed intramolecular hydroamination of allenes coupled to alcohol oxidation has been developed. This reaction is performed by using a nitrogen‐based ligand under aerobic conditions, under which the molecular oxygen is used as the terminal oxidant for the reoxidation of Pd0 species to complete the catalytic cycle.
All‐organic nanostructured host–guest materials (see picture) show enhanced, tunable fluorescence due to a high concentration of dyes with controlled spatial and geometrical organization that allows controlled resonant energy transfer. Homogeneous films of deoxycholic acid host–guests, provide coatings that convert near‐UV light into blue light with an efficiency higher than that of the standard polymeric blends.
A rationally designed oligomerization inhibitor interacts with early intermediate assemblies of amyloid‐β polypeptide (Aβ) through the aromatic elements and inhibits their assembly into the toxic oligomers that cause Alzheimer's disease by a unique Cα‐methylation β‐breakage strategy. The electrostatic potential of the low‐energy conformation of the dipeptide inhibitor bound to Aβ is shown.
Conjugated belts : [6.8]3cyclacene as the first hydrocarbon cyclacene was synthesized in a de novo strategy. Various [23]metacyclophanes are described as intermediates. The synthetic approach was extended to larger cyclacenes, and [24]metacyclophanes as precursors of [6.8]4cyclacene were synthesized.
