En route to molecular electronics : As extended, conjugated oligomers are desirable for molecular electronics, their electrical conductance should display a low attenuation factor. Zinc‐complexed oligo(ethynyleneporphyrindiylethynylene)s have been prepared that are distinguished by ultralow attenuation factors in single‐molecule conductance.
High‐de‐hydride! A straightforward reaction between a magnesium silylamido/N‐heterocyclic carbene adduct and phenylsilane provides a {Mg4H6} cluster molecule that may be regarded as a combination of two magnesium dihydride and two magnesium monohydride moieties.
Molecular Lego : Polyketides represent a highly diverse group of natural products with structurally intriguing carbon skeletons (see picture) which are assembled from simple acyl building blocks. A combination of chemical, biochemical, and genetics studies have provided exciting new insights into the programming of polyketide assembly and the sophisticated enzymatic machineries involved. This review highlights recent developments in the field.
The first ratiometric fluorescent probe for hypochlorite has been developed through regulation of the electron‐withdrawing ability of the electron acceptor in an intramolecular charge‐transfer (ICT) system by a deoximation reaction (see figure; EWG=electron‐withdrawing group).
A labor of love : The synthesis of an active pure enzyme (RNase) glycoform by the native chemical ligation of a (glyco)peptide and peptide thioester fragments required numerous painstaking steps: the strategy was optimized, active inteins accessed, redox conditions fine‐tuned, and glycoamino acid building blocks synthesized.
Regioselective, stereoselective : The convergent coupling of allylic alcohols with imines to deliver stereodefined homoallylic amines is described (see scheme). The process proceeds with net allylic transposition without the intermediacy of allylic organometallic reagents. Two stereodefined centers and a geometrically defined di‐ or trisubstituted alkene are forged with high selectivity.
Electrode‐dependent potential windows (see picture, GC=glassy carbon) are determined for five dialkylammonium carbamate (dialcarb) room‐temperature ionic liquids in a systematic study of their physical and electrochemical properties. The viscosity and conductivity of the dialcarb ionic liquids, which are “distillable” at low temperature, are comparable to those of some conventional room‐temperature ionic liquids.
Breaking barriers : In agreement with experimental evidence, it was found by means of high‐level DFT calculations that the Cr(CO)3 metal fragment considerably reduces the reaction energy barrier—for both the concerted and stepwise reaction mechanisms (see graphic)—of the Diels–Alder reaction of butadiene on (5,5) carbon nanotubes.
Hex nut : An emerging synthetic approach based on metal–organic coordination‐polymer templates has been used to fabricate micro‐ and nanoscale crystals. By using a diverse range of molecular building blocks coupled with conventional synthetic techniques, it is possible to synthesize ZnO crystals with tailored sizes, shapes (such as hexagonal rings; see figure), and surface properties.
