Nature Chemistry Contents July 2013 Volume 5 Number 7 pp547-636

Advertisement Wondering where to publish your next paper? Frontiers is a community-oriented open-access publisher and research network. We are driving innovations around peer-review and a whole ecosystem of open science tools Be a part of the future of research publication TABLE OF CONTENTS July 2013 Volume 5, Issue 7 Thesis Research Highlights Blogroll News and Views Perspective Articles Corrigenda In Your Element Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement Nature Publishing Index 2012 Global The Nature Publishing Index (NPI) ranks institutions and countries according to the number of primary research articles they publish in the Nature family of journals in a one-year period. The Nature Publishing Index 2012 Global supplement provides league tables and commentary based on articles published between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2012. Where does your institution rank?   Thesis Top Salt of the Earth   pp547 - 548 Bruce C. Gibb doi:10.1038/nchem.1684 Chemical compounds are often taken for granted, argues Bruce Gibb, and the most underappreciated is one that we're all very familiar with. Research Highlights Top Atmospheric chemistry: Catalysis in the clouds | Cellular imaging: Buckets of binding | Polymer chemistry: Spotlight on synthesis | Pyroelectricity: Surface effects Blogroll Top Blogroll: Digital discourse   p551 Brandon Findlay doi:10.1038/nchem.1683 News and Views Top Radiation chemistry: Radical water   pp553 - 554 Lars G. M. Pettersson doi:10.1038/nchem.1686 Radiation of sufficient energy can knock out a tightly bound core-electron from the inner shell of a water molecule, leaving behind a short-lived, highly excited state. Now, through electron spectroscopy and theoretical simulations, these states have been observed to undergo previously unconsidered proton-mediated processes in solution. See also: Article by Thürmer et al. Reaction methodology: Speed dating for reactions   pp554 - 555 Ian Churcher doi:10.1038/nchem.1689 A simple method to investigate the functional group compatibility and scope of new reaction methodology could improve the speed with which it is adopted by end-users, and have benefits in many related areas of chemical research. See also: Article by Collins & Glorius Single-molecule magnets: Iron lines up   pp556 - 557 Eckhard Bill doi:10.1038/nchem.1687 For more than a decade, single-molecule magnets have relied on multinuclear transition metal clusters and lanthanide compounds. Now, a mononuclear, two-coordinate iron(i) complex has shown that single transition metals can compete with the lanthanides when certain design principles from magnetochemistry are borne in mind. See also: Article by Zadrozny et al. Polymer chemistry: Proteins in a pill   pp557 - 558 Heather D. Maynard doi:10.1038/nchem.1691 Protein drugs are important therapies for many different diseases, but very few can be administered orally. Now, a cationic dendronized polymer has been shown to stabilize a therapeutic protein for delivery to the gut. See also: Article by Fuhrmann et al. Chemistry JOBS of the week PhD positions in Materials Chemistry Liverpool University Faculty Positions The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Post Doctoral Associate Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute Research Investigator, Brown Fat Biology Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) Research Associate Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) More Science jobs from Chemistry EVENT Discovery Chemistry Congress 18.02.14 Barcelona, Spain More science events from Perspective Top Recent developments in the homogeneous reduction of dinitrogen by molybdenum and iron   pp559 - 565 K. Cory MacLeod and Patrick L. Holland doi:10.1038/nchem.1620 The reduction of N2 by iron and molybdenum complexes is a rapidly moving field. This Perspective discusses the key advances in the past two years. The recent discovery of carbide at the centre of the iron-molybdenum cofactor of nitrogenase is also described, along with the most compelling areas for continued research. Articles Top Studying the role of protein dynamics in an SN2 enzyme reaction using free-energy surfaces and solvent coordinates   pp566 - 571 Rafael García-Meseguer, Sergio Martí, J. Javier Ruiz-Pernía, Vicent Moliner and Iñaki Tuñón doi:10.1038/nchem.1660 The influence of protein motions on the chemical step of enzyme reactions is a contentious issue. Now, by constructing free-energy surfaces using an explicit solvent coordinate, it is shown that, although some structural flexibility is required, protein motions can be described as equilibrium fluctuations. Initiation of carbon nanotube growth by well-defined carbon nanorings   pp572 - 576 Haruka Omachi, Takuya Nakayama, Eri Takahashi, Yasutomo Segawa and Kenichiro Itami doi:10.1038/nchem.1655 Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are typically produced as a mixture of tubes with different diameters and sidewall structures — parameters that determine the optical and electronic properties of these materials. Now, it has been shown that discrete carbon nanorings can be used as templates to control the bottom-up growth of CNTs with a narrow distribution of diameters. Magnetic blocking in a linear iron(i) complex   pp577 - 581 Joseph M. Zadrozny, Dianne J. Xiao, Mihail Atanasov, Gary J. Long and Fernande Grandjean et al. doi:10.1038/nchem.1630 Mononuclear complexes of certain lanthanide ions are known to have large magnetization reversal barriers caused by strong spin–orbit coupling. Now, careful tuning of the ligand field of a transition metal complex has engendered a comparable spin-reversal barrier — and in turn magnetic blocking at 4.5 K. Chemical compounds See also: News and Views by Bill Sustained gastrointestinal activity of dendronized polymer–enzyme conjugates   pp582 - 589 Gregor Fuhrmann, Andrea Grotzky, Ružica Lukic, Simon Matoori and Paola Luciani et al. doi:10.1038/nchem.1675 Methods for stabilizing enzymatic activity in the gastrointestinal tract are rarely investigated because of the difficulty in protecting proteins from an environment that promotes their digestion. Now, functionally diverse polymers have been conjugated to therapeutic enzymes, which lead to a substantial enhancement of their in vivo activity in the gastrointestinal tract. See also: News and Views by Maynard On the nature and origin of dicationic, charge-separated species formed in liquid water on X-ray irradiation   pp590 - 596 Stephan Thürmer, Milan Ončák, Niklas Ottosson, Robert Seidel and Uwe Hergenhahn et al. doi:10.1038/nchem.1680 Previously unobserved types of reactive species formed on the core ionization of liquid water have been identified using a combination of liquid microjet photoemission spectroscopy and ab initio calculations. The charge-separated dicationic species are formed within a few femtoseconds, through proton-transfer-mediated processes followed by autoionization. See also: News and Views by Pettersson A robustness screen for the rapid assessment of chemical reactions   pp597 - 601 Karl D. Collins and Frank Glorius doi:10.1038/nchem.1669 For researchers to rapidly adopt new synthetic methodology, they need to gauge whether the reaction will work for their substrate — a point not easily conveyed by traditional screens of reaction scope. Here, a simple method is described to assess the likely scope and limitations of a chemical reaction beyond the idealized conditions initially reported. Chemical compounds See also: News and Views by Churcher Direct probe of spectral inhomogeneity reveals synthetic tunability of single-nanocrystal spectral linewidths   pp602 - 606 Jian Cui, Andrew P. Beyler, Lisa F. Marshall, Ou Chen and Daniel K. Harris et al. doi:10.1038/nchem.1654 The average single-nanocrystal spectral linewidth within an ensemble of nanocrystal emitters in solution can be directly and quantitatively measured using photon-correlation Fourier spectroscopy (S-PCFS). Variations in single-nanocrystal linewidths between batches are found to be significant and synthetically tunable, introducing new avenues for the optimization of nanocrystals for optical applications. Stereoretentive Pd-catalysed Stille cross-coupling reactions of secondary alkyl azastannatranes and aryl halides   pp607 - 612 Ling Li, Chao-Yuan Wang, Rongcai Huang and Mark R. Biscoe doi:10.1038/nchem.1652 A general method for the stereoretentive Pd-catalysed cross-coupling of secondary alkyl azastannatranes and aryl electrophiles is described. This work constitutes the first example of a stereoretentive cross-coupling reaction using an unactivated, isolable, optically active organometallic nucleophile. Chemical compounds Biomolecular robotics for chemomechanically driven guest delivery fuelled by intracellular ATP    pp613 - 620 Shuvendu Biswas, Kazushi Kinbara, Tatsuya Niwa, Hideki Taguchi and Noriyuki Ishii et al. doi:10.1038/nchem.1681 A tubular assembly based on barrel-shaped chaperonin protein mutants, held together through coordination to magnesium ions, has been devised that carries and delivers guests into cells. The hydrolysis of ATP — present in much higher concentration inside the cell than outside — induces a conformational change in chaperonin that in turn triggers the guest release. Detection of different oxidation states of individual manganese porphyrins during their reaction with oxygen at a solid/liquid interface   pp621 - 627 Duncan den Boer, Min Li, Thomas Habets, Patrizia Iavicoli and Alan E. Rowan et al. doi:10.1038/nchem.1667 A scanning tunnelling microscope has been used to image multistep chemical reactions at a solid/liquid interface with single-molecule resolution. On reacting Mn(iii) porphyrins with either O2 or a single oxygen donor, at least four distinct reaction intermediates and products were detected and their interconversion could be observed in real space and real time. A family of zeolites with controlled pore size prepared using a top-down method   pp628 - 633 Wieslaw J. Roth, Petr Nachtigall, Russell E. Morris, Paul S. Wheatley and Valerie R. Seymour et al. doi:10.1038/nchem.1662 The disassembly of a parent zeolite and its reassembly into two zeolites with targeted topologies is described. This process demonstrates that it is possible to target specific ring sizes in a zeolite by replacing one size of unit in the structure with alternative units of a different size. Corrigenda Top Enantioselective preparation and chemoselective cross-coupling of 1,1-diboron compounds   p634 Jack Chang Hung Lee, Robert McDonald and Dennis G. Hall doi:10.1038/nchem.1679 Simultaneous structure-activity studies and arming of natural products by C-H amination reveal cellular targets of eupalmerin acetate   p634 Jing Li, Justin S. Cisar, Cong-Ying Zhou, Brunilda Vera and Howard Williams et al. doi:10.1038/nchem.1685 Competition between model protocells driven by an encapsulated catalyst   p634 Katarzyna Adamala and Jack W. Szostak doi:10.1038/nchem.1700 In Your Element Top One flerovium atom at a time   p636 Peter Schwerdtfeger doi:10.1038/nchem.1688 The chemistry of element 114 seems to be in reach, yet Peter Schwerdtfeger cautions that we should expect the unexpected from this young element, which is so different to its lighter counterparts. 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