Nature Chemistry Contents September 2016 Volume 8 Number 8 pp 817 - 896

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Advertisement Solve our challenge and win $200,000.  Identify novel small molecules that bind glucose and improve diabetes treatments. Visit our challenge here. TABLE OF CONTENTS September 2016 Volume 8, Issue 9 Thesis News and Views Articles In Your Element Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement npj Clean Water: open for submissions  An open access, online-only journal, dedicated to publishing high-quality papers that describe the significant and cutting-edge research that continues to ensure the supply of clean water to populations. Explore the benefits of submitting your next manuscript.   Advertisement npj Materials Degradation is a new open access journal that is now open for submissions. The journal publishes the finest content describing basic and applied research discoveries in the area of corrosion (degradation) and protection of materials.  Sign up for article e-alerts   Thesis Top A chemist's legacy   pp817 - 818 Malte C. Ebach doi:10.1038/nchem.2599 Although Friedrich Stromeyer is best remembered for writing one of the founding works in plant geography — the forerunner to modern-day biogeography — his contributions to chemistry should not be underestimated, argues Malte C. Ebach. News and Views Top Organometallic chemistry: Fused ferrocenes come full circle   pp819 - 820 Rebecca A. Musgrave and Ian Manners doi:10.1038/nchem.2584 Chemists have long been fascinated by electron delocalization, from both a fundamental and applied perspective. Macrocyclic oligomers containing fused ferrocenes provide a new structural framework — containing strongly interacting metal centres — that is capable of supporting substantial charge delocalization. See also: Article by Inkpen et al. Density functional theory: Fixing Jacob's ladder   pp820 - 821 Roberto Car doi:10.1038/nchem.2605 Density functional theory calculations can be carried out with different levels of accuracy, forming a hierarchy that is often represented by the rungs of a ladder. Now a new method has been developed that significantly improves the accuracy of the 'third rung' when calculating the properties of diversely bonded systems. See also: Article by Sun et al. C-H fluorination: U can fluorinate unactivated bonds   pp822 - 823 Constanze N. Neumann and Tobias Ritter doi:10.1038/nchem.2604 Introducing C-F bonds into organic molecules is a challenging task, particularly through C-H activation methods. Now, a uranium-based photocatalyst turns traditional selectivity rules on their heads and fluorinates unfunctionalized alkane Csp3-H bonds, even in the presence of C-H bonds that are typically more reactive. Enzyme design: Functional Frankensteins   pp823 - 824 Olga V. Makhlynets and Ivan V. Korendovych doi:10.1038/nchem.2603 An artificial esterase with no known natural structural analogues has been formed via the homo-heptameric self-assembly of a designed peptide. This esterase represents the first report of a functional catalytic triad rationally engineered into a de novo protein framework. See also: Article by Burton et al. Chemistry JOBS of the week Chemistry and Biochemistry Brigham Young University Head of Department (Professor of Chemistry) The University of Warwick Assistant Professor of Chemistry University of Texas at Austin Faculty Positions in Chemistry Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) More Science jobs from Chemistry EVENT Molecular Imaging and Chemistry: Defining the Future 22nd - 23rd March 2017 Buckinghamshire, UK More science events from Advertisement Ever see that cool science mug or shirt in the lab and wonder, "where do I get those?" Finally a place where you can pick up all these great nerdy and geeky gifts, labratgifts.com! It's the world's largest science-themed e-store and we're celebrating by giving you 20% off your order! Just use the code 'nature20' at checkout!   Articles Top Oligomeric ferrocene rings   pp825 - 830 Michael S. Inkpen, Stefan Scheerer, Michael Linseis, Andrew J. P. White, Rainer F. Winter et al. doi:10.1038/nchem.2553 Cyclic molecules often exhibit unusual properties; consider for example the resonance stabilization energy of benzene or the strong cation binding of crown ethers. Now, a family of rings comprising varying numbers of directly linked ferrocenes has been prepared. These compounds are highly symmetric in solution and undergo rapid ‘oxidation-state isomerism’ when charged. Chemical compounds See also: News and Views by Musgrave & Manners Accurate first-principles structures and energies of diversely bonded systems from an efficient density functional   pp831 - 836 Jianwei Sun, Richard C. Remsing, Yubo Zhang, Zhaoru Sun, Adrienn Ruzsinszky et al. doi:10.1038/nchem.2535 Whether a molecule or material can exist, and with what structures and energies, is of critical importance. For demanding calculations the efficiency of density functional theory makes it the only practical electronic structure theory available to help answer these questions. Now, an efficient density functional is shown to have unprecedented accuracy for a diverse set of bonded systems. See also: News and Views by Car Installing hydrolytic activity into a completely de novo protein framework   pp837 - 844 Antony J. Burton, Andrew R. Thomson, William M. Dawson, R. Leo Brady and Derek N. Woolfson doi:10.1038/nchem.2555 Functional catalytic triads have been designed into a hyperstable heptameric α-helical barrel protein. Twenty-one mutations were introduced to form seven Cys-His-Glu catalytic triads. The resulting protein hydrolyses p-nitrophenyl acetate with activities matching the most-efficient redesigned hydrolases based on natural protein scaffolds. This is the first example of a functional catalytic triad being engineered into a fully de novo protein. See also: News and Views by Makhlynets & Korendovych Self-assembled molecular p/n junctions for applications in dye-sensitized solar energy conversion   pp845 - 852 Byron H. Farnum, Kyung-Ryang Wee and Thomas J. Meyer doi:10.1038/nchem.2536 A primary objective in solar energy conversion is to achieve long-lived light-driven redox separation. Now a modular self-assembly strategy has been developed to construct molecular p/n junctions surface-bound to transparent conducting ITO nanoparticle electrodes. Both photoanode and photocathode assemblies achieved remarkably long-lived redox separation lifetimes without making use of traditional wide-bandgap semiconductors. Kinetic pathway for interfacial electron transfer from a semiconductor to a molecule   pp853 - 859 Ke Hu, Amber D. Blair, Eric J. Piechota, Phil A. Schauer, Renato N. Sampaio et al. doi:10.1038/nchem.2549 While important for solar energy conversion, it is unclear whether electron transfer at molecular–semiconductor interfaces is influenced only by the distance over which the injected electron tunnels and whether specific through-bond pathways are active. Now, a pathway for electron transfer has been identified through comparative analysis of compounds with phenyl- or xylyl-thiophene bridges. Chemical compounds A chemically powered unidirectional rotary molecular motor based on a palladium redox cycle   pp860 - 866 Beatrice S. L. Collins, Jos C. M. Kistemaker, Edwin Otten and Ben L. Feringa doi:10.1038/nchem.2543 Control of motion at the molecular level is an integral requirement for the development of future nanoscale machinery. Now, governed by the fundamental reactivity principles of organometallic chemistry, a biaryl rotor is shown to exhibit 360° unidirectional rotary motion driven by the conversion of two simple fuels. Chemical compounds Self-organized architectures from assorted DNA-framed nanoparticles   pp867 - 873 Wenyan Liu, Jonathan Halverson, Ye Tian, Alexei V. Tkachenko and Oleg Gang doi:10.1038/nchem.2540 A broadly applicable strategy that can control the self-assembly of nanoparticles into a predefined structure has been reported. Integrating nanoparticles with DNA constructs creates individual modules that can be assembled into complex planar architectures. The approach combines nanoparticles with the selectivity and directionality of bonds provided by DNA. Wide-dynamic-range kinetic investigations of deep proton tunnelling in proteins   pp874 - 880 Bridget Salna, Abdelkrim Benabbas, J. Timothy Sage, Jasper van Thor and Paul M. Champion doi:10.1038/nchem.2527 A temperature-dependent kinetic study of ground-state proton transfer in the green fluorescent protein highlights the role of ‘deep tunnelling’ in proton wires. A potential mechanism for directional proton transport is proposed, where high-pKa amino acid residues act as ‘tunnel diodes’ and as stabilizing elements within protein water wires. Cell-sized asymmetric lipid vesicles facilitate the investigation of asymmetric membranes   pp881 - 889 Koki Kamiya, Ryuji Kawano, Toshihisa Osaki, Kazunari Akiyoshi and Shoji Takeuchi doi:10.1038/nchem.2537 Cell-sized asymmetric giant lipid vesicles containing a very small amount of organic solvent have now been formed via inhomogeneous break-up of a lipid microtube that was generated by applying a jet flow to an asymmetric planar lipid bilayer. The asymmetric giant vesicles were used to investigate the dynamic responses of lipid molecules and the effect of asymmetry on biochemical reactions. Neutral zero-valent s-block complexes with strong multiple bonding   pp890 - 894 Merle Arrowsmith, Holger Braunschweig, Mehmet Ali Celik, Theresa Dellermann, Rian D. Dewhurst et al. doi:10.1038/nchem.2542 Two neutral compounds containing a zero-valent s-block metal, beryllium, have now been isolated and fully characterized. Structural characterization, supported by calculations, show that these brightly coloured complexes adopt a closed-shell singlet configuration with a Be(0) metal centre and an unusually strong three-centre two-electron π-bond across the C–Be–C unit. Chemical compounds In Your Element Top Uuh? No. It's livermorium!   p896 Kat Day doi:10.1038/nchem.2593 Alpha decay into flerovium? It must be Lv, says Kat Day, as she tells us how little we know about element 116. Top Advertisement npj Pollution Control is a new open access journal that is now open for submissions. The journal is dedicated to publishing original and high quality research results in the broad area of environmental science and engineering as it relates to the prevention, control, monitoring and mitigation of environmental pollution. Sign up for e-alerts   Natureevents is a fully searchable, multi-disciplinary database designed to maximise exposure for events organisers. The contents of the Natureevents Directory are now live. The digital version is available here. Find the latest scientific conferences, courses, meetings and symposia on natureevents.com. For event advertising opportunities across the Nature Publishing Group portfolio please contact natureevents@nature.com More Nature Events

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