Research Highlights in 2019

The aroma profile of dark chocolate has been elucidated and could be used as a benchmark to study the effect of changes in recipe, processing and storage conditions on its flavour.

All organisms have developed vital sensory processes that enable prompt reactions in response to external environmental changes. Su and co-workers propose a bioinspired thermoresponsive device made of solid-state nanochannels that induce thermally selective ion transport.

A potential new source of hydroxyl radicals – that mediate the reactions of organic aerosols in the atmosphere – has been identified.

Thermal denaturation of proteins affords species that differ in terms of cofactors and conformations. Ion mobility spectrometry and mass spectrometry can be used to unravel these mixtures and learn the factors stabilizing certain protein forms.

A rapid synthesis of the antibacterial drug linezolid using flow chemistry has been reported that does not require isolation or purification of any intermediates and is completed in seven synthetic steps

Analysis of complex mixtures often requires time consuming separation techniques. Mathias Nilsson and co-workers have, now, developed a new approach to dissecting the NMR spectra of unaltered complex mixtures.

Seven-membered rings are rare motifs in fullerene derivatives. However, these motifs can be stabilized by adjacent five-membered rings and feature in a hydrofullerene isolated from combustion soot.

A new optical approach has been developed for the generation, manipulation and transportation of floating micro droplets.

A biomimetic total synthesis of (–)-oxycodone relies on an electrochemically mediated coupling of two oxygenated aryl rings for a key bond formation.

Formylglycine residues are important functional handles on native and synthetic proteins. The formation of these residues is mediated by a copper enzyme operating via a superoxo intermediate.

Bacteria sense metal ions using proteins whose interactions with DNA are sensitive to metal ion availability and identity. Less competitive metal ions trigger protein–DNA binding only at high concentrations.

Careful reaction design has enabled the use of single electron transfer reagent samarium diiodide in substoichiometric amounts to catalyse radical cyclizations.

X-ray structures of reactant and product states, as well as theoretical calculations, have helped uncover the mechanism of Escherichia coli phosphofructokinase 2.

Discovery of new materials has been traditionally based on a trial-and-error approach. Now, miniaturized nanoreactors have been developed for the synthesis and analysis of nanoparticle megalibraries of different size and composition.

Dodecaphenylanthracene — a twisted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon with interesting electrochemical properties — has, after 20 years of trying, finally succumbed to synthesis.

Particle swarm optimization allows one to search vast compositional space for new viable species. Additionally, simulating high pressures has enabled the prediction of hypervalent species such as IF₈.