News & Comment

A zeolite that has been loaded with fluorescent dyes and coated with amino groups and photosensitizers can label, target and kill bacteria.

Ammonium surfactants direct the formation of zeolite nanosheets that are as thin as a single unit cell.

The effect of stereochemistry on the oxidation of organic molecules adsorbed on aerosol particles has been revealed in a model system.

Pentacene has been imaged with atomic resolution using atomic force microscopy with a carbon monoxide-modified scanning tip.

The synthesis and X-ray crystallography of a series of polyynes show that single and triple bonds become closer in length as the system is extended — but also that they will never become equal.

Molecular logic gates that respond to the presence of a protein and a bacterial DNA sequence show how molecular systems could be used for medical diagnostics.

The electron-transport behaviour of a melamine molecule adsorbed on a copper surface has been tuned to exhibit rectifying and switching behaviour.

Carefully designed triangles made from DNA strands self-assemble into highly ordered 3D structures to produce macroscopic crystals.

The combination of a cyclic phosphine oxide and a chemoselective reducing agent are key in the discovery of a catalytic Wittig reaction.

Are the days of print journals numbered — and if they are, what will that mean for how we interact with the scientific literature?

Jim Ibers takes a look at the intriguing structures and bonding found in tellurium and its compounds, and considers their uses in a diversity of fields ranging from metallurgy to electronics.

Electron-beam lithography creates binding sites onto which folded DNA molecules can attach and form regular shapes.

The fluorescence of an organogel mixed with a photochromic compound can be switched off by thermal heating, UV irradiation, or both, thus forming an OR binary logic gate.

The palladium-catalysed conversion of aryl bromides and triflates into aryl fluorides has been achieved.

X-ray emission spectroscopy can differentiate between very similar ligands in coordination complexes and help characterize their electronic structure.

DNA double helices can be assembled into curved three-dimensional nanostructures, with twists and bends that are finely tuned by the insertion and deletion of base pairs at specific locations.

Surface-enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy reveals the earliest colour chemistry.