Reviews & Analysis

Dinitrogen ligands — key for understanding how atmospheric nitrogen can be reduced — almost exclusively have even-numbered oxidation states. Now, however, lanthanide complexes with [N₂]³⁻ ligands have been synthesized and investigated.

The highly selective oxidation of just one carbon–hydrogen bond out of almost 50 in a late-stage precursor can be used to construct the macrocyclic core on which the erythromycin antibiotics are based, and demonstrates the potential of such C–H activation approaches for natural product synthesis.

An amphiphilic molecule that contains a protein-specific ligand and an NMR-active tag forms the basis of a protein sensor. A measurable NMR signal results only in the presence of active protein that causes disassembly of clusters of the amphiphile.

Exponential signal amplification is achieved when a single molecule of analyte initiates a chain reaction in which a dendrimer releases a coloured 'reporter' molecule, and ultimately four further molecules of the analyte.

In a Dutch city famous for the treaty that led to the creation of the European Union, delegates gathered at a conference to discuss recent advances in the chemistry of macrocyclic and supramolecular systems.

Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) is a powerful and highly functional-group-tolerant technique for synthesizing polymers. However, this tolerance presents a great challenge for the selective introduction of functional end-groups. This Review discusses currently available end-functionalization strategies and also highlights factors to be considered when choosing the most appropriate approach.

Transition metals can form extremely short bonds with very high bond orders. Bimetallic chromium complexes are the best-known examples, and quintuple bonds have been reported. This Review covers recent developments in the synthesis and theoretical description of quintuply bonded transition metal coordination compounds.

Diagnosing disease states relies on sensing imbalances in the quantities of markers present in biological fluids. Now a biologically compatible gold nanoparticle sensing-system that detects proteins in serum has been developed, offering great potential for medical diagnostics.

One of the challenges facing the hydrogen economy is how to store and release the gas controllably. Although the large internal volumes of metal–organic frameworks offer promise, how can you keep the hydrogen inside?

For six days during the summer of 2009, hundreds of young researchers gathered in Germany on the shores of Lake Constance to take part in the 59th Meeting of Nobel Laureates at Lindau — this year dedicated to the topic of chemistry.

The exact nature of the gold–carbon bond formed during homogeneous gold catalysis has recently attracted a lot of interest and is somewhat controversial. Now a study of the bonding and trends in reactivity of various gold complexes offers new insights into whether such structures can be defined as gold-stabilized cations or gold carbenes.

New methodology that couples together carbonyl compounds with boronic acids shows much promise for synthesis owing to ease of access of the building blocks, functional group tolerance and broad scope of the reaction.

Saytzeff's rule is the result of empirical observations, and can be used to predict the outcome of elimination reactions. Now, ab initio calculations have provided the long-sought evidence to show that hyperconjugation is the key that unlocks the origin of this rule.

The two established models of chemical bonding, covalent and ionic, do not accurately describe all forms of bonds. This article explains how 'charge-shift' bonds — with a large covalent–ionic resonance interaction energy — are a third type of bond, and discusses some examples.

The most stable fullerenes obey the isolated-pentagon rule (IPR): hexagons of carbon atoms entirely surround pentagons to minimize strain. Recently, some examples of fused-pentagon fullerenes have been reported and this Review summarizes current work to stabilize non-IPR fullerenes.

Small anions can be used to modulate the physical properties of supramolecular gels by interacting with the low-molecular-weight gelators from which such materials are composed. A better understanding of this anion-tuning effect will aid in the rational design of responsive gels that may prove useful for a number of practical applications.

Small sugar molecules produced by an autocatalytic reaction cycle confined inside vesicle-based 'artificial cells' can trigger a response in living bacterial cells.

Scientists have long been intrigued by a mechanism first predicted by Alan Turing that leads to self-organizing chemical patterns. Now they have a guide to creating them experimentally.