Reviews & Analysis

Iridium complexes can show impressive homogeneous water-oxidation activity, but they can also act as precursors to heterogeneous catalysts. Understanding exactly what the catalytically active species is can be difficult, but now a technique has been applied that reveals the true nature of a catalyst, helping to remove this ambiguity.

Mechanical unfolding of a single DNA G-quadruplex structure with and without a stabilizing ligand can be used to calculate the binding strength of the ligand and could help to identify drugs to target these important biological assemblies.

Photosynthesis starts when light is absorbed and the associated excitation energy is directed to reaction centres by antenna complexes. The principles learned from studying these complexes are described in this Review, and provide the framework from which the authors suggest how to elucidate strategies for designing light-harvesting systems that route the flow of energy in sophisticated ways.

Transient sedimentation of proteins inside a solid-state NMR rotor under fast magic-angle spinning offers a promising solution to the challenge of determining the structures of high-molecular-weight proteins with atomic resolution. This opens new opportunities for structural analysis of large macromolecules and macromolecular assemblies.

Glucose meters allow rapid and quantitative measurement of blood sugar levels for diabetes sufferers worldwide. Now a new method allows this proven technology to be used to quantify a much wider range of analytes.

Growing good-quality single crystals of proteins for high-resolution X-ray diffraction relies on the use of a diverse range of materials as nucleating agents. Smart hydrogels, in the form of molecularly imprinted polymers, may provide a general solution.

Stereochemistry represents a common thread uniting chemists from a range of sub-disciplines at the Bürgenstock conference, an annual scientific meeting rich in tradition and characterized by intensive, interdisciplinary discussion.

Characterizing electrochemical behaviour on the nanometre scale is fundamental to gaining complete insight into the working mechanisms of fuel cells. The application of a new scanning probe microscopy technique can now relate local surface structure to electrochemical activity at a resolution below 10 nm.

A joint X-ray/neutron diffraction study has enabled the direct observation of a hydronium ion coordinated by three amino-acid residues of an enzyme. This sighting will affect our views on how enzymes transport and use protons.

Dynamic communication between atoms within folded proteins is potentially important for function, but its measurement has been a challenge. Now, a combined NMR and modelling study provides insights on the presence and strengths of such correlations.

Achiral molecules have now been assembled into a homochiral porous network at a solid–liquid interface. This has implications for practical processes such as separations, but also for understanding how homochirality — crucial in biological systems — arose from achiral or racemic species.

Methanol — an important potential fuel and synthetic building block — can be produced via the hydrogenation of carbonates and carbamates using a pincer ruthenium(II) catalyst.

The synthesis and biological investigation of a family of natural products and unnatural analogues illustrates the importance of considering both form and function in the planning of any synthesis.

DNA origami tiles with complementary shapes have been designed and assembled into large nanostructures through the geometrically controlled stacking of their helices.

Carborane substituents — rather than alkyl or aryl groups — have now been used to tune ligand properties. Attaching a carborane cluster to a ligand through either a carbon or a boron atom markedly changes its coordination behaviour without altering its steric profile.

The collision of an atom and a diatomic molecule may sound like a simple process but it has long been studied to understand the inherent intricacies of collisional energy transfer. Now, experiments carried out in unprecedented detail on the scattering of NO by Ar have revealed further complexity: parity-dependent quantum interference effects.

When cells interact with an artificial surface, the result is a rapidly evolving and complex interface. This Perspective discusses how expressing the properties of both the cell and the substrate in chemical terms can aid in future material design. We also explore the importance of using multifunctional surfaces with quantitative, dynamic capabilities.

The discoveries of ruthenium– and iron–nitrido complexes that can be transformed to release ammonia could be important steps towards realizing the catalytic reduction of nitrogen under mild reaction conditions.

A catalyst has been developed that enables poly(propylene carbonate) chains to be made in which the configuration of the repeat units changes gradually from exclusively S at one end of the chain to exclusively R at the other. The improved physical properties of this 'stereogradient' polymer may help its adoption as an environmentally friendly material.

The mechanism of NO and O₂ production through the photolysis of the nitrate radical has long proved elusive. Now, theoretical studies help to explain previous experiments, suggesting that two distinct pathways are responsible that both involve 'roaming dynamics' on the 'dark' excited electronic state.