Reviews & Analysis

There is increasing demand for synthetic DNA. However, our ability to make, or write, DNA lags behind our ability to sequence, or read, it. This Review discusses commercialized DNA synthesis technologies in the pursuit of closing the DNA writing gap.

As the most common derivative of graphene, graphene oxide has emerged as a new frontier material with tremendous applications to photonics, electronics and optoelectronics in the past decade. This Review highlights the state of the art and future prospects for this fast-growing field.

Molecular rectifiers are an essential component for the construction of molecular electronic devices, which are becoming potentially competitive with existing silicon-based devices. This Review provides an overview of molecular rectification and discusses the outlook for the field as well as prospects for commercialization.

Liquid-like surfaces (LLSs) are emerging omniphobic systems with promising abilities to minimize interfacial adhesion. This Review summarizes the concept, mechanism, fabrication and applications of LLSs, and discusses the challenges and future opportunities in this field.

The unique optical and magnetic properties of photoexcited chromophore–radical systems make them suitable for applications in molecular spintronics. We present the theoretical background required to understand their properties and illustrate the potential of these systems based on practical examples.

The interactions of lipid bilayer cell membranes with liquid biomolecular condensates are key to many biological processes, including endocytosis. New research shows a model system of liposomes that are able to engulf droplets, effectively mimicking endocytosis.

Twenty five years ago, Christopher Lipinski and colleagues published arguably the most influential sentence in small-molecule drug discovery. Their cleverly crafted ‘rule of 5’ (Ro5) mnemonic was adopted into everyday medicinal chemistry practice and has influenced a generation of small-molecule drug discovery scientists. Five times five years later, we consider the impact of the Ro5 and ask to what extent it should still guide today’s medicinal chemistry efforts.

Solar energy can supply the global energy demand. This Review describes how photoelectrochemistry principles in natural photosynthesis can be exploited in advanced solar utilization technologies, and discusses related developments, challenges and opportunities.

The kinetics resulting from catalyst inhibition can be confused with reactions involving two catalytic species reacting together. This Review highlights common misconceptions, offers advice and good practices to avoid potential pitfalls, and provides critical analyses of 100 literature examples.

Optical and electrochemical sensing techniques have been used to detect real-time chemical signals in living plants in response to biotic and abiotic stress. Through modelling of data, pathogenic infection of plants can be identified and predicted.

Mechanochemistry is the science of inducing a chemical reaction through the application of mechanical force. This Perspective focuses on combining traditional mechanochemistry with different energy inputs — heat, light, sound or electrical impulses — to advance mechanochemical synthesis.

In 1997, Kneipp et al. and Nie and Emory independently reported the first examples of single-molecule detection using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). These seminal works sparked a surge of interest in SERS, while introducing a new question: how can it be conclusively proven that just one molecule is being probed?

Stereochemical editing is a strategy to access three-dimensional skeletons, where the stereochemistry-defining steps are decoupled from the major connectivity-forming reactions. This Review highlights recent advances in the area of light-driven contra-thermodynamic stereochemical editing.

Wearable chemical sensors are effective tools for exploring novel non-invasive biomarkers in alternative body fluids. This Review introduces criteria, strategies and technologies involved in biomarker discovery using wearable chemical sensors coupled with data analysis towards precision medicine.

While antibodies have a remarkable track record in therapeutics, achieving sufficient specificity remains an issue. This Review discusses the physicochemistry of non-specificity, with a focus on surface patches as a key challenge, and outlines future opportunities to improve protein binding.

Linkage chemistry is crucial for controllable synthesis and the physicochemical properties of covalent organic frameworks. This Review describes linkage chemistry for the derivation of the imine bond by covalent and noncovalent bonding in two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks.

Hybrid bilayer membranes (HBMs) are an advanced organic–inorganic platform for energy catalysis and biomimicry. This Review highlights the design principles, key developments, major achievements and prospects of HBM technologies.

Metal single-atom cocatalysts with a well-defined and tunable electronic structure maximize the interaction between photocatalyst and cocatalyst, facilitating the enhanced separation/transfer of photogenerated charge carriers and high-efficiency surface catalytic reactions.

Racemic natural products display a wealth of bioactivities and chemical diversity. Their derivation from intriguing racemization processes, through enzymatic or non-enzymatic pathways, are discussed here, as well as their pharmacological properties and the analytical techniques developed for their identification, resolution and characterization.

Multiscale ab initio simulations enable the accurate simulation of the spin dynamics of magnetic molecules. Together with machine learning, computer simulations will soon be able to assist the design of new compounds for spintronics and quantum technologies.