Reviews & Analysis

Isotopic labelling is widely used to unravel reaction mechanisms, but are conclusions from such studies always robust? Now, studies on the photolysis of CD₃CHO reveal extensive isotopic scrambling before dissociation, which could have implications for our mechanistic understanding of some key aspects of atmospheric photochemistry.

Single-molecule spectroscopy allows fluctuations of conjugated polymer conformation to be monitored during solvent vapour annealing. Dramatic changes in fluorescence behaviour are observed and interpreted in terms of transformations between extended and collapsed polymer geometries.

A diuranium compound featuring an arene bridge shows single-molecule-magnet behaviour, which could arise from a mechanism different from the traditional 'super-exchange' spin coupling.

A highly inventive route for the synthesis of a key substance that stimulates potato cyst nematodes to hatch has been developed. This discovery has potential to impact food supplies, as treatment of crops with this compound could alleviate the devastating effect of these parasites.

There is a long history of gas-phase studies of bimolecular reactions, but the presence of surrounding molecules complicates analogous studies in solution. Now, advances in ultrafast laser technology have enabled the detailed study of vibrational energy release in a reaction in solution.

Keeping the organic and inorganic precursors in separate, immiscible solutions guides the growth of metal-organic frameworks into uniform thin layers that are shaped just like the liquid-liquid interface.

Enzymes that selectively oxidize unactivated C–H bonds are capable of constructing complex molecules with high efficiency. A new member of this enzyme family is RedG, a Reiske-type oxygenase that catalyses chemically challenging cyclizations in the biosynthesis of prodiginine natural products.

Energetic adsorption of molecules on surfaces is known to either trigger local chemical reactions or initiate the recoil of adsorbates away from the surface. Now, another possible outcome has been observed — the long-range 'cart-wheeling' of energetic molecules across a surface.

Heterogeneous catalyst systems comprising metals supported on oxides are widespread. Evidence now suggests that it is the interfacial regions that are most catalytically active, and this has been exploited to create a tandem nanocatalyst system.

A model based on the well-known β-cyclodextrin–adamantane receptor–ligand pair has been used to obtain important insight into the kinetics of gradient-driven motion across a surface.

Photosynthesis in plants converts energy from the Sun into chemical fuel in the form of glucose. Now, a strategy to combine carbon dioxide reduction and photochemical water splitting, using a recyclable hydrogen donor, offers the opportunity to develop non-biomimetic photosynthesis.

Photocatalysts such as titanium dioxide that use sunlight to split water and produce hydrogen would be a clean and sustainable solution to many problems, but their efficiency is currently too low to be widely used. Two approaches to engineer the surface properties of titanium dioxide offer hope that its efficiency can be increased.

Controlled energy-transfer on a molecular scale is a goal in many areas of science, from artificial photosynthesis to molecular electronics. Now, DNA origami has been used to direct the transfer of energy from an excited input dye down one of two paths by precisely arranging a mediator dye.

Arranging polymers into well-defined shapes endows them with specific properties; but although it is routinely achieved in nature, accurate origami has proved challenging with synthetic polymers. A surprisingly simple folding strategy has now been described.

Many different kinds of switchable molecules and materials are based on transition metal ions, but similar properties are also possible in organic materials. Now, two separate studies reveal new insights into the ability of organic radicals to associate reversibly and cooperatively in the solid state, and in so doing create bistable, hysteretic materials.

After two decades of research, the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells seems to have reached a plateau. Now, changing both electrolyte and dye opens up new opportunities that offer the hope that the efficiency ceiling can be broken.

Two readily accessible synthetic building blocks are shown to form a quadruply hydrogen-bonded heterodimer that exhibits exceptional stability and offers new opportunities for the construction of supramolecular assemblies and polymers.

The radical–radical association reaction between hydroxyl and nitrogen dioxide plays a central role in atmospheric chemistry but has challenged experimentalists for decades. A study now measures all reactants and products and largely settles the issue.

An unusual cyclization reaction to form alkylarenes — which are important chemical feedstocks — from alkanes is mediated by an iridium catalyst.