Nature Chemistry
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Nature Chemistry is a unique forum for chemists of all disciplines. Every month Nature Chemistry publishes original top-quality research, plus a compelling mix of news and reviews, in print and online.
Nature Chemistry
11h ago
Nature Chemistry, Published online: 24 April 2024; doi:10.1038/s41557-024-01519-8
The construction of analogues of natural gap junctions would provide a bottom–up strategy for building intercellular communication pathways for synthetic cells. Now artificial intercellular gap junctions have been prepared from unimolecular tubular channels by mimicking the hydrophobic–hydrophilic–hydrophobic triblock structure of natural junction channels ..read more
Nature Chemistry
11h ago
Nature Chemistry, Published online: 23 April 2024; doi:10.1038/s41557-024-01509-w
Advances in the development of cytoskeletal-like materials with modular structures and mechanics are pivotal for the engineering of synthetic cells. Now actin-mimetic supramolecular peptide networks have been designed using programmable peptide–DNA crosslinkers, giving rise to tunable tactoid-shaped bundles and mechanical properties that control spatial localization, the diffusion of payloads and shape changes within artificial cells ..read more
Nature Chemistry
2d ago
Nature Chemistry, Published online: 22 April 2024; doi:10.1038/s41557-024-01511-2
The selective synthesis of ultrahigh-molar-mass (UHMM) cyclic polymers from direct polymerization is elusive. Using a chemically recyclable polythioester as a model, it has now been shown that a common superbase mediates living linear-chain growth, followed by proton-triggered linear-to-cyclic topological transformation, producing UHMM cyclic polymers with a narrow dispersity ..read more
Nature Chemistry
2d ago
Nature Chemistry, Published online: 22 April 2024; doi:10.1038/s41557-024-01510-3
Knots reduce the tensile strength of macroscopic threads and fibres. Now it has been shown that the presence of a well-defined overhand knot in a polymer chain can substantially increase the rate of scission of the polymer under tension, as deformation of the polymer backbone induced by the tightening knot activates otherwise unreactive covalent bonds ..read more
Nature Chemistry
5d ago
Nature Chemistry, Published online: 19 April 2024; doi:10.1038/s41557-024-01480-6
Although metal-free catalysts, featuring defined active sites, represent alternatives to scarce or problematic metals, metal-free compounds rarely show activities as promising as metal-based materials. Now deprotonated 2-thiolimidazole is shown to serve as a metal-free electrocatalyst for selective acetylene hydrogenation and achieves competitive performances with metal-based catalysts ..read more
Nature Chemistry
5d ago
Nature Chemistry, Published online: 19 April 2024; doi:10.1038/s41557-024-01513-0
Understanding the ways by which metal-containing catalysts carry out a reaction is a chemical puzzle. Now, investigations of a multi-metallic molecular system uncover how the self-assembly of molecular catalysts facilitates cooperation between active species and improves the conversion of water to hydrogen gas ..read more
Nature Chemistry
5d ago
Nature Chemistry, Published online: 19 April 2024; doi:10.1038/s41557-024-01515-y
Chlorine-containing waste streams pose potential risks to human health and the environment, so their remediation represents a significant challenge. Now, chlorinated wastes have been successfully repurposed as chlorinating reagents for use in the preparation of organic chemicals and pharmaceutical ingredients ..read more
Nature Chemistry
1w ago
Nature Chemistry, Published online: 18 April 2024; doi:10.1038/s41557-024-01518-9
Natural protein folding takes place in aqueous cell environments. Now, it has been found that proteins in a water-free environment undergo faster and more efficient folding ..read more
Nature Chemistry
1w ago
Nature Chemistry, Published online: 17 April 2024; doi:10.1038/s41557-024-01494-0
Despite their intriguing photochemical activities, natural photoenzymes have not yet been repurposed for new-to-nature activities. Now, by leveraging the strongly oxidizing excited-state flavoquinone cofactor, fatty acid photodecarboxylases were engineered to catalyse unnatural decarboxylative radical cyclization with excellent chemo-, enantio- and diastereoselectivities ..read more
Nature Chemistry
1w ago
Nature Chemistry, Published online: 17 April 2024; doi:10.1038/s41557-024-01504-1
Enantioconvergent reactions convert both enantiomers of a racemic starting material into a single enantioenriched product. All currently known enantioconvergent processes necessitate the loss or partial loss of the racemic substrate’s stereochemical information. Now, an alternative approach has been developed that proceeds with full retention of the racemic substrate’s configuration ..read more