Engineering bacteria to make the dye ‘royal purple’
Category: Organic
Masked Entry – Increasing cell permeability of large molecules
Developing a drug that is able to enter the cell and interact with its target is no mean feat, especially for large molecules. Read about how this group ‘masked’ large molecules to improve their cell permeability.
Molecular tweezers pick viral membranes apart
While most scientists search for specific treatments for viruses like Ebola, Zika and SARS-Cov-2, non-specific methods can have broad impact. Researchers from the United States and Germany joined forces to make non-specific molecular “tweezers” that pluck pieces out of its membrane, leading to disintegrating and dead viruses.
Release the molecule! Photolabile protecting groups
How do you design a “cage” for a molecule? And how do you release it again, selectively? Find out about a rationally designed red-light labile protecting group.
Monitoring plant maturation with a Wack reaction
When the authors’ blurb about their own work is “Okay, bloomer,” you know you have to read it.
Chemistry & COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic is consuming our news feed at the moment – while you’re self-isolating read about some of the great science research going on to combat our newest virus.
Tackling Diabetes with Nanoparticles
Diabetes Mellitus affects 8.5% of the world adult population and tackling it requires systematic dosing. Researchers have developed a unique NP that can substantially decrease the dosage of insulin and increase patient compliance.
Seeing the Invisible
Ever wondered how scientists know what is going on inside a cell, or how you could design a chemical probe to tell you more? There’s a lot of things to consider, find out more here.
Seeking inspiration from nature to treat opioid addiction
Researchers have looked at the biosynthetic pathways in plants to help them synthesise the potential anti-addiction agents ibogaine and voacangine.
Development of Sensors for Amino Acids
Researchers develop an easy to use method to identify the chirality of the amino acids, amines and alcohols.
Detergents are for more than washing dishes
Studying membrane-bound proteins requires stabilizing their structure outside of the membrane – otherwise they fall apart. But our analytical techniques have not risen to the challenge. Sadaf et al. pushes us forward by developing novel detergents for stabilizing membrane proteins.
Enzymes Get Closer to Traditional Organic Chemistry – The Case of Reductive Amination
A clever, two-part biocatalytic strategy grants access to products of reductive amination that can be troublesome to obtain through more traditional synthetic methods.
Manipulating actinomycetes for unusual antibiotics
Scientists genetically modify bacteria to overproduce uncommon antibiotics, revealing information on how bacteria regulate and modify its metabolites.
Did life come from the depths of the ocean?
Amino acids were found in the Atlantis Massif, under the ocean floor. Is their non-biological synthesis the origin of life?
Stay young with Zinc!
We might have heard that antioxidants are good for our health. They help us to fight against oxidizing agents in our body and help us to stay young!
Recently, researchers have made a new breakthrough to help us fight against the oxides even with the inactive zinc!
Painting a Fuller Picture in Medicinal Chemistry
Title: Synergistic effects of stereochemistry and appendages on the performance diversity of a collection of synthetic compounds Authors: Stu Schreiber et al. Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.8b07319 Year: 2018 The ability to rapidly evaluate what a chemical compound does to a cell, and…
Crystal Clear Chemistry
In this article you can learn about how researchers have taken images as crystals form out of a liquid.
Photocages: Using Light to Deliver Medicine
What will medicine look like 10 years from now? Well, your doctor might be shining a light on you to help target drug delivery in your body. Read more about drug delivery using molecules called photocages inside!
Mood Lighting: Colorful Coatings for Smart Windows
Feeling blue? The chemistry of new “smart windows” could help – with a coating that adjusts to the outside temperature and a color filter that you can switch at will, they could be the perfect mood lighting for your energy-efficient home.
Evolving Proteins to Make Tiny Carbon Rings
Learn how researchers at Caltech artificially evolved proteins to synthesize some of the most challenging tiny molecules in organic chemistry!
Shining Light on Aldehyde Synthesis
Photoredox catalysis is at it again! This time it is used to synthesize polysubstituted aldehydes – highly useful building blocks – from readily available styrenes and vinyl ethers.
Chemistry by Computers is Better Than Harry Potter Fanfiction
Neural networks have been used to write fanfiction, generate pictures of fake celebrities, and draw dream-like psychedelic images from photographs. But did you know they can make chemistry easier, too?
A Radical Way to Label Proteins
Read about this new approach to selectively install fluorines into proteins using a mild radical source.
Chemistry looks into the origin of life!
How is chemistry explaining the origin of life?
The authors of this paper, look into the formation of DNA building block (2-deoxy-D-ribose) from molecules that were present on Earth at its early stages.
A New Dichlorination of Alkenes: A Radical Twist to a Long-sought Transformation
Title: Electrocatalytic Radical Dichlorination of Alkenes with Nucleophilic Chlorine Sources Authors: Niankai Fu, Gregory S. Sauer, and Song Lin Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society http://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.7b09388 Year: 2017 The unsaturated bond of an alkene is one of the most exploited functionalities inside the organic chemist’s…