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.
A clever, two-part biocatalytic strategy grants access to products of reductive amination that can be troublesome to obtain through more traditional synthetic methods.
Scientists genetically modify bacteria to overproduce uncommon antibiotics, revealing information on how bacteria regulate and modify its metabolites.
Amino acids were found in the Atlantis Massif, under the ocean floor. Is their non-biological synthesis the origin of life?
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!
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…
In this article you can learn about how researchers have taken images as crystals form out of a liquid.
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!
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.
Learn how researchers at Caltech artificially evolved proteins to synthesize some of the most challenging tiny molecules in organic chemistry!
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.
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?
Read about this new approach to selectively install fluorines into proteins using a mild radical source.
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.
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…
How do synthetic chemists use fundamental, yet robust reactions to chemicals stitch together smaller fragments large and complex natural products? The Porco’s Lab latest work might give you a taste of what it’s like to exercise the art of total synthesis with a hint of inspiration from biology.
What are nanoreactors and how can they enhance multi-enzyme reactions? Let’s find out!
As versatile as enzymes already are, it’s actually possible to engineer enzymes to catalyze reactions that are entirely new to nature!
Title: Electrochemical Capture and Release of Carbon Dioxide Authors: Joseph H. Rheinhardt, Poonam Singh, Pilarisetty Tarakeshwar, and Daniel A. Buttry* Publication Info: ACS Energy Lett., 2017, 2 (2), pp 454–461, DOI:10.1021/acsenergylett.6b00608 This article is a perspective from recognized experts in the field of CO2 capture and release.…
Click chemistry, a term used to describe a number of high yield reactions, is used far and wide by chemists. The azide alkyne Huisgen cycloaddition typifies click chemistry and awhile back, I described it as my favorite reaction.
This paper is an exciting step towards mimicking the conformational changes observed in natural proteins without loss in solubility.
Yes!!! 100% conversion to product, zero impurities, and a workup so easy I finished it while writing this sentence!Well, that’s what writing it down on an o-chem problem set might make it seem like at least. Turns out doing organic chemistry in practice isn’t so straightforward,…
To do the biological study of how particular (good) chemicals like antioxidants affect people, there needs to be a quick, reliable, and consistent way to measure those chemicals in humans. Furthermore, a good method would test for multiple chemicals, because the health benefits from some chemicals only exist in the presence of others (phenolic acids and flavonoids in this case). The authors of this paper demonstrate a gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry (GC-MS) method to investigate how some of the chemicals present in cranberries (from cranberry juice) go into your bloodstream after you ingest them.
Title: Stack Exchange Strategies for the Synthesis of Covalent Double-Channel Photosystems by Self-Organizing Surface-Initiated Polymerization Authors: N. Sakai and S. Matile Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society Affiliation: University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland Take Home Importance: Well-ordered polymeric ‘columns’ of different chromophores in the same polymer were prepared…
Title: Belt-Shaped π-Systems: Relating Geometry to Electronic Structure in a Six-Porphyrin Nanoring Authors: J. K. Sprafke, D. V. Kondratuk, M. Wykes, A. L. Thompson, M. Hoffmann, R. Drevinskas, W.H. Chen, C. K. Yong, J. K€arnbratt, J. E. Bullock, M. Malfois, M. R. Wasielewski, B. Albinsson, L. M. Herz, D. Zigmantas, D.…