Oxidative cleavage of C–C bonds in lignin

Nature Chemistry, Published online: 23 September 2021; doi:10.1038/s41557-021-00783-2The valorization of lignin is generally implemented through the cleavage of labile C–O bonds to produce aromatic monomers in up to 40 wt% yield. The remaining material consists of lignin dimers and oligomers connected by C–C bonds, but now a method has been developed...

2d

Correlating ligand-to-metal charge transfer with voltage hysteresis in a Li-rich rock-salt compound exhibiting anionic redox

Nature Chemistry, Published online: 16 September 2021; doi:10.1038/s41557-021-00775-2The use of anionic redox chemistry in high-capacity Li-rich cathodes is being hampered by voltage hysteresis, the origin of which remains obscure. Now it has been shown that sluggish ligand-to-metal charge transfer kinetically traps an intermediate Fe4+ species and...

2w

Wittig reagents for chemoselective sulfenic acid ligation enables global site stoichiometry analysis and redox-controlled mitochondrial targeting

Nature Chemistry, Published online: 16 September 2021; doi:10.1038/s41557-021-00767-2Triphenylphosphonium ylides (Wittig reagents) that selectively react with sulfenic acids—a pivotal post-translational cysteine modification in redox biology—are developed. This bioconjugation method enables a site-specific proteome-wide stoichiometry analysis of S-sulfenylation,...

2w

Author Correction: Cyclic polyacetylene

Nature Chemistry, Published online: 14 September 2021; doi:10.1038/s41557-021-00809-9Author Correction: Cyclic polyacetylene

2w

A proteome-wide atlas of lysine-reactive chemistry

Nature Chemistry, Published online: 09 September 2021; doi:10.1038/s41557-021-00765-4A deep chemical proteomic investigation of diverse aminophilic electrophiles has identified ligandable lysines across a wide range of human proteins. The proteins cover different functional and structural classes, and the aminophilic electrophiles include compounds...

3w

Author Correction: Heat flows in rock cracks naturally optimize salt compositions for ribozymes

Nature Chemistry, Published online: 09 September 2021; doi:10.1038/s41557-021-00808-wAuthor Correction: Heat flows in rock cracks naturally optimize salt compositions for ribozymes

3w

Ionic glue

Nature Chemistry, Published online: 06 September 2021; doi:10.1038/s41557-021-00782-3Charged nanoparticles can behave as large ions or as small colloids. Their interaction with multivalent ions has now been shown to reflect this dichotomy, providing new paths to large, self-assembled nanoparticle superstructures.

3w

Made with manganese

Nature Chemistry, Published online: 06 September 2021; doi:10.1038/s41557-021-00785-0Transition metal complexes with metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) luminescence and photoactivity typically rely on precious metals such as ruthenium or iridium. Now, two complexes of the Earth-abundant 3d manganese have displayed room-temperature MLCT luminescence...

3w

Electrostatic co-assembly of nanoparticles with oppositely charged small molecules into static and dynamic superstructures

Nature Chemistry, Published online: 06 September 2021; doi:10.1038/s41557-021-00752-9Coulombic interactions can be used to assemble charged nanoparticles into higher-order structures, but this process typically requires similarly sized oppositely charged partners. Now, small anions or cations with as few as three charges have been shown to induce attractive...

3w

Politics at the periodic table

Nature Chemistry, Published online: 03 September 2021; doi:10.1038/s41557-021-00780-5The periodic table of elements should be celebrated not only for the order it brings, but also for the fascinating stories underlying this icon of science, suggests Juris Meija.

4w