Chemistry articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Membranes allowing transfer of a gas between a liquid and gas layer have applications in areas such as blood oxygenation and carbon dioxide capture. Here, a super liquid repellent membrane is fabricated, allowing high gas transfer and also avoiding wetting and clogging of the membrane pores.

    • Maxime Paven
    • , Periklis Papadopoulos
    •  & Hans-Jürgen Butt

  • Article |

    The allenylation of terminal alkynes is a convenient route to allenes from simple starting materials, though previously limited to formaldehyde and aldehyde substrates. Here a method enabling the use of ketones is reported, giving easy access to trisubstituted allenes.

    • Xinjun Tang
    • , Can Zhu
    •  & Shengming Ma

  • Article |

    Platinum is a widely studied catalyst for the reduction of protons to hydrogen in water splitting, but it also catalyses the competing hydrogen oxidation back-reaction, thus limiting efficiency. Here, the authors show that the back-reaction can be limited by tuning the platinum oxidation state.

    • Yu Hang Li
    • , Jun Xing
    •  & Hua Gui Yang

  • Article |

    Control of active sites of heterogeneous catalysts can lead to enhanced product selectivity. Here, the authors use self-assembled alkanethiolate monolayers with varying surface densities to tune the selectivity of hydrogenation and hydrodeoxygenation of furfural on supported palladium catalysts.

    • Simon H. Pang
    • , Carolyn A. Schoenbaum
    •  & J. Will Medlin

  • Article |

    Methane is a major constituent of planetary interiors, yet phase relations in the C–H system are poorly understood. This work documents the chemical reactivity of the C–H system over a wide range of temperatures and pressures, and sheds light on the chemical composition of Earth and icy giants.

    • Sergey S. Lobanov
    • , Pei-Nan Chen
    •  & Alexander F. Goncharov

  • Article |

    The mechanical properties of brittle materials are largely determined by how cracks propagate through them. Contrary to expectations, Kermodeet al.show that a crack propagating below a critical speed through a silicon crystal can be scattered by a single isolated boron impurity.

    • J.R. Kermode
    • , L. Ben-Bashat
    •  & A. De Vita

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Colorimetric differentiation of solvents is difficult as many solvatochromic molecules exhibit broad overlaps in their absorption and emission bands. Here, the authors present a ‘turn-on’ type sensor in which the colorimetric sensor responds only when its protective layer is disrupted by a specific solvent.

    • Jung Lee
    • , Hyun Taek Chang
    •  & Jong-Man Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hyperpolarization of chemical nuclei is known to greatly increase sensitivity to characterization by magnetic resonance imaging. Here a new platform that allows for the design of a number of hyperpolarized probes for chemical sensing applications is demonstrated.

    • Hiroshi Nonaka
    • , Ryunosuke Hata
    •  & Shinsuke Sando

  • Article |

    The development of a series of orthogonal binding interactions to direct the controlled self-assembly of mesoscale objects is desirable. Here, the authors use DNA as a sequence-specific glue to assemble hydrogel cuboids into a diverse series of structures in the micro- to millimeter length scale.

    • Hao Qi
    • , Majid Ghodousi
    •  & Ali Khademhosseini

  • Article |

    Noble metal nanoparticles are used for applications in optics, catalysis, sensing and others. Here the authors study the crystal structures of silver and gold-silver intermetallic nanoparticles stabilized by thiol ligand layers, helping to understand the relationship between their structure and properties.

    • Huayan Yang
    • , Yu Wang
    •  & Nanfeng Zheng

  • Article |

    Nanoscale copper catalysts are useful for the selective hydrogenation of carbon–oxygen bonds, although they may be deactivated under harsh conditions. Here the authors report the enhanced activity and stability of core-sheath copper-phyllosilicate nanoreactors due to electronic and morphological effects.

    • Hairong Yue
    • , Yujun Zhao
    •  & Jinlong Gong

  • Article |

    Pipecolidepsin A—commonly isolated from a marine sponge—is a promising anticancer agent but is challenging to synthesise in the lab. Here the authors describe the first total synthesis of this cyclodepsipeptide using a versatile strategy applicable to other similar compounds.

    • Marta Pelay-Gimeno
    • , Yésica García-Ramos
    •  & Fernando Albericio

  • Article |

    Efficient and economical water splitting is desirable for energy conversion, but it is limited by high overpotential and the need for noble metals. Zhao et al. report that nitrogen-doped graphite materials function as a promising electrocatalyst, with efficiency comparable to that of benchmark metal oxides.

    • Yong Zhao
    • , Ryuhei Nakamura
    •  & Kazuhito Hashimoto

  • Article |

    Despite their prevalence in the d-block, f-block cyclobutadienyl complexes are hitherto unknown. Here, the authors report the syntheses of inverted sandwich cyclobutadienyl dianion uranium(IV) complexes and show computational analysis that suggests the bonding is predominantly electrostatic.

    • Dipti Patel
    • , Jonathan McMaster
    •  & Stephen T. Liddle

  • Article |

    Membrane-less electrochemical systems eliminate the need for costly ion-exchange membranes, but typically suffer from low-power densities. Braff et al.propose a hydrogen bromine laminar flow battery, which rivals the performance of the best membrane-based systems.

    • William A. Braff
    • , Martin Z. Bazant
    •  & Cullen R. Buie

  • Article |

    A physical description of supercritical fluids remains challenging because common approximations for solids and gases do not apply to liquids. Bolmatov et al. identify a liquid/gas dynamic crossover of specific heat above the critical point, and formulate a theory to shed light on its nature.

    • Dima Bolmatov
    • , V. V. Brazhkin
    •  & K. Trachenko

  • Article |

    Crystalline porous materials are commonly based around negatively charged frameworks, so ion-exchange is limited to cations. Here, the authors report a series of positive metal-organic frameworks, capable of ion exchange of large organic anions, with potential in separation and purification applications.

    • Xiang Zhao
    • , Xianhui Bu
    •  & Pingyun Feng

  • Article |

    Techniques for shape-controlling of hydrogels, that is, crosslinked networks of polymers, could make possible various biomimetic applications. Palleau et al.propose a strategy to pattern three-dimensional hydrogels using electric potential, which allows directed bending and fast controllable actuation.

    • Etienne Palleau
    • , Daniel Morales
    •  & Orlin D. Velev

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Platinum nanoclusters are well-known catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction, although the performance of clusters smaller than 2 nm is poorly studied. Here, the authors report 1.4 nm platinum clusters supported on DNA–graphene oxide composites and demonstrate promising electrochemical activity and stability.

    • Jitendra N. Tiwari
    • , Krishna Nath
    •  & Kwang S. Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electrically insulating ligands and doping of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals continue to be significant challenges for practical nanocrystal-based optoelectronics. Wheeler et al.demonstrate a new surface chemistry technique that confronts both of these challenges simultaneously.

    • Lance M. Wheeler
    • , Nathan R. Neale
    •  & Uwe R. Kortshagen

  • Article |

    Fundamental understanding of gold–carbon bonding in homogeneous catalysts is vital for improved catalyst design, although spectroscopic information is limited. Here, the authors probe the bonding in gold–alkyne complexes using a combination of photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initiocalculations.

    • Hong-Tao Liu
    • , Xiao-Gen Xiong
    •  & Lai-Sheng Wang

  • Article |

    Lead-acid batteries are used worldwide, but their recycling remains challenging because of lead pollution and high energy consumption. Pan et al. solve these problems in a high-yield, hydrometallurgical process based on hydrogen-lead oxide fuel cell reactions, which produce water as the by-product.

    • Junqing Pan
    • , Yanzhi Sun
    •  & Arumugam Manthiram

  • Article |

    Ultrafast laser pulses are useful to study electron dynamics in chemical bonds, but their influence on bond breaking is not fully understood. Wu et al. study H2 bond breaking with coincidence techniques, and find a phase-dependent anisotropy of the H+fragmentation even for isotropic multicycle laser pulses.

    • J. Wu
    • , M. Magrakvelidze
    •  & R. Dörner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Many interesting chemical problems like photosynthesis and photovoltaics involve non-adiabatic dynamical phenomena, which are difficult to predict theoretically. Here, the authors develop a new numerical method capable of recovering quantum interferences that are neglected by conventional methods.

    • Vyacheslav N. Gorshkov
    • , Sergei Tretiak
    •  & Dmitry Mozyrsky

  • Article |

    Assembly of functional colloidal nanoparticles has many technological applications, but its three-dimensional realization remains challenging. Kim et al.report a spontaneous self-orientation of gold nanorods at an oil/water interface and use it to amplify signal in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

    • Kihoon Kim
    • , Hye Soo Han
    •  & Taewook Kang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chemical reactions on femtolitre scales are necessary to study confined biological processes. Here, the authors use a microfluidic pen lithography technique to perform a series of discrete femtoscale acid-base and synthetic reactions, and crystallizations on a surface with high registration accuracy.

    • Carlos Carbonell
    • , Kyriakos C. Stylianou
    •  & Daniel Maspoch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The enantiopurity of chiral compounds is key in determining their activity or therapeutic action. Here, the authors present a versatile NMR method of enantiomeric excess determination using a symmetrical achiral molecule as resolving agent, based on complexation with analyte, without formation of diastereomers.

    • Jan Labuta
    • , Shinsuke Ishihara
    •  & Jonathan P. Hill

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Elemental sulphur is an insulator in the bulk phase, although it may become conducting under ultrahigh-pressure conditions. Here, the authors report a one-dimensional conducting form of sulphur formed by encapsulation inside single-walled and double-walled carbon nanotubes.

    • Toshihiko Fujimori
    • , Aarón Morelos-Gómez
    •  & Katsumi Kaneko

  • Article |

    The direct transformation of cellulose into high-value chemicals is a key process in the establishment of biomass-derived chemical production. Here, the authors present the lead(II)-catalysed conversion of cellulose into lactic acid via a cascade reaction, which proceeds in water under mild conditions.

    • Yanliang Wang
    • , Weiping Deng
    •  & Huilin Wan

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