Featured
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News Feature |
How do you make salty water drinkable? The hunt for fresh solutions to a briny problem
Unconventional methods for desalination could create more drinking water, help many industries to deal with problematic brines and increase lithium supplies for batteries.
- XiaoZhi Lim
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News & Views |
Atom-swap chemistry speeds synthesis of compounds for drug discovery
Reactions have been discovered that selectively transform nitrogen-containing rings, called pyrimidines, into various other ring systems — enabling rapid preparation of compound libraries for pharmaceutical research.
- Ángel Rentería-Gómez
- & Osvaldo Gutierrez
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Review Article |
Expanding chemistry through in vitro and in vivo biocatalysis
This Review considers developments in enzymes, biosynthetic pathways and cellular engineering that enable their use in catalysis for new chemistry and beyond.
- Elijah N. Kissman
- , Max B. Sosa
- & Michelle C. Y. Chang
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Article |
3D printable elastomers with exceptional strength and toughness
Three-dimensional photo-printable resin chemistry yields an elastomer with tensile strength of 94.6 MPa and toughness of 310.4 MJ m−3, both of which far exceed that of any three-dimensional printed elastomer.
- Zizheng Fang
- , Hongfeng Mu
- & Tao Xie
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Article
| Open AccessChemical reservoir computation in a self-organizing reaction network
A chemical reservoir computer based on the formose reaction has been discovered that can perform several nonlinear classification tasks in parallel, predict the dynamics of other complex systems and achieve time-series forecasting.
- Mathieu G. Baltussen
- , Thijs J. de Jong
- & Wilhelm T. S. Huck
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Article
| Open AccessDynamic stereomutation of vinylcyclopropanes with metalloradicals
A Ni(I) metalloradical catalyst enables reversible cis/trans-isomerization of vinylcyclopropanes under chiral inversion.
- Marvin Mendel
- , Teresa M. Karl
- & Franziska Schoenebeck
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Article
| Open AccessDirect radical functionalization of native sugars
A radical-based method for functionalizing native sugars shows a way to remove typical protecting-group manipulations.
- Yi Jiang
- , Yi Wei
- & Ming Joo Koh
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Article |
Catalytic Glycosylation for Minimally Protected Donors and Acceptors
- Qiu-Di Dang
- , Yi-Hui Deng
- & Dawen Niu
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Article |
Hydroamination of alkenes with dinitrogen and titanium polyhydrides
- Takanori Shima
- , Qingde Zhuo
- & Zhaomin Hou
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Nature Video |
A glass that builds and heals itself
The accidental discovery could be used to make lenses, or even as a glue.
- Dan Fox
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News & Views |
Self-healing glass from a simple peptide — just add water
A simple peptide has been found to make disordered interactions with water, forming a self-healing glass that can also be used as an adhesive coating. The findings point the way to sustainable alternatives to conventional glass.
- Silvia Marchesan
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Article |
A self-healing multispectral transparent adhesive peptide glass
A tyrosine tripeptide was discovered to unexpectedly form a supramolecular amorphous glassy material by constructing a non-specific hydrogen bonding network with structural water molecules.
- Gal Finkelstein-Zuta
- , Zohar A. Arnon
- & Ehud Gazit
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Article |
A general strategy for the synthesis of taxane diterpenes
- Lu Pan
- , Fabian Schneider
- & Tanja Gaich
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Article |
Unlocking carbene reactivity by metallaphotoredox α-elimination
- Benjamin T. Boyle
- , Nathan W. Dow
- & David W. C. MacMillan
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Nature Index |
Chinese science still has room to grow
Strengths in chemistry and the physical sciences have propelled the country to the top of the Nature Index. But there is untapped potential in other subject areas.
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Research Briefing |
Atomic-scale insights into the mystery of how ice surfaces melt
It has long been known that ice starts melting at temperatures far below its nominal freezing point, but why or how has remained enigmatic. An innovation in atomic force microscopy provides insights into how this process begins in the most abundant form of ice on Earth.
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Research Briefing |
A window on molecular chirality at the timescale of electron motion
A laser technique, which has a time resolution of only a few femtoseconds, captures how photoexcited electrons can influence the chirality — or handedness — of neutral molecules. The resulting helical currents could be used to control physical and chemical properties that result from chiral interactions. This technology could have applications in fields ranging from solid-state electronics to drug design.
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Article
| Open AccessEarly stages of covalent organic framework formation imaged in operando
The operando imaging of the early formation stages of covalent organic frameworks with the optical technique interferometric scattering microscopy leads to mechanistic insights, enabling the rational development of a synthesis protocol at room temperature instead of elevated temperatures.
- Christoph G. Gruber
- , Laura Frey
- & Emiliano Cortés
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Research Highlight |
More than a billion people live in ‘energy poverty’
Satellite data help to show that many people with access to electricity cannot take advantage of it.
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Nature Podcast |
How AI could improve robotics, the cockroach’s origins, and promethium spills its secrets
We round up some recent stories from the Nature Briefing.
- Benjamin Thompson
- , Elizabeth Gibney
- & Flora Graham
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Article |
Selective lignin arylation for biomass fractionation and benign bisphenols
By controlling C–C bond formation in catalytic arylation, lignin can be efficiently extracted from biomass and converted into benign bisphenols that can be used as replacements for their fossil-based counterparts.
- Ning Li
- , Kexin Yan
- & Feng Wang
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Article |
Asymmetric hydrogenation of ketimines with minimally different alkyl groups
- Mingyang Wang
- , Shihan Liu
- & Qiang Liu
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Research Highlight |
Two receptors are better than one for AI-designed obesity drugs
Compounds predicted by machine learning attach to two receptors involved in appetite and weight.
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Article |
Stereospecific alkenylidene homologation of organoboronates by SNV reaction
We report an SNV reaction, a rare nucleophilic substitution that involves electronically unbiased vinyl electrophiles, which allows the synthesis of cross-conjugated polyenes and bioactive compounds with multi-substituted alkenes.
- Miao Chen
- , Christian D. Knox
- & Guangbin Dong
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News |
Superstar porous materials get salty thanks to computer simulations
Model predicts the structure of previously elusive compounds with practical applications.
- Ariana Remmel
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News & Views |
Promethium bound: fundamental chemistry of an elusive element finally observed
The chemistry of promethium, a rare radioactive element, has been clouded in mystery, owing to its scarcity and the difficulties involved in working with it. The synthesis of a complex of promethium plugs this knowledge gap.
- Kristina O. Kvashnina
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Article
| Open AccessObservation of a promethium complex in solution
Stable chelation of the 147Pm radionuclide in aqueous solution by the newly synthesized organic diglycolamide ligand is demonstrated and the resulting complex studied, showing accelerated shortening of bonds at the beginning of the lanthanide series.
- Darren M. Driscoll
- , Frankie D. White
- & Alexander S. Ivanov
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News & Views |
Designer porous solids open up vast sandbox for materials research
A simple design approach and predictive computational methods have spawned a pathway for making materials that could trap specific molecules — an ability needed for applications such as carbon capture.
- Dejan-Krešimir Bučar
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News |
Element from the periodic table’s far reaches coaxed into elusive compound
Chemists achieve synthetic feat with radioactive promethium for the first time.
- Mark Peplow
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Article
| Open AccessPorous isoreticular non-metal organic frameworks
The use of computational crystal-structure prediction has enabled the targeted assembly of frameworks of porous organic ammonium halide salts that have many of the qualities of metal–organic frameworks despite containing no metal.
- Megan O’Shaughnessy
- , Joseph Glover
- & Andrew I. Cooper
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Article |
Imaging surface structure and premelting of ice Ih with atomic resolution
Atomic-resolution imaging of the surface structure of hexagonal water ice is achieved using cryogenic atomic force microscopy, providing a molecular perspective on the origin and mechanism of of ice premelting.
- Jiani Hong
- , Ye Tian
- & Ying Jiang
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Article |
Covalent targeted radioligands potentiate radionuclide therapy
Radiopharmaceuticals engineered with click chemistry to selectively bind to tumour-specific proteins can be used to successfully target tumour cells, boosting the pharmacokinetics of radionuclide therapy and improving tumour regression.
- Xi-Yang Cui
- , Zhu Li
- & Zhibo Liu
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Article
| Open AccessCapturing electron-driven chiral dynamics in UV-excited molecules
Time-resolved photoelectron circular dichroism with a temporal resolution of 2.9 fs is used to track the ultrafast electron dynamics following ultraviolet excitation of neutral chiral molecules, which generate chiral currents that exhibit periodic rotation direction reversal.
- Vincent Wanie
- , Etienne Bloch
- & Francesca Calegari
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Nature Careers Podcast |
Infrastructure projects need to demonstrate a return on investment
Terms such as sustainability and inclusivity loom large in big infrastructure projects. But impact and value for money need measuring too, says Sinan Küfeoğlu.
- Dom Byrne
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News |
Experimental obesity drug packs double punch to reduce weight
Test of weight-loss candidate in mice shows that there is still room for improvement in a burgeoning field.
- Asher Mullard
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Article
| Open AccessPhotocatalytic doping of organic semiconductors
A previously undescribed photocatalytic approach enables the effective p-type and n-type doping of organic semiconductors at room temperature using only widely available weak dopants such as oxygen and triethylamine.
- Wenlong Jin
- , Chi-Yuan Yang
- & Simone Fabiano
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Article
| Open AccessA renewably sourced, circular photopolymer resin for additive manufacturing
A photopolymer platform derived from renewable lipoates can be 3D-printed into high-resolution parts, which possess properties comparable to some commercial acrylic resins, and then recycled to produce a re-printable resin.
- Thiago O. Machado
- , Connor J. Stubbs
- & Andrew P. Dove
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Editorial |
Reinvent oil refineries for a net-zero future
From petrol to plastics, oil-derived products define modern life. A bold plan to change that comes with huge costs — but researchers and policymakers should take it seriously.
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Perspective |
The refinery of the future
Efforts to find renewable alternatives to fossil fuels that might enable a carbon-neutral society by 2050 are described, as well as outlining a possible roadmap towards a refinery of the future and evaluating its requirements.
- Eelco T. C. Vogt
- & Bert M. Weckhuysen
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Article |
Boron catalysis in a designer enzyme
A completely genetically encoded boronic-acid-containing designer enzyme was created and characterized using X-ray crystallography, high-resolution mass spectrometry and 11B NMR spectroscopy, allowing chemistry that is unknown in nature and currently not possible with small-molecule catalysts.
- Lars Longwitz
- , Reuben B. Leveson-Gower
- & Gerard Roelfes
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Article |
Elastic films of single-crystal two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks
A method is reported that produces highly strong, tough and elastic 2D COF films, using a sacrificial go-between, which endows them with new properties, enhances their current applications and paves the way for new applications.
- Yonghang Yang
- , Baokun Liang
- & Zhikun Zheng
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Article |
Chemical short-range disorder in lithium oxide cathodes
The introduction of chemical short-range disorder substantially affects the crystal structure of layered lithium oxide cathodes, leading to improved charge transfer and structural stability.
- Qidi Wang
- , Zhenpeng Yao
- & Chenglong Zhao
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Article
| Open AccessComplete biosynthesis of QS-21 in engineered yeast
QS-21—an FDA-approved vaccine adjuvant—and several structural analogues of QS-21 can be synthesized in engineered yeast strains, and this process is much less laborious compared with the conventional mode of extraction from the Chilean soapbark tree.
- Yuzhong Liu
- , Xixi Zhao
- & Jay D. Keasling
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Research Highlight |
Old electric-vehicle batteries can find new purpose — on the grid
An algorithm can monitor the health of retired vehicle batteries used to store surplus power fed into the electrical grid.
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Nature Careers Podcast |
How artificial intelligence is helping Ghana plan for a renewable energy future
The technology is helping the West African nation to invest wisely in infrastructure, prioritising energy and food security, but also human health.
- Dom Byrne
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News |
Argentina’s pioneering nuclear research threatened by huge budget cuts
President Javier Milei is making moves to partially privatize the sector, but in the meantime, projects have paused.
- Martín De Ambrosio
- & Fermín Koop
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Article |
A deconstruction–reconstruction strategy for pyrimidine diversification
We present a synthetic method that transforms complex pyrimidine-containing structures into iminoenamines and then uses de novo heterocycle synthesis to obtain substituted pyrimidine and 1,2-azole analogues.
- Benjamin J. H. Uhlenbruck
- , Celena M. Josephitis
- & Andrew McNally
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Obituary |
Allen J. Bard obituary: electrochemist whose techniques underpin clinical diagnostics, materials discovery and more
Innovator who pioneered scanning electrochemical microscopy, bioassays and solar fuels.
- Michael Rose
- & Henry S. White
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