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Synthetic and biological chemistry are traditionally seen as separate fields. Now, a biocompatible chemical reaction enables an engineered microbe to convert plastic waste into valuable compounds under mild, cell-friendly conditions.
Chemists first synthesized acylsulfenic acids in the 1990s, but natural products containing this labile moiety have so far not been isolated. The identification of a new natural product, sulfenicin, and the characterization of its biosynthesis now suggest this functional group is widespread among bacteria, hinting at an undiscovered subclass of natural products.
In drug development, altering the ring sizes and editing the stereochemistry of chiral heterocycle scaffolds in lead compounds are effective but challenging. Now an adaptive dynamic kinetic resolution strategy has been developed that enables the integration of multi-contiguous stereocentres and the assembly of complex polycycles such as martinellic acid.
Biocompatible chemistry merges chemo-catalytic reactions with cellular metabolism for sustainable small-molecule synthesis. Now a biocompatible Lossen rearrangement has been demonstrated to control bacterial cell growth and chemistry and applied to the remediation and upcycling of polyethylene terephthalate plastic waste in whole-cell reactions and fermentations to produce valuable industrial chemicals, including the drug paracetamol.
Despite recent advances in primary sulfonamide synthesis, approaches using primary amines as starting points for direct sulfonamide construction remain elusive. Now a formal SO2 insertion into the C–N bond of primary amines has been developed, using an anomeric amide reagent for both C–N cleavage and S–N bond formation.
The synthesis and isolation of compounds featuring lanthanide–carbon triple bonds remain challenging. Now a cluster featuring a cerium–carbon triple bond has been stabilized inside a C80 fullerene cage. The solid-state structure of the compound reveals a cerium–carbon bond distance of 1.969(7) Å.
Despite advances in polymer science, reversible formation and control of linear conjugation in polymer backbones remain elusive. Now, copolymerizing lactone-functionalized xanthene units with π-conjugated building blocks has been shown to produce polymers capable of reversible, stimuli-responsive conjugation switching, enabling tunable semiconducting behaviour and offering a promising strategy for designing smart, responsive polymeric materials.
Hydration frustration — such as burying polar residues or exposing hydrophobic ones — is a hallmark of protein chemistry and critical for biological functions. Now, such frustration can be designed using synthetic copolymers, without the need for defined sequence or structure.
C–H functionalization is a key reaction in organic synthesis. Now a selenoxide reagent has been developed for the formation of arylselenonium salts via C–H functionalization of DNA conjugates with high selectivity. The arylselenonium salts participate in various transformations to forge new C–C and C–X bonds.
Target-oriented syntheses of natural products usually require the design of individualized routes that are tailor-made for the specific targets. Now, a strategy that runs counter to this conventional wisdom has been achieved. Exploiting a biocatalytically installed alcohol, several abiotic skeletal rearrangements have been designed to prepare three structurally disparate terpenoid natural products.
We developed ChemBench as a framework for the evaluation of large language models (LLMs). Our findings reveal that leading LLMs outperform expert chemists in chemical knowledge and reasoning across diverse topics, while highlighting critical limitations that require further development.
C=O cleavage of formamides and full transfer of the resulting fragments into final products are highly appealing, particularly in multi-component reactions for the synthesis of structurally complex molecules. Now three-component reactions of diazo compounds with allylic substrates and formamides are presented, giving extensively reorganized products via multi-step relay.
The functionalization of carbon–carbon bonds in amines remains an important challenge in organic synthesis. Now a borane-catalysed method has been developed that enables the insertion of alkynes into the alkyl C–C bonds of amines, providing a versatile approach for the ring expansion of cyclic amines and chain elongation of acyclic amines.
The extracellular matrix (ECM) is assembled through liquid–liquid phase separation and directed phase transition. Now—inspired by tropoelastin—a designer minimalistic model incorporating alternating hydrophobic moieties and crosslinking domains can template the assembly of a biomimetic matrix that mimics the ECM, promoting the mechanosensing of stem cells.
Moses Dike and Shudipto Konika Dishari explore lignin’s historic journey alongside human civilization and showcase its game-changing potential to drive sustainability without compromising performance.
Modern scientists exist within the digital world. Shira Joudan describes how an online presence is beneficial to researchers, and what a baseline presence can look like.
Information-bearing templates that catalyse the assembly of complex macromolecules are a central motif of natural biochemistry, but their power remains largely unexplored in synthetic contexts. Enzyme-free templating of DNA dimerization has now been demonstrated, using DNA nanotechnology to ensure that the templates are effective information-propagating catalysts.
Proteins with small structural modifications at specific sites are valuable, yet challenging to access by chemical methods. Now, tyrosine-selective single-atom modifications on proteins have been achieved by C–H functionalization using a rationally designed selenoxide to introduce a versatile selenonium linchpin for further transformations.
Ultramicroporous solids hold great promise for hydrocarbon separation, but uncovering their design principles remains challenging. Now, a series of ultramicroporous zirconium metal–organic frameworks with tunable microporosity and pore structure have been prepared by combining isophthalate-based octatopic or hexatopic organic linkers and Zr6 nodes; these materials can separate hexane isomers as a function of branching.
Building protocells with intricate cellular organization and cell–cell interactions is a crucial step in attempts to replicate cytomimetic functions. Now it has been shown that interfacial assembly of porous metal–organic frameworks on protocell coacervates facilitates complex biomolecular organization, regulated protocell communications and structured protocell assembly.
