Table of Contents || Home

• Organic chemistry
• Physical chemistry and electronics
• Analytical chemistry and metrics
• Biotechnology and life sciences
• Environmental sciences
• Materials
• Processing
• Business and Government
• General

Organic chemistry

• Prepare -trifluoromethyl amides in high yield from commercially available fluorinated alcohols
• Here’s a very efficient method for oxidizing nucleoside phosphites to phosphates
• The role of supercritical CO₂ in organic synthesis is reviewed
• Process innovations may lead to efficient synthesis of drugs for autoimmune diseases
• Nucleophilic displacement within an ionic liquid is a useful new green chemistry tool
• Phenylacetylene dendrimers can be prepared rapidly by a simple solid-state process
• This ring-closing metathesis reaction forms bicyclic compounds with high enantioselectivity
• Cleave aryl methyl ethers selectively to give the corresponding alcohols
• Chemoselective oxidation reactions of complex organic molecules
• Here’s a convenient three-step synthesis for thiopyrylium tetraflouroborate
• This simple reagent reacts efficiently with alcohols to form a protecting group

Physical chemistry and electronics

• New supramolecular machines operate on a silica surface
• Liquid marbles can be made to roll freely on a solid surface
• Expanded graphite can be used to produce electrically conductive composites

Analytical chemistry and metrics

• This optical thermometry method uses a phosphorescent complex

Biotechnology and life sciences

• The bacterium Shewanella oneidensis reduces minerals under anaerobic conditions
• Metalloregulatory proteins are sensitive to femtomolar zinc concentrations
• Protein sequences must be known and understood to exploit the human genome fully
• Supercritical CO₂ is used to control morphologies of biocompatible polymers
• Use solid-phase synthesis to form self-assembling peptides with highly fluorinated cores

Environmental sciences

• Extremophilic organisms adapt to life in incredibly harsh environments
• Mercury emissions from crematoria are of concern to the European Commission
• Solar heat focused by parabolic mirrors can produce fuel for transport to areas where it is needed
• This fern gets fat on arsenic!

Materials

• Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) can anchor isolated functional groups to a surface
• Multiple hydrogen-bonded duplex structures are a starting point for smart materials
• Three polypeptide chains mounted on a template produce a molecular tripod
• Carbon nanotubes can be “soldered” to one another
• Here’s a new method for producing poly(arylalkyl carbonates)
• Prepare linked polymer olefins in situ using a consecutive chain transfer

Processing

• The do-it-yourself approach to laboratory automation has led to development of a computer-aided reactor system
• Use “precipiton” technology to facilitate reaction product separations
• Use a membrane reactor to recycle homogeneous catalysts
• Protect, react, and deprotect all in one pot for optimized synthesis of 3-amino-2-phenylpyridine

Business and Government

• A People Skills Scoreboard based on companies’ training and recruiting resources

General

• Synchrotron facilities are experiencing a serious shortage of trained staff