Applied chemistry
Light driven molecular motors possess immense potential as central driving units for future nanotechnology. Integration into larger molecular setups and transduction of their mechanical motions represents the current frontier of research.
Biomedical
One of the dirty secrets of medical chemistry is the naughty over-simplification of primary assays leading to erroneous interpretations of data from them. In a milestone study, Rubin and co-workers, from UC Santa Cruz, UC San Francisco, and Roswell Park, NY, have exposed one of these skeletons in the closet (Science, 2019, 366, 1330).
Organic chemistry
In studies exploring the scope of aromaticity, swapping two adjacent carbons in a benzene ring for a B=N unit is an approach that is only reliable when a high level of aromatic stabilisation is retained. Extending the concept to non-linear fused-ring structures such as phenanthrenes has presented many problems when a B=N link is desired at the central -HC=CH- section of the molecule, a position (Scheme 1, box), which has substantial alkene-like reactivity.