Perspective and front cover

Masakatsu Shibasaki and Motomu Kanai from the University of Tokyo, Japan discuss the advantages of using polymetallic lanthanide complexes as catalysts for the enantioselective construction of tetrasubstituted carbon centres. 

Perspective

Fungi make a wide variety of structurally diverse polyketides, from some of the simplest known to some of the most complicated. These compounds are synthesised by large, multifunctional proteins called polyketide synthases (PKS). Russell Cox from the University of Bristol, UK describes recent studies into understanding how these fungal PKS proteins function. 

Emerging Area

Lanthanide ions and complexes are finding increasing use in many fields, such as sensing and biological imaging. Thorfinnur Gunnlaugsson and Floriana Stomeo from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland give an overview of recent work into the construction of lanthanide based structures formed using organic ligands and organometallic complexes.