If you’re part of the solution, are you part of the problem?
ChemSci Pick of the Week
A team of scientists have investigated new methods for assembling large molecules in water. This research could enable the design of large structures such as artificial cell membranes, which could ultimately be used to create synthetic organs for medical use.
Creating large and complex molecules is particularly challenging, because of the number of components involved. Synthetic chemists need a method to ensure that all the components assemble in the right order and in the right structure. If they were to simply mix all the components – or starting materials – together in a solution, any number of final products could potentially form.
One answer to this problem is to use a ‘cosolvent’, or template molecule, which guides the assembly of the target molecule. In his recent work, Bert Meijer from the University of Eindhoven, along with a team of researchers from Switzerland and the Netherlands, has carried out investigations into the way this works.
They found that the cosolvent they used – acetonitrile – despite being placed in the solution to help with the assembly, can itself interfere with the dynamics of the whole solution, potentially disrupting the assembly process instead of helping. They used experiments and computer simulations to establish when this disruption occurs. They established a critical concentration of acetonitrile, below which the assembly can still take place without interference.
This is an important finding, which highlights the need to study the precise behaviour of cosolvents in assembly processes. These insights will be crucial for future assembly studies, and will ultimately lead to better methods for producing useful materials.
This article is free to read in our open access, flagship journal Chemical Science: René P. M. Lafleur et al., Chem. Sci., 2018, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C8SC02257G. You can access all of our ChemSci Picks in this collection.
ChemSci Pick of the Week
Chemical Science is the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry and publishes findings of exceptional significance from across the chemical sciences. It is a global journal for the discovery and reporting of breakthroughs in basic chemical research, communicated to a worldwide audience without barriers, through open access. All article publication charges have been waived, meaning that the journal is free to read and free to publish.
Every Wednesday we are sharing one story from Chemical Science, highlighting the cutting-edge work we publish. Follow @ChemicalScience and #ChemSciPicks on Twitter to stay up to date.
If you are a journalist wishing to receive brand new research from our journals under embargo, please contact the press office using the contact box below, to be added to our distribution list.
Press office
- Tel:
- +44 (0) 20 7440 3351
- Email:
- Send us an email