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The authors demonstrate a proof-of-principle example of an NH-π hydrogen bond on the surface of an intrinsically disordered protein through detection of weak scalar couplings by NMR, supported by Molecular Dynamics simulation and DFT calculations.

Peroxidases have long been considered to use ferryl heme intermediates (Fe(IV) = O) to catalyze oxidative chemistries. Here, Williams et al. find that ferric-oxyl (Fe^III–O^•–) excited states exist along the catalytic reaction coordinate of a peroxidase.

The coexistence of frustrated magnetism and bond order is demonstrated in a family of antiferromagnets. Layers of dual frustrated orders are interleaved in the same crystal lattice, which presents an exciting possibility for engineering new responses.

Methylthio-alkane reductases are recently discovered enzymes that can produce methanethiol and small hydrocarbons from methylated sulfur compounds. Now the cryo-EM structure of a methylthio-alkane reductase complex is solved, revealing large metalloclusters previously observed only within nitrogenases.

σ-Complexes of transition metals are key intermediates in metal-mediated bond activation, but have traditionally been isolable only when chelating or when one of the participating atoms is hydrogen. Here, a complex is isolated with an unsupported borirene ligand bound not through the unsaturated C=C bond, but exclusively via a B–C single bond.

The precise manipulation of unfunctionalized hydrocarbons remains a fundamental challenge in chemical synthesis and catalysis. Here an organocatalytic asymmetric hydroxylation of bicyclobutanes with alcohols is disclosed, enabling efficient access to tertiary cyclopropylcarbinyl ethers with high enantioselectivity (up to 98:2 e.r.).

Arginine addiction induced by argininosuccinate synthase (ASSN1) deficiency has been exploited to treat ASS1-deficient cancers. Here, the authors show an alternative therapeutic approach where ASS1 activity is increased by the pesticide spinosyn A and is shown to inhibit breast cancer cell proliferation.

Deep learning-based generative tools are used to design protein building blocks with well-defined directional bonding interactions, allowing the generation of a variety of scalable protein assemblies from a small set of reusable subunits.

The growing market demand for peptides is drawing more attention to their industrial synthetic procedures, which rely on large amounts of toxic solvents. Here the authors suggest practical steps that bring fully water-based peptide synthesis closer to reality.

The authors identify a single main-chain hydrogen bond required to keep GABA_A receptors closed in the absence of neurotransmitter. Electrophysiology and molecular dynamics simulations suggest disruption of this bond is a key component of channel opening during inhibitory synaptic signaling in the brain.

Polyamides (PAs) or nylons are types of plastics with wide applications, but due to their accumulation in the environment, strategies for their deconstruction are of interest. Here, the authors screen 40 potential nylon-hydrolyzing enzymes (nylonases) using a mass spectrometry-based approach and identify a thermostabilized N-terminal nucleophile hydrolase as the most promising for further development, as well as crucial targets for progressing PA6 enzymatic depolymerization.

Iron–sulfur minerals play critical roles in regulating nitrogen cycling under anoxic conditions. This study shows that pyrrhotite with abundant iron vacancies promotes electron transfer and microbial nitrate reduction to dinitrogen.

Ultrafast laser pulses are useful to study electron dynamics in chemical bonds, but their influence on bond breaking is not fully understood. Wu et al. study H₂ bond breaking with coincidence techniques, and find a phase-dependent anisotropy of the H⁺fragmentation even for isotropic multicycle laser pulses.

Incorporating carbon-carbon triple bonds into conjugated chains typically requires acetylenic precursors. Here, the authors synthesize poly(p-phenylene ethynylene) molecular wires on Cu(111) by directly coupling trichloromethyl-containing precursors, forming C-C triple bonds in situ

Experimental realizations of discrete time crystals have mainly involved 1D models with Ising-like couplings. Here, the authors realize a 2D discrete time crystal with anisotropic Heisenberg coupling on a quantum simulator based on superconducting qubits, uncovering a rich phase diagram.

The concept of resonant valence bond phases has inspired many areas of condensed matter physics, but few realistic models have been identified. Now an analytical solution of such a phase has been found for pyrochlore and related lattices.

Natural products populate areas of chemical space not occupied by average synthetic molecules. Here, an analysis of more than 180,000 natural product structures results in a library of 2,000 natural-product-derived fragments, which resemble the properties of the natural products themselves and give access to novel inhibitor chemotypes.

Fracto-mechanoluminescence is the emission of light from fracturing solids. Here, the authors show that this emission in Mn halides arises from elastic stiffness, electromechanical coupling, and trap states that activate Mn²⁺ d−d transitions.

The mechanism of the multiple-q charge density wave phase in the antiferromagnetic kagome metal FeGe is not fully understood. Here the authors reveal dimerization-driven hexagonal charge-diffuse precursor and identify the fraction of dimerized/undimerized states as the key order parameter of the phase transition.

Enantioselective activation of a single C–F bond in a difluoromethylene group is achieved using a chiral transition metal catalyst and a fluorophilic activator.

Studying many-body quantum chaos on current quantum hardware is hindered by noise and limited scalability. Now it is shown that a superconducting processor, combined with error mitigation, can accurately simulate dual-unitary circuit dynamics.

Native top-down proteomics reveals epidermal growth factor receptor–estrogen receptor-alpha (EGFR–ER) signaling crosstalk in breast cancer cells and dissociation of nuclear transport factor 2 (NUTF2) dimers to modulate ER signaling and cell growth.

Adding one further base pair to the classic Watson–Crick scheme not only expands the genetic code but also offers opportunities to modify the structure and function of DNA. It has now been shown that an artificial metal–salen base pair can be enzymatically incorporated into DNA duplexes and even amplified by PCR.

Many chemical reactions rely on the preference of copper for positive oxidation states. In this work, the authors report that the reaction of an N-heterocyclic carbene ligated copper alkoxide with a dimeric magnesium(I) compound results in a stable compound with a Cu-Mg bond which acts as a nucleophilic source copper in the formal oxidation state of Cu(-I).

Hydrogenolysis of lignin produces a complex mixture of products, including small lignin-derived monomers, dimers, and higher oligomers. Using poplar and lignin model compounds, the authors demonstrate that the sequential demand for surface-bound hydrogen during hydrogenolysis creates temporal windows that allow catalytic oxidation events to take place, even within an overall hydrogen-rich, reductive environment.

Detecting proton arrangements and quantum behavior at the atomic level is a challenge. Here, the authors use atomic force spectroscopy to reveal symmetry breaking in the proton arrangement in cyclic hydrogen bonds caused by nuclear quantum effects.

Disorder in quantum magnetic materials can mimic the behaviour of quantum spin liquids, however, quantifying disorder is challenging, often requiring magnetic fields large enough to fully polarize the system. Here, Kim, Rathi and coauthors show how the fine spectroscopic structure of magnetization plateaus can be used to quantify disorder in magnetic insulators.

The ubiquity of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) in chemical research typically arises from their potent stabilizing capabilities and role as innocent spectators to stabilize otherwise non-bottleable compounds and complexes. Here, the authors reveal how NHC coordination enables selective C(sp3)–H bond scission, unlocking well-defined tin macrocycles which contrast with the typical role of NHCs in stabilizing low-valent main group centres.

Water-vapor interfaces have been studied with many techniques, yet open questions persist about their electronic and molecular structure. Here, the authors demonstrate the application of soft x-ray second harmonic generation to study the water surface by leveraging attosecond pulses at the LCLS and a flat liquid sheet microjet, providing insights on the H-bond structure.

Engineering motif-specific 'hot spots' into an antibody scaffold yields antibodies with high affinity to targets containing phosphoserine, phosphothreonine or phosphotyrosine.

The coupling of carbon monoxide molecules is an attractive prospect for organic synthesis, but only a few metal complexes are known to do this. A compound containing a boron–boron triple bond has now been shown to induce the coupling of four CO molecules, through an intermediate with a single CO.

In biological processes, peptide bonds are formed via reactive phosphate-containing intermediates, facilitated by compartmentalized environments. Here, the authors use aminoacyl phosphate esters that drive selective peptide bond formation through side chain-controlled reactivity and self-assembly, resulting in the preferential incorporation of positively charged amino acids from mixtures containing natural and non-natural amino acids.

Ruthenium complexes with facially coordinating tripodal phosphine ligands are privileged catalysts for a broad range of (de-)hydrogenation-based transformations but the mechanism remains poorly understood. Here the authors present a detailed investigation on the triphos-Ru catalysed C–O bond scission on a molecular level.

In this study, the authors develop a flavivirus vaccine strategy by introducing mutations into envelope glycoproteins resulting in structural changes that conceal the ADE-prone fusion loop epitope. They show that the Zika virus-specific construct protects mice against viral challenge and prevents ADE by Dengue virus.

A strategy for protecting redox-active ortho-quinones, which show promise as anticancer agents but suffer from redox-cycling behaviour and systemic toxicity, has been developed. The ortho-quinones are derivatized to redox-inactive para-aminobenzyl ketols. Upon amine deprotection, an acid-promoted, self-immolative C–C bond-cleaving 1,6-elimination releases the redox-active hydroquinone. The strategy also enables conjugation to a carrier for targeted delivery of ortho-quinone species.

Efforts to produce aromatic monomers through catalytic lignin depolymerization were focused on aryl–ether bond cleavage, while the carbon–carbon bonds of a large fraction of aromatic monomers in lignin are difficult to cleave. Here, the authors report a catalytic autoxidation method using manganese and zirconium salts as catalysts to cleave the C–C bonds in lignin-derived dimers and oligomers from pine and poplar.

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), valued for its remarkable chemical and thermal resilience, resists conventional recycling due to its crystalline structure and high melting point. Here, the authors demonstrate a mechanochemical route to upcycle PTFE as a fluorinating reagent mediated by potassium metal.

GM4951 is a GTPase in hepatic lipid metabolism. Here, the authors determine the atomic structure of GM4951, which forms a tail-to-tail dimer essential for lipid droplet localization. MASLD-linked mutations destabilize the protein and alter the dynamics of switch loops of the GTPase domain.

González-Gualda, Reinius et al. demonstrate that platinum-based chemotherapy-induced senescence promotes malignancy in ovarian and lung cancer via TGFβ ligands, with evidence in mouse models validated in clinical samples. Concomitantly blocking TGFβ signaling with chemotherapy reduces tumor burden and increases survival in mice.

The electronic behaviour of complex oxides such as LaNiO₃ depends on many intrinsic and extrinsic factors, making it challenging to identify microscopic mechanisms. Here the authors demonstrate the influence of oxygen vacancies on the thickness-dependent metal-insulator transition of LaNiO₃ films.

Biocatalytic methods to access thioesters, such as acyl-coenzyme A, from carboxylic acids are underdeveloped. Now, it is shown that the adenylation domain of a carboxylic acid reductase enzyme can be exploited as a promiscuous thioester synthetase and combination with acyltransferases facilitates the synthesis of amides and peptide labelling.

Nickel-catalysed cross-coupling reactions generally use Ni(II) or Ni(0) precatalysts. Here the authors report thermally stable dinuclear Ni(I) complexes with commercial isocyanide ligands for the efficient catalysis in Kumada, Suzuki–Miyaura and Buchwald–Hartwig cross-coupling reactions.

The controlled mechanical activation of specific covalent bonds is a rapidly expanding field in chemistry. Now, it is shown that disulfide bond reduction proceeds through different mechanisms depending on the external force applied. This strongly suggests that refined models should be used when interpreting mechanochemical experiments, particularly when sonication is involved.

An ultrasmall particle adjuvant therapy reprogrammes the tumour microenvironment of a resistant melanoma to a pro-inflammatory state, enhances antitumour immunity and synergizes with immune checkpoint inhibitors to prolong survival in murine models.

As the structure of bulk aluminium chalcogenides is composed of three dimensional networks their molecular congeners exhibit a strong tendency to oligomerize. Here, the authors describe the isolation of a monotopic aluminium telluride and probe its structural and bonding characteristics.

Membrane ion channels can be responsive to a variety of stimuli such as pressure, temperature, or pH. Here, the authors show that simply shining 365 nm light activates a native potassium channel in rodent pain-sensing neurons, delivering powerful analgesia without drugs or genetic manipulations.