In
@Nature
, a tape-reading molecule that reads stereochemistry rather than nucleotide codons😃 Congrats to
@YansongRen
@RJamagne
& Dan! Many tks to
@SciCommStudios
for graphics & animation🙏 [📽️:bottom left=tape potential energy surface; right=CD spectrum]
It can be overlooked that biomotors are actually catalysts, but how can catalysis of a reaction lead to work being done? In
@FieldenStephen
& Shuntaro open new directions for both catalysis & molecular machine design. Pumped to see this out in
@Nature
!
The seminal 2000 organocatalysis papers from
@dmac68
&
@ListLaboratory
were the 2nd and 1st corresponding author papers from the starting PIs. A reminder to invest in the young!😃
#chemnobel
Knotting & weaving are closely related. In
@nature
today a 'sister' paper to Monday's
@NatureChemistry
molecular endless knot. We use what was learnt there to weave polymer chains to form a 2D molecularly woven fabric. Congrats, tks & animations below...
Hudlicky's essay made statements on gender, race & mentoring practices that are plain wrong, deeply offensive & against everything we all believe in. Repudiations of the opinions followed quickly with uplifting statements of values from every corner of the chemistry community.1/7
Emotional 2 days at
#Leigh30th
. I laughed so much at the stories (& roasting!) I almost broke a rib; I cried at an election result that will make the best-of-best multination philosophy that underpins our group more difficult to maintain. Thanks everyone for coming; it was magic!
Advances in synthesis & analysis enable old claims to be reexamined with new tools🔎🕵️ In
@J_A_C_S
,
@AndreiBaluna
@AlbanoGalan
@JustinTJSpence
et al retrace footprints in the sands of history in search of the 1st catenane: was it molecule or merely myth?
August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal for David A. Leigh
Pioneering achievements in the field of nanoscience and work as an ambassador for chemistry honored
Hope over fear; unity over division; science over fiction; truth over lies.
@francesarnold
gets the longest ovation I’ve ever heard at a scientific conference. What an inspiration!
@EuChemS_Congres
#ECC9
Our group, past & present, are delighted to be recognised with the 2023 Horizon
#RSCPrize
for Physical Organic Chemistry with the great
@DeanAstumian
&
@EPenocchio
& co for molecular ratcheting; the process that gives chemistry direction!😃
Last month was the 30th anniversary of my becoming a PI (I started at 14 obv) & grp alumni surprised (& delighted!) me by saying they've organised a LeighGrp
@30
symposium 12-13 Dec. Just seen lineup & its amazing!😊Tks all; couldn't be prouder of you (UK ppl pls postal vote!)
The Int. Chemistry Olympiad (17/18 yr olds) always features interesting fun science. So I was delighted to see a knotty question from
@TitchDanon
@FieldenStephen
2021
@NatureChemistry
paper in
@RoySocChem
2022 UK Round 1!😃 Most students untangled it OK!👏
Many thanks to Tulsi
@NatureChemistry
for the beautiful cover design for our 9-crossing molecular composite knot paper: 😀 Here’s what she had to work with..... (btw it’s a completely rendered 3D image, not a real sculpture!).
On the Cover of
@NatureChemistry
this month: Nano-Bernie’s Knot New Deal - Topology for all, free at the point of crossing. Pre-existing entanglements covered (obvs!) [Image courtesy of those wags at
@NatureChemistry
😂]
Honoured to receive a Royal Medal from
@RoyalSocEd
. Heartfelt thanks to the many superb & dedicated students, postdocs & other co-workers that I’ve had the good fortune to work with
@EdinburghChem
@warwickchem
&
@UoMChemistry
, and that this medal now recognises🙏
We're extremely proud to announce our highly prestigious medal winners 🏆 Recognising exceptional achievement in science, academia and public engagement.
This year's winners include
@ProfDaveLeigh
,
@profadmorris
(
@HDR_UK
), and Dr Julie Welburn
@dynamicMT
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) have written to a YR fellowship holder in my lab asking if they’d like to apply for an up to 6 month paid extension of their fellowship. Classy response to the C-19 pandemic by
@dfg_public
. Well played👏
By a simple twist of fate today is the b'day of two of the 2016
@NobelPrize
laureates. Happy Birthday
@sirfrasersays
&
@BobDylan
, both through their work forever young🎉🎂
Slowly, cautiously & with reduced hours & face-masks, our Shanghai satellite lab at ECNU reopens after being closed for 10 weeks since 18 Jan (initially for Chinese NY). Take care & stay safe
@wobenyingxiong
, Sujun, Peng, Peggy &
@LiangZhang1023
🙏
But it’s ok to show compassion & support people when they screw up too. Be kind, ChemTwitter, and let’s all work together to bring about meaningful change. 6/7
1/9 A cool thing when elected FRS is you get to sign (pic1) the
@royalsoc
Charter Book (pic2), in ink on vellum using a quill pen (care: don’t smudge!). It has signatures from (almost) all Fellows from 1660 onwards. Here are some of the most awesome (can you spot them all?)….
Just out
@NatureNano
: macrocycle travels along a polystyrene track, picking up building blocks that it assembles into a well-defined oligomer that folds into a secondary structure that performs asymmetric catalysis Congrats
@gollygosh3
@GuillaumeDebo
etc!
Super excited to share my main PhD work, where we use Vernier template synthesis to make complex molecular knots! 🪢 Amazing working with
@ElisabethKreidt
@FSchaufelberger
and Lucian in
@ProfDaveLeigh
lab on this cool project!
Excited by molecular machines, chemical fueling & molecular knots? 😃 Postdoc positions for skilled & creative organic chemists available in our group . Short deadline (Aug 21st).
A generation ago making rotaxanes was a synthetic tour de force. Now
@FieldenStephen
&
@chong53567984
show you can do this :
Mix a ring & 2 axle building blocks.
That’s it.
1:1:1 ratio, no reagents, no catalyst, no cations/anions/H+, up to 95% yield 😀
Out now as an Accepted Article in
@angew_chem
,
@StefanBorsley
&
@benjamino_acid
review & discuss how chemistry can be driven inexorably away from equilibrium, rather than relax towards it😃
Love the Laudatio for our group’s August Wilhelm von Hofmann medal from
@GDCh_aktuell
🙏😃 Sadly, consultancy apparently cut from budget for that project at funding panel😂
The remaining IAB members are meeting with the GDCh on Wed & I shall consider how personally to best serve the community wrt this issue after that. But enough stands have been taken now, so I don’t expect to share any decision on social media. Take care all & stay safe.7/7
Out now in
@Chem_CP
,
@James_Gall_
@benjamino_acid
&
@StefanBorsley
report a catenane that, like enzymes, accelerates catalysis by conformational selection. Gating in fastest catalytic pathway causes directional rotation to arise as emergent behavior
A statement from Prof. Erick Carreira:
“I regret writing this letter, as it in no way reflects my leadership approach today. I have made peace with those impacted by the letter. (1/3)
Just heard that Nadrian C. Seeman, the father of DNA nanotechnology is no more! Rest in peace Prof. Seeman. Your contribution to science will be remembered. Many of us start our presentation with this slide, it's so sad to hear he is no more.
What distinguishes great scientists is their ability to find a problem that is interesting enough to be worth spending time on, yet sufficiently difficult that it hasn’t yet been solved. And to recognise that the time for solving that problem has come.
On my tour of some south China universities, today I got the chance to give a talk in the city of my wife’s ancestors, Guangzhou. 😀 So cool for our family even if Sau Yin wasn’t with me. Next time, maybe, next time.... Thanks to all my generous hosts 😀
Excited by chemical fuelling, molecular machinery & knots? Research Coordinator/Lecturer position available to work within, coordinate the research, and support the activities of our research group. Short deadline (Aug 3rd) for those who'd like to apply.
Enjoyed discussions with director/co-writer Emily Zhang for the brilliant new
@veritasium
video on knots. Extremely impressive >1M views in first 12 h! (Molecular knots at 24:21, but you'd miss a lot of great knot math/science/history skipping to that!)
The inimitable A P De Silva dedicates the opening Plenary lecture of
@EuChemS_Congres
to
@sirfrasersays
, for giving a ‘chemistry orphan’ a scientific family.
On beautiful Iona today, visiting the abbey where much of the Book of Kells was likely written around 800 AD. Plenty of >1000 year old knot & link motifs survive the Scottish weather🌧💨 and nice to see them still being used in the current chapel!😀🪢🥨
This morning's zoom meeting of
@GiusepponeLab
new molecular machine EU ITN ArtMoMa: Collaborating teams & partners (map); advisory board (green). Interested potential PhD students pls contact individual PIs 😀