Toulmin A. et al, Biochemistry 56, 4985–4991 (2017)

​

Junctions between regions of double stranded DNA are important for DNA replication and repair and in nanotechnology. The junction points of perfectly complementary three-way junctions have previously eluded characterisation, but in this paper 19F NMR of a fluorinated base analogue starts to reveal the nature of the multiple conformations sampled by junction bases.

Barski M. et al, eLife 2017;6:e29236

​

Rift Valley fever phlebovirus (RVFV) is a clinically and economically important pathogen increasingly likely to cause widespread epidemics. RVFV virulence depends on the interferon antagonist non-structural protein (NSs), which remains poorly characterized. We identified a stable core domain of RVFV NSs (residues 83–248), and solved its crystal structure, a novel all-helical fold organized into highly ordered fibrils. A hallmark of RVFV pathology is NSs filament formation in infected cell nuclei.

Sonnenschein E.C. et al, Tetrahedron 73, 2633-2637 (2017)

​

A new siderophore containing a 4,5-dihydroimidazole moiety was isolated from Pseudoalteromonas piscicida S2040 together with myxochelins A and B, alteramide A and its cycloaddition product, and bromo- and dibromoalterochromides. The structure of pseudochelin A was established by spectroscopic techniques including 2D NMR and MS/MS fragmentation data.

Morris S.A. et al, Nat. Chem. 9, 1012–1018 (2017)

​

The assembly–disassembly–organization–reassembly (ADOR) mechanism is a recent method for preparing inorganic framework materials and, in particular, zeolites. This flexible approach has enabled the synthesis of isoreticular families of zeolites with unprecedented continuous control over porosity, and the design and preparation of materials that would have been difficult—or even impossible—to obtain using traditional hydrothermal techniques.

Maugeri L. et al, Chem. Sci. 8, 938-945 (2017)

​

Phenols and their corresponding phenoxide anions can form halogen bonds with neutral iodotriazoles. The strength of these interactions depends critically on the protonation state of the oxygen atom - the interaction of the phenoxide anion is more than an order of magnitude stronger than the corresponding phenol.

Kew W. et al, Magn. Reson. Chem. 55, 785-796 (2017)

​

A simple and robust solvent suppression technique that enables acquisition of high quality 1D 1H NMR spectra of alcoholic beverages on cryoprobe instruments was developed and applied to acquire NMR spectra of Scotch Whisky. The method uses three channels to suppress signals of water and ethanol, including those of 13C satellites of ethanol. It is executed in automation allowing high throughput investigations of alcoholic beverages.

Riley L.E. et al. Dalton Trans. 46, 5218 (2017)

​

The bis(carboranyl)phosphines [μ-2,2′-PPh-{1-(1′-1′,2′-closo-C2B10H10)-1,2-closo-C2B10H10}] (I) and [μ-2,2′-PEt-{1-(1′-1′,2′-closo-C2B10H10)-1,2-closo-C2B10H10}] (1) have been prepared and spectroscopically and structurally characterised. Crystallographic and DFT computational studies of 1 suggest that the orientation of the ethyl group, relative to the bis(carborane), is the result of intramolecular dihydrogen bonding. This orientation is such that the magnitudes of the 2JPH coupling constants...

Jones A. et al. Anal. Chem. 89, 10013–10021 (2017)

​

We report a new 'pure-shift' method, termed 'SHARPER' (Sensitive, Homogeneous And Resolved PEaks in Real time) designed for the analysis of reactions and equilibria by NMR. By focusing on a single selected signal, SHARPER removes all heteronuclear couplings of a selected nucleus without the need to pulse on X channels, while 'sel-SHARPER' removes all heteronuclear and homonuclear couplings of the selected signal.

Watson S. A. et al, Annal Lett. 50, 161-172 (2017)

​

A robust, fully automated, walk-up method is reported to quantify chloride in samples using 35 Cl nuclear magnetic resonance. Minimal user input is required, no standards are acquired at the time of analysis; and the submission, acquisition, processing, and production of results are seamlessly integrated within existing software.

Varshney D et al, Nuc. Acids Res. 44, 10423–10436 (2016)

​

Maturation and translation of mRNA in eukaryotes requires the addition of the 7-methylguanosine cap. In vertebrates, the cap methyltransferase, RNA guanine-7 methyltransferase (RNMT), has an activating subunit, RNMT-Activating Miniprotein (RAM). Here we report the first crystal structure of the human RNMT in complex with the activation domain of RAM.

Grinter R et al, Nat. Commun. 7 Article Number: 13308 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13308

Iron is a limiting nutrient in bacterial infection putting it at the centre of an evolutionary arms race between host and pathogen. Gram-negative bacteria utilize TonB-dependent outer membrane receptors to obtain iron during infection. These receptors acquire iron either in concert with soluble iron-scavenging siderophores or through direct interaction and extraction from host proteins. Characterization of these receptors provides invaluable insight into pathogenesis.

Rateb M. E. et al, Org. Biomol. Chem. 13, 9585 (2015)

​

Linaridins are rare linear ribosomally-synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) and only two, cypemycin and SGR-1832, in this family have been identified so far. Legonaridin 1 has been discovered as a new member of linaridins through chemical isolation, peptidogenomics, comprehensive 1- and 2-D NMR and advanced Marfey’s analyses from the soil bacterium Streptomyces sp. CT34, an isolate collected from Legon, Ghana..