September 2020

Professor Yury Gogotsi is the Distinguished University Professor and Charles T. and Ruth M. Bach Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University. He also serves as Director of the A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute. His research group works on synthesis and surface modification of inorganic nanomaterials, such as 2D carbides, nitrides (MXenes), and nanostructured carbons, as well as nanomaterials for energy, water, and biomedical applications. His work on carbon and carbide nanomaterials with tunable structure and porosity had a significant impact on the field of capacitive energy storage. He has co-authored two books, more than 700 papers in peer-reviewed journals, and edited 14 books. He has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher in Chemistry and Materials Science, and as a Citations Laureate by Clarivate Analytics.

Professor Gogotsi has received three honorary doctorates and numerous awards for his research, including the ACS Award in the Chemistry of Materials, ACS Philadelphia Section Award, International Nanotechnology Prize (RUSNANOPrize), Ceramic Prize from the World Academy of Ceramics, European Carbon Association Award, S. Somiya Award from the International Union of Materials Research Societies, Nano Energy award from Elsevier, R&D 100 Award from R&D Magazine (twice) and two Nano 50 Awards from NASA Nanotech Briefs. He has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS), Materials Research Society, American Ceramic Society, the Electrochemical Society, the International Society of Electrochemistry, Royal Society of Chemistry, the World Academy of Ceramics, and the European Academy of Sciences. He also served on the MRS Board of Directors, serves on editorial boards of more than a dozen journals, and is currently an Associate Editor of ACS Nano.

In this interview, I talked to Professor Gogotsi about his early research and how he came to focus on nanostructured carbon materials and their potential applications.

What was your early research on, and how did you eventually come to focus on nanostructured carbon materials and hydrothermal synthesis of carbon nanostructures?

During my Ph.D. study and first post-doc, I worked on high-temperature corrosion and oxidation of structural ceramics based on carbides and nitrides, such as silicon carbide, silicon nitride, boron carbide, and titanium nitride. Those were material considered for high-temperature ceramic engines. When I started my post-doc at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan, I was asked to work on hydrothermal corrosion of silicon carbide composites for nuclear power stations. This was when I discovered that a layer of carbon, not silica, was formed on the surface of silicon carbide fibers upon hydrothermal corrosion. This is how, by accident, I entered the world of nanostructured carbons and hydrothermal synthesis, which later led us to the hydrothermal synthesis of carbon nanotubes, studies of unusual dynamics water confined inside those nanotubes, and other exciting discoveries.

Can you please tell me more about your work with nanostructured carbon materials? What are some recent developments involving your research?

Over the past decade, my research drifted towards 2D carbides and nitrides (MXenes), which we discovered with my Drexel colleague Michel Barsoum and our students almost a decade ago, but which are experiencing tremendous growth now. We organized a virtual conference on MXenes in August 2020, which attracted more than 2000 registered participants. There will be the 3rd International Conference on MXenes in China this October and a Symposium dedicated to MXenes at the Fall MRS meeting. There is certainly an entire MXene community emerging. Actually, our article reporting on a multitude of MXene structures and compositions was published in ACS Nano in 2012. More than 30 stoichiometric MXenes have been reported since that time, and numerous solid solutions have been studied. The number of publications on MXenes has been doubling annually in the past couple of years. ACS Nano alone has already published more than a hundred articles on MXenes. And, of course, new exciting properties are reported (e.g., superconductivity – Dmitri Talapin from U Chicago published this summer in Science), anomalously strong interaction with electromagnetic waves (our papers with Chong Min Koo from KIST in ACS Nano, Advanced Materials and Science this year), etc. This leads to a very large variety of applications.

What are some potential applications of nanostructured carbon materials in the fields of energy and biomedicine? Are there any current and potential applications the public may be familiar with?

Carbon nanomaterials have wound numerous applications in energy (all supercapacitor electrodes, battery anodes, conductive additives to all battery electrodes, etc.). Hundreds of tons of multiwalled carbon nanotubes are used in battery manufacturing, and graphene is entering commercial applications as well, replacing carbon back and activated carbon. Nanostructured carbon materials are present in every lithium-ion battery. However, there are quite a few biomedical applications as well. Especially nanodiamonds are widely explored for imaging and drug delivery applications. They are non-toxic, with the crystal size ranging from 5 to 100 nm. Carbon (activated charcoal) has been used for detoxification and wound drying since ancient times. It’s still the first means used in emergency medicine in case of poisoning. We have learned how to control the pore size in those carbons with Angstrom accuracy to more efficiently adsorb specific toxins. Nanoporous carbon and graphene platelets can also remove cytokines and toxic proteins from blood, which is critical in treating sepsis and may also save patients experiencing a cytokine storm after COVID.

There are also emerging medical applications of MXenes. Photodynamic therapy and theranostic applications of plasmonic MXenes are being explored in dozens of publications. Epidermal electronics and brain electrodes made of titanium carbide MXene outperform gold and other metal electrodes. In my group, we work on MXene sorbents for accelerated dialysis and wearable kidney. Although respiratory symptoms are a key feature of COVID, many people who are hospitalized with COVID-19 also suffer acute kidney injury, a condition that exacerbates patient mortality and may have to be treated through renal replacement therapy. Supplies for dialysis treatment, including dialysate, have run dangerously low in hospitals at the epicenter of the pandemic. MXenes can efficiently and rapidly regenerate dialysate, removing toxins and restoring electrolyte concentrations so that this vital resource remains readily available. In particular, Ti3C2Tx, a two-dimensional transition-metal carbide can efficiently adsorb urea, as well as remove creatinine and uric acid from dialysate.

What are the major challenges facing your field today? What are some things that would help overcome these challenges?

Scaling up the production of nanomaterials in a safe and cost-efficient way is the challenge that our field is facing. It does not necessarily mean tons of material – thin, monolayer MXene, or graphene film may not weigh much, but large-area films of good quality are needed for optical and electronic applications. Some other applications really require ton quantities. However, as experience with the nanotubes shows, it is doable with proper efforts.

What are some directions you would like to see your research move towards? Are there any recent studies or possible collaborations that may help you reach these objectives?

I’d like to further expand the family of MXenes. We published on the synthesis of a first representative of the new subfamily of MXenes with a chemical formula M5C4 in the January 2020 issue of ACS Nano, and we want to make more materials in this system as they have been predicted to have a combination of very attractive properties. We are also exploring solid solutions on M and X sites, substituting elements to finely tune optical, electronic, and electrochemical properties of MXenes.

What do you think is the most interesting and/or important unsolved problem in your field?

The most wonderful thing about 2D nanomaterials is that they can help us to solve all important problems, from providing renewable energy and drinkable water to better healthcare. They are simply the building blocks of future materials and devices—LEGO bricks of nanometer size. We are learning how to make them with amazing accuracy and control their structure, properties, and composition. With MXenes adding a large number of metallic structures to an array of dielectric, semiconducting, and semimetallic materials (oxide, dichalcogenides, etc.), we have a full set of electronic properties to build 2D electronics (printable and affordable). However, there is still a long way to go until we can program self-assembly of complex devices from 2D building blocks.

Have you received any good advice that stuck with you? How has it helped you within your career?

Follow your passion. If you do what you like, you are going to do it well, so you will succeed in your career. Not less important, you will feel happy and enjoy your life because you spend most of the day doing what you love to do.

Read recent articles from Yury Gogotsi.

Accounts of Chemical Research is excited to announce a new video series entitled Lab Accounts. Lab Accounts are short interviews with the authors behind important Accounts and Special Issues. Each video goes beyond the research to tell a larger story about the author(s) and labs producing the research, including their backgrounds and paths to their respective research fields. Lab Accounts also highlights research processes and approaches to conducting experiments.

The Lab Accounts series is ongoing, so stay tuned for our next interview announcement. In the meantime, check out a few of our favorites:

Paul Westerhoff discusses the “Water For Two Worlds: Urban and Rural Communities” Special Issue, including how chemists and engineers are trying to address the issue of clean, safe water for everyone and how ‘safe’ water is defined, among other topics.

Esther Takeuchi, one half of the Guest Editorial team for the journal’s “Energy Storage: Complexities Among Materials and Interfaces at Multiple Length Scales” Special Issue, which discusses why this is an exciting time for battery research, how chemists are meeting the demand for new batteries, and the environmental impact of battery research and production.

Shelley Minteer and Phil Baran, guest editors of the journal’s “Electrifying Synthesis” Special Issue discuss how they got into the field of electrochemistry, joined together with other researchers to create the Center for Synthetic Organic Electrochemistry, the “holy grail” of the field, and whether or not organic chemists should be learning electrochemistry.

Watch all of the Accounts of Chemical Research Lab Accounts interviews here.

This week: Effective control of crystal size — and more!

Each and every day, ACS grants free access to a new peer-reviewed research article from one of the Society’s journals. These articles are specially chosen by a team of scientific editors of ACS journals from around the world to highlight the transformative power of chemistry. Access to these articles will remain open to all as a public service.

Check out this week’s picks!
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Effect of Sodium Citrate and Calcium Ions on the Spontaneous Displacement of Heavy Oil from Quartz Surfaces
J. Phys. Chem. C 2020, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXX
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c06338
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Experimentally Verified Alcohol Adsorption Isotherms in Nanoporous Materials from Literature Meta-Analysis
J. Chem. Eng. Data 2020, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXX
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jced.0c00598
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Integrative Modeling of Quantitative Plasma Lipoprotein, Metabolic, and Amino Acid Data Reveals a Multiorgan Pathological Signature of SARS-CoV-2 Infection
J. Proteome Res. 2020, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXX
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00519
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Synthesis of Acyl Fluorides via DAST-Mediated Fluorinative C–C Bond Cleavage of Activated Ketones
Org. Lett. 2020, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXX
DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.0c02603
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Hybrid Nanoplasmonic Porous Biomaterial Scaffold for Liquid Biopsy Diagnostics Using Extracellular Vesicles
ACS Sens. 2020, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXX
DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.0c00953
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Chlorinated Byproduct Formation during the Electrochemical Advanced Oxidation Process at Magnéli Phase Ti4O7 Electrodes
Environ. Sci. Technol. 2020, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXX
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c03916

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Effective Control of Crystal Size via an Integrated Crystallization, Wet Milling, and Annealing Recirculation System
Org. Process Res. Dev. 2020, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXX
DOI: 10.1021/acs.oprd.0c00307
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Love ACS Editors’ Choice? Get a weekly e-mail of the latest ACS Editor’s Choice articles and never miss a breakthrough!

There are lots of different ways to look at the reach of an article. You can look at citations, Altmetric Attention Scores, awards, and more. One way to consider the influence of an article is just by looking at how many people chose to read it. To that end, we’ve compiled lists of the five most-read chemistry articles from each ACS Publications journal in August 2020, including research, reviews, perspectives, and editorial pieces. These lists were not chosen by the journal’s editors and should not be taken as a “best of” list, but as another perspective on where the chemistry community allocated their attention.

Click on your favorite journal below to see their most-read articles of the month.

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Accounts of Chemical Research

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Palladium-Catalyzed Regioselective and Stereospecific Ring-Opening Cross-Coupling of Aziridines: Experimental and Computational Studies
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.0c00395

Covalent Organic Frameworks: Pore Design and Interface Engineering
DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.0c00386

Cross-Electrophile Couplings of Activated and Sterically Hindered Halides and Alcohol Derivatives
DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.0c00291

New Twists in Nazarov Cyclization Chemistry
DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.0c00284

Mapping Materials and Molecules
DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.0c00403

ACS Applied Bio Materials

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3D Bioprinting of Tumor Models for Cancer Research
DOI: 10.1021/acsabm.0c00791

Advanced DNA Nanopore Technologies
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsabm.0c00879

Controlled Synthesis of Shell Cross-Linked Helical Poly(phenylborate isocyanide) Nanoparticles with H₂O₂/Redox Dual Responsiveness and Their Application in Antitumor Drug Delivery
DOI: 10.1021/acsabm.0c00523

Wearable and Biodegradable Sensors for Human Health Monitoring
DOI: 10.1021/acsabm.0c00859

Glucose- and pH-Responsive Supramolecular Polymer Vesicles Based on Host–Guest Interaction for Transcutaneous Delivery of Insulin
DOI: 10.1021/acsabm.0c00813

ACS Applied Electronic Materials

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Miniaturized Piezo Force Sensor for a Medical Catheter and Implantable Device
Open Access Through ACS Editors’ Choice
DOI: 10.1021/acsaelm.0c00538

Current Modulation by Optoelectric Control of Ferroelectric Domains
Open Access Through ACS Editors’ Choice
DOI: 10.1021/acsaelm.0c00497

A Comprehensive Review on Carbon-Based Polymer Nanocomposite Foams as Electromagnetic Interference Shields and Piezoresistive Sensors
DOI: 10.1021/acsaelm.0c00490

Photophysics of TADF Guest–Host Systems: Introducing the Idea of Hosting Potential
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsaelm.0c00514

One Transistor–Two Memristor Based on Amorphous Indium–Gallium–Zinc-Oxide for Neuromorphic Synaptic Devices
DOI: 10.1021/acsaelm.0c00499

ACS Applied Energy Materials

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Benzo-Dipteridine Derivatives as Organic Cathodes for Li- and Na-ion Batteries
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.0c00829

Tailoring Morphology and Electronic Structure of Cobalt Iron Oxide Nanowires for Electrochemical Oxygen Evolution Reaction
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.0c01201

Can a PbCrO₄ Photoanode Perform as Well as Isoelectronic BiVO₄?
DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.0c01250

Extraction Current Transients for Selective Charge-Carrier Mobility Determination in Non-Fullerene and Ternary Bulk Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.0c01539

Structural and Thermoelectric Properties of Black Arsenic–Phosphorus
DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.0c01172

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

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Surface-Dependent Performance of Ultrathin TiN Films as an Electrically Conducting Li Diffusion Barrier for Li-Ion-Based Devices
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c10950

Supertough Lignin Hydrogels with Multienergy Dissipative Structures and Ultrahigh Antioxidative Activities
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c10657

Stimuli-Responsive Shape Changing Commodity Polymer Composites and Bilayers
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c10802

Highly Efficient Inverted Circularly Polarized Organic Light-Emitting Diodes
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c09139

Solution-Processed Quasi-Two-Dimensional/Nanoscrystals Perovskite Composite Film Enhances the Efficiency and Stability of Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c07547

ACS Applied Nano Materials

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Graphene, the Swiss Army Knife of Nanomaterials Science
DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.0c02055

Label-Free Nucleic Acid Biosensing Using Nanomaterial-Based Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging: A Review
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.0c01457

Nanoporous Covalent Organic Framework Embedded with Fe/Fe₃O₄ Nanoparticles as Air-Stable Low-Density Nanomagnets
DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.0c01762

Positively Charged Polysulfonamide Nanocomposite Membranes Incorporating Hydrophilic Triazine-Structured COFs for Highly Efficient Nanofiltration
DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.0c01961

Dual-Wavelength Electroluminescent QLEDs Composed of Mixed Alloyed Quantum Dots
DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.0c01560

ACS Applied Polymer Materials

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Tuning the Self-Healing Response of Poly(dimethylsiloxane)-Based Elastomers
DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.0c00755

Recent Development in Near-Infrared Photothermal Therapy Based on Semiconducting Polymer Dots
DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.0c00629

Recent Advances in Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticles for NIR-II Imaging and Therapy
DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.0c00679

Photothermal Conjugated Polymers and Their Biological Applications in Imaging and Therapy
DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.0c00672

Surface Modification of Ethylene Propylene Diene Terpolymer Rubber by Plasma Polymerization Using Organosilicon Precursors
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.0c00401

ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering

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The Effect of Counterions in Hydrophobic Ion Pairs on Oral Bioavailability of Exenatide
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.0c00637

Effect of Nanoparticle Composition, Size, Shape, and Stiffness on Penetration Across the Blood–Brain Barrier
DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.0c00743

Imidazoquinoline-Conjugated Degradable Coacervate Conjugate for Local Cancer Immunotherapy
DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.0c00485

Multistimuli-Responsive Polymeric Vesicles for Accelerated Drug Release in Chemo-photothermal Therapy
DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.0c00585

Beyond Polydimethylsiloxane: Alternative Materials for Fabrication of Organ-on-a-Chip Devices and Microphysiological Systems
DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.0c00640

ACS Catalysis

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Transition-Metal-Catalyzed Denitrative Coupling of Nitroarenes
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.0c02990

Cp*M-Catalyzed Direct Annulation with Terminal Alkynes and Their Surrogates for the Construction of Multi-Ring Systems
DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.0c02972

Copper Makes the Difference: Visible Light-Mediated Atom Transfer Radical Addition Reactions of Iodoform with Olefins
DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.0c02984

High-Valent Nickel Promoted by Atomically Embedded Copper for Efficient Water Oxidation
DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.0c01733

C–H Functionalization Reactions of Unprotected N-Heterocycles by Gold-Catalyzed Carbene Transfer
DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.0c02230

ACS Central Science

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What Comes Next? Simple Practices to Improve Diversity in Science
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.0c00905

Cryo-Electron Microscopy Reaches Resolution Milestone
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.0c01048

Site-Specific Bioconjugation through Enzyme-Catalyzed Tyrosine–Cysteine Bond Formation
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.0c00940

Organic Chemistry: A Call to Action for Diversity and Inclusion
DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.0c01027

The Missing Link between (Un)druggable and Degradable KRAS
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.0c00920

ACS Chemical Biology

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PEARL-seq: A Photoaffinity Platform for the Analysis of Small Molecule-RNA Interactions
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.0c00357

Novel Tetrafunctional Probes Identify Target Receptors and Binding Sites of Small-Molecule Drugs from Living Systems
DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.0c00335

Engineering Cell-Permeable Proteins through Insertion of Cell-Penetrating Motifs into Surface Loops
DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.0c00593

Fluorescent Probes with Unnatural Amino Acids to Monitor Proteasome Activity in Real-Time
DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.0c00634

Impact of the Endosomal Escape Activity of Cell-Penetrating Peptides on the Endocytic Pathway
DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.0c00319

ACS Chemical Neuroscience

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Taste and Smell Disorders in COVID-19 Patients: Role of Interleukin-6
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.0c00447

CNS Pathogens: A Special Issue of ACS Chemical Neuroscience
This article is part of the CNS Pathogens special issue.
DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.0c00471

SARS-CoV-2: The Increasing Importance of Water Filtration against Highly Pathogenic Microbes
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.0c00468

Real-Time Characterization of Cell Membrane Disruption by α-Synuclein Oligomers in Live SH-SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells
DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.0c00309

Central Nervous System Targets and Routes for SARS-CoV-2: Current Views and New Hypotheses
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.0c00434

ACS Combinatorial Science

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Isolation of Chemically Cyclized Peptide Binders Using Yeast Surface Display
Open Access Through ACS Editors’ Choice
DOI: 10.1021/acscombsci.0c00076

Rapid Assembly and Screening of Multivalent Immune Cell-Redirecting Therapies for Leukemia
Open Access Through ACS Editors’ Choice
DOI: 10.1021/acscombsci.0c00081

Considerations for Achieving Maximized DNA Recovery in Solid-Phase DNA-Encoded Library Synthesis
DOI: 10.1021/acscombsci.0c00101

Prospects and Therapeutic Applications of Cardiac Glycosides in Cancer Remediation
DOI: 10.1021/acscombsci.0c00082

MoS₂–Calix[4]arene Catalyzed Synthesis and Molecular Docking Study of 2,4,5-Trisubstituted Imidazoles As Potent Inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
DOI: 10.1021/acscombsci.0c00038

ACS Earth and Space Chemistry

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Hourly Measurements of Organic Molecular Markers in Urban Shanghai, China: Primary Organic Aerosol Source Identification and Observation of Cooking Aerosol Aging
DOI: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.0c00205

Physicochemical Mixing State of Sea Spray Aerosols: Morphologies Exhibit Size Dependence
DOI: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.0c00153

Enhanced Gas Uptake during α-Pinene Ozonolysis Points to a Burying Mechanism
DOI: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.0c00163

Temperature-Dependent Phase Transitions of Aqueous Aerosol Droplet Systems in Microfluidic Traps
DOI: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.0c00114

Atmospheric Fate of Methyl Isocyanate, CH₃NCO: OH and Cl Reaction Kinetics and Identification of Formyl Isocyanate, HC(O)NCO
DOI: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.0c00157

ACS Energy Letters

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Current Density Mismatch in Perovskite Solar Cells
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.0c01642

Bifunctional Surface Engineering on SnO₂ Reduces Energy Loss in Perovskite Solar Cells
DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.0c01566

Perovskite Nanocrystal Heterostructures: Synthesis, Optical Properties, and Applications
Open Access Through ACS Editors’ Choice
DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.0c01449

The Insignificant Role of Dry Reforming of Methane in CO₂ Emission Relief
DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.0c01635

Solution-Processed Monolithic All-Perovskite Triple-Junction Solar Cells with Efficiency Exceeding 20%
DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.0c01184

ACS Environmental Science & Technology Water

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Reactivity of Peracetic Acid with Organic Compounds: A Critical Review
DOI: 10.1021/acsestwater.0c00029

Gas Hydrate-Based Process for Desalination of Heavy Metal Ions from an Aqueous Solution: Kinetics and Rate of Recovery
DOI: 10.1021/acsestwater.0c00025

Never Waste a Crisis: Drawing First Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic to Tackle the Water Crisis
Open Access Through ACS Free to Read License
DOI: 10.1021/acsestwater.0c00041

Directional Oxidation of Amine-Containing Phenolic Pharmaceuticals by Aqueous Dissolved Oxygen under Dark Conditions Catalyzed by Nitrogen-Doped Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes
DOI: 10.1021/acsestwater.0c00003

Phosphate Recovery by a Surface-Immobilized Cerium Affinity Peptide
DOI: 10.1021/acsestwater.0c00001

ACS Infectious Diseases

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Clinical and Laboratory Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, the Virus Causing COVID-19
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00274

Comparative Analysis of Primer–Probe Sets for RT-qPCR of COVID-19 Causative Virus (SARS-CoV-2)
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00464

Asparagine: An Achilles Heel of Virus Replication?
DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00504

Alternatives to Praziquantel for the Prevention and Control of Schistosomiasis
DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00542

A Semisynthetic Kanglemycin Shows In Vivo Efficacy against High-Burden Rifampicin Resistant Pathogens
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00223

ACS Macro Letters

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100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Biological Stimuli-Sensitive Polymer Prodrugs and Nanoparticles for Tumor-Specific Drug Delivery
Open Access Through ACS Editors’ Choice
DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.0c00488

100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Engineering Supramolecular Materials for Responsive Applications—Design and Functionality
DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.0c00418

Regulating Heterogeneous Catalysis of Gold Nanoparticles with Polymer Mechanochemistry
DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.0c00451

100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Single-Molecule Studies of Synthetic Polymers
DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.0c00523

Anticancer Polymers via the Biginelli Reaction
DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.0c00496

ACS Materials Letters

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Lab-on-Mask for Remote Respiratory Monitoring
Open Access Through ACS Editors’ Choice
DOI: 10.1021/acsmaterialslett.0c00299

Beyond Solution-Based Protocols: MOF Membrane Synthesis in Supercritical Environments for an Elegant Sustainability Performance Balance
DOI: 10.1021/acsmaterialslett.0c00267

Water-Based Synthesis of a Stable Iron-Based Metal–Organic Framework for Capturing Toxic Gases
DOI: 10.1021/acsmaterialslett.0c00264

Efficient Lone-Pair-Driven Luminescence: Structure–Property Relationships in Emissive 5s² Metal Halides
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsmaterialslett.0c00211

Retrosynthetic Design of Morphologically Complex Metal Sulfide Nanoparticles Using Sequential Partial Cation Exchange and Chemical Etching
DOI: 10.1021/acsmaterialslett.0c00287

ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters

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Why PB28 Could Be a Covid 2019 Game Changer?
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.0c00271

Structural Impact of Mutation D614G in SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein: Enhanced Infectivity and Therapeutic Opportunity
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.0c00410

RNA: Opening New Doors in Medicinal Chemistry
DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.0c00421

Allosteric Modulation of Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5)
DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.9b00525

Biotransformation: Impact and Application of Metabolism in Drug Discovery
DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.0c00202

ACS Nano

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Enhanced Binding of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein to Receptor by Distal Polybasic Cleavage Sites
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c04798

Nanocube Imprint Lithography
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c04793

Surface-Charge-Switchable Nanoclusters for Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided and Glutathione Depletion-Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c03080

Tumor-Targeted Cascade Nanoreactor Based on Metal–Organic Frameworks for Synergistic Ferroptosis–Starvation Anticancer Therapy
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.9b07789

Collagen-Inspired Helical Peptide Coassembly Forms a Rigid Hydrogel with Twisted Polyproline II Architecture
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c03085

ACS Omega

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Characterizing Volatile and Nonvolatile Factors Influencing Flavor and American Consumer Preference toward Nonalcoholic Beer
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c03168

Applications of Mesoporous Silica-Encapsulated Gold Nanorods Loaded Doxorubicin in Chemo-photothermal Therapy
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c01939

A Facile and Reproducible Synthesis of Near-Infrared Fluorescent Conjugates with Small Targeting Molecules for Microbial Infection Imaging
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c02094

Controlled Methodology for Development of a Polydimethylsiloxane–Polytetrafluoroethylene-Based Composite for Enhanced Chemical Resistance: A Structure–Property Relationship Study
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c02585

Discovery of Harmaline as a Potent Inhibitor of Sphingosine Kinase-1: A Chemopreventive Role in Lung Cancer
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DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c02165

ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science

***

Structure–Activity Relationship Analysis of Psychedelics in a Rat Model of Asthma Reveals the Anti-Inflammatory Pharmacophore
DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.0c00063

Can Papain-like Protease Inhibitors Halt SARS-CoV-2 Replication?
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DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.0c00093

Role of the Helix-8 and C-Terminal Tail in Regulating Proteinase Activated Receptor 2 Signaling
DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.0c00039

Anti-Opioid Antibodies in Individuals Using Chronic Opioid Therapy for Lower Back Pain
DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.0c00057

Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4: A Potential Therapeutic Target in Diabetic Kidney Disease with SARS-CoV-2 Infection
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DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.0c00097

ACS Photonics

***

Truncated Metallo-Dielectric Omnidirectional Reflector: Collecting Single Photons in the Fundamental Gaussian Mode with 95% Efficiency
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DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.0c00730

Quantum Yield Limits for the Detection of Single-Molecule Fluorescence Enhancement by a Gold Nanorod
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DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.0c00803

Narrow-Linewidth Tin-Vacancy Centers in a Diamond Waveguide
DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.0c00833

Improved Quantum Efficiency by Advanced Light Management in Nanotextured Solution-Processed Perovskite Solar Cells
DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.0c00935

Dielectric Nanoantennas for Strain Engineering in Atomically Thin Two-Dimensional Semiconductors
DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.0c00294

ACS Sensors

***

Celebrating Rising Stars in Sensing
DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.0c01551

How Nanophotonic Label-Free Biosensors Can Contribute to Rapid and Massive Diagnostics of Respiratory Virus Infections: COVID-19 Case
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DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.0c01180

Wearable Electrochemical Sensors for the Monitoring and Screening of Drugs
DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.0c01318

Chemiluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer-Based Mesoporous Silica Nanosensors for the Detection of miRNA
DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.0c00747

Triumph and Misery of Measurement Science
DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.0c01542

ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering

***

Solvent-Free, Continuous Synthesis of Hydrazone-Based Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients by Twin-Screw Extrusion
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DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c03816

Constant Renewal: An Open Call for ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Editorial Advisory Board and Early Career Board Members
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c05630

Expectations for Manuscripts on Biomass Feedstocks and Processing in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c05173

Solvent-Free Mechanochemical Synthesis of Ultrasmall Nickel Phosphide Nanoparticles and Their Application as a Catalyst for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER)
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c02762

Redox-Active Biochar and Conductive Graphite Stimulate Methanogenic Metabolism in Anaerobic Digestion of Waste-Activated Sludge: Beyond Direct Interspecies Electron Transfer
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c04109

ACS Symposium Series

***

Two-Dimensional Nanostructures for Advanced Applications
DOI: 10.1021/bk-2020-1353.ch001

Atomic-Scale Representation and Statistical Learning of Tensorial Properties
DOI: 10.1021/bk-2019-1326.ch001

Designing Impactful Green and Sustainable Chemistry Workshops for High School Teachers
DOI: 10.1021/bk-2020-1344.ch001

Preface to Adapting 2D Nanomaterials for Advanced Applications
DOI: 10.1021/bk-2020-1353.pr001

Roadmap
DOI: 10.1021/bk-2020-1354.ch001

ACS Synthetic Biology

***

One-Pot Synthesis of Adipic Acid from Guaiacol in Escherichia coli
DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00254

Conditional Recruitment to a DNA-Bound CRISPR–Cas Complex Using a Colocalization-Dependent Protein Switch
DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00012

Identifying Improved Sites for Heterologous Gene Integration Using ATAC-seq
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00299

A Single Cas9-VPR Nuclease for Simultaneous Gene Activation, Repression, and Editing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00218

Optogenetic Control of Heterologous Metabolism in E. coli
DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00454

Analytical Chemistry

***

Miniaturized LC in Molecular Omics
DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c01436

Advanced Analysis of Biosensor Data for SARS-CoV-2 RBD and ACE2 Interactions
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c02475

Intramolecular Photoelectrochemical System Using Tyrosine-Modified Antibody-Targeted Peptide as Electron Donor for Detection of Biomarkers
DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c02804

Monolithic Poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) Columns for Supercritical Fluid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Polypeptide
DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c02874

Mitochondrial Cl^–-Selective Fluorescent Probe for Biological Applications
DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c02658

Biochemistry

***

Improving the Treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Open Access Through ACS Editors’ Choice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.0c00354

A Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of the (RP)-Isomer of the Antiviral Prodrug Remdesivir
DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.0c00591

Equilibrium Binding Model for CpG DNA-Dependent Dimerization of Toll-like Receptor 9 Ectodomain
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.0c00466

Photocycle of Cyanobacteriochrome TePixJ
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.0c00382

MiniVIPER Is a Peptide Tag for Imaging and Translocating Proteins in Cells
DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.0c00526

Bioconjugate Chemistry

***

Biocompatible and Rapid Cyclization of Peptides with 2,4-Difluoro-6-hydroxy-1,3,5-benzenetricarbonitrile for the Development of Cyclic Peptide Libraries
DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.0c00363

DNA-Compatible Copper-Catalyzed Oxidative Amidation of Aldehydes with Non-Nucleophilic Arylamines
DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.0c00392

Electrostatic Conjugation of Nanoparticle Surfaces with Functional Peptide Motifs
DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.0c00384

The Biomolecular Corona of Lipid Nanoparticles for Gene Therapy
DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.0c00366

Caspase-Activated Oligonucleotide Probe
DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.0c00362

Biomacromolecules

***

Nanoparticles Presenting Potent TLR7/8 Agonists Enhance Anti-PD-L1 Immunotherapy in Cancer Treatment
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.0c00812

Highly Branched Polydimethylacrylamide Copolymers as Functional Biomaterials
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.0c00539

Supramolecular Hydrogels via Light-Responsive Homoternary Cross-Links
DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.0c00950

Covalent Capture of Collagen Triple Helices Using Lysine–Aspartate and Lysine–Glutamate Pairs
DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.0c00878

Sustainable Series of New Epoxidized Vegetable Oil-Based Thermosets with Chemical Recycling Properties
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.0c01059

C&EN Global Enterprise

***

Questioning quats’ safety
DOI: 10.1021/cen-09830-cover

ACS launches Accounts of Materials Research
DOI: 10.1021/cen-09830-acsnews4

ACS 2021 national award winners
DOI: 10.1021/cen-09831-acsnews

C&EN’s Talented 12
DOI: 10.1021/cen-09831-cover1

AI finds alternative routes to COVID-19 drug candidates
DOI: 10.1021/cen-09831-scicon9

Chemical Research in Toxicology

***

GLORYx: Prediction of the Metabolites Resulting from Phase 1 and Phase 2 Biotransformations of Xenobiotics
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.0c00224

Call for Papers for the Special Issue on Neurotoxicology
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.0c00295

Detection and discrimination of DNA adducts differing in size, regiochemistry and functional group by nanopore sequencing
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.0c00202

Glutathione Conjugation and Protein Adduction by Environmental Pollutant 2,4-Dichlorophenol In Vitro and In Vivo
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.0c00118

Impact of the Physicochemical Features of TiO₂ Nanoparticles on Their In Vitro Toxicity
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.0c00106

Chemical Reviews

***

Surface Coordination Chemistry of Atomically Dispersed Metal Catalysts
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00094

Polymer-Derived Heteroatom-Doped Porous Carbon Materials
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00080

Generation of Alkyl Radicals: From the Tyranny of Tin to the Photon Democracy
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00278

Water in Nanopores and Biological Channels: A Molecular Simulation Perspective
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00830

Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells: From Fundamentals to Commercial Deployment
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00780

Chemistry of Materials

***

Rapid Low-Dimensional Li⁺ Ion Hopping Processes in Synthetic Hectorite-Type Li_0.5[Mg_2.5Li_0.5]Si₄O₁₀F₂
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.0c02460

Role of Lithium Iodide Addition to Lithium Thiophosphate: Implications beyond Conductivity
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b05286

Five-Minute Mechanosynthesis of Hypercrosslinked Microporous Polymers
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.0c01726

Catalytic Degradation of an Organophosphorus Agent at Zn–OH Sites in a Metal–Organic Framework
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.0c02373

Highly Efficient Lead-Free (Bi,Ce)-Codoped Cs₂Ag_0.4Na_0.6InCl₆ Double Perovskites for White Light-Emitting Diodes
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.0c02463

Crystal Growth & Design

***

The Eight Hydrates of Strychnine Sulfate
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.cgd.0c00777

Synthesis of a Homochiral Metal–Organic Zeolite for Enantioselective Sensing and Separation
DOI: 10.1021/acs.cgd.0c00817

Growth of Large Single Crystals of n-Type SnS from Halogen-Added Sn Flux
DOI: 10.1021/acs.cgd.0c00617

A Stable Interpenetrated Zn-MOF with Efficient Light Hydrocarbon Adsorption/Separation Performance
DOI: 10.1021/acs.cgd.0c00925

Nanoindentation of Molecular Crystals: Lessons Learned from Aspirin
DOI: 10.1021/acs.cgd.0c00635

Energy & Fuels

***

Emerging Strategies for Developing High-Performance Perovskite-Based Materials for Electrochemical Water Splitting
DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c02313

Chemically Prelithiated Graphene for Anodes of Li-Ion Batteries
DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c01854

Sample Preparation for Solid Petroleum-Based Matrices Based on Direct Matrix Introduction Oriented to Hydrocarbon Profiling
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c01613

Recent Advances in Cs₂AgBiBr₆-Based Halide Double Perovskites as Lead-Free and Inorganic Light Absorbers for Perovskite Solar Cells
DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c02236

Probing Aggregation Tendencies in Asphaltenes by Gel Permeation Chromatography. Part 2: Online Detection by Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry
Open Access Through ACS Editors’ Choice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c02158

Environmental Science & Technology

***

Proton-Catalyzed Decomposition of α-Hydroxyalkyl-Hydroperoxides in Water
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c03438

Re-Envisioning Sanitation As a Human-Derived Resource System
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c03318

In Situ Regeneration of Phenol-Saturated Activated Carbon Fiber by an Electro-peroxymonosulfate Process
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c03766

Geobacter Autogenically Secretes Fulvic Acid to Facilitate the Dissimilated Iron Reduction and Vivianite Recovery
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c01404

Bats and Wind Farms: The Role and Importance of the Baltic Sea Countries in the European Context of Power Transition and Biodiversity Conservation
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c00070

Environmental Science & Technology Letters

***

Probing the Contributions of Interior and Exterior Channels of Nanofillers toward the Enhanced Separation Performance of a Thin-Film Nanocomposite Reverse Osmosis Membrane
DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00507

Increased Indoor Exposure to Commonly Used Disinfectants during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00587

Fast Generation of Perfluoroalkyl Acids from Polyfluoroalkyl Amine Oxides in Aerobic Soils
DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00543

Significance of Hyporheic Exchange for Predicting Microplastic Fate in Rivers
DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00595

Kinetic Isotope Effects in Electrophilic Aromatic Halogenation of Dimethenamid in Chlor(am)inated Water Demonstrate Unique Aspects of Iodination
DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00557

Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research

***

I&EC Research 2020 Excellence in Review Awards
DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.0c03786

Simultaneous Process Design and Control of the Williams–Otto Reactor Using Infinite Horizon Model Predictive Control
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.0c01953

Comment on “CO2 Utilization Feasibility Study: Dimethyl Carbonate Direct Synthesis Process with Dehydration Reactive Distillation”
DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.0c03372

Rebuttal to the “Comment on ‘CO2 Utilization Feasibility Study: Dimethyl Carbonate Direct Synthesis Process with Dehydration Reactive Distillation’”
DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.0c03751

The Role of Big Data in Industrial (Bio)chemical Process Operations
DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.0c01872

Inorganic Chemistry

***

Inorganic Young Investigators: Celebrating the Rising Generation of Chemists
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c02417

Ligand-Mediated Spin-State Changes in a Cobalt-Dipyrrin-Bisphenol Complex
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c01979

Advances and Property Investigations of an Organic–Inorganic Ferroelectric: (diisopropylammonium)₂[CdBr₄]
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c00830

Low-Symmetry Self-Assembled Coordination Complexes with Exclusive Diastereoselectivity: Experimental and Computational Studies
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c01964

Solvent-Induced Bond-Bending Isomerism in Hexaphenyl Carbodiphosphorane: Decisive Dispersion Interactions in the Solid State
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c00994

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

***

Reciprocal Interactions between Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and Human Gut Microbiota In Vitro
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.0c03587

Dietary Polyphenols Inhibit the Cytochrome P450 Monooxygenase Branch of the Arachidonic Acid Cascade with Remarkable Structure-Dependent Selectivity and Potency
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.0c04690

Soil Enzyme Activities as an Integral Part of the Environmental Risk Assessment of Nanopesticides
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.0c04344

Design, Synthesis, Crystal Structure, and Antimicrobial Evaluation of 6-Fluoroquinazolinylpiperidinyl-Containing 1,2,4-Triazole Mannich Base Derivatives against Phytopathogenic Bacteria and Fungi
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.0c01365

Changes in Tennessee Whiskey Odorants by the Lincoln County Process
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.0c03058

Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data

***

Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Solvatochromic Parameters, and Preferential Solvation in Aqueous Solutions of Ethaline, Ethylene Glycol, and Choline Chloride
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jced.0c00381

Equilibrium Solubility Determination and Correlation of Isobutoxyphenylboronic Acids in Organic Solvents
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jced.0c00468

Comment on “Study on Phase Equilibrium of the K⁺, Mg²⁺//Cl^–, SO₄^2– + H₂O Quaternary System at 353.15 K and Its Application”
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jced.0c00397

Reply to the “Comment on ‘Study on Phase Equilibrium of the K⁺, Mg²⁺//Cl^–, SO₄^2– + H₂O Quaternary System at 353.15 K and Its Application’”
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jced.0c00536

Measurement and Correlation of Solubility and Thermodynamic Properties of Fluoxetine Hydrochloride in 15 Pure Solvents and a Methanol + Water Binary Solvent System
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jced.0c00513

Journal of Chemical Education

***

Lessons from a Pandemic: Educating for Complexity, Change, Uncertainty, Vulnerability, and Resilience
Open Access Through ACS Editors’ Choice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00627

Toward Intentional Diversity, Equity, and Respect in Chemistry Research and Practice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00963

Unleashing Our Chemistry Superpowers: Promoting Student Success and Well-Being at a Black Women’s College during COVID-19
Open Access Through ACS Editors’ Choice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00728

The 3Dmol.js Learning Environment: A Classroom Response System for 3D Chemical Structures
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00579

Minimize Online Cheating for Online Assessments During COVID-19 Pandemic
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00790

Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling

***

Impact of Chemist-In-The-Loop Molecular Representations on Machine Learning Outcomes
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00193

Systemic In Silico Screening in Drug Discovery for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) with an Online Interactive Web Server
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00821

Combining Machine Learning and Molecular Dynamics to Predict P-Glycoprotein Substrates
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00525

Impact of Protein Preparation on Resulting Accuracy of FEP Calculations
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00445

Improved Scaffold Hopping in Ligand-Based Virtual Screening Using Neural Representation Learning
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00622

Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation

***

Machine Learning Approaches toward Orbital-free Density Functional Theory: Simultaneous Training on the Kinetic Energy Density Functional and Its Functional Derivative
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00580

The Effect of Using a Twin-Range Cutoff Scheme for Nonbonded Interactions: Implications for Force-Field Parametrization?
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00509

Chemistry on Quantum Computers with Virtual Quantum Subspace Expansion
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00447

Basis Set Extrapolations for Density Functional Theory
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00684

Ab Initio Nonadiabatic Molecular Dynamics with Hole–Hole Tamm–Dancoff Approximated Density Functional Theory
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00644

Journal of Medicinal Chemistry

***

Excellence in Medicinal Chemistry Research from Japan
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c01314

Discovery of First-in-Class Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) Degraders
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c01111

Discovery of Tyrosine Kinase 2 (TYK2) Inhibitor (PF-06826647) for the Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c00948

Discovery of Proteolysis-Targeting Chimera Molecules that Selectively Degrade the IRAK3 Pseudokinase
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c01125

A CNS-Targeting Prodrug Strategy for Nuclear Receptor Modulators
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c00868

Journal of Natural Products

***

Prenylated Flavonoids from the Roots of Tephrosia rhodesica
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c00245

Labdane-Type Diterpenes from the Aerial Parts of Rydingia persica: Their Absolute Configurations and Protective Effects on LPS-Induced Inflammation in Keratinocytes
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c00360

Diverse Types of Diterpenoids with an Aromatized C Ring from the Twigs of Podocarpus imbricatus
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c00291

Secoiridoids and Iridoids from Morinda asteroscepa
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c00447

Bioactive Lignans from Hypoestes aristate
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c00443

Journal of Proteome Research

***

“To Infinity … and beyond”: Looking Past Model Systems
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00607

A Collision-Induced Dissociation Cleavable Isobaric Tag for Peptide Fragment Ion-Based Quantification in Proteomics
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00371

HUMOS: How to Understand My Orbitrap Spectrum?—An Interactive Web-Based Tool to Teach the Basics of Mass-Spectrometry-Based Proteomics
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00395

Proteomics in Non-model Organisms: A New Analytical Frontier
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00448

Integrative Modeling of Quantitative Plasma Lipoprotein, Metabolic, and Amino Acid Data Reveals a Multiorgan Pathological Signature of SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Open Access Through ACS Editors’ Choice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00519

Journal of the American Chemical Society

***

Cobalt-Catalyzed Markovnikov Selective Sequential Hydrogenation/Hydrohydrazidation of Aliphatic Terminal Alkynes
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c07258

Harnessing Sulfinyl Nitrenes: A Unified One-Pot Synthesis of Sulfoximines and Sulfonimidamides
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DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c06986

Total Synthesis of Halistatins 1 and 2
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c07390

A Diverse View of Science to Catalyse Change
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c07877

Total Synthesis of (−)-Daphnezomines A and B
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c06717

Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry

***

Untargeted Metabolomics Workshop Report: Quality Control Considerations from Sample Preparation to Data Analysis
DOI: 10.1021/jasms.0c00224

Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry Imaging Workflow
DOI: 10.1021/jasms.0c00142

Armed with the Facts: A Method for the Analysis of Smokeless Powders by Ambient Mass Spectrometry
DOI: 10.1021/jasms.0c00193

Ethanol-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded Tissue Imaging: Implications for Alzheimer’s Disease Research
DOI: 10.1021/jasms.0c00195

Internal Fragments Generated by Electron Ionization Dissociation Enhance Protein Top-Down Mass Spectrometry
DOI: 10.1021/jasms.0c00160

Langmuir

***

Polymerization in MOF-Confined Nanospaces: Tailored Architectures, Functions, and Applications
Open Access Through ACS Editors’ Choice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c01832

PLL–Poly(HPMA) Bottlebrush-Based Antifouling Coatings: Three Grafting Routes
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c01675

Effects of Strain and Kinetics on the H₂O₂-Assisted Reconstruction of Ag–Au–Ag Nanorods
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c01230

Out-of-Equilibrium Colloidal Assembly Driven by Chemical Reaction Networks
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c01763

A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Particle Sizing Techniques
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c00709

Macromolecules

***

A Curated Experimental Compilation Analyzed by Theory Is More than a Review
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c01291

Glass Transition of Disentangled and Entangled Polymer Melts: Single-Chain-Nanoparticles Approach
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c00550

Impact of the Solvent Quality on the Local Dynamics of Soft and Swollen Polymer Nanoparticles Functionalized with Polymer Chains
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c00346

Synergistic Advances in Living Cationic and Radical Polymerizations
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c01392

Dithiolane-Crosslinked Poly(ε-caprolactone)-Based Micelles: Impact of Monomer Sequence, Nature of Monomer, and Reducing Agent on the Dynamic Crosslinking Properties
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c01031

Molecular Pharmaceutics

***

Pharmacokinetic Modeling of [¹⁸F]MC225 for Quantification of the P-Glycoprotein Function at the Blood–Brain Barrier in Non-Human Primates with PET
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.0c00514

Hydration-Induced Structural Changes in the Solid State of Protein: A SAXS/WAXS Study on Lysozyme
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.0c00351

Development of 5D3-DM1: A Novel Anti-Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen Antibody-Drug Conjugate for PSMA-Positive Prostate Cancer Therapy
DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.0c00457

Machine Learning Models of Antibody–Excipient Preferential Interactions for Use in Computational Formulation Design
DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.0c00629

Preparation of Highly Swelling/Antibacterial Cross-Linked N-Maleoyl-Functional Chitosan/Polyethylene Oxide Nanofiber Meshes for Controlled Antibiotic Release
DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.0c00504

Nano Letters

***

Injectable Anti-inflammatory Nanofiber Hydrogel to Achieve Systemic Immunotherapy Post Local Administration
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c02684

Large Damping-Like Spin–Orbit Torque in a 2D Conductive 1T-TaS₂ Monolayer
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c01955

A Reusable Metasurface Template
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c02876

Detachable Nanoparticle-Enhanced Chemoimmunotherapy Based on Precise Killing of Tumor Seeds and Normalizing the Growing Soil Strategy
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c01415

Tumor Microenvironment-Regulated and Reported Nanoparticles for Overcoming the Self-Confinement of Multiple Photodynamic Therapy
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c02272

Organic Letters

***

Organic Chemistry: A Call to Action for Diversity and Inclusion
DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.0c02559

A Need for Caution in the Preparation and Application of Synthetically Versatile Aryl Diazonium Tetrafluoroborate Salts
DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.0c02685

Ru₃(CO)₁₂-Catalyzed Reaction of 1,6-Diynes, Carbon Monoxide, and Water via the Reductive Coupling of Carbon Monoxide
Open Access Through ACS Editors’ Choice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.0c02349

Synthesis of Fluorinated Alkyl Aryl Ethers by Palladium-Catalyzed C–O Cross-Coupling
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.0c02347

Total Synthesis of (+)-Galbulin and Unnatural Lignans
DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.0c02294

Organic Process Research & Development

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Potential Safety Hazards Associated with Using N,N-Dimethylformamide in Chemical Reactions
DOI: 10.1021/acs.oprd.0c00330

Some Items of Interest to Process R&D Chemists and Engineers
DOI: 10.1021/acs.oprd.0c00344

Improvement of the C-glycosylation Step for the Synthesis of Remdesivir
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.oprd.0c00310

Diethanolamine Boronic Esters: Development of a Simple and Standard Process for Boronic Ester Synthesis
DOI: 10.1021/acs.oprd.0c00296

Simple Synthesis of Amides via Their Acid Chlorides in Aqueous TPGS-750-M
DOI: 10.1021/acs.oprd.0c00303

Organometallics

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Dietmar Seyferth: Mentor, Scientist, Scamp, and Great Human Being
DOI: 10.1021/acs.organomet.0c00513

Dietmar Seyferth (1929–2020): A Foundational and Enduring Legacy at Organometallics
DOI: 10.1021/acs.organomet.0c00531

Organic Chemistry: A Call to Action for Diversity and Inclusion
DOI: 10.1021/acs.organomet.0c00519

Lewis Acid Effects on Calculated Ligand Electronic Parameters
DOI: 10.1021/acs.organomet.0c00407

A Polymer Magician: Professor Charlotte K. Williams
DOI: 10.1021/acs.organomet.0c00539

The ACS Style Guide

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ACS Style Quick Guide
DOI: 10.1021/acsguide.40303

Creating References
DOI: 10.1021/acsguide.40302

Reference Formatting & Examples by Source Types
DOI: 10.1021/acsguide.40305

Qualities of Effective Scholarly Communication
DOI: 10.1021/acsguide.10101

Citation Elements
DOI: 10.1021/acsguide.40304

The Journal of Organic Chemistry

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Organic Chemistry: A Call to Action for Diversity and Inclusion
DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.0c01607

La Chimie Organique en France: Une Longue Tradition qui Persiste!
DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.0c02019

Stereochemical Inversion of Rim-Differentiated Pillar[5]arene Molecular Swings
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.0c01464

Action Items for Latin-American Chemists and Chemical Societies to Improve Equity and Diversity in Science
DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.0c01893

Actions at J. Org. Chem., Org. Lett., and Organometallics to Combat Discrimination and Bias
DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.0c01826

The Journal of Physical Chemistry A

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Variation of the Fine-Structure Constant in Model Systems for Singlet Fission
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.0c04685

Simultaneous Two-Photon Absorption of the Thioguanosine Analogue 2′,3′,5′-Tri-O-acetyl-6,8-dithioguanosine with Its Potential Application to Photodynamic Therapy
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.0c03747

Assessment of the Density-Fitted Second-Order Quasidegenerate Perturbation Theory for Transition Energies: Accurate Computations of Singlet–Triplet Gaps for Charge-Transfer Compounds
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.0c04555

Benchmark Study of Electrochemical Redox Potentials Calculated with Semiempirical and DFT Methods
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.0c05052

Machine Learning for Absorption Cross Sections
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.0c05310

The Journal of Physical Chemistry B

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Structural Modifications Controlling Membrane Raft Partitioning and Curvature in Human and Viral Proteins
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c03435

Early Events of Photosensitized Oxidation of Sulfur-Containing Amino Acids Studied by Laser Flash Photolysis and Mass Spectrometry
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c06008

Transport Properties of Ionic Liquid and Sodium Salt Mixtures for Sodium-Ion Battery Electrolytes from Molecular Dynamics Simulation with a Self-Consistent Atomic Charge Determination
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c04078

Magnetic Sedimentation Velocities and Equilibria in Dilute Aqueous Ferrofluids
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c06795

Discovering Protein Conformational Flexibility Through Artificial Intelligence Aided Molecular Dynamics
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c03985

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

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Determining the Correlation between Excited State Dynamics and Donor and Acceptor Structure in Nonfullerene Acceptors
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c01402

Revisiting a Perovskite-like Copper-Formate Framework NH₄[Cu(HCOO)₃]: Order–Disorder Transition Influenced by Jahn-Teller Distortion and above Room-Temperature Switching of the Nonlinear Optical Response between Two SHG-Active States
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c06141

Time Dependence of Photocurrent in Chemical Vapor Deposition MoS2 Monolayer—Intrinsic Properties and Environmental Effects
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c04452

Dynamics and Proton Transport in Imidazole-Doped Nanocrystalline Cellulose Revealed by High-Resolution Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c04905

Descriptors for Hydrogen Evolution on Single Atom Catalysts in Nitrogen-Doped Graphene
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c04432

The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters

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Screening of Therapeutic Agents for COVID-19 Using Machine Learning and Ensemble Docking Studies
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c02278

Dynamic Asymmetry Exposes 2019-nCoV Prefusion Spike
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c01431

Understanding the Stability of MAPbBr3 versus MAPbI3: Suppression of Methylammonium Migration and Reduction of Halide Migration
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c01822

Are Radicals Formed During Anion-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Operation?
Open Access Through ACS AuthorChoice
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c02349

Electronic Tunability and Mobility Anisotropy of Quasi-2D Perovskite Single Crystals with Varied Spacer Cations
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c02274

Chemistry is among the many fields working to come to terms with a history of bias and exclusion. “Diversity, Inclusion, and Respect,” is one of the American Chemical Society’s four core values and ACS Publications is seeking ways to improve diversity and increase inclusion in chemistry. Editorials have been published in various ACS Publications journals, examining these problems and identifying ways to ensure our community is a welcoming place for everyone seeking to improve people’s lives through the transforming power of chemistry.

Browse recent editorials and issues on diversity below. This list will be updated as new articles are published.

Multi-Journal Editorials

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Confronting Racism in Chemistry Journals
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2020, 12, 26, 28925–28927
This Editorial was also published in all other ACS Publications journals.
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c10979
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Equity and Inclusion in the Chemical Sciences Requires Actions not Just Words
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 26, 11317–11318
This Editorial was also published in ACS Central Science.
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c06482
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Organic Chemistry: A Call to Action for Diversity and Inclusion
Org. Lett. 2020, 22, 16, 6223–6228
This Editorial was also published in ACS Central Science, Journal of Organic Chemistry, and Organometallics
DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.0c02559
***
Actions at J. Org. Chem., Org. Lett., and Organometallics to Combat Discrimination and Bias
J. Org. Chem. 2020, 85, 16, 10285–10286
This Editorial was also published in Organic Letters and Organometallics
DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.0c01826
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Action Items for Latin-American Chemists and Chemical Societies to Improve Equity and Diversity in Science
J. Org. Chem.2020, 85, 17, 11025–11029
This Editorial was also published in Organic Letters, Inorganic Chemistry, and Organometallics
DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.0c01893
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Celebrating Women in Organic Chemistry
Org. Lett. 2020, 22, 4, 1227–1230
This Editorial was also published in JACS, Journal of Organic Chemistry, and Organic Process Research & Development
DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.0c00352
***

Single Journal Editorials

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A Diverse View of Science to Catalyse Change
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 34, 14393–14396
This editorial was published across various Publishers
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c07877
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What Comes Next? Simple Practices to Improve Diversity in Science
ACS Cent. Sci. 2020, 6, 8, 1231–1240
DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.0c00905
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Excellence versus Diversity? Not an Either/Or Choice
ACS Catal. 2020, 10, 13, 7310–7311
DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.0c02590
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Addressing Gender Equity in Senior Leadership Roles in Translational Science
ACS Pharmacol. Transl. Sci. 2020, 3, 4, 773–779
DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.0c00056
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A Healthier Peer Review Process Would Improve Diversity
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2020, 12, 37, 40987–40989
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c11528
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Let Us Together Shine a Light on Women in STEM
ACS Omega 2020, 5, 13, 7051–7052
DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c01236
***
Quality Research in Africa and Why It Is Important
ACS Omega 2020,
DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c04327
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Toward Intentional Diversity, Equity, and Respect in Chemistry Research and Practice
J. Chem. Educ. 2020, 97, 8, 2041–2044
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00963
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Gender Diversity in Process Chemistry
Org. Process Res. Dev. 2019, 23, 2, 109–113
DOI: 10.1021/acs.oprd.8b00378
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Organic Chemistry: A Retrosynthetic Approach to a Diverse Field
ACS Cent. Sci. 2020, 6, 11, 1845–1850
DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.0c01138
***

Virtual Issues

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Celebrating Women in Organic Chemistry Virtual Issue
This Virtual Issue was co-published with JACS, Organic Letters, Journal of Organic Chemistry, and Organic Process Research & Development
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Celebrating Chemistry in Latin America Virtual Issue
This Virtual Issue was co-published with Journal of Organic Chemistry, Organic Letters, Inorganic Chemistry, and Organometallics, as well as Journal of the Brazilian Chemistry Society
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Women at the Forefront of Chemistry Virtual Issue

From ACS Axial

What Editors Need to Do to Fight Racism, Sexism, and Bias in Their Journals
***
Diverse Views of Science: Q&A
***
Updating the Community on ACS Publications’ Diversity Initiatives
***
Chemistry in Africa: Open & Global

ACS eBooks

Accessibility in the Laboratory
***
Are Women Achieving Equity in Chemistry? Dissolving Disparity and Catalyzing Change
***
Best Practices for Chemistry REU Programs
***
Best Practices for Supporting and Expanding Undergraduate Research in Chemistry
***
Best Practices in Chemistry Teacher Education
***
Careers, Entrepreneurship, and Diversity: Challenges and Opportunities in the Global Chemistry Enterprise
***
Chemistry without Borders: Careers, Research, and Entrepreneurship
***
Citizens First! Democracy, Social Responsibility and Chemistry
***
Climate Change Literacy and Education Social Justice, Energy, Economics, and the Paris Agreement Volume 2
***
Diversity in the Scientific Community Volume 1: Quantifying Diversity and Formulating Success
***
Diversity in the Scientific Community Volume 2: Perspectives and Exemplary Programs
***
Educational and Outreach Projects from the Cottrell Scholars Collaborative Professional Development and Outreach Volume 2
***
Educational and Outreach Projects from the Cottrell Scholars Collaborative Undergraduate and Graduate Education Volume 1
***
Growing Diverse STEM Communities: Methodology, Impact, and Evidence
***
Increasing Retention of Under-Represented Students in STEM through Affective and Cognitive Interventions
***
International Perspectives on Chemistry Education Research and Practice
***
Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise
***
Mentoring Strategies To Facilitate the Advancement of Women Faculty
***
Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1
***
Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 2
***
National Diversity Equity Workshops in Chemical Sciences(2011−2017)
***
Science Education and Civic Engagement: The Next Level
***
Strategies Promoting Success of Two-Year College Students
***
Successful Women in Chemistry. Corporate America’s Contribution to Science
***
Trajectories of Chemistry Education Innovation and Reform
***
Credit Where Credit Is Due: Respecting Authorship and Intellectual Property
***
The Power and Promise of Early Research

The peer-review process can appear intimidating and complex. However, it is an essential element of scientific publishing, ensuring that a manuscript is relevant and suitable for publication and upholding scientific integrity. Peer review helps to maintain high standards for published research. This post will walk you through the peer-review process, show you how reviewers are critical to the success of the process, and give you the tools to become a reviewer.

Peer review is the practice of subjecting scholarly work to the scrutiny of experts in the field (i.e., you, the reviewers) with the goal of validating and improving the content before publication. The peer-review process covers every aspect of your scientific contribution, including your approach to the problem, experimental design, execution of your studies, interpretation of your results, and your scholarly presentation and effectiveness of communication. If you’ve authored a scientific publication, you’ve benefitted from the peer-review process.

The peer-review process starts when you submit your manuscript to the journal through a system such as Paragon Plus, as shown in the flow diagram below. Once submitted, the process begins with a series of pre-screening steps by the editorial office, the Editor-in-Chief, and Associate Editors. Upon passing those evaluations, the manuscript is then sent to reviewers for feedback. Once the feedback has been received, the Associate Editor determines whether to reject the manuscript, accept without revision, or return it to the authors for revision (multiple times if necessary). If a revision is successful in addressing reviewer feedback, the manuscript will ultimately be accepted for publication by the journal.

Credit: ACS on Campus Peer Review Module

Learn More About the Individual Step in the Peer Review Process:

Editorial Pre-Screening

After initial checks by the journal editorial office, the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) evaluates the manuscript to ensure that it fits the scope of the journal, has novelty and urgency, has technical validity, and is of high quality. This pre-screening process is critical to not overburden the reviewer pool and to ensuring timely decisions on manuscripts. Manuscripts not meeting the standards of the journal can be rejected at this point in the process. Meanwhile, those deemed acceptable are assigned to Associate Editors for further screening and action. It is worth noting that the Associate Editors can also determine whether a manuscript meets journal standards, rejecting the manuscript if necessary. Once the assigned Associate Editor determines the manuscript warrants further review, they move on to the next step in the process: selecting reviewers.

Selecting Reviewers

Reviewers are drawn from two different sources: an independent pool of experts maintained by the journal and preferred reviewers recommended by the authors of the manuscript. Regardless of the source of the reviewer, the Associate Editor selects reviewers based on their broad knowledge and understanding of the field; their technical expertise to evaluate the experiments, data, and interpretation; and their ability to offer constructive, fair, and unbiased opinions of the manuscript. As an author, when selecting your preferred reviewers, you should be sure to avoid friends, collaborators, or anyone who could have a conflict of interest.

Reviewers are given a specific (yet, flexible) due date to submit their feedback to the Associate Editor to maintain reasonable timelines for decision-making. Once a sufficient number of reviews have been received, the Associate Editor moves to the next step: making a decision.

Making a Decision

The Associate Editor has several decisions for which they can opt, but they generally fall into three main categories: accept, reject, and revise. To determine which path is most appropriate, the Associate Editor first reads and analyzes each reviewer report alongside the manuscript. Associate Editors will specifically look to see if the manuscript requires revisions or additional experiments to address reviewer feedback and concerns. Once the decision is made, it is communicated to the corresponding authors of the manuscript.

If the decision is to accept the manuscript, no further revision is required, and the manuscript proceeds as is to the publishing office. A decision to accept may come after the initial round of peer-review, or more frequently, following one or more rounds of revision.

If the reviewers provided generally positive feedback but indicated that the manuscript requires some level of revision or addition of new experiments and data, a decision for either major or minor revisions will be communicated. Typically, a decision for major revisions provides the authors more time to address the feedback and will often require additional reviewer feedback following revision to ensure the feedback has been adequately addressed. Several rounds of review and revision may be required to ensure the manuscript meets the journal standards and sufficiently addresses the reviewer’s comments before ultimate acceptance.

Finally, if the majority of the reviewer feedback indicates that the manuscript is not suitable for the journal and will not be improved sufficiently upon revision, a manuscript will typically be rejected. In select situations where a manuscript is rejected primarily based on journal scope and fit, a rejection may be accompanied by an offer to transfer the manuscript to a more suitable journal within the same publishing group. This can be a fantastic way to reduce review time at the new journal by leveraging feedback already provided during the first review with the original journal.

Successfully Dealing with Rejection

From the flow diagram of the peer-review process, you’ll see that there are several decision points where a manuscript may be rejected by either an Editor-in-Chief or Associate Editor. Receiving a rejection can be demoralizing, disappointing, and stressful. Many authors, myself included, have had (multiple) manuscripts communicating years of effort rejected by scientific journals throughout their careers. While your initial reaction might be to feel angry or defensive, there is always the opportunity to successfully lead a rejection toward a positive outcome. Making lemons out of lemonade depends on understanding why your manuscript was rejected by the journal.

If an Editor-in-Chief or Associate editor determined during pre-screening that the manuscript did not meet the journal’s defined scope or standards and you disagree with the decision, you may contact the editorial office and request an explanation. It is possible to appeal the decision if you believe that the significance of your work has been overlooked, but doing so is uncommon and should be done judiciously.

If your manuscript has been rejected after peer-review, it is sometimes best to take a step back after reading the reviewers’ comments to refocus on the science. Approach the comments with a growth mindset and ask yourself how you could improve the content of your manuscript and the communication of that content to your intended audience. Update your manuscript and resubmit to either the same journal or a different one better suited for your work.

Responding to Reviewer Comments

When you receive reviewer comments on your manuscript, you’ll need to address them through the revision process promptly. Whether you add new experiments or update the text to better explain the existing content, you’ll need to provide a point-by-point rebuttal of all the reviewer comments with your revised manuscript.

When I read reviewer comments, I try to approach them with a mindset focused on the audience’s experience and understanding of the manuscript. Essentially, a reviewer’s feedback represents a gap between what my manuscript communicates at the moment and what I want the manuscript to communicate about my research. In revising a manuscript, I think about how I can best bring the audience closer to my intended message and experience. By helping the audience see your research the way you see it, you will more effectively communicate your achievements and improve the impact of your work.

How to Become a Reviewer

If you’ve made it this far, you’ve hopefully noticed that the reviewers are the engine of the peer-review process. Sustainability of the peer-review process depends on journals and editors cultivating a broad pool of independent experts. Three ways to become a reviewer are to establish your expertise in your field, seek out training and practice, and advocate for yourself. By authoring your own published research, attending conferences, networking, and building an online presence, you can enhance your standing and expertise in the scientific community.

The ACS Reviewer Lab is a free online training course that offers hands-on training for new reviewers. Upon completion of the training, it will be reflected in your ACS Publications profile in Paragon Plus that editors like myself can see when selecting reviewers for new manuscripts. Finally, you can advocate for yourself with your research advisors or colleagues in your network. They can list you as suitable alternative reviewers when they are unable to accept an invitation. Reach out to journals directly to indicate your interest in reviewing manuscripts, including your CV and publication record. Serving as a reviewer is one of the most rewarding professional activities available in our field, often bringing you tangential benefits as an author as well.

Anatomy of a Good Review

This table highlights the elements editors expect when receiving feedback from a reviewer on a manuscript.

Credit: ACS on Campus Peer Review Module

In general, the information included in a review is visible to both the authors and the editors with one exception. There is space allocated to share comments only with the editor; some examples of what may be included in this section is information regarding potential conflicts of interest, scientific misconduct, or if you reviewed the manuscript for another journal.

Conclusions

Ultimately, the reliability and sustainability of the peer-review process depend on you, the reviewers, to provide feedback for authors to improve the quality and effectiveness of scientific publications. The scrutiny of our peers is central to upholding scientific integrity and maintaining high standards for published research. The core partnership between authors, editors, and reviewers builds enduring trust in the peer-review process, to the benefit of our field and society at large.

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