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Publications

26

Molecular ratchets and kinetic asymmetry: giving chemistry direction

S. Borsley, D. A. Leigh & B. M. W. Roberts

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 64, e202400495 (2024).​

25

Membrane transport, molecular machines, and Maxwell's Demon

S. Borsley

ChemSystemsChem 6, e202400004 (2024).

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Featured in the Systems Chemistry Talents special collection. Nominated as an emerging talent in systems chemistry by Board Member Prof. Scott Hartley. Featured as a journal cover.

24

Stepwise operation of a molecular rotary motor driven by an Appel reaction

P. Zwick, A. Troncossi, S. Borsley, I. Vitorica-Yrezabal & D. A. Leigh

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 146, 4467–4472 (2024).

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23

Ratcheting synthesis

S. Borsley, J. M. Gallagher, D. A. Leigh & B. M. W. Roberts

Nat. Rev. Chem. 8, 8–29 (2024).

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Featured as journal cover.

22

Conformational selection accelerates catalysis by an organocatalytic molecular motor

J. M. Gallagher, B. M. W. Roberts, S. Borsley & D. A. Leigh

Chem 10, 1–12 (2024).

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For highlights of this paper see, ‘Motorized catalysis’ F. Zamberlan, Nat. Catal. 6, 1101 (2023); 'Catenane organocatalyst breaks the linear scaling limitation through conformational selection' C. Wang, Commun. Chem. 7, 9 (2024); 'Advancing beyond Sabatier: strategies for dynamic synthetic catalysis' M. Filez, J. Dendooven, M. B. J. Roeffaers & C. Detavernier, Chem 10, 1–4 (2024).

21

A general one-step synthesis of alkanethiyl-stabilized gold nanoparticles with control over core size and monolayer functionality

S. Borsley, W. Edwards, I. K. Mati, G. Poss, M. Diez-Castellnou, N. Marro &

E. R. Kay

Chem. Mater. 35, 6168–6177 (2023).

20

The roles of kinetic asymmetry and power strokes in an information ratchet

L. Binks, S. Borsley, T. R. Gingrich, D. A. Leigh, E. Pennochio & B. M. W. Roberts

Chem 9, 2902–2917 (2023).

 

For highlights of this paper see, ‘Nonequilibrium steady states, ratchets, and kinetic asymmetry’ R. D. Astumian, Matter 6, 2533–2536 (2023).

19

Tuning the force, speed and efficiency of an autonomous chemically fuelled information ratchet

S. Borsley, D. A. Leigh, B. M. W. Roberts & I. J. Vitorica-Yrezabal

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 144, 17241–17248 (2022).

 

For highlights of this paper see, ‘Chemists debate how to fuel molecular machinesc&en February 5, 2023; M. Peplow, Chem. Eng. News 101 (2023).

18

Chemical fuels for molecular machinery

S. Borsley, D. A. Leigh & B. M. W. Roberts

Nat. Chem. 14, 728–738 (2022).

 

For highlights of this paper see, ‘Chemists debate how to fuel molecular machinesc&en February 5, 2023; M. Peplow, Chem. Eng. News 101 (2023).

17

Dissecting solvent effects on hydrogen bonding

N. Y. Meredith, S. Borsley, I. V. Smolyar, G. S. Nichol, C. M. Baker, K. B. Ling & S. L. Cockroft

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 61, e2022066 (2022).

 

Featured as a Hot Paper in Angew. Chem. For highlights of this paper see, ‘Weighing up solvent effects’, S.-L. Paiva, Nat. Rev. Chem. 6, 448 (2022).

16

Autonomous fuelled directional rotation about a covalent single bond

S. Borsley, E. Kreidt, D. A. Leigh & B. M. W. Roberts

Nature 604, 85–85 (2022).

 

For highlights of this paper see, ‘Tiny labmade motors could one day suck pollutants from the air and harvest precious metals’, Science 376, 233 (2022); ‘Molecular ratchet made from only 26 atoms rotates in one directionChemistry World, 19 April 2022; ‘A biological motor that consumes chiral fuel drives rotation in one direction around a single covalent bondPhysOrg, 20 April 2022; ‘Autonomous fuelled directional rotationChemistryViews, 22 April 2022; ‘Chemists debate how to fuel molecular machinesc&en February 5, 2023; M. Peplow, Chem. Eng. News 101 (2023).

15

Chemical engines: driving systems away from equilibrium through catalyst reaction cycles

S. Amano, S. Borsley, D. A. Leigh & Z. Sun

Nat. Nanotechnol. 16, 1057–1067 (2021).

14

A doubly kinetically-gated information ratchet autonomously driven by carbodiimide hydrolysis

S. Borsley, D. A. Leigh & B. M. W. Roberts

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 143, 4414–4420 (2021).

13

Transmembrane ion channels formed by a Star of David [2]catenane and a molecular pentafoil knot

D. P. August, S. Borsley, S. L. Cockroft, F. della Sala, D. A. Leigh & S. J. Webb

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 142, 18859–18865 (2020).

12

Reversible stimuli-responsive chromism of a cyclometallated platinum(II) complex

Q. Zheng, S. Borsley, T. Tu & S. L. Cockroft

Chem. Commun. 56, 14705–14708 (2020).

11

Switchable foldamer ion channels with anion selectivity and antibiotic activity

A. D. Peters, S. Borsley, F. della Sala, D. F. Cairns-Gibson, M. Leonidou, J. Clayden, G. F. S. Whitehead, I. J. Vitorica-Yrezabal, E. Takano, J. Burthem, S. L. Cockroft & S. J. Webb

Chem. Sci. 11, 7023–7030 (2020).

10

Reconciling electrostatic and n→π* orbital contributions in carbonyl interactions

K. B. Muchowska, D. J. Pascoe, S. Borsley, I. V. Smolyar, I. K. Mati, C. Adam, G. S. Nichol, K. B. Ling & S. L. Cockroft

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 59, 14602–14608 (2020).

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Featured as a Hot Paper in Angew. Chem.

9

The energetic significance of metallophilic interactions

Q. Zheng, S. Borsley, G. S. Nichol, F. Duerte & S. L. Cockroft

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 58, 12617–12623 (2019).

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Featured as a Hot Paper in Angew. Chem.

8

Electrostatic forces in field-perturbed equilibria: nanopore analysis of cage complexes

S. Borsley, M. M. Haugland, S. K. Oldknow, J. A. Cooper, M. J. Burke, A. Scott, W. Grantham, J. Vallejo, E. K. Brechin, P. J. Lusby & S. L. Cockroft,

Chem 5, 1275–1292 (2019).

 

For highlights of this paper see, ‘Cages driven away from equilibrium binding by electric fields’, A. Dhara, A. H. Flood, Chem 5, 1017–1019 (2019).

7

Synthetically diversified protein nanopores: resolving click reaction mechanisms

M. M. Haugland, S. Borsley, D. Cairns-Gibson, A. Elmi & S. L. Cockroft

ACS Nano 13, 4101–4110 (2019).

6

Single-molecule detection of guest binding within metallosupramolecular cages

S. Borsley, J. A. Cooper, P. J. Lusby & S. L. Cockroft

Chem. Eur. J. 24, 4542–4546 (2018).

5

Switchable selectivity within a series of boronate esters for dynamic covalent exchange in nonaqueous solvents

S. Borsley, G. Poss, R. Spicer, E. Boudin & E. R. Kay

Supramol. Chem. 30, 772–781 (2018).

4

In situ synthetic functionalization of a transmembrane protein nanopore

S. Borsley & S. L. Cockroft

ACS Nano 12, 786–794 (2018).

3

Discrimination of supramolecular chirality using a protein nanopore

J. A. Cooper, S. Borsley, P. J. Lusby & S. L. Cockroft

Chem. Sci. 8, 5005–5009 (2017).

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Featured in the themed collection International Symposium on Macrocyclic & Supramolecular Chemistry (ISMSC) in conjunction with ISACS

2

Dynamic covalent assembly and disassembly of nanoparticle aggregates

S. Borsley & E. R. Kay

Chem. Commun. 52, 9117–9120 (2016).

1

Rapid and simple preparation of remarkably stable binary nanoparticle planet–satellite assemblies

S. Borsley, S. Flook & E. R. Kay

Chem. Commun. 51, 7812–7815 (2015).

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