In this issue's Emerging Area article David O'Hagan and Luke Hunter (University of St Andrews, UK) discuss recent advances in the preparation and conformational analysis of multi-vicinal fluoroalkanes. This new class of organofluorine compound consists of straight-chain alkanes where each carbon atom is bonded to a fluorine atom. This article is also featured on the outside front cover of the issue (below).




The synthesis by Thomas Pesnot and Gerd K. Wagner (University of East Anglia, UK) of 5-substituted UDP-glucose derivatives is featured on the inside front cover of the issue (below). These compounds have fluorescent properties and potential applications as sensors for carbohydrate-active enzymes.




Also featured in this issue is a Hot article by John Robinson and colleagues (University of Zurich, Switzerland). They investigate the substrate specificity of OxyB, a cytochrome P450 enzyme that catalyses the first oxidative phenol coupling reaction during vancomycin biosynthesis.