Makeover of an old antibiotic: The channel‐forming toxin gramicidin A (gA) has been successfully converted into agents that selectively chase after bacterial cells. These novel D‐Lys‐containing gA mutants display potent antimicrobial activity and remarkable therapeutic indexes (>1000‐fold).

Fluorescent molecules that specifically target amyloid structures are highly desirable for amyloid research. Herein, we show a dimeric design of thioflavin T improves its binding affinity to Abeta amyloid by up to 70 fold, while not sacrificing the specificity and the "light-up" feature upon amyloid binding.

A highly efficient, three-component one-pot benzylation and allylation of aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes and amines affords the corresponding homobenzylamines and homoallylamines in good to excellent yield. The procedure is lauded by its simplicity and manipulability.

Fluorinated amino acids serve as powerful tools in protein chemistry. We synthesized a series of para-substituted tetrafluorophenylalanines via the regioselective S(NAr) chemistry of the commercially available pentafluorophenylalanine Boc-Z. These novel unnatural amino acids display distinct (19)F NMR signatures, making them powerful tools for analyzing protein-membrane interactions with NMR spectroscopy.

No abstract