3+ day, 13+ hour ago   (366+ words) Source: © Ze-Xin Zhang et al, Nature Chemistry, 2026 Switching between an electron-donating group and a withdrawing one can alter the outcome of a radical cyclisation reaction – and confound the ‘rule-of-five’ that dictates that such reactions favour five-membered rings Aggarwal notes that…...

4+ day, 16+ hour ago   (338+ words) Inspired by butterflies and damselflies, Clara Dou and colleagues created colourants that mimic nature to potentially overcome concerns associated with the metal oxides used in products such as cosmetic glitter Chemists at Northeastern University in Boston are developing new colourants…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago   (552+ words) Chemist and materials scientist Hideki Shirakawa, who shared the chemistry Nobel prize for the discovery and development of conductive polymers in 2000, has died at the age of 90. Shirakawa, a pioneer whose work challenged the prevailing view that polymers do not…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago   (199+ words) Her career at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel spanned more than five decades, starting when she arrived there in 1964 to pursue a doctorate in x-ray crystallography. After receiving that PhD four years later, she completed her postdoctoral research…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago   (178+ words) The longest chains of single metal atoms ever have been made by researchers in China. The scientists believe these carbon-sheathed wires could have wide-ranging applications, although questions remain about their scalability. Single-metal-atom chains are the ultimate miniature wires. As silicon…...

3+ week, 1+ day ago   (314+ words) How the superposition states described by quantum mechanics challenge the idea of molecular structure I don’t think I need to explain to chemists the importance of molecular structure. It is one of the most central properties invoked to understand natural…...

3+ week, 2+ day ago   (555+ words) Chemistry World Boron: in search of the real fifth element What makes boron so extraordinary? Find out on 21 October with author Stephen Mansell You are probably most familiar with boron as borosilicate glass, also known as Pyrex, found in laboratories…...

3+ week, 2+ day ago   (120+ words) Something that I think we should be glad of is that chemistry (as a science and as a profession) can accommodate a wide variety of work styles and personality types. I’m pretty sure that there are several lines of work…...

3+ week, 2+ day ago   (543+ words) New reaction controls phosphorus stereochemistry during the synthesis of phosphorothioate oligonucleotides Organocatalyst streamlines oligonucleotide drug synthesis A new organocatalytic reaction offers a simpler way to make an important class of drugs based on modified nucleic acid chains. The catalyst eliminates…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago   (521+ words) By Mason Wakley18 August 2026 A bonding strategy to form consecutive quintuple bonds has never been seen before However, having a series of consecutive multiple bonds between three or more atoms –known as cumulative bonding – is more challenging. Cumulated dienes (C=C=C)…...