University of California, Davis, researchers have stripped down LSD to the base features responsible for its hallucinogenic and therapeutic effects.
A common blue pigment could help turn carbon dioxide (CO₂) from an industrial waste product into a useful fuel. A joint research team led by Tohoku University's Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), in collaboration with Hokkaido University and startup AZUL Energy, has developed a catalyst that converts CO₂ directly into methane (CH₄) with high efficiency using copper phthalocyanine, an inexpensive and readily available blue pigment.
Copper has been knocked off the top of a stability ranking it had dominated for decades. Without altering the atoms directly bonded to the metal, a KAIST research team reversed the longstanding trend in which copper generally forms the most stable complexes by tuning only the weak hydrogen bonds in its surrounding environment. The findings, which appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could open new avenues for selective metal separation and recognition, as well as catalyst design.
What if the key to making stronger, more sustainable plastics isn't changing their ingredients, but rearranging their molecules? Virginia Tech researchers have put that idea to the test, creating degradable polymers with a new molecular architecture that combines properties often difficult to achieve in one material: strength, toughness, flexibility and the ability to block oxygen.
Packaged food usually sits in plastic-lined bags designed to keep air, moisture and contaminants out. That same protection can also increase the chances of chemicals from the packaging seeping into the food. When a chemical raises health concerns, industries often swap it for a molecular cousin, a substitution that may either be genuinely safer or simply be too understudied to know whether it is harmful. With thousands of chemicals in use, one-by-one regulation can't keep pace, so untested replacements can slide through unchecked.
University of Missouri researchers have discovered a new way to harness one of the body's natural defenses: copper. While copper is essential for life and helps power important biological processes, having too much of it can be toxic. To keep copper levels in balance, cells rely on specialized proteins that regulate where it goes and how much is present.
Drug discovery has traditionally followed the "rule of 5," which identifies chemical properties generally associated with good absorption of orally administered drugs, including a molecular weight below 500 daltons (Da). However, some pharmaceutical compounds fall outside these guidelines. Known as beyond rule of 5 (bRo5) molecules, these compounds can have larger, more complex structures while still exhibiting strong therapeutic activity and favorable pharmacological properties. Their size and structural complexity, however, make it difficult to characterize them using conventional methods, particularly when very small quantities are available.
The work break room can be a place of rest, gossip, fun or recovery. But it can also be a cause for complaint when yesterday's fish dinner becomes a smelly microwaved lunch. For most people, microwaving fish at work is a big no-no. It has even led to armed confrontations.
Cyclopropanes are organic chemistry's smallest rings. Three carbon atoms are joined in a triangle, creating a compact and unusually strained structure. Despite—or partly because of—this unusual geometry, cyclopropanes are found in many biologically active natural products and have important applications in medicines and drug discovery, from antidepressants to antibiotics and antiviral research.
In research published in the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, the electronic structures of organic molecules containing sp2-hybridized carbons in organic solvents were studied using C K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), termed "Soft-XAS-OS."
Look closely at Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of Japan's most iconic masterpieces. The brilliant white of the waves, snow on Mount Fuji and clouds above contain no white pigment. Instead, their whiteness comes from the way light scatters off the unprinted fibers of the washi paper itself.
Hydrogen-powered cars, power stations and portable chargers all rely on fuel cells. At the heart of each fuel cell is a catalyst that speeds up the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity and water. These catalysts are typically made of platinum—which costs nearly as much as gold. Researchers from Southern Federal University, together with colleagues from Skoltech (part of the VEB.RF Group), the Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Bauman Moscow State Technical University, have found a way to make this key component both cheaper and better. They developed a catalyst from a five-metal alloy that retains its activity even after 10,000 operating cycles.
As a liquid that is easily stored and transported, ammonia (NH3) is an attractive carrier for hydrogen, which is used in fuel cells, semiconductor manufacturing, chemical processing and other applications. However, breaking ammonia into hydrogen and nitrogen typically requires high temperatures, and the resulting gas mixture must undergo additional purification before the hydrogen can be used in many applications.
Chemists in a new study led by the University of Iowa report they have isolated and described in detail an atypical state of the rare-earth metal terbium, an advance that could expand its use in quantum technologies, including computing and advanced sensors. The study, "Structural and spectroscopic characterization of a Tb(IV) polyoxometalate," is published in the journal Nature Communications.
From targeted cancer treatments to self-healing materials and microscopic robots, many emerging technologies depend on molecules that can be controlled with light. Researchers at Tohoku University have now developed a way to make these light-responsive molecules much more sensitive to visible light by using a molecular antenna. The breakthrough gives scientists better control over molecular photoswitches remotely and potentially expands their use in medicine and advanced materials. The findings are published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
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