New discoveries in ‘dynamic bonds’ could reshape our fundamental understanding of key chemical concepts, including aromaticity and chirality. A team at the University of York in the UK has synthesised a polycyclic molecule whose aromaticity can be switched on and off, as well as a carbon cage where chiral carbon atoms interconvert without breaking bonds […]

A new way to harvest water from the air has been observed on subliming organic crystals. Similar techniques are used by some desert plants and animals. The Namib Desert beetle, for example, condenses fog via an array of hydrophilic bumps across the waxy superhydrophobic surface on its back that then funnels it into its mouth. […]

A bioluminescent nucleic acid sensor (Lunas) test has been developed that matches the speed and accessibility of a Covid-19 lateral flow test with the sensitivity of a PCR test. Fast accessible disease diagnosis saves lives, as vividly illustrated during the Covid-19 pandemic. However even as tests for the disease became more accessible users were faced […]

Researchers in the US have developed a catalytic system for reducing carboxylic acids to aldehydes and alcohols in water.1 Critically, their system avoids the use of air and moisture intolerant reagents, precious metals and specialised ligands. Many undergraduate courses in organic chemistry teach that carbonyl compounds can be reduced by hydride reagents such as lithium […]

Scientists in Switzerland and the US have developed an ecosystem of tools to boost machine learning (ML)-based design of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). Kevin Jablonka from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and colleagues made Mofdscribe available to users in December 2022, some of whom have already published studies exploiting it. ‘This tool helps […]

There has been much hot air expended in recent days over the supposed artificially intelligent program Chat-GPT, which is, in reality, a more sophisticated Internet search engine. James Maynard on his website The Cosmic Companion proudly announced that he had used it “to construct a pictorial journey exploring the story of Hypatia!” Having spent some […]

Tens of thousands of scientists, engineers and other technical specialists staged a UK-wide walkout on Wednesday as part of an ongoing dispute over pay, redundancy and working conditions. The Prospect trade union, which represents public and private sector workers in science, technology and service positions, declared the day-long strike following an unprecedented 80% vote in […]

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has agreed to buy leading cancer drugmaker Seagen for $43 billion (£36 billion) in cash. The biotech, based outside Seattle, US, is one of the pioneers in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Most ADCs use a chemical linker to join an antibody, for tumour targeting, to a potent toxic agent, for killing cancer cells. […]

The HISTSCI_HULK was gently easing his way into Monday morning, occasionally glancing over my shoulder at my Twitter stream, when a link posted in my notifications by the Aussie AnthropoidTM, John Wilkins, caught his eye. Before I could stop him, I knew no good could come of it, he had clicked on the link and […]

Scientists have designed and made the ­first stable chiral compound containing a positively charged oxygen species as the only centre of asymmetry. To accomplish this, they studied oxonium ions, in which an oxygen atom is connected to three other atoms. ‘Such compounds are typically reactive and short-lived, while the oxygen atoms also tend to quickly […]