A gold cluster catalyst developed by researchers in China can selectively hydrogenate nitrobenzene to make p-aminophenol. The reaction proceeds through a previously unidentified mechanism that is completely distinct from typical industrial routes. p-Aminophenol is an important intermediate for preparing paracetamol – the most prescribed drug globally – and other drugs. Current methods for producing p-aminophenol […]

The 2024 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded jointly to two US-based scientists for the discovery of microRNAs – a class of tiny RNA molecules, around 22 base pairs long, that play a crucial role in gene regulation. The Nobel committee awarded the prize to Victor Ambros from the University of Massachusetts’ […]

Nobel prize medals are not just awards. They carry rich histories that reflect the lives and times of their recipients. In some cases, the Nobel prize medals have not remained with their owners, or even the wider family. In 123 years of the Nobel prize, medals have been stolen, confiscated, dissolved, met with controversy and […]

Researchers in China have synthesised the first pure antimony-based nanotorus, Sb688–.1 Theoretical calculations of the structure show it has 16 delocalised electrons distributed across eight 3c–2e σ bonds. Nanotori, which are ring-like structures that look a bit like a bike tyre’s innertube, have been extensively studied in carbon-based systems, owing to their promising applications as […]

A BioLab manufacturing facility in Conyers, US, is continuing to release chlorine, chloramines and chlorine compounds in an incident that originated from a small rooftop fire in the early morning of 29 September. The fire activated a sprinkler system and doused water-reactive trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCCA) inside the building. This initiated a chemical decomposition reaction that […]

Over a quarter of hypothetical tricyclic benzene isomers that earlier computational studies had classed as stable are completely unsynthesisable due to quantum tunnelling.1 That’s according to quantum chemistry calculations by Sindy Julieth Rodríguez and Sebastian Kozuch from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. Benzene has been a hot topic of discussion among chemists since […]

Scientists in Japan have made a groundbreaking discovery: they have identified a covalent bond between two carbon atoms that share only a single electron. ‘This [study was driven] by a curiosity to know where the limits of chemical bonds are,’ says Takuya Shimajiri at the University of Tokyo. One-electron bonds were first proposed in 1931 […]

A new way to make metal alloys could drastically reduce the carbon footprint of this important class of materials. As well as eliminating carbon dioxide emissions, the new process offers a direct route to a finished alloy from mixtures of metal oxides, bypassing energy-consuming steps that are associated with traditional means of alloy production. Alloys […]

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) will fund 31 innovative projects designed to protect and grow the UK’s £29 billion heritage sector. With an investment of £37 million from the Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science (RICHeS) programme, these projects aim to unlock the potential of existing heritage collections and provide access to […]

A UK doctor has gone on trial for making and using the chemical weapon ricin. Thomas Kwan was charged with attempting to murder his mother’s partner in January this year by administering the poisonous substance. Ricin is one of the world’s most famous poisons, having featured in Agatha Christie novels, TV shows like Breaking Bad […]