Nylon-6 can be rapidly broken down by a new catalytic process without generating harmful byproducts or requiring toxic solvents. The metallocene catalytic system, which is based on earth-abundant early transition and lanthanide metals, depolymerises the material at unprecedented rates. Using this catalyst, the team was able to recover 99% of the nylon-6’s monomers, which could then be […]

There are continued warnings that the US has been without a chemical security programme since late July, leaving more than 3000 high-risk chemical facilities in the country vulnerable to terrorist, cyber- and physical attacks. The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) programme, which was authorised 17 years ago and is managed by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure […]

A high throughput, single molecule test based on nanopores and DNA barcoding has been developed and it could help uncover aggregates of misfolded proteins implicated in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The test could help improve diagnoses of these diseases, as well as tracking their progression. While the characterisation of harmful oligomers is crucial to developing […]

An international team of researchers has used time-resolved ultrafast crystallography to follow the progress of DNA repair by a photolyase enzyme. The work is ‘the first structural characterisation of a full enzyme reaction cycle,’ says Manuel Maestre-Reyna, who led the research. [embedded content] While many of the stages of this process have been studied before, […]

Carbamic acid could have formed alongside stars and planets within interstellar ices and could have served as a molecular building block for complex amino acids. The researchers who conducted the work said the findings could be used to train instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope to search for prebiotic molecules in distant, star-forming regions […]

Northvolt has launched a commercial sodium-ion battery for static energy storage in Europe. The development comes much sooner than most industry observers expected to see this technology. The Swedish battery maker emphasised that the cells will be free from lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite. Northvolt said its battery would also be safer and more cost-effective than […]

An artificial intelligence (AI), trained on the scientific literature, and combined with an automated chemistry platform has been used to both discover and synthesise inorganic compounds. The researchers hope that the AI can be used to speed up the discovery of novel materials such as recyclable plastics and transparent conductors for cheaper solar panels. Discovering energetically […]

If ever there was a time for chemists to show our mettle, this is it. Projections indicate that if the chemical industry continues on its current trajectory, it will be responsible for 24–38% of the total 2020–50 global carbon budget that would give us a fighting chance of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Or, to […]

A new fellowship for mid-career researchers is being launched by the Royal Society, funded by £250 million from the UK government. The Royal Society Faraday Discovery Fellowships, which will launch in 2024, will support researchers and scientists for up to 10 years to pursue research across science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The Royal Society anticipates […]

Researchers in Germany have created the first example of a silicon-based protecting group that is removed using visible light. The new protecting group will allow organic and materials chemists to protect alcohols under mild conditions and without needing UV light. Protecting groups are essential in organic synthesis, allowing modifications to specific positions on a compound. […]