Hexasilabenzene chemical structure over an alien landscape

Hexasilabenzene

2020-07-10T17:10:00+01:00By

Brian Clegg discovers what a six-membered silicon ring can tell us about alien life

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Your new labmate does 700 reactions in eight days – and it’s a robot

By

Robotic chemist optimises water-splitting photocatalyst by working continuously for eight days even in complete darkness

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Explainer: The science of Covid-19 testing

By

Rapidly-deployed methods are saving lives and easing minds

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Atmospheric water harvesting

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With drought threatening many parts of the world, Nina Notman explores technologies for sucking water out of thin air

News

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Suit of iron turns sperm cells into spermbots

2020-07-10T13:22:00+01:00

Researchers have created microrobots that swim under the influence of a magnetic field, by coating sperm cells with iron nanoparticles. The spermbots could one day be used to deliver drugs to hard-to-reach areas in the body.

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US environmental body ditches ban on grantees on advisory panels

2020-07-08T13:30:00+01:00

After several legal defeats, the EPA has backed down on controversial policy

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Ineos to buy BP petrochemicals businesses for $5bn

2020-07-07T14:28:00+01:00

Deal covers 14 acetyls and aromatics manufacturing plants and 10 joint ventures

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Bayer commits over $10bn to resolve legacy Monsanto lawsuits

2020-07-06T10:37:00+01:00

Agreement settles about 75% of Roundup-related cases and resolves PCB and dicamba litigation

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EU science programme will be hurt by Brexit but will survive

2020-07-02T08:30:00+01:00

Network analysis suggests excellent science pillar of Horizon framework will be hardest hit 

Research

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Solar powered chemical photoswitches can scavenge heat

2020-07-10T08:30:00+01:00

Flipping between isomers allows harvesting and storage of ambient heat for months

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Photo-rechargeable zinc-ion devices merge solar cell and battery tech

2020-07-09T13:34:00+01:00

A low cost and stable battery that can recharge itself in sunlight could help make energy more accessible in developing rural areas

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Catalyst takes its time to deliver both enantiomers in one pot synthesis

2020-07-09T13:30:00+01:00

Discovery could enable access to both enantiomers of a drug in a single synthesis

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Photocatalysis in flow makes carbon bonds from nearly inert natural gases

2020-07-08T13:09:00+01:00

C–H activating methane, ethane and propane in a flow reactor shows that it’s possible to use gaseous hydrocarbons as reagents in organic synthesis

An image showing Nadine Borduas-Dedekind collecting freshly fallen snow

How the products of fire control the formation of snow

2020-07-08T08:28:00+01:00

Nadine Borduas-Dedekind brings an organic chemist’s arrow-pushing insight to reactions in the atmosphere

Voice of the Royal Society of Chemistry

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Building a better chemistry culture

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Managing isolation – Building a better chemistry culture

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Flexible working – Building a better chemistry culture

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Kindness – Building a better chemistry culture

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  • Building a better chemistry culture

  • Managing isolation – Building a better chemistry culture

  • Flexible working – Building a better chemistry culture

  • Kindness – Building a better chemistry culture

Significant figures

Celebrating science's forgotten heroes

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Barbara Low, penicillin and the protein pi helix

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Alice Ball’s treatment for leprosy

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Eunice Foote: the mother of climate change

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Jimmy Robinson and the atom bomb elements

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The indomitable Toshiko Mayeda

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Theodora Greene’s protecting groups

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Ellie Knaggs and tetrahedral carbon

  • Barbara Low, penicillin and the protein pi helix

  • Alice Ball’s treatment for leprosy

  • Eunice Foote: the mother of climate change

  • Jimmy Robinson and the atom bomb elements

  • The indomitable Toshiko Mayeda

  • Theodora Greene’s protecting groups

  • Ellie Knaggs and tetrahedral carbon

Features

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Metalloenzyme mastery

By

There are natural metalloenzymes that make difficult chemistry look easy. James Mitchell Crow talks to the bioinorganic chemists figuring out how to copy them

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Clearing the air

By

Nina Notman explores the role technology can play in cleaning pollutants out of air before we breathe them in

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The difficulties of drugging our brains

By

Following the withdrawal of many large pharma companies from central nervous system research, Andy Extance finds new drug development patterns are emerging 

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Supporting the chemistry community

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The Chemists’ Community Fund – formerly the Benevolent Fund – has been helping people for 100 years. Rachel Brazil looks at how it works, now it may be more needed than ever before

Upcoming webinars

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Managing isolation – Building a better chemistry culture

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Synthia – Retrosynthesis software for the chemical industry

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WL Gore: Optimising production processes with Design of Experiments

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  • Managing isolation – Building a better chemistry culture

  • Synthia – Retrosynthesis software for the chemical industry

  • WL Gore: Optimising production processes with Design of Experiments