Katrina Krämer
After finishing my A-levels, I wanted to study arts or languages, but then decided that being a chemist in a white coat was definitely cooler.
So I went on and spent ten years studying chemistry in Germany, Spain and the UK, before realising that not working in a lab can also be fun. After one year in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s graduate trainee scheme, I joined Chemistry World first as editorial assistant and now as science correspondent.
My favourite CAS number is 102-54-5.
ResearchSolvated electrons’ metallic transition resolved with spectroscopy
First photoelectron spectra of electrolyte-to-metal transition in ammoniated electrons could lead to metallic water
- Research
Strange hexagonal form of table salt discovered
Predicted by an evolutionary algorithm, the first hexagonal sodium chloride was made on a diamond surface
- Research
New kind of heterocycle made in just one easy step
Simple synthesis makes once inaccessible class of fused seven-membered ring system
- News
Amid pandemic, UK is on track to double science funding by 2024
Government making good on promise of increasing R&D spending to £22 billion
- News
Angewandte essay calling diversity in chemistry harmful decried as ‘abhorrent’ and ‘egregious’
Third of journal board resigns over the now-deleted manuscript that chemists say reflects widespread bias in publishing and research
- News
US chemical plants risk disastrous cyberattacks relying on guidance a decade out of date
Cybersecurity guidelines for chemical plants urgently need updating and inspectors need training, report finds
- Podcast
Book club – The Alchemy of Us by Ainissa Ramirez
Materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez’s new book uncovers the human side of world-changing inventions
- Research
New silicon–silicon bond is a rare example of a π bond without a σ bond
Discovery made in silicon analogue of bicyclobutane
- Research
First natural Diels–Alder enzyme discovered in mulberry tree
Enzyme beats most synthetic catalysts when it comes to enantioselective intermolecular [4+2] cycloadditions
- Research
Catalyst breaks only molecules’ toughest C–H bonds
Level up for borylation with catalyst that targets molecules’ least reactive carbon–hydrogen bond
- News
Plant biologist Ottoline Leyser to head UK’s leading funding body
Leyser will guide government’s plan to increase spending on science to 2.4% of GDP by 2027
- Research
Keep The Scream dry to preserve its pigments, chemical analysis suggests
Moisture – not light – hastens the degradation of yellow cadmium colours in Edvard Munch’s 1910 painting
- Podcast
Chlorine dioxide
Katrina Krämer investigates how industrial-strength bleach became promoted as ‘miracle mineral supplement’ – a supposed ‘cure’ for autism, cancer and even Covid-19.
- Research
100 unit sugar breaks record for longest synthetic carbohydrate
Longest linear polysaccharide was made in a 201-step automated synthesis that took only eight days
- Opinion
Chemists amid coronavirus: Mélissa Nehme, Lucía Gallego and Joe Woods
Researchers are returning to labs in Switzerland with social distancing measures in place
- News
Statistician Adrian Smith to be next president of the Royal Society
Director of the Alan Turing Institute will take up the post in November
- Careers
How to lead a research team
By building skills to support your lab members, you lay the foundation for success
- Podcast
Book Club – Smoke & Mirrors by Gemma Milne
Science journalist Gemma Milne’s first book promises to be a guide on how to recognise hype and how to cut through it
- Research
Yeast thriving in hydrogen hints at possibility of life on exoplanets
First demonstration of non-adapted microorganisms growing in 100% H2 shows that life could exist even under seemingly hostile conditions
- Opinion
Chemists amid coronavirus: Solomon Derese
With a curfew in place across Kenya, one senior lecturer is spending his nights recording online classes
