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.
ResearchExoplanet with heavy metal atmosphere discovered
Iron found for the first time in gas giant’s ultra-hot atmosphere
![Structural Characterization of r[5]C24+](https://d1w9csuen3k837.cloudfront.net/Pictures/100x67/2/4/0/138240_CHEMPR499-10-7b.jpg)
ResearchMolecular necklace with record 24 positive charges made
Supercharged catenane squeezes 24 positive charges into five-ring interlocked system
ResearchRound-the-ring catalysis makes cyclic peptides chiral
Classic hydrogenation catalyst installs multiple stereocentres one by one to create small amino acid rings as single enantiomers
NewsMerck’s €10k synthesis competition will lab test routes
Pharma company offers €10,000 in prize money for retrosynthesis challenge that will bench test finalists’ proposals
ResearchChameleon boron switches between electrophile and nucleophile
Mida boronates can be either electrophilic or nucleophilic in rearrangement reactions
ResearchProbability count reveals single atoms under electron microscope
Statistical model removes human bias in finding individual atoms in fuzzy images
ResearchHighly reactive carbocations tamed in bond forming reaction
Chemists harness vinyl cations for hydrocarbon synthesis and discover an unusual mechanism along the way
ResearchMass spectrometry and machine learning find fake Robert Burns’ manuscripts
Chemical fingerprinting distinguishes famous Scottish poet’s 200-year-old letters from contemporary forgeries
ResearchMOF detox could save aspirin overdose patients
Detoxifying metal–organic framework removes dangerous doses of salicylic acid from rats’ guts
ResearchAntioxidant repair keeps radical reaction running
Repurposed antioxidant’s mechanism-mending properties make tough alkene alkylation possible
ResearchFirst firm evidence for liquid water on Mars
Not quite life on Mars, but there are lakes beneath the red planet’s glaciers
ResearchCarbon rings weaved into solvent-cleaning mesh
Tiny pores in conjugated carbon network cleanse organic solvents of impurities
ResearchPuzzle of why very similar sugars can taste much sweeter than others solved
The sweetest saccharides form the strongest and shortest hydrogen bonds
ResearchTextbook aromatic substitution mechanism overthrown
Established intermediate in nucleophilic aromatic substitution found to be a rare exception rather than the rule
NewsBizarre chemical structure sinks paper five years later
In a detective story of a retraction, an antimicrobial compound’s eyebrow-raising structure led to allegations of image manipulation
NewsAustria’s bid to sue EU over UK nuclear plant fails
Judge rejects Austria’s legal challenge of UK state aid for planned nuclear power station
Research‘Break it to make it’ reaction to diversify drugs structures
Carbon–carbon bond breaking reaction might make chemists rethink how they build molecules
ResearchFlick of a switch alters permeability of graphene oxide
Membrane with built-in electric switch could find use in water purification or artificial biological systems
NewsHobby chemists fall foul of YouTube's content purge
Platform’s removal of home experiments and synthesis tutorial videos worries hobby chemists
