Phys.org Chemistry

• Older chemical libraries show promise for fighting resistant strains of COVID-19 virus

  SARS‑CoV‑2, the virus that causes COVID-19, continues to mutate, with some newer strains becoming less responsive to current antiviral treatments like Paxlovid. Now, University of California San Diego scientists and an international team of researchers have identified several promising molecules that could lead to new medications capable of combating these resistant variants.

• Novel compound attacks tuberculosis bacteria's ATP synthase, showing promise against drug resistance

  Researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) have developed a promising new substance for targeting bacteria that cause tuberculosis. The team have produced a compound that inhibits the pathogens' ability to produce energy and causes them to die. Established drugs work in a similar fashion, but the pathogen is becoming increasingly resistant to these medications. The study was conducted jointly with other researchers from Germany, the USA and Canada and its findings were published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

• Scientists enhance the flavor of carob-based chocolate alternatives with novel methods

  With climate change and higher incidences of crop diseases, global cocoa production and supply is being threatened. A research team from the National University of Singapore (NUS), motivated by these reports, set out to enhance the taste of carob, making it a more appealing and sustainable alternative to cocoa.

• Towards sustainable organic synthesis—mechanochemistry replaces lithium with sodium in organic reactions

  Highly reactive organometallic reagents, like organolithiums (molecules with a carbon–lithium bond) are essential reagents in organic synthesis because of their applications from polymer synthesis to pharmaceuticals, and more. Lithium resources, however, are difficult to access because concentrated deposits are geographically restricted and modern extraction methods are burdened with environmental costs.

• Hydrogel switches from liquid to gel at body temperature, enabling easy removal

  What if a doctor could inject an electricity-conducting liquid into the body, let it temporarily solidify to record nerve signals or jump-start healing, and then return it to liquid form for easy removal?

• New construction material absorbs CO₂ and sets quickly for sustainable building

  Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) researchers have created a new carbon-negative building material that could transform sustainable construction. The breakthrough, published in the high-impact journal Matter, details the development of enzymatic structural material (ESM), a strong, durable, and recyclable construction material produced through a low-energy, bioinspired process.

• Free radicals caught in the act with slow spectroscopy

  Why does plastic turn brittle and paint fade when exposed to the sun for long periods? Scientists have long known that such organic photodegradation occurs due to the sun's energy generating free radicals: molecules that have lost an electron to sunlight-induced ionization and have been left with an unpaired one, making them very eager to react with other molecules in the environment. However, the exact mechanisms for how and why the energy from the sun's photons get stored and released in the materials over very long periods have eluded empirical evidence.

• Copper-64 isotope made easier: Recoil chemistry could lower medical imaging costs

  The copper isotope Cu-64 plays an important role in medicine: It is used in imaging processes and also shows potential for cancer therapy. However, it does not occur naturally and must be produced artificially—a complex and costly process.

• Catalyst insight may unlock safer, on-demand ozone water disinfection

  University of Pittsburgh researchers have made an important step toward providing hospitals and water treatment facilities with a safer, greener alternative to chlorine-based disinfection.

• Alternative to BPA passes toxicity and sustainability standards set by EU innovation guidelines

  Polyester and a host of other plastic products could potentially be manufactured with non-toxic and sustainable BPA alternatives identified in a multidisciplinary study published in Nature Sustainability by researchers in Sweden.

• Cleaner rayon fiber production cuts solvent use by up to 70%

  A UBC research team has developed a cleaner way to produce rayon, a popular fabric used in clothing for more than a century. The process could significantly reduce chemical use and improve sustainability in textile manufacturing.

• Common aldehydes transformed by light could accelerate drug discovery and material development

  A new chemical method that could speed up the creation of medicines, materials and products people rely on every day has been developed by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Department of Chemistry researchers. The work, published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, shows how common ingredients called aldehydes can be transformed into more complex molecules using visible light and a specialized catalyst.

• Seeing inside smart gels: Scientists capture dynamic behavior under stress

  Advances in materials science have led to the development of "smart materials," whose properties do not remain static but change in response to external stimuli. One such material is poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), or PNIPAM, a polymer gel that alters its solubility with temperature. The polymer contains hydrophilic amide groups and hydrophobic isopropyl groups.

• Fullerenes could improve MRI clarity by enabling more efficient dynamic nuclear polarization

  Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is invaluable in the medical world. But despite all the good it does, there is room for improvement. One way to enhance the sensitivity of MRI is dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP), where target molecules for imaging are modified so they form clearer images when scanned with an MRI machine. But this technique requires special crystalline materials mixed with polarizing agents that are difficult to create.

• Unraveling the hidden dynamics behind copper chalcogenides' exceptional carbon dioxide-to-formate conversion

  The origin of the elusive preference of copper chalcogenides for selectively converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into formate has long puzzled researchers. Researchers at National Taiwan University have identified a charge-redistribution mechanism that resolves this long-standing debate, providing fundamental insight into the basis of their exceptional selectivity.

• Precise catalyst design boosts hydrogen gas production efficiency and affordability

  A recent advance in the science of hydrogen fuel production could enable higher output and more sustainable production of this renewable energy source, researchers with Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology report.

• Chemists pioneer light-driven macrolactone synthesis for fast route to complex natural compound

  Macrolactones—large ring lactones—are core components of many natural products and pharmaceutical agents. Traditional synthetic routes rely on seco acids activated with condensing reagents, often requiring harsh conditions or multi-step procedures. An alternative approach using hydroxyaldehydes has remained limited, and radical-based macrolactonization of these substrates had never been reported.

• Kinetic decoupling-recoupling strategy enables 79% yield of ethylene and propylene from polyethylene

  In a study published in Nature Chemical Engineering, a team has developed a kinetic decoupling-recoupling (KDRC) strategy that enables the conversion of polyethylene (PE) to ethylene and propylene with a yield of 79%.

• Chemists synthesize a fungal compound that holds promise for treating brain cancer

  For the first time, MIT chemists have synthesized a fungal compound known as verticillin A, which was discovered more than 50 years ago and has shown potential as an anticancer agent.

• Antibiotics could trigger immune response through gut microbiome metabolites

  The microbes inside our bodies not only help break down food but also impact our health. Yet their precise influence is not always understood, especially in the presence of prescription drugs.

• Fish freshness easily monitored with a new sensor

  To see if a fish is fresh, people recommend looking at its eyes and gills or giving it a sniff. But a more accurate check for food quality and safety is to look for compounds that form when decomposition starts.

• Tailored single atom platforms hold promise for next-generation catalysis

  Catalysts play a vital role in modern society, supporting processes from metallurgy to pharmaceutical production. To reduce environmental impact and maximize efficiency, science has pushed the boundaries between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis toward single-atom catalysts. However, working with individual atoms poses enormous challenges: it is difficult to overcome their tendency to aggregate into clusters, especially at temperatures above cryogenic levels, and it is complex to arrange them precisely in specific chemical environments.

• Tracking forever chemicals across food web shows not all isomers are distributed equally

  When University at Buffalo chemists analyzed samples of water, fish, and bird eggs, they weren't surprised to find plenty of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). After all, these "forever chemicals" turn up nearly everywhere in the environment.

• Sunlight, water and air power a cleaner method for making hydrogen peroxide

  Cornell scientists have discovered a potentially transformative approach to manufacturing one of the world's most widely used chemicals—hydrogen peroxide—using nothing more than sunlight, water and air. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

• Chance discovery converts toxic nitric oxide into nitrogen gas at room temperature

  Nitrogen is a crucial component of proteins and nucleic acids, the fundamental building blocks of all living things, and thus is essential to life on Earth. Gaseous N2 from the atmosphere can be fixed by soil bacteria capable of converting N2 to ammonia or nitrates (NO3).