News & Comment

The enantiomers of chiral compounds pass through doped soap films at different rates resulting in chiral separation.

A material with viscoleastic properties that are stable over a large temperature range has been created from carbon nanotubes.

Jonathan R. Nitschke considers how the story of phosphorus, an element that glows without fire, nicely illustrates the pursuit of scientific knowledge — including how such knowledge goes on to serve many purposes, for better or for worse.

The United Nations has proclaimed 2011 to be the International Year of Chemistry. Under this banner, chemists should seize the opportunity to highlight the rich history and successes of our subject to a much broader audience — and explain how it can help to solve the global challenges we face today and in the future.

Using chemical intuition often allows one to predict what might transpire on throwing a batch of chemicals into a beaker, but sometimes the unexpected can occur. Bruce C. Gibb discusses how you define an 'emergent phenomenon', recognizing that it's not a simple exercise and can actually be different for each of us.

Desorption electrospray ionization has been used to detect reaction intermediates through mass spectrometry.

Polymeric particles based on silyl ether crosslinkers create acid-sensitive biomaterials whose degradation is controlled in vivo by natural pH gradients.

A ruthenium complex has been shown to catalyse the oxidation of water in a non-aqueous solvent with a rate greater than in the aqueous system.

A hydrogen-bonded dimer of triruthenium complexes is an unusual example of proton-coupled mixed valency.

Small-molecule microarrays facilitate the search for Alzheimer's disease therapeutics by screening compounds that bind to the amyloid-β peptide.

The isolation of pure quantities of the active intermediate in cytochrome P450 enzymes — known as compound I — has led to this elusive species being characterized in detail.

Revising a manuscript in response to the comments of referees should not be about doing the bare minimum to get a paper published. Addressing criticisms that are genuine and constructive can lead to much more compelling research articles.

From humble beginnings in Siberia, ruthenium has blossomed into an incredibly interesting and useful element. Simon Higgins looks at its role in past — and perhaps future — Nobel Prize-winning discoveries.

Michelle Francl wonders just what we're buying — and buying into — when we shop for our laboratories.