Fighting microplastics for a cleaner future

Dr. Manish Shetty is working to break down microplastics to create usable fuel

13-Nov-2024 - Microplastics, plastics smaller than 5 millimeters, are littered across the world, contributing to global warming, disrupting food chains, and harming ecosystems with toxic chemicals. This is why Dr. Manish Shetty is working to break down plastics before they can get into the ...

Aromatic compounds: A ring made up solely of metal atoms

chemists characterise new basic structure in the field of aromaticity

02-Jul-2024 - The term aromaticity is a basic, long-standing concept in chemistry that is well established for ring-shaped carbon compounds. Aromatic rings consisting solely of metal atoms were, however, heretofore unknown. The research team led by Prof. Dr Lutz Greb, a scientist at Heidelberg University’s ...

An international team presents a potentially groundbreaking discovery for nitrogen chemistry

First synthesis of a compound with aromatic nitrogen rings

08-Mar-2023 - For the first time, a compound containing aromatic rings of nitrogen atoms has been synthesized. The compound of nitrogen and potassium was produced under extremely high pressures and temperatures. It has a very complex structure, but its major building block is the planar ring of six nitrogen ...

Metallic five-membered ring pushes the boundaries of aromaticity

Researchers succeed in synthesizing a molecule that should not actually exist

03-Jun-2022 - How many atoms can an aromatic ring have if it contains only two electrons? The answer has recently been changed: five! For the first time, a team from chemistry has succeeded in synthesizing and describing a five-membered aromatic compound - an important class of substances in chemistry - by ...

Zapping orange peel oil into new, pleasant aroma compounds

Generation of flavor-active compounds by electrochemical oxidation of limonene

03-Jun-2022 - As oranges are peeled, they spray a tangy, citrus scented oil into the air. The main compound in the fragrant mist is limonene, which can be collected from discarded peels and used in flavorings, perfumes and all-purpose cleaners. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and ...

Is it possible to develop antiaromaticity by nonbenzenoid aromatic compounds?

If it becomes possible to switch the physical properties between "aromatic" and "antiaromatic" without transferring electrons, it will pave the way for the development of new applications

10-Mar-2022 - Circularly conjugated compounds with 4n+2 pi-electrons are known as aromatic compounds. Since they are generally stable, they are widely used in our daily life, from plastics to pharmaceuticals, dyes, and organic electronics materials. On the other hand, antiaromatic compounds with 4n ...

Sustainable chemical synthesis with platinum

A new catalyst allows wood to replace petroleum in hydrocarbon synthesis

26-Apr-2021 - Researchers used platinum and aluminum compounds to create a catalyst which enables certain chemical reactions to occur more efficiently than ever before. The catalyst could significantly reduce energy usage in various industrial and pharmaceutical processes. It also allows for a wider range of ...

Dancing chemicals

Innovative catalytic reaction for low-cost synthesis of aromatic esters

16-Jul-2020 - Aromatic esters are chemicals that contain an aromatic ring consisting of functional groups called esters. These organic compounds are widely used as chemical feedstock in industries like food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Thus, finding efficient reactions for their synthesis is ...

Plastic from Wood

X-ray analysis points the way to lignin-based components made to measure

03-Mar-2020 - The biopolymer lignin is a by-product of papermaking and a promising raw material for manufacturing sustainable plastic materials. However, the quality of this naturally occurring product is not as uniform as that of petroleum-based plastics. An X-ray analysis carried out at DESY reveals for the ...

The power of going small: Copper oxide subnanoparticle catalysts prove most superior

10-Feb-2020 - Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology have shown that copper oxide particles on the sub-nanoscale are more powerful catalysts than those on the nanoscale. These subnanoparticles can also catalyze the oxidation reactions of aromatic hydrocarbons far more effectively than catalysts currently ...