Self-organizing molecules: Cups with attoliter volume

22-May-2019 - They look like interlocking egg cups, but a hen's egg is 100,000 times as thick as one of the miniature cups: Scientists at the Center for Nanointegration (CENIDE) at the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) have made polymers to form themselves into tiny cups on their own. They could, for example, ...

How a crystal is solvated in water

The solvation process is of fundamental importance for chemistry – but is very difficult to observe

22-Nov-2018 - How a molecule from a solid crystal structure is solvated in a liquid solvent has been observed at a molecular level for the first time by chemists at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. The process is too fast to decipher at room temperature. The team from the Ruhr Explores Solvation (Resolv) Cluster of ...

How solvent molecules cooperate in reactions

10-Oct-2016 - Molecules from the solvent environment that at first glance seem to be uninvolved can be essential for chemical reactions. This has been shown by researchers studying the formation of an ether in pure solvents and in their mixtures. They explained the underlying mechanisms in detail using ...

Help from the Dark Side

Using “dark channel” fluorescence, scientists can explain how biochemical substances carry out their function

09-Aug-2010 - Spectroscopic techniques are among the most important methods by which scientists can look inside materials. They exploit the interaction of light waves with a given sample. Now, using X-ray absorption spectroscopy, researchers from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB) have ...

Non-covalent chiral organocatalysis uses water as a solvent

26-Jul-2010 - The first example of Brønsted acid asymmetric catalysis in aqueous solution is reported by Magnus Rueping and Thomas Theissman at Aachen University, Germany. Using a chiral phosphoric acid catalyst Rueping demonstrates highly enantioselective hydrogenation of quinolines in water, a reaction ...

BASF and RTI International jointly develop new Carbon Capture Technology

21-Jun-2010 - BASF and U.S. research institute RTI International are joining forces to develop a new, exceptionally cost-effective technology to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from waste gases emitted by coal-fired power plants and other industrial sources. The development project is sponsored by a two million ...