Category: Chemistry

Chemists have produced millions of organic and organometallic compounds, but only recently have they produced one of the most aesthetically pleasing theoretical molecules after decades of trying – hexaferrocenylbenzene. Peter Vollhardt of the University of California at Berkeley and colleagues have finally succeeded in synthesising this super-crowded organometallic complex. NMR spectroscopy revealed that despite the crowded nature of the molecule this dendritic structure has considerable flexibility and average symmetry at room temperature. The team’s success means this previously elusive structure can be investigated for its electronic, magnetic, optical and catalytic properties.

Read more from David Bradley in the July 1 update of spectroscopyNOW.com.

How toxic are nanomaterials? A group of scientists from US and Korea has shown that nanostructured composite microspheres can be easily prepared using ultrasound in a non-toxic manner. These microspheres were created to act as drug carriers, in particular to deliver a potent Alzheimer’s Disease drug which is in clinical trials. Before drug delivery, however, the scientists had to show that their carrier was not itself toxic to cells.

“With increasing concerns that synthetic nanomaterials may be highly toxic on all-levels of life and harmful to the environment, it would be good practice if researchers can report toxicology data along with their synthesis,” team member Yoo-Hun Suh of Seoul University told us.

You can read my full story on this and more at spectroscopyNOW, in advance of July 1 publication.

This week, in my news round-up on ChemWeb, we discover a chilly reminder of water’s bizarre behavior that could make cryopreservation science fact rather than fiction, a new understanding of the underlying cause of Parkinson’s disease, and discover that Swiss chemists have peered into their crystal ball to find new materials and explain some old ones. Also in this week’s news, simultaneous sensing for sensitive science and a way to clean up the infernal combustion.

A postgraduate student has posted a research problem on sci.chem.analytical, which Sciencebase’s chemically aware readers might be interested in puzzling over.

The student seems to have discovered a new inorganic gas.

Apparently, he heated a zeolite which consists Analcime, feldspar and silica to 500 Celsius. X-ray fluorescence shows the presence of Si Al K Ca Na S Ti and Fe. When the heated material is dissolved in HCl, a gas is evolved with the following properties (summarized by M Farooq on CHEMED-L):

(a) It smells like ammonia

(b) It gives a precipitate with calcium hydroxide which re-dissolves in HCl

(c) It does not decolorize potassium permanganate solution

(These properties would suggest carbon dioxide, but….)

(d) It can be collected over water and has an ammoniacal smell but is not as irritating as ammonia

(e) The gas does not react with silver chloride in solution (unlike ammonia) but can colorize silver nitrate solution (goes from colorless to weak yellow, similar to iron(III) ions in solution)

It might be a gaseous hydride and is almost certainly not an organic compound as all would be destroyed at 500 Celsius. Arsine impuritues are unlikely as the X-ray fluorescence did not reveal arsenic.

So, what is it?