Category: Chemistry

High-speed observations of hydrogen ions (protons) moving within a molecule could allow chemists to gain new insights into the fundamental processes that take place in reactions, according to UK scientists writing in the journal Science today.

John Tisch of Imperial College London and his colleagues have captured proton movements on the attosecond scale. (Check out our atto to yocto page for a definition). The research provides new clues as to how molecules behave in chemical and biological processes.

“Slicing up a second into intervals as miniscule as 100 attoseconds, as our new technique enables us to do, is extremely hard to conceptualise,” says Tisch, “It’s like chopping up the 630 million kilometres from here to Jupiter into pieces as wide as a human hair.”

Jon Marangos, Director of the Blackett Laboratory Laser Consortium at Imperial, adds that the new technique means scientists will now be able to measure and control the ultra-fast dynamics of molecules. “Control of this kind underpins an array of future technologies, such as control of chemical reactions, quantum computing and high brightness x-ray light sources for material processing. We now have a much clearer insight into what is happening within molecules and this allows us to carry out more stringent testing of theories of molecular structure and motion. This is likely to lead to improved methods of molecular synthesis and the nano-fabrication of a new generation of materials,” explains Marangos.

To make the breakthrough, the scientists, include lead author Sarah Baker, used a specially built laser system capable of producing extremely brief bursts of light. This pulsed light has an oscillating electrical field that exerts a powerful force on the electrons surrounding the protons, repeatedly tearing them from the molecule and driving them back into it. This process causes the electrons to carry a large amount of energy, which they release as an x-ray photon before returning to their original state. How bright this x-ray is depends on how far the protons move in the time between the electrons’ removal and return. The further the proton moves, the lower the intensity of the x-ray, allowing the team to measure how far a proton has moved during the electron oscillation period.

You can read more about the research in today’s issue of Science

Researchers at UCLA have produced the first 3D images of fossils embedded in rocks aged between 650 and 850 million years old. New microscopy and spectroscopy techniques allowed them to sneak an interior peek inside ancient rocks without having to crack them open. The research allows them to spot signs of ancient microscopic life, such as fossil cell walls and could be useful in studying extraterrestrial rocks in the search for alien life.

Dig inside the full story in David Bradley’s news page on spectroscopynow.com

For those of you who didn’t know, ChemWeb’s “The Alchemist” was given a new lease of life by chemical searching company Chemindustry.com some time ago now. In fact, I’ve just compiled issue 38 of the “new” chemistry news round-up. It’s live today and covers a diverse range of chemical matter including an expose on how soil-eating microbes can be engineered to produce biodegradable plastics, more revelations on benzene in soft drinks, and the scandal surrounding the US’s refusal to grant eminent Indian chemist Goverdhan Mehta an entry visa

Read on…

Integrating stiff carbon nanotubes into more traditional materials, such as polycarbonates, can dramatically improve the material’s ability to absorb vibrations, especially at high temperatures, according to US researchers. The discovery could lead to new composites for aerospace and automobile engineering applications as well as improving golf clubs and other sports equipment. You can read the complete story in this month’s Reactive Reports.

Chemical corrosion impacts on global commercial turnover significantly as equipment, buildings, and transportation systems have to be continually maintained to combat its effects. Chemists ever looking for the silver lining, however, have recognized that chemical attack of metal surfaces is not all bad and might be exploited to produce useful nanoscale surface features with potential technological applications in catalysis, sensors, and other areas. Read on in the latest issue of Reactive Reports

Regular visitor Rob Bowen emailed to tell me about the TechNeed site. Apparently, these guys want suggestions on how to create a chemical-free way to get rid of pests that won’t stain the carpet.

Well, efforts to find anything that is chemical free are doomed to failure from the off, unless you’re talking some energy form. Presumably, the chemophobics who write the site mean they want a physical method rather than something that relies on a compound acting as insecticide, which is fair enough.

But, Rob reckons the constraints they apply to their request for such a chemical-free pest remover are so tight that the only thing approach left is voodoo.

So, we’ll wait with interest to see if a commercially viable product emerges from this call to arms. I reckon they could cross-market it with those magnetic water softeners you wrap around your standpipe that are supposed to reduce limescale build up.

File under “pseudoscientific claptrap”

The bane of protein crystallographers is the common problem of proteins that simply will not crystallize. This is especially poignant when it comes to some of the more biomedically interesting of their number, such as the numerous membrane proteins, many of which do not succumb to even the most sophisticated crystallization techniques. Now, researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Surrey, both in the UK, have developed a new technique for crystallizing proteins, which could open up a whole range of materials to this powerful analytical technique.

Read my complete report in the Reactive Reports chemistry webzine

If you’re a Chemistry World reader you may have their freebie wallplanner tacked to the pinboard in your lab. But, watch out when you’re booking meetings towards the end of June this year. In their efforts to get as many conference ads into the chart, publisher the Royal Society of Chemistry skips a beat, with Friday June 30 leaping to Wednesday July 1.

Of course, if you’re using the freebie wallplanner from almost any other learned society, you’d know that July 1 is on a Saturday this year.