Spring has sprung for the Alchemist, who, under the northern sun, takes on a marginal copper tone this week.
First up, a new copper catalyst that can take a sideways swipe at organic aromatic compounds and make them go all meta. We also have copper nanorods for 3D computer chips.
After two decades of trying, it seems buckyballs are to finally come of age with the development of these all-carbon soccerball molecules as drug delivery agents for novel multiple sclerosis (MS) drugs.
The Alchemist also learns from C&EN how chemical manufacturers and legislators alike are banning toxic ingredients from consumer plastics. In electrochemical news, researchers are using magnets to move microscopic particles, which they can then track through the fluctuations in the magnetic field.
Finally, if you didn’t already know, the launch of the journal Nature Chemistry apparently represents a new prospect for the chemistry community with added molecular bells and whistles that make print journals look a bit flat.
Get the full skinny in my Alchemist column on ChemWeb.com