The pyridine chemical group, basically a benzene ring in which one of the six carbons and its attendant hydrogen atom have been swapped for a nitrogen atom, is one of the building blocks of a vast number of biological molecules and is a crucial component in the functionality of an almost as expansive selection of pharmaceuticals. As such, understanding its chemistry and physical properties are important in a fundamental way to the chemical and life sciences.
Now, chemists Yoshinori Nibu, Ryosuke Marui, and Hiroko Shimada of Fukuoka University, in Japan, have used infra-red spectroscopy to sniff out important new clues as to this aromatic compound’s behaviour.
You can read the full story in the first August edition of my science news round-up for spectroscopyNOW.com