Chemistry World Blog

30 October 2011: Have something to say about an article you’ve read on Chemistry World this week? Leave your comments below…

Chemists put finger on the trigger to attack cancer
Prodrug uses a boronate to spot cancer cells’ oxidative environment and then gases them with nitrogen mustard

Faster synthesis of fluorine radioisotope imaging agents
Palladium reagent allows quick production of radio-labelled imaging molecules before isotopes pass best before

Taming osmosis for steady drug delivery
A German start up has developed a disposable infusion pump that uses osmosis instead of electrical power

A model for the single chirality of life
Single chirality crystals are generated through a temperature gradient in boiling solutions

Do carbyne radicals really exist in aqueous solution?
Chemists in Israel have proposed that super-reactive carbon radicals with three unpaired electrons can survive in water

Escalating drug dearth spooks White House
Obama calls on FDA and Justice Department to clamp down on pharmaceutical industry after drug shortages triple

A shot in the arm for drugs for neglected diseases
Intellectual property sharing database will give researchers new leads in the fight against TB, malaria

Pilot seeks to thaw methane hydrate promise
US energy department teams up with oil majors to investigate the viability of extracting methane from gas hydrates

Water-catching spinout from synthetic spider silk
Bioinspired fibres could harvest water from fog and mist in parched areas

Pee-powered fuel cell turns urine to energy
Urine could be processed into power and fertiliser by bacterial biofilms

Organic LEDs set to become displays’ flexible friend
Researchers find a way to put OLEDs on flexible plastic while retaining efficiency

The kilogram is dead! Long live the kilogram!
Four of the base SI units, including the kilogram and mole, are set to be redefined