News from across RSC Publishing.
Issue 4
Solid oxide fuel cells
Researchers around the world are intensively studying more efficient and environmentally friendly ways to transform energy, using solid oxide fuel cells. In work confirming atomistic simulations Miguel Aranda and his team from the University of Malaga, Spain, show the presence of interstitial oxygen in a lanthanum oxy-apatite. The activation energy for the migration of interstitial oxygen is much smaller than that for vacancy oxygen migration, which is the mechanism in most currently studied oxygen conductors.
Six-coordinate iridium
A rare example of a six-coordinate iridium compound has been prepared by researchers from Cornell University, US. Paul Chirik and colleagues have synthesised a ?-diiminate iridium tetrahydride complex and comment on its ability to activate C-H bonds in arenes. 'We think that this molecule has the possibility to open up a new family of iridium compounds that are relatively easy to prepare,' Chirik explained.
Phase switching
A removable 'phase switching' tag, combining the advantages of solid and solution phase synthesis, allows accumulation of high purity products without conventional purification. Mark Ladlow of GlaxoSmithKline in Cambridge, UK, performed phase-switching using a removable tag, a new bifunctional anthracenyl-tagged protecting group that aids the solution phase synthesis and purification of carboxylic acids, esters and carboxamides. Key features include convenient UV visualisation, reversible attachment to a solid support and robust substrate attachment.
Novel ring closures
Unusual shapes for new ligands are being investigated in the lab of J A Gladysz at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. Molecular rings are formed when the end atoms of two unsaturated bonds swap position, helped by a catalyst. This alkene metathesis method has been around for a while, but is still finding new applications. Gladysz has been altering the arm lengths to direct the ring closure of platinum-bound phosphine ligands. They obtained some unusual products from their reactions that normally would only be made after a lengthy, complicated synthesis.
Essential Elements
Launched in January 2004, Chemical Science is rapidly establishing itself as an excellent news source for the latest research developments in the chemical sciences.
Cryptands - molecular entities comprising cyclic or polycyclic assemblies of binding sites - are the topic of one of the most highly accessed articles, from the recently launched R...
Keeping up-to-date with the latest developments in your specialist subject area can be a full-time occupation, with numerous journals publishing novel research from all over the wo...
Research Highlights
Calling mobile phones into question
New information points to possible effects of radiation on blood.
Giant voids conjure up space-age images of huge expanses of nothing, but everything is relative.
Anti-viral agents launch a two-fronted attack on HIV.
Is Mother Nature a mathematical modeller?
A team of US researchers are solving some of science's toughest problems using mathematical modelling techniques based on genetic reproduction.
Developments in electron source materials will impact on many applications, from flat-panel displays to electrical propulsion systems for space craft.
Monitoring with robot electrophoresis
Prototype electrophoresis equipment that can operate without human intervention has been developed by a team of Swiss scientists.
Towards a true lab-on-a-chip system.
Ozone heightens atmospheric soot ageing
We are now a step closer to understanding the subtle interplay of gas-soot interactions in the atmosphere thanks to a team of scientists.
Saccharine solution to a toxic problem
New ionic liquids from cheap non-toxic sources.
Unravelling the secrets of biosynthesis
Bacteria and toxic plants don't sound like the most helpful of things, but in studies into the biological formation of fluorine containing compounds, they seem to be very useful.
Watching the progress of catalysis in ionic liquids
New insight is being offered into the role of ionic liquids in catalysis.
