New fresh look for RSC website

The new RSC website has just been launched - bringing you the latest news and developments about the society and its products, as well as the very best in chemical science research. 

The new site embodies a contemporary, fresh look and an improved structure offering better links between relevant, associated content. By providing more intuitive navigation journal authors and readers, and RSC members are able to find appropriate information and services more easily. 

Behind the scenes, improvements to the technological infrastructure make the site more flexible and efficient and better equip the RSC to deliver enhanced publishing products and services for its customers in the future. 

The design of the site also promotes the latest journals' news on publishing homepages, ensuring there is lively content that changes frequently. In order to achieve this the website has a completely new directory structure and the URLs of all pages have changed. You will therefore need to update any pages you have bookmarked on the RSC site. 

Initial feedback from authors, readers and members has been very positive. Phil Abrahams, RSC director of customer services noted that 'customers are commenting on how much more intuitive it is to find articles and, from there, to go on to locate relevant additional content from other journals and from other parts of the RSC'. 

This new look is just the start as David Leeming, RSC technical development manager, explains 'the system is built on industry standard technologies that will ensure future needs will be met more easily. We will be able to offer facilities such as personalisation for individual users and RSS feeds to alert people to new content that might interest them.' 

• Watch out for further enhancements to the site in the future! 

And finally......

Researchers led by Ian Paterson at the University of Cambridge, UK, have successfully synthesised a biologically active compound found in a natural marine sponge. The compound, altohyrtin A/spongistatin 1, first identified by researchers in 1993, is one of the most potent inhibitors of cancer cell growth tested by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI). The shortage of natural supplies of the agent has led to a wealth of interest in its synthesis. 

In four papers published in issue 13 of Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, Ian Paterson and his team describe a highly stereocontrolled synthesis of the compound, as well as novel analogues that they hope will exhibit similar levels of biological activity. 

• To read this exciting research, visit OBC