Chemical processes, new compounds and functional materials.
Dr. Galia Shulga's team found that a low-concentration alkaline pretreatment of birch sawdust raised lignin and pulp yields in soda pulping and produced lignin with stronger surface activity.
Professor David Magri's team turned plant-derived cinchona alkaloids into glowing polymers that act as molecular logic gates, turning yellow in water only when both acid and iodide are present.
Professor Santiago de la Moya and Dr. Jorge Bañuelos's team found a simple chemical swap that makes bright BODIPY dyes dissolve in water while keeping their glow, enabling water-based dye lasers.
Dr. Shigetaka Hayano's team at Zeon Corporation broke down vulcanized cyclopentene-based rubbers with a catalyst under mild heat, recovering cyclopentene, the original building block, for reuse.
Professor Richard Zare's team found that sprayed water droplets give off tiny sparks they call microlightning, which formed organic molecules such as glycine and uracil from early-Earth-like gases.
Dr. Jianwei Li's tutorial shows how Abraham's solvation parameter model can guide solvent choice and test design when checking which chemicals may leach from medical packaging and devices.
Dr. Xiangbing Qi's team developed a scalable chemical route to make the potent nerve toxin tetrodotoxin and a close relative from a common starting material, easing supply for medical research.
Dr. Limei Jin's team developed a short, scalable route from a cheap commodity chemical to a key building block of the HIV drug lenacapavir, avoiding column purification and hydrogen fluoride.
Professor Duyang Zang's team found that ultrasound speeds evaporation of salty droplets and produces smaller, more uniform crystals, with traveling waves refining crystals more than standing waves.
Professor Eunsoon Oh's team found that rapid shifts in temperature and humidity can undermine light-based explosive vapor sensors, and that polymer films recover after brief but not prolonged exposure.
Professor Stuart Licht's team found that hot, high-pressure filtration recovers nearly all the molten electrolyte from carbon nanotubes made from carbon dioxide, so the electrolyte can be reused.
Professor Antonio Araujo's team made cobalt-molybdenum catalysts on mesoporous silica supports that removed sulfur from thiophene in a model fuel stream without forming unwanted byproducts.
In laboratory tests, Professor Jürgen Gailer's team found that the vaccine preservative thimerosal reacts with glutathione and cysteine under body-like conditions, forming an ethylmercury-glutathione compound.
