https://phys.org/chemistry-news/ en-us The latest news stories on chemistry, biochemistry, polymers, materials science from Phys.org RhoBAST is a tiny RNA molecule that activates fluorescent dyes, enabling researchers to track RNA molecules in living cells with super-resolution. An international collaboration, which includes Ronald Micura and his team from the Institute of Organic Chemistry, has now shown that a small, local "nucleotide flip" within the RNA controls this fluorescence activation. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-rna-nucleotide-fluorescent-dyes.html Biochemistry Fri, 11 Sep 2026 20:00:04 EDT news708352516 Researchers from Aarhus University and the Danish Technological Institute have taken a new approach in the search for enzymes capable of breaking down some of the most difficult types of plastic to recycle. They collected millions of bacteria from a landfill in Kenya, Randers Regnskov Tropical Zoo, the guts of larvae and a compost heap near Aarhus—and examined their enzymes. They found 12 that work. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-compost-microbe-yields-enzyme-tackles.html Biochemistry Fri, 11 Sep 2026 17:00:05 EDT news708348662 While chemical bonds usually determine the structure and properties of a material, bonds between neighboring metal atoms can also change as temperature or other conditions change. These changes can lead to unusual electronic and magnetic behaviors. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-unusual-bonds-magnetism-vanadium-material.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 11 Sep 2026 15:20:04 EDT news708344402 Fluorinated waste, like that found in firefighting aqueous film-forming foam, can act as a significant environmental pollutant. Recently, James Tour's lab at Rice University developed a method to capture fluoride from these waste streams and recycle it into a useful reagent, silver fluoride, that could be used in other manufacturing processes. This process is published in Nature Chemical Engineering. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-electrical-pulses-pfas-valuable-silver.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 11 Sep 2026 13:00:07 EDT news708340878 Your favorite pair of tennies, kicks or trainers may soon become a little more sustainable. In a study published Sept. 11 in the journal Chem Catalysis, researchers developed a new kind of enzyme based on a bacterium found in compost that can degrade the polyurethane material in shoe foams. The results could one day help recycle plastic waste from shoes, mattresses, kitchen sponges and more. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-foam-genetically-tweaking-microbe-compost.html Polymers Fri, 11 Sep 2026 11:00:04 EDT news708271082 For more than a century, pharmaceutical companies have relied on flat structures called aromatic rings, which can help drugs bind to target sites in the body. They include benzene rings and other flat, nitrogen-containing rings. But there are limits to their usefulness. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-blue-chemistry-3d-drug-blocks.html Biochemistry Fri, 11 Sep 2026 06:40:01 EDT news708267421 Life in the deep sea is under immense pressure—literally. Such extreme conditions can disrupt the delicate structures of proteins essential to life. Yet somehow, the proteins in deep-sea creatures remain functional. This raises an intriguing question: how? https://phys.org/news/2026-09-pressure-deep-sea-protein-extreme.html Biochemistry Thu, 10 Sep 2026 18:40:01 EDT news708264001 Imagine this. You pick up a contact lens from its container and—yikes!—it falls on the bathroom floor. Before you know it, your cat pounces, claws out. By the time you wrestle it back, the lens looks like a tiny chew toy. And then, just like that—the scratches fade away and the ripped edge seals itself up. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-fully-recyclable-hydrogel-minutes.html Polymers Thu, 10 Sep 2026 17:40:09 EDT news708263342 Researchers from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research & Technology's (SMART) Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) interdisciplinary research group, alongside collaborators from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore), and institutions in the United States, Poland and France, have discovered aminovaleramididine synthetase (AvaS), the first identified pyridoxal phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme responsible for producing a chemical modification linked to how bacteria respond to metabolic stress. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-plp-enzyme-bacterial-protein-production.html Biochemistry Thu, 10 Sep 2026 15:20:04 EDT news708258422 Porous liquids combine permanent nanoscale cavities with fluidity, making them promising for applications like carbon dioxide capture, gas separation and other chemical processes. Their viscosity must be tailored to the intended application: Lower-viscosity liquids are easier to pump and circulate while facilitating faster heat and mass transfer, whereas higher-viscosity liquids provide greater structural stability in membrane formation. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-molecular-surface-million-tuning-porous.html Polymers Wed, 09 Sep 2026 18:00:08 EDT news708183542 From targeted cancer treatments to self-healing materials and microscopic robots, many emerging technologies depend on molecules that can be controlled with light. Researchers at Tohoku University have now developed a way to make these light-responsive molecules much more sensitive to visible light by using a molecular antenna. The breakthrough gives scientists better control over molecular photoswitches remotely and potentially expands their use in medicine and advanced materials. The findings are published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-molecular-antennae-sensitive.html Biochemistry Wed, 09 Sep 2026 17:40:01 EDT news708183301 Chemists in a new study led by the University of Iowa report they have isolated and described in detail an atypical state of the rare-earth metal terbium, an advance that could expand its use in quantum technologies, including computing and advanced sensors. The study, "Structural and spectroscopic characterization of a Tb(IV) polyoxometalate," is published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-terbium-elusive-emerges-ordinary-lab.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 09 Sep 2026 17:10:04 EDT news708191101 As a liquid that is easily stored and transported, ammonia (NH3) is an attractive carrier for hydrogen, which is used in fuel cells, semiconductor manufacturing, chemical processing and other applications. However, breaking ammonia into hydrogen and nitrogen typically requires high temperatures, and the resulting gas mixture must undergo additional purification before the hydrogen can be used in many applications. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-electrochemical-pure-hydrogen-ammonia-substantially.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 09 Sep 2026 16:00:12 EDT news708174962 Look closely at Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of Japan's most iconic masterpieces. The brilliant white of the waves, snow on Mount Fuji and clouds above contain no white pigment. Instead, their whiteness comes from the way light scatters off the unprinted fibers of the washi paper itself. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-white-nature-sustainable-repellent-materials.html Polymers Wed, 09 Sep 2026 11:00:31 EDT news708168421 Cyclopropanes are organic chemistry's smallest rings. Three carbon atoms are joined in a triangle, creating a compact and unusually strained structure. Despite—or partly because of—this unusual geometry, cyclopropanes are found in many biologically active natural products and have important applications in medicines and drug discovery, from antidepressants to antibiotics and antiviral research. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tiny-molecular-ways-medicines.html Biochemistry Tue, 08 Sep 2026 19:20:04 EDT news708104401 Drug discovery has traditionally followed the "rule of 5," which identifies chemical properties generally associated with good absorption of orally administered drugs, including a molecular weight below 500 daltons (Da). However, some pharmaceutical compounds fall outside these guidelines. Known as beyond rule of 5 (bRo5) molecules, these compounds can have larger, more complex structures while still exhibiting strong therapeutic activity and favorable pharmacological properties. Their size and structural complexity, however, make it difficult to characterize them using conventional methods, particularly when very small quantities are available. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-crystalline-sponge-reveals-large-molecules.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 08 Sep 2026 17:00:07 EDT news708097381 University of Missouri researchers have discovered a new way to harness one of the body's natural defenses: copper. While copper is essential for life and helps power important biological processes, having too much of it can be toxic. To keep copper levels in balance, cells rely on specialized proteins that regulate where it goes and how much is present. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-harness-copper-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria.html Biochemistry Tue, 08 Sep 2026 12:20:12 EDT news708081541 Packaged food usually sits in plastic-lined bags designed to keep air, moisture and contaminants out. That same protection can also increase the chances of chemicals from the packaging seeping into the food. When a chemical raises health concerns, industries often swap it for a molecular cousin, a substitution that may either be genuinely safer or simply be too understudied to know whether it is harmful. With thousands of chemicals in use, one-by-one regulation can't keep pace, so untested replacements can slide through unchecked. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-screening-flags-food-packaging-chemicals.html Biochemistry Tue, 08 Sep 2026 09:00:09 EDT news707998019 What if the key to making stronger, more sustainable plastics isn't changing their ingredients, but rearranging their molecules? Virginia Tech researchers have put that idea to the test, creating degradable polymers with a new molecular architecture that combines properties often difficult to achieve in one material: strength, toughness, flexibility and the ability to block oxygen. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-rearranged-polymer-chains-degradable-materials.html Polymers Tue, 08 Sep 2026 05:00:01 EDT news707994742 Copper has been knocked off the top of a stability ranking it had dominated for decades. Without altering the atoms directly bonded to the metal, a KAIST research team reversed the longstanding trend in which copper generally forms the most stable complexes by tuning only the weak hydrogen bonds in its surrounding environment. The findings, which appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could open new avenues for selective metal separation and recognition, as well as catalyst design. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-weak-hydrogen-bonds-dethrone-copper.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 07 Sep 2026 16:00:01 EDT news708004262 A common blue pigment could help turn carbon dioxide (CO₂) from an industrial waste product into a useful fuel. A joint research team led by Tohoku University's Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), in collaboration with Hokkaido University and startup AZUL Energy, has developed a catalyst that converts CO₂ directly into methane (CH₄) with high efficiency using copper phthalocyanine, an inexpensive and readily available blue pigment. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-inexpensive-blue-pigment-enables-efficient.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 07 Sep 2026 15:40:02 EDT news708001141 University of California, Davis, researchers have stripped down LSD to the base features responsible for its hallucinogenic and therapeutic effects. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-lsd-reveals-features-linked-hallucinogenic.html Biochemistry Mon, 07 Sep 2026 15:00:10 EDT news707742302 Applying pressure to luminescent organic crystals usually brings molecules closer together and weakens their fluorescence. Materials that instead brighten and undergo a large color change are rare, and clear design principles for achieving both responses in simple, rigid aromatic hydrocarbons have been lacking. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-slender-crystal-blue-yellow-invisible.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 07 Sep 2026 14:40:04 EDT news707999521 The human body and its gut microbiome produce thousands of small molecules that shape how the body functions—influencing immunity, metabolism and more. Identifying what those molecules actually are has been one of the biomedical sciences' most persistent bottlenecks. More than 80% of compounds detected in a typical biological sample cannot be matched to any known structure using current methods. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ai-tool-hidden-universe-small.html Biochemistry Fri, 04 Sep 2026 17:00:01 EDT news707746802 Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a fast, simple way to turn lignin, a plentiful plant-based byproduct of the papermaking industry, into potentially more valuable renewable chemicals. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-droplets-paper-higher-chemical-compound.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 04 Sep 2026 14:40:06 EDT news707739841 Glassy polymers are those whose chains become immobilized below their glass transition temperature. The immobilized chains make them hard and stiff but also brittle, causing them to fracture when stretched. One promising strategy for overcoming this trade-off is to incorporate ionic groups whose reversible electrostatic attractions form physical crosslinks that improve toughness while maintaining stiffness. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-soft-crosslinking-strategy-brittle-glassy.html Polymers Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:00:24 EDT news707738941 Researchers have been elucidating the structures of complex molecules for more than 100 years using a variety of techniques. Some molecular structures, however, are more difficult to solve than others. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ultrafast-sample-protein-dizzying-proportions.html Biochemistry Fri, 04 Sep 2026 11:40:01 EDT news707736781 Patents are far more than legal documents protecting intellectual property. They are a vast source of scientific information about chemicals under development, often years before they appear in products or in the environment. That makes patents a valuable data source for early warning systems (EWS), which authorities use to identify potentially hazardous chemicals before they become a threat to human health and the environment. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-patent-ai-early-hazardous-chemicals.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 04 Sep 2026 10:40:06 EDT news707734081 While studying the properties of hackmanite, researchers created a new material called davyne that changes color in the near-infrared region. The color change cannot be detected with the human eye, but only with a spectrometer or an infrared-sensitive camera. The researchers studied what caused the color change and tested the material's possible applications, for example, as an invisible anti-counterfeit tag. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-davyne-human-sight-path-invisible.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 04 Sep 2026 10:00:06 EDT news707732161 In the realm of materials science, there is a plethora of datasets and tools at our disposal—the issue is how to effectively use these resources in harmony. Researchers at the Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University, have identified major bottlenecks holding back artificial intelligence-driven polymer innovation and created a system that integrates multiple tools (such as polymer databases, predictive models, AI agents and automated laboratories). https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ai-driven-polymer-discovery-years.html Polymers Fri, 04 Sep 2026 09:40:03 EDT news707731501