https://phys.org/chemistry-news/analytical-chemistry/ en-us The latest science news on analytical chemistry Catalysts are essential to modern industry, accelerating reactions used to produce everything from fertilizers and fuels to medicines and hydrogen energy. But until now, scientists could not directly observe how reactions unfold across real catalyst surfaces. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-secret-catalysts-microscopic-networks-power.html Analytical Chemistry Thu, 05 Mar 2026 05:00:02 EST news691835401 Photocatalysis promises an efficient conversion of abundant solar energy into usable chemical energy. Polyheptazine imides have some key structural and functional twists that make them especially interesting for photocatalysis. So far, there is only limited knowledge about how structural changes affect the electronic and optical properties of the many material candidates in this class. A team led by researchers from the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) at HZDR has now presented a reliable and reproducible theoretical method to solve this challenge that was confirmed by measurements done on genuine candidate materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-h8322o8322-method-narrows-carbon-nitride.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 04 Mar 2026 19:10:01 EST news691866962 A team at ETH Zurich developed a new peptide-based organocatalyst that handles macrocycle formation from start to finish. Macrocyclic compounds are ubiquitous both in nature and in the chemical industrial setup. They are ring-shaped molecules with 12 or more atoms and are key components of many natural products and pharmaceuticals. Their unique structures let them lock onto specific proteins with impressive precision, making them exciting candidates for new therapies. Some even come with fun names—like robotnikinin, a macrocycle that inhibits the Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) protein. However, synthesizing them hasn't been as fun as their names—until now. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-peptide-catalyst-enables-stereoselective-tail.html Biochemistry Wed, 04 Mar 2026 07:50:03 EST news691756351 Diastereomers are structurally identical molecules that are not mirror images of each other. Diastereomers can have different biological activities, potencies or toxicities, which means they can influence biological systems, be separated from one another and more. To fully unlock their potential in organic chemistry, it is important to create the necessary diastereomer, but their creation is a key problem in organic synthesis. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-hard-diastereomers-cage-allyl-reagent.html Biochemistry Tue, 03 Mar 2026 18:10:01 EST news691780682 Scientists at the EU4MOFs research network have taken the initiative to standardize the reporting of synthetic procedures and material properties of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). To this aim, they have developed the concept of a "Material Preparation Information File (MPIF)," which has been introduced in a recent paper in Advanced Materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-community-driven-standard-metalorganic-framework.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 03 Mar 2026 17:20:06 EST news691779781 Researchers at the University of Bath have developed a new technology that uses bacteria to build, chemically stabilize, and test millions of potential drug molecules inside living cells, making it much quicker and easier to discover new treatments for difficult-to-treat cancers. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-chemically-stapled-peptides-difficult-cancers.html Biochemistry Tue, 03 Mar 2026 16:20:01 EST news691764541 Chemists from St. Petersburg University has developed a new family of luminescent iridium complexes that, for the first time, realize a unique mechanism of photoactivated proton transfer. In the future, this discovery will potentially allow for the creation of a fundamentally new class of "smart" antitumor drugs that can be activated directly inside tumor cells and tracked in real time by the change in the color of their glow. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-chemists-iridium-compounds-synthesis-smart.html Biochemistry Mon, 02 Mar 2026 22:10:01 EST news691679679 A Florida State University chemist has developed a method to rapidly assemble significantly complex natural molecules with potential for biomedical applications, opening the door for novel drug therapies based on the molecule's structure. James Frederich, the Warner Herz Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and his team are the first to fully synthesize fusicoccadiene, a precursor to an emerging treatment in cancer chemotherapy. Their work is published in the Journal Of The American Chemical Society. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-chemists-rapidly-fusicoccadiene-complex-fungal.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 02 Mar 2026 19:30:04 EST news691691221 How do you keep a copper catalyst from losing its oomph? Just add a dusting of platinum, says a new study published in Nature Materials. A team of researchers, including scientists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, investigated a class of metal nanoparticles used as catalysts in major industrial processes. They found that adding a trace amount of platinum to copper nanoparticles greatly reduced an effect known as "sintering," which causes these catalysts to degrade over time. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-catalyst-atom.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 02 Mar 2026 19:00:01 EST news691685702 No "sticky ends"? No problem. A new study by NYU chemists finds that DNA tiles can assemble into 3D structures without the sticky cohesion of hydrogen bonding. This finding, published in Nature Communications, turns a fundamental paradigm in the field of DNA self-assembly on its head. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-chemists-complex-dna-hydrogen-bonds.html Biochemistry Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:50:04 EST news691690861 In a study published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, researchers from National Taiwan University report that a seemingly solid, nonporous organic crystal can undergo dramatic structural and mechanical transformations when gently heated. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-crystal-alive-driven-fluorescence.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 02 Mar 2026 17:10:09 EST news691688581 The earliest stage of drug discovery is governed by a simple constraint: there are far more possible drug-like molecules than any pharmaceutical laboratory could ever test. A new deep learning system, reported in the International Journal of Reasoning-based Intelligent Systems, offers a way to speed up research and could unblock industry bottlenecks. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-potential-drug-candidates-deep-virtual.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 02 Mar 2026 15:50:03 EST news691688642 Researchers at the University of Granada have revealed that the Nutri-Score labeling system, commonly used in Europe to assess food quality, is unable to adequately reflect the nutritional and metabolic complexity of soluble cocoa sold in Spain. The study, which integrates non-targeted metabolomics techniques applied to the evaluation of nutritional labeling systems, analyzed 54 products from 19 different brands with Nutri-Score ratings between A and D. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-nutri-score-true-nutritional-quality.html Biochemistry Sat, 28 Feb 2026 16:00:01 EST news691155867 A team of scientists from the University of Manchester and Oxford have synthesized stable nitrogen chain radical anions under ambient conditions. These molecules, which are normally too reactive to isolate and study under ambient conditions, are described in a new study, published in Nature Chemistry. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-scientists-stable-radical-anions-ambient.html Analytical Chemistry Sat, 28 Feb 2026 10:00:01 EST news691247173 A research team from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed GrainBot, an AI-enabled toolkit that automatically extracts and quantifies multiple microstructural features from microscopy images. Designed to meet the growing need for data-driven and autonomous research workflows in materials science, the tool provides a systematic method for converting complex image information into quantitative data, thereby accelerating the discovery and development of next-generation materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-ai-toolkit-microscopy-images-multi.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 27 Feb 2026 15:40:01 EST news691415881 A study published in the Chemical Engineering Journal proposes a new approach to environmental remediation of pharmaceutical pollutants in water flows. This approach is based on a phenomenon known as "sparks," which refers to the sparks that appear on the surface of a metal when it is subjected to plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO). https://phys.org/news/2026-02-high-energy-degrade-pollutants-generating.html Analytical Chemistry Thu, 26 Feb 2026 19:20:03 EST news691346581 An international team of scientists led by the University of Bath has developed a new catalyst—a substance that speeds up chemical reactions—that uses sunlight to break down so-called "forever chemicals" prevalent in the environment and known to accumulate in the human body with unknown long-term health effects. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-carbon-based-catalyst-sunlight-degrade.html Analytical Chemistry Thu, 26 Feb 2026 19:00:01 EST news691343821 Thanks to modern therapies, a cancer diagnosis is no longer an automatic death sentence. But many patients still suffer from unwanted side effects and limited efficacy. In a recent Bioconjugate Chemistry publication, William & Mary researchers have designed an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) with the potential to improve the potency and decrease the cost of currently approved cancer drugs. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-undergrads-chemical-toolbox-cancer-drugs.html Biochemistry Thu, 26 Feb 2026 18:30:01 EST news691349102 Minor changes in moisture level can promote lipid molecules to reorganize themselves in biomaterial or biomembranes. This can affect how the skin, lungs and tear film protect us from dehydration. This new discovery from Lund University in Sweden could be the inspiration for smart materials and new drug delivery techniques. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-smart-materials-drug-delivery-exploit.html Biochemistry Thu, 26 Feb 2026 17:20:06 EST news691338062 Scientists have developed a new way to help understand what happens in the body when people consume a plant product and the many chemicals it contains. The Journal of Natural Products published the method to quickly analyze the effects of a natural product, developed at Emory University. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-leaf-analyses-natural-products.html Biochemistry Thu, 26 Feb 2026 16:20:01 EST news691333741 Tiny changes at the atomic scale can determine the future of clean energy. In a new study, Tohoku University researchers have revealed how the precise coordination environment surrounding a single cobalt atom dramatically influences its catalytic behavior in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)—a key process in fuel cells and sustainable hydrogen peroxide production. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-atomic-precision-smarter-oxygen-reduction.html Analytical Chemistry Thu, 26 Feb 2026 14:20:07 EST news691329781 Contamination of ground, surface and drinking water by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) affects millions of people worldwide. A promising new method developed by Flinders University scientists paves the way to help remove the most difficult-to-capture variants of these persistent pollutants from water. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-nano-cage-pfas.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 25 Feb 2026 18:00:01 EST news691247393 Many therapeutic molecules used in cancer treatments are highly toxic, often harming healthy tissues and causing significant side effects. This creates a critical need for strategies that localize their toxic activity to tumors. What if cancer drugs could stay dormant until they reach cancer cells? A new study by Syracuse University researchers demonstrates a promising chemistry-based strategy that could do just that. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-key-chemistry-cancer-drugs-inactive.html Biochemistry Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:30:01 EST news691257241 A study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society reports that artificial intelligence can enhance protein stability in an unexpected way—by engineering the water around a protein, not just the protein itself. Researchers led by Dr. Kuen-Phon Wu, at Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica and Institute of Biochemical Sciences, National Taiwan University, found that AI-designed ubiquitin-fold proteins can achieve exceptional resilience by creating a protective, "mesostructured" hydration shell on their surface. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-ai-hydration-shield-proteins.html Biochemistry Wed, 25 Feb 2026 16:50:03 EST news691256822 Photocatalysts facilitate chemical reactions by absorbing light. Metal-based photocatalysts are widely used in organic synthesis due to their durability and the ability to tune their function by modifying the ligands attached to the central metal atom. Most metals used in photocatalysts, such as ruthenium and iridium, are rare and expensive. Researchers at Nagoya University, Japan, previously developed an iron-based alternative, but it required large amounts of costly chiral ligands, which act as spatial templates to determine the three-dimensional structure of chemical products. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-iron-blue-natural-molecules-expensive.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 25 Feb 2026 10:20:01 EST news691236121 Deep in our cells, a wide range of processes are occurring constantly. These cellular processes rely on enzymes to act as catalysts and set off a series of molecular interactions. There are still many processes within the body that are not fully understood. Discovering exactly how these cellular pathways work can help researchers better understand how some diseases proliferate and develop new treatments that target part of these processes. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-decoding-immune-cellular-pathways-enzyme.html Biochemistry Tue, 24 Feb 2026 12:10:06 EST news691157199 An Oregon State University scientist and a team of undergraduate students have uncovered real-time insights into a chemical process linked with Alzheimer's disease, paving the way toward better drug designs. The researchers used a molecule measuring technique to observe in a laboratory setting how certain metals can promote the protein clumping that leads to the blocked neural pathways associated with Alzheimer's. Led by Marilyn Rampersad Mackiewicz, associate professor of chemistry in the OSU College of Science, the research team also watched molecules known as chelators disrupt or reverse the clumping. The findings are published in ACS Omega. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-lab-technique-reverse-chemical-linked.html Biochemistry Tue, 24 Feb 2026 11:40:02 EST news691150381 NYU scientists are using light to precisely control how tiny particles organize themselves into crystals. Their research, published in Chem, provides a simple and reversible method for forming crystals that can be used to develop a new generation of adaptable materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-flip-scientists-harness-particles-interact.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 24 Feb 2026 11:00:10 EST news691150814 A discovery by UCLA organic chemists may one day put catalytic converter thieves out of business. In new research, they've used abundant, inexpensive phosphorus as a catalyst in chemical reactions that usually require precious metals like platinum, one of the metals targeted in theft of the automotive components that convert chemicals in vehicle exhaust into less harmful forms. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-chemists-thought-phosphorus-shown-cards.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 24 Feb 2026 10:20:04 EST news691148221 Living cells are sustained by countless chemical reactions that must be carefully regulated to maintain internal order and function. Enzymes play a central role in this process, accelerating reactions that would otherwise proceed too slowly to support life. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-enzymes-maxwell-demon-memory-motion.html Biochemistry Tue, 24 Feb 2026 10:00:02 EST news691147859