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Category: chemistry

From engineered fungal molecules to drug leads, chem-bio hybrid synthesis enables antiparasitic drug discovery

Amebiasis is a parasitic disease caused by the microscopic protozoan Entamoeba histolytica. Infection occurs through the ingestion of cysts from contaminated water or food. Worldwide, approximately 50 million symptomatic cases are estimated annually, mainly in tropical and subtropical regions.

Fumagillin, a fungal natural product, has been studied for decades as a potential antiparasitic drug, but its more potent relative, ovalicin, was never developed. Now, a study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society reveals why: although ovalicin is highly active against amebiasis, liver enzymes rapidly break it down in the body. Researchers used a chem-bio hybrid approach to turn that insight into metabolically stable drug candidates that worked in animal models of amebiasis, including liver infection with abscess formation.

The research team, led by scientists from the Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences at Nagoya University, identified the liver cytochrome P450 enzymes responsible for ovalicin breakdown, with CYP 2B1 and CYP 2C6 emerging as the main drivers. Blocking these enzymes with a chemical inhibitor significantly prolonged ovalicin survival, providing strong evidence that rapid liver metabolism limits its effectiveness.

Simulated microgravity alters sperm navigation, fertilization and embryo development in mammals

Simulated microgravity reveals species-specific effects on sperm navigation, fertilization, and early embryo development, highlighting compensatory mechanisms and chemical cues critical for reproduction in future space missions.

Organocatalytic strategy provides a metal-free route to antiviral candidates

A research team led by Prof. Sun Jianwei has achieved an advancement in organic synthesis and medicinal chemistry by developing an air-stable chiral phosphine-catalyzed enantioselective approach to synthesize enantioenriched S(IV)-stereogenic vinyl sulfinamides—an under-explored class of organosulfur compounds with promising antiviral activity.

The importance of chiral-at-sulfur compounds in drug discovery and organic synthesis is indisputable. More than a quarter of top-selling small molecule pharmaceuticals contain sulfur atoms, and chiral sulfinamides bearing S(IV) chirality are key building blocks for medicinal chemistry, asymmetric synthesis auxiliaries, and catalytic ligands. However, current methods to access enantioenriched sulfinamides rely on transition metal catalysis with organometallic nucleophiles, and efficient organocatalytic strategies have long remained unexplored, creating a critical gap in synthetic chemistry for this valuable chemical space.

To address this challenge, Prof. Sun’s team published a study in Nature Chemistry detailing the design and synthesis of a novel C₂-symmetric chiral phosphine catalyst—QianPhos—derived from the SPHENOL chiral skeleton. This custom catalyst exhibits extraordinary air stability and structural rigidity, which enables highly chemo-, enantio-, and diastereoselective C−S bond formation via a [3+2] annulation between Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) esters and sulfinylamines.

Webb and Hubble share the most comprehensive view of Saturn to date

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope have teamed up to capture new views of Saturn, revealing the planet in strikingly different ways. Observing in complementary wavelengths of light, the two space observatories provide scientists with a richer, more layered understanding of the gas giant’s atmosphere.

Both sense sunlight reflected from Saturn’s banded clouds and hazes, but where Hubble reveals subtle color variations across the planet, Webb’s infrared view senses clouds and chemicals at many different depths in the atmosphere, from the deep clouds to the tenuous upper atmosphere.

Together, scientists can effectively “slice” through Saturn’s atmosphere at multiple altitudes, like peeling back the layers of an onion. Each telescope tells a different part of Saturn’s story, and the observations together help researchers understand how Saturn’s atmosphere works as a connected three-dimensional system. Both complement previous observations done by NASA’s Cassini orbiter during its time studying the Saturnian system from 1997 to 2017.

Why no individual is like another when epigenetics come into play

Why do animals behave differently, and what are the consequences of this? A research team from the Collaborative Research Center NC³ at Bielefeld University and the University of Münster now provides a new explanation: epigenetic processes—chemical markings on DNA—may play a key role. The study, published in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution, links individuality, environmental adaptation, genetics, ecology, and evolution in a novel way.

“With our study, we propose that individuality and epigenetic variation influence each other,” explains Dr. Denis Meuthen, an evolutionary biologist at Bielefeld University, who is one of the study’s main authors. “This bidirectionality—this mutual interaction—helps us to better understand ecological and evolutionary processes.”

Laser-modified graphene enables molecule-thick films to grow only where needed

Researchers from the University of Jyväskylä and Aalto University have developed a new method based on laser modification, which allows metal-organic materials to be grown locally one molecule-thick layer at a time. The method enables the precise construction of films of different shapes and offers new ways to modify the properties of materials for various applications. The study was published in the journal ACS Nano.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a method used especially in the semiconductor industry to produce high-quality thin films with atomic layer accuracy. The method was developed in the 1970s by the Finnish Tuomo Suntola, and it has since become an important technology.

In ALD, thin films are grown one atomic layer at a time through controlled chemical reactions between the reactants, as well as their interactions with the surface. This so-called bottom-up method allows for precise film thickness adjustment.

Bio-based polymer offers a sustainable solution to ‘forever chemical’ cleanup

Researchers at the University of Bath have discovered a renewable, bio-based polymer membrane capable of efficiently capturing toxic “forever chemicals” from water, offering a potential new route to more sustainable water treatment. The paper is published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a member of the per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) family and once commonly used in non-stick coatings, has now been widely detected in water sources worldwide. High levels of exposure have been linked to cancers, hormone disruption, and immune system suppression, with governments around the world taking action to protect people and the environment.

Unlike many conventional water treatment materials that require frequent replacement or generate secondary waste, the new bio-based membrane can trap and hold over 94% of PFOA from water. It can later be treated with heat to remove the trapped pollutants, allowing the polymer to be reused and reprocessed into a new membrane.

‘Gray-box’ AI reveals why catalysts work while speeding discovery

Self-driving laboratories (SDLs) powered by artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly accelerating materials discovery, but can they also explain their results? Researchers from the Theory Department of the Fritz Haber Institute, in collaboration with BASF, and BasCat—UniCat BASF JointLab, show that they can.

Their new AI-driven strategy works hand-in-hand with SDLs to identify better catalysts while revealing the chemistry behind their performance. The approach was validated on the industrially crucial conversion of propane into propylene.

An SDL integrates an AI doing the experiment planning with lab automation and robotics. In the race to develop better materials, AI and SDLs are often celebrated for one main reason: speed.

Boron arsenide semiconductor sets record in quantum vibrations

You may not be able to hear it, but all solid materials make a sound. In fact, atoms—bound in lattices of chemical bonds—are never silent nor still: Under the placid surface of each and every object in our surroundings, a low hum hovers or a high-energy squeak titters.

As atoms vibrate in their lattices, they do so by either all moving in the same direction, in which case their collective vibration shows up as a low humming sound, or by moving in opposite directions from one another, giving rise to an energetic vibration that registers as a bright squeak or titter.

New NMR method allows the observation of chalcogen bonds

Toward the right side of the periodic table below oxygen, are the chalcogens, or “ore-forming” elements. The chalcogens that occur naturally, including sulfur, selenium and tellurium, are all somehow involved in biological processes. Molecules containing sulfur, like the antioxidant glutathione, play a central role in redox regulation, the balance between oxidation and reduction that is essential for maintaining cellular health.

Recent studies have suggested that the heavier selenium and tellurium are active in biological redox systems as well, but the instability of molecules containing chains of different chalcogen atoms has made structural analysis difficult.

Traditional methods have largely relied on mass spectrometry, which cannot be used to directly observe molecular bonds. This limitation motivated a team of researchers at Kyoto University to develop a method that would allow them to more clearly observe chains of chalcogens. The paper is published in the journal ACS Measurement Science Au.

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