A wide range of stories again in this week’s Alchemist column on ChemWeb.com
Absolute configurations reveal themselves through NMR spectroscopy using residual dipolar couplings in small molecules, according to an international team who have put it to work on an anticancer compound. Discussed also in more detail on SpectroscopyNOW.com
A failed antidepressant could be marketed as a novel treatment for female sexual dysfunction. Also covered on Reactive Reports.
In the world of inorganic materials, researchers have discovered a new class of composites in which dihydrogen layers trap atoms of the noble gas xenon to form a stable solid under extreme pressures.
A new approach to carbon nanotubes provides chemists with an insider view of these unique materials, while an award for $2.8 million looks set to lead the way to truly room temperature superconductors.
Finally, controversial claims about the state of the environment suggest that total economic collapse or the building of at least one nuclear power station each day (or its non-carbon energy equivalent) is the only way rising carbon emissions will be stopped and catastrophic climate change abated.