ligands Archives

Using diglycolamides to improve rare-earth element separation

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The family of 17 elements known as the “rare earth elements” are difficult to produce economically. Despite this, they are described as “critical raw materials” because of their unique properties and their various technological applications. This means their use is accelerating globally. Separation of these elements is a fundamental challenge, but this does not daunt Dr Santa Jansone-Popova and her […]

NMR²: A highly accurate approach to protein-ligand binding

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A novel method to determine accurately and efficiently the structure of the receptor binding sites in protein-ligand complexes promises to revolutionize drug discovery. Dr Julien Orts and his collaborators at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology are developing a powerful and general technique, based on liquid nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), to shed light on the details of how proteins interact […]

Configuring new bonds between first-row transition metals

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Professor Lu’s lab seeks to develop homogeneous catalysts for converting abundant small molecules, such as N2 and CO2, into useful chemical feedstocks, such as ammonia and methanol, respectively. The group is interested in creating, understanding and exploiting new chemical bonding.

Transition metals are some of the most important elements in the Periodic Table for their wealth of applications, spanning catalysis to biology. The rich chemistry of the transition metals arises from their remarkable ability to form multiple chemical bonds, a process that is still not fully understood and remains a major challenge in fundamental chemistry. Professor Connie Lu at the […]