Category Archives: Chemistry
Spin in a closed-shell organic molecule stabilized on a metallic surface
Every year the amount of data produced is of the order of magnitude of the Avogadro’s constant, thus 6.028×1023. This trend is supposed to increase even more in the next future. This implies that more and more special […]
The ultrafast dynamics of adsorbates deciphered
One of the ultimate goals in surface science is to comprehend the fundamental processes that make that surface reactions need less than a picosecond (10-12 s) to occur. This means understanding what is happening at the scale of […]
27% of all materials in nature are topological. And now there is a catalogue
Topological materials have special universal properties, which are protected against perturbations. Such properties are theoretically described by topology, a branch of mathematics concerned with the properties of geometrical objects that are unchanged by continuous deformations. Topological materials behave like an […]
How lithium ions move in substituted ceramic solid electrolytes
From electric vehicles to storing wind and solar energy produced during off-peak hours, rechargeable lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are the best option that we currently have tu support our technological future. But if we want them to be truly environmentally-friendly and […]
The unexpected role of glycolaldehyde in photocatalytic cofactor regeneration using triethanolamine
Nature is a source of inspiration for scientists. If the efficiency of natural processes efficiency has been honed by billions of years of evolution, it seems reasonable that the best way to achieve some process is to try and mimic […]
The role of copper in the Ullmann reaction
Organic chemistry uses lots and lots of names. Not only purely chemical names, but people’s names. This is so because the field is so broad that you need to name not only substances, that usually have two names, the official […]
Biogasoline production and integration into current petrorefinery process
Planes, ships, trucks and (most) cars run on different fractions of crude oil, composed of carbon chains of different length: Diesel (C10-C22), kerosene (C8-C16) and gasoline (C5-C12). Despite […]
Design of protein-protein binding sites suggests a rationale for naturally occurring contact areas
Author: Ivan Coluzza is an Ikerbasque Research Professor at CICbiomaGUNE
Molecular recognition is a critical process for many biological functions and consists in non-covalent binding of different molecules, such as protein-protein, antigen-antibody and many others. The host-guest molecules involved often […]
Catalysis depends on the crystallographic plane of the catalyst
A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change. As the catalyst itself takes part in the reaction it may undergo a physical change. Hence, if catalysts take […]
Self-knotting bionic proteins
Author: Ivan Coluzza is an Ikerbasque Research Professor at CICbiomaGUNE
Some heteropolymers can be designed to spontaneously self-assemble in complex pre-determined knotted structures. In the past, we referred to such designable heteropolymers as “bionic proteins”. Here we present an extensive […]