Category archives: Chemistry

We all know that the main role of DNA is the storage of genomic information leading to the biosynthesis of proteins via diverse forms of RNA. In turn, proteins play multiple roles in living systems, catalysis being among the most important ones. These are the standard functions that we may find in any general chemistry […]

A quantum dot is a nanometric crystalline structure of semiconductor materials. In a quatum dot electrons are confined in a region of space, thus creating a well defined structure of energy levels that depends very much on the size and shape of the quantum dot. This structure resembles that of atoms, that is why sometimes […]

Electrons do not move around nuclei in defined curved orbits. Our current understanding of how electrons are to be found in atoms and molecules is based on clouds of probability called orbitals as it is not possible to give a definite path for an electron. Thus, an orbital is a region in which an electron […]

Most plant and animal life on Earth depends on photosynthesis, a process in which green plants synthesize carbohydrates from CO2 and water, the reverse of this reaction provides energy for plants and animals. But the equilibrium of the reaction favours the reactants, not the products. It is the presence of UV light and of the […]

A long time ago, Aaron Burr Jr. (1756 –1836), the Vice-President of the United States under Thomas Jefferson said something that is still applicable today: “The rule of my life is to make business a pleasure, and pleasure my business”. This is because current society demands the same things as Burr society: good food, free […]

The combination of catalysis and bioorthogonality promises have an impact on drug discovery and bioimaging. Bioorthogonality, a term coined by Carolyn R. Bertozzi in 2003, refers to any chemical reaction that can occur inside of living systems without interfering with native biochemical processes. Hence, catalytic turnover can boost the efficiency of bioorthogonal chemical reactions, unveiling […]

Organic chemistry is the science and the art of making carbon containing molecules. In these, carbon atoms may be linked by a single, double or triple bond to another carbon atom. Bonds are not more than the way we humans represent the sharing electrons between two atoms. In this regard, a single bond consists of […]

Interfacial electron transfer constitutes the key step in the conversion of solar energy into electricity and fuels. Required for fast and efficient charge separation, strong donor−acceptor interaction is typically achieved through covalent chemical bonding…or not. Experiences with donor−acceptor molecular diads and triads, conjugated polymers, and DNA, leads to the expectation that a covalent bonding is […]

For centuries, metals were employed in optical applications only as mirrors and gratings. New vistas opened up in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the discovery of surface-enhanced Raman scattering and the use of surface plasmon (collective electronic oscillations at the surface of metals) resonances for sensing. However, it was not until the 1990s […]

Over geologic time scales, seawater transforms the basalt of the ocean floor by chemical attack. At the end of this alteration process, the basalt turns partly into clays and partly into dissolved salts in sea water. Lithium, a chemical element initially contained in basalt, will then be distributed between clay and seawater. This separation has […]