Category archives: Chemistry

Faster. That is the word that describes de evolution of electronics. Any new development has to be faster than anything before, if it is going to cope with the huge amount of information that the device where it may be incorporated will have to process in almost no time. Graphene has just demonstrated once again […]

Carbon has four valence electrons. To fill its octet, it requires four additional electrons, which can be obtained through the formation of four covalent bonds. Carbon forms single, double, and triple bonds to achieve a filled octet. As a result, carbon can have a tetrahedral, trigonal planar, or linear geometry, respectively. A unique feature of […]

Today is Monday morning and I am going to my laboratory in Niteroi by ferryboat. I took it from the XV Square of Rio de Janeiro. I am looking through the window of the ferryboat and I see one of the most beautiful pictures of the city – the Guanabara Bay (GB). Cariocas (people from […]

Enediynes are organic compounds containing two triple bonds and one double bond. The enediyne groups in those compounds are often called warheads. Why this name? Because, many of these compounds are capable of undergoing Bergman cyclization or, in other words, if heated they form a ring compound from a chain by formation of a new […]

Author: Carles Martí is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at University of Perugia Nowadays, mostly everybody has heard about global warming, a problem that humanity faces and that can drastically change our climate in the upcoming years. This is caused by the, also well known, greenhouse effect, produced by the gases our modern society generates, to […]

Author: Giovanna D’Angelo is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at Universitet Stockholm ”Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” is the title of a late XIX century famous painting by Paul Gauguin. Even if, to date, Science has not provided a complete answer to all these questions, we are still trying […]

What is the closest two beryllium atoms in the electronic ground state can be in a molecule? Well, we may think that that is a relatively easy question to answer. If you know some chemistry it is likely you will be inclined to check the literature for the strength of Be-Be bonds in different compounds […]

Author: Jelle Vekeman is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at Universitat de València For a long time now, we have mainly been using fossil fuels to satisfy our increasing needs for energy. Resources, however, are limited and waste products destructive for the environment. As researchers and companies are exploring alternatives, hydrogen gas (H 2 ) seems […]

Author: Neus Aguilera-Porta is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Medicines are a mixture of pharmaceutically active molecules with excipients, designed with the aim of healing, relieving the pain with as minimal side effects as possible. Having this in mind, could the properties of a molecule be modified when absorbing a light […]

Author: Andi Cuko is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at Université Pierre et Marie Curie Oxides are inorganic compounds that contains at least one oxygen atom which is bounded to one or more other elements and they are the most abundant solids in the earth crust. In our society they are playing a very important role […]