|
Internetchemie: Chemie Meldungen der Woche
|
|
|
Kohlendioxid-Fixierung
Frustriertes Paar als CO2-Fänger - Neuartiges Konzept zur Bindung von Kohlendioxid ohne metallhaltigen Katalysator.
|
|
|
|
Physiker machen Elektronengas sichtbar
Physiker haben erstmals die elektronische Struktur einer Grenzschicht in einem Festkörper aufgeklärt.
Abbildung:
Festkörper aus zwei Oxid-Materialien, an deren Grenzschicht sich ein Elektronengas gebildet hat.
[Bild: Götz Berner]
|
|
|
|
|
Erbgut als Kleber
Wissenschaftler haben einen Klebstoff entwickelt, der winzige Partikel nicht nur zusammenhält, sondern sie auch selbständig im richtigen Abstand in Kontakt bringt.
|
|
|
|
Molekulare Sensorik für Pils-Fans
Lebensmittelchemiker entdecken Bitterrezeptoren für den vollmundigen Biergenuss.
Abbildung:
Ein kühles Bier schmeckt herrlich - das liegt auch an seinen Bitterstoffen.
[Bildquelle: Tirot / pixelio.de].
|
|
|
|
|
Moleküle in der Mikrofalle
Max-Planck-Forscher fangen Moleküle auf einem Mikrochip und vereinfachen damit viele Experimente drastisch.
|
|
|
| |
Chemie - Allgemein |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bunte Säulen
Einfache Methode zur Herstellung von Mikrozylindern mit mehreren Kompartimenten. Mikrozylinder mit mehreren Kompartimenten [Bildquelle: Wiley, Angewandte Chemie]
|
|
|
|
| |
Physik -
Grundlagenforschung |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rydberg-Moleküle
Neuartige Riesenmoleküle - Ultrakalte Temperaturen ermöglichen neuen Bindungstyp.
Abbildung: Planetenmodell des Rydberg-Moleküls: Das Elektron des Rydberg-Atoms kreist auf einer hochangeregten Bahn und bindet dadurch das zweite Atom, das sich auf seiner Bahn befindet.
[Grafik: Universität Stuttgart].
|
|
|
|
| |
Biochemie |
 |
|
| |
Chemie & Medizin |
 |
|
|
|
|
Wenn ein Protein die Seiten wechselt
Wissenschaftler des DFG Forschungszentrums Molekularphysiologie des Gehirns entschlüsseln wichtigen Mechanismus bei der molekularen Kontrolle der Zellpolarität.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Chemie & Nano |
 |
|
|
Picolyzer
Mit dem neuartigen Analysegerät will das Kompetenzzentrum Nanochem Metallionen in unvorstellbar kleinen Konzentrationen nachweisen.
Abbildung: Aufnahme einer Küvette mit einem Rasterelektronenmikroskop (REM).
[Bildquelle: Kompetenzzentrum Nanochem].
|
|
|
|
|
Nanotoxizität: Wenn Nano Bio trifft
Bremer Verfahrenstechniker Professor Lutz Mädler publiziert mit amerikanischen Kollegen in der Fachzeitschrift "Nature Materials" Forschungsaufgaben zu Nanotoxizität.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Chemie & Materialien |
 |
|
|
Nano-Tomographie
Saarbrücker Forscher blickt in das "Innenleben" von Materialien.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Geochemie |
 |
|
|
Staub zum Frühstück
IFM-GEOMAR-Biogeochemiker füttern rätselhaftes Düngerplankton mit Saharastaub.
|
|
|
|
Interstellare Chemie
Auf den Spuren organischer Materie: Forscher finden zwei neue, hochkomplexe Moleküle im Weltraum. |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Chemie & Umwelt |
 |
|
|
|
|
Kohlenstoff-Nanoröhren und die Umwelt
Wissenschaftler haben nachgewiesen, dass Kohlenstoff-Nanoröhren sogenannte Kolloide bilden und somit quasi wasserlöslich sind.
Abbildung:
Rasterelektronenmikroskopische Aufnahme von Kohlenstoff-Nanoröhrchen auf einem Kernspurfilter.
[Bildquelle: FZD]
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Chemie & Lebensmittel |
 |
|
|
|
|
Bio-Milch
Neues Verfahren unterstützt Echtheitsprüfung.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Chemikalien und
Chemikalienpolitik |
 |
|
| |
Personen und Institutionen |
 |
|
|
Spitzencluster Forum Organic Electronics
Start für BMBF-gefördertes Projekt zur integrativen Nachwuchsförderung: Masterstudiengang, Promotionskolleg und Life-Long-Learning-Programm im Bereich Organische Elektronik.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aktuelle Artikel in englischer Sprache: |
|
|
|
Potential new drugs: 970 million and still
counting
|
|
|
There are more than 970 million
chemicals suitable for study as new drugs, according to a new
study.
[Image credit: Wikimedia Commons] |
Like astronomers counting stars in the familiar
universe of outer space, chemists in Switzerland are reporting the
latest results of a survey of chemical space - the so-called chemical
universe where tomorrow's miracle drugs may reside. The scientists
conclude, based on this phase of the ongoing count, that there are 970
million chemicals suitable for study as new drugs. Scheduled for the
July 1 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the
study represents the largest publicly available database of virtual
molecules ever reported, the researchers say.
Jean-Louis Reymond and Lorenz Blum point out that
the rules of chemical bonding allow simple elements such as carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and fluorine to potentially form millions
of different molecules. This so-called "chemical universe" or "chemical
space" has an enormous potential for drug discovery, particularly for
identifying so-called "small molecules" - made of 10 to 50 atoms. Most
of today's medicines consist of these small molecules. Until now,
however, scientists had not attempted a comprehensive analysis of the
molecules that populate chemical space.
In the report, Reymond and Blum describe
development of a new searchable database, GDB-13, that scientists can
use in the quest for new drugs. It consists of all molecules
containing up to 13 atoms of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and
chlorine under rules that define chemical stability and synthetic
feasibility. The researchers identified more than 970 million possible
structures, the vast majority of which have never been produced in the
lab. Some of these molecules could lead to the design and production
of new drugs for fighting disease, they say.
Journal of the American Chemical Society: "970
Million Druglike Small Molecules for Virtual Screening in the Chemical
Universe Database GDB-13" [J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2009, 131 (25), pp
8732–8733; DOI: 10.1021/ja902302h]. |
|
|
|
|
Successful initial safety tests for
genetically-modified rice that fights allergy
|
|
|
A new transgenic rice designed to
fight a common pollen allergy appears safe in animals, scientists
in Japan report.
[Image credit: David Monniaux,
Wikimedia Commons] |
In a first-of-its-kind advance toward the next
generation of genetically modified foods - intended to improve
consumers' health - researchers in Japan are reporting that a new
transgenic rice designed to fight a common pollen allergy appears safe
in animal studies. Their report is in the current issue of ACS'
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.
Fumio Takaiwa and colleagues note that the first
generation of genetically-modified crops was designed to help keep
crops weed and insect free. The next generation of transgenic crops is
being developed to directly benefit human health. This includes
veggies and grains that produce higher levels of nutrients, such as
vitamins and minerals, or even medicines and vaccines. Like the first
generation of transgenic foods, however, researchers are anxiously
trying to determine whether foods produced from these "biopharmaceutical"
crops will be safe for humans and the environment.
The scientists describe development of a transgenic
rice plant that has been genetically- engineered to fight allergies to
Japanese cedar pollen, a growing public health problem in Japan that
affects about 20 percent of the population. In laboratory studies, the
researchers fed a steamed version of the transgenic rice and a
non-transgenic version to a group of monkeys everyday for 26 weeks. At
the end of the study period, the test animals did not show any health
problems, in an initial demonstration that the allergy-fighting rice
may be safe for consumption, the researchers say.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry: "26-Week
Oral Safety Study in macaques for Transgenic Rice Containing major
Human T-Cell Epitope Peptides from Japanese Cedar Pollen Allergens"
[J. Agric. Food Chem., 2009, 57 (12), pp 5633–5638; DOI:
10.1021/jf900371u]. |
|
|
|
|
Brittle table salt can stretch like taffy in the
nanoworld
Researchers in New Mexico are reporting the
surprise discovery that common table salt - so brittle that it crushes
easily between a thumb and forefinger - becomes a super plastic in the
weird environs of the nanoworld. The super-elastic salt can stretch
like taffy to twice its original length without breaking. The
discovery could lead to new insights into the role of salt in a wide
variety of situations ranging from helping clouds to form to
triggering asthmatic attacks in people, they say. Their study is in
the current issue of ACS' Nano Letters, a monthly journal.
Nathan Moore and colleagues note in the new study
that researchers have known for years that metals like gold, lead and
aluminum can be pulled into nanowires 1/50,000th the width of a human
hair. Like other materials of such tiny dimensions, their properties
change. Materials that conduct electricity poorly, for instance,
become good conductors and materials that break easily develop new
strength. That's why nanomaterials may form the basis of futuristic
technologies that spawn new industries. But until now, no one expected
to create nanowires from crystals of common table salt, or sodium
chloride, which crumbles so easily.
The scientists made the unusual discovery while
studying how water coats salt crystals using a microscope specially
designed to observe mechanical and adhesive forces. They detected an
unusual attractive force between the diamond tip of the microscope and
the salt surface. After a series of tests, the researchers showed that
the force encountered may have been caused by the presence of salt
nanowires. In a similar test, they were able to capture images of salt
nanowires being formed and stretched. The finding is "a striking and
unexpected example of how material properties can change when viewed
at the nanoscale," the article states.
Nano Letters: "Superplastic
Nanowires Pulled from the Surface of Common Salt" [Nano Lett.,
2009, 9 (6), pp 2295–2299; DOI: 10.1021/nl9004805]. |
|
|
|
|
Once-a-month pill for both fleas and ticks in
Fido and Fluffy
|
|
|
Researchers are reporting
progressed toward a once a-month pill for fighting fleas and ticks
in dogs and cats.
[Image credit: Mzelle Laure,
Wikimedia Commons] |
Scientists in New Jersey are describing discovery
and successful tests of the first once-a-month pill for controlling
both fleas and ticks in domestic dogs and cats. Their study is in the
current issue of ACS' Journal of the Medicinal Chemistry, a bi-weekly
publication. Peter Meinke and colleagues at Merck
Research Laboratories note the need for better ways of controlling
fleas and ticks, driven in part by increases in pet ownership.
Estimates suggest that there were 71 million pet dogs and 81 million
pet cats in the United States alone in 2007 - up from 61 million and
70 million in 2001. Although many powders, sprays and other topical
agents are on the market, many pet owners prefer the convenience of
pills. Products given orally can reach more parts of an animal's body,
do not wash off in rain or bath water, and don't transfer from pets to
people. At least one existing pill fights fleas in pets, but does not
appear effective for ticks. In tests on fleas and
ticks in dogs and cats, a single dose of the new pill was 100 percent
effective in protecting against both fleas and ticks for a month.
There were no signs of toxic effects on the animals. Scientists
obtained the flea and tick fighter from a substance first found in a
fungus that "has the potential to usher in a new era in the treatment
of ecoparasitic [ticks and fleas, for instance] infestations in
companion animals." Journal of Medicinal Chemistry:
"Discovery
of the Development Candidate N-tert-Butyl Nodulisporamide: A Safe
and Efficacious Once Monthly Oral Agent for the Control of Fleas and
Ticks on Companion Animals" [J. Med. Chem., 2009, 52 (11), pp
3505–3515; DOI: 10.1021/jm801334v]. |
|
|
|
|
Other "-caines" often replace Novocaine in the
dentist's office Novocaine? Not necessarily. The
widespread belief that dentists rely on Novocaine to make those office
visits almost painless needs some updating, according to an article
scheduled for the June 29 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS'
weekly newsmagazine. In fact, patients are more likely to get any of
several other anesthetics than the century-old standby Novocaine,
which once reigned as the archetypal dental anesthetic.
C&EN senior editor Elizabeth Wilson notes that Novocaine, also known
as procaine, has become a catchall term for a variety of dental
anesthetics widely used today. These substances include less-familiar
names like benzocaine, lidocaine, articaine, and mepivacaine. Like
Novocaine, all are non-addictive relatives of the original, naturally
occurring local anesthetic cocaine, which is found in coca leaves.
None of the newer local anesthetics are perfect, leading scientists to
seek better medications that are faster-acting, more effective, and
safer. Wilson's article describes not only this ongoing quest, but
also research to determine exactly how dental anesthetics work in the
body. Chemical & Engineering News: "Dental
anesthetics". |
|
|
|
