The BBVA Award recognized key advances in catalysis that enable "control and acceleration of chemical reactions," improving efficiency and reducing energy consumption across various industrial processes.
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, has today announced a three-year collaboration with the research group of John Hartwig at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
A team of researchers reported the discovery of the first natural enzyme capable of creating complex molecules, azides, from simpler molecules, which could lead to safer drug development and biological research.
The catalytic process, discovered by researchers at UC Berkeley, efficiently reduces polymers to chemical precursors, bringing a circular economy for plastics one step closer to reality.
Illustration: A catalyst (center) based on iridium (blue ball) can snip a hydrogen atom (white balls) off a terminal methyl group (upper and lower left) to add a boron-oxygen compound (pink and red) that is easily swapped out for more complicated chemical groups. The reaction works on simple hydrocarbon chains (top reaction) or more complicated carbon compounds (bottom reaction)....
While plastic bags clog the waste stream, recycling them isn’t financially attractive, since they’re usually turned into very low-value products. If polyethylene packaging could be processed into high-value products, more of them would be recycled instead of ending up in landfills. (photo: Adobe Stock)
While many cities and eight states have banned single-use plastics, bags...
Artist’s rendering of a copper nanoparticle as it evolves during CO2 electrolysis: Copper nanoparticles (left) combine into larger metallic copper “nanograins” (right) within seconds of the electrochemical reaction, reducing CO2 into new multicarbon products.(Credit: Yao Yang/Berkeley Lab)...
John Hartwig, Henry Rapoport Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, has been awarded the 2021 ACS Arthur C. Cope Award for the discovery, development, and mechanistic elucidation of practical reactions...
Artist’s rendering of a copper nanoparticle as it evolves during CO2 electrolysis: Copper nanoparticles (left) combine into larger metallic copper “nanograins” (right) within seconds of the electrochemical reaction, reducing CO2 into new multicarbon products.
