College of Chemistry

Exploring the superheavy elements at the end of the periodic table

May 22, 2019
by Laura Howes | Chemical & Engineering News

new heavy metals research

The addition of four new elements added to the periodic table in 2016 was only the beginning. Now chemists and physicists are starting the hard work of determining the physicochemical properties of these short-lived and incredibly rare species. And that often involves atom-at-a-time chemistry.

Kwabena Bediako named Moore Fellow

August 31, 2021
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Kwabena Bediako
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has named Kwabena Bediako, The Cupola Era Professor in the College of Chemistry, a 2021 Fellow in Materials Synthesis.

Prof. Bediako will receive a grant for $1.2 million as...

Team wins competition to make space sugar in NASA competition

August 27, 2021
By Robert Sanders | UC Berkeley media relations

chemistry professor Peidong Yang, former postdoc Michael Ross, former graduate student Yifan Li and graduate student Stefano Cestellos-Blanco.

Team SSwEET was one of three finalists in NASA’s CO2 Conversion Challenge. The UC Berkeley team will receive...

Richmond Sarpong receives ACS Edward Leete Award for 2021

September 16, 2021
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Richmond Sarpong

The College of Chemistry is delighted to announce that Professor of Chemistry Richmond Sarpong has been announced as the 2021 Edward Leete awardee from the Division of Organic...

Dual-drug therapy shows promise for treating alcohol use disorder

August 3, 2021
By Robin Marks | UCSF

pouring liquor

(Photo: courtesy of UCSF)

UC San Francisco researchers have leveraged two new molecules, one of which is currently in clinical oncology trials, to devise a dual-drug therapy for alcohol use disorder (AUD), without the side effects or complications associated with current treatment regimens. The approach had highly successful results in mice and may be...

Using light-initiated radical reaction to break the carbon-heteroatom bond

August 26, 2021
Kira Welter | Chemistry World

Man with blue light

Image courtesy of Chemistry World.

A reaction that kicks out a single nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur atom from six-membered rings using only blue light has been developed by US scientists.

The method involves breaking the C–N, C–O or C–S bond in saturated heterocycles and reclosing the ring to create smaller cyclic structures. "This avoids having to...

Chris Chang discusses molecular iron electrocatalyst for the reduction of carbon dioxide

August 26, 2021
Berkeley Lab

Invention Interview with Chris Chang: Molecular Iron Electrocatalyst for the Reduction of Carbon Dioxide (2021)

Liquid Sunlight: The Evolution of Photosynthetic Biohybrids

August 23, 2021
Peidong Yang | College of Chemistry

Energy innovation utilizing carbon dioxide, air, and water

This is an excerpt of an article in Nano Letters by Peidong Yang, S.K. and Angela Chan Distinguished Professor of...

Remembering David Chandler’s love of art and his wonderful collection

June 3, 2020
by Robert Harris, Professor of the Graduate School

David Chandler

Professor Emeritus Robert Harris introduces us to David Chandler's personal lifelong passion; his love of art.

A mouth full of microbes: UC Berkeley researchers discover compound that can cause tooth decay

August 3, 2021
By Di Gu | Berkeley QB3

Xray photo of tooth decay

UC Berkeley researchers have discovered a compound that promotes bacterial adhesion on teeth, which can lead to dental plaque and cavities. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Borba (Unsplash)

Oral...