Big from small

UK researchers reported a new highly effective method to construct large molecules of a defined size using simple templates. Taking inspiration from nature, which uses sophisticated templates such as the ribosome to make precise complex molecules, Harry Anderson’s group at the University of Oxford has developed a new strategy to synthesise macromolecules with precise lengths using basic templates.

Macromolecules from miniature templatesChemistry World, 5 January 2011

Guest Editor for InfoChem

As part of my internship at the Royal Society of Chemistry, I had the opportunity to be Editor of the January 2011 InfoChem (now renamed The Mole) issue. I wrote an editorial on China’s rare earth monopoly, on the importance of natural product synthesis in chemistry, and reported an interview with a chemist at BP.

InfoChem, January 2011

On a high

Tetrahydrocannabinol is the psychoactive substance in cannabis which is also known as weed, marijuana, ganja, hash, pot, mary jane or the various other names that people have given it. If you don’t get a chance to legally try marijuana, listening to the podcast might be the closest you could get to that experience.

Chemistry in its elements: TetrahydrocannabinolChemistry World, 8 December 2010