Highlights
C&EN: Metal complexes rip open benzene
17 July 2025Scandium and chromium compounds team up to convert iconic molecule into linear product at room temperature.
C&EN: Crystals defy their symmetry to discern chiral light
24 June 2025Centrosymmetric crystals have always absorbed equal amounts of left- and right-handed circularly polarized light—until now.
C&EN: Magnetic stirrers linked to issues with reproducing chemistry results
17 June 2025From the lab that found impurities on your stir bar—your flask’s placement on a stirrer plate can mess with your reaction too.
C&EN: ‘Perplexanes’ achieve mind-bending molecular topology
10 June 2025Zirconium helps to weave entangled nanocarbon cages in high yields.
C&EN: Atom-thin iodine film makes its debut
29 May 2025Iodinene is the first halogen analog of graphene and is expected to be unusually metallic.
TESTIMONIALS
“As an editor and reporter, Mark Peplow is fast, accurate, and versatile. He covers science policy and pure research with equal passion, and his writing combines a scientist’s precision with a journalist’s verve.” Tim Appenzeller
Former Chief Magazine Editor at Nature, now News Editor at Science
"Mark guided me through some of the most challenging stories I've written. These are pieces I might not have attempted were it not for his steady editorial hand." Linda Nordling
Freelance Journalist, South Africa
“Working with Mark is never anything other than a pleasure. He is the kind of editor that writers hope for: able to identify what needs fixing and what doesn’t, bringing to bear a wealth of knowledge, always clear, prompt and easy to talk with. Much of that comes from being a splendid writer himself.”
Philip Ball
Freelance Science Writer
Author Archives: Mark Peplow
C&EN: Mechanochemistry strips cargo molecules from a loaded rotaxane
Using polymer strands to pull a ring along an axle could release repair molecules in self-healing materials.
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C&EN: Machine learning improves beer flavor
Algorithm correlates online reviews with chemical profiles of hundreds of beers, providing a roadmap to enhance taste.
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C&EN: Scorching heat turns MOF into discerning hydrogenation catalyst
By selectively turning alkynes into alkenes, the porous material could pave the way for more efficient purification of polymer feedstocks.
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C&EN: Photochemistry unleashes a one-two radical punch for efficient ring synthesis
Iridium and nickel catalysts cooperate to install nonaromatic rings in drug molecules.
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C&EN: Water boosts light-driven coupling chemistry
A thin film of organic molecules floating on water can undergo useful photochemical reactions, without needing organic solvents or catalysts.
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C&EN: Lasers liberate hydrogen from ammonia water
Light pulses offer an alternative approach to harnessing ammonia as a carrier for green hydrogen.
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C&EN: Roll up for flexible silicon solar cells
Thin cells could wrap around corners and use less silicon without sacrificing efficiency, potentially reducing solar costs.
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C&EN: Robot assistant optimizes photochemistry
RoboChem combines flow chemistry and machine learning to improve yield of light-driven reactions.
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C&EN: Molecular shuttle thinks inside the box
Flat guest molecules zoom back and forth within iridium-based nanobox.
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Nature: Robot chemist sparks row with claim it created new materials
Researchers question whether an AI-controlled lab assistant actually made any novel substances.
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