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
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Freelance Science Writer
Author Archives: Mark Peplow
C&EN: Chain-link molecules form flexible networks
Catenated covalent organic frameworks could find use as additives or membranes.
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C&EN: Electric molecular motor charges ahead
Oscillating voltage prompts molecular rings to trundle around a circular track.
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C&EN: Battery anodes recycled in a flash
Jolt of electricity zaps impurities in graphite anodes, potentially offering a cheaper and greener recycling strategy.
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C&EN: These DNA nanoshells trap a broad spectrum of viruses
Using sugar chains as a ‘virus glue’ could help DNA origami structures become antiviral agents.
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C&EN: Mirror-image polymerase makes key parts of mirror ribosome
Ongoing effort to create a reflection of life’s protein-making machinery could provide access to mirror molecules for diagnostics, therapeutics, and more.
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C&EN: Molecular ring mimics photosynthetic machinery
Spoke-like templates bend a linear chain of 24 porphyrins into a light-harvesting hoop.
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Unlocking the Lanthanome
The secret biological life of lanthanides (C&EN).
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The race to upcycle CO2
Converting the greenhouse gas into useful products (Nature).
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C&EN: Chemistry and biology unite to recycle mixed plastics
No presorting needed in 2-step process that turns multiple plastics into single products.
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C&EN: Click and bioorthogonal chemistry win 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and K. Barry Sharpless receive prize for their work on reactions that quickly link up molecules and their application in living cells.
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