Ahead of his 70th birthday, Brian Kobilka, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University, discusses his life from growing up as a baker’s son in a small town to receiving a call from Stockholm having been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, as well as his continuing work around G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs).

Human bodies have complex reactions to stress and anxiety. A recent study explores the effect of fear on our sensitivity to odours.

Ring-shaped colloidal particles can be used to form Pickering emulsions, just as solid particles, but their shape means that a larger portion of the emulsion interface remains open, which is critical for application performance.

Incorporating thermoelectric materials into our everyday clothing could be an clever way of keeping our smart devices powered at all times. A study now looks into the feasibility of this, noting the importance of reaction conditions on the thermoelectric properties.

Ahead of her 65th birthday, Eleanor Campbell, the Chair of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, discusses her life from a fascination with science fiction growing up to her successful research career exploring carbon nanomaterials.

A berkelium metallocene complex was isolated and structurally characterized for the first time. These findings elevate our understanding of chemical bonding and inform on the future design of f-element quantum materials.

Mary Garson is an Emerita Professor of the University of Queensland and President-elect of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). In 2024, The Royal Australian Chemical Institute awarded the inaugural Mary Garson medal for mid-career organic chemists. Here, we speak with her about her life in science.

Standalone photocatalysts, when combined with sacrificial electron donors like methanol, often exhibit high hydrogen production rates. However, these catalysts typically fail to maintain performance in Z-scheme systems. Recent studies have provided insights into this longstanding issue.

A method for real-time α-particle tracking of emissions produced from Ac-225 has been developed, previously unachievable using film-based tracking. This system’s compatibility with radiotherapeutic research techniques could benefit targeted alpha therapy treatment regimes.

The recent advances in defect engineering of perovskites involving non-destructive ion-substitution mechanisms have shown great promise when it comes to fine-tuning the bandgap of blue light-emitting perovskites. This SN2-like mechanism is highlighted and discussed here.

Correction to: Nature Reviews Chemistry https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-025-00697-4, published online 14 February 2025.

A new approach to reshape a set of peptide candidates into stable, drug-like macrocycles has been developed to better target large protein surfaces.

Ahead of his 60th birthday, Omar Yaghi discussed his life in science so far and where he believes is the exciting space for future developments.

In situ spectroscopy and electrochemistry indicate that interfacial water structures formed in a neutral electrolyte are affected by oxide impurities within the catalyst layer. This leads to more rapidly exchanging free water at the catalyst interface and improved hydrogen evolution reactions.

Correction to: Nature Reviews Chemistry https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-024-00659-2, published online 2 January 2025.

Ahead of his 85th birthday, David Dolphin, Emeritus Professor at the University of British Columbia, discusses his career combining academia with industry in an effort to advance scientific studies and help millions of people.

A versatile new synthetic route to piperidine-containing structures combines an enzymatic C–H hydroxylation with decarboxylative or deoxygenative radical coupling reactions.

Availability of convenient starting materials is critical to advance actinide research. Here, we highlight four contributions published in 2024 that have aided the development of new starting materials for various fields, from material chemistry to organometallic synthesis. Availability of convenient starting materials is critical to advance actinide research. Here, we highlight four contributions

Gas-adsorption chromatography has been used to study how the superheavy elements nihonium and moscovium interact with surfaces and understand the influence of relativistic effects experienced by their valence electrons. Comparisons are made to closed-shell neighbours, copernicium and flerovium, as well as light homologues, thallium and bismuth.

Building large and complex cages in simple reaction steps can be difficult. A study now details the steps for the formation of large supramolecular cages from simple starting materials, that combine in a self-assembled manner.

Ahead of his 75th birthday, Robin Perutz, Emeritus Professor at the University of York, discusses his career combining theory and experiment to probe reactivity while also promoting the inclusion of marginalized groups into science.

An automated electrochemical flow platform is shown to enhance reaction efficiency, minimize material use, and accelerate data generation. Through Design of Experiments, the platform optimized a reaction, achieving a six-fold improvement in yield, and holds promise for optimizing other reactions.

Forensic science is a mixture of specialties, including many chemistry subdisciplines, that focus on the idea of traces — marks that are remnants of past events. The findings should be affected by scene examination, time factors and context rather than an overreliance on the precision of the laboratory results.

Ahead of his 75th birthday, A. R. (Ravi) Ravishankara, Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, reflects on his career in atmospheric chemistry as well as his contribution to combatting the depletion of the ozone layer.

A novel method to detect proteins interacting with triplex DNA in living cells has been developed. This approach provides new insights into triplex DNA regulation and highlights potential therapeutic targets to prevent DNA damage.