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Category: chemistry – Page 3

Microtubule-Stabilizer Epothilone B Delays Anesthetic-Induced Unconsciousness in Rats

Suggests microtubules play an important role in consciousness. Answer probably lies within them. I really hope for the possibility of what some call “mind uploading” or transfer of consciousness to a stronger medium like artificial neurons made out of better materials. But first, we must get a far better understanding of why consciousness exist. These kinds of experiments are a pre-requisite to that.

Study: Sana Khan, Yixiang Huang, Derin Timuçin, Shantelle Bailey, Sophia Lee, Jessica Lopes, Emeline Gaunce, Jasmine Mosberger, Michelle Zhan, Bothina Abdelrahman, Xiran Zeng and Michael C. Wiest.

Volatile anesthetics reversibly abolish consciousness or motility in animals, plants, and single-celled organisms (Kelz and Mashour, 2019; Yokawa et al., 2019). For humans, they are a medical miracle that we have been benefiting from for over 150 years, but the precise molecular mechanisms by which these molecules reversibly abolish consciousness remain elusive (Eger et al., 2008; Hemmings et al., 2019; Kelz and Mashour, 2019; Mashour, 2024). The functionally relevant molecular targets for causing unconsciousness are believed to be one or a combination of neural ion channels, receptors, mitochondria, synaptic proteins, and cytoskeletal proteins.

The Meyer–Overton correlation refers to the venerable finding that the anesthetic potency of chemically diverse anesthetic molecules is directly correlated with their solubility in lipids akin to olive oil (S. R. Hameroff, 2018; Kelz and Mashour, 2019). The possibility that general anesthesia might be explained by unitary action of all (or most) anesthetics on one target protein is supported by the Meyer–Overton correlation and the additivity of potencies of different anesthetics (Eger et al., 2008). Together these results suggest that anesthetics may act on a unitary site, via relatively nonspecific physical interactions (such as London/van der Waals forces between induced dipoles).

Cytoskeletal microtubules (MTs) have been considered as a candidate target of anesthetic action for over 50 years (Allison and Nunn, 1968; S. Hameroff, 1998). Other membrane receptor and ion channel proteins were ruled out as possible unitary targets by exhaustive studies culminating in Eger et al. (2008). However, MTs (composed of tubulin subunits) were not ruled out and remain a candidate for a unitary site of anesthetic action. MTs are the major components of the cytoskeleton in all cells, and they also play an essential role in cell reproduction—and aberrant cell reproduction in cancer—but in neurons, they have additional specialized roles in intracellular transport and neural plasticity (Kapitein and Hoogenraad, 2015). MTs have also been proposed to process information, encode memory, and mediate consciousness (S. R. Hameroff et al., 1982; S. Hameroff and Penrose, 1996; S. Hameroff, 2022). While classical models predict no direct role of MTs in neuronal membrane and synaptic signaling, Singh et al. (2021a) showed that MT activities do regulate axonal firing, for example, overriding membrane potentials. The orchestrated objective reduction (Orch OR) theory proposes that anesthesia directly blocks quantum effects in MTs necessary for consciousness (S. Hameroff and Penrose, 2014). Consistent with this hypothesis, volatile anesthetics do bind to cytoskeletal MTs (Pan et al., 2008) and dampen their quantum optical effects (Kalra et al., 2023), potentially contributing to causing unconsciousness.

Turning pollution into clean fuel with stable methane production from carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the world’s most abundant pollutants and a key driver of climate change. To mitigate its impact, researchers around the world are exploring ways to capture CO2 from the atmosphere and transform it into valuable products, such as clean fuels or plastics. While the idea holds great promise, turning it into reality—at least on a large scale—remains a scientific challenge.

A new study led by Smith Engineering researcher Cao Thang Dinh (Chemical Engineering), Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals, paves the way to practical applications of carbon conversion technologies and may reshape how we design future carbon conversion systems. The research addresses one of the main roadblocks in the carbon : catalyst stability.

In chemical engineering, a catalyst is a substance that accelerates a reaction—ideally, without being consumed in the process. In the case of carbon conversion, catalysts play a critical role by enabling the transformation of CO₂ into useful products such as fuels and building blocks for sustainable materials.

Isotropic MOF coating reduces side reactions to boost stability of solid-state Na batteries

In recent years, energy engineers have been trying to design new reliable batteries that can store more energy and allow electronics to operate for longer periods of time before they need to be charged. Some of the most promising among these newly developed batteries are solid-state batteries, which contain solid electrolytes instead of liquid ones.

Compared to batteries with liquid electrolytes that are widely used today, solid-state batteries could exhibit higher energy densities (i.e., could store more energy) and longer lifetimes. However, many of these batteries have been found to be unstable, due to unwanted chemical reactions that occur between their high-voltage cathodes (i.e., positive electrodes) and solid electrolytes, which can speed up the degradation of the batteries’ performance over time.

These undesirable side reactions are particularly common in sodium-ion (Na+) solid-state batteries, which use Na+ ions to store and release electrical energy. This is because while Na is more abundant and cheaper than lithium, Na-ion batteries are inherently more chemically reactive than Li-ion batteries.

Pressure turns Ångström-thin semiconducting bismuth into a metal, expanding options for reconfigurable electronics

Two-dimensional (2D) materials, sparked by the isolation of Nobel-prize-winning graphene in 2004, has revolutionized modern materials science by showing that electrical, optical, and mechanical behaviors can be tuned simply by adjusting the thickness, strain, or stacking order of such 2D materials. From transistors and flexible display to neuromorphic chips, the future of electronics is expected to be significantly empowered by 2D materials.

In a new study published in Nano Letters titled “Pressure-Driven Metallicity in Ångström-Thickness 2D Bismuth and Layer-Selective Ohmic Contact to MoS2,” researchers led by SUTD have discovered that a gentle squeeze is enough to make bismuth—one of the heaviest elements in the periodic table—switch its electrical personality.

Using state-of-the-art density functional theory (DFT) simulations, the team showed that when a single layer of bismuth, only a few atoms thick, is compressed or “squeezed” between surrounding materials, the atoms reorganize from a slightly corrugated (or buckled) structure into a perfectly flat one. This structural flattening, though subtle, has dramatic electronic consequences: it eliminates the energy band gap and allows electrons to move freely, turning the material metallic.

World’s first full-cell dual-cation battery developed in Ireland

Researchers at University of Limerick (UL) have developed a battery that could reshape the future of electric vehicles and portable electronics. Their breakthrough in energy storage technology has seen the development of the world’s first full-cell dual-cation battery.

This innovative system combines lithium and sodium ions to significantly enhance both battery capacity and stability, marking a new frontier in sustainable energy research.

The work, published in Nano Energy, was led by Hugh Geaney, Associate Professor of Chemistry at UL’s Department of Chemical Sciences and Principal Investigator at UL’s Bernal Institute, and Government of Ireland postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Syed Abdul Ahad, his colleague at the Department and the Bernal Institute.

AI streamlines search for catalysts to clear hydrogen production hurdles

To increase energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of hydrogen fuel production, Fanglin Che, associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, is leveraging the power and potential of machine learning and computational modeling. The multi-university team she leads has completed a study that was just published in Nature Chemical Engineering. The study utilized artificial intelligence to identify catalysts with the potential to facilitate cleaner and more efficient hydrogen production.

Atomic switching converts indoles to benzimidazoles in one pot, accelerating drug discovery

Scientists have achieved a new feat in molecular editing by swapping carbon for nitrogen, enabling the direct conversion of indoles into benzimidazoles. This simple switch in a one-pot method offers a hassle-free and effective way of designing medicinally relevant molecules. The work is published in Nature Chemistry.

Single-atom swap reactions require the selective formation and breaking of multiple bonds at the same time, making them quite rare and challenging.

Researchers from ETH Zurich overcame these hurdles by exploiting the electron-rich indole ring’s eagerness to undergo oxidative cleavage via Witkop oxidation. This step can split the electron-rich ring open to form a dicarbonyl intermediate, thereby creating an entry point for subsequent cascade reactions.

A volcano or a meteorite? New evidence sheds light on puzzling discovery in Greenland’s ice sheet

Buried deep in Greenland’s ice sheet lies a puzzling chemical signature that has sparked intense scientific debate. A sharp spike in platinum concentrations, discovered in an ice core (a cylinder of ice drilled out of ice sheets and glaciers) and dated to around 12,800 years ago, has provided support for a hypothesis that Earth was struck by an exotic meteorite or comet at that time.

Our new research published in PLOS One offers a much more mundane explanation: this mystery signature may have originated from a volcanic fissure eruption in Iceland, not space.

The timing matters. The platinum spike occurs near the beginning of our planet’s last great cold period, the Younger Dryas Event. This lasted from about 12,870 to 11,700 years ago and saw temperatures plummet across the northern hemisphere.

High-pressure electrolysis sustainably converts captured CO₂ into industrial-grade ethylene

Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology have unveiled a breakthrough system that could change the way we think about carbon emissions. Published in Nature Catalysis the researchers outline a system for converting captured carbon dioxide (CO₂) into industrial-grade ethylene, a commodity chemical essential to plastics, textiles, and construction. The work shows a direct path to transforming greenhouse gas emissions into valuable chemical products.

In addition to the environmental benefits, lead researcher Assistant Professor Xu Lu said key efficiencies in the system create an opportunity to turn the otherwise costly process of capturing CO2 into a profit.

“We designed and tested the system under realistic industrial conditions using captured, high-pressure CO₂,” he said. “Our results show captured carbon can be valorized into a valuable product with real economic potential.”

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