Metals and their complexes with antimicrobial activity are a promising source of new antibiotics. Their 3D geometry and potential for multiple mechanisms of action are important assets; however, a substantial investment in research is needed to advance them to the clinic.

Molecular rectifiers are an essential component for the construction of molecular electronic devices, which are becoming potentially competitive with existing silicon-based devices. This Review provides an overview of molecular rectification and discusses the outlook for the field as well as prospects for commercialization.

The kitchen offers chemists an opportunity to cook up chemistry using everyday ingredients. This is the inspiration behind ‘The Science of the Modern Kitchen’, a chemistry course offered to non-science undergraduates.

To write this article, Emily Draper and Jennifer Leigh from the International Women in Supramolecular Chemistry (WISC) network again joined forces with David Smith and asked dads working within the field of supramolecular chemistry to share experiences around parental leave.

Creating a more inclusive classroom environment starts with educating instructors about the needs of their students. Once those needs are understood, work to address them may not only benefit the small group of students for whom the intervention was intended, but the wider class too.

A thermoelectric material is presented which adopts a tungsten bronze structure with high-entropy properties but without rare-earth metals. Through entropy engineering, the Seebeck coefficient is optimized and the thermal conductivity is minimized, thereby creating the most efficient thermoelectric material of its kind.

Abundant metal copper with a catenane ligand system can effectively induce the oxygen reduction reaction, a promising alternative to typical precious-metal electrocatalysts.

A gold nanoparticle colloidal system is used to explore the effect of nanoparticle–substrate interactions on heterogeneous nucleation, providing a simple model for a complex and poorly understood physical process.

Owing to the diminishing returns of deep learning and the focus on model accuracy, machine learning for chemistry might become an endeavour exclusive to well-funded institutions and industry. Extending the focus to model efficiency and interpretability will make machine learning for chemistry more inclusive and drive methodological progress.

The amount of microplastics released into aquatic environments when synthetic fabrics are laundered can be substantially decreased with a low-friction, liquid-like polymer coating.