In Your Element

Daniel Rabinovich outlines the story of insulin, the essential drug for the treatment of diabetes during the past century.

Didier Astruc surveys the numerous applications of ferrocene, from catalysis to materials and redox-related devices including biosensors and nanomedicine.

Few explosives are better-known to non-chemists than trinitrotoluene (TNT). Thomas M. Klapötke reflects on the enduring appeal of TNT and whether its starring role as an explosive is nearing its end.

Clinton Veale and Fanie van Heerden discuss the story of natamycin. From its humble telluric origins in Pietermaritzburg, this unique antimicrobial agent has risen to become a mainstay of the food and beverages industry.

Fiona C. Meldrum and Helmut Cölfen chalk up some of the myriad forms and uses of calcium carbonate to burnish a ‘dull’ reputation.

Martin Johansen and Abhik Ghosh reflect on the unusual chemistry of carbones — whose central carbon atom bears two lone pairs — and their role as double-dative ligands.

Rajeev K. Dubey and Frank Würthner discuss the colourful character of perylene bisimides and the impact of aggregation on their functional properties.

Organisms that glow are perhaps eerie. Vadim Viviani ponders on the luciferin–luciferase systems responsible for their intriguing bioluminescence.

Jane Liao and Allie C. Obermeyer explore the discovery, modification and applications of green fluorescent protein, best known for its use as a tool to cast light on cellular processes.

Rahul Dev Mukhopadhyay and Kimoon Kim consider how cucurbiturils — pumpkin-shaped macrocycles — went from curiosities to compelling cavitands for a host of applications.

Methane hydrate clogs pipelines, is difficult to extract profitably, and exists in quantities sufficient to screw up Earth’s climate. Brett Thornton and Christian Stranne consider this confounding cage compound.

Carina Crucho and Maria Teresa Barros consider the rich chemistry of sucrose, a carbohydrate that makes life sweeter.

Abhik Ghosh explores the structure, chemistry and applications of corroles, a class of sterically constrained macrocyclic tetrapyrroles.

Anna Ampaw reflects on the effects of antifreeze proteins, from Arctic fish to fruity ice creams.

Madison Knapp and Jennifer Bridwell-Rabb explore the functions of chlorophyll and explain how our understanding of this green pigment has changed over time.

Lukas Veth and Paweł Dydio discuss the importance of ligands in transition metal catalysis, looking at the success story of xantphos and why it should earn the title of ‘privileged ligand’.

Tova N. Williams explores the history of madder, its components and the perhaps confusing terminology that surrounds this long-known source of red colour.

Choline 2-hexenoate is an ionic compound that is a liquid at room temperature, and is just one of a class of compounds that have huge potential in biomedical research and clinical applications, explains Eden E. L. Tanner.

The tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) cation, or ‘rubipy’ to its friends, has had a significant influence on our understanding of the photophysics of transition metal complexes, and has also helped revolutionize organic photochemistry, explains Daniela M. Arias-Rotondo.

Claire Murray ponders on the attraction benzene — a small, seemingly simple molecule — has long exerted on scientists, some of the insights gained through its exploration, and the varied applications found for this hexagonal ring and its derivatives.