ACS Publications brings you regular collections of cool research topics in chemistry. Our Virtual Collections include Virtual Issues, Special Issues and Thematic Collections of chemistry research from ACS Publications journals. These collections reflect important chemistry research topics of current scientific interest and are designed for experienced investigators and educators alike. Read Cool Chemistry Research Topics […]

Essential Chemistry Research Topics Cool Chemistry Research Topics

ACS Publications brings you regular collections of cool research topics in chemistry. Our Virtual Collections include Virtual Issues, Special Issues and Thematic Collections of chemistry research from ACS Publications journals. These collections reflect important chemistry research topics of current scientific interest and are designed for experienced investigators and educators alike.

Read Cool Chemistry Research Topics from Q2 2017.

DNA Polymerases: From Molecular Mechanisms to Human Diseases

DNA Polymerases: From Molecular Mechanisms to Human Diseases Virtual Issues Chemistry Hot Topics
DNA Polymerases: From Molecular Mechanisms to Human Diseases Virtual Issues Chemistry Hot Topics

DNA polymerases play a central role in maintaining the integrity of genetic information, as these molecular machines carry out numerous DNA transactions. DNA polymerases can also be harnessed for biotechnology applications related to toxicology, specifically in the detection of DNA damage. The CRT virtual issue collection highlights variety of approaches and systems to understand the molecular details of how DNA polymerases interact with the results of toxicant exposure. These reports probe the roles of a number of DNA polymerases in replicating DNA containing different types of damage, providing insights into DNA damage tolerance and potential mechanisms of mutagenesis. These papers also elucidate the effects of cancer-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms on polymerase activity, advance the possibility of targeting DNA polymerases with pharmaceutical agents in cancer chemotherapy, and highlight molecular features of DNA polymerase regulation. The collection will hopefully stimulate DNA polymerase researchers to consider new approaches, other systems, and additional dimensions of DNA polymerase regulation, which can then be reported in manuscripts reported to Chemical Research in Toxicology.

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Technological Advances in Medicinal Chemistry

Technological Advances in Medicinal Chemistry Hot Topics
Technological Advances in Medicinal Chemistry Hot Topics

In this ACS Virtual Issue, we highlight a collection of published articles from ACS Combinatorial Science, ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, Chemical Reviews, and Journal of Medicinal Chemistry that captures technical innovations that drive medicinal chemistry forward and define the current state-of-the-art in the medicinal chemistry field. In the dawning age of personalized medicine and microbial adaptation, medicinal chemistry remains of paramount importance. These articles emphasize ways in which technology continues to enable the rapid acquisition of important information of practical interest to the medicinal chemistry community. We hope that readers will find this collection illuminating as it illustrates the important roles chemists of many subspecialties play in advancing the field.

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Mark S. Gordon Festschrift

Mark turns 75 this year!! It is our pleasure and privilege to organize this virtual special issue in honor of Mark’s many scientific accomplishments and personal interactions throughout his career.

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Olefin Metathesis — Fundamentals and Frontiers

Olefin Metathesis — Fundamentals and Frontiers Virtual Issues Chemistry Hot Topics
Olefin Metathesis — Fundamentals and Frontiers Virtual Issues Chemistry Hot Topics

We invite you to take a leisurely scroll through this collaborative virtual issue built around the Organometallics Tutorial from Richard Schrock and Christophe Copéret, which discusses major pathways in the formation of high-oxidation state alkylidene complexes. Bringing together 26 papers from Organometallics, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and ACS Catalysis, this issue seeks to highlight some of the important fundamentals and exciting recent advances in research involving the metal-carbon double bond and olefin metathesis.

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ACS Authors Advancing Cancer Research

May is National Cancer Research Month for which ACS Publications is releasing a virtual issue featuring recent articles from several ACS journals reporting on seminal advances in the field. Each article is accompanied by a quote to highlight its contribution and relevance. We hope you enjoy this exciting collection and that it will inspire you to consider publication of your research with ACS journals!

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ACS Chemical Neuroscience: Global Neuroscience

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Eavesdropping on Plant-Insect-Microbe Chemical Communications in Agricultural Ecology: A Virtual Issue on Semiochemicals

Modern day challenges for agriculture are numerous and include both biotic and abiotic stressors. In particular, insect pests and the microbial pathogens they often vector inflict serious economic, yield, and food safety problems on agriculture worldwide. One approach to protecting agriculture from insect pests is to understand and apply knowledge of the chemical communication between insects and plants. Studies of plant-insect interactions, and more recently interactions among plants, insects, and insect- or plant-associated microbes, demonstrate that message-bearing chemical signals known as semiochemicals often facilitate insect movement, aggregation, and host location by herbivores, predators and parasitoids, all of which can be used to protect agriculture.

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The Queen of Carbon Science

Cool Chemistry Research Topics
Cool Chemistry Research Topics

To celebrate and honor Mildred Dresselhaus’ incredibly productive research career in the area of nanoscience and materials, ACS Publications have compiled this virtual issue of her publications as well as other articles about and with her. While representing a tiny fraction of her contributions to scientific knowledge, these publications capture the enormous breadth of her interests in materials, which range from understanding complex physical phenomena, such as her fundamental work on thermoelectrics, to techniques that enabled others to better understand their materials, such as Raman characterization of carbon nanostructures, to new syntheses of nanomaterials.

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ACS Nano: Celebrating 10 Years of Energy Storage Research

Cool Chemistry Research Topics
Cool Chemistry Research Topics

Energy storage research encompasses applications such as solar cells, catalysts, thermoelectrics, hydrogen storage systems, and much more. In this, the second of our 10th Anniversary Virtual Issues, ACS Nano celebrates 10 years of publishing research in the area of energy storage.

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ACS Nano Celebrating 10 years of Nanomedicine Research

Cool Chemistry Research Topics
Cool Chemistry Research Topics

Nanomedicine encompasses a broad area of nanoscience. It ranges from the use of nanomaterials in medical applications, to biological devices, nanoelectronic biosensors, and much more. In this, the first of our 10th Anniversary Virtual Issues, ACS Nano celebrates 10 years of publishing research in the area of nanomedicine.

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Celebrating the first IUPAC World Chemistry Congress in South America!

Cool Chemistry Research Topics
Cool Chemistry Research Topics

ACS Publications is excited to celebrate the collaboration between IUPAC and the Brazilian Chemical Society to bring thousands of researchers from around the world to São Paulo in July for the 46th World Chemistry Congress of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC-2017). ACS Publications joins this important celebration by highlighting outstanding work from authors in Brazil in a portfolio-wide virtual issue. We hope you enjoy reading the selected articles and encourage you to participate in the many fantastic symposia offered at IUPAC-2017!

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Next Generation MRI Contrast Agents

Cool Chemistry Research Topics
Cool Chemistry Research Topics

Decades after the discovery of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the subsequent demonstration of the technique enhancement afforded by MRI contrast agents, the latter field remains a vibrant and active area of research. The diversity of the field is well-represented by the 31 articles featured in this virtual issue, collected from a broad selection of ACS journals: Inorganic Chemistry, Journal of the American Chemical Society, ACS Macroletters, ACS Nano, Bioconjugate Chemistry, Biomacromolecules, and Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. The collated articles illustrate exciting recent progress in the design and optimization of new contrast agents ranging from those with enhanced or unprecedented contrast capabilities to improved biocompatibility. All article synopses were contributed by Erika Gebel Berg.

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Open access virtual issue on materials chemistry by authors in Canada, in celebration of the 100th Meeting of the Canadian Chemistry Conference

Cool Chemistry Research Topics
Cool Chemistry Research Topics

To celebrate the 100th meeting of the Canadian Chemistry Conference, ACS Publications has assembled this multi-journal open access virtual issue by authors in Canada, in the area of materials chemistry. The conference takes place this May 28-June 1, 2017 in Toronto, and has the theme of “A Celebration of Chemistry”. We congratulate the Canadian chemical community on its proud history, and look forward to another 100 years of top quality and energizing chemical research.

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Redox Flow Batteries

The need to develop energy storage technologies for grid distribution has given a thrust to flow batteries. Such flow batteries are attractive to store electricity generated through solar cells and wind turbines. Advantages of flow batteries include the inherent scalability of their capacity (i.e., through simple modulation of the size of the tanks), and long-term storage of charge.

To-date both organic and inorganic redox couples have been evaluated to explore their feasibility in redox flow batteries. This virtual issue highlights recent papers published in three sister journals, ACS Energy Letters, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces and Chemistry of Materials. Several important technological aspects of flow batteries are the focus of these 24 papers, and include research into new electrolytes (the anolytes and catholytes) with the goal of increasing the volumetric capacity and cyclability of the cell, tailoring the nature of the membrane or porous separator, and addressing critical aspects of operation, such as osmotic pressure and water/ion permeation across the membrane.

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Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances

In May, 2016 the United States Environmental Protection Agency released drinking water health advisory levels for two perfluoroalkyl substances – perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). These two chemicals are representatives of the much broader class of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) that has been in production since the late 1940s for a myriad of applications, including fire-fighting foams (aqueous film forming foams), stain-resistant coatings for textiles and other surfaces, and as polymerization aids. PFASs are differentiated primarily by their chain length, and the properties (e.g., oil and water repellency, chemical and thermal stability) that make these compounds desirable for industrial application also render PFASs persistent in the environment. PFASs have now been documented in human blood, in biota and in environmental matrices, and in remote locations around the world. The inherent recalcitrance of PFASs thus raises important questions for the future of these chemicals.

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In Memory of David Chandler

This collection serves as a memorial to David Chandler, a pioneer in statistical mechanics, who recently passed away. It contains 25 papers published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry by Chandler and his coworkers over a 30-year period, spanning 1984-2015. These publications highlight Chandler’s development of theories for solvation and rare events, as well as his work on self-assembly and glassy dynamics. An accompanying editorial briefly describes Chandler’s impact on the physical chemistry community and emphasizes his role in developing the modern language for statistical mechanics of complex systems.

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