Science Communication

2023’s top chemistry research, by the numbers

These neat numbers caught the attention of C&EN’s editors

Mitch Jacoby

2023-12-17 20:45:19

700 million MB

Amount of data published so far by the Human BioMolecular Atlas Program, in 1,900 datasets from almost 200 donors. The consortium combines many single-cell analytical techniques to understand the makeup of healthy human tissues in kidneys and other organs (Nature 2023, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05769-3). Similar big data research consortia are cataloging molecules in the brain, cancer cells, and embryos.

In these antibody-labeling mass spectrometry images of a cross section of a spiral artery, which delivers blood to the placenta, colors represent various cell-type markers. Human BioMolecular Atlas Program researchers are interested in how cell types fit together within tissues.

12

Number of nitrogen atoms in this tricyclic environmentally friendly explosive. This compound, dubbed DTAT-K, has detonation properties comparable to those of lead azide, a commonly used explosive. But unlike the lead compound, DTAT-K is free of heavy metals that can contaminate military training grounds, and it’s safer to handle (ACS Cent. Sci. 2023, DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.3c00219).

~5 nm

Length over which a molecular wire conducted electric current. Long molecules capable of carrying electric current could lead to electronic devices even smaller, faster, and more powerful than today’s versions. But molecules longer than 1–2 nm tend to be electric insulators. This record-setting molecule, an oligoemeraldine, conducts electricity only along its edges (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c12059).

200–1,000 g/mol

Range of molecular weights of compounds that a porous, inorganic membrane can separate. Made via interfacial polymerization and molecular layer deposition, the holey inorganic film could be used to replace distillation and other energy-intensive separations common in industrial chemistry. Unlike polymer membranes used for desalination, the inorganic film can withstand harsh organic solvents and temperatures of up to 140 °C (Science 2023, DOI: 10.1126/science.adh2404).

Gaseous titanium tetrachloride and liquid ethylene glycol react to form a carbon-doped metal oxide nanofilm. Heating removes some of the carbon from the film and produces microscopic pores.

<1 billion years

Period after the big bang that the universe began forming carbon dust. Researchers study cosmic dust grains, which are the building blocks of galaxies, to understand how galaxies formed and how the universe evolved. Spectroscopy observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope indicate that carbonaceous dust and carbon-based materials formed much earlier and more frequently than previously thought (Nature 2023, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06413-w).

241

Atomic mass number, or total number of protons and neutrons, in uranium-241, a newly detected isotope of uranium. By firing a beam of uranium-238 ions at a platinum-198 target, researchers induced multinucleon transfer reactions, which formed the neutron-rich isotope containing 92 protons and 149 neutrons (Phys. Rev. Lett. 2023, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.132502). With a predicted half-life of 40 min, uranium-241 should stick around long enough to enable scientists to probe its chemical and physical properties.

212, 47, and 25

Number of scientists, organizations, and countries, respectively, that have contributed to an open-source science project that identified several potential antiviral drugs that target SARS-CoV-2’s main protease (Science 2023, DOI: 10.1126/science.abo7201). One of the potential drugs identified by the COVID Moonshot Consortium is in preclinical development. The consortium’s goal is to develop a safe, globally accessible, affordable antiviral pill for COVID-19.

Searching for coronavirus antivirals, researchers invited the scientific community to find compounds (such as the collection of superimposed ball-and-stick structures) capable of binding to SARS-CoV-2’s main protease (large space-filling structure).

12°C

Amount of cooling relative to ambient temperature provided to wearers of a breathable material with skin-like structure. Materials that provide radiative cooling —typically by reflecting heat-carrying infrared rays away from a surface—are used increasingly to reduce air-conditioning requirements in office buildings. Applying that concept to clothing, researchers made a porous layered material based on interlaced cotton-polyester fibers and treated it with poly(vinyl difluoride) and microparticles of titanium dioxide, barium sulfate, and silicon dioxide. The components and the material’s structure work together to scatter and reflect sunlight and provide cooling (ACS Photonics 2023, DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.3c00241).

This waterproof, breathable material, which may find its way into clothing and other fabrics, cools the surface it sits on by radiating heat into space. Its layered structure resembles that of skin.