Normal alkanes C n H 2n+2 are extended linear chain molecules that form ordered lamellar structures and crystals. When the size of the chains reaches n > 120, such ultra-long alkanes manifest chain ...

Direct functionalization of alkanes by oxidation of C–H bonds to form alcohols under mild conditions is a challenge for synthetic chemistry. Most alkanes contain a large number of C–H bonds that ...

Although many organisms respond to light, very few enzymes inside those organisms use light directly as an energy source for catalysis. Researchers now report a new light-driven enzyme: Christened ...

Shivanyuk, A. & Rebek, J. Jr Recognition of guests in solution by self-assembling resorcinarene subunits. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 98, 7662–7665 (2001). Shivanyuk ...

The carbon-hydrogen bonds in alkanes -- particularly those at the ends of the molecules, where each carbon has three hydrogen atoms bound to it -- are very hard to 'crack' if you want to replace the ...

Carbon-hydrogen bond activation took a big step forward in 2000 when John F. Hartwig and coworkers reported an organometallic catalyst capable of directly converting normally unreactive alkanes into ...

Bromine water is an orange solution of bromine. It becomes colourless when it is shaken with an alkene. Alkenes can decolourise bromine water, but alkanes cannot. The slideshow shows this process.

Chemists have developed a straightforward method to convert common chemicals like carboxylic acids, alcohols, and alkanes directly into valuable alkenes. Chemists from the National University of ...