How do you like this Appel? That's my latest rejected headline about new work in which the @gouverneurgroup.bsky.social riffs on the classic Appel reaction to make alkyl fluorides. Read about it in @cenmag.bsky.social #chemsky🧪 cen.acs.org/synthesis/fl...

Appel reaction can finally fluorinate

The classic alkyl halide–making reaction can, at long last, be used to generate alkyl fluorides

cen.acs.org

Strained bisected bits would be a fantastic band name!

There's just something surreal about bicyclobutanes. Read how Justin Lopchuk and colleagues figured out how to add these strained bisected bits to covalent drug candidates. My latest in @cenmag.bsky.social #chemsky🧪 cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...

The covalent drug arsenal gets a new warhead

A mild, modular approach to adding bicyclobutanes could bring more selectivity to these therapies

cen.acs.org

Who doesn't love a good heterocycle? The ones from @shawshankrxn.bsky.social's group are both aromatic and chiral, and could be used as motifs in drug candidates. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social. #chemsky🧪 cen.acs.org/synthesis/ch...

Reaction rounds up atoms into unusual cyclic compounds

Chiral aromatic heterocycles could be novel motifs in drug candidates

cen.acs.org

In the picture on her GoFundMe page, Mia Delli Gatti looks bright and cheerful. She sticks out her tongue and curls her left hand into a “rock on” symbol. The sun shines through the short, dark curls that halo her face. 1/

Alkyl halides are some of chemistry's most established substitution substrates. But new work from Patricia Musacchio and Jennifer Hirshi show they can still surprise. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social: cen.acs.org/synthesis/ch...

Chemists get twice the reactivity from a single substitution handle

New reaction forms disubstituted products, thanks to a styrene radical cation intermediate

cen.acs.org

If you're looking for some #FridayFun, I suggest reading @fmorningstar.bsky.social's latest #Newscripts column in @cenmag.bsky.social on urban smellscapes and a dog breath freshener. cen.acs.org/environment/...

What the nose knows

Olfactory city tours and a chemical solution for curing dog breath

cen.acs.org

C&EN's @bethanyhalford.bsky.social was on this story a week ago for chemistry: (Of the top 31 US chemistry PhD producing schools) "20 schools reported that their incoming classes for 2026 would be smaller than for 2024—an average 37% fewer students than they took in 2024." #chemsky #chemchat

Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD@prasad.bsky.social · last mo.

www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/u... an ominous trend: graduate admissions are down 15 percent from last year, on top of an 11 percent decrease from the previous year we are destroying our seed corn

The World Cup is heating up and so are the temperatures at the stadiums. Here’s our coverage of the biochemistry behind the performances.

Bethany Halford@bethanyhalford.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I've got another chemistry article about football/soccer as the #WorldCup is about to start. This one's about the biochemistry that fuels athletes. #chemsky🧪 cen.acs.org/biological-c...

As you can probably tell from the headline, I couldn't stop thinking about the Lone Ranger while writing up this research from Chris Ellison's and Marc Hillmyer's labs for @cenmag.bsky.social. Hi-yo, PLA! Away! cen.acs.org/materials/po...

Masked acid rescues popular polymer from languishing in composters

Anhydride additive speeds up polylactic acid breakdown and could make it possible to compost the plastic at home

cen.acs.org

@bethanyhalford.bsky.social followed 3 students' grad school application journeys for @cenmag.bsky.social and...yikes, it's brutal out there. cen.acs.org/education/gr...

US chemistry graduate programs scale back

Faced with uncertainty in federal funding and rising costs, chemistry departments are taking fewer students

cen.acs.org

this is by far the most discouraging thing I’ve faced.. so many students that are so bright and dying to go to grad school, have internships, BE scientists and there’s just nothing. I used to say that I loved chem so much because you learn how the world works- maybe too true these days

Bethany Halford@bethanyhalford.bsky.social · last mo.

This year has been a tough one for chemists who want to go to graduate school in the US - chemistry graduate programs are taking significantly fewer students than they did just 2 years ago. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/education/gr...

It’s a bad situation and I hope it can be reversed, but it’s hard to see how. The current administration is doing so much damage to the whole apparatus of scientific research

Bethany Halford@bethanyhalford.bsky.social · last mo.

This year has been a tough one for chemists who want to go to graduate school in the US - chemistry graduate programs are taking significantly fewer students than they did just 2 years ago. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/education/gr...

Canada remains an option for these students. We are probably too late for a September 2026 start, but most of us do rolling starts and admissions, and for example, I will be admitting (and am still looking for) students for January 2027 and May 2027 starts.

Bethany Halford@bethanyhalford.bsky.social · last mo.

This year has been a tough one for chemists who want to go to graduate school in the US - chemistry graduate programs are taking significantly fewer students than they did just 2 years ago. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/education/gr...

Thanks to @bethanyhalford.bsky.social for outlining the challenges right now with PhD programs across the board - and to everyone else who commented. And yes, we will be taking applications to our master's program @pittchemistry.bsky.social - we hope it can help #chemsky

Bethany Halford@bethanyhalford.bsky.social · last mo.

This year has been a tough one for chemists who want to go to graduate school in the US - chemistry graduate programs are taking significantly fewer students than they did just 2 years ago. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/education/gr...

This year has been a tough one for chemists who want to go to graduate school in the US - chemistry graduate programs are taking significantly fewer students than they did just 2 years ago. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/education/gr...

US chemistry graduate programs scale back

Faced with uncertainty in federal funding and rising costs, chemistry departments are taking fewer students

cen.acs.org

Green with envy or green with algae? Writing for @cenmag.bsky.social, editorial fellow @theanageorgescu.bsky.social (with an assist from @bribarbu.bsky.social) goes deep on the chemistry of the reflecting pool. #chemsky🧪 cen.acs.org/environment/...

Why the Reflecting Pool keeps turning green

Nitrogen, phosphorus, sunlight, and stagnant water can combine to create the perfect conditions for algal blooms

cen.acs.org

Time for some #FridayFun! For the latest #Newscripts column in @cenmag.bsky.social, @maxhenrybarnhart.bsky.social writes about two chemistry icons: Coca-Cola and Morty McPestle. #chemsky cen.acs.org/analytical-c...

Competition for chemistry icons

Coca-Cola and a chemistry-themed sports mascot face new peril

cen.acs.org

Another very cool story: labor appears to start because of a drop in NAD+ in the placenta, which alters prostaglandin signaling. @bethanyhalford.bsky.social follows from metabolomics > redox enzymology > therapeutic hypothesis cen.acs.org/biological-c...

Coenzyme works as a molecular brake for labor

Depletion of placental nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide provokes the onset of labor in pregnant mice

cen.acs.org

I've got another chemistry article about football/soccer as the #WorldCup is about to start. This one's about the biochemistry that fuels athletes. #chemsky🧪 cen.acs.org/biological-c...

How biochemistry fuels World Cup athletes

Players may be thinking about soccer, but sugar, salt, and sweat contain the chemical secrets to success

cen.acs.org

The #WorldCup starts this week. Check out Prachi Patel's feature on the evolution of the football for @cenmag.bsky.social. It's a real kick! cen.acs.org/materials/ho...

How soccer ball materials have evolved

All eyes will be <i>on</i> the ball during the FIFA World Cup, but let’s take a peek at the science and engineering that go into footballs

cen.acs.org

Great quotes, as usual, from Phil Baran, who described his lab's latest reaction to me as "absurd." Read about how radicals meet in a cage match (my original headline) in my latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/synthesis/ab...

‘Absurd’ radical reaction keeps stereochemistry intact

Alkyl-alkyl cross-coupling is so quick, there’s no time for stereochemical scrambling

cen.acs.org

Read about these inspiring scientists and their work. #CENT12

C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News)@cenmag.bsky.social · 3mo ago

They’re here! Introducing the Talented 12 Class for 2026. These early-career scientists are taking on big global #chemistry challenges. Meet the 2026 Class: cen.acs.org/people/profi... #CENT12 #chemsky 🧪

If I won the lottery I wouldn’t tell any one but you might notice I’ve bought enough molymods to build molecules like this.

Bethany Halford@bethanyhalford.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Biocatalysts can build big molecules. A team at Merck & Co. developed a suite of enzymes that stitch together their oral PCSK9 inhibitor enlicitide. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic... #chemsky

Honestly look at this molecule—it’s ridiculous

Bethany Halford@bethanyhalford.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Biocatalysts can build big molecules. A team at Merck & Co. developed a suite of enzymes that stitch together their oral PCSK9 inhibitor enlicitide. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic... #chemsky

Biocatalysts can build big molecules. A team at Merck & Co. developed a suite of enzymes that stitch together their oral PCSK9 inhibitor enlicitide. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic... #chemsky

Looking for some #FridayFun? I highly recommend @mannyfoxmorone.bsky.social's #Newscripts column in @cenmag.bsky.social. It's full of data delights. #chemsky cen.acs.org/biological-c...

Data discovered in surprising places

There’s scientific information right under your nose, but some smells better than others

cen.acs.org

Turning nitroarenes into aromatic amines is a bread-and-butter organic chemistry reaction. But lots of these methods have drawbacks. A new reaction from P. Andrew Evans and Gregory Jerkiewicz sidesteps many of those. My latest in @cenmag.bsky.social. #chemsky #chemchat cen.acs.org/synthesis/re...

Nickel foam reaction yields valuable aromatic amines

Cheap reagent used in batteries selectively reduces nitroaromatics

cen.acs.org

Molecules are full of surprises. Scientists made two molecular tweaks to a long-abandoned opioid and created a promising new compound. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...

New opioid painkiller has surprisingly few side effects

DFNZ soothes pain in rodents without addiction or respiratory depression

cen.acs.org

Here's some reading to enjoy with a G&T: @oconnorlab.bsky.social spoke at an #ACSSpring2026 virtual symposium this morning about the lab's work figuring out how cinchona plants make quinine and other cinchona alkaloids. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social #chemsky cen.acs.org/biological-c...

Chemists decipher cinchona alkaloid biosynthesis

Plants make a surprising intermediate en route to quinine and cinchonidine

cen.acs.org