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Ahead of his 60th birthday, Guy Lloyd-Jones, Forbes Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, spoke about his career in science.

Ahead of his 70th birthday, Takuzo Aida, Group Director at RIKEN and Distinguished University Professor at the University of Tokyo, discussed his research career.

Ahead of his 60th birthday, Paul A. Midgley, Professor of Materials Science at the University of Cambridge, discussed his life in science.

Researchers have found a new route to complex polycyclic indoline structures from indoles and bicyclo[1.1.0]butanes using a Lewis acid catalyst.

Hydrogenation reactions of alkynes to cis-alkenes is typically carried out with precious metal catalysts. A new zinc complex represents a rare example of a non-transition metal able to carry out this stereoselective transformation.

New synthetic methodology enables the formation of a fluorine-substituted benzene bioisostere: strained, saturated bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane.

Convenient synthesis of planar-chiral rhodium catalysts enables asymmetrical C–H activation.

Ahead of his 70th birthday, Stuart Schreiber, Morris Loeb Research Professor at Harvard University, discussed his life in science.

Ahead of her 85th birthday, Jane Richardson, Professor of Biochemistry at Duke University, discussed her life in science from making her own telescope to developing the ribbon diagrams for the 3D structure of proteins.

Ahead of his 80th birthday, Steven V. Ley, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, discussed his career from drawing chemicals by hand to his work generating complex natural product architectures using machines.

Ahead of her 73rd birthday, Lidia Morawska, Distinguished Professor at Queensland University of Technology, discusses her life as a researcher and advocate of clean air.

Human bodies have complex reactions to stress and anxiety. A recent study explores the effect of fear on our sensitivity to odours.

Ahead of her 80th birthday, Judith Howard discussed her life in science, including the importance of women in crystallography from its inception, and her favourite breakthroughs in this field.

Song Lin, Tisch University Professor at Cornell University, talks to Nature Synthesis about the development and commercialization of SPECS (Small Photoelectronic ElectroChemical Synthesizers) for wireless electrochemistry.

Ahead of his 80th birthday, Michele Parrinello, Principal Investigator of Atomistic Simulations at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), discussed his career in science exploring chemical fundamentals and modelling molecular dynamics.

Drawing inspiration from helical structures in nature, researchers have developed a cobalt-based complex able to twist and untwist, converting between nanohelix and nanowire structures.

Ahead of his 82nd birthday, Helmut Schwarz, recent recipient of the Wolf Prize in Chemistry and Professor of Chemistry at Technische Universität Berlin, looks back on his career in science.

Nitrogenases are enzymes capable of reducing atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia. By better understanding their structure and the reaction mechanism, researchers can work towards artificial mimics that may replace the need for the energy-demanding Haber–Bosch process.

Ahead of his 60th birthday, Dek N. Woolfson, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Bristol and a recently elected Fellow of the Royal Society, spoke to us about his career in science.

Cable bacteria are able to conduct electrons to interconvert oxygen and water. Here, researchers have isolated the conducting cable bacteria skeletons to demonstrate their activity in an electrochemical cell.

By drawing inspiration from ion transport in biology, researchers have developed highly selective channels for the separation and enrichment of Li⁺ ions from complex aqueous solutions.

Ahead of his 70th birthday, Brian Kobilka, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University, discusses his life from growing up as a baker’s son in a small town to receiving a call from Stockholm having been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, as well as his continuing work around G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs).

Near-infrared spectroscopy combined with machine learning can predict the publication years of paper books from 1851 to 2000 with an unprecedented accuracy of 2 years.

Ahead of her 65th birthday, Eleanor Campbell, the Chair of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, discusses her life from a fascination with science fiction growing up to her successful research career exploring carbon nanomaterials.

Ahead of his 80th birthday, Jean-Pierre Sauvage discussed his career in science from a lab in his cellar to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Cyclic cell-penetrating peptides are able to enter cells and deliver cargo molecules without being positively charged, previously assumed to be a prerequisite for inducing endocytosis.

Abundant metal copper with a catenane ligand system can effectively induce the oxygen reduction reaction, a promising alternative to typical precious-metal electrocatalysts.

Remarkably simple conditions can convert fac-Ir(iii) arylpyridine complexes to the less thermodynamically stable mer-isomers. The organoiridium complexes are considered highly effective luminescent molecular switches.

Pressure-adapted organisms are able to survive in the depths of the ocean because of trimethylamine N-oxide-assisted hydrogen bonding between water molecules.

Mary Garson is an Emerita Professor of the University of Queensland and President-elect of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). In 2024, The Royal Australian Chemical Institute awarded the inaugural Mary Garson medal for mid-career organic chemists. Here, we speak with her about her life in science.

Catherine Ngila, executive director of the African Foundation for Women and Youth in Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (AFoWYESTI), talks about her experience of academia and her hopes to promote diversity in STEM.

Flow chemistry provides a platform for the α-metallation and functionalization of tetrahydrofuran (THF).

Boroles can be irradiated with light to form borapyramidanes. The two boron-containing structures are found to have a close chemical relationship.

Incorporating cleavable bonds into polymers allows for their chemical recycling without the loss of their desirable plastic properties.

Ahead of his 75th birthday, A. R. (Ravi) Ravishankara, Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, reflects on his career in atmospheric chemistry as well as his contribution to combatting the depletion of the ozone layer.

Ahead of his 75th birthday, Robin Perutz, Emeritus Professor at the University of York, discusses his career combining theory and experiment to probe reactivity while also promoting the inclusion of marginalized groups into science.

Ahead of his 85th birthday, Graham Richards discussed his life in science and its intersection with industry. From a mix-up that led to him reading chemistry at the University of Oxford rather than physics, Richards later became the head of the chemistry department and co-founded Oxford Molecular Plc.

From high school to distinguished professor of chemistry at Rhodes University, Tebello Nyokong discusses her inspiration and ambitions to promote science in South Africa.

As an atmospheric chemist in Lebanon, Najat Aoun Saliba was propelled towards activism to combat rising pollution levels and inequality. This culminated in her election to become a member of the Lebanese parliament.

Sushila Maharjan is a biochemist and bioengineer and co-founder of Nepal’s Research Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology (RIBB).

Ahead of her 75th birthday, Jane Clarke discussed her life in science, including her career change from school science teacher to protein folding researcher.

Ahead of his 60th birthday, Omar Yaghi discussed his life in science so far and where he believes is the exciting space for future developments.

In the interstellar medium, complex organic molecules are believed to form on icy dust grains in dark molecular clouds. Research now shows that carbon atoms, previously considered immobile, can diffuse across ice surfaces to take part in reactions with other adsorbed species.

A metal templating approach can be used to generate homo- and heterointerlocked cage structures.

People hold subjective beliefs that, independent of the actual distribution of resources, one party’s gains are inevitably accrued at other parties’ expense. In this Review, Davidai and Tepper synthesize research on when and why such zero-sum beliefs emerge and their consequences for individuals, groups and society.

Fluorophenols can be activated towards S_NAr reactions by forming a transient electron-withdrawing phenoxyl radical.

A new proposal for the origin of asymmetry and, by extension, the origin of life uses spin-polarized electrons to induce enantioselective chemistry in the prebiotic world.

The amount of microplastics released into aquatic environments when synthetic fabrics are laundered can be substantially decreased with a low-friction, liquid-like polymer coating.

By breaking a clinical candidate into its substructures, fragments with poor bioavailability profiles can be identified, removed and replaced in a compound before entering the laboratory.