physical-chemistry

Lithium-metal batteries are widely regarded as one of the most promising routes toward cell-level energy densities beyond the limit of conventional graphite-based lithium-ion batteries. However, the practical energy delivered by a lithium-metal cell is not determined only by the theoretical capacity of the cathode or the low potential of lithium metal. In many cases, the accessible energy is grad…

The laws of chemistry get pushed to the limits in Jenny Bergner’s astrochemistry lab at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is pondering some of the biggest questions in the universe: How do planets form? And how did life arise in the first place? To do so, she leads a team studying the exotic chemistry that happens under the crushing cold and near-perfect vacuum of interstellar spa…

Scientific Reports, Published online: 15 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41598-026-58077-x Schleyer hyperconjugative aromaticity as an efficient strategy to induce more delocalization in penguinone and thiopenguinone derivatives: a DFT investigation

Nature Communications, Published online: 15 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74317-0 1,n-Difunctionalized alkyl linchpins are valuable synthetic intermediates, but current routes suffer from poor step economy and limited functional group tolerance. Here, the authors report a radical-mediated bidirectional C–C bond cleavage strategy that transforms cyclic ketones into diverse functionalized linch…

Nature Communications, Published online: 13 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74101-0 Predicting transition states of chemical reactions is demanding. A generative flow model in distance geometry space, dubbed TS-DFM, is proposed, achieving higher structural accuracy and better generalizability than Cartesian-based approaches.

Nature Communications, Published online: 13 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74340-1 Lithium metal batteries face challenges with dendritic growth. Here, authors employ in situ TEM to reveal how specific electrolyte anions dictate lithium nucleation and interphase architecture, establishing design principles for suppressing dendrites and enabling stable lithium deposition.

Synthesis and chemical/electrochemical properties of a conformationally constrained 1,5-dithiocane -3,7-dithiatricyclo[6.4.0.0 2,10 .0 9,11 ]dodecane ( norDTCO) is described. Density function theory (DFT) was used to calculate the structures of the neutral norDTCO , the radical cation norDTCO +● , and the dication norDTCO 2+ to investigate the importance of orbital orientations in the oxidation m…

Nature Communications, Published online: 12 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74210-w While the “majority rules” dictates the handedness of heterochiral assemblies, their chiroptical signals are typically weaker than those of homochiral ones. Here, the authors demonstrate that controlled enantiomeric imbalance can enhance chiroptical activity beyond that of homochiral assemblies.

Nature Communications, Published online: 12 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74293-5 The authors use femtosecond and nanosecond transient absorption spectroscopy to investigate a prototypical EDA system, asymmetric α-alkylation of aldehydes, enabling observation of excited-state dynamics.

Scientific Reports, Published online: 12 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41598-026-56055-x Influence of H + on CO 2 solubility during carbonate acidizing

Sulfur is one of the most abundant elements in the universe. If you peer into a diffuse interstellar cloud, you find loads of it - about the amount expected based on fusion patterns of the stars it was born in. However, if you look at a dense, cold, molecular cloud - the kind where those stars actually form - it seems like 99% of the sulfur that is expected to be there is missing. Scientists have…

Nature Chemistry, Published online: 10 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41557-026-02155-0 The extent to which crystal packing constrains protein dynamics is hard to decipher. Now a combination of NMR, crystallography and molecular dynamics simulations show that intermolecular contacts can slow ring flips down in crystals or accelerated them in complexes. A thermodynamic and structural analysis provides in…

Nature Chemistry, Published online: 10 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41557-026-02177-8 Selective radical capture remains a central challenge in transition metal-catalysed transformations involving multiple radical intermediates. Now a ligand-modulated metal–radical polarity-match mechanism exploiting electronic bias for selective radical capture has been identified. This principle enables general photo…

Most philosophical debates about the emergence of molecular structure centre around the issue of irreducibility. Specifically, can the existence of structures be predicted from quantum theory without assuming their existence or invoking classical concepts? I will argue that the answer is yes, contrary to much of the philosophical literature, which relies heavily on the widespread use of the Born-…

Professor Dirk M. Guldi participated in the 1st International Symposium on Artificial Photosynthesis, hosted by the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) in Chengdu, China, from May 29–31, 2026. The symposium brought together leading researchers from around the world to discuss recent advances in the fundamental science and technological applications of artificial [&#82…

Scientific Reports, Published online: 09 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41598-026-57313-8 First-principles molecular-level study of phosphonate-induced electronic modulation and visible-light response in a tungsten–oxo cluster

Chemistry is the branch of physical science that studies the properties of condensed matter, from the scale of atoms upwards. A central part of chemistry is the identification of reaction processes – chemical reactions – by which a variety of chemical substances (species of atoms or molecules) interact to form new combinations. Such processes are typically denoted by formulas of the form where th…

A package-readiness guide to The Journal of Physical Chemistry B: the soft-matter and biophysical scope that separates B from JPC A and JPC C, the ACS Paragon Plus portal, the five-reviewer cover letter, and the desk-screen patterns that send physical-chemistry manuscripts back before review.