Sebastian Kozuch Comp Chem 🎗️

We just submitted an article on aromaticity. I will not disrespect this field until the paper is accepted.

The fact that you have to ask explains everything. 😝

Yep. Same vibes.

ChemBond Network A Flourish data visualization by viejo

The chemical bond is a mess. So I tried to map it.
Now it is still a mess, but in a network.
public.flourish.studio/visualisatio...

This is a work in progress.
Let me know which bonds and connections I am missing.

How do you rebuild your lab after it is hit by an Iranian missile? Milko van der Boom talks to Chemistry World about dealing with destruction at the Weizmann Institute, saving samples and people coming together

Milko van der Boom – who served as as the head of several key chemistry departments before assuming his current leadership role in December 2024 – insists his chemistry department will rebuild after the destruction caused by Iranian missiles.
www.chemistryworld.com/news/how-do-...

Register to get info on WATOC 2028 in Merida!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Remember the old story of the non-classical norbornyl cation?🤔
It can also be classical, and it can react by Quantum Tunneling!🙀
And wait until you hear about the effect of putting it into an electric field...⚡️
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Proudly part of Phys Org Chem JOC Issue⚗️

doi.org/10.1039/D5CP...

A difficult morning here in Beer Sheva, but at least we have this beauty just published:
"How Small Can a Catenane Be, if We Consider Quantum Tunnelling?"

And it is part of the "Celebrating Latin American Chemistry"💪
pubs-rsc-org.bengurionu.idm.oclc.org/en/content/a...

FYI, Ben-Gurion University was only slightly shaken by the rocket falling in the neighboring Soroka Hospital. The chemistry building is fine. Some broken glasses in other buildings.

Sadly, and due to obvious circumstances, I will not be able to join you next week at WATOC in Oslo.🥲Have fun in my name.
I hope I will be able to see all of you next time in Mexico!
Let's try to bring peace and stability through science for everyone.

Preparation of a neutral nitrogen allotrope hexanitrogen C2h-N6  - Nature The facile synthesis and spectroscopic identification of previously unreported hexanitrogen C2h-N6 is described, representing experimentally realized neutral molecular nitrogen allotropes beyond N2 th...

And when we thought we already knew all possible small molecules, N6 suddenly appears🤯
One of the most beautiful papers of the 21st century was published yesterday.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Fluorine surprises by becoming heaviest atom ever to quantum tunnel First experimental evidence of tunnelling in fluorine pushes the boundary of our understanding of chemical bonding

Quantum tunnelling may be common at the tiniest scales, but no one had ever observed the phenomenon in fluorine - the element was simply thought to be too heavy. Now, this accepted wisdom has been upended in new experiments that observe fluorine tunnelling

www.chemistryworld.com/news/fluorin...

I gave a small lecture on history of chemistry. Some slides were interesting, and since I am waiting for some jobs to finish, here they are.

Celebrating the Birth Centenary of Quantum Mechanics: A Historical Perspective In July 1925, Werner Heisenberg submitted a paper to Zeitschrift für Physik entitled ‘On quantum-theoretical reinterpretation of kinematic and mechanical relationships’, thus giving birth to quantum m...

Celebrating the Birth Centenary of Quantum Mechanics: A Historical Perspective | Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Someone just send me this brilliant question in an exam.
Would you be able to push this in your institution?

Did you know that the previous pope specialized in chemistry at high school?

Software Update: The ORCA Program System—Version 6.0 This article describes the philosophy behind- and new features in the ORCA quantum chemistry program suite, version 6.0.

Dear ORCA community,

it took a while, but now the ORCA 6.0 article is out! It serves as generic reference for ORCA 6.x. However, if you are serious about supporting our efforts, please take note of the suggested citations at the end of each ORCA run.

wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

It is clear that methodology development papers are the most cited ones...

I just met Ketcher, a free web based molecular structure drawing program.
I am missing the possibility to draw orbitals, but looks pretty good!
An excellent alternative to "the other" obscenely expensive software.
moldraw.com

Hydrogen activation by a σσ*-carbene through quantum tunneling The electronic structure of carbenes arises from the occupation of a σ and a π frontier orbital. While parent methylene possesses a triplet ground state (σ1π1), substituents are capable of stabilizing the singlet (σ2π0 or σ0π2) by altering the frontier orbital energies. Here, we reveal that the 1,2[I]-shift isomer of 2-iodopyridine, the N-iodo Hammick intermediate, features a resonance between its carbene σ and N–I bond σ* orbitals, rendering them frontier orbitals. This singlet carbene is efficiently generated via UV photolysis of 2-iodopyridine in solid neon at 4.4 K and reacts with molecular hydrogen − but not deuterium − via N–I bond cleavage enabled by quantum tunnelling. Our findings introduce an unprecedented carbene class, unlocking new opportunities for reactivity and electronic structure explorations.

#RobSelects preprint of the week #ChemRxiv: The N-iodo Hammick intermediate of reacts as a carbene via cleavage of the nitrogen-iodine bond. #physchem https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-bf6qk

I find this quote insightful. I have it framed and hanged in my lab.
Posting it now may or may not have something to do with the students' survey.

"For quantifying reactive species in the gas-phase to solve fundamental problems in catalysis.“:
Helmut Schwartz, Wolf Prize Laureate in Chemistry 2025, has made monumental contributions to catalysis by quantifying reactive species in the gas phase.
Congratulations Helmut! 👏

The Wolf prize in chemistry is the second most prestigious award after the Nobel prize in biochemistry.
Who will get it?

A common misunderstanding about wave-particle duality Instead of treating quantum particles as shape-shifters, we should think in terms of probability distributions

This work was reported, while still in preprint form, as imaging a particle in the act of becoming a wave. Here I explained for @chemistryworld.com why that is not really the right way to put it.
www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/a-co...

When Theory Came First: A Review of Theoretical Chemical Predictions Ahead of Experiments For decades, computational theoretical chemistry has provided critical insights into molecular behavior, often anticipating experimental discoveries. This review surveys twenty notable examples from t...

And the actual link (I forgot 🙈):
chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...