ETH News

Chiral molecules - compounds that are mirror images of each other - play an important role in biological processes and in chemical synthesis. Chemists at ETH Zurich have now succeeded for the first time in using ultrafast laser pulses to observe changes in chirality during a chemical reaction in real time.

An international team of chemists has found a method to accelerate the development of new catalysts. Using NMR spectroscopy together with computational chemisty, they can evaluate whether or not molecules can enable reactions.

This year the Ruzicka Prize goes to Maria Ibáñez and Chih-Jen Shih. The prize is awarded for the improved synthesis of materials that can generate electricity from waste heat and for the development of new LEDs with an unachieved color spectrum for the next generation of displays.

ETH researchers succeeded in shortening the pulse duration of an X‑ray laser to only 43 attoseconds. With a time resolution in the range of a few quintillionths of a second, they are now able for the first time to observe the movement of electrons during chemical reactions in slow motion.

For the first time, ETH researchers have succeeded in applying a millennia-old method for making fabrics to create a completely organic nanoweave. The structure of the trihexagonal “kagome” weave is based on the sophisticated design of the molecules that make up the threads.