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A new Science study highlights the potential of molecular solar thermal technology as a practical route toward scalable, on-demand heat delivery for water heating, cooking, and surface defrosting. Learn more in this week's issue: https://scim.ag/4tu9AwJ

Ok chemsky here's the @gracegdhan.bsky.social paper in print, and I've been working with Chris Bickel for coming up on 20 years, but I think you'll all agree he outdid himself with the artistic concept of this cover!

The final program of hashtag#PEMM2026 has been published. Don't forget to apply for a poster ! All poster submissions will be accepted upon receipt until May 30. #InternationalCongress #Symposium #MolecularPhotonics #MolecularElectronics #MolecularMachines #CNRS #ENS #UCBL #NationalDay

Come and join my group at @oxfordchemistry.bsky.social! We have an opening for a postdoc position in photopharmacology. Prior experience with photoswitches and photopharmacology essential. Deadline 27th April. For more details see my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru... #Chemsky

Our perspective charts the potential of water as a programmable reaction medium using compatible catalysts, EDA complexes, engineered micelles and microdroplets. Aqueous-phase organic photochemistry: Distinct modes and interfaces #ChemSky #photochemistry #watersoluble doi.org/10.1016/j.ch...

I would classify myself generally as skeptical of review articles, but (with obvious bias) I am hopeful that this one is unusual, in a good way! We tried to put in one place a bunch of important ideas that have been driving the lab's thinking recently. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Self-driving labs are transforming chemistry; but high cost & complexity limit access to a few well-funded labs. We wanted to change that. Our new paper in #NatureSynthesis introduces RoboChem-Flex 🧪🤖 🔗https://nature.com/articles/s44160-026-01053-0 #selfdrivinglab #flowchemistry #optimization

Recent advances have made possible the replacement of individual atoms within a molecular skeleton while preserving the integrity of the surrounding framework. These skeletal editing reactions are emerging as powerful tools for molecular optimization, as they directly mirror tactics central to structure–activity-relationship studies and therefore have the potential to accelerate progress in discovery chemistry settings. This review introduces a comprehensive framework for categorizing atom replacement reactions in aromatic systems, while also delineating strategies that enable these transformations. Important heuristics related to shape-conservation are discussed, including notions of skeletal rotation, introduction of vestigial substituents, and retrosynthetic simplicity. Examples of reactions which obey these principles are analyzed, focusing first on C-to-N replacement in aromatic systems (“benzene to pyridine” and related reactions) before moving to other classes of aromatic and aliphatic replacement reactions.

Emissive organic crystals represent a rapidly advancing frontier in materials science, offering a unique platform that merges the superior optoelectronic characteristics of crystalline order with high-efficiency light emission. This review comprehensively surveys the field, from the fundamental molecular design pri