Enzymes instead of highly toxic cyanide

Researchers develop biocatalytic process for nitrile production

20-Jun-2024 - A research team from TU Graz and the Czech Academy of Sciences has used two enzymes to eliminate the need for highly toxic cyanide in the production of nitriles. If the household cleaner emits a lemon-like odour, this may be due to a nitrile called citronellyl nitrile. These versatile chemical ...

A poison helps to understand H2-producing biocatalysts

The toxic cyanide molecule attacks H2-generating enzymes, but at the same time provides new insights into catalysis

20-Dec-2022 - In nature, enzymes termed hydrogenases are capable of producing molecular hydrogen (H2). Special types of these biocatalysts, so-called [FeFe]-hydrogenases, are extremely efficient and therefore of interest for biobased hydrogen production. Although scientists have learned a lot about how these ...

Gold from old phones is real prospect thanks to chemical advance

02-Sep-2016 - Vast quantities of gold could be salvaged from old mobile phones using a simple chemical method, a study shows. Current methods for extracting gold from old gadgets are inefficient and can be hazardous to health, as they often use toxic chemicals such as cyanide, researchers say. Electrical waste ...

Highly efficient heavy metal ions filter

27-Jan-2016 - ETH researchers have developed a new water filtration system that is superior to existing systems in many respects: it is extremely efficient at removing various toxic heavy metal ions and radioactive substances from water and can even be used in gold recovery. In November, Brazil experienced an ...

New data from a BfR human study: no cyanide risk resulting from the consumption of marzipan and persipan

13-Mar-2015 - A human study conducted by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) enables more differentiated risk assessment of cyanide exposure following the consumption of bitter apricot kernels, persipan, linseed or manioc (cassava). The study results have now been published in “Archives of ...

Taming a poison

Saving plants from cyanide with carbon dioxide

07-Apr-2014 - The scientific world is one step closer to understanding how nature uses carbon-capture to tame poisons, thanks to a recent discovery of cyanoformate by researchers at Saint Mary's University (Halifax, Canada) and the University of Jyväskylä (Finland). This simple ion — which is formed when ...

New coating is self-defence for seeds

13-Dec-2013 - Scientists in Switzerland have developed a protective coating for seeds that poisons pests with cyanide when they bite into it. The coating is a system of two layers and only becomes toxic when the layers are mixed, eliminating the problem of environmental contamination that is associated with ...

Unique chemistry in hydrogen catalysts

28-Oct-2013 - Making hydrogen easily and cheaply is a dream goal for clean, sustainable energy. Bacteria have been doing exactly that for billions of years, and now chemists at the University of California, Davis, and Stanford University are revealing how they do it, and perhaps opening ways to imitate them. A ...

Dionex Announces EPA Federal Register Approval of Ion Chromatography for Total Cyanide Analysis

26-Oct-2010 - The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to add new and revised methods published by the EPA, voluntary consensus organizations such as ASTM International, and other commercial entities, for use in water quality monitoring. These changes and additional methods will ...

Accidental discovery produces durable new blue pigment for multiple applications

18-Nov-2009 - An accidental discovery in a laboratory at Oregon State University has apparently solved a quest that over thousands of years has absorbed the energies of ancient Egyptians, the Han dynasty in China, Mayan cultures and more – the creation of a near-perfect blue pigment. Through much of recorded ...