The Future of Laboratory Chemistry Learning and Teaching Must be Accessible.

This commentary is a call to make the future of chemistry laboratories accessible and inclusive. We draw from research and lived experience to put forward a list of recommendations for laboratory-based teaching. Our authorial team includes undergraduate and postgraduate chemistry students, graduate teaching assistants, teaching-focused and traditional research and teaching academics, and a Diversity Equality Inclusion (DEI/EDI) academic expert.

Nothing About Us Without Us - Towards Genuine Inclusion of Disabled Scientists and Science Students Post Pandemic.

Scientists and students with disabilities have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and this must be urgently addressed to avoid further entrenching existing inequalities. The need for rapid decision-making, often by senior colleagues without lived experience of disabilities, can lead to policies which discriminate against scientists with disabilities. This article reflects on disability declaration statistics and research in critical disability studies and social science to explore the challenges experienced by disabled scientists before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights recommendations and examples of good practice to adopt in order to challenge ableism in STEM communities and workplaces.

Synthesis, Mesomorphism, and Photophysics of 2,5-Bis(dodecyloxyphenyl)pyridine Complexes of Platinum(IV).

It has been shown for the first time that the Pt complex cis-[Pt(N^C-tolpy) Cl ] (tolpy=2-(4-tolyl)pyridinyl) can be prepared in a one-pot reaction from K [PtCl ], although analogous complexes containing 2,5-bis(4-dodecyloxyphenyl)pyridine (=HL) could be prepared using existing routes. The resulting complexes cis-[Pt(N^C-L) Cl ] are liquid crystals and small-angle X-ray scattering suggests formation of a lamellar mesophase. Surprisingly, heating [Pt(κ -N^C-L) Cl(κ -N^C-LH)] also leads to a mesomorphic compound, which results from thermally induced oxidation to cis-[Pt(N^C-L) Cl ] and what is presumed to be another geometric isomer of the same formula.

The Dependency of Nematic and Twist-bend Mesophase Formation on Bend Angle.

We have prepared and studied a family of cyanobiphenyl dimers with varying linking groups with a view to exploring how molecular structure dictates the stability of the nematic and twist-bend nematic mesophases. Using molecular modelling and 1D H NOESY NMR spectroscopy, we determine the angle between the two aromatic core units for each dimer and find a strong dependency of the stability of both the nematic and twist-bend mesophases upon this angle, thereby satisfying earlier theoretical models.