Esther Johnston
@estherjohnston.bsky.social
Scientific Editor of @chemicalscience.rsc.org, the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Diamond open access! | bioinorganic chemist | PhD Stanford University, post-doc University of York | wife, mum, gardener, Christian | she/her
A personal shout-out from me for this excellent cover image! I love that it represents the first author of the paper with his large and loving family. 😍
doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Issue 6 is here! #ChemSciCovers
Our front cover this week features Aiko Fukazawa et al 🤩
'Modular synthesis of benzothiophene-fused pentalenes reveals substituent-dependent antiaromaticity'
🔗 doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Image created by YAP Co. Ltd.
Our front cover this week features Aiko Fukazawa et al 🤩
'Modular synthesis of benzothiophene-fused pentalenes reveals substituent-dependent antiaromaticity'
🔗 doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Image created by YAP Co. Ltd.
February 13, 2026 at 2:58 PM
A personal shout-out from me for this excellent cover image! I love that it represents the first author of the paper with his large and loving family. 😍
doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
See the most impactful papers in Chemical Science in your topic area from last year in our subject-specific collections below! 👇
Check out our subject-specific collections of our most popular Chemical Science content published in 2025! These collections highlight some of the exceptional research published in Chemical Science and they are free to read.
Read our blog post: blogs.rsc.org/sc/
#ChemSky #ChemSciMostPopular
Read our blog post: blogs.rsc.org/sc/
#ChemSky #ChemSciMostPopular
February 13, 2026 at 10:31 AM
See the most impactful papers in Chemical Science in your topic area from last year in our subject-specific collections below! 👇
Reposted by Esther Johnston
Our new Reflections series celebrates our 15th anniversary and some of the earliest manuscripts published in Chemical Science, with leading authors giving a perspective on how the field has changed in the years since.
Explore the Reflection pieces, for free, here:
rsc.li/ChemSciReflec...
Explore the Reflection pieces, for free, here:
rsc.li/ChemSciReflec...
January 16, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Our new Reflections series celebrates our 15th anniversary and some of the earliest manuscripts published in Chemical Science, with leading authors giving a perspective on how the field has changed in the years since.
Explore the Reflection pieces, for free, here:
rsc.li/ChemSciReflec...
Explore the Reflection pieces, for free, here:
rsc.li/ChemSciReflec...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
This week's Chemical Science Pick of the Week #ChemSciPicks is from Professor Amy C. Rosenzweig (Northwestern University): "Simultaneous occupancy of CuC and CuD in the ammonia monooxygenase active site"
Read for free at: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Read for free at: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
January 15, 2026 at 10:04 AM
This week's Chemical Science Pick of the Week #ChemSciPicks is from Professor Amy C. Rosenzweig (Northwestern University): "Simultaneous occupancy of CuC and CuD in the ammonia monooxygenase active site"
Read for free at: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Read for free at: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎄On the 11th day of Christmas, Hai-Yan Hu, Yan-Fang Zhu, and Yao Zhao et al. gave to us, a paper on sodium!
“Periodic Law-Guided Design of Highly Stable O3-Type Layered Oxide Cathodes for Practical Sodium-Ion Batteries”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D4SC...
“Periodic Law-Guided Design of Highly Stable O3-Type Layered Oxide Cathodes for Practical Sodium-Ion Batteries”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D4SC...
January 4, 2026 at 1:00 PM
🎄On the 11th day of Christmas, Hai-Yan Hu, Yan-Fang Zhu, and Yao Zhao et al. gave to us, a paper on sodium!
“Periodic Law-Guided Design of Highly Stable O3-Type Layered Oxide Cathodes for Practical Sodium-Ion Batteries”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D4SC...
“Periodic Law-Guided Design of Highly Stable O3-Type Layered Oxide Cathodes for Practical Sodium-Ion Batteries”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D4SC...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎄On the 10th day of Christmas, Erwin Reisner et al. gave to us, a paper on gases and light!
“Adapting gas fermenting bacteria for light-driven domino valorization of CO2”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
“Adapting gas fermenting bacteria for light-driven domino valorization of CO2”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
January 3, 2026 at 1:00 PM
🎄On the 10th day of Christmas, Erwin Reisner et al. gave to us, a paper on gases and light!
“Adapting gas fermenting bacteria for light-driven domino valorization of CO2”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
“Adapting gas fermenting bacteria for light-driven domino valorization of CO2”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
HNY from Chemical Science! We wish you all a successful and peaceful 2026!
Thank you to all of our readers, authors, and reviewers for making 2025 a huge success! We were delighted by the excellent papers in our 15th anniversary collections and we're excited for 2026!
#ChemSky #HNY #2026
Thank you to all of our readers, authors, and reviewers for making 2025 a huge success! We were delighted by the excellent papers in our 15th anniversary collections and we're excited for 2026!
#ChemSky #HNY #2026
January 2, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎄On the 9th day of Christmas, Yoichi Kobayashi et al. gave to us, a paper on fluorine!
“Photocatalytic defluorination of perfluoroalkyl substances by surface-engineered ZnO nanocrystals”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
“Photocatalytic defluorination of perfluoroalkyl substances by surface-engineered ZnO nanocrystals”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
January 2, 2026 at 1:57 PM
🎄On the 9th day of Christmas, Yoichi Kobayashi et al. gave to us, a paper on fluorine!
“Photocatalytic defluorination of perfluoroalkyl substances by surface-engineered ZnO nanocrystals”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
“Photocatalytic defluorination of perfluoroalkyl substances by surface-engineered ZnO nanocrystals”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎄On the 8th day of Christmas, Kazunari Domen et al. gave to us, a paper on oxygen!
“Z-scheme overall water splitting on photocatalyst sheet mediated by carbon nanotubes using oxysulfide photocatalyst responsive to long wavelengths”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
“Z-scheme overall water splitting on photocatalyst sheet mediated by carbon nanotubes using oxysulfide photocatalyst responsive to long wavelengths”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
January 1, 2026 at 1:00 PM
🎄On the 8th day of Christmas, Kazunari Domen et al. gave to us, a paper on oxygen!
“Z-scheme overall water splitting on photocatalyst sheet mediated by carbon nanotubes using oxysulfide photocatalyst responsive to long wavelengths”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
“Z-scheme overall water splitting on photocatalyst sheet mediated by carbon nanotubes using oxysulfide photocatalyst responsive to long wavelengths”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎄On the 7th day of Christmas, Anindita Das et al. gave to us, a paper on N!
“Crystallization-driven 2D assemblies from a phenothiazine-conjugated poly(l-lactide): redox-responsive tunable emission, white-light harvesting and surface-enabled NP decoration”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
“Crystallization-driven 2D assemblies from a phenothiazine-conjugated poly(l-lactide): redox-responsive tunable emission, white-light harvesting and surface-enabled NP decoration”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
December 31, 2025 at 1:00 PM
🎄On the 7th day of Christmas, Anindita Das et al. gave to us, a paper on N!
“Crystallization-driven 2D assemblies from a phenothiazine-conjugated poly(l-lactide): redox-responsive tunable emission, white-light harvesting and surface-enabled NP decoration”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
“Crystallization-driven 2D assemblies from a phenothiazine-conjugated poly(l-lactide): redox-responsive tunable emission, white-light harvesting and surface-enabled NP decoration”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
Structural & electronic modulations of copper enzyme lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase upon chitin binding (via @chemicalscience.rsc.org)
doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Structural and electronic modulations of lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO) upon chitin binding: insights from X-ray spectroscopy
Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) play a critical role in the depolymerization of recalcitrant polysaccharides, such as chitin, making them of interest in biotechnological applications. Thes...
doi.org
December 30, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Structural & electronic modulations of copper enzyme lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase upon chitin binding (via @chemicalscience.rsc.org)
doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎄On the 6th day of Christmas, Vivek Polshettiwar et al. gave to us, a paper on carbon!
“Synthesis of Synergistic Catalysts: Integrating Defects, SMSI, and Plasmonic Effects for Enhanced Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
“Synthesis of Synergistic Catalysts: Integrating Defects, SMSI, and Plasmonic Effects for Enhanced Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
December 30, 2025 at 1:00 PM
🎄On the 6th day of Christmas, Vivek Polshettiwar et al. gave to us, a paper on carbon!
“Synthesis of Synergistic Catalysts: Integrating Defects, SMSI, and Plasmonic Effects for Enhanced Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
“Synthesis of Synergistic Catalysts: Integrating Defects, SMSI, and Plasmonic Effects for Enhanced Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎄On the 5th day of Christmas, R. Graham Cooks et al. gave to us, a paper on boron!
“Accelerated Click Reactions using Boronic Acids for Heterocyclic Synthesis in Microdroplets”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
“Accelerated Click Reactions using Boronic Acids for Heterocyclic Synthesis in Microdroplets”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
December 29, 2025 at 1:00 PM
🎄On the 5th day of Christmas, R. Graham Cooks et al. gave to us, a paper on boron!
“Accelerated Click Reactions using Boronic Acids for Heterocyclic Synthesis in Microdroplets”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
“Accelerated Click Reactions using Boronic Acids for Heterocyclic Synthesis in Microdroplets”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎄On the 4th day of Christmas, Andrès Reyes et al. gave to us, a paper on beryllium!
“Watch out electrons!: Positron Binding Redefines Chemical Bonding in Be2”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
“Watch out electrons!: Positron Binding Redefines Chemical Bonding in Be2”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
December 28, 2025 at 1:00 PM
🎄On the 4th day of Christmas, Andrès Reyes et al. gave to us, a paper on beryllium!
“Watch out electrons!: Positron Binding Redefines Chemical Bonding in Be2”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
“Watch out electrons!: Positron Binding Redefines Chemical Bonding in Be2”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎄 On the 3rd day of Christmas, Jin Han and Ya You et al. gave to us, a paper on lithium!
“Stabilizing electrode-electrolyte interface for high-voltage Li||LiCoO2 cells by dual electrolyte additives”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/sc-15li25
“Stabilizing electrode-electrolyte interface for high-voltage Li||LiCoO2 cells by dual electrolyte additives”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/sc-15li25
December 27, 2025 at 1:00 PM
🎄 On the 3rd day of Christmas, Jin Han and Ya You et al. gave to us, a paper on lithium!
“Stabilizing electrode-electrolyte interface for high-voltage Li||LiCoO2 cells by dual electrolyte additives”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/sc-15li25
“Stabilizing electrode-electrolyte interface for high-voltage Li||LiCoO2 cells by dual electrolyte additives”
Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/sc-15li25
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎄 On the 2nd day of Christmas, Yanhua Li and Na Li et al. gave to us, a paper on gases!
“Gas-mediated cancer therapy: advances in delivery strategies and therapeutic mechanisms”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
“Gas-mediated cancer therapy: advances in delivery strategies and therapeutic mechanisms”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
December 26, 2025 at 1:00 PM
🎄 On the 2nd day of Christmas, Yanhua Li and Na Li et al. gave to us, a paper on gases!
“Gas-mediated cancer therapy: advances in delivery strategies and therapeutic mechanisms”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
“Gas-mediated cancer therapy: advances in delivery strategies and therapeutic mechanisms”
Read it here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Featured in: rsc.li/chemsci-commu...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
Stay tuned over the 12 days of Christmas for more holiday-themed article picks from our 15th anniversary collections! 🎄
rsc.li/chemsci-commu... and rsc.li/sc-15li25
rsc.li/chemsci-commu... and rsc.li/sc-15li25
December 25, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Stay tuned over the 12 days of Christmas for more holiday-themed article picks from our 15th anniversary collections! 🎄
rsc.li/chemsci-commu... and rsc.li/sc-15li25
rsc.li/chemsci-commu... and rsc.li/sc-15li25
Reposted by Esther Johnston
Merry Xmas from @chemicalscience.rsc.org🎄On the 1st day of Christmas, Yangfan Lu and Hongwen Huang et al. gave to us, a paper on hydrogen!
“Understanding the strain effect in alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction over well-defined Ru surfaces: insights into catalyst design” doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
“Understanding the strain effect in alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction over well-defined Ru surfaces: insights into catalyst design” doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
December 25, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Merry Xmas from @chemicalscience.rsc.org🎄On the 1st day of Christmas, Yangfan Lu and Hongwen Huang et al. gave to us, a paper on hydrogen!
“Understanding the strain effect in alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction over well-defined Ru surfaces: insights into catalyst design” doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
“Understanding the strain effect in alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction over well-defined Ru surfaces: insights into catalyst design” doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎁 It’s Day 24 of ChemSci Advent! Celebrate our 15th anniversary year with us and unwrap “A Tetraazanaphthalene Radical-Bridged Dysprosium Single-Molecule Magnet with a Large Coercive Field” by Selvan Demir et al.!
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5SC05358G
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5SC05358G
December 24, 2025 at 1:00 PM
🎁 It’s Day 24 of ChemSci Advent! Celebrate our 15th anniversary year with us and unwrap “A Tetraazanaphthalene Radical-Bridged Dysprosium Single-Molecule Magnet with a Large Coercive Field” by Selvan Demir et al.!
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5SC05358G
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5SC05358G
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎁 It’s Day 23 of ChemSci Advent! Celebrate our 15th anniversary year with us and unwrap “Catalytic stereoselective synthesis of all-carbon tetra-substituted alkenes via Z-selective alkyne difunctionalization” by Magnus Rueping et al. from KAUST!
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
December 23, 2025 at 1:01 PM
🎁 It’s Day 23 of ChemSci Advent! Celebrate our 15th anniversary year with us and unwrap “Catalytic stereoselective synthesis of all-carbon tetra-substituted alkenes via Z-selective alkyne difunctionalization” by Magnus Rueping et al. from KAUST!
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎁 It’s Day 22 of ChemSci Advent! Celebrate our 15th anniversary year with us and unwrap “Rational Design of the Linkers in Targeting Chimeras” by Jinyi Xu and Quanyin Hu et al.!
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
December 22, 2025 at 1:00 PM
🎁 It’s Day 22 of ChemSci Advent! Celebrate our 15th anniversary year with us and unwrap “Rational Design of the Linkers in Targeting Chimeras” by Jinyi Xu and Quanyin Hu et al.!
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎁 It’s Day 21 of ChemSci Advent! Celebrate our 15th anniversary year with us and unwrap “Data-Driven Recommendation of Agents, Temperature, and Equivalence Ratios for Organic Synthesis” by Connor Coley et al. from MIT!
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
December 21, 2025 at 2:00 PM
🎁 It’s Day 21 of ChemSci Advent! Celebrate our 15th anniversary year with us and unwrap “Data-Driven Recommendation of Agents, Temperature, and Equivalence Ratios for Organic Synthesis” by Connor Coley et al. from MIT!
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎁 It’s Day 20 of ChemSci Advent! Celebrate our 15th anniversary year with us and unwrap “Sulfenate Anion Catalyzed Enantio- and Diastereoselective Aziridination” by Javier Adrio and Patrick Walsh et al.!
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
December 20, 2025 at 12:00 PM
🎁 It’s Day 20 of ChemSci Advent! Celebrate our 15th anniversary year with us and unwrap “Sulfenate Anion Catalyzed Enantio- and Diastereoselective Aziridination” by Javier Adrio and Patrick Walsh et al.!
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
This cover gets my personal shout-out for favourite cover of the year in @chemicalscience.rsc.org, and I'm so glad we got it right before Christmas! It looks like a Christmas card! My favourite part is that the boat is flying the flags of the cities the authors' universities are in.
Don't miss Joshua P. Barham, Timothy Noël et al's recent article
#ChemSciCovers
'Photocatalyzed hydrogen atom transfer enables multicomponent olefin oxo-amidomethylation under aerobic conditions'
🔗 doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
#ChemSciCovers
'Photocatalyzed hydrogen atom transfer enables multicomponent olefin oxo-amidomethylation under aerobic conditions'
🔗 doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...
December 23, 2025 at 10:34 AM
This cover gets my personal shout-out for favourite cover of the year in @chemicalscience.rsc.org, and I'm so glad we got it right before Christmas! It looks like a Christmas card! My favourite part is that the boat is flying the flags of the cities the authors' universities are in.
Reposted by Esther Johnston
🎁 It’s Day 19 of ChemSci Advent! Celebrate our 15th anniversary year with us and unwrap “Aminocatalytic enantioselective [2 + 2] cycloaddition of Bicyclo[1.1.0]butanes and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes” by Karl Anker Jørgensen et al.!
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
December 19, 2025 at 10:28 AM
🎁 It’s Day 19 of ChemSci Advent! Celebrate our 15th anniversary year with us and unwrap “Aminocatalytic enantioselective [2 + 2] cycloaddition of Bicyclo[1.1.0]butanes and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes” by Karl Anker Jørgensen et al.!
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...
Read it for free here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5S...