The life and work of Marie Curie is reviewed with emphasis on the research leading to her two Nobel Prizes, in Physics in 1903 (with H. Bequerel and Pierre Curie) and in Chemistry in 1911.

Marie Curie's discovery of polonium, radium, and radioactivity was a milestone on the road to an understanding of the atom. The neutron was discovered by Chadwick in 1932 (Nobel Prize in physics 1935) following an important experiment by Frédéric Joliot and Irène Curie-Joliot. The Curie–Joliots received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for the discovery of artificial radioactivity, i.e., man-made radioactive elements, also in 1935.

Over the 50 years since the Curie discovery of radioactive elements, a new field of free radical chemistry was developed around water and the simple free radicals H, OH, and e^– _aq, derived from its radiolysis. Polymers, radiotherapy, industrial synthesis, sterilization, waste treatment, nanoparticles, and insulating materials all evolved from radiolysis techniques. The figure shows first pulse radiolysis observation of solvated electron in Australia by D. Sangster and R. Cooper, 1968.

Chemists now have access to neutron single crystal diffraction studies to enhance their experimental arsenal in seeking to understand the structure of materials of interest. These instruments are based at publicly funded institutions and experimental access is via a peer-reviewed system. So, should you be applying for access?

[¹⁸F]6-Fluoro-N-[2-(diethylamino)ethyl]nicotinamide [¹⁸F]MEL050 is a novel nicotinamide-based radiopharmaceutical, designed to target random metastatic dissemination of melanoma tumours by targeting melanin. This article reports the radiochemical optimization conditions of [¹⁸F]MEL050 and its large scale automated synthesis using a GE FX_FN automated radiosynthesis module for clinical, phase-1 investigation.

The simultaneous determination of radium-226 and radium-228 in water using liquid scintillation counting with α/β discrimination is presented. The modified barium sulfate co-precipitation sample preparation allows the removal of interfering lead-210 and proves effective and reliable. The peak resolution and limits of detection achieved are remarkable and an improvement on the standard barium co-precipitation method of radium analysis.

The structural basis for the unusual cis-Asn244-Cys245 peptide bond in the S1 binding site of L-ficolin fibrinogen-like domain (FBG) has been investigated by constant pH molecular dynamics (MD) simulation over pH 4.5–7.4. By MD simulation, a structural comparison with M-ficolin FBG provides a rationale for the lack of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) binding in the S1 binding site of the L-ficolin FBG.

The wrapping and internalization processes of nanoparticles are investigated using dissipative particle dynamics. It is found that rotation is an important mechanism in the endocytosis, facilitating its progress. Furthermore, fission of the wrapped particle is obtained. These results are helpful to understand endocytosis.

Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed for four humanization models of Ab2/3H6, as well as for the murine Ab2/3H6 in solution and bound to 2F5. The residues TYR54 and TYR103 show structural as well as dynamic differences between the models. Free energy calculations are applied to quantify the influence of these residues on the binding affinity of Ab2/3H6 to 2F5.

Charges of exocyclic nitrogen atoms were calculated for arylnitrenium ions derived from 201 known drugs and 50 mutagens. The nitrenium ions with 1° amine parent compounds did not show significant statistical difference between drugs and mutagens. These results show that other physical properties are important to determine the mutagenic potential of aryl amine and nitro containing compounds.

Superimposition of human immunodeficiency virus reverse transcriptase structures reveals a novel binding space for allosteric ligands deeper into the enzyme (white ligand, top right of figure) allowing access to the polymerase active site. This may enable us to design new inhibitors of this enzyme with better mutation resistance profiles.

Recent syntheses and properties of oligo- and polymeric systems based on anthracene, tetracene, pentacene, as well as naphtho- and anthradithiophene are highlighted. Comparisons of electronic properties as a function of substitution pattern and oligomer length are discussed.

Novel approaches for characterizing the composition and homogeneity of composite materials are described and applied to polymer inclusion membranes. Synchrotron-based infrared microspectrometry and proton-induced X-ray emission microspectrometry are used in a complementary fashion to demonstrate the homogeneity of several membrane systems, showcasing the capabilities of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) and the Australian Synchrotron.

A new class of porphyrin–phosphoramidate conjugates is described. The new porphyrin derivatives show high photostability and are good singlet oxygen generators.

Cycloaddition of sulfur-substituted alkenes to form bridged adducts, and subsequent elimination to planar aromatic analogues, is investigated as part of an approach to the synthesis and activation of prodrugs for anticancer therapy.

Synthesis of polyolefinic aromatic molecules with pyrene as the surface group, and their role as an additive in the redox couple of dye-sensitized solar cells, is documented. The studies yield a promising power conversion efficiency of 5.27%.

Ab intio and density functional theory calculations have been performed for borabenzene and its adducts with N₂, Ne, Ar, and Kr employing different methods and basis sets. The presented results comprise the optimized structures, the calculated UV-vis spectra as well as the spectra of the normal modes of the compounds under consideration.

This study deals with the use of a pencil graphite electrode modified with overoxidized polypyrrole film for investigation of voltammetric oxidation behaviours of five sulfonamide compounds (sulfanilamide, sulfadiazine, sulfamerazine, sulfamonomethoxine, sulfamethoxazole), and determination of sulfamethoxazole by differential pulse voltammetry in a commercial pharmaceutical sample.

One d⁰ polyoxovanadate compound Ca₄V₄O₁₄ with novel chain-like [V₄O₁₄]^8– structure was obtained and characterized. The reason for the out-of-centre distortions was analyzed. The electronic structure, optical, and bonding properties were investigated theoretically. The preparation of 1 offers a valuable clue for syntheses of other d⁰ oligomeric oxide compounds.