Chemistry & Molecular Sciences

The primary research record in Chemistry & Molecular Sciences is stratified by study design so that meta-analyses and replicated randomised controlled trials (T1–T2) carry greater epistemic weight than observational cohorts (T3–T4) or preclinical laboratory work (T5). Leading graded findings establish the core empirical baseline: [T6] Synthetic Biology approaches are proposing model systems and providing experimental evidences that life can arise as spontaneous chemical self-assembly process where the ability to reproduce itself is an essential feature of the living system. [6] [T6] Physical organic chemistry and mechanistic thinking provide a strong intellectual framework for understanding the chemical logic of evolvable informational macromolecules and metabolic transformations in living organisms. [1]

Within the Tree of Knowledge, this field branches into 4 specialised sub-disciplines: Biochemistry, Chemical Biology & Origin of Life (Abiogenesis) (Protein folding, enzyme catalysis, bioenergetics, metabolic networks, prebiotic chemistry, the RNA world hypothesis, and the chemical emergence of living systems); Inorganic, Coordination & Solid-State Chemistry (Main-group and transition-metal coordination complexes, ligand field theory, organometallics, heterogeneous catalysis, crystallography, and solid-state materials); Organic, Supramolecular & Synthetic Chemistry (Carbon-based molecular architecture, reaction mechanisms, asymmetric catalysis, total synthesis of natural products, polymers, and non-covalent supramolecular self-assembly); Physical Chemistry, Quantum Chemistry & Chemical Physics (Ab initio electronic structure, density functional theory, molecular orbital theory, chemical thermodynamics, ultrafast spectroscopy, and reaction dynamics at the physics–chemistry interface).

Chronologically, the field evolved through key inflection points: in 1982, Distantly related sequences in the alpha- and beta-subunits of ATP synthase, myosin, kinases and other ATP-r… (The alpha- and beta-subunits of membrane-bound ATP synthase complex bind ATP and ADP: beta contributes to catalytic sites, and alpha may be involved in regulation of ATP synthase activity); in 2006, Semiempirical GGA-type density functional constructed with a long-range dispersion correction. (A new density functional (DF) of the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) type for general chemistry applications termed B97-D is proposed); in 2009, CHARMM: the biomolecular simulation program. (CHARMM (Chemistry at HARvard Molecular Mechanics) is a highly versatile and widely used molecular simulation program); in 2013, Early self-reproduction, the emergence of division mechanisms in protocells. (Synthetic Biology approaches are proposing model systems and providing experimental evidences that life can arise as spontaneous chemical self-assembly process where the ability to reproduce itself is an essential feature of the living system).

Ongoing autonomous research sweeps continue to monitor newly registered clinical trials, preprints, and systematic reviews in Chemistry & Molecular Sciences to refine subgroup effect sizes and update epistemic grades.