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This Essay tells the colourful history of the invention of the pile by Alessandro Volta and of the subsequent discovery by William Nicholson of the electrolysis of water, carried out with the Voltaic pile (1800). Indeed, as a result of the dissemination of Volta's paper among London scientists, favoured by an incorrect behaviour of the President of the Royal Society, the article by Nicholson was published months before the publication of Volta's letter. The outstanding news that electricity could be generated by a simple and easy to build instrument (the pile) was printed also by daily newspapers, which favoured its spreading all over Europe and stimulated a multitude of enthusiast practitioners and amateurs to construct their own pile and to carry out the electrical decomposition of a variety of aqueous electrolytes. The correct chemical interpretation of the pile and of electrolysis had to wait for nearly one century, but in 1800 electrochemistry was born. Electrochemistry under political constraints: The invention of the pile by Alessandro Volta and the subsequent discovery by William Nicholson of the electrolysis of water (1800) took place under uncomfortable conditions, owing to the political and military troubles in Europe at the time. In spite of this, the astounding news spread quickly and stimulated hundreds of practitioners, thus giving rise to the flowering of a new discipline: electrochemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nimorazole belongs to the imidazole‐based family of antibiotics to fight against anaerobic bacteria. Moreover, nimorazole is now in Phase 3 clinical trial in Europe for potential use as a hypoxia radiosensitizer for treatment of head and neck cancers. We envision the use of [15N3]nimorazole as a theragnostic hypoxia contrast agent that can be potentially deployed in the next‐generation MRI‐LINAC systems. Herein, we report the first steps to create long‐lasting (for tens of minutes) hyperpolarized state on three 15N sites of [15N3]nimorazole with T1 of up to ca. 6 minutes. The nuclear spin polarization was boosted by ca. 67000‐fold at 1.4 T (corresponding to P15N of 3.2 %) by 15N−15N spin‐relayed SABRE‐SHEATH hyperpolarization technique, relying on simultaneous exchange of [15N3]nimorazole and parahydrogen on polarization transfer Ir‐IMes catalyst. The presented results pave the way to efficient spin‐relayed SABRE‐SHEATH hyperpolarization of a wide range of imidazole‐based antibiotics and chemotherapeutics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Glass distillation equipment from an early modern alchemical laboratory was analyzed for its technology of manufacture and potential origin. Chemical data show that the assemblage can be divided into sodium‐rich, colorless distillation vessels made with glass from Venice or its European imitation, and potassium‐rich dark‐brown non‐specialized forms produced within the technological tradition of forest glass typical for central and north‐western Europe. These results complete our understanding of the supply of technical apparatus at one of the best‐preserved alchemical laboratories and highlight an early awareness of the need for high‐quality instruments to guarantee the successful outcome of specialized chemical operations. This study demonstrates the potential of archaeological science to inform historical research around the practice of early chemistry and the development of modern science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]