In a paper published in Polymer Science & Technology, an international team of scientists

designed and synthesized tetracoordinate aluminum methyl complexes bearing (amidoalkyl)pyridine−phenolate (AmPyPh) pincers for industrial _L-LA polymerizations. Then they further investigated the electronic and steric effects of the substituents in different positions on catalytic activity with assistance of density functional theory calculation. The results indicated the synthesized AmPyPh-Al catalysts exhibited excellent thermostability as well as good protonic tolerance, which could effectively promote the polymerization of technical grade _L-LA without further purification under industrial-relevant conditions (150−180 °C, in melt and bulk) with catalyst concentrations as low as 0.0005 mol % (monomer/catalyst feed ratio = 200000:1). Meanwhile, these novel Al complexes could suppress the epimerization side reaction under harsh conditions and afforded semicrystalline PLLA. This study is led by Xiaosa Zhang (College of Science, Shenyang University of Chemical Technology, Shenyang 110142, China) and Bin Wang (Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite & Functional Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China).

An Osaka Metropolitan University researcher conducted a survey on the use of private wells during the 2018 Western Japan floods in Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture, which was affected by water supply disruptions.