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About kchem.uk

A small, hand-curated corner of the internet for university-level chemistry — news worth reading, resources worth bookmarking, and the occasional thing that is simply too good not to share.

Why “kchem”?

The site is curated for K, who is about to start a degree in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Discovery at the University of Birmingham. The K is doing triple duty: it is her first initial; it is the symbol for potassium, element 19 — one of the elements whose symbol comes from its Latin name, kalium — and it is the K in kmuffin, the muffin that has featured in the family bakery order ever since she could reach the counter.

Hence the logo: a K drawn inside a six-membered ring, the way a chemist would draw it.

What to expect

The heart of the site is the @kchemuk feed on X — short, interesting chemistry as it turns up. Expect a medicinal chemistry and drug discovery bias: how medicines are found, made and tested — alongside solid general chemistry, from reaction news and breakthroughs to laboratory life.

Everything is chosen by a dad trying to keep up with his daughter's subject. If it is here, it is because it seemed genuinely worth a chemist's time — and K has final say on whether anything is actually interesting.

Say hello

The best way to follow along is @kchemuk on X, where the live feed also appears on the home page. For everything else, email kchem@kchem.uk.