Kat Arney introduces a two-faced tree sap that can cause nasty rashes or be made into beautiful Japanese furniture

Through an early ointment for spots through a medicine for syphilitic Victorians, Michael Freemantle traces the history of highly toxic mercuric chloride

The catnip compound that felines go crazy for could have exciting uses for humans, too, as Kat Arney finds out

Kiki Sanford explores how polyamines found in semen could be related to a long and healthy life

Michael Freemantle on chemical weapons and the birth of cancer chemotherapy

Forming layers just three atoms deep, molybdenum disulfide shows potential in filtration, flexible screens and minuscule transistors

Kit Chapman explains how a 'daft' pharmacy mix up led to a series of poisonings in Victorian Britain

Jane Austen's Mr Darcy lends his name to a pheromone that lets mice feel the love, as Kat Arney discovers

Brian Clegg examines the colourful compounds that no red-blooded creature can do without: Porphyrins

Blue flashes and metallic water are just some of the tricks the smallest possible anion has up its sleeve