Summer 2010

Making inorganic macrocycles Predicting molecular properties A new strategy for the department Simulating how proteins fold As I see it...

Cambridge chemistry alumnus Julian Huppert was elected as the LibDem MP for Cambridge in May. He spoke to Sarah Houlton about the election, and what his early days in parliament have involved

Tell me about your chemistry background. What have you been up to since then? I started as an undergraduate at Cambridge in A huge amount! I’ve already asked a lot of ques - 1996, studying NatSci at Trinity, and specialising tions and spoken in various debates, and even in chemistry. After a gap year working for a asked a PMQ of David Cameron about Trident – financial software company in the City, I came he didn’t agree with me! I was also the first back for a PhD with Shankar Balasubramanian on LibDem to ask Nick Clegg a PMQ when he was DNA structure and function. I then got a research standing in for Cameron; it was about child fellowship at Trinity to work at the Sanger Centre, detention, and he announced that the children’s returned briefly to chemistry in the Unilever unit at the immigration removal centre Yarl’s centre, and then in 2007 started a research group Wood was being closed, which was a fantastic in the Cavendish lab – my work had become so result. That was on my birthday, too! I’ve asked biological it didn’t really fit in the chemistry questions in parliament about plenty of other department, so I moved to physics! topics, as well – the military, homelessness, the digital economy act, student visas and, of How did you get involved in politics? course, science funding. I’d always been interested in what was happen - While of course I want to champion science ing in the rest of the world, and my interest was I guess the election day itself was a I don’t want to be pigeonholed, and although I initially with the United Nations – I ran confer - very long one? am the LibDem backbench science rep I’m ences including simulations of the UN for It was, but because I had such a large team of actually on the home affairs select committee school and university groups, and set up a people – including some from the chemistry rather than the science and technology one – Cambridge university UN society. In the sixth department – it wasn’t too bad! The result was another LibDem Cambridge NatSci graduate form, I started to get more interested in domes - declared after 5am, so it was a very late night. was keen to do the science committee. But tic politics, and joined the Liberal Democrats, as From the piles of ballot papers the result was clear home affairs subjects like the immigration cap I discovered by watching Prime Minister’s for quite some time before it was declared, so are a big issue for science – how can we keep Questions (PMQs) that I kept agreeing with the there was an odd sense of hanging around for a science and high-tech businesses in places like LibDem position. I got involved in the student while, knowing I couldn’t actually celebrate yet. Cambridge going if we say to people outside campaign in Cambridge in the 1997 election, But I was very pleased with the result – the EU that we don’t really want them here? It’s and then in 2001 stood for Cambridgeshire Cambridge has 13 wards, and I won 12 and came an awful message to send, and we have to find County Council as a LibDem, and was elected close in the 13th, so it does feel like I represent all a way of dealing with that. It applies to student for East Chesterton, close to where I grew up. of Cambridge. I managed to get a few hours’ visas as well, so it’s a really big thing. I spent eight years on the council, and had sleep after that, but because of the election result been the leader of the LibDem opposition no-one actually knew what was happening next. Is it what you expected? group, before standing down last year when my People said it was like this, and I didn’t believe term was up. I’d found that running a research Those few days of uncertainty must them! It’s a bit of a madhouse – the hours are group was more than a full time job, and lead - have been fascinating. ridiculous. On Monday and Tuesday, for exam - ing the LibDem group took up at least another They were, yes. On the Monday and Tuesday ple, we’re supposed to finish at 10pm, but actu - two days, and it was getting hard to combine during the coalition negotiations, unlike the ally that’s when the votes start, and because each the two! But then the LibDem MP for other parties the LibDems were totally involved takes about 15 minutes it can be difficult to get Cambridge, David Howarth, decided to stand as members. We met many times and knew home, as I’m commuting from Cambridge. The down from parliament at this year’s election, what was happening at every stage, and ulti - 11.15 train is just about doable if there aren’t which got me thinking. I’d already stood for mately we had to vote on whether to accept the too many votes, but we can be much later – one parliament once, in 2005, but that was in deal. It was a real shock introduction to parlia - day we were still sitting at 2.30am! A couple of Huntingdon, John Major’s old seat, which used ment – there was no time for ‘this is your times I’ve had to stay in a hotel or with friends, to be the safest Tory seat in the country. office, this is your phone’ – it was more ‘we’ll but it’s tough on them as you show up after Cambridge was a very different proposition. do all of that later, just do this first and then midnight and leave again at 7am. I was already an approved candidate, and was we’ll tell you where to sit’. The general scientific understanding among one of very many who applied for the seat. Six We voted as a party at about 1am on the MPs is abysmal. Of course there are exceptions, of us were shortlisted, all locals, and then in Wednesday, but while we’d all seen the full text but many seem to think it’s acceptable not to December and January we had a month to go of the agreement, many of the Tory back - understand science – they’d never dream of saying round all the LibDem members in Cambridge benchers didn’t see it until it was published at they don’t know any Shakespeare, but think it’s OK to canvas votes, through the ice and snow! I had 10am. But I’m glad I’d seen it – it’s a big thing, not to know any science! There are even some a great team helping me, and it climaxed in a and I needed to be able to say that it was who are completely anti-science, and the recent packed hustings meeting – the room was full to broadly OK; of course there are bits I disagree report on homeopathy was a disgrace, as they bursting – and I was selected as the candidate. with, and if it were a LibDem-only government seem to have given up on the concept of evidence. I’d be horrified, but of course, it’s not as we One thing I am having to get used to is What was campaigning like? didn’t actually win the election! The fact that we changing from one topic to a very different one It was very intense, and pretty much a full-time all saw it was an important buy-in process. and getting up to speed on new subjects thing. I enjoyed it much more than the unsuc - quickly. And planning the diary is a nightmare, cessful campaign in Huntingdon as it involved You were pretty quick to make your as timings change – a 3.30pm debate can actu - a lot more people, and there was a real buzz of maiden speech, weren’t you? ally start at 6pm. We even had something on the energy. I took part in a huge number of hus - Yes, I gave it on day 2 of the Queen’s Speech order paper that said it would happen at, before tings meetings – 35 – with the other candi - debate. I wanted to get on with it – you’re not or after 7pm. dates. That was probably too many, but it was really supposed to do numerous other things It makes planning meetings difficult, and you interesting, especially those focused on specific until you’ve given your maiden speech. So I got often have to move them at the last minute, topics like disabled issues and homelessness. it in early, speaking about science, wellbeing which looks unprofessional. But it’s very excit - Preparing for them made me think more about and sustainable transport – I’m probably the ing, as well as being very hard work, and I’m those issues. It was an exhausting process! only MP who cycled home from their count! not regretting it – yet!

2 Chem@Cam Summer 2010 Reluctant reactions Letters

Colloid absence inet. However, Chem@Cam always brings back the memories of several Dear Editor happy years spent on Lensfield Road. My Cambridge chemistry was in 1959- The reason I’m getting in touch is to tell Nov 1961 when I qualified for my PhD, you of a sponsored cycle ride I am doing working with Denis Haydon at Free this summer with friend Oliver Rundell, School Lane. I find Brendan Carroll’s another Cam bridge alumnus and musi - article in the Spring 2010 issue of cian living in Glasgow). Together we will Chem@Cam and the group photograph be cycling 1500 miles from Gothenburg there very nostalgic. I remember each to the North Cape (the northernmost face and most names, though I do not point of Europe), in order to raise money appear in the photograph myself as I had for the National Deaf Children’s Society had to dash off to Ghana to take up and a new film about the profoundly deaf teaching in a new university named Scottish cyclist James Duthie, who cycled after President Nkrumah. solo to the Arctic Circle in the 1950s. We I met Brendan in 1966 when I went have a website at www.ollyandalex.com back to the department on a sabbatical with further details of the trip, if readers leave, soon after the Ghanaian president are interested. had been deposed in an army coup Yours sincerely d’état. I was Denis’s first student at Alex South; [email protected] Cambridge, and met him and his wife Chem@Cam is always interested in hear - Primrose when they were setting up ing about the exciting exploits of alumni – their new home at Great Wilbraham, a and hopefully next time Alex will let us few miles away. know how they got on! Yours sincerely, Byomkesh Biswas, 153 Jodhpur Park, Calcutta, India. Burning down the house [email protected] Dear Editor David Howells’ suggestion (Spring 2010) What an atmosphere of a reunion for surviving occupants of Lab 287 is a great idea. If I can persuade For curiosity I tried to find recent Dear Editor Steve Quarrie to bring the Cornish back numbers (I’m ashamed to say I The latest issue of Chem@Cam has just pasties, I’ll bring the fire extinguisher. don’t store them) – and failed. popped through the door, and as per Peter Baker (1967-70) Cordially, usual I take great pleasure in its mix of [email protected] Bryan Slater (France) scientific and people stories. This issue, And the good news is – as part of the with feature on Neil Harris, struck a impending relaunch of the departmental particular chord with me as I was Electronic alternative website, a full archive of pdf versions going involved at the Centre for Atmospheric back to the redesign in Summer 2006 Science from 1993-2000, firstly with a Dear Editor (issue 25) will be available to download on PhD on a novel broadband lidar super - I greatly enjoy the magazine, so excuse the site. At the moment, we don’t have the vised by Rod Jones, and secondly as a me in advance if this sounds picky. Is capability to replace individual paper copies postdoctoral researcher. there not an e-version? I would forgo with emailed pdf files, but if a lot of read - Since leaving the department I have the paper copy if there were, and surely ers would like to receive the magazine that had something of a career change and this would save the department way instead of as a hard copy, we’ll look am now working as a musician in nx£1000 in postage etc if the majority into it. Let us know if you’d be interested at Glasgow, playing and teaching the clar - of people were to take it up? [email protected]

Cover This newsletter is published three times a year by the University of Cambridge Chemistry Department. Opinions are not necessarily those of the editor, the department, or the university. Editor-in-Chief: Steve Ley Editor: Sarah Houlton Photographers: Nathan Pitt, Caroline Hancox Editorial Board: Contents Brian Crysell, Bill Jones, News 4 Jonathan Goodman, Rosemary Ley, Jeremy Sanders Research 8 Giulio Volpin, a visiting student in Address: Alumni 12 Steve Ley’s group, practising the Chem@Cam, Department of Chemistry, art of Whiffen Lab chemistry University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road Chat lines 18 Cambridge CB2 1EW Phone: 01223 763865 Puzzle corner 19 Photograph: email: [email protected] Nathan Pitt website: www.ch.cam.ac.uk

Chem@Cam Summer 2010 3 News A pair of leadership fellows Olympic gold! n

Matt Gaunt and Jonathan Nitschke have ing how “hiding” one reactive mole - n u D been awarded Leadership Fellowships cule inside a capsule, then letting it out a r by EPSRC. The fellowships are designed later, can cause a chemical system to u a L to support researchers with the most evolve in a different direction and pro - : o t potential to develop into international duce different products than it other - o h research leaders. The hope is that, by the wise might have done.’ P end of the award, they will be setting Matt is also very happy with the and driving new research agendas. award, and the support it will provide The competition is fierce – typically for his chemistry. ‘Through this fellow - every year EPSRC receives 250 applica - ship, I hope to be able to develop a new tions for these fellowships, and only synthesis blueprint by using transition about 20 are awarded. This year, just 16 metal catalysts to unlock the reactivity were given out across the whole spec - of latent C-H bonds in organic mole - trum of science and engineering. The cules,’ he says. five-year awards cover salary and also ‘This will hopefully bring about a provide support for the recipient’s step-change in how chemists think research team. about making molecules. We are aiming Jonathan is delighted to have received to develop new synthesis concepts that one of the fellowships. ‘With it, we will enable us to develop effecient, fast and build on work that we published last “green” ways to make biologically inter - This year’s chemistry Olympiad took Peter Wothers, year in Science on molecular encapsula - esting molecules and modify medicines, place in Tokyo – and the GB team were David Wade, tion,’ he says. ‘We are interested in see - proteins and functionalised materials.’ awarded a rare gold medal, plus two sil - Joshua Stedman, vers and a bronze. David Edey, Ben Peter Wothers accompanied the team Pilgrim, Andrew once again. As usual, the students spent Worral and Ruth A sensor achievement time here in Cambridge practising in Franklin, plus a the labs with Mykola Karabyn and the selection of medals From the left: lab techs and going over theory papers Stephen Elliott, before heading out to Japan, under the CAPE postdoc watchful eye of Peter and fellow men - Nikos Baimedakis, tors Ben Pilgrim from Oxford and CamBridgeSens Andrew Worrall from Harrow School. project director The students – David Edey (Alcester Clemens Kaminski, Tanya Hutter, Mica Grammar School), Ruth Franklin Green and Lisa Hall (Manchester High School for Girls), from CamBridgeSens, Joshua Stedman (Abingdon School) and and chemistry David Wade (Northgate High School) – postdoc Lei Su spent 10 days in Tokyo. Ruth was the first female British student to win a gold medal – only the sixth gold won by any British student ever – and distin - guished herself by coming 8th overall. PhD student Tanya Hutter and colleagues device that incorporates all the compo - As well as the long exams and practi - won nearly £30,000 of funding in the nents needed for sensing applications. The cal sessions, they got to see something recent CamBridgeSens Network Grant device will contain all the optical, electri - of the city and Japanese culture. ‘We saw competition. CamBridgeSens is the uni - cal chemical and biological components a lot of shrines, and were even intro - versity’s EPSRC-funded network for required on a single printed circuit board duced to Prince Akishino, who’s second uniting sensor research across depart - – the optical source and detector, the opti - in line to the throne, and studied biol - ments, and the competition was open to cal waveguides, the microfluidic channels ogy at Oxford,’ Peter says. multidisciplinary teams working on the and the electronic circuitry. It will be He also reports that some of the toi - development of sensors. functionalised with sensitive receptor lets, in particular, were eye-opening. The idea of the competition is to fos - groups such as dyes, self-assembled ‘They were automatic, with sprays, ter innovative ideas for sensor research, monolayers or polymer brushes, which heated seats, and the lid even opened from the initial proof-of-concept stage selectively bind to the desired analytes. and closed automatically!’ into a strong and competitive bid for As they are so small, a large number of funds from external funding bodies. different optical sensors can be integrated Tanya’s group was awarded £28,300 for into a single chip allowing simultaneous Academic changes developing portable handheld integrated detection of different molecular species. There was good news for the chemistry department in sensors. The project is a collaboration It should be widely applicable – its func - this year’s round of academic promotions. Professorships between chemistry and the Centre for tionality can easily be adjusted simply by have ben established for Jane Clarke, Michele Advanced Photonics and Electronics substituting the reactive agents. Vendruscolo and Dominic Wright, while Matt Gaunt (CAPE) in the electrical engineering ‘We’re really delighted to have won,’ becomes a reader and Andy Wheatley a senior lecturer. department, and included Tanya’s super - says Tanya, who’s in the first year of her visor Stephen Elliott and postdoc Lei Su, PhD in Stephen Elliott’s group. ‘The In October, we’ll have a new inorganic lecturer, Erwin as well as Nikos Baimedakis, Richard money will give a real boost to our Reisner, who is joining us from Manchester. We’re also Penty and Ian White from CAPE. research, and will allow us develop the bidding farewell to Jeremy Rawson, who’s to be a The goal of the group’s project is to idea further so we can attract external professor at the University of Windsor in Canada. design and develop a portable handheld funding for the project.’

4 Chem@Cam Summer 2010 www.ch.cam.ac.uk 25 years of the ozone hole

ous idea to hold a symposium celebrat - really inspired them to do their own ing the paper’s publication. ‘It’s one of research rather than just following what Nature’s top-10 most cited papers, and they had been told,’ he says. while I don’t like to use the word About 130 people attended the meet - iconic, for that paper, it’s true,’ he says. ing, and around 50 of them went on to ‘The measurements were simple but the a dinner at St Catharine’s. ‘Brian results were stunning.’ Gardiner, who hadn’t given a talk dur - The talks covered a range of current ing the day, gave the after dinner ozone research and historical back - speech,’ Neil says. ‘He told us before - ground, and Neil reports that they hand that he’d speak for about half an proved inspirational. ‘I had a couple of hour and we were alarmed – but he was emails from young PhD students after really entertaining and we wouldn’t the event, who said the conference had have minded if he’d spoken for longer!’

Left: Joe Farman gives his lecture The seminal paper that announced the presence of the Antarctic ozone hole Right: the was published 25 years ago, and the ‘supporting cast’ department held a symposium to cele - of lecturers. brate the anniversary in May. Front row: All three of the paper’s authors – Joe Jonathan Shanklin, Farman, Brian Gardiner and Jonathan Susan Solomon, Shanklin – were in attendance, and all John Pyle; the speakers spoke about some aspect of middle row: Brian ozone research, including Nobel Gardiner, Paul prizewinner Paul Crutzen, and former Crutzen, Michael Linnett lecturer Susan Solomon, who McIntyre, Keith chaired one of the Intergovernmental Shine; back row: Panel on Climate Change’s working Jean-Pierre groups. Pommereau, The conference was organised by David Fahey, Neil Harris, John Pyle and Peter Archie McCullogh, Braesicke, and Neil says it was an obvi - Neil Harris

Facilitating chemistry research past 18 years. Her background is scien - tific – she has a PhD in the biological sciences from the Open University. She’s spent her career working in aca - demia and for research funding bodies, including three years at BBSRC as senior programme manager responsible for biochemistry, cell biology and a range of cross-council initiatives. In 2008, she moved to the National Institute for Health Research in Leeds, which manages the Department of Health’s research funding streams. While there, she was primarily respon - sible for medical and dental clinical aca - demic careers, and the institute’s research methods programme. Mark Eddleston, a PhD student in Bill The latest addition to the department’s This experience of both academia Jones’ group, tasted success in May – his academic-related staff team is Isabelle de and research funding councils will talk at the Young Crystallographers session Wouters, who joined us in June as prove invaluable in helping our aca - at the British Crystallographic Association’s research facilitator. This newly created post demics secure funding in the current meeting in Warwick was adjudged the was put in place to support the depart - difficult climate. ‘I’m really excited by best. The talk, entitled ‘Transmission ment’s research strategy, and aid academic the new challenge of working in the electron microscopy of pharmaceutical staff in identifying funding opportunities, chemistry department,’ Isabelle says. ‘I materials’, won him £100 and a bottle and developing research applications. look forward to meeting all the aca - of champagne. He’s pictured receiving Isabelle grew up in Tasmania and demic staff and discussing their his prize from Judith Shackleton of Africa, and has lived in the UK for the research interests..’ the University of Manchester

Chem@Cam Summer 2010 5 News Prizes for Cambridge chemists

We’ve got another great crop of prizes soft and biomolecular materials’. way – he’s been given a Langmuir to report this issue. First, several The third RSC winner is Clare Grey, Lectureship Award of the American Cambridge chemists are on the list of who has been awarded the John Jeyes Chemical Society. He will be giving his Royal Society of Chemistry award win - Award for her work on solid state NMR Langmuir Lecture on catalytic chemistry ners for 2010. Chris Dobson is the and functional inorganic materials. This and self-assembly on metal surfaces at recipient of the Khorana Prize for his isn’t her only recent prize – she’s also the forthcoming ACS meeting in Boston. ‘outstanding contributions to the study received the Ampere prize in recogni - Younger members of the department of the structure and properties of bio - tion of her ‘seminal contributions to the have also been recognised. Felipe Garcia logical molecules, especially proteins, elucidation of ionic conduction and has been given a Corporate Associates and their relationship to biological evo - electrode processes in batteries and fuel Junior Faculty teaching award, and lution and disease’. cells by solid state NMR’. She gave her Andreas Bender won the European Daan Frenkel was given the RSC’s Soft prize lecture for this award at the Federation for Medicinal Chemistry’s Matter and Biophysical Chemistry Award, Euromar conference, which was held in 2010 Prize for Young Medicinal Chemist for his work on ‘development and appli - Florence in July. in Academia. Andreas will be giving his cation of computational methods that A prize from the American Chemical prize lecture at the EFMC symposium in have transformed our understanding of Society is heading Richard Lambert’s Brussels in September.

The 14 August issue of the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Chemist – and Physics features Graeme Day’s chemistry on the cover. He was invited to submit a paper to this themed issue of the journal on solid state and cluster structure prediction, and he wrote up the biochemist! results of an informal blind test for the issue. A list of the past decade’s top-20 most ‘One of the big challenges that we are working on in our group cited biochemists in the Times Higher is the development computational methods for predicting the Educational Supplement contained a crystal structures of molecules,’ Graeme explains. ‘We do a lot of familiar name – Chris Dobson. method validation on molecules where the crystal structure is known in advance and then make claims that we can predict Chris is number 11 on this list, but structures in advance of experiment. So we have to give ourselves on another list of biochemistry cita - a real test every so often to keep ourselves honest.’ tions, with the data counted and Graeme was speaking with crystallographer Carl Henrik Görbitz analysed in a different way, he’s second, about what they are doing in this area, and Görbitz offered him behind Dundee’s Philip Cohen. some unpublished crystal structures as a challenge. ‘He told me What makes this achievement even the molecules, but kept their crystal structures under wraps, and more remarkable is the fact that Chris then I came back with my predicted crystal structures,’ he says. ‘These are some of the most challenging systems that have been actually publishes most of his science in studied to date using crystal structure prediction methods, so I was non-biochemistry journals. As a result thrilled when the predictions for two of the three crystal these rankings are based on less than structures were spot on. The third structure was pretty close as half of his papers. well, so these results really prove that the predictions work.’ The Corporate Associates Scheme Arecor Thanks to the generosity of the depart - I Access to emerging Cambridge F. Hoffmann-La Roche Astex Therapeutics ment’s Corporate Associates, we have research via conferences, special brief - GlaxoSmithKline been able to benefit the education and ings and various publications; AstraZeneca environment for students and staff. For I Access to the department library Heptares Therapeutics AstraZeneca Cambridge – example, the Associates make significant and photocopying/printing facilities; IDBS Medimmune contributions to the library for journal I Regular communications about subscriptions. Moreover, they provide upcoming events and colloquia; Illumina Asynt exam prizes, faculty teaching awards I Subscriptions to department publi - Johnson Matthey Catalysts Biotica Technology and summer studentships, and have cations, including Chem@Cam; recently funded the refurbishment of a I Priority notification of and free Maruzen International Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma state-of-the-art meeting room with tele - access to departmental research lectures; I Merck, Sharp & Dohme BP conferencing and display facilities. Ability to hold ‘Welcome Stalls’ in Research Laboratories BP Institute Corporate Associate membership not the department entrance hall; only provides essential support for the I Preferential conference rates; Novartis Bristol-Myers Squibb I department, but also provides numer - Free access to the teaching lectures Pfizer Cambridge Biotechnology ous benefits to help members work with held within the department; us and achieve their business objectives. I The full services of the Corporate Procter & Gamble Cambridge Display Technology Members enjoy many benefits through Relations team to facilitate interaction Royal Society of Chemistry Cambridge Medical Innovations their enhanced partnership with the with students, staff, and other parts of department, such as: the University of Cambridge to help Sigma-Aldrich CambridgeSoft I Visibility within the department; achieve your corporate objectives. Chemical Computing Group I A dedicated meeting room and If your organisation would be inter - Society for Chemical Industry Cornelius Specialties office for members to use while visiting ested in joining the Corporate Associates Takeda Cambridge the department; Scheme, then please email Jane Snaith at Dr Reddy’s Custom I Invitations to recognition days and [email protected], or call Unilever Pharmaceutical Services networking events at the department; 01223 336537. Uniqsis

6 Chem@Cam Summer 2010 www.ch.cam.ac.uk

the new structure will help with this, and with staff development at all levels. A new department strategy We have already reorganised our sup - port staff, with Andy Middleton in charge Recently, there have been significant of the buildings, Marita Walsh heading up changes in the way research funding is Big changes are ahead in the way the support staff, and the creation of Tim allocated, and the information demanded Cambridge chemistry is organised, Dickens’ role as head of IT, which has had of us by the university, research councils a huge impact. This has enabled us to take and even industrial companies has explains head of department Bill Jones better care of our support staff in terms of changed, making it increasingly complex how we train them, and make it possible to meet their demands. A couple of years for them to move into new areas as sci - ago, it became clear that the way that we ence develops and priorities change. We were structured as a department was are also focusing on how IT can improve proving a hindrance, and we began to the way we communicate, and are soon to look at what we should be doing differ - launch a more helpful website. ently. Planning ahead in terms of research As of October, the sector heads will be was clearly an important part of this, but replaced by a senior management team by no means the only factor – we also which will, in effect, be the department’s wanted to look at how we supported staff executive body under the head of depart - development, whether academic, aca - ment. Below this will be five new commit - demic-relatedor support staff, and tees, whose heads will be members of the encourage our people to get to know each SMT. The new committees are research other and their fields of expertise better. strategy, led by Steve Ley; teaching, which Two groups were set up, one to look at will continue under director of teaching research strategy, chaired by Steve Ley, and want to look at other areas such as sustain - James Keeler; David Wales will lead the the other, which I chaired, to look at ability if the government and research resources and support committee; staff departmental strategy. On the research councils believe that is a future priority. management, chaired by Jane Clarke; and side, with several recent senior professo - The new structure will make this easier David Klenerman will head the safety com - rial appointments and several retiring in for us to prepare for and respond to calls mittee. All other department committees, the next few years, we had the opportu - for funding. such as library, IT, buildings and finance, nity to think about the areas of science we An important advantage of the new will report to one of these committees. We want to focus on going forward. At that groups will be that they will help the hope to make it much easier to identify time, we had just appointed John Pyle to department prepare bids when initiatives individuals who will take responsibility for the 1920 Chair of Physical Chemistry, come up in that area. So, for example, any issues that might come up. So if we reinforcing our commitment to atmos - Clare Grey might take the lead on an needed information about research output, pheric science as a research theme, and EPSRC call on energy, and she would have say, it would be the research strategy com - Daan Frenkel to the theoretical chair, so a much better idea of who was working mittee’s responsibility. there was a focus on computational mate - in relevant areas as they would be part of rials and soft matter. More recently, the the same interest group, rather than being SCIENTIFIC LINKS appointment of Clare Grey to the Geoffrey spread across sectors. We have worked closely with the School Moorhouse Gibson Chair emphasised the Some people might sit in more than of Physical Sciences and its strategic importance of energy research. one interest group – some will have inter - research plan. It is important that our ests in both materials and computational research overlaps as much as possible with CORE CHEMISTRY analysis. for example, and some of our theirs – all academic appointments in the Most of our chemistry now falls into one synthetic chemists clearly will also be department now have to link in with the (or more) of five core areas: chemical important in developing new materials. school’s plan in some way. That way, there synthesis, computational and informatics, Another new initiative involves cross- won’t be lecturers isolated in one depart - materials, atmospheric, and biological departmental academic teams. These ment; rather, further links will be built chemistry. It became clear to us that groups of eight to 10 staff would not nec - across different scientific disciplines. In chemistry is moving away from the tradi - essarily be linked by common research the coming few years when resources will tional concept of sectors, and while the interests, but would include a spread of be stretched having these joined-up activ - familiar demarcations of chemistry – subject and seniority. One of our concerns ities will be to our advantage. organic, inorganic, physical, theoretical – was that, with about 45 tenured academic Ultimately, the aim is that the head of will remain important for teaching pur - staff, and an additional 15 or so non- department will have time to think more poses and ensuring a good interface with tenured PIs, a lot of our colleagues do not strategically, rather than being snowed school chemistry, they do not really know each other that well. The idea was under by day-to-day paperwork that describe modern chemistry research as that if we had academic teams that weren’t would be better dealt with elsewhere. And there is so much blurring at the edges. focused on research, it would be a way of given the likely significant government This distinction is particularly important making sure people mix more. Making cuts we are likely to face in coming years as far as the research councils’ activities links across different disciplines could be – 20 to25% would not be unexpected – are concerned – they will put out a call important in sparking future creativity. the department and whoever succeeds me for, say, chemical biology, but without a We also felt that as we’re such a big as its head next year, will be much better chemical biology sector, we found it hard department, with 150-200 postdocs, 280 placed to respond with the new structure, to create a coordinated response. This PhD students and 110 support staff, issues as there will be a much clearer picture of could lead to future funding opportuni - like staff development and career progres - where our priorities lie. ties being lost. sion are another issue. And because we’re I have enjoyed my time as head of So, from October, the old sectors will so big there is an impression that we are department, and the process of reviewing be replaced by five research interest not ‘friendly’. Chem@Cam does a great how we move forward. I have had a lot of groups. This does not mean there will job of telling people what w’re doing, but assistance from my colleagues over these always be five – there is no reason we can - do we have a welcoming atmosphere for past two years or so, and there is a general not add further groups in future as chem - new people coming in? We want to enc - feeling of optimism and support to make istry develops. For example, we might ourage them and retain them. We believe the new structure work.

Chem@Cam Summer 2010 7 News Inorganic synthesis: not Inorganic synthesis can be notoriously unpredictable. Dominic Wright methods for the doping of bulk and molecularly constrained titanium oxide. is trying to create inorganic structures in a more predictable way ‘It all came out of a conversation Richard and I had in the teaching lab four or five years ago,’ he says. ‘He was wondering whether it would be possi - ble to make large amounts of titanium dioxide doped with nitrogen, to make low band-gap semiconductors.’ TiO 2 is interesting as it’s a very cheap Figure 1 (below material – it’s the main white pigment left: Structure of the host-guest in paint for many different applications compound [{P( μ- – but it also has the ability to destroy t – N Bu)} 2(μ-NH)] 5I , pollutants. ‘If you excite the electrons viewed from the from the valence to the conduction side of the band, provided the recombination rate molecule. The I – is not too great, you can get migration anion is H-bonded of the resulting holes and electrons to to the five N-H the surface of bulk TiO 2, where they can bridges in the ring oxidise and reduce organic molecules t t i on the surface.’ However, Dom says, the P

Figure 2 (below): n a Structure of a big problem is that only about 5% or so h t a ‘doped’ Ti 7Co cage of the light energy at sea level is avail - N

: s able to do this, as it’s a UV process with o t o a reasonably large gap between the h P conduction and valence bands, so by In organic chemistry, it’s the norm to be because of the dominance of single doping it in a conventional way able to design a synthesis and have a fair bonding between the atoms over extrinsically with nitrogen, you idea what you’re going to make. For double bonds. It’s very difficult can lower the band gap. inorganic chemistry, particularly of the to do!’ This makes the TiO 2 active main group elements like phosphorus, These difficulties aside, the with visible light. sulfur and nitrogen, it’s often less easy to peculiarities of inorganic struc - In the past, the prob - predict what you’re going to get. ture can work to your advan - lem with these sorts of Dominic Wright is trying to change that. tage, he says. ‘For example, if approaches was that ‘We can make quite complex inor - you take simple dimers of the making an active ganic macrocyclic systems, for example, type [XP( –NR)] 2,where X is a material very much in a planned way, rather than just boiling leaving group and R an organic group, depended on the synthetic a mixture up to see what happens, which it turns out these are really good pre - process,’ he says. ‘We’ve devel - is the more stereotypical inorganic cursors for making macrocycles because oped a very simple approach approach!’ he says. These new inorganic the cis forms of these rings are more where you could, in theory, make kilos macrocyclic systems are analogous to stable than the trans. So, in a sense, they of the material. We’ve already made hun - organic structures such as crown ethers, pre-organise to cyclise rather than poly - dreds of grams of it, and not only is it calixarenes and porphyrins. merise.’ Various macrocycles, such as ‘These organic molecules are made the pentameric host-guest complex Born: Gosport; moved to Cumbernauld in Scotland at t – t using metal or anion templates, which [{P(µ-N Bu)} 2(µ-NH)] 5I shown in h the age of 10. g

enables the size and shape of the ring figure 1, can be produced with different i

r Education: Studied chemistry at Strathclyde University, system to be fixed,’ he says. anion binding capabilities.

W then moved to Cambridge in 1986 for a PhD with Ron ‘But to make inorganic ‘The pattern of chemistry Snaith on battery materials, funded by Octel. c macrocycles, it’s a little follows quite closely what i

n Career: After two years as a college research fellow at more complicated as there you’d see in organic chem - i Gonville & Caius, he was appointed lecturer in 1991, are other issues to con - istry,’ Dom says. ‘By putting m sider. These incl - different templating agents o reader in 2002, and in October will be made Professor. ude variable oxi - into the reaction, such as dif - D Status: His wife Carol is an English graduate – ‘Like dation states, sensi - ferent metals and most of my family, she’s on the artsy side!’ tivity, and size mis - anions, you can deter - Interests: Swimming and growing vegetables on his match between orbitals. mine the size of macrocy - V allotment Generally, the bonds are cle that is formed. Even C Did you know? He’s the odd one out in an arty weaker and more ionic, so they are without a template, unusually, just one family, with one brother a violin maker, another a folk more reactive. So when you’re trying to type of macrocycle is made, in pretty musician, and his brother Richard is the artist who establish a precise molecular arrange - much 100% yield, because of this pre- won this year’s Turner Prize. ‘The awards evening was ment, it is more difficult as the mole - organisation. So there are no extraction or a great night out – an alternative reality!’ he says. He cules are more flexible, and more likely separation problems.’ has a few other family connections to the arts – his to break open and react, rather than Another research area, funded by great-uncle was the actor and playwright Arnold remaining in the ring structure. In par - EPSRC on a joint grant with Richard Ridley, better known as Private Godfrey in Dad’s Army, ticular, they are prone to polymerisation Lambert, is applying simple inorganic and his great aunt the actress Patricia Hayes.

8 Chem@Cam Summer 2010 Research

– although N–N bonds are short (about 1.45Å) they are weak as a result of lone- pair repulsion (about 167kJmol -1 ). In such a black art? contrast, the P–P bond is about 2.1Å, but considerably stronger (about active, it’s also very cheap and easy to 201kJmol -1 ) because of the lower lone synthesise – it’s relatively trivial chem - pair repulsion. istry, reacting titanium chloride with ‘We’ve found that if you make metal water and ammonia in a round-bot - compounds containing RP 2- they are tomed flask.’ thermodynamically unstable compared However, where it starts to get more to phosphorus-phosphorus bonds and interesting is if, instead of looking at the metals themselves,’ he says. ‘For bulk samples of TiO 2, you look at doped example, the heterometallic cage molecular fragments of Ti xOy. ‘Various metals. Potential applications include Scheme 1 (above): [{Sb(PCy) 3}2Li 6.(Me 2NH) 6] decom - people have made titanium-oxygen making hybrid materials, but it’s also Typical decompo- poses into the cyclic phosphane [PCy] 4 sition of phosphin- cages of this type containing up to 18 possible to hydrolyse the cages them - and the Zintl compound [Sb 7Li 3] at titanium atoms, which are essentially lit - selves, and so use them to deliver a given idene complexes 30°C, as shown in Scheme 1. tle chunks of titanium dioxide with a lig - amount of transition metal within a tita - into P-P bonded This new type of reaction can be har - products and and periphery around them,’ he says. nium oxide dispersion, which again metal phases nessed in two ways. First, the phos - ‘These can be used as building blocks for could have applications in photovoltaics.’ phinidene compounds can be used as hybrid materials, by cross-linking them An example of such a transition metal single-source materials that decompose to each other with organic linkers, either doped cage is shown in figure 4. He’s from solution into the metals or alloys. with or without conjugation. These have collaborating with Andy Wheatley in the They can be sprayed onto a hot surface, the effect of sterically trapping or encas - department on this, and while it’s still whereupon they decompose directly ing these titanium dioxide units, so they early days he says it’s looking promis - from solution into the metal phase, can be used in photovoltaics and other ing. ‘If you hydrolyse these cages in the with the P-P bonded byproducts being light-activated processes.’ presence of a reducing agent, you get Figure 3 (below): pumped off. Alloy or metal films have In particular, he says, if you can the metal itself trapped within the tita - a ferrocene- broad-ranging applications in the elec - develop methods to dope these cages nium dioxide, either atomically or in substituted tronics industry in a host of devices, with other metals or non-metals, in a the form of a nanoparticle. That could cyclophosphane such as photomultipliers like those used manner analogous to bulk TiO 2, then be used for catalysis.’ as one of the major components in the you could use these new molecules as lit - Another project involves applying Hubble telescope. Indeed, this tech - tle ‘engines’ for photochemical reactions. main group elements in catalytic bond nology has been patented in ‘In an organic medium, it might be pos - formation. ‘Initially, we’re looking at collaboration with Electron sible to use sunlight to drive some types dehydrocoupling in which two P–H Industries for light-detecting of oxidation and reduction reactions,’ bonds to give P–P plus hydrogen,’ photomultipliers. Dom speculates. ‘This could be very he says. However, ‘This also has the Phosphorus–phosphorus interesting in a practical sense, as well as potential to be applied to the forma - bonded products are also of inter - from the purist inorganic point of view. tion of other bonds, both est in their own right, however. For ‘One obvious idea is to dope the tran - homoatomic such as Si–Si or example, strained cyclophosphane ring sition metal, which absorbs in the visible C–C, and heteroatomic bonds compounds like the unusual fer - spectrum, and use d –d transitions to such as C–P and B–N. rocene-substituted compound in fig - mediate the formation of holes and elec - The starting point in these studies was ure 3 are potential precursors for ring- trons within the material of the cage a series of p-block metal phosphinidene opening polymerisation into novel P –P itself. We’ve made a series of these new com pounds, which contain RP 2- ligands. bonded polymers. Notably, this com - types of compounds now, using transi - Nitrogen analogues containing RN 2- , pound cannot be made in any other tion metals right across the spectrum of doubly deprotonated amines, are stable way than via dehydrocoupling of the phosphine FcPH 2, where Fc is fer - rocene, using a series of main group reagents developed in his group. ‘There’s a lot of interest in making unusual types of polymers, such as boron–nitrogen or phosphorus–car - bon,’ he says. ‘Wherever there’s a ther - modynamically stable bond that can be formed, there’s potentially a precursor molecule that could be made to engi - neer the formation of that bond in a thermodynamic way. The aim in the future is to develop a general methodol - ogy for the synthesis of a whole range of bonding types.’ The greatest challenges in inorganic chemistry, he believes, are the develop - ment of new synthetic methodologies capable of providing the sort of control that organic chemists take for granted in their systems, and the use of control - lable methodologies in the building of large-scale inorganic macromolecular Francesca Stokes, Vesal Naseri, Robert Less, Salvador Eslava, Dominic, Silvia Gonzalez Calera and Rebecca Melen and structures.

Chem@Cam Summer 2010 9 Science t t i P n a h t a Protein folding: a N

: o t o h P case of simulation

Protein molecules fold up very precisely into complex tertiary structures, but what happens during the folding process? Robert Best is simulating what takes place

extent, I’m now mostly using atomistic sampling methods. It’s essentially solv - models, which is a lot more challenging, ing Newton’s equations of motion with but should also be a lot more accurate.’ an empirically parameterised energy Proteins are strings of amino acids, function.’ and while on paper they look long and He’s just starting to look at proteins thin, in practice they fold up into very whose normal state is unfolded, but precise tertiary structures. When protein when they bind to a target in the body folding in the body goes wrong, the they then fold up. ‘There are many result is often disease, from cancer to examples of these intrinsically un- Alzheimer’s. So being able to predict structured proteins,’ Robert expl ains. how a protein will fold – and misfold – ‘They are often in different environments can give inv ol ved in sig - Right: the protein South African native Robert Best first important insights into their activity nalling, where villin in both its arrived in Cambridge more than a and what happens when the folding “messages” are unfolded (above) decade ago for a PhD with Jane Clarke. process fails. passed bet ween and folded forms While his PhD on protein folding was Coarse grain models make the different processes in experimental-based, during his two simulations easier because they biological cells, for exam - postdocs and now as a Royal Society reduce the number of variables ple in regulation of transcrip - university research fellow, he gradually involved in the calculations. A tion. Because of their role in sig - moved away from the lab, and now is more accurate picture nalling, they are potential targets for firmly based in the world of computer can be obtained if all drugs to treat diseases like cancer. The simulations. the atoms are improvements we have made in the ‘In my PhD, I was using an atomic included, but the energy functions used in the calcula - force microscope to unfold proteins by calculations instantly tions should allow us to better address pulling on them, which gave an alterna - get much more diffi - this type of problem.’ tive picture of the energy landscape to cult – every atom This combination of simulations more traditional methods,’ he says. ‘I that is added increases and experimental data gives a good then moved on to doing structure calcu - the level of complexity, and picture of what is happening when a lations, representing the protein as an of course there are very many atoms in protein folds. ensemble of different structures, rather a protein. Even the simplest amino acid ‘Most of the time, a protein sits in a than just a single static structure. In my in a protein – glycine – contains eight stable state, whether that’s folded or postdoc at NIH I used coarse grain mod - atoms, and many of them contain 15 or unfolded, and its els to try and interpret some of the more atoms. Multiply this by the large properties can be experiments we’d been doing. Although number of amino acids in a pro - measured using I still use coarse grain models to some tein, and the number of atoms techniques like rapidly becomes enormous, NMR,’ he says. ‘But

t Born: Cape Town and the calculations to sim - in an experiment, it’s s

e Status: Single ulate how they might fold very difficult to

B are rendered extremely look at the precise

t Education: Degree in chemistry at the University of complicated. mechanism of r Cape Town, then moved to Cambridge for a PhD with e ‘A lot of the proteins how the protein b Jane Clarke in 2000 we look at are chosen goes from one sta - o

R Career: After a six-month postdoc here with Michele because they are suffi - ble state to another Vendruscolo, he spent three-and-a-half years on a ciently small to make – from unfolded to second postdoc at the NIH in Bethesda, MD, US. He the calculations a little folded – as it doesn’t more manageable,’ he says. spend long enough at the different

V returned to Cambridge in October 2007 as a Royal

C Society University Research Fellow. ‘Typically they have about 35 amino points along the folding pathway. acids, so they’re barely even long enough ‘There are indirect experimental Interests: Rowing – something he started doing to class as proteins. But this makes the techniques that use kinetic information during his PhD – and sleeping! calculations practical, both from the to give some insights, such as the ␾- Did you know? Coming as he does from a city that’s point of view of sampling configuration value analysis developed by Alan Fersht. dominated by a mountain, he was inspired a few space and how rapidly you can run a But, apart from single molecule meth - years ago to go trekking in the Himalayas. He plans to simulation of that size. ods, most experiments measure an return – but claims he probably won’t make it quite as ‘The computer programme runs ensemble average, whereas simulations high as the summit of Everest… classical dynamic simulations, with can give an insight into the reaction some additional techniques to enhance mechanisms between the stable states.’

10 Chem@Cam Summer 2010 www.ch.cam.ac.uk Pharma property predictions

cule might have a carboxylic acid, an Andreas Bender is exploring how past experiments can inform aromatic ring and a hydrogen bond the future design of active molecules – as he explains to donor a certain distance away from the aromatic ring. We take these combina - Sarah Houlton, there’s a huge amount of data to mine tions of features, put them into statisti - cal models, and these models predict Scientific research creates data, and which combinations are most likely to often huge amounts of it. And this poses be active, or cause side-effects, based on a challenge for scientists – how can data previous knowledge. In this example, it from many different experiments and also recognises the distance to the aro - projects be exploited to inform future matic ring.’ science? Andreas Bender is trying to do The model is also trained to learn just this in his work predicting the which features are more important, and properties of molecules in the life sci - weight them all accordingly. ‘The ence field. ChEMBL database used to be commer - ‘In recent years, the genomes of cial before it was handed over to the many different organisms have been European Bioinformatics Institute at sequenced, and those biological data Hinxton, and it contains a large amount have always been public,’ he says. ‘In of useful information about molecules chemistry, this really wasn’t the case. and drug targets,’ he says. ‘It has close to Pharmaceutical companies test mole - a million data points in it, but we can cules against proteins to see how they train our model using those data points interact, but this kind of data about bio - in a couple of hours. If we put a new logical activity was always proprietary, molecule into our model, it will go and remained within the companies’ through all those different proteins, and own databases. But in the past five years tell you which the molecule is most or so, these data have started to become likely to bind to, based on real-world x o c public, with databases like PubChem in experimental data.’ n a

H the US, and ChEMBL in Europe contain - e n BINDING PREDICTIONS i ing millions of compounds whose l o r structures are connected to bioactivity A long-term aim is to connect different a C

: data. That’s a lot of knowledge!’ ‘layers’ of data to get a bigger picture. o t o ‘Right now, databases like ChEMBL con - h P MINING KNOWLEDGE nect molecules and proteins, and others This knowledge of what type of mole - ‘There were even drugs that had to be connect proteins and biological path - cules inhibit a particular enzyme, for withdrawn from the market because of ways,’ he says. ‘Pathways can then be example, can be used to design better this side-effect,’ Andreas says. ‘It turned linked to phenotypes, or observable molecules in the future, he explains. out that they looked very similar to characteristics in humans, but this is ‘Essentially, we mine these databases for known inhibitors of hERG. So we can currently the weakest link. ideas. Say a new biological target is dis - build computer models that tell you if a ‘Going forward, we want to be able covered that might be useful in medi - molecule looks like known inhibitors, to predict which molecule binds to cine, but no molecules are known that and warn you to take care. If you can which target, which pathway this alters, bind to that receptor. How could we use predict early on that a compound might and then what phenotype this gives. existing knowledge as a starting point? cause problems, it will save a lot of time This might also help in predicting path - ‘We can go into the databases and and money later on.’ ways that might cause side-effects – you look for receptors with a similar shaped This work is all built on chemoinfor - know which chemical features cause binding pocket. Might molecules that matics software tools that enable statis - the side-effect, and the adverse reaction bind to the receptors we find also bind tical models to be created around at the end, so by looking between the to the new one? So the idea is to exploit chemical features. ‘These fingerprints two it could be possible to find which previous knowledge to design bioactive describe parts of the chemical struc - targets and which pathways contribute compounds more easily than before. Of ture,’ he says. ‘As an example, a mole - to that adverse reaction.’ course it doesn’t work in every case, but it’s better than random – and twice as Born: West Berlin – the wall came down when research career began as an assistant professor good as random is already an improve - r e he was 16 at the University of Leiden in 2008, and he

ment as you save 50% of resources!’ d

Another focus of his research n Education: Studied chemistry at the Technical returned to Cambridge as a lecturer in the involves finding ways of predicting the e University of Berlin, followed by a year as an Unilever Centre this May. B properties of molecules. Many proteins exchange student at Trinity College Dublin and s Interests: Spending time in the pub, and

a a summer working in a chemoinformatics start- in the body are associated with adverse shopping. However, unusually for a German, e up company near Berlin. After a masters drug reactions. A good example is the r he’s not a big fan of Pilsner – he has developed hERG potassium channel, which can d degree at the University of Frankfurt, he came n a deep and abiding love of real ale cause cardiac side-effects when it’s to Cambridge in 2002 for a PhD with Bobby A inadvertently activated. Medicinal Glen on molecular similarity. Did you know? He teaches in a private chemists now try to design compounds Career: In 2006, he moved to Novartis in the bioinformatics institute in Bangalore every that don’t activate it, and looking at US for an industrial postdoc in their lead summer, and his time in India has made him molecules that are known hERG chan - V

C discovery informatics group. His independent an expert in the essential skill of haggling. nel activators is a good starting point.

Chem@Cam Summer 2010 11 Science day The flash side of chemistry!

Our annual open day gives schoolkids the chance to find out that chemistry can be fun. Nathan Pitt and Caroline Hancox took the photos of this year’s event

This year’s chemistry department open and a few new ideas among the experi - day in March was another resounding ments. These included extracting DNA, success, with hundreds of schoolchildren the incredible erupting and dry ice volca - and their parents visiting the department noes, lava lamps and rainbow water, to find out more about chemistry. shiny pennies and zinc plated coins, dis - Peter Wothers’ demonstration was even appearing coffee cups and liquid nitro - more dramatic than usual this year. gen icecream, making nylon and, of Entitled ‘Burning issues – flame and fire’, course, those old favourite messy ones, it looked at the process of combustion, blue goo and the cornflour slime tank. and as you’ll see from the photos offered Thanks to the organisers, led this year plenty of opportunity for flashes and by James Keeler and Emma Graham, and flames. Particularly impressive was the 80 of course Eric and Katharina Walters, foot long tube filled with hydrogen and without whose generous financial sup - oxygen hanging from the ceiling of the port the day would not be able to hap - BMS lecture theatre! pen. And finally, thanks to all the students As well as a display from the Nano- and postdocs who supervised and ran the science Centre, there was the usual array experiments, and the teaching techni - of chemistry experiments for the kids to cians for their help with all the activities, try. There were plenty of old favourites and making Peter’s lecture possible.

12 Chem@Cam Summer 2008 www.ch.cam.ac.uk

Chem@Cam Summer 2008 13 Alumni Reminiscences of 1960s colloid science

That’s my father!

Dear Chem@Cam, I recognised the person second from left on the front row of the 1961 Colloid Science department photo as my father, Dr John Chipperfield. He went on to become a lecturer in inorganic chem - istry at the University of Hull. Sadly, he died a couple of years ago. However, my mother recognises the person on his left as Denis Haydon. She also spotted the person third from the right on the front row as John Kernohan. He became a lecturer at Dundee University and is still living there in retirement. The person on the left end of the second row is Ian Saggers. I followed in my father’s footsteps and did my degree and PhD in Chemistry at Cambridge (1984 –1990). Dr Ann K. Keep [email protected]

A handful of names

Dear Editor I was interested to see the 1961 depart - mental photograph of the department Gentlepersons: Prof. Lennard Jones (whom the students of Colloid Science, and to see old faces. I was pleased to find the article ‘Colloid believed had great potential) and Fred I did my PhD there under Paley Johnson science – 1960s style’ in your Spring Hoyle, who was in the midst of contro - from 1957 to 1960. I find I still remem - Newsletter. This revived good memories versy about his concept of a steady-state ber some faces. The ones I remember of my postdoctoral year at Colloid universe. This was balanced by great and can name are: Science in 1949-50. philosophy with Bertrand Russell, with Counting from the left, number 5 on I recognized a few of the people in whom the small group of American stu - the back row, the name has gone but he the 1960 photo including Len Saggers, dents enjoyed having as a guest for a was an assistant to Paley Johnson; he ran who was a great help with my research Thanksgiving dinner. the (Beckman) ultracentrifuge. equipment and the Head, Prof. F.J.W. Britain was still recovering from First on the middle row is Len Roughton. However, many of my con - WWII, and life was a bit austere, but the Saggers who ran the machine shop, temporaries had left including my cool digs that the hundredweight a number 5 is Sara Suchet from research advisor, Prof. G.B.B.M. month coal ration allowed were a benefit Argentina; she went to Princeton, New Sutherland (who some jokingly called in that it encouraged me to spend more Jersey for postdoc, and then got a job, I ‘Gordon Boom Boom’), who was a pio - extended hours in the centrally heated think in Buffalo, New York. Number 11 neer in infrared spectroscopy and the laboratory which was much warmer. is Cyril Smith, who I think was a glass - use of infrared polarization. Equipment was primitive by today’s blower. He distinguished himself by Several of my colleagues included standards, and I recall, the rescue ses - blowing out the wall of the glass blow - Tom Robinson, an able technician, who sion for the rock salt optics of our ing room by exploding toluene while subsequently married postdoctoral fel - infrared spectrometer when the base - making a toluene regulator. low Britta Davidson, from Sweden ment laboratory became flooded. On the front row, number 4 is lec - whom we visited at a later trip there. However, for a spoiled American, this turer Paley Johnson, 5 is Prof Roughton, Also, there was Norman Sheppard, was a good experience since it prepared 6 is Ron Ottewill, whom I think was a Leonard Bovey, Alister Valence-Jones me for the early days at the University reader and went to Bristol, 7 is an Irish from New Zealand (who subsequently of Massachusetts in Amherst which was man whose name I forget – it might moved to Canada, and with whom I also somewhat ausere in that it was then have been Callaghan – and number 8 is went hiking in Switzerland, and the late small and had just become a university, Arthur Rowe, a contemporary of mine. Maurice D’Hont from Belgium, with having been an agricultural school. He went to Leicester. whom I went youth hostelling through - Also, considering the energy-starved I had already left, and was doing a out England and Scotland. future that many predict, it offered the postdoc at Princeton under Jacques Maurice, after a stay in the US, reassurance that life can be enjoyable, Fresco in 1961. Later, I went to the bio - became director of the chemical divi - even under austere conditions. physics department at King’s College sion of the Belgian Atomic Energy Sincerely London. Commission, where I visited him in Mol Richard S. (Dick) Stein I hope this helps. and enjoyed swimming in the warm Goessmann Professor of Chemistry, Yours sincerely cooling water from the nuclear reactor. Emeritus Ted Richards We had lectures by illustrious British University of Massachusetts, 2 Peckarmans Wood, London SE26 scientists like Paul Dirac, Max Perutz, Amherst, US [email protected]

14 Chem@Cam Summer 2010 Chat lines The early days in Lensfield Yusuf Hamied (left) and Brian Tyler (right) pose in their new Lensfield Road lab

Dear Editor ered irresponsible and alarming). We These photos were taken in the UG labs brewed coffee in the lab and Mike at Lensfield Road in 1956. At the time I would turn up about 10am with some was in my final year at Christ’s with pastries to go with the coffee I had been Yusuf Hamied and David Bronnert. The instructed to have brewed about then. photo on the left shows a very young He smoked a pipe and would wander Yusuf . In both cases, in the background over to my bench to chat, throwing his is Mike Burnett (Pembroke I think). The spent match into my bin which often photos show the typical light approach contained ether soaked cotton wool to safety of that time, as I was the only (from cleaning the Apiezon grease from one with safety glasses on! the taps of my vacuum system). A ball of Mike and I both did PhDs with Sandy flame would rise towards the ceiling. Ashmore, sharing a lab on the mezza - But no one came to harm. nine floor of the new labs overlooking Regards the car park. We had some amusing Brian Tyler times there (they would now be consid - S&T Consultants, Handforth, Cheshire

Dear Editor an interest I was given a handful of graph, I was just able to regain a straight Recent comments about Ernie Cox, the leaflets to read. A few days later, after face as Her Royal Highness entered physical chemistry storekeeper in the careful study and some discussions with through a haze of smoke, followed by 1950s and 60s, reminded me how the Ernie about the Society, I broached the the departmental professors. Christadelphian Society played an impor - subject of glass tubing, and was allowed Yours sincerely tant role in the interpretation of the rota - to enter the sanctum of the storeroom Dennis Jenkins, demonstrator, physical tional spectrum of chlorine dioxide. with my verniers, and go through the chemistry 1959–64 This spectrum, lying in the stock of glass. Manor House, Littleton, Chester microwave region, was one of the stud - The thermal diffusion column which [email protected] ies in the theses of myself and J.G. Baker we subsequently built enriched the HCl under Morris Sugden. The spectrum is isotope ratio from 3:1 to 10:1, and unusually complex because of the inter - allowed the two chlorine dioxide spec - action of electron spin and nuclear tra to be identified, and eventually led quadrupole moments with the rota - to the full analysis of both. tional energy levels leading to a wide Another recollection of that time is splitting of each rational transition into the near-panic caused by John up to 14 components. This, together Goodings during the laboratory’s open - with the two abundant chlorine iso - ing day. After the official opening per - topes, gave a profusion of lines which formed by HRH Princess Margaret, a defied analysis. tour of the laboratory took place. John, Our best hope of making progress Roger Kewley and I were standing by seemed to be to identify the spectra of our microwave spectrometers in the lab, the two isotopes, and we decided to next to the lift on the second floor of prepare chlorine dioxide from HCl, physical chemistry, when the word enriched in a thermal diffusion col - came that she was coming. We hastily umn. The only problem with this idea put out our cigarettes – in those days, was that the thermal diffusion apparatus almost everyone smoked – and John required many long lengths of uniform dropped his in the waste paper bin by bore glass tubing, and we knew that any the door. A few moments later, clouds of request for Ernie to sort through his smoke emerged from the bin, just as the huge stock of glass would be met with procession reached the door. In the lead his famous blank stare and thin smile was the Lord Lieutenant of which he reserved for ridiculous Cambridgeshire who, sizing up the sit - requests. uation, drew his ceremonial sword and The breakthrough came when I gave the contents of the bin a thorough noticed on his desk a pamphlet on the stirring. Amazingly, this put the fire out Christadelphian Society, and expressing and, as you can see from the photo -

Chem@Cam Summer 2010 15 Alumni

assistants were Woodcock and Cyril Smith A picture from Pembroke Street (glassblowing). A.R. Gilson was the labo - From the left: Jeff ratory manager and also designed many Watkins, Bob useful pieces of laboratory apparatus. Sheppard, Bal I remember lectures from Robert Joshi, George Woodward and Carl Djerassi on their Miller, John Wren, recent work. I attended the series of lec - R. Basil Johns, Neil Hughes, Colin tures by Professor Todd on vitamins and Reese, Ken Carroll, hormones. Professor Dorothy Hodgkin Ken Hayes, Bill used to come to the laboratory to discuss Hanger (Taken the collaborative work on vitamin B12. after George Professor Todd gave me the problem of Miller’s prank in structure determination of the aphid pig - the lab) ments. Bert Holmes would scout on his bicycle and let us know when the willow trees and the pea farms were infested with aphids. The team on the aphid prob - lem consisted of Alan Calderbank, Ben Brown, Jeff Watkins and R.I.T. Cromartie. Dear Editor: Langemann, Andre Giddey (Switzerland), The only instruments then available in The recent issue of chem@cam (Summer Miha Tišler (Yugoslavia), Laslo Szabo the laboratory were UV and IR spectrom - 2009) brings back to me memories half (Hungary), G. Baluja (Spain), Françoise eters and a polarimeter. I spent consider - a century ago when I came up to King’s Baron (France), Brian and Dorothy able time in determining the number of (1953) on a scholarship from the Armitage, Ronald Breslow, Murray C-methyl groups in erythroaphins by Bombay University. Then the Chemistry Goodman, Jay Kochi (USA), Ken Carroll Kuhn-Roth estimation. building was located on Pembroke Street (Canada), F. Feigl (Brazil), Kenneth Hays When I left Cambridge to work with till I left in 1955. (South Africa), Jack Cannon, David Professor Morris Kharasch at the My downstairs laboratory housed over Magrath, Jeff C. Watkins (later FRS) University of Chicago in 1956, the struc - 30 doctoral students and postdoctoral fel - (Australia), Peter Grant, W. G. Hanger, R. ture determination problem was contin - lows. In the upstairs laboratory going Basil Johns (New Zealand), S. Varadarajan ued by Yusuf Hamied, Eddie Haslam and through a spiral staircase, 10-12 chemists (India), S.A. Faseeh (Pakistan), and Percy D.W. Cameron. The structures of all the had their work benches. These laborato - Wannigamma (Sri Lanka) were doing aphid pigments were finally completed ries had students of Professors Sir their Ph.D. or postdoctoral work. when NMR and mass spectral facilities Alexander Todd, Alan Johnson, George Among other chemists from UK were: became available. Lord Todd showed me Kenner, John Harley-Mason, Kipping, and Ben Brown, Eric Bullock, Basil Chase, the series of papers on aphid pigments B.C. Saunders. Malcolm Clark, Neil Hughes, A. M. and gave me a copy of his lecture pub - My contemporary chemists had come Michelson, George Miller, Fred Newth, lished in Experientia when I visited the from all parts of the world: Donald Hayes Colin Reese (Later FRS), Bob Sheppard, Lensfield laboratories in 1963. (Ireland), Dan Brown (later FRS) John Turner, and Reg Webb. The only Yours sincerely, (Scotland), R.J.W. Cremlyn (Wales), woman chemist from UK was Helen B. S. Joshi (King’s 1953), Athens, GA, US Frederich Cramer (Germany), Albert Higson (M. Langemann). The laboratory [email protected] Cleaning up the southern basement

a major fire in the southern wing. I had Removing the radioactive contamination from the visions of headlines regarding a radioactive and asbestos smoke cloud southern basement posed a significant challenge, over Cambridge. I was also concerned as safety officer Margaret Glendenning explains about how, as asbestos duty holder for the department, we could manage the redundant Urastone ductwork within The basement of the department’s then boss in the university safety office, Riser Q, which was so tightly packed southern wing has been unused for Will Hudson, had been handed the together. Urastone is sectional ductwork years, a legacy of its days as Alfie project, and I was brought in as I had fabricated from asbestos cement, where Maddock’s labs. Maddock’s work on ‘special responsibility’ for chemistry. It the male and female joints are packed radioactive isotope protactinium-231 was obvious to both of us that the uni - with loose asbestos, which is wrapped left a radiological contamination legacy, versity had neither the appetite nor the or sealed to prevent the packing mate - as 31 Pa is an alpha-emitter with a half desire to spend the money required to rial coming away. life of more than 32,000 years. Work undertake the necessary decontamina - In January 2006, I went to the Safety stopped in the lab in 1965, and tion – after all, it was in a safe condition Office and met with Will Hudson and although the lab was finally fully and the Environment Agency was aware David Plumb, the university radiation decommissioned in 1993, it was too of the issues, but were not applying any protection officer, and asked if we could difficult to decontaminate the riser – pressure for the legacy to be removed. revisit the proposal to remove the filter Riser Q – which took air out of the lab, In 2001, the projected cost was in the housing and associated ductwork within and so the labs were left untouched. region of £300,000. the riser. I felt it was only a matter of Within days of starting as university However, when I became safety offi - time before the regulatory authorities chemical safety adviser in August 2001, cer for the department in August 2004, started to put pressure on the university I was told about Riser Q, and its asbestos I began to see the legacy as a liability to tackle the legacy, I was concerned and radiation contamination issues. My that posed a significant risk if there were about ensuring a safe working environ -

16 Chem@Cam Summer 2010 Puzzle corner ment for maintenance personnel – we tion thrown in. And, of course, Clare have been clearing asbestos ductwork Grey was joining the department and from within risers and plant rooms as the space was earmarked for her new funds have been made available – and labs. So the decontamination project development of the southern wing became essential. would only be possible if Riser Q was What made this project so unusual cleared. I also had to develop the depart - was that we were dealing with two ment’s Emergency Response Action types of licensed removal work – Manual, and I had a huge question mark asbestos and radioactive – in one proj - over the riser and filter housing. How ect, and the method usually employed would we respond? I was beginning to for each were, in some ways, in direct get obsessed! So I set myself the goal of opposition to each other. For example, achieving this project, much to David you would never purposefully break up Watson’s amusement. asbestos where it can be avoided Several options were possible, but because of the potential for fibre release, they were all costly – decommissioning, but you aim to compact radiological decontamination and disposal costs had waste. So what do you do if the radio - spiralled and we were warned to be logical waste is asbestos-based? The looking at nearer £900k. The preferred hunt was on for a company who had option was to remove just the radiolog - experience of working in both these ically contaminated duct from within fields. Two were identified, both of the riser and the filter housing from which undertook asbestos clearances in within the fourth floor plant room, but nuclear power stations – somewhat dif - I knew that this was never going to be ferent to our issue but they had the possible. I believed the duct was tucked infrastructure in place to tackle the job behind several other redundant in hand. Urastone and, given the restricted space Given the complexity of the project, within the riser, I didn’t think it would the regulatory framework within which be possible to remove it without damag - we would be operating, and the controls ing the other ducts, which would give a that would need to be applied, Harry further risk of asbestos release. Percival from estate management spent a Above: the riser, Service, the Health and Safety Executive, But which ducts were which? They lot of time and effort in selecting the complete with the Environment Agency, and the snaked and twisted up through the riser, design and management team, which coloured spray University’s own specialist advisers. so asbestos consultant Matthew consisted of the asbestos consultant paint dots There was no room for mistakes. Goldsmith was sent into the riser with Matthew Goldsmith, radiological con - It is worth pointing out that none of cans of various colours of spray paint to sultant Keith Stevens, project manager the labs affected were going to benefit trace each duct up through the riser and Carl Fox, CDM co-ordinator Greg from this project, and all labs adjacent into the plant room. The coloured spots Brown, and myself. to the riser (354, 290, 180 and G55) that he sprayed proved my suspicions The project brief to the contractor were going to be inconvenienced. Lab were correct – the radiologically con - made even more challenging as the 180 was likely to lose half its fume cup - taminated duct was tucked tightly research activities within most of the boards, the fume cupboards in G55 behind the others. laboratories adjacent to Riser Q were to Below: The Riser Q were going to be shut down, and all lost The job then became primarily an continue throughout the project. Our Musketeers – space while the work was on-going as asbestos clearance, with the added com - plans had to be scrutinised by Harry, Carl, enclosures had to be erected in their plication of a radiological contamina - Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Margaret and Matt areas. By some miracle, we were able to keep the fume cupboards up and run - ning in Lab 180, but it was only because the building is a sieve that we were able to achieve the make-up air required to keep them running! All lab users in the affected areas were brilliant and supportive of the project, and I can - not thank them enough for their help and understanding. For me, not only did I achieve a per - sonal goal, but I got to work with some amazing people. I will never forget the day I stood in the fourth floor plant room where the filter housing had once been and looked down the riser into the basement below. I cried as I never thought we would achieve it! I spat blood for the project – literally and def - initely took one on the chin for the department! Harry, Carl, Matt and myself all lost weight because we were living the project, working silly hours, cancelling leave and in at weekends. I nicknamed the four of us ‘The Riser Q Musketeers’. But I made some brilliant friends on this project and the sense of achievement was incredible.

Chem@Cam Summer 2010 17 Chat lines Jeremy takes the cake Emily’s gold and Jeremy Sanders was vice-president of this year’s Burgenstock conference in green wedding May, and a little bird told the organisers it was his birthday. So a rather impres - sive cake was wheeled out after the evening lecture, which he had to cut into with a terrifyingly huge knife. Jeremy says Matt Gaunt gave a ‘stellar’ lecture at the conference. ‘Everyone in the audience was on the edge of their seats as he unveiled ever more astonish - ing and exciting results,’ he says. ‘The discussion afterwards was one of the best I have seen here.’ Brian bows out after 49 years

This issue’s Hello magazine moment goes to Emily Valentine and her hubby Simeon Dry. Emily, a PhD student in Jonathan Nitschke’s group, first met Simeon as an undergraduate – they were both in the same year doing NatSci, and got to know each other better through the City Church Cambridge. Simeon studied physics and has just finished his first year teaching at Comberton Village College. The wedding took place at Brickfields, The department’s NMR supremo Brian Brian’s also partial to the odd pint, and which Emily describes as a blue ware - Crysell retired at the end of June after an while the last thing he wanted was the house next to Tesco on Newmarket astonishing 49 years in the department. He fuss of a buffet and presentation cere - Road, but is actually the building owned was adamant he didn’t want any fuss, but mony in the department, he did quite by the church, and where they meet on there was no way he was going to get fancy a lunchtime pint to celebrate his Sundays. ‘I had great fun designing away without some recognition. So a col - final day. So a fuss was most definitely not Comings green and gold decorations to make it lection was organised anyway. made in the Regal pub on St Andrews & goings look more wedding-y inside!’ Emily Those who know that the NMR Street. And the photograph above of New staff says. ‘Lots of friends and relatives had machines are all named after malt everyone wishing him farewell – Brian Kate Nix helped me to preserve autumn leaves to whiskies won’t be surprised to learn aside! – was taken in reception. Zac Rudder-Logan go in the bouquets, flower arrange - that his gifts included two bottles of However, Chem@Cam is delighted to Arwen Tapping ments and to use as name cards for the Dalwhinnie Distillers Special Edition be able to report that Brian hasn’t cut his Alice Wood reception. I had all the beading on my whisky, and a couple of Waterford crys - ties with the department entirely – he’s Retired dress done to match the green theme, tal glasses to drink it out of. He also got agreed to continue as a member of the Brian Crysell too. It was a beautiful day!’ a flight in a Tiger Moth from Duxford, editorial advisory board. So we will still They moved on from the church to and £110 in garden vouchers – one of be able to call on his exceptional knowl - Leavers Emmanuel for photos in the cloisters and his retirement plans includes spending edge of the department’s people when Silvio Fusiello fellows’ garden, and the reception was time on his new allotment. trying to identify faces in photos! Martin McLean held at Anstey Hall in Trumpington, which she describes as a rather quirky manor house. ‘It was quite a long day, which meant I felt able to actually say “hi” to most people, which was really important to me,’ she says. ‘It was per - fect!’ The evening entertainment featured a mini-cabaret, including a silly song entitled ‘You make all my clichés come true’ by poet Jude Simpson Brown, and a gospel-style song composed by the bride and groom themselves. For honeymoon, the happy couple headed off to the south of Spain, to a lit - tle village called Bubion where one of We’ve had a couple of milestone birthdays their family has a flat. ‘We enjoyed a among the assistant staff recently – couple of mountain walks when it was - librarian Judith Battison (above) n’t foggy, and went to Granada for some celebrated her 60th, and Vicky Spring sightseeing at the Alhambra,’ she says. ‘It (right) from the print room was 65 was wonderfully relaxing.’

18 Chem@Cam Summer 2010 Puzzle corner Last issue’s winners Elementary recognition ChemDoku Graham Quartly’s elemental recognition known scientists and a brief description Correct solutions to the ‘Where on earth…’ puzzle came from puzzle a couple of issues ago went down of why they are famous. Spaces between Jim Dunn, R.N. Lewis, Robin Foster, John Turnbull, Nick so well, he’s come up with another one words have been suppressed, and some Broughton, A.J. Wilkinson, Bill Collier, Robin Cork, Audrey for us. Hurrah! elementary symbols thus stretch across Herbert, John Anderson, Helen Stokes, Keith Parsons, Alison By tracing out a path of knight moves adjoining words. Griffin, Steve Sunderland, Dave Stone, Ian Threlfall, Morgan visiting all 25 squares of the grid once The usual £20 prize will go to one Morgan, Tim O’Donoghue, Neil McKelvie, Karl Railton- only, spell out the names of two well- randomly selected correct solution. Woodcock, Tom Banfield and Annette Quartly. To pick the winner, this time we took our inspiration from Paul the Psychic Octopus, who proved remarkably successful at picking winners of World Cup games from his tank in a German Na IUAl I zoo. Chem@Cam doesn’t have an octopus hanging around, but she does have a cat called Ginola (ah, those thighs). So by dint of laying out a line of catbiscuits and seeing which one she ate first, the winner is… Tim O’Donoghue. Congratulations! Nd Te Nd Cr O Orienteer David Wilson’s puzzle had some readers stumped. For exam - ple, Jonathan Sayce reports that every time he attempted the puzzle he got a different answer, whether or not he heeded COPRn C our admonishment to eschew calculus. ‘As for physical chem - istry, my equilibrium has certainly been disturbed,’ he says. Perhaps the phase rule has some bearing on the two phases of our hero’s journey, or perhaps he showed a balanced reaction At He At F Nd in choosing his optimum route. Or perhaps this answer would not have found favour with Professor Norrish or Dr Sugden, two of my mentors in the early 1950s.’ We also had some incorrect answers. Bill Collier and Steve SKNa Li W Sunderland both thought the answer was 133.3m, the former reaching the solution using a combination of Pythagoras and v=s/t, and the latter using Hess’s Law as an analogy. And Dave Stone had the right idea, but the wrong answer. Several readers reported correct answers, however. It’s based on Snell’s Law, with the situation being modelled by a ray of An alchemical ChemDoku light at grazing incidence, as light takes the fastest path between two points. Sin q/sin90 = speed of orienteer in Pb Cu Hg wood/speed of orienteer in open ground =1/2. q = sin –1 (0.5) = 30, i.e. the angle of a triangle whose sides are in the well-known ratio 2:1: √3. So tan q = x/100 = 1/ √3, Sb As Cu or x = 100/ √3 = 57.7m. A correct solution came from Ian Potts, who said it was Hg Sn Cu similar to the ‘Baywatch’ problem – where should the life - guard enter the water when she (Pamela Anderson!) can run Cu Sn twice as fast as she can swim? Paul Stickland was also correct, although he claimed that it uses a physical rather than a physicochemical principle… He added that David should not Au As have expected a quiet half hour, as it should only take such a class a few minutes to derive an expression for t in terms of x, Fe Pb to differentiate and find the stationary value of t, and solve to give the correct answer. ‘It took a rising 80 rather longer, with recourse to a calculus textbook!’ he says. Karl Railton- Hg Sb As Woodcock was also correct – though he claims the very well- known physicochemical principle he used wasn’t quite the Fe Au Sn one we had in mind. ‘Plugging Pythagoras into a spreadsheet and starting with the obvious 3,4,5, it took me about three Sn Ag Cu minutes of trial and error to spot a root 3!’ he says. ‘I know this is cheating and eagerly await being told what I probably should have remembered.’ And finally... here’s another ChemDoku The alchemists may not have man - Correct answers also came from John Wilkins, John to titillate those brain cells. This time, aged to turn lead into gold and create Carpenter, Martin Stentiford and Annette Quartly. And Ginola we’ve gone way back into history for untold riches, but one lucky reader will picked the catbiscuit representing John Carpenter. The £20 our inspiration, and all the elements in turn a correct solution into £20. will be on its way to you. the grid were used by the alchemists. Now that’s... magic! Drunkard’s Walk This one proved much more difficult, but we did get a couple £20 prizes are on offer for each puzzle. Send entries of correct solutions from persistent readers: Annette Quartly, by email to [email protected] or by snail mail to Karl Railton-Woodcock and Dave Stone. And the feline assis - Chem@Cam, Department of Chemistry, University of tant picked Karl Railton-Woodcock’s catbiscuit. Email Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW [email protected] if you want to see the solution!

Chem@Cam Summer 2010 19 If only all lectures were as exciting as Peter’s on Science Day…

Chem@Cam is written, edited and produced

by S ARAH H OULTON

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