CHEMISTRY International The News Magazine of IUPAC
September-October 2012 Volume 34 No. 5
Repositioning the Chemical Sciences for African Development
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF YAC in Tunisia PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY The Future of Drug Discovery
SSeptembereptember 20122012 covers.inddcovers.indd 1 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:01:412:01:41 PMPM From the Editor
CHEMISTRY International frica—two features in this issue take us there. One, by Berhanu AAbegaz offers a clear and hopeful vision of how Africa can become The News Magazine of the International Union of Pure and an active participant in the global scientific forum (p. 4). Abegaz Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) presented these views just a year ago during the World Chemistry Leadership Meeting held at the IUPAC Congress in Puerto Rico in August www.iupac.org/publications/ci 2011. The WCLM provided a prelude to the debate about chemistry’s role in sustainable development. A report from that WCLM was presented in Managing Editor: Fabienne Meyers the Mar-Apr 2012 CI. Production Editor: Chris Brouwer Abegaz states that “A challenge of Africa’s strategic planning for Design: pubsimple development is how to unleash the power of this youth to bring about the continent’s development.” Without question, All correspondence to be addressed to: similar debates took place this year during the Fabienne Meyers UN Rio+20 conference, which received abun- IUPAC, c/o Department of Chemistry dant media coverage. Of relevance to chem- Boston University ists was the forum organized by ICSU, the Metcalf Center for Science and Engineering International Council for Science (i.e., IUPAC’s 590 Commonwealth Ave. parent organization), on Science, Technology, Boston, MA 02215, USA and Innovation for Sustainable Development, which provided an opportunity to reflect on science’s contribution to E-mail: [email protected] sustainable development since the first Earth Summit 20 years ago. Just Phone: +1 617 358 0410 as important, the forum explored how science can contribute most effec- Fax: +1 617 353 6466 tively in the future. Read more about the ICSU forum on page 12. Three months after Rio+20, it may be somewhat easier to soak in Printed by: the eloquently branded theme of the meeting: “The Future We Want.” Cadmus Communications, Easton, PA, USA Download the pdf from www.un.org/en/sustainablefuture and there you have it: 49 pages containing 283 concise statements. It is impossible for Subscriptions chemists to ignore the call: Statements 213 to 223 are bundled in a sec- Six issues of Chemistry International (ISSN 0193- tion titled “Chemicals and Waste.” 6484) will be published bimonthly in 2012 (one “We need to better explain what chemistry is all about,” says Abegaz, volume per annum) in January, March, May, July, recalling the story of a chemistry student who tried to explain to his September, and November. The 2012 subscrip- mother what he was studying. That leads to the second feature of this tion rate is USD 110.00 for organizations and USD issue that highlights Africa: a report on the Young Ambassadors for 50.00 for individuals. Subscription orders may be Chemistry—YAC—adventure in Tanzania (p. 7). YAC initiatives, supported placed directly with the IUPAC Secretariat. Affiliate by the IUPAC Committee on Chemistry Education, have been reported Members receive CI as part of their Membership on several times in CI, but this latest experience in Tanzania shows a new subscription, and Members of IUPAC bodies receive level of engagement by the local community. CI free of charge. In these features, the role and importance of youth is prominent. This sentiment was expressed succinctly by Desmond Tutu, who began his Reproduction of Articles video address to Rio+20 with a Keynan proverb: “The world was not Unless there is a footnote to the contrary, repro- given to you by your parents; it was lent to you by your children.” These duction or translation of articles in this issue is words said Tutu, “. . . tell you everything about the future I want—all the encouraged, provided that it is accompanied things people want for their own children, and for their children’s chil- by a reference to the original in Chemistry dren: A fair society. A healthy planet. Clean air. Safe drinking water. Good International. jobs. Energy security. Food security. The right to develop in a sustainable way . . .” (www.un.org/en/sustainablefuture/tutu.shtml). Periodicals postage paid at Durham, NC 27709- 9990 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Fabienne Meyers Send address changes to Chemistry International, [email protected] IUPAC Secretariat, PO Box 13757, Research Triangle www.iupac.org/publications/ci Park, NC 27709-3757, USA.
ISSN 0193-6484
SSeptembereptember 20122012 covers.inddcovers.indd 2 88/23/2012/23/2012 4:54:324:54:32 PMPM Contents CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 Volume 34 No. 5
Treasurer’s Column The Times They Are a Changing . . . by John Corish 2
Features Repositioning the Chemical Sciences for African Development by Berhanu M. Abegaz 4 The Young Ambassadors of Chemistry Program Visits Tanzania by Lida Schoen, Erica Steenberg, and Mei-Hung Chíu 7 On the Future of Drug Discovery by Simon Campbell 10
IUPAC Wire Linking Science and Policy at Rio+20 12 ICSU Grants Programme 2013 Call for Applications 13 ICSU Issues Recommendations for Organizing International Scientific Meetings 13 CHF Catalyst Series on Women in Chemistry 14 The Global Young Academy Calls on Scientific Community to Promote Sustainability 14 In Memoriam 15
The Project Place Impact of Nanotechnology on Chemistry: A Terminology Conundrum 16 Chemical Kinetic Data Evaluation for Atmospheric Chemistry and the IUPAC Kinetics Database 17 Global Chemical Safety and Sustainability 19 Provisional Recommendations IUPAC seeks your comments 23
Making an imPACt IUPAC Glossary of Terms Used in Immunotoxicology 24 Names and Symbols of the Elements with Atomic Numbers 114 and 116 24 Analogue-Based Drug Discovery: Contributions to Medicinal Chemistry Principles and Drug Design Strategies. Microtubule Stabilizers as a Case in Point 24
Bookworm Macromolecular Symposia 25
Internet Connection Periodic Tables on the World Wide Web by Leslie Glasser 26
Nomenclature Notes Systematic and Trivial Nomenclature by Jeffery Leigh 28
Conference Call Advanced Materials: Stories of Innovation by Neil Gussman 30 How Many Miles Have We Gone, InChI by InChI? Stamps International, 3 by Alex Tropsha and Antony Williams 33 Advanced Polymeric Materials by Vera Kovacevic and Michael Hess 35
Where 2B & Y 38
Mark Your Calendar 40
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have been even more severe than had been antici- The Times They Are a pated. In addition, the challenge, not unique to us, of striking the correct balance in production between the Changing . . . printed and electronic versions of the journal remains. by John Corish One idea that has been introduced for discussion, and which we are currently considering, is to seek new hree years ago in this column I com- arrangements possibly entailing forming a relationship mented on the rapidity with which with an established publishing house that will result in Tthe global recession had descended reduced costs for us as well as gaining access for our upon us and on its severity. Unfortunately, publications to enhanced marketing capabilities. It is it has not yet gone away but continues to important to remember that the publication and dis- influence, and in some cases control, almost semination of Pure and Applied Chemistry is an essen- every aspect of our lives. tial link in bringing the fruits of our nomenclature, terminology, and standardization work to the world- Despite the recessionary times, the International Year wide community of chemists. The Union has always of Chemistry was a very significant success for us been most generous in making the fruits of its work chemists, which we will better be able to quantify available as freely and widely as possible. It is becom- when the analyses that are underway have been com- ing clear that the changed circumstances in which we pleted. From a financial viewpoint, and as I indicated now operate make it imperative that we seek to realize in an interim report on the IYC last year, we managed at least some of the value of the work undertaken by to live well within the monetary limit of half-a-million our members by putting in place mechanisms that will U.S. dollars of direct expenditure set by the Executive charge and produce income for us in return for the Committee. This was due principally to the generous benefits of its usage. sponsorship provided for the cornerstone events and The second change that has asserted itself, particu- general facilities, such as the website. The best esti- larly during the past six months, is that the type of mate that is available for the direct cost to the Union investment instrument–namely bonds—that was best is USD 146 000. There were, of course, also somewhat suited to our needs is simply no longer available on larger uptakes of some parts of our regular budgets, the market to us or to anyone else. At its meeting in such as for printing and February 2012, the Finance Committee had decided to We remain most travel, because of the continue to place a part of our portfolio in bonds, but grateful for the increased activity at the now the rates have declined to such an extent that the support given by our Secretariat and by the resulting returns would cause a substantial reduction officers. Given the pre- in our ability to carry out the data collection and colla- sponsors to the IYC, vailing financial climate tion, research, and projects necessary to maintain the as well as to all who this is a very commend- flow of information and services as we now do. While supported the year able outcome and we this is a less immediate problem for us it is nonethe- remain most grateful for less serious and we clearly need to find a solution throughout the world. the support given by our to preserve or replace the income stream from our sponsors to the IYC, as investments. This situation is of course being continu- well as to all who supported the year throughout the ously monitored by those responsible and alternative world. solutions will in due course emerge. The lingering recession has, however, adversely This changed order of things has brought calls for affected two of the Union’s traditional income streams action on the financial front to find a new foundation during the past year. The first and more severe of that will enable us to continue our work programs and these and the one that will have the more immediate to bring the outcomes of our divisions, standing com- impact is the income from our publishing operations. mittees, conferences, and workshops to the attention Libraries all over the world have had their budgets of the worldwide chemistry community. It is most reduced and have been scrutinizing their purchasing important for us to stabilize and ensure the continued more closely. We have seen and reported over the past publication of Pure and Applied Chemistry as the main number of years a falloff in the sale of our journal Pure vehicle for the dissemination of the basic outputs for and Applied Chemistry and of our books. However, the which IUPAC is universally known. The same is true for indications are that decreases during this past year Chemistry International, which serves important func-
2 CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012
SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 2 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:06:082:06:08 PMPM tions as a newsmagazine, highlighting and reporting in all of our operations so that we can do more with on our activities and playing a unifying role between our funds. I am confident that we can achieve these our various fields of endeavor. It is therefore essential objectives and will particularly welcome any sugges- that we maintain and hopefully increase our overall tions that any of you may have as to ways in which you income so that we can support the project system feel the work that you do for IUPAC can assist in our from which our outputs emanate and also the other efforts to meet the challenges ahead. ways in which we promote our subject such as by assisting in the teaching of chemistry, by providing John Corish
See also www.iupac.org/ publications/ci/indexes/stamps.html Stamps International
The Mother of All Molecules a set of three stamps that also feature the invention The initial disclosure of the molecular structure of of the transistor and the development of controlled deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) by James Watson and nuclear fission. In turn, the stamp from Tanzania Francis Crick appeared as a short (1990) celebrates the Nobel communication in the 25 April 1953 Prize awarded to Watson, issue of the journal Nature. The Crick, and Wilkins and shows authors concluded their seminal the famous DNA double helix paper with the unassuming but far- in purple, with the linked light sighted assertion that “. . . the blue spheres presumably rep- specific pairing we have postu- resenting complementary lated immediately suggests a pos- hydrogen-bonded base pairs. sible copying mechanism for the It also belongs to an eclectic genetic material.” It was indeed a set of stamps that highlights breakthrough that transformed our some of the most important understanding of cellular function technological advances of the and, in the ensuing decades, completely revolutionized last century, including the breaking of the sound fields as diverse as medicine, forensics, bioinformatics, barrier by the Bell and nanotechnology. In December 1962, almost exactly X-1 plane in 1947 50 years ago, Watson, Crick, and Maurice Wilkins, their and the descent of collaborator at King’s College, received the Nobel the bathyscaphe Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their momentous Trieste to the deep- discovery. No account of those involved in the deter- est part of the mination of the structure of DNA would be complete ocean in 1960. It without mentioning the key role played by Rosalind has been less than Franklin, the British biophysicist and crystallographer 60 years since the (1920–1958) whose X-ray images provided crucial structure of DNA information that Watson and Crick used to build their was uncovered, so original model of the iconic molecule. we ought to look The stamp from Gabon illustrated in this note, forward to the many new exciting applications that issued in 2000, commemorates the discovery of the are bound to emerge in the decades ahead. structure of DNA as one of the most important sci- entific achievements of the 20th century. It is part of Written by Daniel Rabinovich
CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 3
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by Berhanu M. Abegaz Whether it is in Africa or elsewhere, chemistry needs to redefine and reposition itself. I am not at all sure that we chemists have gone far enough to cor- he beginnings of chemistry may be traced rect the love-hate relationship with chemistry that to ancient Egyptians nearly 4000 years ago. exists throughout much of the world. On the one hand, TEvidence for this comes from the so-called people tend to appreciate the contributions of chem- Ebers papyrus found near Luxor, the old capital of istry, while on the other hate chemicals and the risks Egypt in the Middle Nile area. This 110-page document, associated with them (and not without good reason). dating to 1550 BC offers much information, referring to up to 700 preparations of various substances. A lot of scientific knowledge that was developed in Egypt, the Middle East, and North Africa formed the basis for the development that emerged in Western Europe during the Renaissance.
Despite these early beginnings, modern chemistry, as it relates to higher education and research, in Africa is no more than 100 years old. For example, the South African Chemical Institute is celebrating it’s centennial this year. In Africa, much of the teaching of chemistry in the first half of the 20th century followed Western standards, with little done to adapt or modify it for relevance to African situations. What little serious research was conducted in Africa was aimed at attain- ing the quality of research conducted at parent institu- Young Ambassadors for Chemistry in Grahamstown, tions in Europe, Russia, and the USA. Not surprisingly, South Africa, in March 2007 (see July 2007 CI, p. 21). the pioneers who started this teaching and research in chemistry introduced what they knew best. The International Year of Chemistry 2011, with The chemical industry and applications of chemis- its slogan “Chemistry—our life, our future,” gave try, which were created and developed in the West, a huge boost to the image of chemistry among provided so many useful products that to the rest of the general public. Chemistry must be relevant and the world seemed to be just short of miracles. After all, understood by society. Some 25 years ago, an article it was the contributions of chemistry that allowed the entitled “The Chemist and His Mother” appeared in USA to produce, for the first time, surplus agriculture Solutions (the newsletter of the Chemical Society in the 1950s and 1960s through the use of fertilizers, of Ethiopia), which was written by chemistry school pesticides, and insecticides. Chemistry gave rise as teacher Yohannes Balcha. The article was a conversa- well to drugs like antibiotics and other medicines and tion between a chemistry student and his mother. The much, much more. Based on these experiences with mother, sensing her son’s stress as he prepared for chemistry, it was believed that economic development exams, decided she should find out what chemistry in Africa could be created through technology transfer was all about, thinking she might be able to alleviate or development assistance from the West. We know some of his stress. The son tried very hard to explain this didn’t work; it’s now clear that technology transfer what chemistry was all about, that it deals with under- alone is a faulty approach for bringing about lasting standing the composition and properties of matter . . ., development anywhere, including Africa. but the mother, who listened with much patience and
4 CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012
SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 4 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:06:112:06:11 PMPM eagerness, did not understand what her beloved son the continent. As a result, they try to mimic European was talking about. In her unwavering determination to and North American institutions. This has led to two gain more insight, she decided to find out what this negative consequences: a lack of relevance and a fail- “chemistry of his” would eventually qualify him to be. ure to be innovative. As a result, with very few excep- So, she asks “Will the study of chemistry make you a tions, chemistry research in Africa may have made builder?” “No!” he says to her, those who build roads small contributions to global science, but it has not study civil engineering and are called engineers. “Are delivered many products for use by the poor people you going to be a doctor?” “No! To be a doctor one on the ground. studies medicine,” he replys. The conversation con- In this regard, the rather slow-to-take-off initiative tinues in this way, with the son eloquently explaining of the African Union—The Pan-African University—is what chemistry is not, but not succeeding in describ- an important step toward establishing a teaching and ing what it is, with the now distressed mother becom- research institution more focused on African needs. ing increasingly frustrated. I think the conclusions The university is to be hosted by various countries in from this little story are that we need to better explain the five regions of the continent. Each institution will what chemistry is all about to society. have a distinct focus area: In 1969, a major conference was held in Kwame basic sciences, technology, and innovation—Jomo Nukrumah’s capital, Accra, spearheaded by the Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology Association of African Universities and under the in Kenya auspices of the Organization of African Unity. The pur- earth sciences—Ibadan pose was to establish the African University instead political science and governance—Yaounde of simply a University in Africa. This debate and intel- water sciences—Algeria lectual discourse led to recommendations to estab- space sciences—Southern Africa lish the African University, which was unfortunately derailed by the political and economic problems that Pan-African bodies like the African Academy of Africa faced in the subsequent two decades. But the Sciences and the Association of African Universities spirit and essence of that debate is as relevant today are expected to be intimately involved with these as it was 40 years ago. Nevertheless, the succeeding initiatives. The African Academy of Sciences par- decades witnessed the expansion of higher education. ticipated in the curriculum development of the Pan- In the mid-1960s, Africa probably had fewer than African University and argued for the inclusion of the 70 universities, now it has close to 700. This massive Millennium Development Goals in the discussions. expansion of higher education resulted in the dilution Signed by African heads of state in 2000, the target of the quality of education. Universities focused more year for achieving these goals is 2015. Although many on teaching and less on research. Very little effort countries may be on course to achieve them, it is quite went into establishing endogenous world-class institutions that would generate new knowl- Benefits of Water Harvesting and Conservation edge and undertake by Joy Mwende Kioko, 15, Machakos Girls High serious research to find School, Kenya, part of Our Children on Water solutions to the prob- International Art Exhibition. Organized by the lems of African commu- Royal Society of Chemistry in celebration of nities. For many African the International Year of Chemistry, the exhibi- chemistry departments tion featured works from European and African and research institu- schoolchildren who were asked to express their tions, success is often feelings about water. measured against sets of www.chemistry2011.org/participate/featured-ideas/our-children-on-water external standards, such as how they compare to elite institutions outside
CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 5
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clear that many poor countries in Africa are unlikely to for African Development (NEPAD). This partnership meet the goals. Therefore, they will remain as the key resulted in the Consolidated Plan of Action, which drivers for sustainable development for some years includes several Flagship Programs, which are being to come. implemented on regional and subregional levels. Of the eight Millennium Development Goals, six are Flagship Programs include such transdisciplinary clearly science driven and would involve chemistry. fields as: biodiversity, biotechnology and indigenous Scientists have a responsibility to respond appropri- knowledge; energy, water, and desertification; mate- ately to a world under stress from the effects of cli- rial sciences, manufacturing, laser, and post-harvest mate change. It is important to note that Africa is most technologies; mathematical sciences; and informa- vulnerable to these effects, although it may not have tion, communication, and space science technologies. contributed as much as other regions to the causes African leaders have endorsed these programs and of climate change. Scientists should adopt a broader have established an African Ministerial Committee science platform and engage in a more effective inte- for Science and Technology, which meets regularly gration and collaboration with other disciplines and to monitor their progress. NEPAD has now been knowledge systems. incorporated into the African African scientists should Union under the name NEPAD highlight indigenous knowledge Planning and Coordinating systems and strive for effec- Agency. tive modernizations and inclu- Finally, a key issue for sive innovations. There is a need Africa’s future is the need to for a new vision of science for encourage young people to sustainable development, which become involved in science. will demand a complete re-engi- Africa’s population is now 1 bil- neering of science education lion, approximately 14 percent and research in Africa. Instead of the global population. Of of teaching in fragmented dis- importance, 71 percent of this ciplines, sustainable science population is below 25 years would be unified and trans- of age. This is both a chal- disciplinary. Sustainable science lenge and an opportunity. A would include the epistemology challenge for Africa’s strategic of systems thinking and would planning is how to unleash the encourage inclusive and respon- power of the youth to bring sible innovation. about the continent’s develop- This new thinking and re- ment. The African Academy of engineering has been a subject Young Ambassadors for Chemistry in Sciences has identified engag- of much intellectual discourse in Kasulu, Tanzania, in April 2012, moving ing the younger generation as recent times. Many pan-African tables to stage the public event held in the a key strategic vision over the institutions (such as the African nearby football stadium—see feature p. 7. next decade. In this regard, it Academy of Sciences, Network is important that they have role of African Science Academies, African Technology models in the scientific community for them to believe Policy Studies Network, and the Pan African Chemistry that they can help turn things around in Africa. Network) have been engaging in such debates. These discussions were stimulated during the Mandela era This commentary is based on the author’s presenta- and the subsequent integration of South Africa into tion at the World Chemistry Leadership Meeting held the African Union. The emergence of progressive 2 August 2011 in San Juan during the IUPAC General African leaders at the turn of the 20th century (e.g., Assembly (see Mar-Apr 2012 CI, p. 12). Thabo Mbeki of South Africa who proposed the Millennium Africa Recovery Plan, Abdoulaye Wade Berhanu M. Abegaz
6 CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012
SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 6 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:06:142:06:14 PMPM Type o w f Y e A N C A
The Young Ethiopia to honor the Federation of African Societies of Chemistry that was Ambassadors key to securing the UN proclamation of IYC 2011. YAC staff also traveled to Puerto for Chemistry Rico at the time of the IUPAC Congress in July to meet with teachers and share ideas on Program Visits how to further develop and best adapt the YAC pro- gram for the local community. Tanzania All previous YAC events have been top-down affairs in which international or government organizations by Lida Schoen, Erica Steenberg, have sponsored and organized the workshops and and Mei-Hung Chíu public events at the local level. The Tanzania event— held in the local football stadium with the attendance egular readers of Chemistry International are of 25 teachers from around Kasulu (up to 90 km away) likely familiar by now with the highly success- and 50 students from the 14 participating secondary Rful Young Ambassadors for Chemistry (YAC) schools—was an entirely bottom-up affair. A group program, which has been highlighted in these pages of 14 private schools hosted and facilitated the YAC numerous times since its launch in 2004. However, the course, which was locally organized and facilitated by latest YAC event, which took place 25–27 April 2012 headmaster Gideon Bunyaga of the Kasulu Secondary in Kasulu, Tanzania, stands out from the previous 12 School. iterations (see list on next page) since it was orga- The story of how this YAC event came to frui- nized and sponsored in a completely different way. tion begins with Thadeo Ntambala, who, along with 9 brothers and 2 sisters, grew up in rural Northwest For those unfamiliar with YAC, it is a project of IUPAC’s Tanzania not far from the Jane Goodall chimps Committee on Chemistry Education (CCE) that has reserve. Although his parents were illiterate, Thadeo trained teachers around the globe to help students and his siblings went on to become highly educated. communicate the benefits of chemistry. A typical Thadeo obtained a Master’s degree in telecommuni- YAC event encompasses two to three days of teacher cations from Warsaw University of Technology, while workshops, followed by a one-day public event where his brothers all became engineers. While studying in students—the Young Ambassadors for Chemistry— Warsaw, Thadeo met his (Polish) wife Ewa, a chemist share their enthusiasm and interest with the public with her own consultancy business. Now based in the at large, either in a public square, like it happened Netherlands for Thadeo’s IT job, both have become in Cyprus (Jul-Aug 2010 CI), in a shopping mall as in dedicated to furthering education in Tanzania. Taipei (Mar-Apr 2005 CI), or as part of a science fes- In 2010, Ewa approached long-time YAC director tival as in Grahamstown, South Africa (Jul-Aug 2007 Lida Schoen about possibly organizing an event in CI). That last day of the YAC event is usually a festive Tanzania in 2011 to coincide with the International time, with fun for everyone. Year of Chemistry. Ewa, Thadeo, and Lida tried for In February 2011, as part of the International Year of Chemistry celebrations, YAC events were held in Participants, organizers, and helpers of the Young Ambassadors for Chemistry in Kasulu, Tanzania.
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two years to obtain sponsorship for such an event, but, after many meetings and follow-up they were ultimately unsuccessful. Undaunted, Thadeo arranged a meeting in the Netherlands between his cousin (an engineer in Dar Es Salaam) and Schoen to discuss how they might handle the local organization and sponsor- ship. Somehow, he managed, getting a group of 14 pri- vate schools (including the headmaster of the Teacher Training College) to provide all local costs, including the expenses of the event and subsistence for the teach- ers, students, and the YAC team. Thadeo and Ewa paid all additional costs (flights, hotel, and local trans- portation). And, once Schoen and her colleague Erica Steenberg con- Secondary School, who tributed a little as well, the whole talked at length about the effort got off the ground. importance of chemistry On 25 April 2012, the efforts of for the region. Thadeo and Ewa Ntambala finally On the last day of the paid off as the formal program YAC program, the local of the Young Ambassadors for football stadium was used Chemistry project commenced in to host the final public Kasulu, Tanzania. event. Similar to previ- After Schoen and Steenberg ous YAC events, the stu- briefed the four representatives of dents prepared—with a the participating schools about the little help from the trained aims and history of the YAC pro- teachers—DNA models ject, participants were given course and cosmetic products. As books and asked to start generating the crowd grew, the stu- ideas for a chemistry-related Tanzanian “product” or dents acted in made-up TV commercials for their cos- phenomenon. Using an accessible “chemistry in our metics and product lines. The students showed great lives” theme, it was decided that the chemistry pro- creativity, incorporating little skits, raps, shouting, and jects would involve the local production of soap and dancing into their commercials. An international jury the preparation of cassava mash (a staple food) from had the difficult job of declaring the winners of the scratch, providing an opportunity to talk about the student presentations. dangers of the cyanide-containing variety. At the end of the event, organizers presented certifi- From the beginning, the event attracted lots of cates to all participating teachers attention from the public thanks to two well- and students. amplified and natural leaders, chair- man Julius Nzohumpa Ntidoga and science teacher Emmanuel Saguda Kingi of Kasulu
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Thadeo Ntambala recorded the entire YAC course When asked if they would apply what they learned in and event. A four-minute summary of that footage is their classrooms, only 22 percent said that they would available on YouTube (with “subtitles”): search for it not, primarily because of a lack of resources. using “YAC Kasulu.” All of the organizers and organizations involved As is customary at YAC workshops, the teachers received letters of endorsement from Dr. Temechegn were asked to evaluate the program. Of the 18 who Engida, president of the Federation of African Societies responded, 83 percent said they had learned much of Chemistry. Although it was disappointing that fund- about the application of chemistry in their daily lives ing from a larger organization could not be secured, and that they regarded the activity as valuable. All this successful YAC course and event showed that CCE the teachers said they would participate in YAC again. also supports bottom-up initiatives!
YAC Travel Log Acknowledgments Kasulu, Tanzania, in April 2012 Thadeo Ntambala (Netherlands), initiator, organizer, and facilitator Fabian Kagadye (Dar Es Salaam), local organizer in Tanzania Gorna Malina, Bulgaria, in November 2011 Gideon Bunyaga, headmaster Kasulu Secondary School, with his team of schools, San Juan, Puerto Rico , in July 2011 local organizer in Kasulu
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in February 2011 The jury: Ewa Delezuch Ntambala (M.Sc., the Netherlands), Joseph Mwangamila, headmaster Teacher Training College (Kasulu), and Gideon Bunyaga Manila, Philippines, in April 2010 CCE for facilitating travel and subsistence expenses for Lida Schoen (Netherlands) Ipoh, Malaysia, in April 2010 IFF Netherlands for donating concentrated oils for perfume Annindriya, Netherlands for donating small spray bottles for perfume Nicosia, Cyprus, in April 2009 SASOL Germany for donating detergent for shampoo Mauritius, in August 2008 Seppic France for donating emulsifier for the emulsion
Grahamstown, South Africa, in March 2007 For more information, contact Lida Schoen
Deadline is 1 February 2013.
SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 9 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:06:362:06:36 PMPM On the Future of Drug Discovery
by Simon Campbell* new drugs will improve quality of life, and bring eco- nomic benefit. For example, a recent survey showed he pharmaceutical industry has made impor- that 38 percent of Europeans suffer from mental disor- tant contributions to quality of life, longevity, ders, with depression being the single greatest burden Teconomic growth, and education, and is a key of all human diseases. Brain disorders cost Europe component of the economic growth strategy for many almost 800 billion Euros per year, which is more than countries. However, the industry is now under consid- cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes com- erable pressure as the number of new chemical enti- ties has not increased over the past decade, and there . . . the sector has experienced major have been significant revenue losses as important drugs lost patent protection. Consequently, the sector reductions in R&D budgets, closure has experienced major reductions in R&D budgets, of research sites, and the loss of closure of research sites, and the loss of thousands thousands of skilled jobs of skilled jobs. A new and sustainable funding model with public-sector participation is urgently required for world-class scientists to invent and develop inno- bined. Yet, Pharma is withdrawing from neuroscience vative medicines that meet the medical needs of the research. To encourage investment in such challeng- 21st century and contribute to economic growth. This ing areas, it will be important to define efficacy/safety perspective considers how these objectives might be criteria early in drug discovery programs so that effec- achieved, and aims to stimulate discussion. tive new agents can expect fair reimbursement and an acceptable return. This would minimize negative First, we should build consensus among a group of regulatory decisions—which often are made after a expert stakeholders with the common objective of company has invested 10 years or more in discovery informing and influencing future development of and development—and would help lower costs. world-class healthcare innovation. Learned societies and professional bodies have obviously contributed Third, we must address attrition as current failure to the government reviews of life sciences, but we rates during discovery and development are creating now need to work together to ensure proper focus on higher R&D costs that are simply unsustainable. One drug discovery. Governments have stated a firm com- approach would be to expand precompetitive col- mitment to life sciences as a catalyst for growth, but laborations between industry/academia to focus on emphasis appears to be on clinical trials, biologics, and target selection/validation, predictive toxicology, and to identify patient subgroups that respond to agents with novel mechanisms of action. These initiatives would reduce risk, simplify clinical trials, and lower costs, which would make the sector more attractive for invest- ment, and would also deter parallel and waste- ful pursuit of nonvalidated targets. Companies would create intellectual property through innovative, but distinctive, medicinal chemistry programs.
Fourth, as Pharma contracts and Biotech struggles for new investment, we must con- sider alternative models of drug discovery cell therapies rather than on cost-effective and orally that capitalize on our outstanding record of innovation delivered small molecules that are the bedrock of any and productivity. Networks of therapeutic centers of healthcare system. excellence should be established where expert medici- nal chemists released by industry can work within Second, future R&D should focus on therapeutic multidisciplinary environments to exploit significant areas of significant medical need where transformative investments in biomedical research. Unused assets
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SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 1010 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:06:372:06:37 PMPM from Pharma could be included, and a flow of spin-off companies would revitalize the biotech sector. Such an arrangement would help educate and train of the next generation of research scientists and help create new jobs.
Fifth, universities should be encouraged to appoint experienced industrial scientists as professors and researches in their world-class biomedical centers since chemists play a pivotal role in transforming biological discoveries into innovative new medicines. There is also a pressing need to invest in fundamental new chemistries to address challenging biological tar- gets such as protein/protein and protein/nucleotide interactions that are currently beyond traditional drug templates. It is important to realize that the majority of medicinal chemistry “muscle” was located in Pharma and the significant expertise recently lost due to layoffs should be re-captured within therapeutic cen- quality of life would be improved within con- ters of excellence, or similar initiatives. If world-class strained healthcare budgets Pharma/Biotech talent fades away, it will be difficult important disease areas abandoned by Pharma to rebuild it in the future. would receive proper attention, with consequent patient benefits Finally, any new funding model may require reallo- assets not being pursued by Pharma would be cation of current budgets rather than additional mon- revived and developed ies considering current deficit constraints. However, economic benefits would flow as innovative medi- the European Union recently announced “Horizon cines enter world markets 2020,” which is investing 80 billion Euros in R&D to the science base would be strengthened with improve long-term competitiveness. Of this amount, exciting career opportunities for the next genera- 8 billion has been set aside for health care, which tion of scientists is considered to be a “major concern.” (see http:// the biotech sector would be revitalized as an ec.europa.eu/research/horizon2020) Public-private additional source of innovation/discovery with a partnerships involving universities, research centers, sustainable return on investment and industry will play a key role, and therapeutic cen- ters of excellence make a natural and synergistic fit. Simon Campbell
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SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 1111 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:06:382:06:38 PMPM News and information on IUPAC, its fellows, and member organizations. IUPAC Wire See also www.iupac.org
Linking Science and Policy at Rio+20 n June 2012, ICSU organized a major five-day Forum on Science, Technology, and Innovation for ISustainable Development in the days just prior to the Rio+20 conference in Rio de Janeiro.
According to the organizers, the forum was a great success and had a big impact on the outcomes for science at Rio+20 and beyond. Over 1 000 people attended the event from 11–15 June, with another 1 000 watching the live webcast and many more interacting via social media. The forum was organized by ICSU, in partnership with UNESCO, the World Federation Professor Lidia Brito, director, Division of Science of Engineering Organizations, the International Social Policy and Capacity Building, Natural Sciences Sector, Science Council, the Brazilian Ministry of Science, UNESCO, France, speaking at the forum. Technology and Innovation and the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. and water security to indigenous knowledge and the The forum brought together leading international green economy. Two important conclusions stood out: scientists, policy-makers, industry professionals, the necessity for social and natural scientists to work NGOs, journalists, and youth from more than 75 coun- closely together, and the need for integrated policy tries to explore the key role of interdisciplinary science approaches. and innovation in the transition to sustainable devel- Future Earth, a new 10-year interdisciplinary initia- opment, a green economy, and poverty eradication. tive on research for global sustainability that will bring It was a very exciting and inspiring week for all. Alongside the main plenary sessions, the forum provided smaller spaces for learning, exchange, and network- ing via 25 side events which ran throughout the week. “Ensuring a sustainable future in the face of inter-connected, human-induced challenges facing the Earth system together natural and social scientists, was launched at urgently requires new knowledge and a new rela- the Forum
Visit the ICSU forum page for access to all the ses- sions, summaries, blog and photos, and numerous links to blog and media highlights.
www.icsu.org/rio20/science-and-technology-forum
SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 1212 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:06:432:06:43 PMPM ICSU Grants Programme 2013 Call The grants program is strictly reserved for ICSU for Applications members. Applications submitted by IUPAC shall be he ICSU Committee on Scientific Planning and coordinated from the IUPAC Secretariat. IUPAC mem- Review has issued a call for applications for the bers with an interest in developing such a proposal TICSU Grants Programme 2013, which supports should contact their division president or project com- collaborative scientific initiatives of relevance to sci- mittee chair as soon as possible. The ICSU deadline for ence and society. It is a competitive, peer-reviewed receipt of applications is 1 December 2012. program that is open to ICSU Scientific Unions, inter- disciplinary bodies, and joint initiatives. It enables icsu.org collaboration with ICSU Regional Offices and other members of the ICSU community.
Proposals for 2013 grants must focus on ICSU’s strate- gic priorities listed below and should be international and multidisciplinary. ICSU encourages submission of innovative proposals that (i) actively involve the ICSU Regional Offices, (ii) promote the involvement of young scientists, women scientists, and scientists from developing countries, and/or (iii) forge new part- ICSU Issues Recommendations for nerships between organisations that do not routinely Organizing International Scientific collaborate. Meetings ICSU’s Strategic Priorities he universality of science, in its broadest sense, Proposals should address, inter alia, issues such is about developing a truly global scientific as water, energy, health, agriculture, and biodi- Tcommunity on the basis of equity and non- versity and other issues that address the linked discrimination. Underpinning this broader concept environmental, social, and economic dimensions of universality is the Principle of the Universality of of sustainable development. Science (ICSU Statute 5), which deals with the free Proposals that address the need for dialogue and responsible practice of science and also requires between science and policy communities are freedom of movement and of association. These rights encouraged. Proposals for review or assessment and responsibilities extend to organizers and spon- of scientific knowledge necessary for policy for- sors of international scientific meetings, as well as mulation are also welcome. participants. Proposals should address, inter alia, issues such as data access, intellectual property rights, and In June 2012, the ICSU Committee on Freedom and the impact of recent developments in information Responsibility in the Conduct of Science issued rec- technologies. ommendations to help avoid difficulties and improve Proposals for innovative endeavors to develop the chances of a positive resolution where problems initiatives exploring new frontiers of science at do occur. The recommendations are available on the the interface between different disciplines are Freedom and Responsibility portal. encouraged. The total funding available for the grants program www.icsu.org/freedom-responsibility/scientific_meetings_advice in 2013 is Euro 280 000, with a ceiling of Euro 30 000 for each application.
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CHF Catalyst Series on Women in Chemistry
omen have been central to the chemical and molecular sciences since antiquity, Wthough their role has been—intentionally or not—obscured or missing in the annals of history. Now, the Chemical Heritage Foundations is setting the records straight with several initiatives.
First, a new series of videos—the Catalyst Series—aims at encouraging young women to pursue careers in Medal; and Kitty Hach-Darrow, cofounder of the Hach science. It tells the stories of fascinating women who Chemical Company and the only woman to receive dared to follow their drive for success and passion CHF’s Pittcon Heritage Award. for chemistry—and changed the world for the better. The second project, Stories from the Field, captures The first three releases are Uma Chowdhry, retired scientific adventures and career insights in short, senior vice president and chief science and technol- conversational audio interviews, conducted in part at ogy officer of DuPont; Mary L. Good, former president the American Chemical Society’s Fall 2012 National of the American Chemical Society, undersecretary Meeting in Philadelphia. for technology in the U.S. Department of Commerce A third initiative is the CHF oral history project that under President Clinton, and recipient of the Priestley preserves the history of women’s contributions to sci- ence, medicine, and technology in their own words. The oral histories in this collection focus on formative For those who follow IUPAC history, Mary Good was very experiences, the importance of mentors and networks, active and well respected in IUPAC in the 1980s. She was as well as the changing roles of women in chemistry president of the Inorganic Chemistry Division from 1981 throughout the twentieth century. to 1985 and also served on the Executive Committee for eight years. She succeeded Ted Becker as chair of www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/women-in-chemistry the U.S. National Committee for IUPAC, a position she held in 1987 when she was ACS president. Becker recalls that Good arranged major industry support for the IUPAC General Assembly in Boston in 1987 and remem- The Global Young Academy Calls on bers her as a major force on the Bureau and Executive Scientific Community to Promote Committee. Sustainability
n 20 June 2012, the Global Young Academy issued a statement calling on the scientific Ocommunity to do more to promote progress towards global sustainability. “The problem is not sci- ence, it is leadership,” said GYA co-chair Rees Kassen.
Members of the GYA feel a special urgency on sustain- ability, since many of them came of age in the period between the first “Earth Summit” on sustainability in Rio in 1992 and the United Nations Conference on Sustainability—the so-called Rio+20 meeting—held last June. “We are the inheritors of the decisions being made over the next three days,” said GYA co-chair Bernard Slippers, “so we have a vested interest in charting the way forward.” “You’ve got to take the opportunities as they appear,” Mary Good.
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According to GYA, the “Sandton Declaration” makes Prof. Toshio Masuda (Japan)—Professor emeritus of it clear that sometimes scientists are their own worst material chemistry at Kyoto University, Japan, T. enemy. Reward structures in science often discourage Masuda died 22 March 2012 at age 74. He was an or even punish public engagement and outreach. “This associate member on the Commission on Polymer must change,” Kassen says. The declaration calls on Characterization and Properties from 1988–1997 and the scientific community to revise its reward structures titular member from 1998–1999. to value knowledge mobilization by scientists them- selves. It also encourages scientists to take a more Prof. József Nyitrai (Hungary)—Professor at the active role in promoting the use of scientific evidence Budapest University of Technology and Economics, in decision making and encouraging inquiry-based sci- J. Nyitrai died earlier this year. His association to ence education in schools and universities. IUPAC started in 1991 when he became a National The Global Young Academy, founded in 2010, Representative on the Commission on Nomenclature describes itself as the voice of young scientists around of Organic Chemistry, and than an associate mem- the world. Members are chosen for their demonstrated ber from 1994–2001. From 2002–2003, he was a excellence in scientific achievement and commitment member of the Advisory Subcommittee of the newly to civil society. Currently there are 172 members from established Chemical Nomenclature and Structure 54 countries in GYA. Representation Division (division VIII). He than con- tinued as titular member on Division VIII from 2004 www.globalyoungacademy.net to 2007, associate member from 2008 to 2011. He was also Division VIII Representative on ICTNS from 2006 to 2009, and till this year, involved in several projects. In Memoriam Dr. Henrik Olesen (Denmark)—Professor at the IUPAC was saddened to learn of the following deaths University Hospital of Copenhagen, Henrik Olesen of Union colleagues. We shall remember them with died 15 April 2012. He is most notably the “founding respect and gratitude for their service to IUPAC. father” of the NPU terminology (i.e., Nomenclature, Properties, and Units in Laboratory Medicine). He Prof. Rolf E. Bareiss (Germany)—Rolf Eugen Bareiss, was an associate member on the Commission on was almost 80, died on 24 April 2012. When he retired Nomenclature, Properties, and Units (VII.C.1) from 1985 in 1997, he was editor in chief for Hü thig & Wepf. to 1997 and again in 2000–2001. He was a titular member of the IUPAC Commission on Macromolecular Nomenclature (now Division IV, Prof. Anders J. Thor (Sweden)—Professor at the Polymer Division) from 1983 to 1993. Swedish Standards Institute in Stockholm, Anders J. Thor died on 7 April 2012. He was ISO representative on Prof. H. Lawrence Clever (United States)—Professor ICTNS since 2000 and co-author on the IUPAC Green emeritus of chemistry at Emory University, Larry Book. He was a Associate Member on the Commission Clever died on 21 May 2012. He was an associate on Physicochemical Symbols, Terminology, and Units, member on the Commission on Solubility Data in from 1994 to 2001 and a National Representative from 2000–2001 and also a member on the Subcommittee 2006 to this year. on Gas Solubility Data, and again member on the Subcommittee on Solubility and Equilibrium Data in Remembrances prepared by IUPAC colleagues are available online at www.iupac. 2010–2011. He edited many volumes of the SDS series, org/publications/ci/2012/3405/iw6_inmemoriam.html. and contributed to the volumes of other members of the commission.
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Impact of Nanotechnology taining descriptive terms according to different crite- on Chemistry: A Terminology ria and to project their validity in scientific (chemical) language. Conundrum Keyword-Based Search Strategy The advent of nanoscience and nanotechnology has The methodology for collecting key words was a two- substantially influenced the vernacular of almost every step process: In a first step, widely popular chemis- scientific discipline leading to undiscovered realms try search engines, such as Sci Finder, and the ones of science and creating new research domains (e.g., provided by the CAS and RSC were used. The hits on nanochemistry, nanomedicine, nanomechanics, nano- “nano*” were analyzed according to different criteria biotechnology). The fact that nanotechnology does such as time, country, and source. In a second step, not belong to a single domain of science becomes the process was repeated by restricting the search to obvious upon analyzing the publication and cita- some of the most highly cited journals of each chem- tion data. As scientists, standards organizations, and istry discipline, to understand if nano- terminology has regulatory bodies struggle to agree on a universal ter- impacted all the areas of chemistry and if so, to what minology, the lack of descriptors and rules to system- extent and at what rate. The detailed methodology is atize the naming system has led to a plethora of terms explained in the full report. The acquired dataset was (nanoroses, nanobelts, nanoshells, nanocubes, etc.), based on records from 2000 to 2007 in the field of which often refer to a subjective description of the nano-enhanced publications. nanoscopic structural attribute. The wide proliferation and acceptance of the “nanoterminology” in chemistry Findings and Observations is reflected in the large and ever-increasing number The share of nanotechnology papers in chemistry of publications in all high-impact chemistry journals. journals has more than doubled over the past 10 years In addition, the launch and success of a series of new from 12 percent in 1996–1997 to 26 percent in 2006- journals (ACS Nano, NanoLetters, Nanoscale, Small, 2007. While the share of nanotechnology papers has NatureNanotechnology) devoted to this area confirm grown, there is considerable variation too: the remarkable growth. Nanotechnology papers accounted for more than The scope of this IUPAC project (2007-040-2- 50 percent of all articles and reviews in the journal 200) entitled Analysis of the Usage of Nanoscience Chemistry of Materials and 40 percent or more and Technology in Chemistry was to study the usage in Macromolecules and the Journal of Physical of nano-related terminology in chemistry and to Chemistry. analyze its penetration among the various chemical General journals have a “balanced” number of disciplines. Thus, this effort was mainly dedicated to nanotechnology-related papers, with an average mapping the nano-dominated publication domains by of above 20 percent (in 2006). a detailed analysis of peer-reviewed papers, patents, Journals in the inorganic and analytical chemistry and books. A global analysis of nano- in chemistry cover nanotechnology to a similar extent. terminology should serve as a first step in delivering Organic, environmental, and medicinal chemistry a guideline for IUPAC to propose some recommenda- journals have also experienced a growth in nano- tions and suggested terminology in the future. This papers; however, it is only around 10 percent. short summary is extracted from a longer report, available at iupac.org/ project/2007-040-2-200, which helps clarify how the emergence of nano- technology impacts the various fields of chemistry. To map and critically study the use of the prefix nano in various fields of chemistry, different search engines were used to compare the occurrence of nano-containing terms. This infor- mation was the input to understand the evolution and usage of nano-con-
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SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 1616 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:06:572:06:57 PMPM Chemical engineering (e.g., AICHE Journal) seems to be only incrementally influenced by the devel- opment of nano-terminology. Chemistry education is another area of low nano- technology influence, which is not surprising, as the research-intensive phase generally precedes the transfer to educational concepts.
A Closer Look at the Specialties The data presented give an overview of the general impact of an emerging interdisciplinary research area, such as nanotechnology. However, no generalizations should be made at this stage. Another approach to explore the role of nanotechnology in chemistry is to explore the emerging intellectual structures associ- ated with nanotechnology. To this end, the task group Keywords map for Analytical Chemistry for the has carried out co-word analysis to see what kind of period 2006–2007. intellectual space nanotechnology occupies in certain chemistry journals. While it was not possible to cover both a general and a discipline-specific impact on the all the journals, the findings and concepts have been development of chemistry-related terminology and applied on a selection of journals in different areas publication. The citation distribution, change of key of chemistry and with different “nanotech inten- words, and analysis of nano-prefix terms and other co- sity,” including Analytical Chemistry, Macromolecules, word analysis suggests that terminology in nanotech- Chemistry of Materials, and Angewandte Chemie- nology has reached a relatively mature level at which International Edition. convergence is an appropriate step. For each of these journals, all papers (articles and reviews) for 1996–1997, 2001–2002, and 2006–2007 For more information contact Task Group Chairs Javier Garcia Martinez
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more sustainable future, it is critical that decision mak- physics associated with atmospheric aerosols is very ers have the best available scientific understanding complex. With support from IUPAC, the project has put upon which to base their decisions. great effort into collecting and evaluating kinetic data Computational models are used extensively to for atmospherically relevant reactions and processes understand the impacts of emissions on air quality on involving aerosols and has added several hundred data local, regional, and global scales and to understand sheets containing evaluated data for heterogeneous the effects of human activities on the global climate reactions (e.g., reactions on ice surfaces, soot, mineral system. An accurate representation of atmospheric dust, sulfuric acid aerosol) over the past couple of chemistry is of critical importance in these models. years. This data facilitates more accurate representa- In past models, the focus was on gas-phase chemis- tions of important heterogeneous processes in atmo- try. Modern models include the important effects of spheric models of climate and air pollution. heterogeneous reactions and the formation and fate We take the completion of the migration of the of atmospheric aerosols. The IUPAC Task Group on kinetic and thermodynamic IUPAC database on atmo- Chemical Kinetic Data Evaluation for Atmospheric spheric chemistry to its website as an opportunity Chemistry is engaged in a to highlight several enhance- project to provide evaluated ments and capabilities kinetic data available to the recently implemented by the scientific community in an webmasters Glenn Carver and online database for use in Hannah Barjat of Cambridge the next generation of atmo- University. The website has spheric models. This proj- been active since 1999. For ect is furthering the IUPAC details on the history of the strategic goals of (i) serving website see Jan-Feb 2007 CI, as a scientific, international, p. 15. non-governmental body that The database is divided objectively addresses global into summary tables for fami- issues involving the chemical lies of reactions, data sheets sciences and (ii) facilitating for individual reactions and the development of effective channels of communica- supplementary information providing guides to the tion in the international chemistry community. gas-phase and the heterogeneous data sheets and The Task Group is continuing to update and expand thermodynamic data used in the database. At the the evaluations, which have been published in a series top of the home page there is a link to the five vol- of 10 peer-reviewed articles in J. Phys. Chem. Ref. umes published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Data, and five recent articles in Atm. Chem. Phys. The which are “snapshots” of the database at time of updated evaluations are available at
constants for selected gas phase and heterogeneous phase Ox, NOx, HOx, SOx, organic compounds, inor- processes for which new information has become ganic and organic halogens; (b) heterogeneous reac- available. In 2012, the panel will compile and submit tions on ice substrates; (c) heterogeneous reactions for publication recommended data for heterogeneous on mineral dust substrates. Previous editions of the reactions on liquid water and sulfuric acid surfaces and summary tables are available to facilitate the tracking homogeneous reactions of halogenated organic com- of changes in the recommended kinetic information pounds. These data are needed as inputs for the next with time as new data or new aspects in evaluation generation of global and regional atmospheric models. become implemented. There is growing interest within the scientific com- The data sheets proper are brief summaries of munity in the formation, fates, and environmental available experimental data with notes giving details impacts of atmospheric aerosols. The chemistry and of the experimental procedures and are organized in
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four broad groups, namely (i) gas phase reactions; (ii) Global Chemical Safety and photolysis reactions; (iii) heterogeneous reactions on Sustainability solid substrates; (iv) heterogeneous reactions on liquid substrates. It is notable that the evaluation of hetero- A regular project of the IUPAC Committee on geneous reactions has been entirely refurbished from Chemistry and Industry (COCI) is to coordinate a sym- previous evaluations and also goes beyond what other posium and workshop on the Safety Training Program evaluations have provided. It is based on an advanced during the IUPAC Congress in order to accomplish the framework of kinetic parameters to describe hetero- following: geneous and multiphase processes in more detail. communicate to the public and IUPAC leadership Particularly useful is the recently implemented search on recent activities by Fellows of the program in capability based on SMILES strings and IUPAC’s InChI their home countries unique identifier of chemical compounds. It is planned evaluate the effectiveness of the program in terms to install an additional search capability based on of fellows’ home country activities functional group recognition to make it even more learn from invited speakers who are experts in user-friendly given the more than 1000 data sheets health, safety, and environmental matters now in the database. For each thermal reaction, a solicit ideas for improvement in the program and preferred value of the rate coefficient at 298K is given for possible expansion to incorporate new host together with its temperature dependence, if available. companies and new regional trainees The selection of the preferred value is discussed in some detail and estimates of the accuracies of the rate The fifth in the series of IUPAC Safety Training coefficients and temperature coefficients have been Program workshops was held at the IUPAC Congress given for each reaction depending on the number in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on 1 August 2011. The of studies and their quality. For each photochemical 2011 STP symposium and workshop, entitled, “IUPAC reaction the data sheets list the preferred values of Safety Training Program: Global Chemical Safety and the photoabsorption cross sections and the quantum Sustainability,” was a full-day event at the Congress. yields of the photochemical reactions together with The Safety Training Program enables experts from comments on how these were selected. developing countries to learn more about safety and The supplementary information at the bottom of environmental protective measures by visiting and the home page includes a brief guide to the data working in plants of IUPAC Company Associates in the sheets explaining key definitions of kinetic parameters; industrialized world. IUPAC administers the program a glossary of terms; an updated introduction to the to disseminate state-of-the-art knowledge on safety heterogeneous data sheets; and a referenced list of and environmental protection in chemical production. thermodynamic data of relevant atoms, free radicals, The beneficiaries are expected to use the training in and closed-shell molecules and the order of reactions their home countries to improve health, safety, and within a family. environmental practices. The advantages of the IUPAC kinetic database for The symposium portion included several expert atmospheric chemistry may be summarized as follows: speakers from industry, academia, and government extensive database accessible free of charge who covered a number of topics relevant to advancing critical evaluation with justifying documentation the application of chemical safety practices in devel- as opposed to compilation of literature data oped and developing countries: practices to improve frequent updates chemical safety in schools and in industry, particularly hard copy “snapshots” of the state of the data- in the pharmaceutical industry; chemical security; and base at a given point in time for easier traceability Responsible Care. of recommendation changes Iwona Maciejowska of Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland, and EuCheMS vice chair for Eastern For more information contact Tim Wallington
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European schools. She noted that there is often insuf- study was summarized in the May-June 2011 CI, p. 6. ficient information on safety in textbooks and that and a second is in progress. students were often not prepared to work with toxic Nancy Jackson, president of the American Chemical or dangerous substances. She described how Project Society and manager of International Chemical Threat CHLASTS was established to engage teachers and Reduction in the Global Security Center at Sandia students in an ongoing safety dialogue. The project, National Labs (USA), spoke on the Chemical Security which includes 15 partner institutions from 9 countries, Engagement Program. Sandia National Laboratories involves legislation, safety procedures for labs, waste assists the U.S. Department of State and other fed- disposal procedures, and a practical guide for teachers eral agencies in solving problems related to interna- entitled “Safety in the Chemical Laboratory.” Produced tional chemical security. With the U.S. Department of in CD form in eight languages, the guide includes sev- State, Jackson has developed the Chemical Security eral appendices with guidelines for teachers, such as a Engagement Program, which raises awareness of list of incompatible chemicals. More information about chemical safety and security among chemical profes- the CHLASTS project is available at
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Safety, and Environmental Culture—Key to Excellent spoke on “The Pathway of Developing Occupational HSE Performance.” Nyarko received training train- Health and Safety Management in Turkey.” Toprak ing at Mitsui Chemical Co. in Japan. He stated that received safety training at BP Chemicals in the USA. visible leadership and workforce participation are Toprak stated that Turkey has an active chemical the two pillars that drive workplace HSE excellence. industry, but occupational safety and health problems Initiatives that have yielded excellent HSE performance in the workplace, communities, and with other stakeholders included annual chemical safety training for laboratory staff and HSE training for the company’s contractors, a potential incident report- ing award scheme, establish- ing a company Emergency Brigade responsible for all incidents, HSE operational and legal/regulation require- ment documents, co-ordinat- Safety Training Program Fellows during the panel discussion: Fabián B. Benzo (left), ing the company’s ISO 14001 Tersoo Charles Gwaza, Esma Toprak, and Godfred A. Nyarko. (EMS) Certification Program (2009–2010), and promoting an organization-wide exist. She described chemical safety training across weekly HSE Toolbox Talks Program. The HSE Toolbox Turkey, highlighting health and safety management. materials are also being used at some churches for Universities can be the best place from which to dis- congregational education on HSE. Nyarko said he seminate HSE information to industry and academic overcame an initial organizational view that “safety institutions, she said. In safety education, occupa- costs money and why bother,” and he now has good tional health and safety experts, university student support. volunteers, and others visit companies, schools, and Fabián B. Benzo of the Facultad de Química, homes, distributing printed materials such as case Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay, studies. These efforts build on the momentum of spoke on “Promoting HSE through the IUPAC Safety the International Year of Chemistry, Toprak noted. Training Program.” Benzo received training at Mitsui Although occupational safety and health practices are Chemical Co. in Japan at the same time as Godfred developing in Turkey, intensive efforts are devoted to Nyarko. He has disseminated the Globally Harmonized improving OH&S management, including sanctions System of chemicals labelling through events in and penalties. In addition, to mitigate and reduce Uruguay and Paraguay and has started implementing damage due to earthquakes, preventive measures the OHSAS 18000 standards in a local chemical com- are being taken such as strengthening buildings. pany. Benzo has also recommended safety measures Cooperation between Turkish government ministries for static-electricity risk control in a plant producing is leading to projects for developing educational powder products, and suggested the HAZOP method materials and integrating them into the curriculum to in the project phase of a production plant. At the uni- develop safety awareness. Occupational health exami- versity’s school of chemistry, he has introduced safety nations of workplaces are being carried out to reduce containers designed to protect flammable liquids from absenteeism and improve productivity. static electricity, and he has taught courses on labora- The workshop closed with a panel discussion tory safety to undergraduates and graduate students. among the speakers and the workshop audience. This He is now developing a Uruguayan regional focal point led to a number of ideas for the development of the for international chemical safety training. Safety Training Program and its continuation. COCI Esma Toprak of the Department of Chemical members posed the following questions and topics to Engineering at Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey, the program’s fellows:
CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 21
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Do you find that your role is more policeman or team What advice would you give to new trainees? player? Keep open eyes and ears, not just for yourself but for Answers among the fellows varied across the spec- the benefit of your employer and your community, and trum, where some found that at the start of their keep an open mind to new ideas. efforts they had to take a “policeman” role, but there was clear agreement that over time they became What advice would you give to IUPAC? How can the regarded as team players. Safety Training Program serve its trainees better? Find more host companies and arrange for them to What did you find most useful in your training? take several trainees at a time; use the workplaces of Some examples included safety manuals in each lab current fellows as training sites for new trainees; and with instructions, task reviews for new activities, and develop regional training around the areas where fel- methods and tools generally in use at the host com- lows live and work. pany facilities. COCI is now actively developing options to increase What was the biggest obstacle you found in imple- the scope of the Safety Training Program. The next menting improvements at home? workshop is planned for the IUPAC General Assembly Budgets and regulations, workforce skepticism, the in Istanbul in 2013. ”not invented here” factor, and overcoming estab- lished mindsets and cultures not conducive to safety This report was prepared Bernard West and Mark Cesa. For more information improvements. contact Mark Cesa
www.iupac.org/project/2011-004-2-022 www.iupac.org/committee/coci/safety-training-program.html
Materials for a Sustainable Future Materials for a Edited by Trevor M Letcher and Janet L Scott Sustainable Future
Edited by Trevor M Letcher and Janet L Scott
Serious threat in the next 100 years Sustainability is becoming more and more important in our everyday lives and this book is a Rising threat from increased use
Limited availability, future risk to supply Source: Chemistry Innovation Knowledge Transfer Network look at materials and how they relate to sustainability. This unique book is about the materials ADAPTED FROM WWW.CHEMICAL INNOVATION.CO.UK FROM WWW.CHEMICAL ADAPTED in our society and how they relate to sustainability. This includes materials that need to be conserved, renewable materials, pollutants that can be used in new processes, and materials designed to optimize the sustainable use of resources. Aimed at industrialists and investors; policy makers in local and central governments; students, teachers, scientists and engineers working in the field; and finally editors and journalists who need information on the increasingly vital concepts of sustainable living, this book provides current information and points the way forward for new developments.
Hardback | 648 pages | ISBN 9781849734073 | 2012 | £74.99
www.rsc.org/books Registered Charity Number 207890
22 CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012
SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 2222 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:032:07:03 PMPM Provisional Recommendations
Provisional Recommendations are drafts of IUPAC recommendations on terminology, nomenclature, and symbols made widely available to allow interested parties to comment before the recommendations are finally revised and published in Pure and Applied Chemistry. Full text is available at www.iupac.org.
Nomenclature of Thermal Analysis on halogen bond and provide the rationale for the proposed definition. The scope of this document is to provide scientists working in the field of thermal analysis with a con- Comments by 30 November 2012 sistent “definitions of terms” that are commonly Prof. Pierangelo Metrangolo used within the field to allow precise communication Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy and understanding. In considering all the matters of E-mail: [email protected] nomenclature, the current Committee has followed the advice of the late Robert Mackenzie in that: media.iupac.org/reports/provisional/abstract12/metrangolo_prs.pdf terminology should be simple; abbreviations kept to a minimum; names based on particular instruments should be Vocabulary for Nominal Properties discouraged. and Nominal Examinations — This document acknowledges that nomenclature Basic and General Concepts and develops—without regulated definition—as the field Associated Terms of thermal analysis develops. Some terms used by authors and scientists rapidly become accepted by the Scientists of disciplines in clinical laboratory sciences scientific community, even if the term is not consistent have long recognized the need of a common language with past definitions, science or grammatically correct. for efficient and safe request of investigations, report However, if such a term is widely used and understood, of results, and communication of experience and sci- it is reported here. entific achievements. Widening the scope, most scien- tific disciplines, not only clinical laboratory sciences, Comments by 30 November 2012 rely to some extent on various nominal examina- Dr. Jean Rouquerol tions in addition to measurements. The “International ICTAC Past-President vocabulary of metrology—Basic and general concepts E-mail: [email protected] and associated terms” is designed for metrology, the science of measurement. The aim of the proposed media.iupac.org/reports/provisional/abstract12/rouquerol_prs.pdf vocabulary is to suggest definitions and explanations of concepts and terms related to nominal properties, i.e. properties that can be compared for identity with Definition of the Halogen Bond other properties of the same kind-of-property, but have no magnitude. The task group recommends the definition given here for the halogen bond. The short definition is followed Comments by 30 November 2012 by a not exhaustive list of experimental and/or theo- Françoise Pontet retical features, which can be used as evidence for the E-mail: [email protected] presence of a halogen bond. A comprehensive techni- cal report is being prepared by the task group in order media.iupac.org/reports/provisional/abstract12/pontet_prs.pdf to relate the proposed definition with the past work
CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 23
SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 2323 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:132:07:13 PMPM Recent IUPAC technical reports and recommendations that affect the many fields of pure and applied chemistry. Making an imPACt See also www.iupac.org/publications/pac
IUPAC Glossary of Terms Used in Immunotoxicology (IUPAC the discoverers proposed names as follows: flerovium with the symbol Fl for the element with Z = 114 and Recommendations 2012) livermorium with the symbol Lv for the element with Z = 116. The IUPAC Inorganic Chemistry Division rec- D.M. Templeton, M. Schwenk, R. Klein, ommended these proposals for acceptance, and they and J.H. Duffus were adopted on 23 May 2012 by the IUPAC Bureau Pure and Applied Chemistry, 2012 as delegated to act by the IUPAC Council meeting on Vol. 84, No. 5, pp. 1113–1295 3–4 August 2011.
The primary objective of this “Glossary of Terms Used http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-11-12-03 in Immunotoxicology” is to give clear definitions for those who contribute to studies relevant to immuno- toxicology but are not themselves immunologists. This Analogue-Based Drug Discovery: applies especially to chemists who need to understand Contributions to Medicinal the literature of immunology without recourse to a multiplicity of other glossaries or dictionaries. The Chemistry Principles and Drug glossary includes terms related to basic and clinical Design Strategies. Microtubule immunology, insofar as they are necessary for a self- Stabilizers as a Case in Point contained document, and terms related to diagnosing, (special topic article) measuring, and understanding effects of substances on the immune system. The glossary consists of about Mohammad H. El-Dakdouki and Paul W. Erhardt 1200 terms as primary alphabetical entries, annexes Pure and Applied Chemistry, 2012 of common abbreviations, examples of chemicals with Vol. 84, No. 7, pp. 1479–1542 known effects on the immune system, autoantibodies in autoimmune disease, and therapeutic agents used The benefits of utilizing marketed drugs as starting in autoimmune disease and cancer. The authors hope points to discover new therapeutic agents have been that among the groups that will find this glossary well documented within the IUPAC series of books helpful, in addition to chemists, are toxicologists, phar- that bear the title Analogue-based Drug Discovery macologists, medical practitioners, risk assessors, and (ABDD). Not as clearly demonstrated, however, is that regulatory authorities. In particular, it should facilitate ABDD also contributes to the elaboration of new basic the worldwide use of chemistry in relation to occupa- principles and alternative drug design strategies that tional and environmental risk assessment. are useful to the field of medicinal chemistry in gen- eral. After reviewing the ABDD programs that have http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-11-06-03 evolved around the area of microtubule-stabilizing chemo-therapeutic agents, the present article delin- eates the associated research activities that addition- Names and Symbols of the ally contributed to general strategies that can be Elements with Atomic Numbers 114 useful for prodrug design, identifying pharmacoph- ores, circumventing multidrug resistance, and achiev- and 116 (IUPAC Recommendations ing targeted drug distribution. 2012) http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/PAC-CON-12-02-13 Robert D. Loss and John Corish Pure and Applied Chemistry, 2012 Vol. 84, No. 7, pp. 1669–1672
A joint IUPAC/IUPAP Working Party (JWP) has con- firmed the discovery of the elements with atomic num- bers 114 and 116. In accordance with IUPAC procedures,
24 CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012
SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 2424 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:142:07:14 PMPM Books and publications hot off the press. See also www.iupac.org/publications Bookworm
Macromolecular Symposia
Recent volumes of Macromolecular Symposia Ionic Polymerization include contributions from recent IUPAC sponsored Volume 308, October 2011 conferences. doi: 10.1002/masy.201190028 Issue edited by Stanislaw Penczek and Andrzej Duda. Molecular Mobility and Order in Polymer Systems This issue includes contributions from the 19th IUPAC Vol 316, June 2012 International Symposium on Ionic Polymerization doi:10.1002/masy.201290016 (IP’09) held in Krakow, Poland, from 26–31 July 2009. Issue edited by Anatoly Darinskii. The 7th International Symposium on Molecular Functional Polymeric Materials and Composites Mobility and Order in Polymer Systems was held in St. Volume 313-314, March 2012 Petersburg, Russia, from 6–10 June 2011. doi: 10.1002/masy.201290008 Issue edited by Bert Klumperman, Peter E. Mallon, Harald Pasch, and Albert J. van Reenen. This issue includes selected papers from the 11th Annual UNESCO/IUPAC Workshop and Conference on Functional Polymeric Materials and Composites was held in Stellenbosch, South Africa, from 27–29 April 2011.
This cover is selected from the article by P. Pakhomov et.al. and shows characteris- tic forms of filament-like aggregates.
POLYCHAR-19 World Forum on Advanced Materials Vol 315, May 2012 The cover is selected from the article by doi:10.1002/masy.201290014 N. P. Adhikari and shows a typical snap- Issue edited by Rameshwar Adhikari. shot of a system of flexible and semi- The 19th World Forum on Advanced Materials flexible polymer mixtures. (POLYCHAR-19) was held at Kathmandu, Nepal, from 20–24 March 2011.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1521-3900
CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 25
SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 2525 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:142:07:14 PMPM Providing brief overviews of helpful chemistry resources on the web. Internet Connection See also www.iupac.org/links Periodic Tables on the World Wide Web
by Leslie Glasser
The Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements (to give it its full title) is the principal organizational feature of Chemistry. It initially found its rightful place through its brilliant use as a predictive tool by Dmitri Mendeleev (Дми́ трий Ива́нович Менделе́ев) (1869) and was brought to its present scientific condition as a sequence in atomic number (rather than the earlier choice of Daniel Radcliffe sings “The Elements” on The Graham atomic mass) through the spectroscopic investiga- Norton Show, series 8, episode 4, BBC One. tions of Henry Moseley (1913). A currently developing (almost weekly) and entertaining blog of the Periodic tional information, such as the Chemdex “directory of Table can be found at the otherwise untitled http:// chemistry” which links to chemical sites around the scicommstudios.wordpress.com. Books about the world, is Web Elements Periodic Table on Show, produced by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute for the 2011 International Year of Chemistry 26 CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 2626 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:152:07:15 PMPM odic_table>. A beautiful version is the “Photographic can be applied well beyond chemistry. For instance, Periodic Table of the Elements” CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 27 SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 2727 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:172:07:17 PMPM A column about the Principles of Chemical Nomenclature —A Guide to IUPAC Nomenclature Notes Recommendations, 2011 Edition Systematic and Trivial Nomenclature biguous identification of compounds is required, as in scientific documents, international treaties, patents, by Jeffery Leigh and legal definitions. This is why IUPAC nomenclature can sometimes appear to be so complicated. omenclaturists recognize two general classes There are other kinds of systematic nomenclature. of nomenclature, systematic and trivial. The Chemical Abstracts Service of the American NPerhaps the use of the word trivial is unfortu- Chemical Society has its own systematic system, simi- nate, because its usual meaning in every-day English lar to IUPAC’s, and with similar aims, but not identi- according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is cal. Other nomenclatures may be systematic, but in a “of small account, little esteemed, paltry, poor, trifling, manner differing from IUPAC’s. For example, ISO lists inconsiderable, unimportant, slight.” However, the approved names for pesticides, such as afidopyropen, OED lists several other meanings, some derived from which should be recognizable by professionally quali- a Latin word implying “three.” A more general com- fied users rather than solely by chemists. Such names mon meaning listed in the OED is “such as met with should be translatable into other scripts and into lan- anywhere, common, commonplace, ordinary, trite.” guages other than English. The entry for the pesticide The word trivial was adopted when nomenclature was afidopyropen (for details see 28 CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 Next in this series will be a review of InChIs and Registry numbers. SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 2828 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:182:07:18 PMPM 2020th IFCC-EFLMIFCC-EFLM EuropeanEuropean CongressCongress ofof ClinicalClinical ChemistryChemistry andand LaboratoryLaboratory MedicineMedicine 45th Congress of the Italian Society of Clinical Biochemistry and Clinical Molecular Biology (SIBioC) 19-23 May 2013 - Miillano, IItally Miillano Conventiion Centre - MiiCo ORGANISING SECRETARIAT MZ Congressi srl Member of the MZ International Group (Milano, Torino, Barcelona, London) Via C. Farini, 81 - 20159 Milano (Italy) Phone: +39 02 66802323 - Fax: +39 02 6686699 Mail:25 [email protected] 1987-2012 Under the auspice of SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 2929 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:222:07:22 PMPM Reports from recent conferences and symposia See also www.iupac.org/home/conferences.html Conference Call Advanced Materials: Stories “Mother of All Pantries.” Every material thing that ever was, is, or will be resides in that discovery. We should of Innovation all have a copy in a shrine-like environment between two candles.” by Neil Gussman Materials science is more than the elements, it’s how they are combined,” Amato said. “The history of On a clear, unseasonably warm evening in late February technology innovation is closely tied to innovation in 2012, nearly 200 people gathered at the Chemical materials.” Amato introduced the six panelists, who Heritage Foundation, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to he said were in the business of bringing new materials hear experts discuss the past, present, and future of into existence: materials science. The on-stage discussion brought together six research leaders from the chemical indus- Thomas M. Connelly, Jr. try to talk with Ivan Amato, author of the book Stuff: Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation The Materials the World is Made of. Officer, DuPont Titled Advanced Materials: Stories of Innovation, Ryan Dirkx the event was a partnership between Discover maga- Vice President, Research and Development, zine and the Chemical Heritage Foundation. Michal Arkema Inc. Meyer, editor in chief of Chemical Heritage magazine, Mark Doriski opened the event by connecting materials science Global Intermediates Technology Manager, with the long history of chemistry and alchemy. She ExxonMobil Chemical Company quoted a recipe from the noted alchemist Sir Isaac Gregory Nelson Newton “Take of urine one barrel and let it ferment Senior Vice President and Chief Technology three months in summer . . .” showing the strong com- Officer, Eastman Chemical Company mitment and limited resources of the first chemical Christopher D. Pappas experimenters. President and CEO, Styron Following Meyer, Corey Powell, editor in chief of A.N. Sreeram Discover, linked the event to the magazine’s annual Vice President, Research and Development, issue “Visible Planet” that shows readers “the marvel- Advanced Materials Division, The Dow Chemical ous hidden in the mundane” through stories of how Company scientists see common objects. “There is no bet- ter example of that than the chemical perspective,” Amato then introduced the first of three questions Powell said. “We live and breathe chemical processes, he would ask the panelists to discuss before opening but we don’t think about them.” up the event to audience questions: Amato introduced the event and the panel. He said, “The periodic table of elements amazes me. It is the What roles have materials innovations played in the recent history of technology? First to answer the question was Sreeram who pointed out that “48 percent of the energy consumed in America is used to heat, cool, and light our living spaces.” He talked about Dow insulation products as an example of an advance in materials leading to better quality of life for everyone through reduced energy consumption. He also contrasted the obvious advanced materials that surround us in personal elec- tronic devices with the invisible advanced materials such as the reverse osmosis filters that turn sea water into drinking water. Connelly said, “The world has enough stuff by and large. It needs smarter stuff, higher performing stuff, Panelist (from left) Christopher D. Pappas, Mark Doriski, greener stuff. We need to look at the value side of the and Gregory Nelson. equation, not just the volume side.” He talked about 30 CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 3030 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:232:07:23 PMPM the recent rapid advances in photovoltaic technology. resistance without compromising wear and wet grip,” “From the discovery of the photoelectric effect in 1880 Pappas said. “That kind of innovation tends to rapidly until 2000, the world installed one gigawatt of photo- take over a market.” voltaics. Last year we added more than 10 gigawatts, Sreeram added, “Another example is high-tem- enabled by advanced materials.” perature elastomers.” He said that in normal plastics, Pappas explained that materials innovation can also increasing temperature resistance means lowering take the form of refining and enhancing the proper- elasticity. High-temperature elastomers went from ties of existing compounds. He said Styron adds new scientific publication to the market in less than a year functional groups to styrene-butadiene to give tire because the demand was great. makers rubber that can maintain wet grip while reduc- ing rolling resistance. “You can innovate around basic technology, not just brand new things,” Pappas said. Following the point Pappas made, Doriski said syn- thetic lubricants were invented in the 1930s but have been growing in the automotive market with research and innovation in the last two decades. He said the USA could reduce gas consumption by a billion gallons per year by switching to synthetic lubricants. Nelson talked about interacting with consum- ers, explaining how Eastman’s TRITAN lets consum- ers choose BPA-free plastics in food containers. “Consumers are becoming part of the product devel- opment equation,” said Nelson. “They care how you have made this product, what you have made it from. They are telling us, ‘We care what happens to us when Host Ivan Amato (left), with Thomas M. Connelly and we interact with this product.’” A.N. Sreeram. “Materials innovation is going to be about the cre- ativity of our scientists and about interacting with informed consumers,” said Nelson. Amato then introduced question two: Dirkx said he entered an undergraduate materials science program focused on ceramics since he wanted It takes a lot of science, a lot of engineering, and a to study advanced ceramics for nose cones on space- lot of good management to nurture a good idea and craft. When he went to his first lab he saw a row of translate it into a consequential new material. How coffee cups on the lab bench—confirming his worst do your companies create cultures in which all of that fear about studying ceramics. “Then the professor can happen? picked up one of those cups and hammered a nail into a board with the side of the cup,” Dirkx said. “Materials Doriski said, “Commitment and collaboration are the had me at that point.” keys to a culture of innovation. We have 18 000 scien- Dirkx talked about his company’s long history in tists and a billion-dollar research budget and collabo- biopolymers. Arkema has made nylon from castor rate with many universities.” oil for almost 60 years, a slightly different nylon that Connelly stressed the need for a culture that can resists cold very well and is used as brake lines on all foster innovation. Leaders need “a tolerance for uncer- trucks in the Yukon and Siberia. Dirkx said, “We have tainty,” he said. “You can’t be too quick to make a deci- sold biopolymers for decades because they work, not sion and close off optionality.” But when the decision because they are plant based.” is made “You have to be ruthless,” Connelly said. “You As a follow up to the opening question, Amato can’t have pet projects. Most things we work on will asked Pappas about the balance between charac- fail.” Research leaders need market insight and judg- teristics of the rubber his company develops. “Is it a ment to pick the right projects. trade-off between rolling resistance and wet weather Nelson said he was asked by an Eastman board performance?” Amato asked. “Those seem to be pull- member what he would do if he got a 10 percent ing in opposite directions.” increase in his R&D budget. His answer: “I would give “Our scientists have been able to reduced rolling a third of the money to our marketing department to CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 31 SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 3131 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:292:07:29 PMPM Conference Call hire market insights people. I do not want to develop our world. The first time he encountered LED lighting products no one wants.” He continued, “Innovation is on a vehicle was in the 1990s and now LED lights are different than invention. Innovation serves the needs common. of people.” The first questioner from the audience asked if Amato posed the third question to the panel: fracking and the availability of cheap natural gas would change the chemical landscape in the way coal What are the grand materials-related challenges that tar became the raw material for so many chemical face society now? innovations of the 19th century. Pappas said the chem- ical industry has already changed. Cheap natural gas Amato asked them to go beyond the context of their has already led to billions in investment and thousands own businesses and the chemical industry. “Think of jobs on the Gulf Coast as well as in Pennsylvania about problems that may and surrounding states. not have solutions now.” Sreeram said he read an “Cars need to get smaller. article titled “RIP American The cars of the future aren’t Chemical Industry” in 2008, going to look like the cars but with falling natural gas we have today,” Connelly prices “We got our swagger said. “With all respect to back.” ExxonMobil, there is a future Thomas R. Tritton, presi- for the electric vehicle. We dent and CEO of CHF, asked need new materials for about self-healing polymers. inverters, new materials for Dirkx said he had examples energy storage, we need with him on a display table new materials to take weight on the third floor, and that out of vehicles.” more innovations were on Doriski responded rec- the way. ommending ExxonMobil’s Another questioner asked report on the future of what the world would be energy to Connelly and the like 200 years in the future. panel. He then explained Sreeram said “Whatever how synthetic lubricants A.N. Sreeram (left) and Ryan Dirkx. we say will be wrong. The reduce waste by reducing amount of change we will maintenance. He talked about industrial gearboxes see in 200 years makes it impossible to predict.” and automatic transmissions in cars. With synthetics, Janice Shaw, a chemistry and physics teacher from industrial gearboxes, such as those on wind turbines, West Philadelphia Catholic High School, said “I love run many times longer between oil changes, increas- to come to events like this because this is how I get a ing efficiency and reducing waste. He said automatic jump start to give enthusiasm to the kids I meet every transmission fluid now lasts as long as the car. day.” Nelson said he read ExxonMobil’s report and noted Paul McGibney, a chemistry teacher at Ridley High that over the next 30 years the projected greatest School, Philadelphia, said “I get my kids involved in source of new energy will be saved energy. He said materials science by using organic LEDs and carbon every process uses energy and that small savings in nanotubes for classroom projects. Where do you see many processes add up to the energy that will allow nanotechnology being incorporated in materials in the more people around the world to move into the middle future?” class. Pappas said practical large-scale use was still in Pappas returned to the automotive theme saying the future. Sreeram gave examples of current uses of Styron developed molded polymer seats that replace nanotechnology in catalysts and microelectronics. “In metal seat frames, reducing overall weight of the the case of carbon nanotubes, we need to separate vehicle. He said LED lighting and all the materials inno- out is it a technology looking for an application or the vations that make it possible will be another source of other way around.” significant energy savings in the future. Following Sreeram, Dirkx said, “There is fundamen- Amato said new materials change the landscape of tal difference between bulk material properties and 32 CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 3232 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:432:07:43 PMPM Conference Call what happens when you downscale it.” He described we had an opportunity to celebrate the impact of the the change in properties from bulk, to thin coating to InChI (the IUPAC International Chemical Identifier) nanoscale as discontinuous. “There is a lot for us to do on the ability to communicate, link, and enhance the in this nanospace to develop new materials.” integration of chemistry across databases, across the The final question of the event went to Steven Internet and in publications. Unlike the proprietary Freeman, who teaches innovation at the University SMILES format, InChI was designed to be “a freely of Pennsylvania. He asked for an example of radical available, nonproprietary identifier for chemical sub- change versus the incremental changes described in stances that can be used in printed and electronic much of the discussion. data sources, thus enabling easier linking of diverse Connelly answered first. “I think there is a basic data compilations and unambiguous identification of change in the way biology is going to impact the chemical substances.” Over the past decade, InChI has materials sciences. We engineer biological process become widely recognized and used by the chemical and produce very specific products at room tempera- community to search, connect, and exchange chemical ture, atmospheric pressure and in aqueous media with structures. The first InChI symposium to be held at an no exotic metals.” ACS meeting was organized to highlight the history, Pappas said the incremental advances in materials recent developments, interesting applications, and over the past 20 to 30 years add up a major change. current trends in InChI. The unique gist of this full- “Breakthroughs are the sum of incremental changes day symposium in the San Diego 2012 program could over time,” he said. probably be best summarized by the presentation title of one of the speakers, who had the title “InChIs here, See videos of the event at http://discovermagazine.com/events/chf/chf-advanced- InChIs there, InChIs everywhere!” (see page 34). materials-stories-of-innovation. Neil Gussman How Many Miles Have We Gone, InChI by InChI?* by Alex Tropsha and Antony Williams How simple the communications between people of different nations would have been had we all shared the same language! The attempts to develop such a universal language adopted by the entire human population have not been tremendously successful Alan McNaught (left) chaired the original IUPAC activity (e.g., Esperanto), but chemists, on the other hand, that lead to the development of InChI in 2000 and has fol- have succeeded in developing a language they all lowed the project since. Jason Wilde is from the Nature understand, that of chemical structure. Chemists of Publishing group, represented on the InChi-Trust. all nations could easily communicate their thoughts using traditional chemical structure drawings, but this The morning session opened with Steve Heller pre- way of information exchange becomes increasingly senting a brief history on how the InChI project started prohibitive with the growth of chemical databases. and an update on the present status. He emphasized This is when special means for compact encoding of that InChI was meant primarily to provide a way to chemical structures such as SMILES and InChI become link information, to be an addition to what is avail- critical, making it feasible to store and transmit able today, not a replacement, and is an algorithm to huge amounts of chemical information (many current produce a unique label. He commented on the suc- chemical databases such as PubChem or ChemSpider cess of InChI, with one measure being the uncoerced include many tens of millions of records). adoption that has been shown by publishers, database At the ACS meeting in San Diego in March 2012, providers, and software developers. CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 33 SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 3333 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:442:07:44 PMPM Conference Call Antony Williams from the Royal Society of and their use in ChemBoxes and DrugBoxes. He also Chemistry Cheminformatics team, and member of discussed how InChIs became an important part of the the ChemSpider project, dis- RSC Learn Chemistry wiki, cussed the “Great promise of an open website hosting navigating the internet using educational content and InChIs” and reflected on what encouraging educators to the original purpose of InChI contribute their own data. was and how far we had come The site hosts chemical in a relatively short period of data for over 2100 com- time in terms of meeting the mon chemicals and uses goals. In contrast to his usual InChI and InChIKeys to focus on data quality issues, facilitate structure search- he started by commenting ing across the site and as that the talk was about quan- the basis of interactive tity—how much data was now quizzes. being linked together and Andrey Yerin from could be discovered using ACD/Labs gave a fascinat- InChI as the linker. He asked ing presentation regard- “What would be the situation Jignesh Bhate (left), Molecular Connections, ing InChIKey collisions if InChI never existed?” and and Antony Williams, symposium chair (RSC & and how to experimentally answered with the fact that ChemSpider). estimate the rate of their ChemSpider would never have occurrence using algorith- been built without it. mically-generated struc- Keith Taylor from Accelrys provided an overview ture libraries. His conclusion was that InChIKeys do of why Accelrys supports InChIs in its cheminformat- have a very low rate of collision as the degree of ran- ics toolkit despite having its own unique identifiers domness, as expected by the design of the InChIKey, already. He emphasized it was because the community is very high. He did provide some very amusing exam- asked for InChIs and found them to be valuable. He ples of InChIKeys that contained “hidden words” and provided examples of how different online systems examples are shown in the figure below. used InChI and what the results were when Accelrys As a final talk in the morning session Juergen tools were used to perform searches against the online Swienty-Busch talked about where InChIs are (i.e., databases. “here, there and everywhere”). He showed how InChIs Martin Walker from the State University of New York continue to proliferate in popularity across chemistry at Potsdam discussed the use of InChIs in Wikipedia databases on the web and how Elsevier now includes them in its Reaxys database as well as in its publica- tions associated with data. Reed-Elsevier looks for- ward to further advances in InChI. Elsevier Properties SA is a board member on the InChI Trust and Elsevier is involved as members of three of the working groups. This indicates their belief in the standard. The discussion of InChI continued in the afternoon. Yulia Borodina (U.S. FDA) discussed the challenges facing the FDA Substance Registration System when dealing with complex compounds such as biopoly- mers or synthetic polymers. Standard InChI is not designed to handle such structures, but it could be used to describe monomers and other building blocks of these complex structures. Marcus Sitzmann from NCI discussed how InChI/ InChIKeys are used within the NCI Chemical Identifier Resolver to annotate more than 80M unique chemical structures. 34 CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 3434 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:462:07:46 PMPM Conference Call Daniel Lowe from NextMove Software addressed information dissemination and exchange. The antici- features in IUPAC nomenclature that cannot be pated new developments will likely warrant a new addressed by standard InChI such as accurate repre- InChI symposium within the next couple of years. sentation of tautomers and mixtures of stereoisomers. These cases require special treatment. Alex Tropsha and Antony Williams were the symposium organizers. Alex Tropsha In a flash talk, Richard Kidd discussed the use of CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 35 SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 3535 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:502:07:50 PMPM Conference Call The Short Course on Polymer Characterization, held Following is a sampling of the 15 invited lectures usually on the first conference day, was established that covered a broad range of subjects: at the very beginning by the POLYCHAR founders: Jung-Il Jin, Korea University, “First organic high Witold Brostow, Michael Hess and Kevin P. Menard. temperature ferromagnetic compositions—a sci- The idea was to provide basic and up-to-date infor- entific lesson learned from DNA” mation on the popular characterization techniques by Giovanni Camino, Polytechnic University of Turin, well-known specialists in a condensed presentation “Surface and bulk contribution to polymers and (covered by reference material) to students and new- nanocomposites ignition” comers in this field. Marianne Gilbert, Loughborough University, The Short Course on Polymer Characterization was “Hydrotalcite as secondary stabilizer for PVC” held 26 March 2012, the first day of the POLYCHAR 20: Masaru Matsuo, Department of Polymer Science Polymer Tribology and its Relation to Mechanics, and Materials, Dalian University of Technology, Witold Brostow, University of North Texas, Denton, “Structures of high modulus and high strength Texas polymer materials evaluated by X-ray, positron Dynamic Mechanical and Thermophysical Analysis, annihilation,13C NMR” Michael Hess, Chosun University, South Korea José Miguel Martin Martínez, University of Polymer Molecular Dynamics around Glass Alicante, “Degradable polyurethane adhe- Transition, Jean Marc Saiter, University of Rouen, sives based on rosin and tung oil diols” France Electron Microscopy of Polymers: Techniques and Being an IUPAC-sponsored international confer- Examples, Goerg H. Michler and Sven Henning, ence, POLYCHAR 20 attracts scientists from all over Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, the world reflecting the philosophy of the POLYCHAR Institute of Physics, Halle (Saale), Germany conferences that is to provide an international forum, Modern Microscopic Techniques, Holger especially for students and young scientists. The Schönherr, University of Siegen, Germany principal aim is to give them opportunity to meet Positron Annihilation of Polymers, Frans Maurer, with their peers and with well-known scientists and Lund University, Sweden to exchange experiences, make contacts and present X-ray Diffraction of Polymers, Ivan Šmit, Ruđer their results to the scientific community. IUPAC’s finan- Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia cial support enabled the attendance of 12 students Electrical Properties of Polymers and Polymer and young researchers from scientifically emerging Composites, Traian Zaharescu, National Institute countries. of Electrical Engineering, Bucharest, Romania The broad span of contributions to POLYCHAR Molecular Characterization of Synthetic Polymers 20 is probably best represented by the awardees of by Liquid Chromatography, Dusan Berek, Slovak the conference and their contributions. The P.J. Flory Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia Polymer Research prize was awarded to Robert F.S. Stepto, Manchester Materials Science Centre, for his About 300 registered participants from academia work on thermoplastics including thermoplastic starch and industry, from 43 countries and 5 continents materials. The International Materials Science Prize attended POLYCHAR 20 that offered 110 oral presen- was given to Hyoung Jin Choi, Inha University, Incheon, tations and 156 posters in three parallel sessions cover- for his work on rheology and electro-rheology. ing the following topics: Three IUPAC Poster Prizes were awarded: Predictive Methods and Simulations Zuzana Morávková Rozlivková, Institute of Structure-Property Relationships Macromolecular Chemistry, Academy of sciences Surfaces, Interfaces, Adhesion and Tribology of the Czech Republic for her poster “Polyaniline Materials Synthesis prepared in water-ethanol mixture” Rheology and Processing Sven-Christian Sidenstein, University of Siegen, Mechanical Properties and Performance Germany (advisor Holger Schoenherr), for his Electrical and Dielectric Properties poster “Internal organization does matter: trac- Nanomaterials and Smart Materials erdiffusion in poly(methyl acrylate) brushes and Biomaterials, Green Materials and Composites spin-coated films” Materials for Energy and Recycling Mirna Petkovic Didovic, University of Rijeka, Natural and Biodegradable Polymers School of Medicine, Croatia (advisor Srecko 36 CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 3636 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:502:07:50 PMPM Conference Call Valic), for her poster “Correlation between orien- for the poster “Epoxidation Effect of Butadiene tations of nanoclay and natural rubber crystallites Block on Morphology and mechanical Properties in natural rubber/clay nanocomposites” of SBS Block Copolymer” Ricarda Schröder, Aachen University, Aachen, The Jűrgen Springer Prize for a Young Scientist for the poster “Zwitterionic Microgels Based on was given to Marianna Pannico, Institute of Chemistry N-Vinylcaprolactam and Sulfo-, Carboxy-, and and Technology of Polymers, Pozzuoli, for the pre- Phosphobetaine” sentation “Stabilization Effects of Functional POSS in Selda Sen, Istambul Technical University, Istanbul, Epoxy Resins: Spectroscopic and Dynamic-Mechanical for the poster “A Study on Electrospinning of Studies.” Acrylonitrile and Itaconic Acid Copolymers” The Bruce Hartman Prize for a Young Scientists was Ângela Dias, Universidade do Porto, Porto, for awarded to Malgorzata Walczak, Centre of Molecular the presentation “Effect of Added Amines on the and Macromolecular Studies, Lodz, for the poster Morphology of Vesiculated Polyester Particles” “Characterization of PC/PS Multilayered Films.” The Carl Klason Prize for an Outstanding Student Special acknowledgements were given to the Presentation was awarded to three ex aequo winners: retired Croatian professors from the Zagreb University, Michael Härth, Friedrich-Alexander University, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology: Erlangen, for the poster “Simple Approximate Zvonimir Janovic, for his selfless scientific and Solution for Modeling the Spreading of a Drop in educational work in the area of polymer science Partial Wetting Case” and materials; Zhansaya K. Sadakbayeva, Institute of Mladen Bravar, for his important contributions to Macromolecular Chemistry, Prague, for the poster supervising and education of young scientists in “Interpenetrating Networks Based Hydrogels” the area of advanced materials; Zrinka Buhin, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, for the Branko Kunst, for his pioneering work in physical oral presentation “In Situ Emulsion Polymerization chemistry of polymers and successful mentoring and Characterization of Poly (Butyl Acrylate-co- of young scientists and students. Methyl Methacrylate)/Silica Nanosystems” Manuscripts of the POLYCHAR 20 participants will Because of the great number of very good stu- be published in Macromolecular Symposia, Polymer dent presentations, five Diplomas of Distinction for a Engineering & Science, Materials Research Innovations, Student Presentation were given: and Chemistry & Chemical Technology. Aline Bassi Denis, Instituto de Quimica de Săo POLYCHAR 21, 18–22 March 2013, will be held in Carlos, Săo Carlos, for the poster “Residual Daegu, South Korea. Monomer Determination of Dental Resins with Different Photoinitiators” www.polychar20-croatia.com Rajesh Pandit, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Group photo of participants at POLYCHAR 20. CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 37 SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 3737 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:512:07:51 PMPM Announcements of conferences, symposia, workshops, meetings, and other upcoming activities Where 2B & Y Toxicology to the cutting-edge topics that will be covered in the conference, a practical workshop will be organized on 16–19 October 2012, Lisbon, Portugal 20 October. Participants will gain hands-on experi- ence with computerized in vitro—in vivo extraplotation The Portuguese Toxicology Association will host strategies. the European Society of Toxicology in Vitro 2012 In addition to the scientific program, attendees will International Congress, ESTIV2012, in Lisbon, Portugal, experience the warm hospitality, excellent climate, rich 16–19 October 2012. culture, and great food that Lisbon has to offer. The As in previous ESTIV events, this conference will conference venue is located in the new part of the city, bring together researchers and students from aca- close to the airport and the Expo waterfront. demia and industry involved in the development and ESTIV2012 will focus on new developments in toxic- use of in vitro methods in toxicology. The scientific ity testing and the mechanism of action of chemicals program includes state-of-the-art lectures, workshops, and nanomaterials, with a special emphasis on the and original communications and poster sessions. following themes: ESTIV 2012 will cover a broad range of topics address- Dermal Toxicity ing systemic toxicity, local toxicity, developmental Ocular Toxicity toxicity with emphasis on physiologically relevant Dermal Sensitization markers, marker profiles, and molecular mechanisms Innate Immune Responses in Toxicity and pathways. Carcinogenicity Testing ESTIV2012 will explore challenges and successes Reproductive and Developmental Testing of non-animal approaches for toxicity testing. As with Systemic Toxicity previous ESTIV Conferences, a special student session Computational Toxicity and Toxicokinetics will also be organized, where young researchers will be invited to briefly present their work, with an award for www.estiv2012.com the best presentation. For the first time and in addition Novel Aromatic Compounds Symposium Topics Aromaticity and Novel Aromatic Systems—Theory, 28 July–2 August 2013, Taipei, Taiwan Synthesis, and Experiment Aromatic Polymers and Oligomers—Synthesis, The International Symposium on Novel Aromatic Properties, and Applications Compounds was founded in 1970 by T. Nozoe, who Molecular and Supramolecular Aromatic Devices, discovered the first nonbenzenoid aromatic com- Switches, Machines pound, hinokitiol, in Taipei. The name and the goal of Fullerenes and Concave Aromatics, Graphene, this symposium series have evolved as the research Carbon Nanotube Related Aromatics and applications of aromatic compounds thriving in Macrocyclic Aromatic Compounds diverse range of disciplines. The 15th International Aromatics for Conducting, Magnetic, and Symposium on Novel Aromatic Compounds (ISNA-15), Optoelectronics to take place 28 July–2 August 2013 in Taipei, will be a historic occassion. To continue the blossoming tradi- Confirmed plenary lecturers include Jean-Luc tion of previous ISNA symposia, ISNA-15 will provide Brédas, Klaus Müllen, Eiichi Nakamura, Shie-Ming an interactive platform for researchers worldwide to Peng, Timothy M. Swager, Yoshito Tobe, and Daoben present new findings and exchange innovative ideas Zhu. The Nozoe Lecturer will be Andrew B Holmes. on advanced synthesis, structure-property relation- ship, and applications of novel aromatic compounds. See Mark Your Calendar for contact information. The scientific program of this symposium includes the Nozoe memorial lecture, plenary lectures, invited www.isna15.org lectures, oral communications, and poster presenta- tions. Attendees will find Taipei to be a vibrant city where East meets West. 38 CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 3838 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:532:07:53 PMPM Nano Systems and World Class University, Gwanju Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea. Applications The conference will cover a wide range of topics in 21–25 November 2012, Coimbatore, India nanotechnology and its applications. Keynote and ple- nary lectures will be delivered by eminent , scientists The 6th International Symposium on Macro- and such as Nobel Laureates Peter Grunenberg (Germany) Supramolecular Architectures and Materials (MAM- and Aaron Ciechanover (Israel). 12): Nano Systems and Applications will take place 21–25 November 2012 in Coimbatore, India. The con- See Mark Your Calendar for contact information. ference is jointly organized by the Centre for Nano Science and Technology, K S R College of Technology, www.mam12.ksrct.ac.in Tiruchengode, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India, and the Advanced Polymers via Polymer Colloids Polymers at Surfaces and Interfaces Macromolecular Engineering Polymer Characterization 18–22 August 2013, Durham, UK Biomaterials and Polymers for Medical Applications The 10th International Conference on Advanced Renewable/Sustainable Polymers Polymers via Macromolecular Engineering (APME Plastic Electronics 2013) will be held at Durham University in the UK Polymers for Energy Applications from 18–22 August 2013. Organized and hosted by Complex Macromolecular Architectures the Durham Centre for Soft Matter, APME 2013 will be Polymers and Industry the latest in a series of successful meetings, the most recent of which were held in Cappadocia (Turkey) Seven plenary speakers will present their latest (2011), Dresden (2009), and Miami (2007). research along with 32 invited speakers. The program The focus of the meeting will be on recent advances will also include some 48 contributed presentations, in polymer chemistry, polymer synthesis, and polymer 16 contributed short talks for younger researchers, and characterization. Topics to be covered include the a poster session, which will provide participants the following: opportunity to highlight their recent work. Radical Polymerization Step Growth Polymers See Mark Your Calendar for contact information. Functional Polymers Supramolecular Polymers www.dur.ac.uk/soft.matter/apme2013 Biorefineries The symposium is limited to 300 attendees from 28–29 September 2013, Brasília, Brazil industry, government, and research institutions in Brazil and throughout the world. An opening lecture The 2nd Brazilian Symposium on Biorefineries, to be will be delivered by a leading biorefinery researcher on held 28–29 September 2013 in Brasília, Brazil, is aimed the evening of 27 September, followed by a reception at promoting dialogue about the possibilities and chal- with the press. lenges related to biorefineries and the development of The event has a strong international profile (speak- a Green Economy. Its topics are as follows: ers and audience), and will have simultaneous English- raw materials Portuguese translation. advances in chemical, biochemical, and thermo- chemical processes See Mark Your Calendar for contact information. advances in analytical techniques and methodology economic potential of new products and their www.siadeb.org/snbr sustainability CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 39 SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 3939 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:532:07:53 PMPM Upcoming IUPAC-sponsored events See also www.iupac.org/home/conferences.html for Mark Your Calendar links to specific event websites 2012 (after 15 September) IUPAC poster prizes to be awarded 15–20 September 2012 • Catalysis in Organic Synthesis • Moscow, Russia International Conference on Catalysis in Organic Synthesis Prof. Mikhail P. Egorov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, 47 Leninsky Prospekt, B-334, RF-119991 Moscow, Russia, Tel.: +7 095 135 5309, Fax: +7 095 135 5328, E-mail: [email protected] 16–21 September 2012 • Biotechnology • Daegu, Korea 15th International Biotechnology Symposium and Exhibition IBS 2012 Secretariat, 6F, Sunghwa B/D, 1356-51 Manchon, 1-Dong, Suseong-Gu, Daegu 706-803, Korea Tel.: +82 53 742 5557, Fax: +82 53 742 9007, E-mail: [email protected] 14–19 October 2012 • Novel Materials • Xian, China 8th International Conference on Novel Materials and their Synthesis Prof. Yuping Wu, Fudan University, Department of Chemistry, New Energy & Materials Laboratory, Shanghai, 200433, China, Tel.: +86 21 55 664 223, Fax: +86 21 55 664 223, E-mail: [email protected] 23–26 October 2012 • Green Chemistry • Moscow, Russia 4th International Chemical Assembly on Green Chemistry Prof. Ekaterina S. Lokteva,Moscow State University, Department of Chemistry, Leninsky Gory, 1, RF-119991 Moscow, Russia, Tel: +7 495 939 3337, Fax: +7 495 939 4575, E-mail: [email protected] 5–9 November 2012 • Mycotoxin • Rotterdam, Netherlands 7th World Mycotoxin Forum and XIIIth International IUPAC Symposium on Mycotoxins & Phycotoxins Ms. Helena B. Bastiaanse (Program Coordinator), Bastiaanse Communication, P.O. Box 179, NL-3720 AD Bilthoven, Netherlands, Tel.: +31 302 294 247, Fax: +31 302 252 910, E-mail: [email protected] 21–25 November 2012 • Supramolecular Architectures and Materials • Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India 6th International Conference on Macro- and Supramolecular Architectures & Materials (MAM-2012) Dr. Venkatchatalam Rajendran Director, Center for NanoScience & Technology, K.S. Rangasamy College of Technology, K.S.R. Kalvinagar, Tiruchengode, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu 637 215, India Tel.: +91 428 827 4880, Fax: +91 428 827 4880, E-mail: [email protected] 2013 IUPAC poster prizes to be awarded 22–23 January 2013 • Test Results in Analytical Chemistry • Tel Aviv, Israel Workshop on Human Errors and Out-of-Specification Test Results in Analytical Chemistry Prof. Ilya Kuselman National Physical Laboratory of Israel Givat Ram IL-91904 Jerusalem Israel Tel.: +972 2 630 3501, Fax: +972 2 630 3516, E-mail: [email protected] 17–22 February 2013 • Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy • Ein Gedi, Israel 7th Workshop on Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy Prof. Daniel Mandler, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Safra Campus, IL-91904 Jerusalem, Israel, Tel.: +972 2 658 5831, Fax: +972 2 658 5319, E-mail: [email protected] 11–13 March 2013 • Metal Ions in Biology • Punta del Este, Uruguay 12th International Symposium on Metal Ions in Biology and Medicine Dr. Dinorah Gambino Universidad de la República Cáterdra de Química Inorganíca Facultad de Química 2124 Avenida General Flores Montevideo 11700 Uruguay Tel.: +598 2 924 9739, Fax: +598 2 924 1906, E-mail: [email protected] 18–22 March 2013 • Polymer Characterization • Daegu, Korea 21st International Conference on Polymer Characterization—World Forum on Advanced Materials (PolyChar-21) Prof. Witold Brostow, University of North Texas, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, P.O. Box 305310, Denton, TX 76203-5310, USA, Tel.: +1 940 565-4358, Fax: +1 940 565-4824, E-mail: [email protected] 19-23 May 2013 • Clinical Chemistry & Laboratory Medicine • Milan, Italy 20th IFCC-EFLM European Congress on Clinical Chemistry & Laboratory Medicine; 45th Congress of the Italian Society of Clinical Biochemistry & Clinical Molecular Biology Dr. Ferruccio Ceriotti, Instituto Scientifico Ospedale San Raffaele, Servizio di Medicina di Laboratorio, Via Olgettina 60, I-20132 Milano, Italy, Tel.: +39 10 226 432 282, E-mail: [email protected] 40 CHEMISTRY International September-October 2012 SSeptembereptember 2012.indd2012.indd 4040 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:07:542:07:54 PMPM I U P A C ADVANCING THE WORLDWIDE ROLE OF CHEMISTRY FOR THE BENEFIT OF MANKIND MISSION IUPAC is a non-governmental organization of member countries President: Kazuyuki Tatsumi (Japan) that encompasses more than 85% of the world’s chemical sciences and industries. IUPAC addresses international issues in the chemical Vice President: sciences utilizing expert volunteers from its member countries. Mark C. Cesa (USA) IUPAC provides leadership, facilitation, and encouragement of Past President: chemistry and promotes the norms, values, standards, and ethics Nicole J. Moreau (France) of science and the free exchange of scientific information. Scientists Secretary General: have unimpeded access to IUPAC activities and reports. In fulfilling René Deplanque (Germany) this mission, IUPAC effectively contributes to the worldwide under- Treasurer: standing and application of the chemical sciences, to the betterment John Corish (Ireland) of the human condition. NATIONAL ADHERING ORGANIZATIONS Australian Academy of Science (Australia) Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Italy) Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Austria) Caribbean Academy of Sciences—Jamaica Chapter (Jamaica) Bangladesh Chemical Society (Bangladesh) Science Council of Japan (Japan) The Royal Academies for the Sciences and Arts of Belgium (Belgium) Jordanian Chemical Society (Jordan) Brazilian Chemical Society (Brazil) Korean Chemical Society (Korea) Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Bulgaria) Kuwait Chemical Society (Kuwait) National Research Council of Canada (Canada) Fonds National de la Recherche (Luxembourg) Sociedad Chilena de Química (Chile) Institut Kimia Malaysia (Malaysia) Chinese Chemical Society (China) Koninklijke Nederlandse Chemische Vereniging (Netherlands) Chemical Society located in Taipei (China) Royal Society of New Zealand (New Zealand) Croatian Chemical Society (Croatia) Chemical Society of Nigeria (Nigeria) Sociedad Cubana de Química (Cuba) Norsk Kjemisk Selskap (Norway) Pancyprian Union of Chemists (Cyprus) Chemical Society of Pakistan (Pakistan) Czech National Committee for Chemistry (Czech Republic) Polska Akademia Nauk (Poland) Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab (Denmark) Sociedade Portuguesa de Química (Portugal) National Committee for IUPAC (Egypt) Colegio de Químicos de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico) Chemical Society of Ethiopia (Ethiopia) Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia) Suomen Kemian Seura—Kemiska Sällskapet i Finland (Finland) Serbian Chemical Society (Serbia) Comité National Français de la Chimie (France) Slovak Chemical Society (Slovakia) Deutscher Zentralausschuss für Chemie (Germany) Slovenian Chemical Society (Slovenia) Association of Greek Chemists (Greece) National Research Foundation (South Africa) Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Hungary) Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain) Indian National Science Academy (India) Institute of Chemistry, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Royal Irish Academy (Ireland) Svenska Nationalkommittén för Kemi (Sweden) Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (Israel) Swiss Chemical Society (Switzerland) Tanzania Chemical Society (Tanzania) Chemical Society of Thailand (Thailand) Société Chimique de Tunisie (Tunisia) Türkiye Kimya Dernegi (Turkey) National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Ukraine) Royal Society of Chemistry (United Kingdom) INTERNATIONAL UNION OF National Academy of Sciences (USA) PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY Programa de Desarrollo de Ciencias Básicas (Uruguay) SSeptembereptember 20122012 covers.inddcovers.indd 3 88/24/2012/24/2012 2:02:542:02:54 PMPM