Chemistry International 2000, Vol. 22, No. 2 (March) Chemistry IUPAC International 33 News from IUPAC 36 News and Notices from Other Societies and Unions The news magazine of the International Union of 36 The West African : A Catalyst for the Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Development of African Science 40 Reports from IUPAC-Sponsored Symposia 43 Awards and Prizes 44 New Books and Publications 53 Reports from Commissions 59 Conference Announcements 61 Conference Calendar

ISSN 0193-6484 2000, Vol. 22, No. 2 (March) IUPAC International Union of Chemistry International Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) IUPAC The news magazine of the International Union of Pure and President: A. HAYES (UK) Secretary General: E. D. BECKER (USA) Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Vice President: P. S. STEYN (South Africa) Treasurer: C. BUXTORF (Switzerland) Past President: J. JORTNER (Israel)

IUPAC Secretariat P.O. Box 13757, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-3757, USA. Tel.: +1 (919) 485 8700. Fax: +1 (919) 485 8706. E-mail: [email protected] and http://www.iupac.org The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), formed in 1919, is a voluntary non- governmental, nonprofit association of organizations, each of which represents the chemists of a member country. Its objectives are as follows: • to promote continuing cooperation among the chemists of the member countries • to study topics of international importance to pure and applied chemistry which need standardization or codification • to cooperate with other international organizations that deal with topics of a chemical nature • to contribute to the advancement and understanding of pure and applied chemistry in all its aspects The membership of IUPAC currently comprises 45 national organizations. PUBLICATIONS MANAGER: Alan J. Senzel PRODUCTION EDITOR: Cheryl Wurzbacher National Adhering Organizations All correspondence to be addressed to The Editor, Chemistry International (CI), IUPAC Secre- tariat, P. O. Box 13757, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-3757, USA. Telephone: +1 (919) Asociación Química Argentina (Argentina) Science Council of Japan (Japan) 485 8700. Fax: +1 (919) 485 8706. E-mail: [email protected] and http://www.iupac.org/ Australian Academy of Science (Australia) Korean Chemical Society (Korea) publications/ci/ Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften Kuwait Chemical Society (Kuwait) (Austria) Koninklijke Nederlandse Chemische Vereniging Subscriptions Nationaal Comité voor Scheikunde/Comité National (Netherlands) de Chimie (Belgium) Royal Society of New Zealand (New Zealand) Six issues of Chemistry International (ISSN 0193-6484) will be published bimonthly in 2000 Brazilian Chemistry Committee for IUPAC (Brazil) Norsk Kjemisk Selskap (Norway) (one volume per annum) in January, March, May, July, September, and November. The 2000 Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Bulgaria) Chemical Society of Pakistan (Pakistan) subscription rate is USD 99.00 for organizations and USD 45.00 for individuals. Subscription National Research Council of Canada (Canada) Polska Akademia Nauk (Poland) orders may be placed directly with the IUPAC Secretariat. Affiliate Members receive CI as part Sociedad Chilena de Química (Chile) Sociedade Portuguesa de Química (Portugal) of their Membership subscription, and Members of IUPAC bodies receive CI free of charge. Chinese Chemical Society, Beijing (China) Colegio de Químicos de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico) Chemical Society located in Taipei (China) Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia) Reproduction of Articles Croatian Chemical Society (Croatia) King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology Unless there is a footnote to the contrary, reproduction or translation of articles in this issue is Czech National Committee for Chemistry (Czech (Saudi Arabia) encouraged, provided that it is accompanied by a reference to the original in Chemistry Republic) Slovak Chemical Society (Slovakia) International. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab Slovenian Chemical Society (Slovenia) (Denmark) National Research Foundation (South Africa) Periodicals postage paid at Durham, NC 27709-9998 and additional mailing offices. POST- Academy of Scientific Research and Technology Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas MASTER: Send address changes to Chemistry International, IUPAC Secretariat, P.O. Box (Egypt) (Spain) 13757, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-3757. Suomen Kemian Seura (Finland) Svenska Nationalkommittén för Kemi (Sweden) Comité National Français de la Chimie (France) Neue Schweizerische Chemische Gesellschaft Front cover: Brochure cover for the 4th IUTOX Congress of Toxicology in Developing Deutscher Zentralausschuss für Chemie (Germany) (Switzerland) Countries (4th CTOX-DC), held 6–10 November 1999, in Antalya, Turkey. See page 42. Association of Greek Chemists (Greece) Türkiye Kimya Dernegi (Turkey) Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Hungary) Royal Society of Chemistry (United Kingdom) Printed by: Cadmus Journal Services, Easton, MD, USA Indian National Science Academy (India) National Research Council, National Academy of Royal Irish Academy (Ireland) Sciences (USA) International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (Israel) Union of Yugoslav Chemical Societies (Yugoslavia) Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Italy)