Spring 2015

Synthetic polymers with DNA properties Automated synthesis : joining the dots Wood preservation on the Mary Rose The impact of atmospheric chemistry As I see it...

How did your education lead to your job as a journalist? Cambridge chemistry (and Chem@Cam) alumnus Phillip Broadwith I really enjoyed chemistry at school, and is now business editor at Chemistry World. He explains to Sarah after my A-levels I spent a year in indus - try at GlaxoWellcome (as it then was) in Houlton how he got there, and what makes his job so exciting Ware. I was doing analytical chemistry, testing how new valve designs for chemistry community, at least at a asthma inhalers affect how the drug superficial level. Sometimes we spot inside is delivered. During my degree I connections between scientific fields was geared up to work in pharma – I that seem disparate, and it’s the same on went back to the same lab the summer the business side – you get a view of after my first year, then had a synthetic what’s going on in the tumultuously placement at GSK in Harlow after my changing landscape, and can pick out second, and another summer doing trends. Being in the middle gives us the synthesis with AstraZeneca at Alderley opportunity to see things as they are Park after my third year. happening, and draw them together. I stayed on in Cambridge for a total Our new editor is keen that we should synthesis PhD with Jon Burton – he was become more involved in the chemical fantastic to work with and was doing sciences community, and use that top- interesting chemistry. I moved to level view of what’s going on across the Oxford with him at the beginning of chemical sciences, how industry inte - 2007, so I actually have a DPhil from grates with academia, and what’s hap - Oxford rather than a PhD from pening on the political side. Cambridge! But I slowly realised that while I enjoyed mixing chemicals in the How has your Cambridge lab, I didn’t have a particularly strong chemistry experience assisted interest in strategic planning and work - you in your career? ing out what molecules to make next. I Natural sciences was an absolute boon. was much more interested in what ing at the atomic scale, on interstellar I took chemistry, materials science and other chemists were doing – I’d be the chemistry, or even synthetic biology. It biology of cells in the first year, so that one bringing wacky papers to literature was an amazing way to broaden my was quite broad. Physics was a bit too meetings, while everyone else brought horizons. I then spent a year covering hard! I followed that with chemistry hardcore total synthesis. the features editor position, which is and pharmacology in Part Ib, gaining a I entered the Daily Telegraph ’s science very different – the articles are longer, good grounding in general chemistry writing competition, and somehow and the role was much more editorial, and how it feeds into other subjects. My managed to win. This led to me going dealing with other people’s writing. It experiences in pharma helped, too, as to conferences with BASF and Bayer, also helped me develop my own style. I’ve seen what an industrial lab is like and I wrote a piece for Chem@Cam on Then, two years ago, I became busi - from the inside. I still supervise Part IA sustainability after meeting you there. I ness editor. This means I’ve moved chemistry students at Robinson, which also wrote a few more things for the slightly away from the science, but I helps me keep in touch with basic Telegraph . This made me think I should have a strong desire to bring the science chem istry knowledge. Chemistry gave seriously consider writing as a career. done in industry into the magazine’s me the critical and analytical eye that I finished my PhD in 2008 and I business section. There’s a lot of really allows me stand back and ask the returned to Cambridge as my fiancée interesting chemistry going on in the important questions. (now wife) Jess was still there as a post - commercial sector, and I want people to doc in materials science, having already see that. It can be difficult to get people You must always be on the look- finished her PhD in biomedical materi - to tell you about it, but if you get hold out for stories! als. She’s more efficient than me! I of someone who knows what they are Absolutely! We have a staff of seven or applied for the Royal Society of allowed to talk about and exactly how eight journalists, but there’s no way we Chemistry’s graduate scheme, and was far they can go into the chemistry can cover every journal, every company, given a place. I spent four months in the before it becomes sensitive, you can and know everything significant that’s international development team look - find out some really interesting things. going on. We do try, but some of our ing at opportunities for RSC involve - best stories come from people who’ve ment in advancing the chemical sci - The internet has made a huge got in touch with us. I would encourage ences in India and the Middle and Far difference to the way many anyone with an interesting story to tell, East. It was fascinating. magazines work, hasn’t it? whether it’s academic or from industry, But my aim was a job on Chemistry Yes, it means we’re constantly putting to tell us about it. World and, luckily, one came up four news items up on the website, and once It’s not always clear from the informa - months after I joined. I’ve now been on a month many of them are packaged up tion in an academic paper or a company the magazine just over six years. and put into the print magazine. The press release what the most interesting printed version isn’t an afterthought, parts really are. We want to know the What roles have you had on the though – it does a very different job. human angle. How long did it take? magazine? We’re lucky to get the time and resources Where did the idea come from? These I started out as a science correspondent, to pursue some longer term, more inves - things bring a story to life, and allow and I think it’s the best non-lab-based tigational work, as well as having a pool people to relate to it, but they’re system - job any chemist could want to have. I of talented freelancers to call on. atically removed from papers! was reading a lot more papers than I The role of the editor, in some ways, It’s usually best to go to a named per - ever would as a student, on much more is to be mindful of the wider trends, son, and people can email ideas to me at varied topics. I would be speaking to and see the bigger picture. I think that [email protected]. Of course not the people doing the most cutting edge because we talk to so many people and everything we’re sent will go in, but if chemistry in the world on a daily basis see so many papers, we’re some of the we don’t hear about it, we can’t write – Nobel prize winners, chemists work - best informed people in the general about it.

2 Chem@Cam Spring 2015 Reluctant reactions Letters

A thank you eChem@Cam Letter from the editor Sarah Houlton, who has been the writer, Regular readers may have spotted that the Autumn editor, designer and producer of Chem@Cam is now being sent out by 2014 issue did not happen. There’s a good reason for Chem@Cam since the Spring 2003 issue, email to those who have asked for a pdf this – as I was putting the pages together in December, has told us that she will be stepping down version rather than a hard copy in the mail . I had a subarachnoid haemorrhage. Thanks to an after the current issue. If you would like to swap your paper exceptionally talented vascular neurosurgeon and his For more than a decade she has brought magazine for an e-version, send an email team, I am still here, and in remarkably good shape, us a lively mixture of stories, from heavy- with the subject line ‘eChem@Cam’ to albeit with rather more titanium in my brain and skull duty science and personal profiles of staff to [email protected], and we’ll send it to than is normal. I have been incredibly lucky. news of weddings, births, parties, prizes you electronically from the next issue. However, it’s rather difficult to craft stories and and deaths. Don’t forget to tell us your postal address wield Quark XPress page layout software when one’s in She refreshed the design some years ago, so we can check that the correct person is an ICU bed, and the magazine was somewhat delayed. and took over all the production steps her - removed from the mailing list for the But here, finally, is another issue of Chem@Cam for self except the printing and posting. paper magazine. your delectation. Her articles have helped inform past and You can check out e-back issues at It will also be my last. I had already decided before present members of the department with www.ch.cam.ac.uk that recent brain surgery escapade that it was time to clarity, humanity and humour. move on. Eagle-eyed readers of the puzzle page will We’ll greatly miss her, and wish her well have already worked out that I now live in the US – just in her future career. Meanwhile, the search outside the ‘other’ Cambridge, in fact – having moved for a worthy successor has begun. here with my husband’s job at Pfizer four years ago. Jeremy Sanders The modern electronic world made it possible to put the magazine together remotely, with the odd trip to the original Cambridge to keep in touch with the From Eagle to Arms department and the people there. But it was getting increasingly challenging to keep up with all the com - Dear Editor ings-and-goings from 3000 miles away. Although it is more than 50 years ago and I am sad to be leaving – it has been an honour and a memories fade just a bit, I think I can sub - privilege to be part of the department for the past dozen stantiate the substance of Tom Banfield’s years. Thank you to everyone who has helped make the letter, ( Chem@Cam , Summer 2014). magazine what it is, particularly photographers Nathan The taxi ride back from the Spread Eagle Pitt and Caroline Hancox (not forgetting John Holman to the department certainly happened in and Paul Larham from past days), Brian Crysell for his around 1961, and I think it was when encyclopaedic knowledge of the department past and Professor Norrish was entertaining some present, Dave Pratt for computer support, Sheila Russian visitors. Bateman for knowing everyone’s name (invaluable Earlier in the day I had been in the when captioning pictures!), Steve Ley for all his support library when the Professor brought in the (and for introducing me to Cambridge chemistry all visitors, and pointed out the Leys School those years ago), and Jeremy Sanders for his unwavering through the window explaining that it was support, advice, and proof-reading skills. Plus all those an English public school, which meant that who have contributed the stories and ideas that make parents paid for their sons to attend the the magazine what it is. And, of course, you, the readers, school. This seemed to horrify the visitors letter-writers, reminiscence-senders and puzzlers, with - but Norrish responded, ‘You have the same out whom the magazine would not exist. thing in Russia, you know!’ I remain a freelance science journalist, and shall Of course, we all have our weaknesses continue to take a keen interest in the exciting chem - but not all of us have a Nobel Prize! istry that’s done in Cambridge in the future! Tony Kallend (1956-1962) Sarah Houlton ([email protected])

Cover This newsletter is published three times a year by the University of Cambridge Chemistry Department. Opinions are not necessarily those of the editor, the department, or the university. Publisher: Daan Frenkel Contents Editor: Sarah Houlton Photographers: News 4 Nathan Pitt, Caroline Hancox Research 9 Alumni 14 Address: Giulia Iadevaia, a postdoc in Chem@Cam, Department of Chemistry, People in the know 15 Chris Hunter’s group, operating University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road a microplate reader in the Cambridge CB2 1EW Chat lines 16 new Dudley Williams lab Phone: 01223 763865 email: [email protected] Photograph: Puzzle corner 19 website: www.ch.cam.ac.uk Nathan Pitt

Chem@Cam Spring 2015 3 News A welcome family visit! A lifetime’s achievement The department had a surprise visit The 2014 Economic Times Lifetime recently from Katie Franks, who’s the Achievement award has been made to daughter of Sir Harry Melville, after Yusuf Hamied. Yusuf studied here as an whom the Melville Lab is named. She undergraduate in the 1950s, and then had called Melville secretary Glenda gained a PhD in organic chemistry in Harden on the off-chance that she could 1960, working with Lord Todd. pop in to take a look at the lab her father The award recognises people whose founded. Glenda assured her that she corporate achievements set an example would be most welcome, and Silvia for the current generation of leaders, at Vignolini had the happy task of showing home in India and around the world. her around the lab. His company, Cipla, was a pioneer in Harry Melville died in 2000 at the age the development of generic medicines. of 92. His polymer chemistry research A particular achievement is its provision played a vital part in the development of of affordable antiretroviral medicines to industry in the fields of plastics, syn - treat HIV infections in developing thetic rubber and man-made fibres. He countries. He is now the company’s x o

c studied in Cambridge in the 1930s, and chairman, after half a century as its n a in 1938 became Eric Rideal’s assistant managing director. H e

n research director in the Colloid Science In his acceptance speech, he high - i l o r laboratory, with a focus on polymers. lighted the importance of producing a C

: Following his war work as scientific affordable drugs to address the health o t o adviser to the chief superintendent of issues facing the world today. h P chemical defence, he moved to an aca - demic role in Aberdeen in 1945 and, Katie and Silvia with Sir Harry’s portrait Chris Abell is to be the university’s next pro-vice- later, on to Birmingham. chancellor for research. He will be one of five PVCs, As a physical chemist, his research ing new polymerisation reactions. who support the vice-chancellor in providing included the bonding mechanisms that Katie found the visit both exciting occur in the formation large polymer and memorable. ‘I know my father academic leadership to the university, and help drive molecules, and the development of would be very proud and pleased about strategy and policy development. methods for measuring the rates of all the research that is going on,’ Katie ‘I think it is a very important role and a very exciting chemical reactions in the unstable envi - says. ‘It was very special seeing his por - opportunity,’ Chris says. His three-year appointment ronment immediately before an explo - trait hanging up on the lab wall, and starts in January next year. sion. These were important in develop - amazing to have photos taken beside it.’ Cambridge Remembering Lord Lewis chemistry’s A symposium was held at the end of February to honour the late Lord Lewis, REF excellence who died last year. The symposium, which took place at The eagerly awaited Robinson College, showcased Jack’s results of the UK’s contribution to both science and the Research Excellence wider world. Framework, or REF, were released in It included talks and reflections on January, and Cambridge chemistry per - Jack’s life and work by several scientists formed extremely well. who worked with Jack at key points in The highest rating, 4*, was given to their careers, including our own 57% of our submissions. This rating is Melinda Duer and Clare Grey, plus Brian defined as ‘world leading’. Johnson, who was the event’s host. This proportion of 4* gradings Other speakers included Nobel laure - makes us the department with the ate Richard Schrock of MIT, Lutz Gade largest percentage of world-leading of the University of Heidelberg, Edwin papers. We also topped the grade point As part of last September’s university Constable of the University of Basel, average, with a score of 3.54 out of 4. alumni festival, we invited former Robin Clark of UCL, Sir Ronald Mason, And we were second in impact per - members of the chemistry department to who is a former chief scientific adviser formance, too. visit us to find out what we’re up to. The to the Ministry of Defence, and Nicola The results demonstrate the depart - event was hosted by Alan Battersby. Come Nicholls, chair of the Woodland Trust. ment’s strength as a leader, both in the and visit next time – we’d love to see you! n For donations in memory of Jack, UK and internationally, says head of the department and Robinson College department Daan Frenkel. have set up a three-year graduate stu - ‘Our competition is international,’ he dentship in chemistry in his name. This

t says. ‘In that competition, scientific fund will allow a talented individual to t i P

excellence is crucial.’ study at Cambridge, and will be a fitting n a

h He also thanked all members of the tribute to Jack’s legacy. t a

N department for the time spent on the You can find out more about the stu -

: s o submission. ‘This result would never dentship by visiting the the Robinson t o h have been possible without these efforts website, at http://bit.ly/1EqmFsW, P in carrying out top research,’ Daan says. where there is also a link for donations.

4 Chem@Cam Spring 2015 www.ch.cam.ac.uk

Maximum impact at NERC

This year, for the first time, UK funding held in London in January, which also body the Natural Environment Research marked the start of NERC’s 50th Council, or NERC, made impact awards anniversary year. to recognise and reward the contribu - The award citation explained that the tion of NERC science to the UK’s econ - team’s atmospheric research has played omy, society, well-being and interna - a leading role in demonstrating the tional reputation. effect of man-made gases on the ozone Awards were made in four different layer, and the consequences for human categories – economic impact, societal health. Their contributions played a key

impact, early career impact and interna - part in the strengthening of the C R tional impact. Montreal Protocol, widely regarded as E N

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John Pyle, Neil Harris and colleagues one of the most successful international s o t in Cambridge and the National Centre agreements ever enacted. The protocol, o h for Atmospheric Science won the inter - along with other pieces of related legis - P national impact prize – and were also lation, has ensured the rapid phase-out John and Neil appears to be slowly closing, preventing adjudged the overall winners. The of ozone depleting substances. As a receiving their a number of UV-related health prob - awards were presented at a ceremony result, the hole in the ozone now awards from Jim lems worldwide, including skin cancer, Al-Khalili and Lord sunburn and cataracts. Selborne (left), ‘I am sure that you will all join me in and celebrating congratulating Neil, John and their col - their win (above) laborators present and past with these exceptional marks of recognition,’ says head of department Daan Frenkel. n John also appeared on the Australian news programme AM, discussing a report that revealed the ozone layer is on track to recovery in the light of con - certed international action against ozone-depleting substances. The 2014 report, ‘The scientific assessment of ozone depletion’, attracted widespread media coverage for its positive message on the success of the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which relies on international cooperation to reduce the production and consump - tion of ozone-depleting chemicals. John was a co-chair of the assessment, and Neil a lead author. The report is pub - lished every four years by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization.

A new deputy head Your department needs you! for the department Please come back and talk to our current The department has a new deputy head graduate students and postdocs about how your responsible for staff-related matters – PhD, MPhil or postdoctoral work led to the career Nick Bampos. He takes over from Jane you now have! Clarke, who has fulfilled this challeng - We currently have several confirmed sessions, on ing role since 2011. patent law, teaching in schools and in higher Jane was the driving force behind our education, going on to postdoctoral research, successful application for the Athena chemical science publishing, entrepreneurship & Swan bronze award. In addition to the deputy head role, Nick will also chair innovation, science policy & government, the the Athena Swan task force that is energy industry and analytical chemistry. But we’d preparing our forthcoming submission also love to have input from those who have taken for a silver award. other career paths that might be of interest to our ‘I am extremely grateful to Jane for current cohort of students. Sessions will be all the things she has done for the scheduled around May 2016, so there is plenty of department,’ says Daan Frenkel. time to prepare... ‘All the changes in the department Following two years of trial lectures and workshops, the department now has a If you think you might be able to contribute, please that Jane has instigated have made training programme open to all graduate contact Deborah Longbottom at [email protected] everyone of us aware of the continuing students, whether MPhil or PhD. Postdocs – she would be delighted to tell you more. need to make it an even better place in are also welcome to participate, as are which to work.’ students from other departments

Chem@Cam Spring 2015 5 News A prize for JMT The library’s all of a Twitter Transferring

The chemistry library has entered the social media age, with its own Twitter knowledge account, at @chemlibcam. It’s a warm welcome to the department ‘The aim of the account is to pro - to Yolande Cordeaux, who joins us as mote library services, new elec - our new knowledge transfer facilitator, tronic resources, new depart - or KTF. This represents a refocusing of ment publications, and any - the previous research facilitator role, thing that will help with which was held by Isabelle de Wouters. research and study,’ says Yolande was previously with the uni - librarian Clair Castle. versity’s academic division, where she ‘You can also use was the NERC impact coordinator, hav - it to communicate ing previously been involved in support - with us.’ ing the university’s REF submission. Sir John Meurig Thomas has been The Twitter avatar fea - The role, facilitated by EPSRC impact awarded the Ahmed Zewail prize in tures the library’s new acceleration funding, has a strong focus molecular sciences. It was awarded to logo, designed by library on developing impact activities and John for his outstanding contributions staff and the department’s relationships with corporate partners. to the fundamental understanding of photographers. The design was She will support the academic staff in the structures of solids, and the devel - inspired by the steel tree and uses their applications for research funding, opment and application of the concept colours reminiscent of the library’s and help to promote wider and more of single-site heterogeneous catalysis. décor. The steel tree symbolises effective engagement across the depart - As well as a gold medal and a cash Yggdrasil, the huge ash tree from Norse ment with the ‘impact’ agenda. The aim prize, John presented a lecture at this mythology whose roots are in the is to enhance our efforts to translate year’s American Chemical Society’s underworld, and branches reaching up basic research into applications. spring meeting, held in Denver. towards the light in the heavens. Her activities will cover the whole of This is the fifth time the prize has The library’s Twitter feed is also research in the field of chemical sci - been awarded – and the second time it’s embedded in its blog, which is full of ences, including activities at the inter - been won by a Cambridge chemist. other useful information for library faces with life, medical and environ - David Buckingham was the first recipi - users. It can be found by going to mental sciences. ent, back in 2007. cambridgechemlib.wordpress.com. Meanwhile, Isabelle has taken up the post of director of scientific develop - ment for the energy@cambridge strate - gic initiative. This is funded by the vice A bilateral Polish meeting chancellor’s endowment fund, and reports to the pro-vice-chancellor for In September, Cambridge played host to Reisner, Silvia Vignolini and Andrew research. She remains a member of staff the second Cambridge–Warsaw Young Wheatley. There were also about 20 here in chemistry, but her role will Scientists meeting, under the auspices of short presentations by young Polish and focus on university-wide activities the EU’s 7th Framework Programme. UK-based chemists, plus a large number under the initiative. The annual bilateral meeting aims to of posters. bring together young investigators from It also provided a platform for PhD Cambridge and the Institute of Physical students and postdocs to present their Chemistry at Warsaw’s Polish Academy research, take part in scientific discus - of Science. It is part of the Noblesse sions, and build informal networks. project, designed to establish the Polish Lectures were held in the BMS theatre institute within the European nano- here in chemistry – as you can see from science community. the photo, it was a pretty big event, with During the intensive two-day event, 120 delegates, half of them from lectures from leading scientists in the Poland. The Polish visitors were hosted broad field of materials chemistry were in Jesus College, and social events presented, including Clare Grey, Erwin organised throughout the university.

We reported in the last issue that Chris Dobson had been chosen as one of the recipients of the Netherlands Academy of Sciences’ prestigious Heineken Prize, in the prizes’ 50th anniversary year. These prizes x o are given every other year to five c n a internationally renowned scientists, and H e

n Chris won the award for biochemistry and i l o r biophysics. The prize was presented at a a C

: ceremony in October, which was held in o t o Amsterdam. Dutch King Willem-Alexander h P was in attendance to meet the awardees – With 120 delegates, there were plenty of opportunities for dialogue and network-building the picture shows Chris meeting the king.

6 Chem@Cam Spring 2015 www.ch.cam.ac.uk Climate model training Stork lecturer Ian Paterson recently visited the At the beginning of January, the depart - University of Wisconsin in Madison, ment welcomed a group of scientists for where he had the honour of being the a training course on the UK chemistry inaugural Gilbert Stork lecturer. and aerosols (UKCA) composition-cli - ‘Gilbert has generously endowed a mate model, developed in John Pyle’s lectureship series in organic synthesis at group in collaboration with groups at Madison where he did his PhD, and I Leeds, Oxford, and the Met Office. was invited to be their first speaker,’ Ian ‘It allows chemistry and aerosol says. ‘My postdoc, in 1979–80, was processes in the atmosphere to be simu - with Gilbert Stork at Columbia lated in the Met Office Unified Model,’ University, New York.’ t t i P

explains Luke Abraham, who ran the Gilbert is world renowned in the n a

h course. ‘This means that it can be used organic chemistry community as a t a

N for air quality forecasts, for example giant in the field of synthesis, and was

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o Defra’s air quality forecasts are provided the Todd visiting professor in t o h by UKCA. It’s also been used in interna - Cambridge back in 1979. P tional assessments, such as Met Office ‘He still goes to work at the age of simulations that contributed to the IPCC from Melbourne in Australia!’ Practical sessions 92,’ Ian says. ‘Perhaps some of my col - 5th Assessment Report. UKCA results Luke has already applied for funding and lectures made leagues would like to emulate this?’ have also fed into the WMO Scientific to repeat the course next year, and hopes for a busy week! Assessment of Ozone Depletion.’ it will become a regular event. ‘The par - Luke contributes to the model’s ticipants got a great deal out of the development and provides national sup - course, and the number who came was NMR addition port for users. In the past, he has been encouraging,’ he says. ‘It was hard work, The new 300 MHz NMR spectrometer funded to write online tutorials and run with all that information condensed recently installed in Clare Grey’s lab several two-day face-to-face sessions. into a short time, but the feedback I’ve offers a whole suite of new capabilities The January course, funded by NERC, had has been positive. It was very to apply this powerful, nondestructive, expanded on this. worthwhile.’ technique to the development of the The week-long course featured a next generation of electrochemical series of lectures in the mornings which devices – from batteries to fuel cells and focused in detail on the different supercapacitors. Fitted with large gradi - processes simulated by UKCA. These ent amplifiers, the system allows very were given by a number of people from low diffusion coefficients to be meas - Oxford, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leeds, ured, and magnetic resonance imaging Reading, and the Met Office. In the techniques can be applied. afternoon, the attendees took part in Clare’s group will primarily use this practical sessions that allowed them to new equipment to investigate electro - learn how to configure and run UKCA, chemical devices for large scale grid stor - add new chemical reactions, and output age applications. These include gaining new diagnostics. insights into the behaviour of elec - ‘We had 22 attendees, plus a dozen trolytes confined within porous elec - lecturers,’ Luke says. ‘As well as trodes, redox flow batteries and superca - Cambridge, they came from UEA, pacitors. Monitoring the influence of Exeter, Reading, Leeds, Birmingham, device scale and geometry using MRI Edinburgh, and one came all the way will help guide the design of next gener - ation grid storage devices, while opti - mising the diffusion coefficient will lead and integrating biological and chemical to enhanced performance. Prizewinning trio descriptors for in silico pharmacology’. The 2014 Bob Hay lectureship was The awards are presented at the awarded to Oren Scherman. The lecture, European QSAR symposia, and the awarded by the Royal Society of Gordon research conferences on com - Chemistry’s macrocycles and supramole - puter-aided drug design. cular chemistry group, is given in mem - It’s been a good few months for ory of Bob Hay, one of the pioneers of Gonçalo Bernardes, whose chemistry macrocyclic chemistry in the UK. has brought him two prestigious prizes. Each year’s winner is a younger First, he was awarded the European chemist, who can work anywhere Young Chemist Awards’ Silver Medal. He within the field of macrocyclic or received this after presenting his group’s supramolecular chemistry. Oren gave his research a the European Chemistry lecture at the group’s annual conference Congress in Istanbul. in Norwich in December. He also received the 2014 European t t Andreas Bender won the Hansch Prize of the Royal Chemistry Society of i P

Award. This prize goes to someone Spain’s chemical biology division. This n a h t

under 40 who has made a significant award recognises outstanding young a N

contribution to the field of quantitative research leaders in the field of chemical : o t o

structure –activity relationships. biology. The prize also includes present - h He won for his ‘outstanding contribu - ing a lecture at the society’s biennial P tions in the field of molecular similarity, meeting in La Coruña this coming July. NMR installation in action!

Chem@Cam Spring 2015 7 News Frank Allen Carl Djerassi Open for admissions! Frank Allen, former executive director We are sad to report the death of Carl of the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Djerassi. He died on 30 January in San Centre, died in November. Francisco at the age of 91. Frank joined the university’s chemi - Often described as the father of the cal crystallography group in 1970, and contraceptive pill, he was a pioneer in played an important role in the estab - various fields over the years. lishment of the Cambridge Structural These include steroid chemistry and database. Following his retirement in optical rotatory dispersion in the t t 2008, he remained with the CCDC as an 1950s, the application of mass spec - i P

emeritus research fellow, which allowed trometry and NMR spectroscopy to n a h t

him to continue indulging his passion organic chemistry in the 1960s, and a N

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for structural chemistry. computer-aided structure determina - s o t

His research involved collaboration tion in the 1970s. o h

with many scientists around the world, His new approach to structure deter - P resulting in more than 200 papers. He mination came to Cambridge via the Cambridge Chemistry held its first was also involved in the British appointment of Dudley Williams as a graduate admissions open day in Crystallographic Association, and was postdoc in 1964 – a lineage continued October. More than 100 people inter - its vice-president from 1997 to 2001. today through Jeremy Sanders, who ested in pursuing an MPhil or PhD here worked for Dudley, and Chris Hunter, came to visit the department. who worked for Jeremy. ‘The idea was to give potential stu - In later life, he switched from chem - dents an insight into what Cambridge istry to art collecting and writing sci - chemistry is like, and find out more t t i ence-in-fiction plays and novels, and about us and the research we do,’ says P

n was a substantial donor to gender stud - Rebecca Myers, who was one of the a h t

a ies here in Cambridge. He was also a organisers of the event. ‘It was a very N

: member of the Cambridge chemistry busy day!’ o t o

h advisory board. The event included a wide selection P Carl had last visited Cambridge in of talks from all areas of research that The 2014 BP lecturer was Sharon Glotzer of Nov ember for a ‘conversation’ event at are going on in the department, both the University of Michigan. She visited the Sidney Sussex, where he was discussing from senior PhD students and academic department in November, and gave two his life and work with the Astronomer staff. Attendees were able to tour our lectures, one on soft matter quasicrystals Royal, Martin Rees. labs and other facilities, engage in and their complex cousins, and the other This coincided with the publication of poster sessions, talk to current students on digital discovery and design – the new a book of his reflections, ‘In retrospect: and meet potential supervisors. age of materials on demand from the pill to the pen’. A second graduate admissions open day will be held in the autumn, proba - bly in October, although no date has Dudley Williams lab opened been finalised as yet. Watch this space!

Pat Williams performs the official opening, watched by granddaughters Alexandra, Isabelle and Sophie i t t e h c c o B y b a G

: o t o h P The new home of Chris Hunter’s group, istry have played an important role in the Dudley Williams lab, had its official Chris’s career, ever since he was a stu - opening in November. dent here in the department. The ribbon-cutting was performed by ‘Dudley was a great inspiration to me, Dudley’s widow, Pat, and was followed and it seemed only right to name the lab by a champagne reception and a tour of after him,’ Chris says. the new facilities. ‘My group and I will be proud to Chris’s group moved from Sheffield work in a lab bearing Dudley’s name, to Cambridge in September into newly and look forward to doing exciting refurbished labs. Dudley and his chem - chemistry there.’

8 Chem@Cam Spring 2015 Research Wood preservation on the Mary Rose

Cambridge chemists have been helping arose after Zarah and PhD student Emma- preserve the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s Rose Jane ček were bemoaning the shipwrecked wooden warship which progress of their individual approaches. was raised from the Solent in 1982. ‘Emma-Rose had made an interesting Exposure to air after so long in the water guar-based material that was rather poses real degradation problems, and strong, and she was explaining that it various techniques have been applied could bind well to itself that it didn’t over the years to preserve the wood. need to bind to anything else,’ Zarah says. The Cambridge connection began fol - ‘But mine had no strength at all – once lowing a chance conversation between iron was present it went very liquid. We Oren Scherman and the ship’s director of idly wondered what would happen if we conservation, and he thought his group’s mixed the two together – would we end chemistry might be able to help preserve up with something in the middle?’ waterlogged wooden artefacts. Zarah And it turned out that they did. ‘We Walsh was just about to start a postdoc in still needed to remove a few kinks, but it the group, following an analytical chem - was a major leap forward,’ she says. ‘It istry-based PhD at Dublin City allowed us to bind iron, and create a University, and was keen to get involved. polymer network to give it strength.’ for conservation! Long-term tests are Preserving a wooden ‘I have no specific background in conser - They were then let loose on conserva - now under way to see how it behaves as ship from the 16th vation science, but I thought the project tion. ‘After two years working on the a structural stabiliser. But regardless of century is a sounded fascinating,’ she says. material, we took it down to the outcome, we have managed to challenging task, Portsmouth, and – once they had develop a material significantly better especially one that AVOIDING SYNTHETICS explained what we could and couldn’t than poultices at cleaning iron deposits sank in 1545 and The brief from the conservators was that do – they allowed us to apply the mate - off wooden surfaces. spent centuries synthetic materials should be avoided rial ourselves to a wooden archeological ‘It’s very satisfying to have made such under the sea where possible. They had been spraying artefact,’ she says. ‘That was really excit - a positive contribution – and to be the wood regularly with polyethylene ing – and it worked very well, even doing chemistry that non-scientists are glycol-containing biocides as a preserva - though at first it was not obvious that interested in as they can relate to the tive, but that is fully synthetic. They were anything had happened.’ idea of preserving the Mary Rose.’ looking for something more natural that The conservators kept an eye on the Z. Walsh et al. PNAS, 2014, 111 , 17743 would not need repeat applications, and wood over the coming days, and after that would be able to treat all three about three weeks the polymer started causes of wood degradation – instability to delaminate from the surface. Once upon drying, the build up of iron in the the conservators removed it, they found wood acting catalytically to cause the pristine-looking wood underneath, formation of sulfuric and oxalic acids, with the iron salts having been removed and bacterial degradation. from the surface without damaging the After a lot of trial and error, the wood underneath – something they had Cambridge team finally alighted on a not been able to achieve before. two-tier system, with a cucurbituril Two years later, the iron deposits have handcuff to maintain the structure, and a not returned, which represents a signif - strong iron binder that would cross-link icant improvement over the poultices the polymer to any iron that happened to they had applied previously, where the be present. This made it more responsive surface iron started to reappear after six to the environment, with the strength of weeks or so. ‘It looks like our system the material changing relative to the creates an oxygen barrier at the surface, level of iron present but always main - preventing the iron underneath it from taining a basic level of support. being oxidised and moving through the The idea behind this two-tier system wood,’ she says. ‘This is really important

Carefully painting the polymer onto a wood sample

This striking image on the cover of Chem Soc Rev accompanies a tutorial review from Erwin Reisner, postdoc Jenny Zhang, PhD student Nicholas Paul and former group member Masaru Kato, who’s now at Hokkaido University in Japan. The review looks at the protein film photoelectrochemistry of the water oxidation enzyme photosystem II, which is at the heart of the photosynthesis process. The technique enables the enzyme’s light-dependent activity when adsorbed onto an electrode surface to be studied.

Chem@Cam Spring 2015 9 Research The power of structure predictions

different manner. We want to under - Chris Hunter has returned to Cambridge after 25 years. His science stand the basic chemistry of how that works – and whether it can be done!’ includes the prediction of DNA packaging and complex stability If it were possible to make something that could be forced to evolve, there are The new Herchel Smith professor of many potential applications. ‘It could, in organic chemistry, Chris Hunter, is no theory, be used for anything, provided stranger to the department, having you can think up a way of forcing the completed his PhD in supramolecular molecules to evolve to that function,’ he chemistry with Jeremy Sanders in 1989. says. ‘There are straightforward things He moved back to Cambridge from people have done with nucleic acids in Sheffield in October, and is now settling forced evolution, such as making new back into life in the flat Fens after nearly synthetic receptors, sensors and cata - 25 years in the hills of South Yorkshire. lysts. Those are obvious examples, but He cut his synthetic teeth with there may be many more interesting Jeremy making molecules designed for applications in the materials field – artificial photosynthesis. These large, imagine a self-replicating plastic!’ complex molecules proved extremely Returning to DNA itself, and starting difficult to make, and a change of with the model developed all those approach was much more successful – years ago for how aromatic molecules applying non-covalent chemistry, so stack, they have created a piece of soft - that coordination bonds were used to ware that enables DNA sequence to be hold the assemblies together. ‘Almost by translated into a three-dimensional accident, we also found a theoretical structure. They are now using it to try model for the stacking of aromatic and understand the first level of packag - rings,’ Chris says. ‘It wasn’t anything we ing of DNA in the nucleus. were looking for, but it came to us as a ‘If you stretch out the DNA in a result of some of the experiments we’d human cell nucleus out into a long done, and we created a computational string, it is about two metres long, yet it model to explain it.’ is packed into about 1µm of space,’ On leaving Cambridge and starting Chris says. ‘This is achieved by wrap - his independent research career, he ping it around protein molecules, and t t i

P returned to this model for aromatic pi- the way in which it’s wrapped around n a stacking, applying it to interactions in those proteins depends on its sequence. h t a proteins and DNA. ‘I’ve had a long-run - Certain sequences get packaged very N

: s ning research programme aimed at efficiently and are tightly wrapped, o t o

h understanding how the stacking of the while other sequences are much less P bases in DNA determines the relation - tightly wrapped and are therefore more ship between sequence and three- His starting point is designing sys - accessible. These are the regions where dimensional structure,’ he says. ‘How tems that will form a duplex structure, transcription factors bind to initiate does it bind to proteins, and how is it mimicking the double-stranded forma - gene expression. So the way DNA is packaged in the nucleus of a cell?’ tion of DNA. If this is made up of packaged in the nucleus is, somehow, In a new project that’s just getting oligomers of a defined sequence that organised or controlled by the sequence underway here in Cambridge, he is try - have hydrogen bond donor or acceptor of the DNA itself. Our software has ing to make synthetic polymers that units, these could pair in a sequence- allowed us to take the first step towards have all the properties of DNA. ‘If you’re selective manner analogous to the way understanding this process.’ looking for an interesting molecule to thymine pairs with adenine, and cyto - try and make or emulate, it doesn’t get sine pairs with guanine, in DNA. ‘So, for BINDING PREDICTIONS much more exciting than DNA!’ he example, if you make an oligomer with The first level of packaging in this says. ‘It’s capable of evolving – or being the sequence acceptor–acceptor– process is called a nucleosome, and forced to evolve – to generate func - donor–acceptor, that would pair in a comprises 147 base pairs of DNA tional properties without actually hav - sequence-selective way with another wrapped around a protein complex. ‘We ing to design the molecular structure. It molecule that has the sequence donor– searched the whole of DNA sequence essentially finds its own way.’ donor–acceptor–donor,’ he explains. space to predict which 147 base The secret to how it does this lies in sequences would have the highest affin - the fact that it’s a linear polymer that can SYNTHETIC CONTROL ity to make those nucleosome com - be copied, which means that in vitro And they’re now starting to get this idea plexes,’ he says. ‘We then experimentally selection experiments can be done. to work. The next stage, Chris says, is to tested the 12 sequences we predicted ‘We’re trying to make synthetic poly - investigate whether the sequence can be would be the best binders, and all had mers that are more like conventional used to control the synthesis of a com - very high affinity. It was good to know plastics such as polystyrene, but plementary oligomer. ‘We hope to be that it worked – we were able to make equipped with hydrogen bonding sites,’ able to show that DNA isn’t such a quantitative predictions of binding Chris explains. ‘This would allow the super-special molecule,’ he says. ‘I affinity from just the DNA sequence.’ polymer chain to template its own syn - believe there are huge numbers of dif - A large amount of effort in the group thesis. We could therefore use it in forced ferent kinds of chemical structures that is taken up by running experiments to evolution experiments, essentially allow - have replicating properties similar to quantify non-covalent interactions like ing us to make evolvable plastics.’ DNA, but which might function in a these, in various different systems. ‘We

10 Chem@Cam Spring 2015 www.ch.cam.ac.uk synthesise molecules that are designed Front row, from to allow us to make a quantitative meas - the left: Mark urement of the thermodynamic proper - Williamson, ties of aromatic stacking interactions, Geneva Peterson, hydrogen bonding interactions and Cristina Misuraca, halogen bonding interactions,’ he says. Elena Sanna An important technique for measur - Martinez, Marina ing these interactions is the double Blanco Lomas, Ana mutant cycle experiment, developed by Belenguer and his predecessor as Herchel Smith James McKenzie organic chemistry chair, Alan Fersht, in Back row: Diego his work on side chain–side chain inter - Nunez-Villanueva, actions in proteins. Basically, if there are Jeremy Sanders, two groups in a complex system that Jon Swain, Elkin form a non-covalent contact, and you Lopez Fontal, Filip can quantify the stability of that com - Szczypi ski, Maria plex, this technique can be used. First, Ciaccia,ń Alex Stross, behaviour of the hydrogen bond that is there is a continuous scale, with every - the stability of the complex with that Maxime Guitet, being measured. thing interacting with everything else to non-covalent interaction, such as a Rafel Cabot This has enabled them to tease out a an appreciable degree. Almost everything hydrogen bond, is measured. Then one Mesquida, Chris, quantitative way of predicting what is weakly polar, even alkanes. That tiny of the two groups is removed and the Michael Aiden happens in different solvents, as they effect we found and could quantify actu - stability measured again, and then the Jinks and Cristina are now able to account for how that ally turns out to correlate nicely to some other removed before stability is meas - Navarro Reguero solvent had affected all the measure - quite big effects, and the measurements ured once more. Finally, both groups ments – something had been making in these very non-polar solvents extrapo - are removed at the same time, and a predictions difficult as the system was late well to water and the common polar fourth stability measurement is made. not behaving as expected. And they have organic solvents.’ From these four measurements, a cycle now managed to create a general treat - While this initial approach was very can be constructed that enables a single ment for how solvents affect non-cova - empirical, they are now in the process interaction to be dissected out from a lent interactions. of developing a predictive computa - system in which there are very many ‘There’s a hierarchy of interactions in tional model and trying to generalise it different interactions. a uniform gradation, from the truly non- to include interactions between any polar like noble gases interacting with molecules in any solvent. ‘One of the SOLVENT EFFECTS each other, up to completely polar like big challenges in computational chem - The idea that these non-covalent contacts the hydrogen bonds between water mol - istry is dealing with solvent as it is so can be quantified means it should be pos - ecules,’ he says. ‘It’s not a case of non- difficult to do simulations on a practical sible to start predicting the stability of the polar things not interacting and hydro - level,’ he says. ‘Most of the chemistry we complexes, too. This has obvious applica - gen bonded things interacting strongly – are interested in happens in the liquid tions in fields such as drug design, where state, and to simulate what happens in a predicting how a new molecule might Born: Dunedin in New Zealand, to Irish parents. After solution all of the solvent molecules bind could be used to decide whether it a spell in Nigeria, they returned to Portstewart in and the interactions between them is worth making and testing. Northern Ireland when he was four years old. must be included. This makes the Another model they’ve developed is Education: After school in Northern Ireland, he came process extremely demanding in terms designed to quantify how a solvent to Cambridge to study natural sciences, staying on for r of computer power and time.’ e affects non-covalent interactions. Most a PhD with Jeremy Sanders. t Chris’s new approach simplifies the experimental studies of weak non-cova - n system greatly, while being rigorously Career: On finishing his PhD, Chris returned to New u lent interactions are done in very non- Zealand and a lectureship at the University of Otago in H benchmarked against the experimental

polar solvents, with the assumption that Dunedin, the world’s most southerly university. ‘It was s data. This renders it pretty accurate – and i the solvent has no impact as it is so over - a little like the end of the earth, but it’s a really great r practical to use. One way they’ve been whelmed by the much stronger non- place, and I learned a lot,’ he says. Two years later, in h putting it into use is to predict the forma - C covalent interaction that is being meas - 1991, he moved to Sheffield, where he remained until tion of co-crystals. These have gained a lot ured, such as a hydrogen bond. ‘The his recent return to Cambridge. of interest recently in the pharmaceutical idea is that if you have a solvent that can - industry as by forming a co-crystal Status: His wife Rosie McHugh is a director in the V

not make hydrogen bonds, it will not C between a drug molecule and a suitable affect the hydrogen bond that is being NHS Sheffield Care Trust, and will remain in Sheffield partner molecule, the physical properties formed in the solvent,’ Chris says. until next summer with their youngest son, Finn, who such as solubility and bioavailability can Surprisingly, he explains, this is doing his GCSEs. Son Conor is 25 and an be changed and improved. assumption is not correct. ‘From the accountant in Glasgow; 18-year-old daughter Ciara is They have developed a software tool data we collected, we could see very studying architecture in Bath. that enables thousands of compounds to clearly that the solvent was actually Interests: He loves surfing, although Cambridge is no be screened in a matter of minutes to playing quite a significant role – even better for that than Sheffield. ‘I thought I was moving work out which molecules might suc - an innocuous, very non-polar solvent closer to the sea until I realised just how much the cessfully make co-crystals with an active such as carbon tetrachloride.’ Indeed, it East Anglian coast bulges out to the east – it’s actually pharmaceutical ingredient. ‘We have turns out that everything affects every - the same distance from here to the closest decent experimentally verified that it works thing else, so while molecules like car - surfing beach, Sandilands, as it is from Sheffield!’ He pretty well,’ Chris says. ‘We’re now bon tetrachloride are non-polar, they also loves walking, cooking and cinema. applying it to practical problems – car - actually have little patches on their sur - Did you know? Continuing in a fine tradition of rying out a full crystal structure predic - face that are slightly positive or slightly student disco among Cambridge organic chemists tion for every potential pair-wise com - negative – slightly positive in the case of (after Shankar Balasubramanian and Joe Spencer), he bination would be completely unwork - carbon tetrachloride. This means they used to run the Pleasure Machine, Churchill College’s able. By predicting what might make a do actually form weak but significant undergraduate disco. ‘Disco is clearly the secret of good co-crystal in a quick and simple interactions with the molecules that are success in organic chemistry!’ he claims. way, it should greatly facilitate the devel - dissolved in them, perturbing the opment of better drug formulations.’

Chem@Cam Spring 2015 11 Research

the dynamics of the system, increasing DNA interactions in action the binding energy, and allowing the transmission of a “dynamic signal” Transcription factors are proteins that could be measured in a more physio - through the protein,’ he says. control the transcription of genetic infor - logical context. ‘There is a better signal transmitted to mation from DNA to messenger RNA by ‘It turned out our predictions were the whole protein, whereas this does binding to very specific sequences largely correct, and were able to predict not happen with weaker binding. This is within the DNA. A recent project in which DNA sequence could be bound, an exciting discovery, as regions of the Robert Glen’s group, in collaboration and which wouldn’t,’ Rubben says. ‘As a protein that are not directly bound to with Boris Adryan in the department of consequence we have shown that actually DNA, but are at a large distance from the genetics and Sarah Bray at PDN, was a much larger repertoire of DNA binding event, are also affected when designed to create a better understanding sequences can be bound. This is impor - the binding is strong. Since the next step of how these transcription factors actu - tant in the context of the whole genome in initiating transcription requires the ally interact with the DNA. How do they where these subtle differences in binding signal to change the conformation of recognise the right DNA sequence may help in distinguishing the functional the protein at a distance from the DNA among all the possibilities, and how do DNA sites from the vast amounts of avail - binding event, this can explain why these sequences of DNA result in either able DNA, where the factor might also some DNA –protein interactions pro - blocking or initiating transcription? bind but less strongly. There is therefore mote this, and others don’t.’ As Rubben Torella, who’s just finished the interesting question of why binding The hypothesis was tested by mutat - his PhD with Robert, explains, the orig - at some sequences influences transcrip - ing some residues within the protein. inal idea was to create a computer tion, while binding at others does not.’ which appeared critical for the dynamic model that simulated all the common One hypothesis why particular internal signal. to see if this reduced the interactions of the transcription factor sequences are so selective in cells is that signal transduction in vivo . The effects in CSL with DNA. This factor is an impor - the binding with the ‘correct’ sequence vivo from mutating three residues that, tant part of the Notch signalling path - is stronger, so it will remain bound for when altered, strongly reduced the sig - way, involved in cell–cell communica - longer so enhancing the effect. To better nal transmission across the protein in tion that controls multiple cell differen - understand what might be happening at computer simulations, were tested tiation processes. the molecular level, they applied molec - using fruit flies. ‘We created all the possible combina - ular dynamics calculations to the sys - The CSL gene affects the development tions of different strands of DNA bound tem, which takes into account the way of the fruit fly wing veins and, sure to CSL,’ Rubben explains. ‘This took the proteins and DNA move in real time. enough, the mutated gene stopped the some time as we calculated the binding ‘By applying Newton’s laws of wing growing properly – highlighting between CSL and each individual DNA motion, and allowing the system to the importance of the dynamic correla - sequence – all 65,536 of them!’ This dynamically evolve over time during the tion between the protein and DNA enabled them to rank the interactions in simulation, we can appreciate how the sequence. This strongly supports a sig - order of binding ability. entire DNA/protein system explores dif - nal transduction step within the pro - It’s all very well making these sorts of ferent dynamics,’ Rubben says. Calc ul- teins that regulate transcription, poten - calculations, but are they actually cor - ating these dynamics for selected exam - tially explaining their selective actions rect? To find out, they ran in vitro assays ples revealed some interesting features. and demonstrating the fine level of con - to test binding of DNA sequences with ‘We found that when the transcription trol within this process. CSL, and also in vivo studies in a cell line factor is bound to the best-match DNA, R.Torella et al. Nucl. Acids Res . where binding to the same sequences there is a much stronger correlation in 2014, 42 , 10550 The importance of being reversible A good battery material needs to have is a large band gap, which makes it a charge cycle. The copper dissolution high capacity and high voltage, be poor conductor. And it’s difficult to consumes the majority of the LiF, cheap, and be reversible to enable the study – CuF 2 is a nanomaterial, and thus thereby stopping the CuF 2 from being battery to be charged and recharged. A forms multiple different phases on re-formed on charging. This is why the few years ago copper(II) fluoride was charging, making it extremely difficult capacity disappears in the second and something of a hot topic among battery to characterise. ‘High heterogeneity on a subsequent cycles, and explains why researchers, as it ticks the first three of small scale is challenging!’ says Xiao CuF 2 will not make an effective battery these boxes – but making it reversible Hua, a PhD student with Clare Grey. material, despite its initial high capacity proved impossible, and no-one could The answer, Xiao says, lies in a com - and voltage. work out why this was so. bination of NMR experiments and syn - Although CuF 2 seems to be problem - CuF 2 has a high operating potential, chrotron X-ray techniques. The synchro - atic as a successful battery material, CuF 2 cannot match thanks to the high electronegativity of tron experiments enable the battery to explaining why it doesn’t work is still the performance the fluorine, but the high iconicity of be studied in real time while it’s charg - important – and the paper was high - of other systems the copper–fluorine bonds means there ing and discharging, and NMR facili - lighted as a ‘hot paper’ by the American tates the measurement of light ele - Chemical Society. ‘We created a guide - ments, in this case, lithium. ‘When a line for future researchers, giving an battery finishes one discharge-charge idea about where it is worthwhile cycle, ideally you expect to get the ini - spending their efforts,’ Xiao says. ‘It’s not tial materials back,’ he explains. ‘But in as if the material can be easily improved the case of copper fluoride, you do not by doping or surface coating like what see copper fluoride form after the bat - many researchers are focusing on – it’s tery finishes the full cycle.’ more about how to engineer this mate - They found that what was happening rial or to change the electrolyte to make was the copper dissolved in the elec - this material perform better.’ trolyte, combined with the lithium flu - X. Hua et al . J. Phys. Chem. oride, and formed Cu 1+ during the first 2014, 118 , 15169

12 Chem@Cam Spring 2015 www.ch.cam.ac.uk The next step towards automated synthesis

There are many advantages in carrying intermediate that has been formed. This out reactions in a continuous flow allows each step to be self-regulated for process rather than a traditional stirred the best results. flask or batch reactor – not least that it is ‘The different machines in a flow possible to connect multiple flow reac - sequence operate different steps, but tors together so more than one step of a without any information layer we synthesis can be performed, one after would need several people to control another, without any need for isolation them,’ Claudio explains. ‘One person can between each step. However, the practi - control one or two machines, but more cality of daisy-chaining reactors than that is often impractical. However together is not as straightforward as one if the system looks after most of them, might think. with each module responding to stimuli Claudio Battilocchio and his col - such as the formation of intermediates, leagues in Steve Ley’s Innovative we can be much more productive.’ Technology Centre have been looking at As an example, they created a system ways this can be achieved more success - that connected three chemistry steps fully. The idea was to create a holistic and their associated work-ups, with the approach that could be applied to any system designed at each step to auto - general synthetic process. matically respond to changes, enabling ‘Chemists automatically think about self-regulation. ‘We designed the system down to enable the operator to solve the Taking care of all the chemical transformations, but the to self-regulate in order to reduce the issue and start it up again. On the other the layers of the intermediate steps that link them amount of reagents used and waste pro - hand, if the operator is not there, each flow procedure together are not as important,’ Claudio duced, but it could also send alerts if module will shut down safely once allows better explains. ‘Our idea was to divide the there was a problem,’ he says. ‘This is “their” starting materials are used up.’ system control design of a synthetic flow procedure very different from the current system – Essentially, this modular configura - based into three different layers. The top there is a paradox in continuous flow tion of the system enables remote con - layer contains all the chemistry whereas chemistry that, despite the promise of trol by a single operator. Now, Claudio the second layer is associated to the automation, the operator has to spend a says, they are looking to use specific downstream processing operations to lot of time in front of the machine to sensors that detect intermediates, connect the chemistry steps together. check it is working properly.’ enabling the system to optimise itself as The bottom layer handles information, The key to the remote controlled well. ‘This would allow the single which connects and controls the chem - automated system that regulates the chemist operating the whole system to istry steps together.’ sequence of steps is that they are not focus on the chemistry, and deciding This information layer manages the treated individually, but each module of what to do next, rather than running the flow chemistry data that is collected the system is regulated in order to inter - synthesis,’ he says. ‘All the routine oper - about the formation of intermediates act with each other. ‘If there is a problem ations would be performed and con - between the different steps and gives the with the first step, the second and third trolled by the machines.’ system the ability to respond to any will continue to process material while R.J. Ingham et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed . changes, such as the amount of that they can, but that first part will shut 2015, 54 , 144

Richard Turner and Switch off and save energy Sheila Bateman The aim of Switch Off Week is to raise a week that had an unusually cold snap run the stand in the awareness of how our daily use of of weather, so it was highly challenging reception (far left); energy has an impact and how, by and demanding requiring a determined Tony Gill from the switching off electrical equipment, the effort to switch off especially heaters. It Cybercafé makes university can become a more sustain - was therefore very encouraging that, his energy-saving able place. The week features a pro - during that period, there was an overall pledge to turn off gramme of events organised centrally by 2.1% saving (corrected to take into non-essential the environment and energy team, and account the cold weather) on the uni - electrical items at more locally by environment & energy versity’s energy bill compared to the the end of his shift coordinators and Green Impact teams. previous week. The first university-wide Switch Off The 2014 Switch Off Week was held Week was held in February 2013 during in November. On the Wednesday, the Switch Off Week Roadshow came to the of short films on the state of climate and CyberCafé, bringing with it the Energy solutions to the climate crisis, narrated Bike Challenge that allowed people to by Leonardo DiCaprio. experience the effort required to power At the end of the week, the chemistry a 90W sound system and light show. department decreased its electric use by Tim Hele spectacularly smashed the uni - 0.89%. Overall, during the whole week, versity’s previous record by cycling for 1 the university used more than 3000kWh hour, 1 minute and 1 second! less electricity, a reduction of 0.36%. There were also opportunities to Of course, the message of switching make energy-saving pledges, and sweep off to save energy continues all year. You up the many freebies including water can make a difference in making the uni - bottles, cycle seat covers and fortune versity a greener place by switching off cookies. At lunchtime, there were repeat lights and equipment when it’s not showings of Green World Rising’s series needed. Every little helps. Richard Turner

Chem@Cam Spring 2015 13 Alumni

King’s, in a brilliant international post - Last out of Free School Lane grad community, was just the distrac - tion I needed. I also remember with I believe I was the last person out of Free Usually, on Norrish’s visits to the great affection Fred Webber, the top- School Lane Physical Chemistry, as it third floor, he would simply ask what I floor technician whose kindness and was closed down in 1958 for the move had been doing, snort, and move on. support at difficult times I shall never to Lensfield Road. Like many a ‘brain- What I had enthusiastically been doing forget, not to mention his prompt drainer’ I was hot foot for America, hav - actually elicited no more than mild emergency licking of my eyeballs after ing completed a PhD’s research under curiosity and a certain suspicion on his an acid splash on one occasion. Not all Ronald Norrish, but had been offered part. This had been to make some of the technical staff were as easy-going, how - another year for writing up and extend - earliest advances in gas chromatography ever. I particularly remember the store- ing the work, staying on in the old prompted by the late, delightfully keeper whose response to every request building. I had also managed that year to Welsh, Howard Purnell. Together we was an automatic: ‘We’re cutting down get married. staked our claim to the earliest studies on that’, followed by: ‘Are you sure you My lab was on the top floor, up the of temperature effects on elution-times, really need it?’ steep staircase, and I painstakingly built a all this with makeshift columns and Looking back, I think I owe my later gas-kinetic flow system for reactions of detectors feeding a mirror galvanome - cultural development to one incident chlorinated hydrocarbons. An old project ter, whose swinging light-spot we excit - more than any other – the enforced left over from the 1940s, it was not my edly plotted on graph paper as each closing of the Free School Lane labs at choice of research topic – I came to peak arrived. The luxury of a pen- 6.00pm. on safety grounds. (As well Cambridge from London eager to do recorder came much later. they should have been in view of the flash photolysis and spectrocopy, but Howard and gas chromatography frequent explosions and lax attitudes to found myself drafted into this because were the rescue of my PhD. By using the safety in those days.) This, along with there was some petrochemical money latter to measure trace by-products of the libraries and the marvellous left over in Norrish’s budget. The lab had the pyrolysis and combustion of CH 2Cl 2 Cambridge provision that one could an unforgettable feature, a cavity blasted and CH 3Cl , I was able to concoct a turn up at any lectures whatever, was into the plaster wall by a detonation in plausible set of chain-reaction mecha - the beginning of my eventual long which Fred Dainton (later Sir Frederick, nisms, with the usual under-determined march through the academic world to Baron Dainton) had once mangled his finesse of: ‘the following mechanism is become a linguist and literary historian. hand when treating an organic peroxide consistent with the experimental I confess that I snuck out to many a with insufficient respect. results…’ morning humanities lecture, knowing My arrival coincided with the depar - As my contemporaries will know, the that Norrish was always a late starter on ture of George Porter, whose genius tensions of the Norrish entourage were his rounds of inspection. with flash photolysis helped propel not reflected in the rest of the depart - And so to America and the delight in Norrish to a Nobel Prize. After Porter ment. The waggish Morris Sugden, the being addressed by my Christian name. left for Sheffield, Brian Thrush, to his courteous, stone-deaf Moelwin-Hughes My connection with generous and free- great credit, kept the field alive in and the shyly expert John Agar, kept thinking King’s continues to this day, Cambridge in the 1950s, with great their research and academic intelligence where periodic non-resident dinners experimental talent, but limited well clear of the department head, make the perfect night out from resources. while, in my own case, college life at London. Michael Hoare

Cyril John Smith used by the 1967 Nobel laureates, ‘Tiger’ Coxall Norrish and Porter. Former Physical Chemistry glassblower During his long career with the Edgar ‘Tiger’ Coxall, who was chief tech - Cyril John Smith passed away on 25 University he worked alongside his nician in charge of the electrical work - August after a short illness. brother Eric, who was the department’s shop for many years, passed away in Cyril was born in Cambridge in head of photography. Cyril was also a December 2014. 1930, the second of four children. He very keen member of the lab cricket Tiger was born in Longmeadow in attended Coleridge School until the age team, and its secretary for some time. 1928, one of three children, and went to of 14, when he left to become a labora - He took early retirement in 1990, and school in the village of Lode, just north - tory technician for students at Barts spent a lot of time enjoying his two east of Cambridge. Hospital, who had been evacuated from main hobbies, gardening and fishing. He joined the chemistry department in London and temporarily housed in the November 1942 as a lecture room assistant when the labs in chemistry department, then in Pembroke Street were not only home to Cambridge students Pembroke Street. After the war, when but also to evacuated students from London universities and the Barts students returned home, Cyril the Ministry of Supply. obtained a job in chemistry, working In 1946 he joined the Royal Navy for his two years’ national with John Woodcock carrying out service. On being demobbed, he returned as a technician on chemical preparations in the XL lab. the inorganic floor, specialising in maintaining the fluorine When chemistry and physical chem - generators both in the ‘old lab’ and then in Lensfield Road. istry, then two separate departments, He gradually became involved in the repair of electrical relocated to Lensfield Road, he joined apparatus and set up the electrical workshops, where he even - physical chemistry as a research techni - tually designed and built a great deal of novel equipment that cian for the flash photolysis groups. The was not commercially available. apparatus required for this work was not Tiger retired in 1992, having completed 50 years with us. commercially available as it had to be He was a very active sportsman, playing cricket for the depart - created from quartz, so Cyril became an ment, football for local clubs and an avid West Ham supporter. expert in designing and making such He was also a very keen motorcyclist, and rode regularly until equipment. Much of his handiwork was a few months before he passed away.

14 Chem@Cam Spring 2015 In the know

Photographing lasers is another fun one. Way back in Summer 2003, the Smile for the camera! cover featured a student in Dave Klenerman’s lab who was working with a laser. But visualising a laser isn’t sim - ple. The answer lay in taking a shot using the flash with the lights off to visualise the student and the equip - ment, and then leaving the shutter open while wafting dry ice at the laser, giving it something to ‘hit’ so it could be seen. Having already worked out how to visu - alise lasers meant taking the laser-based cover shot for Autumn 2013 was just that little bit easier. A decade ago, film was still routine, and part of their office was a darkroom. Not any more – everything is digital. ‘We use programmes like Photoshop and Lightroom – a digital darkroom in a light room!’ says Caroline. Going digital also allowed them to lose the darkroom in 2009, giving them more space for the increasingly large equipment they need. ‘With a very large Without the talents of the department’s ied occupation, Nathan and Caroline Caroline, Gaby and printer and the laminators, it was a bit photographers, Chem@Cam wouldn’t cite different aspects as their favourite. Nathan, pictured of a squeeze to trim posters and lami - have those wonderfully striking images As well as the more explosive parts of with the assistance nate things,’ Nathan says. ‘Looking back, on the front cover – or the lovely por - demonstration lectures, Nathan loves of a self-timer! it seems a little farcical – our now- traits of our chemists inside. But why the variety – he could be photographing retired colleague John Holman had to does a chemistry department employ lectures one day, poster printing another breathe in so we could squeeze past photographers? As Nathan Pitt says, and creating stretch canvases another. between him and the laminator when when people ask him what he does for a Caroline, meanwhile, gets a huge he was sitting at his desk.’ living, they’re often rather surprised amount of satisfaction out of taking por - when he tells them he does photography traits, particularly ones on location like POSTERS AND VIDEOS in a university chemistry department. those we use in Chem@Cam . ‘Teasing a Printing is an important part of what In reality, although taking photos is good photo out of someone who they do. ‘We do all the poster printing an important part of what they do, doesn’t like having their picture taken in the department,’ Nathan says. While there’s rather more to it than that – can be a challenge!’ she says. ‘I start by their input into the design is limited, they’re responsible for anything and chatting with them, and once they’ve they swap lo-res screen-grab logos and everything involving graphics or imag - relaxed I tell them it will soon be over! crests for hi-res vector graphics so they ing. ‘On the photography side, we do ‘If they’re still looking really miser - look sharp, and do occasionally offer portrait shots for publications, passports able, I’ll tell them to smile as this is the design and technical advice. and visas, but we also do still life pho - last photo – they go “phew!” and relax ‘Poster printing comes in peaks and tography of science equipment and into a good pose in their relief. It’s all troughs, but generally we do about 250 interesting experiments, either for about showing them it’s not scary, and a year, of different types,’ he adds. ‘We papers and theses, for record-keeping, that I’m not trying to make them look still make traditional paper and lami - or even because they’ve managed to awful in the picture. It’s good to break nated posters, but increasingly we’re make something really pretty,’ explains down their barriers and let them come making canvas and cloth posters. These Caroline Hancox. ‘Our colleague Gaby through in the photo. Getting that good have been really popular – you can fold Bocchetti in reprographics also does a shot is incredibly satisfying.’ the poster up in your bag, and not have lot of graphic design, such as creating the battle of trying to get away with a journal covers. She’s something of a TECHNICAL CHALLENGES poster tube as hand-luggage on EasyJet!’ whiz in Illustrator!’ Chem@Cam ’s cover shots can also pose An activity that’s in its infancy for There’s also a good deal of events interesting technical challenges. ‘A lot of them is taking videos. They don’t get photograpy, such as conferences and the time, working out how to get the asked to do it very often, and their lectures, and corporate and other visi - best shot is a case of trial and error, and equipment remains limited, but occa - tors to the department. ‘We’re well prac - in future shots we can build on what we sionally they’re asked if they can take a tised in the art of taking photos of learnt before,’ Nathan says. ‘That’s a lot video. ‘A good example is the replace - Nobel prizewinners and other distin - of the fun of it – working out what we ment of one of Clare Grey’s NMR guished scientists waving their arms want a shot to look like, and how to machines a little while back, when the around during lectures!’ Nathan says. achieve it.’ magnet was being purged,’ Nathan says. ‘We also cover outreach events such as The flaming letters on our last cover ‘Safety officer Martin Maunders the department open day, and other are a great example. ‘With shots like thought it would be good to have events involving Cambridge chemists this, we have to work with people who footage of the clouds of gas coming off, outside the department itself. Science know how to create the effect we’re so we took about five minutes of week is always fun – Peter Wothers’ lec - looking for,’ Caroline says. ‘Chris footage as a record. What we do is fairly ture is good for dramatic photos, and Brackstone really enjoyed working out infrequent and very simple at the finding interesting shots of the kids how to make them, and without his moment, but we have half an eye on doing science in the labs is never dull.’ technical help it the shot would not expanding in the future, if the demand Perhaps unsurprisingly, for such a var - have been possible.’ is there.’

Chem@Cam Spring 2015 15 Chat lines

A wedding full of chemistry x o c n a H

e n i l o r a C

: o t o h P t t i As readers will be well aware, we love a was to take place in an adjacent room,’ P

n nice wedding photo in Chem@Cam . And Alexander says. ‘Celine, who had started a h t this one involves not one but three mem - her postdoc a few weeks earlier, was the a N

: bers of the department – the bride and last person remaining in the lab, desper - o t o groom and, as a bonus, the photographer. ately trying to finish her work before h P Celine Galvagnion, a postdoc with she left. I was a bit early for my viva, so Computer officer Chris Chalk retired in Chris Dobson, and Alexander Buell, a we got to talk…’ March after 23 years in the chemistry research fellow in the Dobson and He proposed a couple of years later dur - department, and more than 40 with the Knowles groups, got married on 6 ing a road trip in the US. The year after. university. He’s pictured with head of September in Magdalene College – and they were married. ‘We went on honey - departmentDaan Frenkel at his leaving the pictures were taken by our very own moon to the Galapagos Islands, which was party in the Todd Hamied room. Despite Caroline Hancox. a trip to remember – and the ideal desti - the smiles, we’re sad to see him go! Celine is originally from Pontoise, nation for two scientists!’ he says. near Paris, and Alexander hails from And they’re greatly enjoying working Stuttgart in Germany, and they first met together, too. They’ve published four in the lab on the day of Alexander’s viva papers together this year – and are in June 2011. ‘Jane Clarke had ordered rather hoping there will be many more everybody to vacate lab 290, as my viva to come.

David Plumb retired in September, after almost a decade working in the department’s electrical workshop. Department members will recall him going around the building testing all the electrical equipment to check it’s safe. Colleagues past and present were on hand to give him a rousing send-off. Jeremy Sanders sent this pair of snaps along. He was recently in China, and was made an honorary professor at Nanjing University Michael Pittas of Science and Technology. He and his wife Louise were rather We are sad to taken aback to see his name up in lights outside! And he’s also report that one been hob-nobbing with royalty... with a visit to Buckingham of our cleaners, Palace for the presentation of his CBE by Prince William. Michael Pittas, has died. He joined us in chemistry in i t

t 2010. Our e h

c thoughts are c o

B with his wife y b Cheryl, who is a G

: also a cleaner s o t here in the o h

P department.

16 Chem@Cam Spring 2015 www.ch.cam.ac.uk

Three Peak challenge Four more future chemists!

Minkoo Ahn’s wife Sookjin gave birth to their daughter Christine (right) on 31 October. It was just four days after Minkoo’s PhD viva... ‘What a week for me to receive two titles – dad and Dr!’ he says. Christine was born at the Rosie, and weighed in at 2.84 euro-baby-units (that’s 6lb 4oz in a more Imperial way). Minkoo has stayed on for a year’s post - doc in Chris Dobson’s group, and says he’s loving being a dad. ‘It’s demanded various responsibili - ties for Christine such as changing nap - pies!’ he says. ‘But it has also granted me the great privilege to be overjoyed by being with her, and seeing her adorable face every day.’ Hiking Yorkshire’s Three Peaks makes for a challenging expedition at the best of times, but in filthy weather that chal - lenge increases somewhat. But that’s Every year, South what personnel administrator Emma Cambridge Rotary On the left is Francisco Pinteus da Cruz Club borrows the Graham and glassblower Keith Lopes Bernardes (phew!), son of department’s car Parmenter did back in September. park in the run up Gonçalo Bernardes and his wife Filipa The 25-mile trek takes the intrepid to Christmas. They Pinteus da Cruz, who’s also DPhil walker up 2277 ft Pen-y-Ghent, then then charge organic chemist. Whernside, which tops out at 2415 ft, shoppers for Francisco was born on 23 September and finishes off with Ingleborough, at parking, all in the in Gonçalo’s home town of Lisbon in 2372 ft high – all within 12 hours. aid of charity. Portugal, and weighed in at 3.6 euro- ‘I’m pleased to say we managed to This year, the baby-units (that’s almost 8lb in old UK complete it as a team in 11 and a half chemistry car park baby-units). hours,’ Emma says. ‘We set off at 7am and raised £5828 – ‘He is very relaxed,’ Gonçalo says. the weather was awful– it rained contin - more than a fifth ‘Being a father is the best thing ever!’ uously for at least eight hours, but as we of the £35,827 approached the third peak the sun broke total raised from through and saw us through to the end.’ all the club’s Emma says the plan to do the walk Christmas parking originally started as something to do activities. The herself to mark her 40th birthday, but good causes she then persuaded a friend, her cousin, supported this Slightly belatedly, here’s Hugo David and Keith to join her so she had some year include Ward (right), who was born on 1 company on the hills. East Anglia’s March last year. He’s the first child of ‘I’d also recently gone through a children’s hospice, Vanessa de Souza, a research fellow at really tough time at home as my son, Cambridge Dial-a- Darwin who works in David Wales’ who is 17, had recently attempted to Ride, Romsey Mill, group, and her husband Edmund Ward, take his own life and proceeded to the Guildford who did a PhD in materials with Paul Rotary Eye project, spend a number of months in hospital,’ Midgley and now works for Ofgem. Wintercomfort, she says. ‘So, as we were putting the Campod, and Belatedness makes for a great picture effort in, I felt it was an excellent oppor - the University though… ‘Hugo likes messy play,’ tunity to raise money for the Young of Cambridge Vanessa tells us. ‘In the picture, he’s cov - Minds charity. Veterinary ered in chocolate Angel Delight, and is ‘Shockingly, suicide is the third leading School Trust. sitting in (and eating from) a tray of cause of death in 15-24 year olds, and spaghetti.’ The boy will go far! Young Minds is a charity that helps to prevent teenage suicide by working Andrew Wheatley’s wife Wendy gave closely with children, young people and birth to Joseph Henry (left) on 29 July, their families to improve the emotional weighing in at 7lb 15oz (that’s 3.6kg well being and mental health of adoles - for the euro-baby-unit-lovers among cents. They incredibly important work.’ you). His arrival in the middle of a With donations from family, friends heatwave contrasted somewhat with his and colleagues in the department, big sister Abigail’s arrival – a CD case Emma raised just over £1000 for the had to be pressed into action to scrape charity. ‘It was a fantastic experience, the car free of snow then! made all the more worthwhile from the Andrew says he’s now learning the money I raised,’ she says. ‘Keith and I joys of ironing miniature shirts, and hope to continue with mountain treks preventing the adoring big sister from next year. Hopefully we’ll get better smothering her little brother with over- weather next time!’ zealous attempts at cuddles.

Chem@Cam Spring 2015 17 Chat lines Christmas cheer The usual mix of faces old and new attended the assistant staff Christmas party in the Cybercafé, including Nathan Pitt, who was wielding the camera

Clockwise from above right: Chris Chalk and Pat Chapman; Alex Archibald and Ray Freshwater, David Plumb and Chris Lowe; Tim Dickens and Finian Leeper; Chris Brackstone, Mark Hudson and Dave Pratt get stuck into the wine; John Offley, Chris Sporikou and Mike Sleep; Mike Todd-Jones, Sabina Cole and Patrick Donnelly

18 Chem@Cam Spring 2015 Puzzle corner

two atoms of fluorine), but perhaps the best Last issue’s solutions This issue’s puzzles known recipient is Marie Curie whose surname cannot be made up from atoms unless a new ele - ChemDoku Elemental word chain ment has just been named... How many chem - It had to happen. A dozen years of ChemDoku- Graham Quartly sends along this puzzle, his lat - istry laureates can be synthesised from the ele - setting, and finally I succeeded in rendering it est variant on is theme of words made from ments in this way? insoluble thanks to a typing error. As numerous atomic symbols… Using the symbols for readers pointed out, there was insufficient atomic elements a word chain can be con - Chemical killer ChemDoku room for all the gold (a grand problem to have, structed changing just one element at a time And finally… another one from David if you’re not a ChemDoku!). Chris Cornish- e.g. Fe N S -> Fe At S -> B At S -> B At He What Thompson, who spares my potential blushes by Lawrence summed it up nicely – maybe the are the sequences of triatomic words specified filling the ChemDoku slot. However, as a alchemists had been at work, and succeeded in by these clues? (Remember only one element fiendish bonus, the inner ‘cages’ one might converting another metal to gold during the may be transmuted at a time.) expect to see in a killer ChemDoku are absent. printing process. 1) Flavour / Objective / Water holder / Connection He adds that there are no single-value inner This didn’t put a handful of intrepid readers / Big ship / Organ / Put a top on / Be frightened cages, and offers this hint – vanadium, if made off, however, and by the judicious act of turning 2) Provide food / Impact hole / Town Announcer from three separate elements, can only be syn - silver into gold managed to come up with a / Maritime construction / Baked goods / Provides thesised by adding fluorine and oxygen to car - solution. Gold stars to David Wilson, Godfrey with drink / Friends / Plants providing a bitter bon. This will release a large number of neutrons Chinchen and Morgan Morgan. And a £20 purgative but this is, fortunately not relevant, he says! reward also goes to Godfrey Chinchen, as cho - 3) Geographical feature / Small child / sen by Ginola the cat-shaped office assistant, Pile of stones / Biblical murderer / O V Mg Ne who dragged herself off the heated floor in the Rubbish collector / Cereal / Organ / bathroom briefly to pick catbiscuits. Wash bowl Na C Si S Triads for the 21st century Elementary, my dear chemist The Triads puzzle didn’t pose an impossible And here’s one from David Thompson. N F Cl Ne Si challenge, probably because it was set by David He says... There have been 169 Nobel Wilson and not me. The alphabetically adjacent laureates in chemistry, from the first N Ti F Be element symbols in the triad whose atomic recipient in 1901 to the latest in 2014. numbers are less than 72 are Mo/Mn, Sb/Sc In many of these years, there was more Sc B Ti C and Cs/Cr; those less than 82 are Tb/Tc, Ce/Cd than one recipient. Only one person has and Ta/Tb; and the under 92 group are Th/Ti, received the prize twice – Frederick Cl Mg Be Ne Pa/P and Hg/Hf. Sanger. When I looked through the list Correct solutions came from Godfrey of laureates I was surprised to see how Chinchen, Richard Moss, Richard Brown, Tom many names were unfamiliar, but it is a O Na Banfield, Ian Fletcher and Keith Parsons. And few years since the last lecture I the feline prize-picker’s final furry fling sends attended! Some of these people have O Ne Cl Li Ne the £20 prize in the direction of Tom Banfield. surnames that can be built up from Email puzzle entries to [email protected], or chemical elements – the first laureate Na O V was van’t Hoff (surname can be made by snail mail to Chem@Cam at the address on p3 from fusing hydrogen with oxygen and The Corporate Associates Scheme Arecor Thanks to the generosity of the depart - I Access to emerging Cambridge F. Hoffmann-La Roche Astex Therapeutics ment’s Corporate Associates, we have research via conferences, special brief - been able to benefit the education and ings and various publications; GlaxoSmithKline AstraZeneca environment for students and staff. For I Access to the department library Heptares Therapeutics AstraZeneca Cambridge – example, the Associates make significant and photocopying/printing facilities; IDBS Medimmune contributions to the library for journal I Regular communications about subscriptions. Moreover, they provide upcoming events and colloquia; Illumina Asynt I exam prizes, faculty teaching awards Subscriptions to department publi - Johnson Matthey Catalysts Biotica Technology and summer studentships, and have cations, including Chem@Cam; recently funded the refurbishment of a I Priority notification of and free Maruzen International Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma state-of-the-art meeting room with tele - access to departmental research lectures; Merck, Sharp & Dohme conferencing and display facilities. I Ability to hold ‘Welcome Stalls’ in BP Research Laboratories BP Institute Corporate Associate membership not the department entrance hall; only provides essential support for the I Preferential conference rates; Novartis Bristol-Myers Squibb department, but also provides numer - I Free access to the teaching lectures Pfizer Cambridge Biotechnology ous benefits to help members work with held within the department; us and achieve their business objectives. I The full services of the Corporate Procter & Gamble Cambridge Display Technology Members enjoy many benefits through Relations team to facilitate interaction Cambridge Medical Innovations their enhanced partnership with the with students, staff, and other parts of Royal Society of Chemistry department, such as: the University of Cambridge to help Sigma-Aldrich CambridgeSoft I Visibility within the department; achieve your corporate objectives. Chemical Computing Group I A dedicated meeting room and If your organisation would be inter - Society for Chemical Industry office for members to use while visiting ested in joining the Corporate Associates Takeda Cambridge Cornelius Specialties the department; Scheme, then please email Sian Bunnage Dr Reddy’s Custom I Invitations to recognition days and at [email protected], or call Unilever Pharmaceutical Services networking events at the department; 01223 336339. Uniqsis

Chem@Cam Spring 2015 19 So long, and thanks for all the fish...

Chem@Cam is written, edited and produced

by S ARAH H OULTON

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