CHEM2021 Online Conference Program July 12-13, 2021 Sponsored by Welcome We acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands the RACI Victorian Branch is located and on which we live and work. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present, and to First Nations people attending this event. ___________________ Welcome to CHEM2021! Welcome to CHEM2021, the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Victorian Branch’s first ever conference run for early-mid career chemists by early-mid career chemists. This is a conference to highlight the outstanding work and achievements of early-mid career chemists working in Victoria. Our aims are to provide an opportunity for EMCR chemists to speak about their work, network and make connections with their peers, and to celebrate the diversity of Victorian chemists and their work in different fields of chemistry. Our plans for an in-person conference in 2020 were dashed, but we see the benefits of a virtual platform that reduces costs for the conference – and therefore attendees – and allows more people to attend who might otherwise find it difficult to travel, or spend several days attending a conference in person. We hope that the virtual interactions at this conference lead to better connections and even collaborations between attendees, as well as offering inspiring insights into the variety and quality of the work being done by EMCR chemists in Victoria. Thank you for joining us at CHEM2021. We hope to see you in person at future events. Chem2021 Organisers: Katie Ganio, Manuela Jörg, Anitha Kopinathan, Susan Northfield, Rajesh Ramanathan, Claire Weekley Harassment and Bullying Policy The RACI is dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age or religion. The RACI will not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form. Conference participants violating the RACI Anti-Harassment Policy may be sanctioned or expelled from the conference without a refund at the discretion of the conference organisers. If you experience any of the behaviour described and/or you feel uncomfortable or unsafe at any time throughout CHEM2021 please contact one of the conference organisers. Diversity and Inclusion Policy This conference is organised in accordance with The RACI Diversity and Inclusion Policy. We recognise that people come into chemistry from diverse cultures, backgrounds and experiences. We invite and welcome a diverse community of talented people to this conference with a culture of mutual respect. We aim for transparency, reflection and learning and encourage suggestions and feedback (to the organisers or to RACI) for improving the accessibility, inclusion and diversity of this conference. 1 Sponsors The RACI is the professional body for the chemical sciences in Australia. The mission of the RACI is to be the voice of chemistry in Australia and to advance the professional interests of its members. You can find out more about upcoming RACI events here and more about the Victorian Branch here. You can also find RACI on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. We are Merck, a vibrant science and technology company. Science is at the heart of everything we do. It drives the discoveries we make and the technologies we create. The passion of our curious minds makes a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day. In Healthcare, we discover unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and cancer. Our Life Science experts empower scientists by developing tools and solutions that help deliver breakthroughs more quickly. And in Electronics, we develop science that sits inside technologies and changes the way we access, store, process, and display information. Everything we do is fueled by a belief in science and technology as a force for good. A belief that has driven our work since 1668 and will continue to inspire us to find more joyful and sustainable ways to live. We are curious minds dedicated to human progress. Experience our products at: www.sigma-aldrich.com | www.merckmillipore.com CSIRO is Australia’s national science agency and innovation catalyst, collaborating to boost Australia's innovation performance. At CSIRO, we solve the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology. 2 CHEM2021 Conference Program Merck Virtual Poster Session, from July 5 The website link will be made available to all registered participants on July 5. Conference Day One, Monday July 12, 09.30 - 13.45 AEST The link to the Zoom Webinar will be made available to all registered participants. This session features oral presentations by Plenary Speakers and Speakers Selected from Abstracts. 09:30 - 09:45 Welcome and Open – Dr Susan Northfield 09:45 - 10:15 Plenary Speaker – Dr Katherine Locock Physicochemical properties of protein-protein 10:15 - 10:30 Dr Jessica Holien interaction modulators Probing chirality with supramolecular 10:30 - 10:45 Dr Carol Hua systems 10:45 - 11:15 Morning Tea Ionic liquids and plastic crystals utilising the 11:15 - 11:30 Dr Colin Kang oxazolidinium cation: the effect of ether functionality in the ring 11:30 - 11:45 Laena D'Alton DIY medical diagnostics and health testing 11:45 - 12:00 Debjani Ghosh Efficient production of xylooligosaccharides Lubricin (PRG4): a versatile protein for 12:00 - 12:15 Dr Saimon Silva electroactive surfaces 12:15 - 13:00 Lunch Break 13:00 - 13:30 Plenary Speaker – Dr Shane Devine 13:30 - 13:45 Poster Celebration Information Merck Virtual Poster Celebration, Monday July 12, 19.00 - 20.00 AEST This session will feature flash poster talks, the award of poster prizes and a presentation by Professor Emeritus Frances Separovic. The link to the BlueJeans Webinar platform will be made available to all registered participants. 3 CHEM2021 Conference Program Conference Day Two, Tuesday July 13, 09.30 - 13.45 AEST The link to the Zoom Webinar will be made available to all registered participants. This session features oral presentations by Plenary Speakers and Speakers Selected from Abstracts. 09:30 - 10:00 Plenary Speaker – Dr Yuning Hong 10:00 - 10:15 Dr Moya Hay Ligand tuning in cobalt complexes for valence tautomerism 10:15 - 10:30 Arpita Poddar Metal-organic-frameworks as non-viral gene delivery vectors Optimisation of 5-substituted 10:30 - 10:45 Dr William Nguyen 2-acylaminothiazoles as potential HIV-1 latency reversing agents 10:45 - 11:15 Morning Tea Quantification of pharmaceuticals in surface 11:15 - 11:30 Dr Benjamin Long waters and riparian flora of a south eastern Australian river system 11:30 - 11:45 Amy Thomson Synthesis of interchain dicarba insulin analogues 11:45 - 12:00 Dr Wenyue Zou Polyoxometalates for colorimetric sensing applications Painters, puzzles and phosphorescence: 12:00 - 12:15 Dr Tim Connell understanding triplet excited states in iridium(III) complexes 12:15 - 13:00 Lunch Break 13:00 - 13:30 Plenary Speaker – Professor Oliver Jones 13:30 - 13:45 Awards and Close – A/Prof Rajesh Ramanathan RACI Victorian Branch Trivia Night, Tuesday July 13, 19.00 - 21.00 AEST Conference registration includes the Branch Trivia Night! The link to the Zoom meeting and Kahoot! Quiz platform will be made available to all registered participants. 4 Plenary Speakers Dr Katherine Locock, CSIRO Dr Katherine Locock is a Senior Research Scientist in the Manufacturing Business Unit of the CSIRO in Melbourne, Australia. Her research focuses on the development of biologically active polymers, based on CSIRO’s patented RAFT technology. Her current work is focused on new polymer-based antimicrobial therapeutics. This patented technology is highly effective against a broad spectrum of virulent bacteria and fungi, even several strains that show resistance to common antibiotics. Prior to the CSIRO, Katherine held a position as an Associate Lecturer in Pharmacology at the University of Sydney, where she focused on rational drug design to develop GABA analogues as potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and mood disorders. Katherine is also committed to encouraging more Indigenous Australians to take up STEM education. Katherine was selected as the AIPS Victorian Young Tall Poppy of the Year Award in 2016, received a Julius Career Development award in 2016 and CSIRO Staff Association Women in Science award in 2013. 5 Plenary Speakers Dr Shane Devine, Monash University Dr Shane Devine received his Bachelor of Science (Honours) from La Trobe University, Australia and undertook his PhD there under the guidance of Dr Les Deady studying novel heterocyclic systems. He then moved to Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), where his research has included the design and synthesis of G protein-coupled receptor ligands, including the adenosine and muscarinic receptors and novel anticancer agents. More recently, his focus has shifted to antimalarials inhibiting the essential protein target, apical membrane antigen 1 and antimalarial compounds that act via unknown mechanisms of action. During his time at MIPS, Shane has gained significant experience (>15 yrs) in synthetic medicinal chemistry, culminating in >30 peer-reviewed publications. Alongside his research, Shane actively enjoys teaching to undergraduate and postgraduate students at Monash and co-supervises five PhD students involved in his malaria and cancer based research projects. 6 Plenary Speakers Dr Yuning Hong, La Trobe University Dr Yuning Hong is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Physics at La Trobe University. She received her Ph.D. in Nano Science and Technology (2011) from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) under the supervisor of Prof. Ben Zhong Tang. She held postdoctoral positions in biophysical chemistry in Prof. Ekaterina V. Pletneva’s group at Dartmouth College, US, as Research Assistant Professor in HKUST, and as McKenzie Fellow at the University of Melbourne. She is an ARC DECRA Fellow (2017-2020) and the recipient of RACI Rita Cornforth Lectureship award (2018).