PLENARY LECTURES Idealised design for a chemical institute by Andreas Libavius, from Andreas Libavius, Alchymia, Frankfurt, 1606. 1. South-east front, 2. North-east front (with the chimney-stack of the main laboratory). A. East entrance with small door. J. Small analytical laboratory. Q. South store room. B. Main room with galleries. K. Chemical pharmacy. R. Fruit store. C. Spiral staircase. L. Preparation room. S. Bathroom. D. Garden. M. Bedroom for the laboratory T. Aphodeuterium E. Drive. assistant. (closet). F. Vestibule of the laboratory. N. Store room. V. Vegetable cellar. G. Chemical laboratory. O. Crystallisation room X. Wine cellar. H. Private laboratory with spiral stairs (coagulatotorium) Y. Laboratory cellar. to the study. P. Wood store. Z. Water supply aa Doors to the laboratory cellar. qq Assay furnaces rr Analytical balances in bb Entrance to the wine cellar. hh Ordinary fireplace. cases. cc Steam-bath. ii Reverberatory furnace. ss Tubs and vats. dd Ash-bath furnace. kk Distillation apparatus. tt Distillation "per ee Water-bath. ll Distillation apparatus with lacinias" (table with ff Distillation apparatus for upward spiral condenser. vessels). distillation. mm Dung bath. xx Equipment and gg Sublimation apparatus. nn Bellows, which can also be benches for pp Philosophers' furnace in the brought into the laboratory. preparations. private laboratory. oo Coal store. zz Water tanks. ← Previuos page: Image from Greek manuscript, The gold making equipment of Cleopatra. Plenary Lectures PL 1 New Directions in the Chemical Design of Materials C.N.R. Rao Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research Bangalore 560 064, India Chemical design of materials is gaining increasing importance in the last few years. This is not only due to the novelty of the methods of synthesis, but also because of the unusual structures and the associated properties of the materials, prepared by chemical methods. A large proportion of the materials obtained by this means are metastable. In this presentation, an attempt will be made to present some of the highlights of chemical design, taking case studies from various areas of interest. These will include open-framework structures and inorganic-organic hybrids. New classes of inorganic nanotubes and other types of nanostructured materials will be discussed. 3 PL 2 ICOSECS 4 - Chemical Sciences in Changing Times: Visions, Challenges and Solutions From Genomes to Cellular Mechanisms and Drug Design Ivano Bertini University of Florence, CERM, Via Luigi Sacconi 6, Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy By browsing genomes and analysing the results through bioinformatic tools, it is possible to guess cellular pathways till now unexplored. This is the case of copper homeostasis and assembling of cytochrome c oxidase. The proteins are then produced and structurally characterized. This can be considered structural genomics. From the structure, the transfer pathways are discussed in details. Whenever possible comparison is performed among different living beings. Extracellular human zinc proteinases are also looked for in the genoma and their validation as p harmacological targets is looked for in the literature. Some of them are produced and inhibitors as candidate drugs are investigated. 4 Plenary Lectures PL 3 Mechanisms of the Formation of Uniform Fine Particles and Their Applications Egon Matijević Center for Advanced Materials Processing, Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York 13699-5814, USA [email protected] Since many properties of particles depend on their size and shape, it is hardly necessary to stress the importance of the uniformity of finely dispersed matter in science, technology, and medicine. While in the recent past the major focus has been on the colloidal matter, presently the interest has expanded to simple and composite nanosized materials. Although some may believe the latter TO represent a new field of science, it will be shown that such systems have been recognized already 150 years ago. The most versatile technique for the production of many, if not most, well defined dispersions is by precipitation from solutions. It has always been understood that in this process nanosize particles must be intermediates, which were assumed to grow further by attachment of constituent solute species to yield the final larger products. However, it has now been amply documented that in a large number of cases the essential stage in colloid formation is the aggregation of the nanosized precursors. The major task is then to elucidate how this mechanism may produce monodispersed colloids. A model defining conditions that result in the size selection will be described, and its application to several experimental test systems will be demonstrated. While the model is capable of explaining the formation of uniform spheres, the next challenge is to resolve the question of different particle shapes, also generated by the aggregation of smaller primary subunits. The understanding of the underlying processes can be used to design methods for the preparation of dispersions to desired specifications for various applications. Examples will be offered on the effects of uniform nanometer and micrometer size particles, alone and in mixtures, in diverse areas, including the formation of uniform drugs of different morphologies, of pigments, of fluorescent dispersions for medical diagnostics, and of well defined slurries for chemical mechanical polishing of wafers. 5 PL 4 ICOSECS 4 - Chemical Sciences in Changing Times: Visions, Challenges and Solutions Modern Trends in Chemical Education Peter Atkins University of Oxford, England [email protected] What are the present trends in chemical education? In this talk, I examine the trends in education in introductory chemistry and in physical chemistry. I begin by looking at the issues that currently confront us: the decline in mathematical activity, prejudice against the subject (or at least its industrial manifestations), and a variety of aspects of the subject that deter students from it. However, it is possible to regard each of these problems as a challenge, and I explore ways in which we can rebuild our subject. There will be nothing radical, just looking for opportunities to convert pessimism into optimism. There are many trends afoot. One modern thrust of education is the inclusion of biological examples, and I will explore how that can be done without losing sight of the core ideas of the subject, and warn against certain dangers. Multimedia opens up great opportunities, of course. But there are also dangers in relying to heavily on multimedia rather than the intellectual rigor of books, and I will examine this issue. For introductory chemistry, I identify what I regard as the handful of core ideas that any scientifically aware student should know. In physical chemistry I shall identify the structure of the subject and the core knowledge we expect. In this connection, I attempt to identify the handful of core equations and ask how the mathematical component of chemistry can be rendered palatable. 6 Plenary Lectures PL 5 Beyond the Molecular Frontier — Chemistry Challenges for the Future Ronald Breslow Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA Chemistry has been called the Creative and Useful Science, since the new substances and new reactions and processes invented by chemists have added enormously to human welfare. However, the Challenges and Opportunities for the future are at least as exciting as are chemistry’s past achievements. In a recent survey of chemistry and chemical engineering — for which Ronald Breslow and Matthew Tirrell were the co-leaders — these challenges and opportunities have been outlined across the broad range of areas, including in particular those that are the focus of ICOSECS-4. In this talk some of the future advances in chemistry will be described that will let us continue to bring benefits to humanity while increasing our fundamental understanding of the natural world and of its created extensions. 7 PL 6 ICOSECS 4 - Chemical Sciences in Changing Times: Visions, Challenges and Solutions Electrospray Wings for Molecular Elephants John Fenn Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284, USA Small effusive leaks into vacuum systems, as in Knudsen cells and classical molecular beam machines, made many conributions to science in the twentieth century. They have continued to serve both both science and technology in the early years of the twenty first. Beginning in the 1950s, big convective leaks have turned out to be even more powerful and versatile tools. The supersonic free jets produced by these big leaks have greatly extended molecular beam methods, become a corner-stone of cluster science and technology, and rewritten the book on molecular spectroscopy. Thoss jets are now adding new dimensions to the techniques of mass mass spectrometry by making possible the production of intact ions from the large, complex and fragile species that play such vital roles in living systems. The path from the first crude experiments of Dunoyer into the groves of atomic and molecular physics followed along the trail blazed by Otto Stern and his disciples. That trail was then extended into the fertile fields of chemistry, by the likes of Herschbach, Lee, Polanyi, Smalley, Zare and Zewail, five of whom received Nobel Prizes for their contributions. More recently that trail entererd the lush gardens of biology where mass spectrometry is providing bumper crops of information and understanding. This