Volume 34 (2)
October 1996
| Editor | Edward Burton |
| Assistant Editor | Dianne Sod |
| Advertising | Jackie Hoofring |
ClNTACS is published nine times a year (September through May) by the Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society in cooperation with the Oesper Collection in the History of Chemistry of the University of Cincinnati. All changes of address should be sent to Emel Yakali at Raymond Walters College, 9555 Plainfield Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236; 745-5686 or 745-5767 (FAX).
The submission deadline for the next Newsletter (November 1996) is Wednesday. September 18. 1996. Deadline for the December 1996 issue is Wednesday October 16. 1996.
All materials should be sent to:
Dr. Edward Burton
Procter & Gamble
P. O. Box 538707
Cincinnati, OH 45253.
Telephone:(513) 627-1494
FAX: (513) 627-1233
E-mail: burton.de@pg.com
OR Dianne Sod at e-mail: kd2wp@aol.com
The synthesis of biological macromolecules (e.g., DNA and polypeptides) is greatly facilitated by the employment of a solid-supported phase. The rapidity with which end-users can construct these macromolecules has completely changed the types of questions asked by the biochemical community. Most pharmaceutical drugs, however, are organic molecules of low molecular weight (PNAS 1993, 90, 6909) the syntheses of small organic compounds made 40 at a time, using a patented apparatus amenable to automation. The new radiofrequency encoding scheme utilized at IRORI makes possible highly automated organic syntheses, in which product identities can be determined using a very convenient tagging technology. Trials and successes in the creation of small molecule libraries created by parallel, solid-phase synthesis will be discussed.
Anthony W. Czarnik was born in Appleton, Wisconsin on November 21, 1957. He attended public schools in Appleton, Combined Locks, and Kimberly, Wisconsin, and received his B.S. (cum laude) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1977. His undergraduate major was biochemistry, but he carried out undergraduate research during that time in two organic laboratories: UW-Madison with Prof. Vedejs and Argonne National Laboratory with M. MacCoss. Dr. Czarnik received his graduate training at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, obtaining both an M.S. degree (1980) in Biochemistry and a Ph.D. (1981) in Organic Chemistry under the guidance of Prof. Nelson Leonard. From 1981-1983, he was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at Colombia University working with Prof. Ronald Breslow on the design of artificial enzymes. He began his academic career in 1983 at The Ohio State University, on the Faculty of the Department of Chemistry. Dr. Czarnik has received both DuPont and Merck awards for new faculty, and in 1986 was presented with an American Cyanamid award in recognition of excellence in the advancement of science and the art of chemical synthesis. He was named an Eli Lilly awardee in 1988, a Fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 1989, and a Teacher-Scholar Fellow of the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation in 1990. He is currently serving as an Editor of the Journal of Molecular Recognition, on the Editorial Board of Organic Reactions, and on the Editorial Advisory Boards of Accounts of Chemical Research. Dr. Czarnik also edits the WWW Fluorosensor Database, located at www.curbio.co.uk/fluoro/. In 1993, Dr. Czarnik moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan as Director of BioOrganic Chemistry at Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research. He has held adjunct appointments in the Departments of Chemistry at the University of Michigan, Ohio State University, the University of Toledo, and Wayne State University. In September of 1996, Dr. Czarnik accepted a position as Senior Director, Chemistry at IRORI Quantum Microchemistry in La Jolla, California. His current research interests include combinatorial chemistry as a tool for drug discovery, nucleic acids as targets for small molecule intervention, and fluorescent chemosensors of ion and molecule recognition.
The October monthly meeting will feature Dr. Tony Czarnik, who is now at IRORI Quantum Microchemistry in La Jolla, CA. Tony was previously at Parke-Davis in Ann Arbor, MI. In Tony's new position at IRORI, he has an opportunity to combine two of his favorite areas of research: chemical sensors and combinatorial chemistry. His talk at the October meeting should prove to be enjoyable as well as educational and I encourage everyone to attend.
In this month's CINTACS you will find the annual membership survey. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey and mail it back to me at the indicated address. The results of these surveys are very important in to the Section several ways: 1) They enable the chair-elect to better tailor next year' s program to meet the changing and evolving interests of the Section; 2) They help to inform as to the changing demographics and needs of the Section in terms of such things as career resources, and public outreach programs; 3) They serve as a sounding board to the Section's Board Members as to how they may improve the Section; and 4) They serve as a potential resource for new committee chairs and board members from the Section. These may be people (like you!) who may want to get more involved but in local Section activities but are not sure how or where to start. Also, as an added incentive, for those who turn in their membership survey, there will be a drawing at the December meeting for two gift certificates from Joseph-Beth Bookstores. The deadline to return the survey is November 22 and the results will appear in a later issue of CINTACS.
In the area of public outreach, the Section has begun the annual activities associated with National Chemistry Week (NCW). This is traditionally THE event of the year for our Section and I encourage everyone to participate in some way. As a part of NCW activities, during the October monthly meeting, there will be a NCW Demonstrator's Workshop presented by Frank Huss and this year's NCW co-chair, Jody Mesaros. If you are interested in going out into the community and giving demonstrations at libraries, schools, etc ., you don't want to miss this workshop! For more information on this year's NCW activities, please contact Jody Mesaros (phone 513-622-3806).
Finally, with the elections quickly approaching in November, our Section's Government Relation's committee has organized a web page with a variety of addresses for various local, state, and federal sites that are of interest to the chemical and scientific community (http://www.che.uc.edu/acs/gov.html). Also included are addresses of local and state representatives. Be sure to read in this month's CINTACS, the first in a series of articles authored by the Government Relations Committee.
Regards,
Karlyn A. Schnapp
Chair
Last year, the Cincinnati section made ACS history by being the first local section to have a page on the World Wide Web (WWW). Repeatedly, representatives from our section have heard excellent comments from colleagues throughout the ACS. The idea quickly caught on and now twenty sections have their own WWW pages. But we are not standing pat!
Over the summer, we have made extensive revisions on the format and content of our WWW page. The first change is the new address: http://www.che.uc.edu/acs/cinacs.html. At the new page, you are greeted by a brief introduction and a series of tables providing links to other pages. The old links (such as the electronic version of CINTACS and meeting) notices are still there. Often, the CINTACS and meeting announcements appear on the WWW page several days before the hardcopy is mailed. But, this year there are several new features reflecting the new initiatives of the section. The Career Services page will contain information relating to programs and activities to facilitate the career development of chemical professionals. Employment opportunities in the Tri-State area will also be found there. Government Relations will supply information regarding primarily state and local scientific and technological issues involving the chemical sciences. The Kids & Chemistry page will describe activities and programs.
Despite these new improvements, we would like to do more! There are some links to local universities and colleges, but we would like to include links to local high schools and industry. The seminar schedule for the University of Cincinnati is posted, but we would like to see others as well. If your organization is hiring, please consider sending your announcement to the local section Web page. And we are sure that there are many good ideas, which we have not considered yet.
So, grab your Web browser (Netscape, Mosaic, or whatever) and stop in at the local section Web page. Let us know what you think of it. And, if you have any information or announcements that may be of general interest to the local chemical community, send it in!
Jeff Nauss
Webmaster
Phone: 556-0148
E-mail: Jeffrey.Nauss@UC.Edu
The section World Wide Web site has been busy. If you have not visited the site yet, set your browser to URL http://www.che.uc.edu/acs/cinacs.html and check it out. Besides the latest edition of the CINTACS, meeting announcements are posted well before the hard copy mailing is sent out. Also, local employment opportunities have been added under the Career Services section. Local seminar announcements can be found there as well as current information on the Young Chemists Committee, Kids and Chemistry, and National Chemistry Week.
But are we missing anything? Let us know. If you have something of interest for our Web site, consider sending it in. There are several ways you can do it. One approach is to mail or fax a hardcopy of your text to me. I can scan the material (color photos, too) and prepare the material for the Web. Anther approach is to mail a DOS diskette with the information in either a text or word-processing file. If sent using a word-processing format, please try to use either WordPerfect 5.2, MS Word for Windows 2.0, or rich text format (RTF).
An easier method to submit material is to e-mail the files to me at Jeffrey.Nauss@UC.Edu. If you do send e-mail, the files sent should be in an ASCII text format. They can be compressed using uuencode but not Mac binhex please. The information in the files can be plain text or even HTML pages ready to go. To ensure correct formatting, you may want to fax me a copy of the text.
Probably, the easiest and fastest method is to prepare the HTML pages on your own server. E-mail to me the URL for your pages and I can make the link in no time. With this last approach you can have complete control over the pages yourself and edit them as you require. The changes would then take affect immediately.
If you have any questions or comments regarding submissions to the section Web site, please feel free to contact me.
Jeff Nauss
Webmaster
Telephone: 513 -556-0148
Fax: 513-556-9239
E-mail: Jeffrey.Nauss@UC.Edu
The survey may be be found on page 8 of the October CINTACS. Alternatively, you may download a copy of the form from here. There is an ASCII text version of the form available. Return the form by November 22, 1996 and you will be eligible for a Prize Drawing.
The Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society has funds available for the purpose of improving chemical education in the geographic area served by the local section (OH: Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, Highland, and Ohio counties. KY: Boone, Campbell, and Kenton counties. IN: Dearborn and Ohio counties). The Educational Grants Committee was established to make recommendations to the Cincinnati Section board of Directors for the disbursement of these funds.
The Committee hereby invites applications for these grants from all members (teachers, students, industrial chemists, etc.) of the chemical community in the service area of the section. Applications will be accepted and reviewed three (3) times during the year according to the following schedule.
Review Month Application Deadline Notification Date November November 1 December 15 February February 1 March 15 May May 1 May 15
Grants will be awarded for such activities as attending educational workshops, participation in summer research programs, innovative education programs, instructional equipment, etc. Proposals which incorporate the use of funds from other agencies or corporations, including the agency or corporation with which the applicant is affiliated, will be given preference in the selection process. Funds will generally not be awarded for the purchase of common supplies or chemicals. However, any application which meets the basic criteria for which the fund was created will be given serious consideration. Grants will be, in most cases, limited to $1,500; exceptional proposals will be considered for larger amounts. No school or organization will be allowed to receive more than one ( 1 ) award per calendar year. Within one year from the time the grant is awarded, a report describing the use of the funds and the impact that the project had or will have on improving chemical education is to be forwarded to the committee chairperson.
An application form is located on page 8 of the October issue of Cintacs. You may also download an ASCII text version of the application. For further information or additional applications, please contact:
Ginger Tannnenbaum
Fairfield High School
1111 Nilles Road
Fairfield, OH
(513) 829-3838 {work} or (513) 829-3698 {home}
November is quickly approaching, and this can mean only one thing... National Chemistry Week! November 3rd through November 9th is reserved for the ACS's overwhelmingly successful public outreach program, and preparations are underway for another fun and exciting program.
Last year's National Chemistry Week reached over 13,000 people through public demonstrations, elementary school contests, and programs at high schools, colleges, and local companies. Our efforts helped to enlighten the public about the broad influence of chemistry in their lives and succeeded in heightening children's interest in science.
Our primary means of reaching the public is through library and museum demonstrations. These programs give local children and their parents the opportunity to see close up how chemistry works. Demonstrators, recruited from academia and industry, give a one-hour show on any aspect of chemistry they wish to highlight. While each demonstrator provides their own choice of experiments, some typical crowd pleasers are acid/base indicators, paper chromatography with water soluble pens and coffee filters, and experiments with light sticks. These basic experiments really make an impression on a young (and older!) audience. Last year was my first experience as a demonstrator, and the unquenchable curiosity of the children, as well as the appreciation on the behalf of the parents, made the experience one which I look forward to repeating.
Each year the number of libraries and museums requesting demonstrations increases. We expect the number of libraries participating in National Chemistry Week to exceed 25 this year, and we are presenting a two-day program with a total of six demonstrations at the Cincinnati Natural History Museum. We need volunteers to give the demonstrations and to help with the museum program. A demonstration typically requires about three hours of preparation and two hours for the demonstration itself. This means that for an investment of only five hours, a demonstrator can educate over 30 parents and children about chemistry. This is a huge reward for the effort involved!
Frank Huss, the Demonstration Coordinator for National Chemistry Week, has organized a demonstrators workshop as a discussion group activity during the Section's October meeting. The workshop is intended to provide the novice with confidence and ideas for demonstrations, as well as expose the experienced demonstrator to new ideas. A list of libraries requesting demonstrations will be available if you would like to sign up at that time. Demonstrations can also be given at your child's school, Cub Scout Pack, Girl Scout Troop, or similar organizations (if you do a demonstration at any of these functions, please let me know so I can provide you with free handouts and record your efforts as a part of National Chemistry Week). If you are interested in doing a demonstration, I would ask you to attend this workshop. If you cannot attend the workshop, I can provide the necessary information (Jody Mesaros W: (513)622-3806; H: (513)942-0012; email mesaros.jm@pg.com or jodymes@aol.com.
Best Regards on the Behalf of the NCW Committee,
Jody Mesaros,
Co-Chair - NCW, Cincinnati Section
National Chemistry Week Committee - Cincinnati Section: Chris Bolls, Martha Brosz, Jeanne Buccigross, Alfred Conklin, Jerry Franzen, Kathy Gibboney, Jim Hershberger, Frank Huss, Dan McLoughlin, Jody Mesaros, Christopher Morrissey, Jeffrey Nauss, Susan Rose, Amy Stander, Richard Sunberg, Emel Yakali
As this issue of CINTACS goes to press, the Federal Government has recessed for the upcoming elections without resolving several key legislative issues that involve scientific policy. Issues such as funding levels for the NIH and NSF, environmental protection and the recent proposal for classifying nicotine as a drug will result in the 105th Congress being faced with many tough decisions that could potentially affect the professional lives of chemists and chemical engineers.
While the local section can not endorse any single candidate based on his or her political views, the section can provide politicians with accurate information that assists in the decision making process for developing legislation. Therefore, it is important that members of the section learn the views and opinions of politicians on key science, technology and education issues prior to contacting them.
As the first of a series of articles aimed at scientific political awareness, this months article will focus on several Internet sites that are devoted to political information.
PoliticsNow (http://www.politicsnow.com) is considered to be the best political site on the Web. PoliticsNow is a joint venture of several major news organizations and therefore provides a more balanced view of the presidential race than either the Clinton-Gore 96 (http://www.cg96.com) or DoleKemp 96 (http://www.dole96.com) sites. In addition to a vast array of news, analysis and electronic versions of leading political publications, PoliticsNow includes such novel features as an updated national ballot maps showing who's ahead in polls in each state.
For those who are interested in the positions of lesser political parties, try Campaign 96, a Web site sponsored by Essential Presence (http://comeback.com/countdown/). Campaign 96 also features links to a variety of state and local issues as well as election games and simulations that allows the user to try their hand at the day-to-day activities of running a political campaign.
For those who enjoy voicing their own opinions or are searching for specific information, try accessing Usenet newsgroups. Campaign 96 has links to 31 different political newsgroups some of which cover general topics while others are devoted to specific topics. However, before getting started with a newsgroup, it is best to understand the culture of newsgroups. Unlike a Web page, you are interacting with real people in the newsgroups and must therefore pay close attention to etiquette (http://www.best.com/~jfurr/advo.html).
When first participating in a discussion group, it is recommended that you spend time just lurking. Read through the recent messages to obtain a sense of how this virtual group of users interact with one another. You may see a message called FAQS or Frequently Asked Questions, and you should read it before posting your first message. Fads are developed by the participants in the group to provide guidance as to what topics the discussion group will cover.
It may take time to discover all of the Internet resources that are relevant and helpful for your interests, but for those who want to be politically informed, the Internet provides a major new force for involvement with political affairs.
Philip L. Motz
Government Relations Committee
Quantum Chemical Company has been awarded the Ohio Chemical Council's (OCC) highest honor, the "Award for Responsible Care," for overall health, safety and environmental (HSE) excellence in the communities in which it operates. The Cincinnati-based company also was awarded an OCC "Community Outreach" award for its innovative and diverse community outreach and education programs in the Cincinnati area
"These awards are tremendous honors that represent our ongoing commitment to our employees, our customers and our communities," said Quantum chairman, president and CEO Dr. Ronald Yocum. "We pride ourselves in meeting or surpassing all industry health, safety and environmental standards. We're also deeply rooted in the communities in which we work and live and so we plan on remaining a responsive, proactive and community-oriented company."
Winners of OCC awards were selected by 15 judges representing higher education, the media, the Ohio EPA and other organizations. The OCC developed the Responsible Care" Awards program to share industry successes that other companies can follow ant to raise public awareness of the significant effort the chemical industry is making to improve HSE excellence. The program is sponsored by the Chemical Manufacturer's Association which represents about 90 percent of the U.S. chemical industry.
Cintacs has taken on a brand new look this year. You should have received September's issue well in advance of the meeting. In the past, I have had the sole and sometimes onerous task of editing and publishing Cintacs. It wasn't always fun, but I usually managed to get the publication out on time, but it was sometimes difficult. This year Dianne Sod is lending her assistance to the project. Dianne is responsible for redesigning the front page of the newsletter. Dianne is also formatting and arranging part of each issue. She has been invaluable in this transformation of the Cintacs format.
An issue on everyone's mind is the timely delivery of the section newsletter. Since it contains important information about next month's meeting, it must arrive well before the deadline for dinner reservations for the meeting. We (Karlyn and Dianne) have been listening to your complaints and are trying very hard to insure that the publication arrives on time. Please continue to let us know if you fail to receive your Cintacs on time (or at all). The U. S. Postal Service is in the process of changing its regulations for bulk mail delivery and we are trying to anticipate the problems that this will cause.
So as always, please feel free to contact me with any problems or suggestions.
Ed Burton
Editor
e-mail burton.de@pg.com
To return to the local section page.
HTML version prepared on September 24, 1996 by Jeffrey.Nauss@UC.Edu.