Volume 34 (6)
January 1997
| Editor | Edward Burton |
| Assistant Editor | Dianne Sod |
| Advertising | Jackie Hoofring |
CINTACS 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; 7455686 or 7455767 (FAX).
SUBMISSION DEADLINES
The submission deadline for the next Newsletter (March 1997) is Wednesday, February 5, 1997. Deadline for the April 1997 issue is Wednesday, March 5, 1997.
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
Editor's Note: The January issue inadvertently printed an error in the e-mail address for membership e-mail submissions. Please note that the correct e-mail address is ACS@UCRWCU.RWC.UC.EDU and will be printed in future CINTACS issues.
Eugene Paul Gosselink earned his B.A. in Chemistry from Central College in Pella, Iowa in 1959 and then entered graduate school for Organic Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Under the guidance of his advisor Dr. David Lemal, Gosselink's graduate research focused on the synthesis of ketals of bridged bicyclic systems as precursors to dialkoxy carbenes. Upon earning his Ph.D in 1964, Dr. Gosselink then went on to pursue post-doctoral research at the University of Toronto with Dr. Peter Yates, determining the structure of complex polycyclics derived from condensations of diacetyl acetone and trialkyl orthoformate. Dr. Gosselink then accepted another post-doctoral position, this time at Yale University with Dr. Harry Wasserman where he isolated and determined the structure of bacterial pyrrole pigments. It was in 1966 that Eugene Gosselink joined Procter and Gamble, where he remains today. Dr. Gosselink's research contributions at Procter and Gamble include the design and synthesis of new surfactants, clay removal/soil dispersal agents for detergents, and soil release oligomers/polymers for detergents. Dr. Gosselink's research efforts have resulted in the commercialization of at least six new materials in P & G products and he is the inventor or co-inventor on 34 granted U.S. patents.
Great strides have been made in controlling interfacial and surface properties by selection and application of appropriate surfactants. In comparison, the use of oligomeric agents to control surface and interfacial properties has received much less attention until recently. This talk traces some of the findings that brought the author to an appreciation of the potential of oligomeric agents for controlling interfaces, especially in aqueous systems which also contain surfactants. In particular, an interesting combination of properties found in an unusual surfactant family led to discovery of the potential of oligomers to overcome some of the inherent limitations of surfactants as surface modifiers. Oligomers with selective affinity for certain types of surfaces or interfaces have now been developed to add highly efficient agents to the arsenal for providing benefits in modern, aqueous cleaning systems. A crucial part of these developments has been the manipulation of oligomer structures to allow them to compete successfully with much larger concentrations of surfactants for target interfaces or surfaces.
This month's meeting features the Section's annual "Cincinnati Chemist of the Year" award. This year, the Section honors Dr. Eugene Gosselink from Procter and Gamble. Dr. Gosselink has gained a significant reputation for his many contributions in the area of surfactant chemistry and polymer chemistry. He is the primary inventor on more than 30 U.S. patents. On behalf of the Section, I would like to congratulate Gene for this most well-deserved award.
Continuing on the theme of our award winners for this year, I would like to share with you a note I received from Ralph Adams, the Section's 1996 Oesper Awardee, whom we honored this past November. In his note Ralph states:
"I shall remember always the truly heartwarming experience of the Oesper Award and I sincerely thank the Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society for your part in it. The scholarship part of the Oesper Award is a particularly great way for the ACS Section to honor the Oesper Awardee and I truly appreciate it.
Please express to the members of the Cincinnati Section my heartfelt thanks and appreciation for their part in the Oesper Award."
Finally, included in this CINTACS issue is an article detailing the Section's very first Museum Center display. This display was primarily the work of Susan Ross and Marshall Wilson and it focuses on the "Chemistry of Smells" This exhibit may eventually become a permanent fixture at he Museum Center. However, in order to maintain and update such a display, volunteers from the Section are needed. The volunteers would help maintain the display, update the display, possibly change themes every 6-12 months and also give presentations at the Museum Center during the weekends. If you are interested in helping Susan with this, please contact her through the UC Chemistry Department.
Sincerely,
Karlyn A. Schnapp
Chair
The October's 1996 Member Survey, Cincinnati Section, yielded a total of 40 responses. The results, summarized below, list the choices to each question in order of highest to lowest importance/desirability according to this limited survey pool. All comments have been omitted from this summary.
1. When was the last time you attended a meeting? (results shown with the number of responses)
| 1996 | 25 |
| 1995 | 5 |
| 1994 | 2 |
| 1993 | 1 |
| 1992 | 0 |
| pre-1992 | 5 |
2. Rank these criteria in order of importance to you:
| Highest | Topic |
| Network/Social | |
| Location | |
| Time of meeting | |
| Cost | |
| Lowest | Menu |
4. Preferred nights for a meeting:
| Best | Wednesday |
| Tuesday | |
| Thursday | |
| Monday | |
| Worst | Friday |
5. Preferred meeting Frequency:
| Best | Every month |
| Every other month | |
| Worst | Twice a month |
6. Circle FOUR of the topics that you would like to see featured at a meeting: (number of responses shown in parentheses)
| Analytical (17) | History (8) |
| Chemical Education (16) | Polymers (8) |
| Environmental (16) | Medicine (7) |
| Drug Design (13) | Atmospheric (6) |
| Biotechnology (12) | Geochemistry (5) |
| Computers (11) | Safety (5) |
| Organic (10) | Inorganic (4) |
| Other: Catalysis (2), Information, Physical Chemistry, Food Chemistry, Scientific topics of current interest outside of Chemistry, Mix them, Professional edge. | |
7. How would you evaluate your involvement with the section? (results shown with the number or responses)
| Involved | 10 |
| Not as involved as I'd like | 24 |
| Not interested | 5 |
| Other: Involved as I want to be | 1 |
8. Would you be interested in an ACS short course?
| Yes | 23 |
| No | 14 |
| Other: Depends on the course | 3 |
9. What local section committees do you think are important?
| Discussion Groups 26 | Science Fair Judges 16 |
| Nat. Chem Week 24 | YCC 15 |
| Education 23 | Awards 14 |
| Career Services 20 | Membership 12 |
| Newsletter 18 | Advertising 9 |
| Public Outreach 16 | Section History 5 |
| Other: All are important (2), All except History, National Affairs, Government Relations | |
11. Do you read CINTACS?
| Yes | 40 |
| No | 0 |
12. Are you aware that the section has its own Web page?
| Yes | 33 |
| No | 7 |
If yes, do you access it for local section information?
| Yes | 10 |
| No | 22 |
How often do you access it?
| 1-2 Times/Week | 2 |
| 3-5 Times/Week | 1 |
| 2-4 Times/Month | 2 |
| 1-2 Times/Month | 7 |
(End of Survey)
On a Final Note...
Congratultions to our two survey drawing winners Mark Calcagno and Marshall Wilson! Each of the winners received gift certificates from Joseph-Beth Bookstores.
The Chemistry of Smells is a display that several of us have designed and built, and is currently on display at the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Science. Several considerations led to the construction of this display. The initial idea arose from discussions of possible projects that might be undertaken for National Chemistry Week. Of course, one of the primary functions of efforts associated with National Chemistry Week is to show the public how indispensable chemistry is in their lives and that chemistry can be a fascinating area, many aspects of which can be understood and appreciated by non-scientists. Some of us are thoroughly disenchanted with the bad public image of chemistry. For instance, the word chemical is seldom used in the non-technical literature without its requisite adjective "toxic" to the extent that "chemicals" and "toxic waste" have nearly become synonymous. We, as scientist, have a serious obligation to change this trend in our society before our societal paranoia with things chemical and technical does serious damage to the capabilities of our society to function in a competitive modern world. For these reasons, it troubled some of us when we visited the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Science and found that the "Central Science", chemistry, is completely unrepresented. The concept of a molecules is nowhere to be found, and of course, the word "chemical" is to be avoided at all cost. We noticed that in a very nice display of the senses of the human body, the sense of smell was described, but at no place in the exhibit is it mentioned that all smells are due to molecules (chemicals). It seemed that this might provide an opportunity to bring chemistry to the attention of the public in a very positive fashion. Therefore, the Chemistry of Smells display currently in the Museum uses colorful transparencies of molecules and their binding to sensors in the nose to show how the shape and charge of a molecule determines its smell. In addition, small "smell dispensers" have been incorporated into the display to demonstrate how simple molecules produce many of the smells with which we are all familiar and how mixtures of these molecules provide many of the characteristic fragrances of foods. Only pleasant odors have been selected, such as benzaldehyde (pistachio ice cream, Amaretto and cherry flavoring) or b-phenylethanol (essence of rose). It is hoped that this display, to some small extent, will bring chemistry to the attention of the public, and in particular to the attention of children. Furthermore, it is hoped that this museum display format will keep chemistry in the public view year-round rather than for just a single week. The present exhibit will be on display for a month, until about mid-January. If there is enough support in the form of some short demonstrations, if it is maintained and is not allowed to become worn and damaged, and if there is significant general interest in the exhibit, it might become a more permanent component in the museum. We hope that this goal can be realized, and that the Chemistry of Smells will become a permanent part of the Museum. Furthermore, this museum exhibit format provides an excellent medium for presenting the concepts of chemistry to the public, and other chemical exhibits might easily be developed given an appropriate idea and a relatively small amount of effort.
Marshall Wilson
Chair, Organic Discussion Group
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Call Jan Strobel at (513) 489-7184
Your section needs you! As we begin our plans for programs and activities for next year, I would like to encourage participation in our activities by as many members as possible, especially those who haven't been committee members previously. One of my goals for the year is to have at least three members on each committee; we have had too many one-person committees in the past. Also, I welcome suggestions for new ideas, initiatives, programs, etc. for the section. There are still open slots for after-dinner speakers, so if you have a suggestion for a speaker or topic, please let me know. I am encouraged that the section finances appear to be improving this year, so we should be able to continue our tradition of outstanding programs. Specific activities we need to look at in the coming year are consideration of a strategic plan, selection of a chair for the regional meeting to be held here in 2000, and emphasis on the 10th anniversary of National Chemistry Week. National has prepared a strategic plan and has strongly encouraged divisions, committees, and local sections to do likewise. The 10th anniversary of NCW also promises to be a big deal nationally, so we need to be prepared for that. I am sure that other important activities are on the minds of our members, as well. Please contact me at Northern Kentucky University (phone 606-572-5409 or e-mail Oliver@nku.edu) to suggest activities or speakers, or to volunteer your services to the section. I look forward to hearing from you.
Bill Oliver
First Vice-Chair, Chair-Elect
The Section Awards Committee request nominations for a new award, the Outstanding Service Award. This award is to be presented annually to a member of the Section in recognition of outstanding service to the Cincinnati Section and the field of chemistry. Nominees for this award must be members or affiliates of the Cincinnati Section. The 1997 Outstanding Service Award will be presented at the Party Night Section meeting in May. The deadline for nominations is March 1, 1997.
Nominations for this award should be sent to:
James J. Knittel, Ph. D.
Awards Committee Chair
University of Cincinnati
College of Pharmacy
P.O. Box 670004
3223 Eden Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45267-0004
To return to the local section page.
HTML version prepared on January 27, 1997 by Jeffrey.Nauss@UC.Edu.