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Reports on the effort of chemistry professor George M. Whiteshides to examine the aspects of mesoscale self-assembly in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Oxidation of the hydrophobic polymer; Capillary interaction between the hydrophilic surfaces; Addition of sodium metatungsten to determine the density of the aqueous phase.

Focuses on the direction of the future of synthetic organic chemistry. Concern over the serious aging of funded researchers; Importance of the asymmetric synthesis of chiral compounds in the field; Research on the synthesis of bioactive compounds.

Highlights the 25th anniversary celebration of the Arthur C. Cope Award for research on organic chemistry, during the American Chemical Society meeting in March 1999. Cope medalists who attended the event; Research projects described at the symposium. INSET: Cope's legacy of creativity and service..

Presents information on semiconducting polymers, as was the focus at the 1998 American Chemical Society's national meeting held in Dallas, Texas. Comments from Bing R. Hsieh, a chemist with Xerox in Webster, New York State; Indication of studies conducted on polymers; Discussion on the capabilities of polymers as semi-conductors. INSET: Three colors from one polymer?.

Highlight presentations during the 5th Chemical Congress of North America in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, concerning air pollution. Includes presentations from Mexican Ministry of the Environment's Rodolfo Lacy on pollution in Mexico; Research questions raised by Statewide Air Pollution Research Center director Roger Atkinson; Computational method developed for sensitivity analysis of pollutants in the air.

Analyzes strategies employed by chemists to maximize organic synthetic efficiency and minimize costs. Criteria for the ideal synthesis; Minimum waste of starting materials; Emphasis on environmental safety; Design of efficient routes; Use of versatile ruthenium catalysts; Cost efficient reagents; Efficient tools to screen reaction variables.

Reports on the mass spectrometry instruments exhibited at the Pittcon '97 in Atlanta, Georgia. Target clientele; Examples of liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry; Features of the instruments.

Reports on United State's President Bill Clinton's decision to help Israel combat wave of terrorist bombings with attention focused on a small booth in Chicago's vast McCormick Place. Unveiling of gas chromatography (GC) unit; Demonstration by Clayton Wood, project manager.

Highlights issues addressed at the International Conference on Ozone in the Lower Stratosphere, held in Halkidiki, Greece. Winter ozone loss to the Arctic polar regions; Nature of polar stratospheric clouds; Mechanism of the ozone thinning trend in North America, Asia and Europe.

Presents information on the National Aeronautics & Space Administration's (NASA) High-Speed Research Program. Development of supersonic passenger planes; Concerns over the environmental impact of supersonic transport (SST) systems; Questions regarding the financial viability of high-speed civil transports.

Reports that the first Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on March 28, 1995 in Berlin, Germany disappointed officials of participating countries. Commitment of countries to decrease their greenhouse emissions; Effect of greenhouse gases on the atmosphere.

Presents National Science Foundation's Chemistry Division head Janet Osteryoung's advise to chemists. Focusing of research on strategic areas serving national needs; Creation of closer ties to the industry; Role of universities in providing industry with appropriate work force. INSET: Chemistry division profile for fiscal 1994..

Reports on the rapid expansion of the use of DNA profiling despite continuous attacks from defense attorneys on its acceptability. Efforts to address DNA profiling's remaining weaknesses; Related cases. INSETS: Scientific evidence must jump hurdles to get into court.;Armed forces use DNA as `dog tags' and to identify Vietnam..

Reports on the move of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to give away millions of dollars in improving science, mathematics and technology education under its Urban Systemic Initiative awards. Purpose of the program; Use of systemic reform in implementing education changes; Education budget of the NSF; Evaluation of the program; Changes undergone by NSF's education directorate; State implementation.

Presents an interview with National Institutes of Health director Harold E. Varmus. Funding for instrumentation and facilities; Support for basic research; Creation of the National Council for Science and Technology; Reorganization of study sections; Plans for the peer review process; Conflict-of-interest regulations; industry; Patenting genes; Reason for accepting the position.

Reports on the efforts of the chemical industry to find alternatives to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and halons. Future phaseout of the ozone-depleting chemicals as mandated by the international treaty called Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer; Virtual elimination of CFCs in U.S. electronics industry; More.

Focuses on the launch of the American Chemical Society's (ACS) Academic Employment Initiative headed by ACS president Charles P. Casey. Aim of the program to broaden the hiring process for faculty members in the chemical sciences community; Dependence of the higher education in the U.S. on faculty quality and variety; Recognition of the weight of a member's educational pedigree and word-of-mouth recommendations; Plan to apply the model used by the Modern Language Association.

Highlights the national meeting of the Division of Chemical Education at the American Chemical Society at Orlando, Florida. Discussion on experiences in chemistry laboratories to undergraduates; Involvement of students in research; Cancellation of the presentation of funded assessment study.

Focuses on the Survival 101 symposium for novice chemistry professors in the United States. Professional development program; Organizers of the symposium; Graduate students who participated in the symposium; Easy rules for novice professors. INSET: Twelve Easy Rules For The New Professor..

Focuses on the teaching of organic chemistry to college students through working cooperatively in small groups at University of Rochester, New York. Peer-led team learning workshops; Quality of contact and personal support; National Science Foundation-funded project on peer-led team learning. INSET: Bottom Line: Organic Chemistry Is Intense But Doable..

Presents topics of discussions in an organic chemistry symposium devoted to cycloaddition and annulation strategies held at the 2000 International Congress of Pacific Basin Societies in Honolulu, Hawaii. Strides made by chemists in assembling rings using transition-metal catalysts; Role of cycloadditions in ideal synthesis; Application of Diels-Alder reactions to the synthesis of natural products.

Focuses on the limited number of research on the environmental effects of pharmaceuticals and personal hygiene products according to a symposium at the American Chemical Society's year 2000 national meeting. Concerns that substances could potentially pose risks to the health of aquatic organisms; Ingredients identified to have growing concentrations in bodies of water.

Investigates the concepts and principles involved in supramolecular chemistry. Range of topics; Description of molecular structures; Binding abilities; Flexibility of polyamides; Recognition of cobalt and nickel complexes at RNA sites.

Reports on decreased spending in research and development (R&D) in the United States since 1992. Decrease of federal spending to $69 billion in 1995; Difficulty of many sectors in maintaining their current R&D investments; Contrast in federal funding for chemical research.

Reports on the focus given by the National Institutes of Health on strategies to increase the participation of minorities in biomedical research. Comments from Clifton A. Poodry, director of National Institute of General Medical Sciences's Minority Opportunities in Research (MORE); MORE's two major programs for minority representation.

Reports on the efforts of the US Department of Health & Human Services' Commission on Research Integrity to deal with scientific misconduct in the United States. Reexamination of the role of individuals, universities and government in policing scientists' behavior; Definition of scientific misconduct; Policy-making.

Reports on the lack of information on changes of the ultraviolet (UV) light intensity. Impact of the discovery of the Antarctic ozone in 1985; Difficulties encountered in UV monitoring; Damaging effects of UV; Factors causing changes in UV irradiance; Action from government agencies and private institutes.

Highlights the panel discussion on academic hiring at American Chemical Society's national meeting in San Diego, California. Role of the Academic Employment Initiative in broadening the process by which chemistry faculty members are hired; Suggestion for chemistry teachers.

Reports that Michael Siskin has been given the 2004 George A. Olah Award in Hydrocarbon or Petroleum Chemistry by the American Chemical Society. Contributions to the fundamental understanding of the organic chemistry of petroleum-derived hydrocarbons; Work on refinery fouling; Discovery of conditions that lead to deposits which cause processes not to run smoothly.

Highlights the symposium on alternative countermeasures for oil spill by the American Chemical Society in New Orleans, Louisiana. Objections to the use of dispersants; Environmental impact of an oil spill; Use of microorganisms to break down oil components.

Describes innovative approaches for destroying or detoxifying insecticides, herbicides and germicides, presented at the American Chemical Society's August 2002 meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. Electrochemical methods; Use of immobilized enzymes; Reduction of pesticide runoff.

Reports on the return to the traditional chemistry course at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina after a year of experimenting with a team-taught course. Problems and challenges posed by the departure of veteran chemistry professor James F. Bonk; Chemistry department's design of a dual track for the 2001-2002 school year. INSET: James Bonk: A Hard Act To Follow..

Focuses on the repositioning of Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology (CIIT) in the United States. Historical background of CIIT; Reasons for repositioning of the institute; Assessment of CIIT president William F. Greenlee on changes in the institute; Career history of Greenlee; Strengths in health research of the organization.

Focuses on the benefits derived from investing in research and development (R&D) in the United States. Notion on the quantification of the value of chemical innovation; Relationship between R&D expenditures and operating profits; Details on the investment return of DuPont.

Reports that Japanese researcher Yuzo Fujiwara and his colleagues have identified an efficient catalytic method for regio-selectively adding aromatic compounds to acetylenes. Use of palladium as catalyst; Production of cis alkenes; Capability of methyl-furane, pyrroles and indoles to undergo the same reaction in acetic acid; High yield of a coumarin from intramolecular reaction.

Reports on the efforts of a group of researchers, led by V. Ramamurthy, to synthesize chiral chambers within commercially available zeolites, wherein asymmetric photochemistry can be carried out. Strategy being pursued by the group; Value of photochemistry to chemical research; Potential applications for the system.

Describes the one-pot method for synthesizing carbohydrates with an N-acetyl group at the 2-position. Easier access to key class of oligosaccharides; Developer of the strategy; Mechanics.

Reports on the documentation of an increase of ultraviolet radiation levels in New Zealand due to the depletion of ozone layer. Erosion of the ozone by chlorine and bromine-containing compounds; Risks posed by the increased UV levels to humans.

Discusses the discovery made by Rutgers University chemistry professor Alan S. Goldman that alpha-olefins can be made by catalytic dehydrogenation of n-alkanes. Demonstration that C-H activation of n-alkanes can be harnessed to catalytically and selectively produce functionalized organic products in a thermochemical system; Details on Goldman's experimentation with an analogous iridium complex.

Focuses on international cooperation to help control ozone depletion. Decrease in emissions of chemicals controlled by the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer; Increase in emission levels of hydrochlorofluorocarbons; Increase in concentration of the halon CBrClF in the atmosphere.

Focuses on the innovative strategies employed by a group of researchers at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to synthesize and assemble the antitumor antibiotic olivomycin A. Application of a convergent method to synthesize olivomycin A; Attaching preassembled sugar units in specific order to the aglycone; Manipulating the unusual monosaccharides found in the aureolic acid family using the method.

Shows that medical sciences have been consuming a larger share of the academic research and development (R&D) funding since the 1970s according to the United States National Science Foundation. Medical sciences' share of academic R&D funding from 1973 to 1996; Increase in engineering's share from the same period; Chemistry's share from 1990 to 1996.

Focuses on the electronically addressable electrophoretic inks that can be printed on flexible substrates, developed by assistant professor Joseph Jacobson, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Laboratory. Description of the inks; How the ink is applicable; Comments from Russ Wilcox, vice president for business development.

States that there is a need for universities to develop clear and consistent policies for handling postgraduates education. Increase in postdoctoral training; Excerpts from a report by the Association of American Universities; Need for a more defined idea of the career options of post graduates.

Presents information on the antagonism between the United States National Science Foundation (NCF) and Leo A. Paquette, an Ohio State University chemistry professor regarding a misconduct settlement. What both parties agreed to do; Comments from D. Michael Crites, Paquette's attorney; What the NSF Office of Inspector General (OIG) originally sought to do; Actions taken by the NSF in May 1997 relating to the case; Indepth look at what the university's investigations concluded.

Reports on the completion of the total synthesis of an antitumor drug, hydroxymethylacylfulvene (HMAF) by researchers at the University of California, San Diego. Derivation from a family of toxic sesquiterpene natural products called illudins; Use of a dipolar cycloaddition reaction developed by chemistry professor Albert Padwa; Effectiveness of HMAF against tumor.

Reports on the identification of a cationic intermediate in the biosynthesis of squalene by chemistry professor C. Dale Poulter and graduates students at the University of Utah. Role of squalene in the biosynthesis of cholesterol; Action of current drugs for lowering blood cholesterol levels; Description of the reaction mechanism involved.

Reports on the discovery of knotted structure in the polypeptide chain of (S)-adenosylmethionine synthetase (MAT) by researchers Fusao Takusagawa and Shigehiro Kamitori at University of Kansas, Lawrence. Objection on the findings by chemistry professor Kurt Mislow; Distinction of closed and open knots; Question on how proteins fold into knot structures.

Reports on the fire that destroyed a chemistry laboratory at the University of Texas in Austin last October 19, 1996. Adjacent laboratories damaged by smoke and water; Costs for the cleanup and reconstruction; Origin of the fire.

Reports on the result of the research conducted to solve the structure of odorant binding protein (OBP). View of bovine OBP; Description of the OBP structure from cows; Shape of each OBP molecule.