CINTACS Newsletter of the Cincinnati Section of the  American Chemical Society  Vol. 39, No. 6 - March, 2002

CINTACS is published nine times a year (September through May) by theCincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society. All changes of addressshould be sent to Emel Yakali at Raymond Walters College, 9555 PlainfieldRoad, Cincinnati, OH 45236, phone 745-5686, FAX 745-5767, or email mc.acs@uc.edu.

SUBMISSION DEADLINES

The submission deadline will be approximately March 20, for the May 2002 issue.  Electronic submission is strongly preferred,except for original photos. All materials should be sent to:

Dr. Bruce Ault
Department of Chemistry
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH 45221
Phone: 513-556-9238
FAX: 513-556-9239
E-mail: bruce.ault@uc.edu

Congratulations to James Cox of Miami University who is Cincinnati Chemist of the year!  Beth Reno of Procter and Gamble Co. has been selected Chemical Associate of the year!  Be sure to greet them at the meeting. Thanks to Advanced Testing Laboratory for sponsoring this event!

 We’re going all out at the Phoenix.  Look over the content of the speaker’s topic - it seems to have several “layers” of chemistry - biochemistry, catalysis, and organic, which should provide broad interest.  This will cap off a great feast!  We should all go home stuffed both with food and new chemical knowledge.

 Did you get to the January meeting?  We had a “recent record” of over 160 attendees.  (Bruce Ault and I were reminiscing about some meetings in the 80’s or so when we’d have over 200 members and guests, but that was a while ago.)  Shirley Corriher did great for us!.  She advertised our meeting on WKRC radio as a guest of Marilyn Harris’s cooking show on the January 5 (Saturday) cooking show. (They had planned to be on the January 12 show, the Saturday before our meeting, but the program was pre-empted by a basketball game.)  Besides being a big hit at the meeting, Ms. Corriher gave us a BIG plug on the morning show on WKRC-TV at 7:25 on Friday before she left for her home in Atlanta.

 See you at the meeting @ the Phoenix!

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Featured Speaker

Professor James Cox, Miami University
"Catalytic Systems for the Oxidation of Biochemical Compounds"

Investigations targeted at the development of electrochemical oxidation catalysts that are stable at physiological pH will be summarized. Targeted species include insulin, DNA, and biologically important indoles. We have demonstrated the efficacy and stability of certain ruthenium-containing compounds, especially a metallodendrimer, and of transition metal substituted polyoxometalates; however, immobilizing these catalysts at electrode surfaces is challenging. By exploiting their size and charge, a layer-by-layer adsorption method of modifying metal surfaces with nanostructured multilayers of these catalysts was developed. Also, their entrapment in porous, glasslike solids prepared by sol-gel chemistry has been accomplished. Preliminary results on the role of the pore structure of sol-gels on the pathways of reactions therein will be presented.

About the Speaker

Professor Cox received his B.Chem. degree from the University of Minnesota in 1963 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1967.  After a Postdoctoral appointment at the University of Wisconsin from 1967-1969, he joined the faculty at the University of Southern Illinois-Carbondale where he remained from 1969-1986.  Since 1987, Dr. Cox has been a Professor at Miami University and served as the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department Chairperson from 1987 until 1994.  He served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry from 1996-2001.  He is currently serving as a member of the editorial board of “Electroanalysis.”
 
 
 
 

Program
 

6:00 p.m.	Registration, hors d’ouvre, Mixer (Be sure to congratulate Dr. Cox and Ms. Reno on their awards)
7:00 p.m.	Banquet:  Three course meal starting with Romaine Salad Choice of 10 oz Prime Rib au Jus, or  Breast of Chicken Wellington (with mushroom duxelle en Croute, Marsala Wine Sauce).  Served with Potato, Vegetables, Rolls & Butter, Coffee, Tea, or Decaf.  Dessert: White Chocolate Marble Cheesecake with Raspberry Puree.   $20.00 (Retirees, students, K-12 Teachers ½ price)
8:00 p.m.	2002 Chemist of the Year Lecture - James A. Cox, Miami University Catalytic Systems for the Oxidation of Biochemical Compounds

Reservations: Send your reservations to Robbin Rolfes <rolfes.rl@pg.com>, or if you have difficulty remembering this address, send to <cinacs@greeb.net>. If absolutely impossible to make reservations via the Internet, telephone 513-385-8363. Deadline for reservations is noon Monday, March 11, 2002. (It will save a lot of trouble if you use e-mail, but we don't want to discourage those who like the "olde fashioned" means of making reservations). Include your choice of entrée, your name, affiliation, and state if you're in one of the 1/2-price categories.  As a reminder, if you decide you must miss a meeting after you have made reservations, please e-mail or call to cancel. If you do not cancel, the Section will have to charge you because it will have been charged by the restaurant.

Directions: The Phoenix, 812 Race Street, Downtown

I-75: Take the 7th Street Exit.  Go to Vine and go north on Vine to 9th Street.  Take a left onto 9th.

I-71: Take the Reading Road Exit.  Follow Reading Road past Liberty Street (it then becomes Central Parkway) to Walnut.  Take Walnut south (one way) to 9th.  Then turn right on 9th.

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Beth Reno majored in Chemistry at Wright State University, joining P&G in 1991.   Her present professional affiliations include the American Chemical Society, the International Association of Dental Researchers, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  Beth spent 4 years in organic synthesis before joining the Cleaning / Whitening Team in the Oral Care Technology division.  There, Beth developed an expertise in laboratory methods to clean and bleach teeth, as well as digital imaging methods to measure whitening.  Data on the bleaching kinetics of peroxides on both stained and unstained teeth contributed to the initial technology that is the basis for Crest Whitestrips. In her most recent accomplishment, Beth played a significant role in the development of a new cleaning technology.  She is an inventor on 1 patent, with 2 pending, in the area of Cleaning and Whitening teeth.  Beth also likes to talk about Science with students.  She serves as a Campus Recruiter for P&G, and has talked about Careers in Chemistry to local high school
students through the School-to-Work program.

The Coblentz Society organizes a yearly symposium at Pittcon to honor the recipient of the Williams-Wright Award. This award is presented to outstanding industrial scientists for contributions to the field of vibrational spectroscopy (infrared and Raman). This year's awardee is Dr. Isao Noda of Procter & Gamble.  The symposium consists of lectures delivered by the award winner and four invited speakers. Dr. Noda is responsible for the development and application of dynamic infrared dichroism and two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy. In his presentation, Dr. Noda will describe the evolution of dynamic 2D IR spectroscopy citing many successful applications to the study of polymeric systems.

The symposium was arranged by Hector L. Casal, DHC Analysis, Inc.
 
 

The Retired Engineers and Scientists of Cincinnati continue their monthly luncheon meetings and plant tours.  The upcoming schedule is given below.  Please visit their website  http://RESC-online.org  for more information. Reservations required  - Phone (513) 353-2708.

Luncheon Meeting Schedule - (at Unity Center, 1401 East McMillan St. )

March 19
RESTORING a FROZEN "MY GAL 11:30 AM SAL" B-17 BOMBER

April 16
SOUTH AMERICAN ODYSSEY
11:30 AM

May 21
88 BELLS for OHIO BICENTENNIAL
11:30 AM Quality Central Hotel in Norwood)

Next Plant Tours -  Tours are limited to RESC Members and Member sponsored Guests

March  26
MILACRON - PLASTIC TECNOL GIES GROUP - Batavia,  Ohio

April  23
MAZAK  ( Manufacturer of Machining  Centers ) - Florence, Kentucky

May 16
TOYOTA  AUTO ASSEMBLY

National Chemistry Week 2002 will be the week of October 20th.  The theme this year will be "Cleaning with Chemistry".  If any Cincinnati Section members are interested in volunteering for this year's event, please contact the NCW chair, Gloria Story [story.gm@pg.com or (513) 627-2840].  Volunteers can assist in planning, publicity, or demonstrations at libraries or museums.  Ideas are welcome!

On April 19, Loveland City Schools will be hosting a Science Day.  The purpose of the event is to enhance the science education of the children in our school.  Basically, scientists from the greater Cincinnati area are being invited to our school to spend the day discussing their particular field of expertise.  Our program will begin at 9:00a.m. and end at 2:30pm.  Scientists will be asked to prepare a 15 to 20 minute presentation or demonstration for the children.  Another 5 – 10 minutes will be set aside for the children to ask questions about the session.  A new group of children will rotate through every 30 minutes.  Obviously, the speaker would repeat the same presentation with each group of children throughout the day.  This program will target grades 1-4 and will include approximately 1200 students.

PTA will provide a support volunteer to assist each speaker throughout the day.  Also, a classroom teacher will be present at each session.  Corporations that desire to put a poster in the school lobby displaying their company logo will be allowed to do so for Science Day.

If you have additional questions or need further clarification about Science Day, please contact me at LSAND@CINCI.RR.COM, or you may call me at my home 583-1152.   We certainly appreciate your interest in our Science Day program and hope that you will be able to participate.  The scientific skills that you have available would certainly enhance the success of our program.

Thank you for your interest.

Linda Sand
PTA Vice-President, Loveland Primary School

The "Sloan Career Cornerstone Series" is now available to high schools, universities, career centers, associations, and corporations for $50 instead of the list price of $350. The series includes sets of nine career focused CD-ROMs or nine videotapes that were developed with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in a partnership between: American Chemical Society, American Geological Institute, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Institute of Physics, American Mathematical Society, American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Mathematical Association of America, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society.

The nine topics include career paths available to chemists, chemical engineers, civil engineers, electrical engineers and computer scientists, geoscientists, materials science and engineering professionals, mathematicians, mechanical engineers, and physicists. Videotapes are each between 25 and 64 minutes in length, and CD-ROMs include extensive careers, salary, and careers profile databases plus Internet links. For more information, or to purchase at the discount level, visit:  http://www.careercornerstone.org.

Edlyn Simmons
Chair, Chemical Information Discussion Group

Does it seem to you that chemistry librarians have gotten smarter than they were 10 years ago?  If it does, the reason may be that your librarian has joined an international community of chemical information specialists who communicate through the electronic mailing list called CHMINF-L.

This electronic discussion list was established in April, 1991, by Gary Wiggins at Indiana University.  At that time, most Internet users were at universities, and most of the early list members were academic chemistry librarians.  There were about 30 postings during the first month of operations, but the scope of information exchanged on the list was established for the future.  By the end of 2001, the list had over 1200 members located at companies, schools and government agencies around the world; over 170 messages are posted in a typical month.  Sponsorship of the list is now shared by the Chemical Information Division of the ACS and the Chemistry Division of the Special Libraries Association, while the list and its archive continue to be hosted by Indiana University.

What do information specialists and chemistry librarians talk about on CHMINF-L?  Some topics are of interest to any chemist who uses information.  There are announcements of new websites and databases and discussions of the strengths and weaknesses of existing databases.  There are vigorous debates about the cost of information, especially the cost of subscriptions to journals produced by commercial publishers as opposed to the publication divisions of professional societies like ACS.  Information services use CHMINF-L to announce changes and improvements in their services.  This the first place you're likely to see the press releases announcing new features in Chemical Abstracts products and services.  Some topics are chiefly of interest to librarians, although users of libraries might by interested in them.  If you've ever seen the first volumes of a new journal bound with an established journal, you might be interested in the discussion of stealth journal introductions.

But if you think your librarian has gotten smarter, it's probably because the list acts as a virtual reference desk.  In fact, the IU Cheminfo website introduces CHMINF-L as " A virtual reference desk, staffed with some of the world's most knowledgeable people."  List members submit requests for reference information, asking questions like "where can  I find solubility data for LiF in organic solvents?" or "what is the proper way to cite a reference to a website?" or "where can I find a collection of experiments to use for Chemistry Week demonstrations?"    Many librarians post the questions they've been unable to answer for their clients: non-librarian list members simply post their questions and wait for an answer.  Replies are almost instantaneous.  Librarians provide the names of the best reference books, recommend sources for obscure information, even provide the actual data the requestor has asked for.  Not infrequently, the answers come from the editors of the reference books themselves.  Questions about sources for obscure publications are often answered by offers of copies of the elusive document.

If you're interested in becoming a member of CHMINF-L, you can find information about joining at http://www.indiana.edu/~cheminfo/.  If you're interested in learning more about the topics discussed on the list, ask your chemistry librarian or information specialist.  Or watch this space.

Footnote:

This year, the Chemical Information Discussion Group is offering hints and updates on chemical information resources available to most chemists and techniques for using them.  Contributions from any ACS member are welcome, and so are requests for information you'd like to see in a future column.  If you have any comments, suggestions, or contributions, please email them to simmons.es@pg.com

On Wednesday, March 6th, the Chemical Educators’ Discussion Group is invited to the turn-of-the-century classroom of Dr. William Jensen at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Jensen will share the history of the chemical apparatus on display and anecdotes on chemical history. He will also take us on a tour of the rare science book collection. Consider this meeting a pre-Spring Break treat to yourself. Bring along a colleague for added fun. The meeting begins at 6:30 PM with light refreshments and announcements. The program begins at 7 PM and should conclude by 9 PM. We will meet on the fifth floor of Rieveschl Hall, in room 518 Rieveschl. There is a parking garage directly under the building. You will be charged approximately $3 to park. On-street parking is available but limited due to evening school classes. Please RSVP to Linda Ford (linda.ford@7hills.org) by March 4th.

Directions: You are heading for the main campus of UC. From I-75, take the Hopple St. exit, turn left, and proceed up the hill toward campus. Hopple St. turns into Martin Luther King Drive. When you get to the top of the hill, turn right onto Clifton Avenue and then make a quick left onto College Court. This short drive will take you straight into the parking garage. From I-71, take the Taft Road exit and travel west toward campus. When you cross Vine Street, Taft Road becomes Calhoun Street. Stay on Calhoun until it dead ends into Clifton Avenue. Turn right onto Clifton and travel a short distance past several university buildings until you get to College Court. Turn right and travel back the drive to the parking garage. College Court is nestled between the DAAP building and Wilson Auditorium.

On January 30th a small number of teachers gathered at St. Ursula Academy where Joy Henderson presented her unit on nuclear chemistry. Because of the low attendance, Joy is graciously offering to send the packet to interested teachers. It guides students through a web-based learning experience that explores the chemistry of nuclear reactions, their applications, and the economic, political and societal issues surrounding nuclear energy. The unit is broken into three sections; the entire unit would probably require 3 to 4 weeks of class time. Joy has spent considerable time and effort to locate excellent Internet resources and do organize the material into an intelligent sequence. To receive the packet, e-mail Joy at henderso@one.net. To view the project go to her website at http://www.saintursula.org/library/projects/Henderson/Henderson0100.htm.

Beginning in 2002, the national meeting Technical Program will now be mailed as a supplement to Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN), as opposed to being included into the issue. This technical program will be the same program available onsite at national meetings. For the most up-to-date information, go to the official version of the national meeting technical program on the Web, http://chemistry.org/meeting

The Green Chemistry Institute is accepting applications for the 2002 Joseph Breen Memorial Fellowship. Established by the Green Chemistry Institute and ACS in 2000, the fellowship is awarded annually to commemorate Joe Breen's commitment to the advancement of Green Chemistry.

 The 2002 award will finance the travel and expenses of a young international Green Chemistry scholar to attend the Green Chemistry Gordon Research Conference in Oxford, UK, September 8-13, 2002.

 To be eligible for the fellowship, a person must be a "young" scholar (at least an undergraduate student and below the level of Assistant Professor) and have a demonstrated research or educational  interest in Green Chemistry. Scholars should be prepared to give a presentation or poster on their interest area.

 The application deadline for the 2002 Joseph Breen Memorial Fellowship is May 10, 2002. To apply, persons should send a letter expressing their interest in Green Chemistry, experience in the field of Green Chemistry and any special connections to the work or teachings of Joe Breen (one page maximum); and a resume to:

Dr. Mary M. Kirchhoff
Green Chemistry Institute
American Chemical Society
1155 Sixteenth Street N.W.
Othmer Suite 330
Washington, DC  20036
202-872-4562 (phone)
202-872-6206 (fax)
e-mail:  m_kirchhoff@acs.org

Calling All Chemists-Senior Professionals and Graduate Students-to apply for one of the two American Chemical Society Congressional Fellowships and a Science Policy Fellowship.

· Work in the Congress or ACS using your scientific andtechnical expertise.
· Gain first-hand knowledge of the government and contribute to decision-making.

 The application deadline is January 10, 2003. For a brochure contact: ACS Office of Society Services, 1155 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036; Phone: 1-800-227-5558

E-mail: congfellow@acs.org

Information on the Internet at http://chemistry.org/government

Undergraduate Programming at the ACS National Meetings will celebrate its 10th anniversary and the Student Affiliates Program will celebrate its 65th at the 223rd ACS National Meeting in Orlando. On Sunday, April 7 from 8-11 p.m., a special Anniversary Reception/Poster Session will be held in honor of the two anniversaries.  Members of the SOCED Task Force on Undergraduate Programming at National Meetings will present posters on previous meetings, and student affiliates chapters will present posters on the history of either their chapter or their chapter's attendance at national meetings.

The Anniversary Reception will also include dancing and refreshments, and will be held immediately following the always rousing Student Affiliates Chapter Awards Ceremony. Both events will be held at the Orange County Convention Center. Other events planned for undergraduates at the Orlando meeting include symposia on forensic science and the chemistry of water at Walt Disney World, the Undergradaute Research Poster Session, and the ACS Corporation Associates Reception for Undergraduates.  Check out the entire Orlando Undergraduate Program on the Web at http://chemistry.org/meetings.

The Cincinnati Section–ACS is pleased to offer…

Master the fundamentals of laboratory data treatment.  This widely acclaimed 2-day ACS course is being offered at a substantial discount to what you would pay at Pittcon or ACS National Meeting (compare to $995/$1095).

Fees (includes 2-day course, all materials, lunches, refreshment breaks)
ACS Members: $650 Non-members:  $750

Register Early!!  Course seating is limited to the first 35 people. You may register by e-mail to white.dr.2@pg.com or by telephone (513) 634-5500.  Please indicate your name, Company name, telephone no. and whether you are an ACS member or non-member. Please notify us of any need to cancel by Fri., March 22.

All registrations must be prepaid by check or money order and made payable to Cincinnati Section-ACS  (Sorry, purchase orders and credit cards cannot be accepted). Payment deadline is Tuesday, April 9.  Please send your check or money order to the attention of:

Michael Clager
The Procter & Gamble Company,  Box 507
5299 Spring Grove Ave.,   Cincinnati, OH 45217

Program Agenda
Check-in will begin at 8:10 a.m. the first day.  The course will be taught from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day.  If you have technical questions about the course content, please contact Dr. Deming at (713) 947-1551 or at stan@statisticaldesigns.com.

Who Should Attend
Scientists, engineers, technicians, laboratory managers, R&D managers, manufacturing and production managers, and others who need to understand traditional and modern methods of data analysis.  This course assumes no previous knowledge of statistics and is aimed at both beginning and experienced workers.  Each participant should bring a hand-held calculator.

Key Topics You'll Learn About
* How to understand the strengths and weaknesses of data
* Ways to carry out significance tests
* Ways of defining the limits of detection, determination, and quantification
* How to know what statistical test to use when
* How to understand the influence of sample size on statistical significance and power
* Why pooling variances gives stability to analytical results
* How to correctly use outlier tests and when not to use them
* How to design calibration experiments and judge the adequacy of calibration results
* How to set in-house specifications
* How to apply statistical process control charts and measurement processes

About the Instructors
Stanley N. Deming is Professor Emeritus of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Houston and the President of Statistical Designs.  Stephen L. Morgan is Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the University of South Carolina. Together they have taught more than 400 highly-rated short courses in experimental design, optimization, statistical methods of data treatment, and analytical chemical methods development.

Formatted and uploaded January 28, 2002, by acs@www.che.uc.edu