Monthly Meetings for 2002 - 2003
January 2003 - May 2003

CSW 1039^th Meeting
Thursday, May 8, 2003

Holiday Inn Ballston
4610 North Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203

May Dinner Speaker
Dr. Mary Kirchhoff

Dr. Mary Kirchhoff is Assistant Director of the Green Chemistry Institute at the American Chemical Society. She received her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of New Hampshire and joined the Chemistry Department at Trinity College in Washington, DC following graduation. Mary spent nine years at Trinity College, where she served as Chair of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Chair of the Chemistry Department. She became involved with green chemistry when she received an AAAS Environmental Fellowship to work with the U.S. EPA's green chemistry program. Mary helped coordinate the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Program while an AAAS Fellow and Visiting Scientist at EPA. She is a co-author with Paul Anastas and Paul Bickart on Designing Safer Polymers, and co-editor with Mary Ann Ryan on the recently published Greener Approaches to Undergraduate Chemistry Experiments.

Abstract

Green Chemistry: Principles, Practice, and Economics
Mary Kirchhoff, Ph.D.

Green chemistry, the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances, is the most fundamental approach to pollution prevention. Green chemistry addresses the need to produce the goods and services that society depends on in a more environmentally benign manner. Life-saving pharmaceuticals can be produced while minimizing the amount of waste generated, plastics that biodegrade can be synthesized from plants, and reactions can be run in water rather than in traditional organic solvents by applying green chemistry principles to chemical products and processes. The implementation of green chemistry technologies has eliminated waste, improved safety, enhanced security, and saved industry money. This presentation will introduce the principles of green chemistry, provide industrial and academic examples of greener technologies, and highlight the economic benefits of adopting environmentally friendly processes.

College Students to Present Posters at May Dinner Meeting

CSW, under an ACS Mini-grant received by CSW in 2002, is sponsoring presentation of three poster papers by college chemistry students at the June 2003 Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting (MARM) in Princeton, NJ. All three students are at American University, and were selected by their respective research advisors, Drs. Monika Konaklieva and James Girard. They will each be awarded up to $500 for travel to MARM 2003. The May CSW dinner meeting at the Holiday Inn Ballston will include the presentation of the three poster papers during the reception period.

The papers and authors are:

1038th CSW Meeting
Thursday, April 10, 2003

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Recreation Center, Good Luck Road Gate
Greenbelt, MD 20771

April Dinner Speaker
Dr. Marla Moore

Dr. Marla Moore is leader of the Cosmic Ice Lab at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. Although her training is in physics and astronomy, she now specializes in infrared spectroscopy in the relatively new field of astrochemistry. Her long time fascination with the effects of space environments on cosmic materials led her to pursue her Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Maryland. Under the tutelage of Professors Mike Ahearn (astronomy), Raj Khanna (chemistry), and Dr. Bertran Donn (astronomy, GSFC) she investigated the effects of cosmic ray protons on cometary-type ices. After completing her degree she was awarded a NRC Postdoctoral Associateship in the Astrochemistry Branch at NASA Goddard where she examined molecular synthesis in irradiated ices relevant to Jupiter's satellite, Io. She developed techniques required to prepare and study laboratory analogs of interstellar, cometary, and a variety of planetary ices using spectroscopic methods. The Cosmic Ice Lab now has two cryogenic systems with spectrometers on dedicated beam lines at the Van de Graaff facility. This lab is unique in the world and has hosted several postdoctoral students, summer faculty, and summer students.

The laboratory web page is at: http://www-691.gsfc.nasa.gov/~ice/LabPage/webice.htm
where you can also see a list of some of her publications.

Abstract
"Ice Chemistry in Space: Observations and Laboratory Studies"
Marla Moore, Ph.D.

Ices are known to exist in many regions of the universe: in cold interstellar dark clouds, comets, rings, the surfaces of the outer planets and satellites. Because these ices are subjected to radiation processing by kev-Mev ions and UV photons, their chemical and physical properties evolve over time. A review of known cosmic ices and some of the evidence for chemical changes will be presented. This will be based on observations from both ground and space based IR data. We use a laboratory approach to investigate radiolytic and photolytic changes in relevant icy mixtures. Radiolysis and photolysis destroys reactant molecules, synthesizes new molecules, causes phase changes in pure ices, and ejects molecules from the ice. A few recent experiments on some of the most important Solar system and interstellar ice molecules such as H₂O, CO, CO₂, N₂, and some hydrocarbons will be included. General reaction types such as acid-base, radical-radical combination, and H-atom addition are used to account for our observations. Some interesting applications and predictions will be included, such as the recent discovery of H₂O₂ on the surface of Europa, and our laboratory synthesis of H₂CO₃ and CH₂CHOH.

March 2003 Dinner Meeting of the
Chemical Society of Washington

CSW 1037^th Dinner Meeting
Thursday, March 13, 2003
Pier Seven Restaurant
650 Water Street, SW
Washington, DC 20024

2002 Hillebrand Prize Winner

Dr. Russell J. Hemley

Russell J. Hemley's research explores the chemistry of materials over a broad range of thermodynamic conditions from low to very high pressures. He began his research career in molecular spectroscopy and electronic structure theory. An interest in the effects of high pressures on materials led him to the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. There he began to apply and extend chemical physics techniques in high-pressure diamond anvil cell experiments. Since then, his research program has expanded to include high-pressure experimental and theoretical studies in condensed matter physics, earth and planetary science, and materials science. Some of his accomplishments include the discovery of new phenomena in dense hydrogen at megabar pressures; observations of unusual transformations in molecular materials and novel high-pressure molecular compounds; the creation of new superconductors, magnetic structures, glasses, and superhard materials under pressure. He is also involved in the continued development of high-pressure techniques, including optical methods, synchrotron radiation for diffraction and spectroscopy, and transport measurements.

Russell J. Hemley grew up in California, Colorado, and Utah, and attended Wesleyan University, where he studied chemistry and philosophy (B.A., 1977). He did his graduate work in physical chemistry at Harvard University (M.A., 1980; Ph.D. 1983). After a post-doctoral fellowship in theoretical chemistry at Harvard (1983-84), he joined the Geophysical Laboratory as a Carnegie Fellow (1984-86) and Research Associate (1986-87), and became a Staff Scientist in 1987. He has been a visiting Professor at the Johns Hopkins University (1991-92) and at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Lyon (1996). He is the recipient of the 1990 Mineralogical Society of America Award, and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2001. He has published approximately 320 scientific articles and has edited four books.

Abstract

The New Chemistry of Materials Under Pressure

Russell J. Hemley, Ph.D.

Historically, chemistry has fully utilized only two of its three fundamental tools -- the variables of composition and temperature. Pressure, the third principal thermodynamic variable, is in many ways the most remarkable, as it spans some 60 orders of magnitude in the universe. Yet, until recently its use in the laboratory has been quite restricted. With recent advances in techniques to generate very high pressures, materials can be subjected to, and observed at, millions of atmospheres pressures. Materials can also be heated to thousands of degrees or cooled to millikelvin temperatures while at these extreme pressures, and examined using a wide variety of new techniques including intense laser, synchrotron x-ray, and spallation neutron methods.

These experiments reveal a "brave, new world" of chemistry under extreme pressures. The field is providing fertile ground for the formation of new materials, greatly expanding the number of known substances. More significantly, entirely new classes of materials are appearing. New forms of common and putatively simple substances such as hydrogen, nitrogen, and water (and their mixtures) occur when compressed. Other gases and liquids are not only solidified under pressures but can be turned into metals and even superconductors. Both the highest temperature superconductivity on record (164° K) and new kinds of superconductors have been produced. Chemical bonds and affinities of otherwise familiar elements and compounds are totally changed. "Inert" gases form compounds; normally unreactive metals form new alloys. The common silicate and oxide minerals found near the Earth's surface transform to dense, strong ceramic substances that are now believed to make up the bulk of our planet. Even at more modest pressures of several thousand atmospheres, strong effects on organic and biochemical reactions are observed. In effect, the variable of pressure is adding a new dimension to the venerable Periodic Table. The implications span the physical and even biological sciences.

Biography of Dr. James E. Girard

Dr. James E. Girard is professor and chairman of chemistry and has been a faculty member at the American University since 1979. Prior to coming to American University, he was employed at General Electric's Corporate Research and Development Laboratory in Schenectady, NY. He began his teaching career at the College of the Holy Cross. He is the co-author of the college textbook entitled Chemistry Fundamentals: An Environmental Perspective.

Professor Girard is an analytical chemist. He has received more than $3 million in research and training grants while at AU. He has published over 60 articles on the methods and techniques used to separate complex mixtures, and he has developed methods for the analysis of environmental pollutants in soil and water, the amount of neurotransmitter present in human serum, the concentration of disinfectants in hospital sterilants, and the separation of genetic material from DNA.

Professor Girard is the recipient of various awards for excellence in teaching and scholarship. He was the 1995 recipient of the Leo Schubert Award for Outstanding Teaching at the College Level from the Washington Academy of Sciences. In addition, Professor Girard has received awards for outstanding teaching and distinguished scientific work from American University.

Abstract

"Chemical Warfare Research at the American University 1915-1920
Or As and Old AU"
James E. Girard, Ph.D.

During World War I, the US Department of Defense entered into an agreement with the American University creating the American University Experimental Station for munitions development and testing. In response to the German army's deployment of chemical warfare agents, the American Chemical Corps, positioned at the new experimental station, came into existence so that more could be learned about these dreadful weapons. The historical significance of the chemical research performed at this station on Lewisite and the current environmental dilemma left as its arsenic legacy will be recounted.

Biography of Dr. Joseph M. Betz

Dr. Betz joined the Office of Dietary Supplements as Director of the newly formed Dietary Supplements Methods and Reference Materials Program in December of 2001. In this role, he oversees efforts to enhance and stimulate research and training in fields relevant to dietary supplements at the NIH and to promote development of validated analytical methods and reference materials for use by industry, regulatory agencies, and clinical researchers.

Prior to his current appointment Dr. Betz spent 12 years as a research chemist in the Division of Natural Products at FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. This was followed by two years as Vice President for Scientific and Technical Affairs at the American Herbal Products Association.

Dr. Betz is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacognosy (1988) under the tutelage of Dr. Ara Der Marderosian at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (now the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia). His research interests lie in the areas of toxic natural products, plant derived foods which may prevent chronic disease, and in analytical methods for determination of botanical quality. He has been a principal investigator in the National Cancer Institute's Designer Foods Program as well as Project Manager for FDA's "Plant Toxins" and "Chemical, Biological, and Toxicological Characterization of Food Plants" research programs. He has served as AOACI General Referee for Botanical Supplements and as FDA's representative to the United States Pharmacopeia's Subcommittee on Natural Products. He was elected to USP's Committee of Experts (Nomenclature) for the years 2000-2005. He is a member of the American Society of Pharmacognosy, the American Chemical Society, AOAC International, and the Society for Economic Botany.

Abstract
"Standardization, Marker Compounds, and the Evolving Science of Herbs"

Quality of herbal products is one of the biggest question marks facing consumers and clinical researchers. Standardization has been touted as the answer to the quality question, but relatively few people in the U.S. know what the term means and how it relates to product quality.

When done properly, standardization is a seed to shelf process that ensures lot-to-lot consistency of botanical products. The process begins with careful control of raw material sources and continues throughout the manufacturing process. It includes selection of phenotype/cultivar, in process controls (method of drying, preparation of extract, storage of herb and finished product, monitoring extraction, formulation, encapsulating, etc.), finished product evaluation, and stability testing. The purpose of the process is to minimize batch-to batch variation caused by seasonal variations (stressors), intra-specific variation (chemotype, etc) and other factors. For certain ingredients/products, monitoring marker compounds provides a positive control for production and allows confirmation that the product contains the correct amount of extract. Manipulation of marker compounds (one or more constituents that occur naturally in the plant) ensures batch-to-batch consistency but not necessarily quality of a finished product. This approach to ensuring product consistency is heavily dependent on knowledge of the chemistry of the botanical ingredient. Using this knowledge for routine quality control requires rugged, reliable analytical methods.

In 2002, the U.S. Congress recognized that the public health would be well served if more analytical tools were available to regulatory agencies, researchers, and the supplement industry. The result was a directive to the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institutes of Health "to allocate sufficient funds to speed up an ongoing collaborative effort to develop and disseminate validated analytical methods and reference materials for the most commonly used botanicals and other dietary supplements." This talk will introduce to the audience some of the principles of botanical standardization and will also provide a brief overview of the new ODS program on analytical methods and reference materials for dietary supplements.

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