American Chemical Society Orlando Section

Spring 2009 Speaker Series

Date:             Thursday, January 22, 2009

Time:            6:00 PM

Location:     University of Central Florida, National Center for Forensic Science, Partnership 1 Building, Room 102, 12354 Research Parkway, Orlando, FL 32826

Speaker:       Mr. Robert D. Blackledge, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, RFL - retired

Title:             The Floyd Landis Sports Doping Case as Evaluated by a Forensic Analytical Chemist

Abstract:      Floyd Landis, a professional bicycle racer from Murrieta, California, won the 2006 Tour de France. However, not many days after the race's conclusion, the Laboratoire National de Dépistage du Dopage (LNDD) "announced" (actually the information was leaked to the press) that a urine sample obtained from Floyd after stage 17 had been found to be positive for a form of synthetic testosterone. If this finding were to be upheld, Landis would be stripped of his title and also banned from participation in the sport. Landis denied any sports doping and his strategy in fighting these charges has been to try to generate public support and to make all of the documentation of the LNDD tests available to the public. GC/MS is used by LNDD for preliminary sample screening, and carbon stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry is used for final confirmation. From the standpoint of a forensic analytical chemist with experience in forensic laboratory accreditation standards, this presentation will examine the analytical data and correspondence from the Landis case in terms of: chain of custody requirements; World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) guidelines and LNDD SOP; and reasonable standards of good laboratory practice.

Biosketch:      Robert (Bob) D. Blackledge received his BS (chem.) from The Citadel in 1960 and his MS (chem.) from the University of Georgia in 1962. Starting with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Tallahassee Crime Lab in 1971, Bob has worked in forensic science for over thirty years. Stops along the way included eleven years with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory-Europe, back during the Cold War when we had a crime lab in Frankfurt, Germany. Bob’s final stint was as the Senior Chemist with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service Regional Forensic Laboratory-San Diego from 1989 to 2006. The author or co-author of roughly forty journal articles and book chapters, his interests are wide-ranging but his special passion is trace evidence. Reports of his research have been published in the FBI's Law Enforcement Bulletin, the FBI’s Crime Laboratory Digest, the Journal of Forensic Sciences, Science & Justice, Forensic Science International, Forensic Science Review, Microgram Journal, and Analytica Chimica Acta. He is the editor for, Forensic Analysis on the Cutting Edge: New Methods for Trace Evidence Analysis, scheduled to be published by Wiley-Interscience in 2006.

Date:               Monday, February 9, 2009

Time:              3:30 PM

Location:        University of Central Florida, Chemistry Bldg., Room 202, Orlando, FL 32816

Speaker:         Dr. Gary D. Christian, Department of Chemistry, University of Washington

Title:               A Brief History of Analytical Chemistry: From the Beginnings to Modern Analytical Science

Abstract:        The teaching and practice of analytical chemistry reflects the evolution of measurement science over time. Qualitative and quantitative measurements can be traced to pre-biblical times, and have been important throughout the history of humans, and today are key to the functioning of a modern society. The perceived value of gold and silver was the first incentive to acquire analytical knowledge. The chemical balance is recorded in the earliest documents found. I will trace the development of analytical science, presenting some of the pioneers through the eons, up to those who formed the basis for many of our modern techniques, and also early textbook authors and how books evolved. Gravimetry emerged in the 17th century, and titrimetry, along with stoichiometric concepts, in the 18th and 19th centuries. Quantitative analysis textbooks, and hence the teaching of analytical chemistry as a discipline, appeared in the 19th century. The past century saw the development of instrumental techniques, and we now possess incredible capabilities for measurements. Further Reading: 1. F. Szabadvary, History of Analytical Chemistry, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1966. 2. H. A. Laitinen and G. W. Ewing, eds., A History of Analytical Chemistry, American Chemical Society, Division of Analytical Chemistry, Printed by The Maple Press Co., York, Pennsylvania, 1977. 3. H. M. N. H. Irving, in Essays on Analytical Chemistry, W. Wanninen, ed., Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1977, pp. 591-600. 4. G. D. Christian, Evolution and Revolution in Quantitative Analysis, Anal. Chem., 67, 532A (1995). 5. C. A. Lucy, Analytical Chemistry: A Literary Approach, J. Chem. Ed., 77, 459 (2000).

Biosketch:      Gary D. Christian received his B.S. degree in 1959 from the University of Oregon and Ph.D. degree from the University of Maryland in 1964. He was a research analytical chemist at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research from 1961 to 1967. He joined the University of Kentucky in 1967 and in 1972 moved to the University of Washington as Professor of Chemistry. He was Divisional Dean of Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, 1993-2001. He is the author of over 300 papers and has authored books on: Analytical Chemistry (6 editions); Instrumental Analysis (2 editions); Problem Solving in Analytical Chemistry; Quantitative Calculations in Pharmaceutical Practice and Research; Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy; and Trace Analysis. His honors include the ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award for Excellence in Teaching and the ACS Fisher Award in Analytical Chemistry. He was Chairman of the Division of Analytical Chemistry, 1989-90. He has been Editor-in-Chief of Talanta since 1989.

Date:               Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Time:              5:00 PM

Location:        Brevard Community College, Cocoa Campus, TBA

Speaker:         Dr. Donald M. Burland, National Science Foundation - retired

Title:               American Science Policy: How the Sausage is Made

Abstract:        The mechanisms by which the Federal Government supports basic scientific research and education can seem to the outsider to be confusing and untidy. Support is spread over a number of agencies including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health to name only a few. In this presentation, the history of science funding in the U.S. will be outlined, the mechanisms by which funding is authorized and appropriated by Congress described, and the rationale for Government support of basic research detailed.

Biosketch:      Dr. Burland received an A.B. degree from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. degree in chemistry and physics from the California Institute of Technology. After a two year post-doctoral stint at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands, he joined IBM's Research Division where he served in various research and management positions for 26 years. In 1997 he joined the National Science Foundation's Division of Chemistry where he was Executive Officer and Acting Division Director. He has been a Consulting Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at Stanford University and is currently a Visiting Scientist in the Chemistry Department at the University of Virginia. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, has been a member of the National Academy of Science's Chemical Sciences Roundtable and the ACS's International Affairs Committee. His research interests have included charge transport in crystalline and amorphous systems, nonlinear optical properties of polymers and femtosecond laser spectroscopy. He has also directed groups studying the physics and chemistry underlying electrophotographic printing and magnetic storage.

Date:               Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Time:              5:00 PM

Location:        Florida Institute of Technology, Olin Physical Sciences Bldg., Room 140, Melbourne, FL 32901

Speaker:         Dr. Jeffrey I. Zink, Department of Chemistry, University of California at Los Angeles

Title:               Functional Molecular Machines on Nanostructured Materials

Abstract:        Nanostructured silica thin films and nano-particles that serve as the frameworks for functional molecular machines are self-assembled using the sol-gel process. They are templated by surfactant molecules to give arrays of tubes arranged in a 2D-hexagonal pattern with spacing between the pores of ~4 nm and tube diameters of ~2 nm. The first types of machines are nano-impellers based on derivatized azobenzene molecules that move probe molecules through the pores of thin films and particles. In these studies the insides of the pore walls are derivatized with azobenzene molecules. Laser excitation of the azobenzene impellers causes them to move probe molecules out of the pores. The second type of machines is supramolecular nanovalves that open and close the orifices to the pores in silica nanoparticles and release or trap molecules on demand. The moving part is a two-station rotaxane that controls the access to the pores. Operating the nanovalve involves three steps: (i) filling the container, (ii) closing the valve, and (iii) opening the valve to release the contents of the container on demand. Applications involving drug delivery into living cells are also discussed.

Biosketch:      Professor Zink has been a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California in Los Angeles since 1970. He received his B.S. degree in Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin. He came to UCLA after receiving his PhD degree from the University of Illinois under the direction of Russell S. Drago. He is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and a member of the California Nanosystems Institute. He has been an invited guest professor at the University of Paris VI and at the University of Amsterdam, and serves as an ACS tour speaker. He is an authority on triboluminescence, photochemistry and photophysics of metal-containing molecules, and on nanomachines, and has published almost 400 articles. His current research is focused on fundamental spectroscopic investigation of large metal-containing molecules and on design, operation and biological applications of functional nanomaterials including nanomachines such as valves and impellers.

For further information, contact:

Dr. Kevin D. Belfield, 2009 Chair, ACS Orlando Section