Category Archives: Chemistry

We realise that gold means only one thing to most people at the moment (and believe you me Chemistry World towers has been as gripped by the Olympics as everyone else) but we also need to congratulate the University of Edinburgh’s school of chemistry for getting a gold Athena SWAN Charter award. That’s the UK’s top accolade for good practice in recruiting, retaining and promoting women in science, engineering, technology, maths and medicine in higher education. Only two departments in the country have been judged to be gold standard: Edinburgh’s chemistry department and the University of York’s chemistry department (yay chemistry, etc).

This is especially relevant as Lesley Yellowlees, of the University of Edinburgh, begins her term as RSC President, pledging to identify and remove the barriers that prevent women from staying in chemistry. Hopefully more chemistry departments (as well as those in other disciplines) can rise up the ranks. And then, maybe one day, these sorts of awards won’t be needed at all.

Laura Howes

                  

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http://prospect.rsc.org/blogs/cw/?feed=rss2

The journey began with a brief, euphoric rush down Thunder Road. Then came a wreck on the highway, testing the Angels' spirit in the night.

Is this season a brilliant disguise? Or can the Angels start to prove it all night, no surrender, and show that better days -- perhaps even the Promised Land -- lie ahead?

At trying times such as these, Mike Scioscia and Jerry Dipoto surely would agree that a heavy dose of Bruce Springsteen can't hurt.

Scioscia, the manager, and Dipoto, the general manager, grew up in Springsteen country as serious fans of the king of Jersey rock. They know that it's time for the Angels to roll up their sleeves, Bruce style, and go to work, starting with the Mariners on Friday night, opening a three-game series and 10-game Angel Stadium homestand.

A 4-6 journey through North Texas, Chicago and Oakland dimmed the strong vibes that had been building. Particularly harmful were back-to-back losses to the Rangers in triple-digit heat, rocking the Angels at a time when they were sensing the opportunity to seize control of the American League West.

They went on to drop two of three against the White Sox, undone by physical and mental errors, and two of three against the A's, who suddenly turned into Murderers' Row. Two impressive wins in Texas followed by six losses in eight games.

It is baffling the best of minds. Persuasive arguments can be made that the Angels employ baseball's best player (Mike Trout), best pitcher (Jered Weaver), most feared hitter (Albert Pujols), strongest slugger (Mark Trumbo), best leader (Torii Hunter) and most respected manager (Scioscia) among his peers.

With this stockpile of weapons and assets, why in the world, fans wonder, are they chasing not only the two-time defending AL champion Rangers, but also the A's, who were projected to lose many more games than they'd win?

Consistency is the Angels' big issue. There have been dominant stretches accompanied by slumps and underachievement.

While they still own the league's best record (53-39) since the April 28 arrival of Trout, they've been spinning their wheels since the Rangers stalled all their momentum on Aug. 1, coming back twice late for an 11-10 victory followed by a 15-9 thumping to earn a series split.

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Chemistry could be key to Angels' lofty aspirations

CHICAGO -- White Sox players have frequently talked about the special bond running throughout this clubhouse back to the start of the 2012 season. So in this particular instance, the team winning might have only enhanced that tight-knit chemistry already in place.

"It has to have a combination," manager Robin Ventura said of the chemistry debate. "Anyone who is in first place or near the top talks about how great it is in the clubhouse. But winning usually does that. I've been on teams that were very bad that had a good chemistry and in the end, it didn't work so well. Guys got along and it was fine. Winning just kind of promotes that."

"You're in first place. First place is where your good chemistry is," third baseman Kevin Youkilis said. "I've been on teams where there have been a few things and we won a World Series. The biggest thing is when you're winning games and in first place, chemistry is highlighted a lot more so hopefully we can have great chemistry the rest of the way."

More important than the chemistry factor is the White Sox maintaining the same singular focus from Spring Training moving forward. Take one game at a time and hope all of those good daily efforts add up to a playoff berth by the time October rolls around.

"When you feel like you are playing to accomplish your goal and that goal is to play in the playoffs, it's fun to come here and try to win every night," said right fielder Alex Rios, who has never played in the postseason. "You have a purpose for coming to the field. It has been one of the most fun seasons I have had."

CHICAGO -- For a brief period on Wednesday morning, manager Robin Ventura and his staff tried to put together a starting lineup to face the Royals in their series finale loss without Alejandro De Aza, Kevin Youkilis, Paul Konerko and Alex Rios.

"It was creative," said Ventura with a smile. "It was a fun morning."

Ventura never had to make public that lineup card, as Youkilis and De Aza came to U.S. Cellular Field ready for action. Youkilis was scratched from Tuesday's contest with a sore right knee, while De Aza missed the first two games of the series with back stiffness.

But Rios and Konerko were sidelined, giving them two days of inactivity thanks to Thursday's scheduled off-day. Ventura announced postgame on Wednesday that Konerko sustained a mild concussion in the seventh inning of Tuesday's loss, when Jarrod Dyson's left elbow connected with the right side of Konerko's head as Dyson beat out an infield hit. Rios was absent due to back stiffness.

"This has been going on for a few days, but [Tuesday], it got stiffer," Rios said. "I don't think it's something that's going to keep me out of that lineup for more than a day or so. I'll be fine."

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Which came first: chemistry or winning?

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2z77rz/bioisosteres_in_me) has announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd's new book "Bioisosteres in Medicinal Chemistry. Methods and Principles in Medicinal Chemistry" to their offering.

Written with the practicing medicinal chemist in mind, this is the first modern handbook to systematically address the topic of bioisosterism. As such, it provides a ready reference on the principles and methods of bioisosteric replacement as a key tool in preclinical drug development.

The first part provides an overview of bioisosterism, classical bioisosteres and typical molecular interactions that need to be considered, while the second part describes a number of molecular databases as sources of bioisosteric identification and rationalization. The third part covers the four key methodologies for bioisostere identification and replacement: physicochemical properties, topology, shape, and overlays of protein-ligand crystal structures. In the final part, several real-world examples of bioisosterism in drug discovery projects are discussed.

With its detailed descriptions of databases, methods and real-life case studies, this is tailor-made for busy industrial researchers with little time for reading, while remaining easily accessible to novice drug developers due to its systematic structure and introductory section.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2z77rz/bioisosteres_in_me

Source: John Wiley and Sons Ltd

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Research and Markets: Bioisosteres in Medicinal Chemistry. Methods and Principles in Medicinal Chemistry

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/sjpm9h/discovering_chemis) has announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd's new book "Discovering Chemistry With Natural Bond Orbitals" to their offering.

This book explores chemical bonds, their intrinsic energies, and the corresponding dissociation energies which are relevant in reactivity problems. It offers the first book on conceptual quantum chemistry, a key area for understanding chemical principles and predicting chemical properties. It presents NBO mathematical algorithms embedded in a well-tested and widely used computer program (currently, NBO 5.9). While encouraging a "look under the hood" (Appendix A), this book mainly enables students to gain proficiency in using the NBO program to re-express complex wavefunctions in terms of intuitive chemical concepts and orbital imagery.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Getting Started

2 Electrons in Atoms

3 Atoms in Molecules

4 Hybrids and Bonds in Molecules

5 Resonance Delocalization Corrections

6 Steric and Electrostatic Effects

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Research and Markets: Discovering Chemistry With Natural Bond Orbitals

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/w7vgdb/the_plasma_chemist) has announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd's new book "The Plasma Chemistry of Polymer Surfaces" to their offering.

More than 99% of all visible matter in the universe occurs as highly ionized gas plasma with high energy content. Electrical low- and atmospheric-pressure plasmas are characterized by continuous source of moderate quantities of energy or enthalpy transferred predominantly as kinetic energy of electrons. Therefore, such energetically unbalanced plasmas have low gas temperature but produce sufficient energy for inelastic collisions with atoms and molecules in the gas phase, thus producing reactive species and photons, which are able to initiate all types of polymerizations or activate any surface of low reactive polymers. However, the broadly distributed energies in the plasma exceed partially the binding energies in polymers, thus initiating very often unselective reactions and polymer degradation. The intention of this book is to present new plasma processes and new plasma reactions of high selectivity and high yield.

This book aims to bridge classical and plasma chemistry, particularly focusing on polymer chemistry in the bulk and on the surface under plasma exposure. The stability of surface functionalization and the qualitative and quantitative measurement of functional groups at polymer surface are featured prominently, and chemical pathways for suppressing the undesirable side effects of plasma exposure are proposed and illustrated with numerous examples. Special attention is paid to the smooth transition from inanimate polymer surfaces to modified bioactive polymer surfaces. A wide range of techniques, plasma types and applications are demonstrated.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Introduction

2 Interaction between Plasma and Polymers

3 Plasma

4 Chemistry and Energetics in Classic and Plasma Processes

5 Kinetics of Polymer Surface Modification

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Research and Markets: The Plasma Chemistry of Polymer Surfaces