Category Archives: Chemistry

ScienceDaily (Feb. 13, 2012) — Swiss scientists have created a minor sensation in synthetic chemistry. The team of scientists from ETH Zurich and Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, succeeded for the first time in producing regularly ordered planar polymers that form a kind of "molecular carpet" on a nanometer scale.

Back in 1920 at ETH Zurich, the chemist Hermann Staudinger postulated the existence of macromolecules consisting of many identical modules strung together like a chain. His concept was initially greeted with mockery and incomprehension from his fellow chemists. But Staudinger was to be proved right (and eventually even awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1953): today the macromolecules described as polymers are known as plastics, and by 1950 one kilogram of them was already being produced per capita worldwide. Today, more than ninety years after Staudinger's discovery about 150 million tons of plastics are manufactured every year -- a gigantic industry delivering products that our daily lives can hardly do without. A research group led by ETH Zurich scientists A. Dieter Schlüter and Junji Sakamoto has now succeeded in making a decisive breakthrough in the synthetic chemistry of polymers: they have for the first time created two-dimensional polymers.

Polymers are formed when small single molecules known as monomers join together by chemical reactions like the links of a chain to form high molecular weight substances. The question remained as to whether polymers can only polymerize linearly, i.e. in one dimension. Although graphene counts as a naturally occurring representative of a two-dimensional polymer -- planar layers of carbon with a honeycomb-like pattern -- it cannot be synthesized in a controlled way. In order to develop a synthetic chemistry that generates two-dimensional molecules the ETH chemists had to first and foremost create oligofunctional monomers in such a way that they join together purely two-dimensionally instead of linearly or even three-dimensionally. Polymers of this kind must have three or more covalent bonds between the regularly repeating units. The scientists had to find out which bonding chemistry and environment was most suitable for producing this kind of "molecular carpet."

Light plus special building blocks equal a "molecular carpet"

They decided to do the synthesis in a single crystal, i.e. a crystal with a homogeneous layer lattice. PhD student Patrick Kissel successfully used this to crystallize special monomers in layered hexagonal single crystals. The monomers he generated are photochemically sensitive molecules, for which such an arrangement is energetically optimum. When irradiated with light with a wavelength of 470 nanometers, the monomers polymerized in all the layers of the crystal. To separate the individual layers from one another the researchers boiled the crystal in a suitable solvent. Each layer represents a two-dimensional polymer.

The fact that the team really had succeeded in producing sheet-like polymers with regular structures was shown by special studies in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) carried out by Empa researcher Rolf Erni and Marta Rossell from ETH Zurich (who meanwhile is also working at Empa's Electron Microscopy Center). "These two-dimensional polymers are extremely sensitive towards irradiation. It's really tricky to not destroy their structure during the TEM measurements, which made the analyses a real tough nut to crack," says Erni. Diffraction experiments at minus 196oC -- the condensation point of nitrogen -- and high-resolution images at a low electron dose allowed the Empa scientists to eventually provide proof that the cross-linked molecules indeed exhibit a regular two-dimensional structure.

Potential application: a molecular sieve

The polymerization method that was developed is so gentle that all the monomer's functional groups are also preserved at defined positions in the polymer. Says Sakamoto, "Our synthetically manufactured polymers are not conductive like graphene, but on the other hand we would be able to use them for example to filter the tiniest molecules." In fact in the regularly arranged polymers there are small defined holes with a diameter in the sub-nanometer range. Moreover, tiny hexagons in the polymers, formed by benzene rings with three ester groups, can be removed by a simple hydrolytic process. This would form a "sieve" with an ordered structure suitable for the selective filtration of molecules.

However, before the researchers can think about practical applications, the task now is to characterize the material's properties. First of all they must find a way to produce larger amounts and even larger sheet sizes. The size of the crystals is currently only 50 micrometers. Sakamoto stresses that "those, however, are already enormous degrees of polymerization at a molecular level."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology), via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Patrick Kissel, Rolf Erni, W. Bernd Schweizer, Marta D. Rossell, Benjamin T. King, Thomas Bauer, Stephan Götzinger, A. Dieter Schlüter, Junji Sakamoto. A two-dimensional polymer prepared by organic synthesis. Nature Chemistry, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1265

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Molecular carpet: Startling results in synthetic chemistry

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ: PACB - News), provider of Single Molecule Real Time (SMRT®) sequencing products, today announced it has released a major upgrade to its PacBio®RS system, referred to as “C2”, including new chemistry, enhanced SMRT Cells and upgraded software, which together provide customers with significant performance increases for DNA sequencing. The company and numerous customers will discuss their progress with the platform through a total of 50 presentations and posters at the 2012 Advances in Genome Biology & Technology (AGBT) meeting this week in Marco Island, Fla.

The PacBio RS is a revolutionary DNA sequencing system that reveals new biological insights by incorporating novel, single molecule sequencing techniques, advanced analytics, and long read lengths. Compared with the C1 versions launched with the system in April 2011, the PacBio C2 chemistry and software provide approximately:

2x increase in average read length; 3-4x improvement in mappable data per SMRT Cell; 50-80% reduction in input DNA required; and Consensus accuracy of Q50 (99.999%) at substantially lower coverage.

“The changes we’ve made with this upgrade enable significant performance increases and lay the foundation for ongoing enhancements to the PacBio RS,” said Mike Hunkapiller, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of Pacific Biosciences. “We’re very proud of how far we’ve come in the nine months since we first released the product commercially, and even more proud of our customers’ achievements, many of which will be highlighted this week at AGBT.”

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and The Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine are among the institutions that had early access to a preliminary version of the new chemistry.

“The Sanger Institute has seen significant improvements in performance compared to C1, enhancing our research projects in the areas of de novo genome assembly, sequencing through repetitive elements, enabling coverage of regions with extreme base composition, and improving genome assemblies,” said Harold Swerdlow, Ph.D., Head of Research and Development at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

Luke Tallon, Scientific Director of the Genomics Resource Center at IGS added: “Early access to the new chemistry has resulted in significantly improved read lengths compared to the original C1 chemistry. These longer reads have enhanced our de novo genome assembly of microbial genomes when combined with short-read data. The longer read lengths have also increased our ability to generate higher-accuracy circular consensus reads.”

The latest generation of SMRT Cells is more robust due to an improved manufacturing process, and the PacBio RS software has been enhanced for improved reliability and greater performance. To date, Pacific Biosciences has developed two whole product solutions that leverage the capabilities of the PacBio RS system to uniquely enable key customer applications: 1) de novo whole genome assembly and 2) targeted sequencing. As an example, the SMRT Analysis software incorporates The Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK) developed by the Broad Institute. This provides a streamlined pipeline for variant analysis for targeted sequencing.

This week’s AGBT conference will feature a total of 35 presentations and posters from PacBio customers, largely highlighting the two key applications for the system. Scientists from PacBio will also present a total of 15 presentations and posters about the technology. Details are available at http://www.pacb.com/agbt2012.

For more information about Pacific Biosciences, please visit http://www.pacb.com. You can also follow the company on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/pacbio.

About Pacific Biosciences, Inc.

Pacific Biosciences’ mission is to transform the way humankind acquires, processes and interprets data from living systems through the design, development and commercialization of innovative tools for biological research. The company has developed a novel approach to studying the synthesis and regulation of DNA, RNA and proteins. Combining recent advances in nanofabrication, biochemistry, molecular biology, surface chemistry and optics, Pacific Biosciences has created a powerful technology platform called single molecule, real-time, or SMRT®, technology. SMRT technology enables real-time analysis of biomolecules with single molecule resolution, which has the potential to transform the understanding of biological systems by providing a window into these systems that has not previously been open for scientific study.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may contain words such as "believe," "may," "estimate," "anticipate," "continue," "intend," "expect," "plan," the negative of these terms, or other similar expressions, and include the assumptions that underlie such statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company’s SMRT technology. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to risks discussed from time to time in documents Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risks identified under the section captioned "Risk Factors" in its recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements are based on estimates, projections and assumptions as of the date hereof. Pacific Biosciences undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

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Pacific Biosciences Releases Next Generation Chemistry and Software for PacBio® RS DNA Sequencing System

Ryan Newman learned an awful lot about chemistry at Purdue. But the kind of chemistry that can make the minute differences between winning and losing a Sprint Cup race? That can't be found in any textbook that Newman owns.

Case in point: Teammate Tony Stewart was so frustrated with his performance heading into the 2011 Chase that he felt undeserving of a spot in it. But with victories at Chicagoland and New Hampshire, suddenly the chemistry between Stewart and crew chief Darian Grubb changed dramatically.

2011 statistics Newman's Chase differential First 26 Chase Wins 1 0 Top-fives 8 1 Top-10s 13 4 Avg. start 11.9 13.2 Avg. finish 13.1 18.4

And Newman is at a loss to explain it.

"If you look at Tony and Darian's relationship before the Chase, during the Chase and after the Chase, you would scratch your hair until you have no hair," Newman said during NASCAR's preseason media tour. "How that worked? I don't know. I don't know that it was supposed to, but it did.

"It's difficult from my perspective, when you have a great relationship with a guy like Tony Gibson, and all of a sudden, our performance falls down during the Chase. And these two guys -- who were struggling -- skyrocketed to the top in the first two races. It was like, 'What are we doing right that's wrong?'"

Newman points to those two races as not only the turning point in Stewart's season, but his own as well. Newman had recorded six top-10 finishes over a nine-race stretch heading into the Chase, and felt like he had as much momentum as any of the championship contenders.

But as much as the light bulb seemed to turn on for Stewart and Grubb, Newman said he and crew chief Gibson quickly found themselves groping in the dark for answers after the first two Chase races.

"I guess some of our struggles in a roundabout way were due to [Stewart's] success," Newman said. "He wins the first race in the Chase [on fuel mileage] after not winning any, and we run out of fuel and finish eighth. We go to the next race, win the pole, lead a bunch of laps and finish [25th], and he wins the race."

"That was the extra weight on our shoulders that kind of squashed us."

After missing the Chase in 2010, making it in 2011 should have left everyone on the No. 39 Chevrolet team with a positive feeling. But watching Stewart win the title -- while himself finishing a distant 10th in the points -- left Newman with mixed feelings.

When you have the opportunity to capitalize on your success and don't close the deal -- especially when your teammate does -- it can leave a bitter aftertaste.

"We definitely failed, from a team standpoint, in those 10 races," Newman said. "Our chemistry dissolved. We have to control that better. That's one of the things we have to fix for 2012, hands down.

"I feel like we've had some opportunities that have gotten away from us. I won't say we've given races away but we should have been in Victory Lane more often than we have been. Those are the things we need to fix.

"Those things go hand in hand," Newman said. "When you can't fix those things and you know that you should -- and are capable of doing it but you haven't -- that makes it really tough to swallow."

The goal for Newman this season is to try to regain that chemistry. But saying it and doing it are two separate things.

"Chemistry, you can't make it happen," Newman said. "It either happens or it doesn't. Going back to 2009, you look at Tony Stewart's first 26 races -- he was the hands-down favorite to win the Chase and he didn't. He clobbered everybody and didn't win. But he has a horrible first 26 [in 2011] and wins. Same guy, same people. There's something there and I don't know what it is."

What it isn't is a rift between Newman and Gibson. If anything, Newman said that relationship only grew stronger from the adversity the two faced at the end of last season.

Newman admitted the final 10 races last year "were a struggle." But he remains committed to making the changes necessary to make the relationship with Gibson work.

"Relationships in general are like marriages," Newman said. "We argue about the simple things that don't matter, because the big things that do matter -- we've already agreed on. That's why we got married. And that's the situation with myself and Tony Gibson.

"I understand that he knows what he's doing as a crew chief. I know what I'm doing as a driver. We understand what our goals are. But it might be the simple things -- the way he works something or the way he describes it in reference to what he's had in the past -- and those are the things, the small humps, you have to get through."

It there was a magic formula for team chemistry -- a list of properties that could guarantee success -- Newman would be the first in line to test the results. Until then, it's more a matter of field study rather than classroom lab work.

"I still say it's chemistry," Newman said. "I don't know, and that's the real thing that's so amazing.

"It'll be interesting to see how the first five, 10 races go with Tony and [his new crew chief, Steve Addington] versus me and Tony. ... Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson can talk about it a different way, and Jeff Gordon and Alan Gustafson can talk about it a different way. It all changes."

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For Newman, good grade in chemistry difficult to maintain

The Chemistry Club, a leading independent group serving the technology sector, has today announced they will run a series of networking master classes. The course is set to launch later this year and has been co-created with leading industry trainers.

London (PRWEB UK) 9 February 2012

The one day Master Classes are aimed at senior executives and will help participants improve their networking skills. Taking the company’s founders own experiences in the networking field and with the help of specialist trainers, the company has created a thorough hands-on programme.

The Chemistry Club aims to cover every aspect of face-to-face networking as well as creating a simulated networking event to help delegates practice their new found skills. The master class will cover a wide range of topics including; learning how to prepare for events, combating nervousness, developing confidence in your ability to connect with people you don’t know, and how to start, sustain and finish conversations. Understanding how to make a lasting impression, how to present information about yourself and improving your self-projection will also be covered.

The master class will cost £1100 + VAT and to ensure all attendees gain maximum value from the programme classes sizes are kept to a minimum. Every individual who attends the class will receive a personal reference toolkit providing comprehensive networking information to refer to after the course.

About The Chemistry Club

The Chemistry Club is a leading group serving the technology sector. The company was established in 1999 and holds a series of special briefings, business-to-business events, executive coaching and networking master classes in the Central London area. The business run by Mark Simon is known for its networking events which have enabled people to meet and share their thoughts and experiences in a neutral environment.

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Ross Hall
FTI Consulting
020 7269 9334
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The Chemistry Club enlist expert trainers for master classes

During the press conference for My Beloved on Tuesday, Director Dominic Zapata shared that although he has worked with Dingdong and Marian separately in the past, it’s his first time to work with them together. He also stated in an interview that the chemistry between Dingdong and Marian, aka DongYan, is really magical. In the Manila Standard article, he shared how honored he is to witness the legendary magic that happens when Dingdong and Marian are together.

Direk Dominic has worked with Marian and Dingdong separately in different projects and related that he feels very fortunate to finally work with the two of them in one show. “I’m honored to witness the legendary magic that happens when Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes share the screen,” he enthused.(source)

That’s definitely one way to put it. Now make sure to witness once again the legendary magic from DongYan in My Beloved which will premiere in the Philippines on Monday after Biritera and before Legacy. Pionoy TV’s premiere is Februaty 14th. check your Channel Guide for time.

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DongYan Chemistry = LEGENDARY MAGIC

Q: Your thoughts on the teams lack of chemistry?  It seems to me that so so-called leader Shabazz is very much like Jerome Dyson was.  That team was pulled apart from within and it appears it is happening with this group.

Paul Ippedio

Saco, Me. (formerly of Manchester)

A: Hi  Paul. This comes up a lot, in fact Kevin Nathan and I talked a lot about chemistry on WTIC SportsTalk on Friday. I didn’t cover the Jerome Dyson teams so I can’t speak to that comparison.

I don’t think this team is being pulled apart from within, though, at least not from what I can see. There are different types of chemistry. One is working together, getting along, etc., and I think this team still has that. The other is the meshing of skill sets, and that’s where I think the problem is. Certain guys do certain things well, others not so well, and it doesn’t quite fit together. For instance, Alex Oriakhi is good at certain things that he may not be able to do with Andre Drummond also on the court. The team likes to run, but guys don’t take and make good shots in transition. Shabazz Napier likes to throw certain types of passes that guys can’t catch. … And so on. It’s a reason, I suppose, we have seen so many different combinations. This type of chemistry is much harder to fix, but it does happen sometimes. At some point things could just click, fall into place, and the chemistry on the court and bench will look a lot different. But 23 games into the season, it’s getting late to expect that to happen. At Syracuse today, we’ll see.

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Mailbag 2/11: What’s With UConn’s ‘Chemistry?’