Volume 37, Issue 1

If at this point you are still looking for a New Year’s resolution, you may find inspiration in Natalia Tarasova’ s feature focusing on where and how chemistry can meet the world’s needs. (see page 4) The key topics underlined by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the recent focus on their delivery by 2030 provide a renewed momentum for scientific communities to set well-focused targets. As Tarasova points out, “Chemistry and chemical technology might be considered as a means to achieve these strategic goals.”

With the recent selection of our new Acting Secretary General, Colin Humphris, and the hiring of our new Executive Director, Lynn Soby, IUPAC’s organization and infrastructure are functioning well. Efforts are under way to streamline our processes, to enhance our financial position, to improve our publications and web site, and to develop new and improved projects and programs. As a result, we now have an opportunity to focus more on contacts with our adhering organizations, individual scientists, and other bodies.

“The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) serves to advance the worldwide aspects of the chemical sciences and to contribute to the application of chemistry in the service of Humankind. As a scientific, international, non-governmental and objective body, IUPAC can address many global issues involving the chemical sciences.” These words meet the visitors of the Union website. If IUPAC wants to be visible outside the community of chemists and really intends to help meeting the world’s needs, a broad picture of these needs is to be understood by all. A short overview of the “state-of-art” in this field is given below.

Access to energy is a fundamental component of poverty abatement. People who live in homes without electricity are often dependent on dirty, time-consuming and disproportionately expensive solid fuel sources for heating and cooking. [1] In developing countries, the Human Development Index (HDI), which comprises measures of standard of living, longevity and educational attainment, increases rapidly with per capita electricity use. [2] For these reasons the United Nations has been making a concerted effort to promote global access to energy, first by naming 2012 the Year of Sustainable Energy for All, [3] and now by declaring 2014-2024 the Decade of Sustainable Energy for All. [4]

Currently, technology is used widely to support educational objectives in both online and face-to-face environments. In view of this trend and its success in many settings, we have developed modular, tutorial, video clips as instructional materials to accompany/complement the information presented in the book, Concepts in Toxicology [Duffus, Templeton, and Nordberg, 2009, RSC Publishing]. The book is based on the IUPAC Recommendations published in Pure and Applied Chemistry . These modules were developed utilizing Adobe Captivate® software. Each module contains text derived from relevant chapters in the book accompanied by audio voiceover and commentary. Illustrations and animations highlight the basic concepts presented. Additionally, a multiple-choice quiz is included in each module. The quiz is automatically graded and the score presented to the student. Concepts in Toxicology is a unique text focusing on the appropriate use of terminology in the field of toxicology. As such, it represents a valuable tool for both basic and advanced study of toxicology. The modules produced by this project in video clip format provide a way of distributing the concepts in this book to a wider, increasingly mobile audience of learners.

The mobility and bioavailability of metal ions in natural waters depend on their chemical speciation, which involves a distribution of the metal ions between different complex (metal-ligand) species, colloid-adsorbed species and insoluble phases, each of which may be kinetically labile or inert. For example, in fresh water the metal ions are distributed among organic complexes (e.g., humates), colloids (e.g., as surface-adsorbed species on colloidal phases such as FeOOH), solid phases (e.g., hydroxide, oxide, carbonate mineral phases), and labile complexes with the simple inorganic anionic ligands commonly present in natural waters (e.g., for Zn II , the aqueous species, Zn 2+ , ZnOH + , Zn(OH) 2 (aq), Zn 2 OH 3+ , ZnSO 4 (aq), ZnCO 3 (aq)…).

Every two years, IUPAC holds an election for its officers and committee members. About 120 individuals are to be elected or reelected either as Titular Members, Associate Members, or National Representatives. Information concerning the voting process and the role of each kind of member is contained in the Union bylaws (see www.iupac.org/home/about/organizational-guidelines.html).

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is pleased to announce the call for nominations for the IUPAC 2015 Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering Awards.

Research in green chemistry and allied areas in biochemistry, geochemistry, biotechnology, ecology and healthcare give young scientists ample opportunity to demonstrate their inventiveness and provide important input to sustainable development. With this in mind, the Green Chemistry for Life Project was launched in 2013 by UNESCO’s International Basic Sciences Programme (IBSP) and PhosAgro, the largest producer of phosphate-based fertilizer in Europe, in close cooperation with IUPAC.

The IUPAC-SOLVAY International Award for Young Chemists is intended to encourage outstanding young research scientists at the beginning of their careers. The awards are given for the most outstanding PhD theses in the general area of the chemical sciences, as described in a 1000-word essay. The award is generously sponsored by Solvay.

Thieme Chemistry has relaunched its web website for chemists. Along with a new design, the expanded www.thieme-chemistry.com features improved technology and an optimized user-friendly interface. Users now enjoy even faster access to the comprehensive content as well as Thieme Group products for chemists.

In the last decades, China has experienced one of the most radical transformations in human history. This transformation includes its educational and scientific production. Since its Cultural Revolution, in barely 35 years, Chinese universities have evolved from desolation to the top of the international rankings. Chemistry has developed in China in a similarly spectacular manner. Not only the Chinese chemical industry has reached gigantic scales and extensive product portfolios while improving its quality and branding, but also the scientific production has exploded in the last decades. China is already among the leading countries in terms of number of scientific articles published in peer review journals on the different fields of Chemistry.

One of IUPAC ongoing objective is to ensure that Chemistry International (CI) meets the ever-changing needs and expectations of its readers. Today, those needs and expectations are in flux as the combination of technology and digital content continues to significantly alter how information is accessed, read and used. E-versions of journals and magazines increasingly include interactive features and functionalities that are impossible to replicate in their print versions, and IUPAC is examining if and how it should move in that direction.

IUPAC, in collaboration with its publishing partner, De Gruyter, is pleased to announce that the 2015 subscription fee for 2015 for Pure and Applied Chemistry (PAC) will be held at the same level as in 2014. In alignment with the IUPAC strategic goal to foster communication among individual chemists and scientific organizations, we believe that in these economic times it is in the best interests of IUPAC members and the readers of PAC to maintain pricing stability in the coming year.

UNESCO has launched the UNESCO World Library of Science (WLoS), a newly created, free online science education resource for a global community of users. Developed through the joint efforts of UNESCO, Nature Education and Roche, the WLoS was created to give students around the world, especially those in disadvantaged regions, access to the latest science information as well as the opportunity to share their experiences and learning through discussion with their peers in a shared learning environment.

On 27 October 2014, CEFIC, the European Chemical Industry Council, released their second sustainability report entitled “Teaming up for a sustainable Europe.” With their partners in the supply chain CEFIC deliver innovative solutions to global challenges while preserving resources and the environment. Their products and services play a crucial role in addressing key societal challenges, such as providing water, food and energy to a growing world population.