Band 39, Heft 2

As reported last year (see CI Nov 2016, p. 16), beginning in 2017, CI will be published in print format four times a year, ideally at the beginning of each quarter. Meanwhile, the CI Editorial Board is pleased to report that IUPAC members and CI subscribers will have access to new and updated content throughout the year via Chemistry International: Digital First , a new electronic version that is in the early stages of development.

On behalf of the Brazilian Chemical Society (SBQ) and the IUPAC-2017 Organizing Committee, it is our privilege and great pleasure to invite you to join us in Brazil and actively participate in the 46th World Chemistry Congress of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC-2017), to be held in São Paulo, 9-14 July 2017. Held for the first time ever in South America, this Congress represents a unique opportunity for Brazilians to host chemists from countries worldwide.

International collaboration varies across the world. Your first reaction when hearing those words—international collaboration—may lead you to myriad different thoughts and ideas: research institutions, famous scientists, your own coworkers, or even airports –flying through Tesla International Airport in Serbia, you can’t help it! When reading this article, however, IUPAC is probably the first thing that comes to mind. IUPAC has the ability to bring together scientists, crossing nations and borders in the pursuit of knowledge. Early career chemists, however, often do not know how to breach these barriers to start their international scientific journey.

The scientific community faces an unprecedented communication challenge as larger volumes of research data are published and data storage moves into digital space. Most communication tasks in chemistry involve representing molecules. Traditionally, these have formalized around the need to register, search, view, and publish information about chemicals for human readers. Data collection and analysis are further described by formalized domain vocabularies. In the digital environment, machine-readability, as well as human interpretation of data, is a significant factor in the level of accuracy and completeness of data exchange. More than ever, there is a need for standard and robust protocols that support reliable interoperability: the transfer of depictions and descriptions of chemicals between systems without loss or distortion of information.

Since the dawning of the new millennium, the unique properties and obscure behaviour exhibited by nanoparticles have captivated research scientists globally. Their versatility has led to an explosion of interest in nanoscience and recognition of its unlimited potential for innovation in modern society.

We all are influenced by our heroes, our role models, the individuals who we feel most represent the ideals to which we strive. In the four decades beginning in the early 1940s, the greatest of all organic chemists—certainly one of the greatest of all chemists—was Robert Burns Woodward. Few could replicate his science or his egregious* “Egregious” typically means shocking or outrageous, and extends to perhaps even more shocking or outrageous definitions. In ancient times, egregious also meant “remarkably good.” For the purposes of this paper, the word is a resonance hybrid of all of the above. behaviors, though many tried.

To celebrate International Women’s Day this March 8th, IUPAC is pleased to announce the awardees of the IUPAC 2017 Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering:

We are delighted to announce that the 2016 Thieme–IUPAC Prize has been awarded to Neil Garg of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The prize includes an award of €5000 and was presented to Neil Garg in January 2017 at the 13th Winter Conference on Medicinal & Bioorganic Chemistry in Steamboat Springs, Colorado/USA following his Thieme–IUPAC lecture.

The 2016 Franzosini Award was given to David Fellhauer, in recognition of his contribution to the IUPAC Solubility Data Project, at the 15th Annual Meeting of the IUPAC Subcommittee on Solubility and Equilibrium Data. Held in Geneva, Switzerland on 24 July 2016, the meeting occurred during the 17th International Symposium on Solubility Phenomena and Related Equilibrium Processes.

One of three grants recently awarded by ICSU is to a new joint project led by the International Mathematical Union (IMU) and IUPAC, with the strong involvement of IUPAP. The project will compile evidence worldwide, including on trends on the role of women in science, to support informed decisions and provide easy access to materials proven to be useful in encouraging girls and young women to study and work in scientific fields. With the involvement of six scientific unions, UNESCO, and GenderInSite, this project constitutes a large international and multidisciplinary collaboration.

The latest version of the InChI software, v1.05, has been released and is now available from http://www.inchi-trust.org/downloads/

In 1919, the year of the birth of IUPAC, international science was in its infancy. Modern instantaneous communication as we know it had not been born, but a number of scientists foresaw the need for an international organisation with a focus on chemistry to serve as a catalyst, to promote standards, and to facilitate clear, unambiguous communication throughout the world in the rapidly growing discipline. The early founders of the organisation could not have foreseen the explosion of knowledge and instant communication networks available today. However, they did understand the serious ramifications of not having clear, unambiguous communication in science and engineering.