Volume 44, Issue 1

None could have imagined what history had in store for all of us when, just a couple of years ago, we were celebrating our Centenary and planning for the future of IUPAC. These past months, marked by a pandemic, have shown how fragile and interdependent we are. We have also learned the key role of science in understanding, tackling, and solving our most pressing challenges. Chemistry, in particular, is playing a central role in the fight against the coronavirus, from the production of disinfectants to the nanoparticles that carry the mRNA in the COVID-19 vaccines. However, this is not the last global challenge we will have to face and chemistry will continue to be essential in our fight against illness, hunger, and poverty.

Some National Adhering Organizations or other organizations affiliated with IUPAC have in place committees or reference groups that address issues of ethics or diversity and inclusion. There are numerous womens’ chemistry groups worldwide, many linked to the IUPAC Global Womens Breakfast series, and emerging chemists’ groups, including the International Younger Chemists Network (IYCN). Specialist groupings include those for chemists of color, for less-able bodied chemists, or from LGBTQ communities. Each of these groupings requires our recognition, respect, and support. IUPAC is in the unique and privileged position to deliver global leadership on their behalf. There are still chemistry communities globally where the principles of equity are less well recognized, and IUPAC can provide support through networking and informal education or advice.

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly agreed upon 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are to be achieved by the year 2030. These goals were adopted to ensure an economical, socially just and ecologically sustainable development on a global scale and to protect natural resources and the environment [1].

In the 1940s, the Delaware River at Philadelphia was so dirty that pilots could smell it from the air. The water was so harsh it corroded metal and discolored paint. Fish killed by pollution washed up on the Delaware’s banks. The lack of oxygen in parts of the river blocked the critical migration of others.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an exciting, growing field. Due to the high and growing number of data, the comprehensive evaluation of information behind data makes AI tools indispensable. In Drug Discovery and Development the application of AI has become important to accelerate progress and enhance decision making in many fields and disciplines of medicinal chemistry, upscaling, molecular and cell biology, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, formulation development and toxicology. In clinical testing AI has high importance in increasing success rates by enhancing trial design (biomarkers, efficacy parameters, dose selection, trial duration), selection of the target patient population, patient stratification and evaluation of patient samples. The increasing relevance of AI in drug discovery and development is reflected by the growing number of start-up companies specialized in this field, the growing number of collaborations from Pharma with AI platforms, and the high number of articles and reviews reporting current applications, their success and limitations.

Drug discovery and development is an expensive, complex, and time-consuming task [5]. Recently, the development of artificial intelligence (AI) approaches to drug discovery, specifically de novo drug design through the use of deep generative models, has triggered a lot of interest in the drug hunter community, especially as an important tool to speed up the process [6].

New research has helped bring nanopesticides—tiny capsules capable of big impact—one step closer to regulatory approval.

This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Benjamin List and David MacMillan “for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis.” IUPAC congratulates the laureates for their achievements.

Professor Vincenzo Balzani (Italy) and Professor Yuri Oganessian (Russian Federation) will be awarded the first UNESCO-Russia Mendeleev International Prize in the Basic Sciences. The decision was made on the recommendation of an eminent international jury chaired by Professor Jean-Pierre Sauvage, winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Paul Anastas, a Yale professor and pioneer in developing non-hazardous chemicals, wins the 2021 Volvo Environment Prize, one of the world’s most respected scientific environmental awards. The research of Paul Anastas “is revolutionizing the chemical industry, a key contribution to meeting the sustainability challenge,” says the Prize Jury.

The Subcommittee on Solubility Equilibrium Data (SSED) established the Franzosini Award to be made to a maximum of two young scientists working in the areas of solubility and homogeneous equilibrium data. The awardees must attend the International Symposium on Solubility Phenomena and Related Equilibrium Processes (ISSP), the biannual conference organized by the SSED.

The prize is intended to reward original work in chemistry to the benefit to mankind, society, or nature. The GRAND PRIX will be awarded for the eighteenth time in 2022, to one or several persons, irrespective of nationality. The prize will carry a monetary award of 35,000 Euros.

Last October, a new Governing Board has been appointed to lead the International Science Council (ISC), an international non-governmental organization that works to provide a global voice for science. The Governing Board is a central decision-making body of the Council, which was formed in 2018 by the merger of the International Council of Science (ICSU), representing the natural sciences, and the International Social Science Council (ISSC).

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 Ph.D. theses in the general area of the chemical sciences, as described in a 1000-word essay. The award is generously sponsored by Solvay.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a direct call to action, encouraging governments and citizens around the world to actively preserve the planet and its inhabitants for the greater success of mankind. A symposium held last August during the 2021 IUPAC Congress, organized by IYCN and including speakers from around the world, focused on the impact that different organizations and individuals have on the betterment of society while working on the SDGs.

Last November, the InChI TRUST started the release of a newsletter, called InChI OUTREACH. The goal is to share new information about the InChI Project, the InChI Trust and the usage of the tools and technologies that are being created, updated, and maintained. A release 4 to 6 times per year is being planned. Please send any comments, questions, or suggestions to Outreach Director, Rudy Potenzone (rudy@inchi-trust.org).

Professor Tsuyoshi Minami of the University of Tokyo, Japan, is the first person to be awarded the IUPAC Emerging Innovator Award in Analytical Chemistry—an award that recognizes outstanding work undertaken by researchers who are at an early stage of their independent career.

Professor Kozo Kuchitsu passed away on 22 March 2021. A full Obituary has appeared in Chemical Physics Letters 779 , 138791 (2021) (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cplett.2021.138791). Here, we would like to remember his tremendous contribution to IUPAC, Commission I.1, and the “Green Book.”

Undoubtedly the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed how little we have utilised computers and the internet for science teaching. Prior to the crisis, computers and the internet had been used by the majority for data spreadsheets, as word processors, and as a means of rapid communication.