Volume 44, Issue 3

This is my first Editorial for Chemistry International as newly elected Treasurer of the Union. I feel very honored and proud that you have given me this mandate to serve the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and am grateful for your trust. When I was first asked to write this column, back in early February of this year, I planned to elaborate primarily on IUPAC’s financial situation, the effects of the pandemic and the way to a new normal. But then the unthinkable happened when Russia attacked Ukraine on 24 February. Since then we have experienced a terrible and inhumane war in the middle of Europe and thousands innocent people have lost their lives, are fleeing their country, and suffering terribly.

What is the story behind this photo, of the “Garden party at Wiltzangk”? It first caught my attention over eight years ago when I was researching interwar chemistry during my studies. Since then, I moved to post-war science policy in my PhD, and the photo faded into the margins of my attention. Yet recently the image of this fabulous garden party came back to me—and I finally wondered what was actually going on there [1].

The 2021 IUPAC World Chemistry Leadership Meeting (WCLM) was more than a year in the making and it was quite a roller coaster ride. Originally planned as a traditional in-person meeting, the pandemic required that the entire IUPAC World Chemistry Congress (WCC) be held virtually. Rather than view this as a negative outcome, the WCLM organizers decided to leverage the situation as an unexpected opportunity to do something unique and innovative that would allow the session to reach a much larger portion of the global scientific community than is the norm at an in-person meeting. The meeting format was designed to stage not one plenary session, but four virtual sessions spread over 24h and covering three different time zones (vide infra). The topic, The Future of Chemistry in the World of Artificial Intelligence, was chosen because artificial intelligence (AI) has been receiving a lot of press— not only in the sciences, but across all industries [1]. In addition, AI was selected in 2020 by a panel of experts as one of IUPAC’s top ten emerging technologies in chemistry—one that will have major positive impacts on how research is conducted and the speed with which science is advanced [2].

When Israeli scientists tested vegetables for the epilepsy drug carbamazepine, they detected it in cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, and peppers. More surprisingly, people who ate the vegetables had a surge of the epilepsy drug in their urine—albeit in the nanograms.

Chemistry as a science and an industrial sector plays a determining and indispensable role in all parts of our lives as it is the only science that can change matter (apart from nuclear physics). What we call a chemical product is often highly complex; elements and chemicals are most often applied as mixtures in products. For example, there are several hundred grades of steel ( i.e. iron alloys) marketed. Electronics relies on many complex materials. Other examples of products are pesticides, pharmaceuticals, biocides, laundry detergents, personal care products and many others composed of several chemicals each. Estimates indicate that the number of chemicals in use today exceeds 340 000 worldwide. There are many kinds of polymers. The polymers themselves are made-up by manifold building blocks of different size, stereochemical arrangement, functional groups, branched or interlinked segments, etc. Today more than 10 500 plastic-related additives are in use. Often during synthesis, manufacturing, and use, and at the end of their lives, all these materials and products are transformed (“degraded“), resulting in new chemical entities of often unknown properties, impact on the product and toxicity. In other words, at all stages of the chemical products lifespan there is enormous chemodiversity, from the atomic to the molecular, from material to building blocks and products, as well as in sectors of applications and usage. Owing to their high diversity and adaptability, chemicals and synthetic materials are literally used everywhere nowadays.

The table of standard atomic weights (TSAW) provides of the numbers included in all reprints of the periodic tables of the elements, in all textbooks in schools, high schools and universities, found on the internet, and numerous databases [1]. Whenever one needs to relate masses of an element to molar quantities, standard atomic weights come into the play. They are of fundamental importance in science, education, technology, industries, trade and commerce. It is therefore not surprising that the determination of atomic weights has a central role in chemistry. Also, it is not surprising that it needs a whole commission of experts to set-up such table with highest confidence even though at first sight it seems to be a simple compilation of numbers. That commission of experts is the Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights (referred to as the Commission in the text). (For more information about the Commission visit ciaaw.org).

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and Solvay announce the winners of the 2022 IUPAC-Solvay International Award for Young Chemists, presented for the best Ph.D. theses in the chemical sciences, as described in 1000-word essays.

The 2022 Hanwha-TotalEnergies IUPAC Young Scientist Award, to be presented at MACRO 2022, has been awarded to Qian Chen and Eric Appel .

The Editorial Board of Polymer International and the IUPAC Polymer Division are delighted to announce that Dr Zachary Hudson (The University of British Columbia, Canada) is the winner of the 8th Polymer International-IUPAC award for Creativity in Applied Polymer Science.

IUPAC is pleased to announce the call for nominations for the IUPAC 2023 Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering Awards. The purpose of the awards program, initiated as part of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry celebrations, is to acknowledge and promote the work of women in chemistry/chemical engineering worldwide. In 2011, 23 women were honored during a ceremony held at the IUPAC Congress in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on 2 August 2011. At each of the subsequent IUPAC Congresses, 12 women received this recognition; in Istanbul, Turkey in 2013, in Busan, Korea in 2015, in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2017, in Paris, France in 2019, and virtually (in Montréal) in 2021. A similar award ceremony will take place during the 2023 IUPAC Congress in August 2023 in The Hague, The Netherlands.

IUPAC is seeking organizational, corporate, and individual sponsors for the 2023 IUPAC Global Women’s Breakfast to be held 14 February 2023. A wide range of sponsorship opportunities are available from Platinum level (at $10000 USD) to Bronze ($1000 USD).

Professor Hugh D. Burrows, Scientific Editor of  Pure and Applied Chemistry , is stepping down at the end of 2022 after serving as Scientific Editor since 2014. IUPAC requests nominations and/or applications to succeed Professor Burrows in this position. The mandate for the Scientific Editor will be to maintain the scientific standards, focus on the international profile of the journal, and explore creative ways to engage with the IUPAC community in the digital 21st century. PAC is published monthly and includes recommendations, reports, as well as lectures from conferences.

In August 2021, the IUPAC Council approved the establishment of the Centenary Endowment Board to provide a mechanism through which Fund Donors can support and engage in IUPAC’s international work. Among other responsibilities, the Board shall be responsible for and administer IUPAC’s funds solicitation efforts and the development of the Fund and recommending disbursement in accordance with the Fund Mission and, where relevant, specific designations by Donors.

When the so-called IUPAC Blue Book “Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry (IUPAC Recommendations and Preferred IUPAC Names 2013)” was last published in 2014, it greatly expanded the coverage of the previous edition (1979) and included for the first time recommendations for a preferred IUPAC name (PIN) for those needing a consistent name. Still and for use in general nomenclature, alternative unambiguous names were included. A html version of the whole book including all corrections, changes, and modifications is now available.

Emeritus Fellows are former members of IUPAC Divisions and erstwhile Commissions and Subcommittees, who have made outstanding contributions to IUPAC and, through chemistry, to the chemical sciences in general.