Volume 89, Issue 2 - Science, Disarmament, and Diplomacy in Chemical Education: The Example of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

In May and June of 2016 the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), IUPAC and the ACS CHED Committee on Computers in Chemical Education (CCCE) collaboratively ran an online conference hosted with the online ConfChem conference system on “Science, Disarmament and Diplomacy in Chemical Education.” This ConfChem Online Conference was designed to highlight the work of the OPCW and the important contribution of scientists and educators to achieving its goals, the science that underpins the Chemical Weapons Convention, and how scientific and technological advances will help to better implement the Convention in the future. The OPCW is the implementing body for Chemical Weapons Convention, an international disarmament treaty banning chemical weapons. The organisation is now approaching the 20 th anniversary of the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997. Twenty years that have seen the destruction of more than 67 000 metric ton of the world’s declared military stockpiles of chemical weapons and a Nobel Peace Prize in 2013. With 192 States Parties (the governments that have agreed to uphold the norms and obligations required by the treaty), the Chemical Weapons Convention is the most widely subscribed disarmament treaty in history. Despite the aforementioned successes, the OPCW is not widely recognized outside disarmament-focused diplomatic circles. This is in spite of the fact that the science of chemistry played a critical role in informing the negotiations that lead to the signing of the Chemical Weapons Convention, and underpinning the articles of implementation. Science represents an important dimension in international disarmament policy and diplomacy, requiring that organizations like the OPCW interact with the scientific communities – especially in the field of chemistry. In order to achieve its goals in the future, the OPCW will need to reach out to new stakeholders and strengthen its ties with its existing partners. To this end, the OPCW has been placing increasing priority on education and engagement to raise awareness of its work and the contributions both from and to science in chemical disarmament. The objective of this internationally open access ConfChem online conference was to bring forth educational material that could usefully introduce chemistry educators and students to the nexus of science and multilateral diplomacy in chemical disarmament. To this end, we introduce the seven papers of the ConfChem and their authors. We hope you enjoy this collection of papers at the intersection of science and international disarmament policy. A collection that looks to stimulate interest in the role of scientists and educators, especially chemists in making the world a safer place.

The Chemical Weapons Convention remains a landmark international treaty. It was the first multilateral agreement to ban an entire class of weapons of mass destruction and include a strict verification regime to monitor compliance. Scientists were not only deeply engaged in the negotiation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, but have been central to the life of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) ever since it came into existence almost 20 years ago. Over that time, during which the OPCW focused primarily on its mission to oversee the destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles, the organization has relied on a very committed core of scientific expertise – from within and outside – to help guide it. As that core task comes to a close, the Organization faces a new challenge: ensuring that chemical weapons do not return. Meeting that challenge will require new approaches to the OPCW’s mission.

Education and outreach are long term strategic tools for the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) that actively promote the peaceful use of chemistry. Thousands of new chemicals are reported every day; which can render enormous benefits for the common good. However, as with any science, there is always the possibility that chemistry may be misused as it has been done in the past. This work will refer to preliminary initiatives undertaken to address awareness-raising about the multiple uses of chemical substances and the potential dual -use of scientific knowledge which are being implemented in different levels of chemistry education and public outreach programs. The OPCW has placed a priority on education and engagement with the development of tools and materials relevant to the Convention; we will describe these tools and the regional and national meetings that were organized to highlight the incorporation of the CWC’s issues into the chemical curricula in South America. The paper will give special consideration to The Hague Ethical Guidelines, another initiative to support a culture of responsibility in the chemical sciences and to guard against the misuse of chemistry. These guidelines were recently formulated by an international group of chemistry practitioners and serve as a set of elements to engage scientists in the ethical dimensions of their work. Education and outreach to future generations to promote the peaceful uses of chemistry is an essential part of achieving the goal of a world free of chemical weapons.

Abstract: Many compounds can be used for or manipulated to serve a variety of purposes. Chemistry teachers and the chemistry curricula they use, however, do not directly deal with the idea of the use, misuse, and abuse of multi-use chemicals. This paper therefore attempts to explore strategies in mainstreaming the concepts of multi-use chemicals in Chemistry teacher education programs. It is believed that teacher education programs have multiplier effects since they are intended to cover both pre- and in-service chemistry teachers.

Responsible Research and Innovation has become a core concept in many of the Horizon 2020 programs. In this article the concept of RRI is discussed in context of secondary education, and the interpretation used within the project ‘Irresistible’ is introduced. In the article several ways in which RRI can be incorporated in science classrooms are discussed, connected to the teaching of contemporary research taking place in universities as well as recent innovations coming from industry. The presented modules are designed in groups in which teachers work together with researchers, science educators and science center experts. As one of the educational approaches used in the modules, students created exhibits in which both the scientific content as well as the RRI concepts related to the content are demonstrated for the general public. These exhibits have been very successful as a learning tool.

Building capacity for carrying out and understanding responsible science that is relevant to local challenges is a key ingredient in the OPCW’s strategy for achieving and maintaining a world free of chemical weapons. Two important contexts for building that capacity for responsible science are (1) the global attention being drawn to the rapidly increasing human chemical footprint on our planet and (2) the pervasive use of digital technologies. We describe an effort coordinated by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to build capacity among young people around the world to harness the power of small mobile chemical sensors to develop data literacy in complex chemical analysis based on measuring analytes that are relevant to their lives and local contexts. This new type of data literacy is an emergent element in educational programs and is key to developing the capacity for decision-making on chemical measurement data. The project brings together student and faculty collaborators from the fields of chemistry, social sciences and informatics, to provide proof of concept in four areas that support the overall goal of building a collective effort for scientific analysis; the development of low cost environmental sensors for air and water samples; the collection of representative test data sets on priority contaminants; the assessment and visualization of data; and education about the effect of priority pollutants on human and environmental health. We report on the project goals and preliminary steps taken to achieve them.

Pain! Most humans feel it throughout their lives. The molecular mechanisms underlying the phenomenon are still poorly understood. This is especially true of pain triggered in response to molecules of a certain shape and reactivity present in the environment. Such molecules can interact with the sensory nerve endings of the eyes, nose, throat and lungs to cause irritation that can range from mild to severe. The ability to alert to the presence of such potentially harmful substances has been termed the ‘common chemical sense’ and is thought to be distinct from the senses of smell or taste, which are presumed to have evolved later. Barbecue a burger excessively and you self-experiment. Fatty acids present in the meat break off their glycerol anchor under the thermal stress. The glycerol loses two molecules of water and forms acrolein, whose assault on the eyes is partly responsible for the tears elicited by smoke. Yet the smell and taste of the burger are different experiences. It was this eye-watering character of acrolein that prompted its use as a warfare agent during World War I. It was one of several ‘lachrymators’ deployed to harass, and the forerunner of safer chemicals, such as ‘tear gas’ CS, developed for riot control. The history of development and mechanism of action of some sensory irritants is discussed here in relation to recent advice from the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on chemicals that conform to the definition of a riot control agent (RCA) under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Chemistry is a science that contributes to all aspects of our everyday lives and our professions. There are clear examples in law enforcement (forensics) and public health and perhaps less clear (but equally important) uses of chemicals in applications that include automobile manufacturing, electronics, packaging materials, currency printing, and even waste management (recycling and value-added products from garbage). Chemistry can also influence international diplomacy – an area that is likely to be unfamiliar to many chemistry professionals. Take for example the United Nations led investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria in August of 2013. Environmental and biomedical samples were collected and analyzed, and they undisputedly confirmed the use of the nerve agent sarin. The results were published in a report by the United Nations Secretary-General and were one of the many influences leading to the accession of The Syrian Arab Republic to the Chemical Weapons Convention (an international treaty prohibiting chemical weapons) and the declaration and dismantlement of a chemical weapons programme. Using this investigation as an example, we highlight some of the chemistry that influenced decision making in a high visibility international event.

Photoassisted synthesis of complex polyheterocyclic molecular architectures via excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) is for the first time implemented for the reactions of o -keto phenols. This adds the 2,5-epoxybenzoxacine core to the previously obtained 2,5-epoxybenzazocine cores and offers rapid access to primary photoproducts which lend themselves to diverse yet simple postphotochemical modifications to further grow the complexity of the target structures, specifically – access to polyheterocycle-carbohydrate chimeras containing up to five contiguous stereogenic centers and benzazocine or benzoxacine heterocyclic cores.

The use of supramolecular interactions to control the reactivity of excited states is discussed with emphasis on covalent bond formation and catalysis. The latter is shown to apply both to the synthesis of organic compounds as well as to the preparation of inorganic materials.