Integrating social and environmental justice into the chemistry classroom: a chemist’s toolbox

ABSTRACT

Although the chemical enterprise has provided numerous contributions to humanity, unintended consequences contribute to a disproportionate exposure of hazardous chemicals to certain populations based on race and socioeconomic status. Integrating concepts of social and environmental justice within chemistry curriculum provides an educational framework to help mitigate these impacts by training the next generation of chemists with justice-centered and green chemistry principles to guide their future work. Green and sustainable chemistry technologies can contribute to social equity and environmental justice. However, equity and social justice have only recently become a significant part of the green chemistry conversation. This article summarizes how the authors have explored issues of equity and environmental justice with the green and sustainable chemistry community. It offers a toolbox for college and university instructors containing foundational language, research, and idea-generation that can be used to strengthen the transition of a traditional chemistry curriculum toward a justice-centered one.     

Gemmacin B: bringing diversity back into focus

Through the synthesis of a focused library and SAR investigations, a more potent analogue of gemmacin (discovered in a previous diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS) campaign), gemmacin B, was discovered.     

Functional ceramic materials database: an online resource for materials research

We present work on the creation of a ceramic materials database which contains data gleaned from literature data sets as well as new data obtained from combinatorial experiments on the London University Search Instrument. At the time of this writing, the database contains data related to two main groups of materials, mainly in the perovskite family. Permittivity measurements of electroceramic materials are the first area of interest, while ion diffusion measurements of oxygen ion conductors are the second. The nature of the database design does not restrict the type of measurements which can be stored; as the available data increase, the database may become a generic, publicly available ceramic materials resource.     

Putting the chemistry back into analytical chemistry

Aspects of the current status of and research in analytical chemistry are briefly discussed and the need for cost effective analytical procedures is emphasized. The present and future of a number of aspects of flow-injection analysis are considered. These include the basic theory, the kinetic features, the control features, time-based methodology, and the coupling of sample pretreatment with instrumentation. Several aspects of this latter topic are considered with particular reference to the flow-injection atomic spectrometry combination. Problems of kinetic mismatch between chemistry, manifold residence, and instrument operation are discussed and some possible solutions proposed including the use of closed loop manifolds.     

Computational chemistry in pharmaceutical research: at the crossroads

Computational approaches are an integral part of pharmaceutical research. However, there are many of unsolved key questions that limit the scientific progress in the still evolving computational field and its impact on drug discovery. Importantly, a number of these questions are not new but date back many years. Hence, it might be difficult to conclusively answer them in the foreseeable future. Moreover, the computational field as a whole is characterized by a high degree of heterogeneity and so is, unfortunately, the quality of its scientific output. In light of this situation, it is proposed that changes in scientific standards and culture should be seriously considered now in order to lay a foundation for future progress in computational research.     

Metathesis reaction of formaldehyde acetals: an easy entry into the dynamic covalent chemistry of cyclophane formation

The acid-catalyzed transacetalation of formaldehyde acetals (formal metathesis) is a suitable reaction for the generation of well-behaved Dynamic Libraries of cyclophane formals. The composition of the equilibrated mixtures solely depends on concentration, and is totally independent of whether the feedstock is any of the pure cyclic oligomers, or a mixture of oligomers/polymers. Effective Molarities related to the formation of the lower cyclic oligomers were directly measured as their equilibrium molar concentrations above the critical monomer concentration. The finding that silver cation acts as a selective binder toward the cyclic dimer C2, coupled with the "proof reading and editing" capability of our quickly equilibrating system, translated into significant amplifications of C2 when the equilibrated mixtures were exposed to the action of the silver template. These results highlight the potential of Dynamic Combinatorial Chemistry as a powerful tool for the preparation in synthetically useful amounts of an otherwise elusive macrocyclic compound. The possibility of using a mixture of high molecular weight byproducts as feedstock adds considerably to the practical value of the procedure.     

Computational chemistry and cheminformatics: an essay on the future

Computers have changed the way we do science. Surrounded by a sea of data and with phenomenal computing capacity, the methodology and approach to scientific problems is evolving into a partnership between experiment, theory and data analysis. Given the pace of change of the last twenty-five years, it seems folly to speculate on the future, but along with unpredictable leaps of progress there will be a continuous evolution of capability, which points to opportunities and improvements that will certainly appear as our discipline matures.     

微波化学的应用研究进展

对近年来发表在化工和化学及相关领域内公开出版物中微波化学的相关论文进行分析讨论,介绍了微波及其加热机理和国内外微波有机化学、无机化学及其它方向上的研究现状和进展,阐述了数值模拟计算在微波化学中的应用。引用参考文献46篇。     

On-wire conversion chemistry: engineering solid-state complexity into striped metal nanowires using solution chemistry reactions

Multisegment template-grown metal nanowires have become important one-dimensional materials for a variety of applications in chemistry, physics, engineering, biology, and medicine. Segmented nanowires are traditionally fabricated in anodic alumina membranes using electrodeposition, and this technique is applicable to a range of metals, alloys, and semiconductors. Here we report an alternative and simple solution chemistry strategy for incorporating multimetal components of controllable length and composition into template-grown metal nanowires. By reacting membrane-confined nanowires with metal salt solutions under reducing conditions, site-specific diffusion occurs to convert one or both nanowire tips or the entire nanowire into a variety of multimetal phases. Platinum-based intermetallic compounds were chosen as targets for demonstrating the feasibility of the on-wire conversion chemistry.     

SPECTRa: the deposition and validation of primary chemistry research data in digital repositories

The SPECTRa (Submission, Preservation and Exposure of Chemistry Teaching and Research Data) project has investigated the practices of chemists in archiving and disseminating primary chemical data from academic research laboratories. To redress the loss of the large amount of data never archived or disseminated, we have developed software for data publication into departmental and institutional Open Access digital repositories (DSpace). Data adhering to standard formats in selected disciplines (crystallography, NMR, computational chemistry) is transformed to XML (CML, Chemical Markup Language) which provides added validation. Context-specific chemical metadata and persistent Handle identifiers are added to enable long-term data reuse. It was found essential to provide an embargo mechanism, and policies for operating this and other processes are presented.     

Analytical chemistry and inorganic chemistry — an unhappy marriage?

Summary Analytical chemistry is a discipline which has a large impact in other fields of chemistry and natural sciences as well as in technology and society. Traditionally, analytical chemistry has been grouped together with inorganic chemistry to such an extent that they are often viewed as a single discipline. While this has been beneficial for the development of both inorganic and analytical chemistry, it is increasingly important that the need of analytical education by the organic and biochemists as well as by chemical engineers is clearly recognized. The tightening environmental protection requires the analyst to be conversant with more sensitive, more accurate, and more reliable techniques in novel chemical surroundings, but at the same time he has to have as thorough knowledge in every field of chemistry as possible.     

Topics in current chemistry 96: Inorganic chemistry : Springer-Verlag,Berlin — Heidelberg — New York, 1981; 155 pages; DM 84

Reaction of PhEEPh (E  S, Se) with (η⁵-RC₅H₄)₂Zr(CH₃)₂ (R  H, t-Bu) affords the new complexes (η⁵-RC₅H₄)₂Zr(EPh)CH₃ and PhECH₃. Irradiation of these products by UV light finally gives the known complexes (η⁵-RC₅H₄)₂Zr(EPh)₂. The latter complexes can also be obtained from an irradiated mixture of (η₅-RC₅H₄)₂ZrPh₂ and PhEEPh. These reactions are thought to involve an S_H2 process at the metal center.     

Interfacing supramolecular and macromolecular chemistry: metallo-supramolecular triple-helicates incorporated into polymer networks

Metallo-supramolecular diiron(II) triple-helical cores based on pyridylimine ligands and decorated with acrylate or methacrylate units are copolymerised with methyl methacrylate (MMA) as major comonomer using AIBN.