World War I, international participation and reorganisation of the Japanese chemical community

What kind of "war" did Japanese chemists fight during World War I, and what impact did their experiences have on Japanese chemistry in its aftermath? By focusing on the role of Jōji Sakurai (1858-1939), this paper attempts to answer these questions by looking at the drastic changes in the international relationships of the Japanese chemical community caused by the war. It examines how the Japanese National Research Council was established in 1920 as part of the International Research Council, a product of the reconfiguration of international scientific powers triggered by World War I. This paper argues that Sakurai advocated the establishment of the National Research Council after the American model of wartime mobilisation of science, coordinated fractured Japanese chemical communities for international functions, and facilitated Japan's participation and increased influence in international scientific associations such as the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, established in 1919.     

One hundred years of the Fritz Haber Institute

We outline the institutional history and highlight aspects of the scientific history of the Fritz Haber Institute (FHI) of the Max Planck Society, successor to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, from its founding in 1911 until about the turn of the 21st century. Established as one of the first two Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes, the Institute began as a much-awaited remedy for what prominent German chemists warned was the waning of Germany's scientific and technological superiority relative to the United States and to other European nations. The history of the Institute has largely paralleled that of 20th century Germany. It spearheaded the research and development of chemical weapons during World War I, then experienced a "golden era" during the 1920s and early 1930s, in spite of financial hardships. Under the National Socialists it suffered a purge of its scientific staff and a diversion of its research into the service of the new regime, accompanied by a breakdown in its international relations. In the immediate aftermath of World War II it suffered crippling material losses, from which it recovered slowly in the postwar era. In 1952, the Institute took the name of its founding director and the following year joined the fledgling Max Planck Society, successor to the Kaiser Wilhelm Society. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Institute supported diverse research into the structure of matter and electron microscopy in its geographically isolated and politically precarious location in West Berlin. In subsequent decades, as Berlin benefited from the policies of détente and later glasnost and the Max Planck Society continued to reassess its preferred model of a research institute, the FHI reorganized around a board of coequal scientific directors and renewed its focus on the investigation of elementary processes on surfaces and interfaces, topics of research that had been central to the work of Fritz Haber and the first "golden era" of the Institute. Throughout its one-hundred-year history, the Institute's pace-setting research has been shaped by dozens of distinguished scientists, among them seven Nobel laureates. Here we highlight the contributions made at the Institute to the fields of gas-phase kinetics and dynamics, early quantum physics, colloid chemistry, electron microscopy, and surface chemistry, and we give an account of the key role the Institute played in implementing the Berlin Electron Synchrotron (BESSY I and II). Current research at the Institute in surface science and catalysis as well as molecular physics and spectroscopy is exemplified in this issue [Angew. Chem. 2011, 123, 10242; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 10064].     

抗日战争时期的中央研究院化学研究所

考查了抗战时期中央研究院化学所的内迁经过以及在大后方恢复重建、开展科学研究的艰难历程,并对化学所战时科研的特点及学术贡献等相关问题进行详细探讨。     

World War II, post-war reconstruction and British women chemists

This paper draws on evidence from a range of sources to consider the extent to which World War II served as a turning point in the employment opportunities open to women chemists in Britain. It argues that wartime conditions expanded women's access to some areas of employment, but that these opportunities represented, in many ways, an expansion of existing openings rather than wholly new ones, and not all of them proved permanent. Instead, women chemists benefited more permanently from increased state expenditure on higher education and on research and development after the war. This enabled some women to remain in what had originally been temporary wartime posts and others to secure employment in wholly new positions. Women were most successful in securing positions created by the expansion of state welfare and support for agriculture, but also found new employment opportunities as a result of the heavy investment in weapons development that accelerated with the advent of the Cold War. In higher education, an initial expansion of openings was not sustained, and the proportion of women in university chemistry departments actually fell during the second half of the 1950s. Industry presents a rather ambiguous picture, with many firms continuing to refuse to employ women chemists, whereas elsewhere they enjoyed enhanced opportunities and better salaries than those offered before the war. This did not mean, however, that women chemists received equal treatment to their male colleagues, and, despite the changes, they remained concentrated in subordinate positions and were expected to concentrate on routine work. Prospects in the 1950s were certainly better than they had been during the 1930s, but they remained strongly gendered.     

History of Synthetic Rubber

Synthetic rubber undoubtedly represents the earliest development of the synthesis of macromolecules. It dates back to the historic discovery by Greville Williams in 1860 that isoprene is the “mother substance” of natural rubber. Attempts to convert isoprene, and later other 1,3-dienes, to a synthetic rubber began shortly thereafter, although the first commercial production of such a material did not take place until a half century later. The period between World War I and II witnessed the first development of a true synthetic substitute for natural rubber, i.e., sodium-polymerized butadiene, which was produced in Germany as Buna rubber and in the USSR as SK rubber. However, during the 1930s, Germany developed the emulsion copolymerization of butadiene-styrene (Buna S), whereas sodium polybutadiene continued as the principal general purpose synthetic rubber in the Soviet Union. The United States which, up till then, had only developed special-purpose synthetic rubbers like neoprene, entered the synthetic rubber age during the emergency of World War II when natural rubber supplies were cut off, and developed a giant industry based on Buna S technology virtually overnight.

Among the synthetic polymers in use today, synthetic rubber is unique in that it was developed not as an interesting new material but to fill a dire need of the modern world. As a matter of fact, here in the United States, it arose solely out of the emergency of World War II.

The reason for this unique position of synthetic rubber is, of course, the unique property of rubber, the only substance which exhibits long-range elasticity, and which therefore fills a special need in modern technology. Natural rubber was discovered in the New World as early as Columbus's voyages, but its use in technology did not really take place until after the Industrial Revolution, i.e., with the start of the 19th century. However, it was not until the latter part of the last century that the first attempts were made to synthesize rubber from simple chemical compounds.     

Hermann Staudinger und der Kunstpfeffer. Ersatzgewürze

During the First and Second World Wars, Germany could no longer import colonial goods, such as coffee, pepper and other tropical spices. Although these commodities were not essential for the daily caloric requirement of the German people, their absence was felt considerably. Chemists began to search for a lot of appropriate substitutes, which in the end meant an enormous impact on the industry of artificial flavours. When pepper, the most important hot tasting condiment, became rare, Hermann Staudinger, the later Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, and Paul Immerwahr were anxious to find a process that would allow the large‐scale production of a synthetic pepper‐substitute by a method easier and cheaper than the one based on synthetic piperine. Staudinger's pepper‐substitute was produced by the Chemische Fabrik Dr. Höhn & Co. in Neuss on the Rhine during the First World War and by the Hoechst plant of I.G. Farben and C.F. Boehringer Mannheim during the Second World War.     

Letter to the Editor Industrial Mixed Acid Nitration

Abstract

Biochemistry — including molecular biology — constituted a major part of Dutch chemical research over the period from 1940 to 1980. However, the Netherlands did not occupy a strong position in that field of research after the Second World War. The present paper seeks to explain the successful development of biochemistry in the Netherlands into an independent discipline of international standing. Formulating the goal of biochemistry as “science for its own sake” played an important role in this development. Post-doctoral positions, senior fellowships and editorships of journals were crucial for biochemistry in the Netherlands in building a network of international contacts that could keep researchers informed about current developments. Westenbrink and Slater were key participants in the development of these networks. These two scientists developed international contacts via fellowships and as editors of major biochemical journals. It was through these forms of communication that the hitherto peripheral Dutch biochemical research community gained a more central position.     

Making War Work for Industry: The United Alkali Company's Central Laboratory During World War One

The creation of the Central Laboratory immediately after the United Alkali Company (UAC) was formed in 1890, by amalgamating the Leblanc alkali works in Britain, brought high expectations of repositioning the company by replacing its obsolete Leblanc process plant and expanding its range of chemical products. By 1914, UAC had struggled with few exceptions to adopt new technologies and processes and was still reliant on the Leblanc process. From 1914, the Government would rely heavily on its contribution to the war effort. As a major heavy-chemical manufacturer, UAC produced chemicals for explosives and warfare gases, while also trying to maintain production of many essential chemicals including fertilisers for homeland consumption. UAC's wartime effort was led by the Central Laboratory, working closely with the recently established Engineer's Department to develop new process pathways, build new plant, adapt existing plant, and produce the contracted quantities, all as quickly as possible to meet the changing battlefield demands. This article explores how wartime conditions and demands provided the stimulus for the Central Laboratory's crucial R&D work during World War One.     

Anecdotal History of Styrene and Polystyrene

A formal history of styrene and polystyrene from 1839 through 1952 appears in the Styrene monograph edited by Boundy and writer but now out of print. Updating of the story by several teams of Dow writers appeared in the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia, the Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Technology, and the SPE Award address of Amos. We propose a more personalized history written from the perspective of one whose 40-year professional career was involved in scientific and technological aspects of the subject. We view this history as a complex interplay of science, technology, industrial activity, management decisions, legal and patent activities, people, and the vagaries of World War II. Germany had an early industrial lead prior to 1941 with a monomer process and mass polymerization techniques. Original work on styrene-butadiene elastomers was another first. Germany also had a scientific lead as academic scientists such as Staudinger, Kern, Schulz, Jenckel, and Ueberreiter became involved in the chemistry and physics of styrene and polystyrene (PS). Mark was first in industry and then in the university. Several United States companies were active with styrene and PS, also prior to 1941. Involvement of the United States in World War II lead to a government decision to produce SBR. This catapulted styrene into a major synthetic chemical. The lead passed from Germany to the United States, especially with the large excess capacity for monomer after 1945. Management decisions encouraged diverse large-scale polymer uses for styrene, aided by the low price for the monomer. Through a bizarre series of events (war, people, and legal action), proprietary industrial knowledge in both Germany and the United States had diffused into the domain of public knowledge. Styrene and PS now face the problems of any petrochemical product.     

The NIH analytical methods and reference materials program for dietary supplements

Quality of botanical products is a great uncertainty that consumers, clinicians, regulators, and researchers face. Definitions of quality abound, and include specifications for sanitation, adventitious agents (pesticides, metals, weeds), and content of natural chemicals. Because dietary supplements (DS) are often complex mixtures, they pose analytical challenges and method validation may be difficult. In response to product quality concerns and the need for validated and publicly available methods for DS analysis, the US Congress directed the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to accelerate an ongoing methods validation process, and the Dietary Supplements Methods and Reference Materials Program was created. The program was constructed from stakeholder input and incorporates several federal procurement and granting mechanisms in a coordinated and interlocking framework. The framework facilitates validation of analytical methods, analytical standards, and reference materials.     

Extraction,Isolation and Characterization of Bioactive Compounds from Artemisia and Their Biological Significance: A Review

Diverse medicinal plants such as those from the genus Artemisia have been employed globally for centuries by individuals belonging to different cultures. Universally, Artemisia species have been used to remedy various maladies that range from simple fevers to malaria. A survey conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) demonstrated that 80% of the global population is highly reliant on herbal medicine for their primary healthcare. WHO recommends artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT) for the treatment of global diseases such as malaria. Artemisinin is a bioactive compound derived from Artemisia annua leaves. It is a sesquiterpene endoperoxide with potent antimalarial properties. This review strives to instill natural products to chemists and others in diverse fields with a heterogeneous set of knowledge compiled from multifaceted researchers and organizations in literature. In particular, the various Artemisia species and effective extraction, isolation, and characterization methodologies are discussed in detail. An in-depth investigation into the literature reveals that divergent species of Artemisia exhibit a vast array of biological activities such as antimalarial, antitumor, and anti-inflammatory activities. There is substantial potential for bioactive compounds from Artemisia to provide significant relief from differing human ailments, but more meticulous research in this field is needed.     

中学生英才计划的“进阶式培养”模式

The "Senior High School Students Elite Program" is a training program developed by the state to train top-notch talents for scientific and technological innovation. This paper summarized the training situation of elite students in the past three years, and put forward a progression education mode. We hope that this education mode will truly benefit those senior high school students who have a strong interest in scientific research, so that the "Senior High School Students Elite Program" can be developed well and provide reference significance to realize its original intention.     

Designing an effective federal biomass program

This article addresses two questions: Has the effectiveness of the US governments federal research and development (R&;D) spending suffered from the post-1980 strategic change from freely shared and publicly owned to privately owned scientific advances? What criteria would a federal R&;D program use to design a strategy that most effectively enhances the well-being of farmers and rural communities? Several studies found that the pre-1980 US Department of Agriculture research strategy was very effective. No comparable studies have analyzed the comparative effectiveness of the post-1980 strategy of restricting access to the results of public research. Recent experience and several analytical studies suggest that to significantly enhance the health of rural economies from an expanded use of plant matter as an industrial material, federal policy should channel scientific and engineering research into small- and medium-sized production and processing technologies and should encourage farmer-owned, value-added enterprises.     

“可控自组装体系及其功能化”重大研究计划取得系列重要研究成果

In 2005, the Science magazine, in commemorating the 125th anniversary of its founding, proposed 25 most challenging scientific issues in the future. One of the issues, "How far can we push chemical self-assembly?" has attracted the attention of scientists all over the world. During the 11th Five Year Plan period, NSFC convened scientists from various fields and proposed a major research project, "Controllable self-assembly system and its functionalization". Since the implementation of this project, Chinese scientists have developed and recognized a variety of noncovalent interactions, constructed numerous assembly building blocks with the "Chinese label", established a new assembly method similar to an organic "name reaction", realized the functions of multi-component and multi-level assemblies, and constructed a batch of controllable self-assembly systems having scientific importance and potential practical value. They have achieved great leap forward from following to original innovation, and brought the research of chemical self-assembly in China to move forward to the center of international stage. In this study, we examined the overall scientific goals, general layout of the plan, and ideas for implementation of the major research program "Controllable Self-Assembly System and its Functionalization", as well as an array of significant research accomplishments made possible through the funding received by the program.     

De Réaumur à la Première Guerre Mondiale : les étapes de la maîtrise de l’acier,l’essor des aciers spéciaux

After a brief survey of the history of steel-making we shall concentrate on the period extending from Réaumur's work on that topic (1722) until World War one. Those two centuries saw the transition from empirical steel production processes to industrial steel manufacturing. We shall see how problems linked to the quenching and cementation of steel caused both scientists and steel manufacturers to develop efficient research leading to the establishment of an authentic metal science around 1900. These scientific discoveries then contributed to the prodigious development of special steel. Originally produced empirically to fulfill military requirements, these new types of material were to answer the needs of emerging industries, such as electrical engineering, as well as car manufacturing.     

Repurposing of antitumor drug candidate Quisinostat lead to novel spirocyclic antimalarial agents

Antimalarial chemotherapies endowed with effectiveness against drug-resistant parasites and good safety are urgently required in clinical.Our previous research revealed that clinical phase II antitumor drug Quisinostat was a promising antimalarial prototype by inhibiting the activity of Plasmodium falciparum(P.falciparum) histone deacetylase(PfHDAC).Herein,30 novel spirocyclic linker derivatives were designed and synthesized based on Quisinostat as lead compound,and then their antimalarial activities and cytotoxicity were systematically evaluated.Among them,compounds 8 and 27 could effectively eliminate wild-type and multi-drug resistant P.falciparum parasites,and display weakened cytotoxicity and good metabolic stability.Western blot assay demonstrated that they could inhibit PfHDAC activity like Quisinostat.In addition,both 8 and 27 showed certain antimalarial efficacy in rodent malaria model,and the animal toxicity of 8 was significantly improved compared with Quisinostat.Overall,8 and 27 were structurally novel PfHDAC inhibitors and provided prospective prototype for further antimalarial drug research.     

Private initiatives, public support, and war practices: development of fertilisers in Russia

The scarcity of experiments with fertilisers, the poor domestic industry, and high prices for imported products made Russia lag far behind the leading agrarian countries in the research and use of fertilisers. The first experiments on fertilisers were connected mostly with the private estates of Russian nobility. Things began to change slowly by the turn of the twentieth century, when the Ministry of Agriculture launched a policy of agricultural science promotion, including the development of agricultural chemistry. It was the outbreak of World War I that created a powerful stimulus for fertiliser research in Russia. A specific Russian "symbiosis" emerged between military industry and agricultural chemistry. The numerous factories of explosives set up ad hoc produced vast amounts of waste products; modified, they could serve as fertilisers. In 1915, the Public Committee for Support of Fertilisers was organised. Eventually, this committee gave birth to the Institute of Fertilisers, the first institute founded by the Bolshevik government. Thus, the project of "chemicalisation of agriculture," usually described as a revolutionary endeavour, was firmly rooted in World War I.     

Analysis of pellets found in the north area of the Asiago plateau (Vicenza, Italy), a locality of the 1914-1918 World War

Pellets of unknown material contained in an aluminium cylinder were found in the north area of the Asiago plateau (Vicenza), a locality of the First World War (1914-1918). Elemental analysis, infrared, chromatography and NMR experiments indicate that the main product is pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN). This substance was probably an igniting primer used by Austro-Hungarian (A.U.) military engineering. Hypothesis of medical use of the pellets can be disregarded while it seems improbable the use of this explosive by German Army during the Second War World.     

Ein synthetisches Kaffeearoma

Initiated by the experiences of World War I Hermann Staudinger tried to create a synthetic coffee flavor and asked his assistant Tadeusz Reichstein first with the isolation and analysis of the natural flavor followed by the development of a synthetic substitute. Reichstein worked from 1922 until 1932 to solve this task which proved to be very intricate. Since 1928 he worked closely together with Max Kerschbaum from “Haarman and Reimer”, then the leading company for artificial flavors. They finished their research without being able to create with their “Coffarom” a real substitute for the natural coffee flavor. Nevertheless this project is of significant interest for the history of chemistry because of the highly sophisticated microchemical methods applied as well as it is interesting as an early example of the cooperation between university‐based scientific research and industry‐sponsored applied chemistry. When Max Morgenthaler, working for the Nestlé company developed his “Nescafé”, the ascent of this firm to the biggest food producing conglomerate in the world began.     

The Legacy and Future of Radioactive Waste Management at the Millennium

Wastes containing radioactive materials have been produced ever since ore recovery and processing began; however, such materials did not become of public concern until the large-scale activities involving uranium and thorium ores and nuclear fission during and after World War II. Efforts to provide disposal sites for radioactive wastes, especially those associated with nuclear weapons and nuclear energy, have been largely unsuccessful for the past 40 years or so and are nearing crisis proportions as the new millennium begins — its eventual resolution is believed to require greater reliance on stewardship and a larger governmental presence.