2011 Priestley Medal

Quote of the Week
Robert Burns Woodward "just had that nerdy Elvis Costello look."
SCOTT SEVERSON, ALBUM COVER ARTIST, 4 OUT OF 5 DOCTORS – p. 48
March 28, 2011
In This Issue:
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Highlights

Cover Story
Priestley Medalist
Ahmed H. Zewail receives the 2011 award for developing methods to study ultrafast processes in chemistry, biology, and materials science. (pp. 12-16, 17-21)
» Dreaming The Future

Business
Hope For The Bees (Member Content)
Colony collapse disorder and resistant pests create demand for new treatments. (pp. 24-26)

Government & Policy
EPA Defends Pesticide Rules (Member Content)
Congress raises a fuss about costs of environmental regulations on agriculture. (pp. 32-34)
Table of Contents
Cover Story
Scientist-Diplomat Extraordinaire pp. 12-16
Straddling the U.S. and Middle East, Priestley Medalist Ahmed H. Zewail thrives at the interface of science, culture, and international affairs.
Dreaming The Future pp. 17-21
News Of The Week
Japan's Struggles Continue p. 7
Earthquake Recovery: Nuclear crisis continues as shortages of electronic materials loom.
Single-Molecule Magnets Evolve p. 8
Organometallics: Erbium complex displays new magnetic features that could lead to practical uses.
Faster, Better Infrared Imaging p. 8
Analytical Chemistry: Multiple synchrotron beams improve speed and resolution of IR chemical imaging.
Rigging Cross-Metathesis p. 9
Organic Synthesis: Molybdenum catalyst generates less stable Z olefin.
Cephalon Agrees To Buy Gemin X p. 9
Company moves to bolster pipeline with biotech purchase that brings small molecule cancer drugs.
Porphysomes Do It All p. 10
Biophotonics: Lipid-porphyrin nanovesicles offer both cancer diagnosis and treatment .
Methyl Isocyanate p. 10
Bayer ends use of infamous chemical at West Virginia plant.
Business

Hope For The Bees pp. 24-26 (Member Content)
Colony collapse disorder and resistant pests create demand for new treatments.
Malaysia Joins Biotech Bandwagon p. 28 (Member Content)
Country aims to attract manufacturers with smart policies, access to biomass.
Business Concentrates pp. 22-23 (Member Content)
- Sanofi And Merck Drop Animal Health Merger
- One year after announcing the deal, Merck & Co. and Sanofi-Aventis have terminated their agreement...
- PerkinElmer To Buy Two Software Firms
- In a bid to enhance its focus on laboratory knowledge management, PerkinElmer has acquired ArtusLabs...
- AkzoNobel Will Add Cellulosics In China
- AkzoNobel will spend about $85 million to boost capacity for its Bermocoll cellulose derivatives...
- First Solar Expands U.S. Manufacturing
- First Solar will build a thin-film solar module manufacturing plant in Mesa, Ariz....
- Merck Acquires Microbiology Business
- Germany’s Merck has acquired the microbiology testing business of Dreieich, Germany-based Biotest...
- PPG To Add Chlorine With Equa-Chlor Buy
- PPG Industries has agreed to acquire Equa-Chlor, a producer of chlorine, caustic soda, and hydrochloric acid...
- Eastman Expands In Medical Polymers
- Eastman Chemical has launched a line of medical-grade Tritan copolyester polymers for renal applications...
- Google Invests In CoolPlanet BioFuels
- The venture capital arm of Google has invested an undisclosed sum in CoolPlanet BioFuels...
- Biopesticide Firms Take Growth Path
- Biopesticide developer AgraQuest has raised $18 million from venture capitalists...
- Lonza Inks Biologic Manufacturing Pacts
- Lonza has signed a drug development and manufacturing agreement with Athera Biotechnologies...
- U.S. Sues Teva To Block Generic Drug
- The U.S. government has sued Teva Pharmaceutical Industries to block the sale of darunavir...
- Asahi Kasei Boosts Battery Separators
- Asahi Kasei will spend about $75 million to expand its capacity for lithium-ion battery separators...
- Quest Will Acquire Genome Pioneer Celera
- Quest Diagnostics has agreed to acquire Celera, a genetic diagnostics firm, in a stock deal valued at $344 million...
- Business Roundup
- DuPont, Clariant, Mitsui Chemicals, Scientex, Sika, Nalco, Amyris, Seattle Genetics, Synageva BioPharma, Astellas Pharma.....
This Week Online

National Meeting News
C&EN reporters have converged on Anaheim, Calif., for the ACS national meeting. News coverage appears online, along with "C&EN Picks," video spotlights of newsworthy sessions.
Dioxin Levels Dropped 70% During Beijing Olympics
Air Quality: Closing factories and banning cars temporarily reduced pollution.
Antibiotics May Increase Groundwater Nitrate
Water Pollution: Compound slows growth of nitrate-reducing bacteria.
Finding Phosphoproteins
Protein Analysis: Nanopolymer helps scientists detect and quantify an important protein modification.
Government & Policy

EPA Defends Pesticide Rules pp. 32-34 (Member Content)
Congress raises a fuss about costs of environmental regulations on agriculture.
Government & Policy Concentrates p. 31 (Member Content)
- Oil Spill Blamed On Damaged Pipe
- he basic cause of the blowout preventer failure at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig last year was a bent portion of ...
- Two Die In Kentucky Plant Accident
- The Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board has sent an investigation team to the site of a deadly chemical plant accident in Louisville...
- Revisions Sought In Nuclear Security
- The National Research Council has told the Department of Energy that DOE needs to change the way it thinks about protecting nuclear...
- Approval Of Biotech Alfalfa Challenged
- A coalition of environmental groups and organic farmers has filed a lawsuit against USDA...
- Biotech Supports Patent Standard
- The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), an industry trade group, is urging the Supreme Court to uphold the current legal standard for...
» more government & policy news...
ACS News
IYC Profile: Lebanon p. 42
Chemist Najat Aoun Saliba focuses her research on Lebanese issues. (With Photo Gallery)
ACS Raises Funds For Water Purification p. 43
Chemistry In Context Updated p. 43

Social Networking And C&EN
You can now follow C&EN on Facebook. Become a fan and track the latest news and discussions at facebook.com/CENews.
Science & Technology

The Angel's Wing Mystery pp. 38-39 (Member Content)
An unstable amino acid may have something to do with deadly mushroom poisoning.
Reel Science: 'Cool It' p. 40
Bjørn Lomborg sheds new light on the climate-change debate
Science & Technology Concentrates pp. 36-37 (Member Content)
- Origin-of-Life Surprises
- Reexamination of some 50-year-old vials from Stanley Miller’s experiments turns up new results.
- Cancer: A Protein Aggregation Disease
- Misfolded and aggregated proteins––longtime hallmarks of brain disorders––also appear to play a role in cancer.
- Metallic Aluminum Forms Tetrahedrons
- Electron distribution maps provide a better explanation for some of bulk aluminum’s properties.
- Stressing Strengthens Nanocomposites
- Polymer-nanotube composites exhibit a property characteristic of bone and biomechanical tissues.
- Some Mouth Microbes Battle Dental Plaque
- Besides bacteria that cause cavities and gum disease, the mouth is home to bacteria that produce tooth-friendly enzymes.
- Press-And-Go Fingerprinting
- Polyurethane-fluorescein nanofiber mats lift and quickly image latent fingerprints from different types of surfaces.
- A Salty Energy Source
- A newly devised battery can store the entropic energy dissipated as freshwater and saltwater mix.
- Carboryne Insertion Goes Two Ways
- Reactive boron-carbon clusters have two resonance forms that exhibit significantly different reactivity patterns.
» more science & technology news...
Meetings
2011 C&EN Calendar Web Exclusive
C&EN's latest list of meetings and events of interest to those in the chemical community.
Editor's Page
Educating Ph.D. Chemists p. 3
The Departments
Letters pp. 4-6

Newscripts p. 48
R. B. Woodward Caught On Film, Album Cover (With Slideshow)
C&EN Archives

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Environmental SCENE News
Fertilizer May Help Bacteria Slip Into Groundwater
Water Safety: High phosphate levels allow deadly microbes to pass through soil.
Bisphenol A Is Ubiquitous In Receipts
Endocrine Disrupters: Researchers detect BPA in every receipt that they collected from seven U.S. cities.
Sunlight Is An Effective Disinfectant
Public Health: Field work shows that a cheap water treatment method improves children's health.
House Takes Aim At Clean Air Act
Pollution: Industry backs cost-benefit analyses of EPA rules, but critics fear assault on public health.
Analytical SCENE News
New Method Isolates Membrane Proteins
Protein Purification: Technique separates proteins on a lipid bilayer.
Bisphenol A Is Ubiquitous In Receipts
Endocrine Disrupters: Researchers detect BPA in every receipt that they collected from seven U.S. cities.
Mapping Drugs In Human Tissue
Clinical Chemistry: Mass spectrometry imaging provides view of an inhaled drug in human lung tissue.
Skeletons Come To Light
Fluorescence Imaging: Monitoring cells as they dissolve bone may lead to disease treatments.
Analyzing Nuclear Processes
ACS Meeting News: Analytical chemists devise ways to watch radioactive streams.
JACS Research In C&EN
Indole Changeup Yields Elusive Alkaloid
ACS Meeting News: Cyclization and nitrene insertion star in synthesis.
Prefab Synthesis Moves Ahead
Organic Chemistry: First stable alpha-boryl aldehydes ease preparation of complex small molecules.
Multiple Bradykinin States Revealed
The peptide adopts at least 10 conformers in solution, explaining why its structure had only been partially characterized.
Scaling Up The Axinellamines
A quicker, more efficient, and stereocontrolled route to a key intermediate streamlines natural product syntheses.
A Revamped Vancomycin
Medicinal Chemistry: Modified compound shows promise against hard-to-treat bacteria.
CENtral Science
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