Extreme Materials
Quote of the Week
"Chemists are seen as more concerned with making molecules and not sitting back and philosophizing."
ERIC R. SCERRI, CHEMISTRY LECTURER, UCLA – p. 41
October 5, 2009
In This Issue:
Jump to Table of Contents ↓
Highlights
Cover Story
Materials For Adventure
New fibers and membranes make outdoor gear lighter and more comfortable. (pp. 15-21)
» Photo Gallery | Videos
Business
Discovered In Asia, Tested In The U.S. (Member Content)
Chinese and Indian companies are steadily moving drugs into U.S. clinical trials. (pp. 24-25)
Science & Technology
Cysteine Oxidation
New chemical tools are poised to help scientists explore the roles oxidized cysteine residues might play in biology. (pp. 38-40)
Table of Contents
News Of The Week
Recasting The Nation's Chemical Law p. 9
TSCA Reform: Obama Administration calls for manufacturers to help pay for safety assessments.
Solvay Sells Its Drug Unit To Abbott Labs p. 10
Acquisition: Firm is latest European conglomerate to split chemicals and drugs.
One-Two Punch On Climate Change p. 10
Regulation: Senate, EPA push ahead on plans to cut greenhouse gases.
Caught By A Crystal p. 11
Materials Science: Fleeting intermediate observed in a porous coordination network..
Cleantech Investments Surge p. 11
Government support lured in venture investors in the third quarter.
Nanosilver In The Wash p. 12
Environmental Chemistry: Fate of fabric-embedded particles depends on conditions, products.
Sinochem Bids For Nufarm p. 12
Merger: $2.5 billion deal would give Chinese firm a global agchem platform.
Tolerating Hydrocarbon Fuels p. 13
Electrochemistry: Ceramic-metallic material could lead to cheaper, simpler fuel cells.
Obama Visits NIH p. 13
Funding: President touts $5 billion from recovery act for biomedical research.
Business
Discovered In Asia, Tested In The U.S. pp. 24-25 (Member Content)
Chinese and Indian companies are steadily moving drugs into U.S. clinical trials.
Hiring Chemistry pp. 27-28 (Member Content)
More than ever, biotech companies need good pharmaceutical chemistry partners.
A Second Act pp. 29-30 (Member Content)
Private investors hope to bring back on-line a shuttered petrochemical complex.
Business Concentrates pp. 22-23 (Member Content)
- J&J, Crucell Sign Antibody Deal
- In a bid to increase its vaccines presence, Johnson & Johnson will pay roughly $440 million for an 18% stake in Dutch biotechnology firm Crucell...
- Private Equity firm To Buy GenTek
- The private equity firm American Securities is buying GenTek in a deal valued at $673 million...
- Air Products, DuPont Venture Opens Lab
- DuPont Air Products NanoMaterials has opened a headquarters and technical center in Jhudong Township, Taiwan, near the Hsinchu Science Park...
- BASF Resurrects China Polyurethane Project
- Having put a project to build a methylene diphenyl diisocyanate plant on hold earlier this year (C&EN, May 11, page 17), BASF has a new timetable for it...
- Evonik To Sell Alzchem Unit
- As part of an ongoing strategic review, Evonik has agreed to sell its Alzchem specialty chemicals unit to German private equity firm Bluo for an undisclosed sum...
- Fertilizer Firms Wrestle Over Merger
- Terra Industries has rejected CF Industries’ increased offer to acquire it for 0.465 shares of CF for each share of Terra...
- Thai Epichlorohydrin Project Changing Hands
- Vinythai will pay about $11 million to take over a Solvay project in Thailand intended to produce 100,000 metric tons per year of epichlorohydrin...
- Chemical Makers Eye Succinic Acid
- Two separate joint ventures are pursuing the production of succinic acid from renewable resources...
- DSM Coating Boosts Solar Module Output
- DSM says its KhepriCoat antireflective glass coating helped a solar module tested at the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands achieve the highest conversion of light into energy ever...
- Dow Plans Middle East Research Center
- Dow Chemical is planning to build an R&D center at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST)...
- Sanofi To Acquire French Eye Drug Firm
- Sanofi-Aventis has agreed to pay up to $540 million for Fovea Pharmaceuticals, a privately held Paris-based biotech company developing drugs to treat eye diseases...
- Sequenom Fires CEO And Research Executive
- Sequenom has ousted its president and CEO, Harry Stylli, and senior vice president of R&D, Elizabeth Dragon...
- Business Roundup
- Mitsubishi Rayon, Dow Chemical, Formosa Plastics, Kemira, >Lonza, Academia Sinica, BioFocus DPI, Codexis,Eisai and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative...
ACS Comment
ACS National Awards: Stirring The Pot p. 47 (Member Content)
ACS News
Official Reports From The Washington, D.C., Meeting Web Exclusive
Government & Policy
Majumdar Picked To Lead ARPA-E p. 32 (Member Content)
Energy Department Research program is expected to ramp up with Berkeley lab engineer's confirmation.
Of Algae And Dead Zones pp. 33-34 (Member Content)
Legislation would create new federal programs to control size, incidences of harmful blooms.
'New Biology' Initiative p. 35 (Member Content)
Call for integration, collaboration in life sciences research to solve societal challenges is ambitious, but lacks specifics.
Government & Policy Concentrates p. 31 (Member Content)
- Industry Wants Changes In Chemical Security Bill
- A coalition of 27 business groups is urging House lawmakers to drop several controversial provisions from pending legislation that would establish new security standards...
- No ‘Silver Bullet’ For Securing Bio Labs
- The most effective way to prevent the deliberate misuse of deadly biological pathogens is to instill a culture of trust and responsibility among scientists in the laboratory...
- Chemical Labeling System Proposed
- OSHA proposed last week to align the U.S. chemical labeling, classification, and hazard communication system with an international system...
- EPA’s Nanomaterial Research Strategy
- EPA has released a research plan to help the agency better understand the risks of nanoscale materials to human health and the environment...
- NIH Funds More High-Risk Research
- NIH announced late last month the recipients of its first-ever Director’s Transformative R01 (T-R01) Awards as well as the 2009 Pioneer Awards and the 2009 New Innovator Awards...
» more government & policy news...
Obituaries pp. 48-49 (Member Content)
Science & Technology
Cysteine Oxidation pp. 38-40 (Member Content)
New chemical tools are poised to help scientists explore the roles oxidized cysteine residues might play in biology.
Philosophizing Chemistry pp. 41-42 (Member Content)
Philosophers delve into the central science.
C&EN Talks With Rebecca Kamen p. 43
A sculptor nurtures an elemental garden.
» Video | Audio
New Products pp. 44-45 (Member Content)
New and notable in the chemical industry.
Science & Technology Concentrates pp. 36-37 (Member Content)
- Microgel Enzyme Inhibitor
- A molecularly imprinted polymer selectively inhibits trypsin better that one of the enzyme’s known small-molecule inhibitors
- Element 114 Confirmed
- Eight-day-long atom-smashing experiment reproduces 10-year-old result
- Improved Selectivity In Making Metallic Carbon Nanotubes
- A new method to prepare single-walled carbon nanotubes allows better control over the tubes’ chirality and thus their conductivity properties
- Evaporating Polymer Produces Webby Patterns
- Controlling the evaporation of a drop of diblock copolymer under just the right conditions leads to self-assembly of weblike thin films
- Engineered Response To A Faux Dopamine
- Mutating one amino acid in a dopamine receptor makes a new tool for dissecting brain signals
- Serotonin Harnesses Small RNAs To Strengthen Synapses
- A study reveals that the neurotransmitter can regulate microRNAs and thus protein synthesis, which could shed light on long-term memory
- Structure Prediction Cautionary Tale
- Uneven analysis of crystal polymorphs suggests that extra caution is required with computational prediction of crystal structures
- Colorful Organic Nanocolloids
- Confining discreet numbers of dye molecules in liquid crystals yields a colorful array of organic-based materials
» more science & technology news...
Editor's Page
Learning From UCLA p. 3
The Departments
Letters pp. 4-7, Web Exclusive
Newscripts p. 56
2009 Ig Nobel Prizes
This Week Online
Reel Science
"Surrogates"
Reel Science steps inside a future Earth inhabited by remote-controlled robots.
C&EN Webinar
C&EN Webinar on Outsourcing in Drug Discovery
C&EN Webinar, "Outsourcing is a Key Pathway in the Future of Drug Discovery." Now Available!
Learn about the current state of outsourcing in the pharmaceutical industry and examine developments that have emerged in the past few years, including:
- Outsourcing drug discovery, including lead discovery and optimization
- Outsourcing to Asia
- Balancing cost and quality
- Pharma's R&D commitment to new drug development
- Outsourcing market's size and geography
Services & Tools
ACS Resources
ACS Careers
ACS is the leading employment source for recruiting scientific professionals. ACS Careers and C&EN Classifieds provide employers direct access to scientific talent both in print and online. Jobseekers | Employers
» Join ACS
Join more than 161,000 professionals in the chemical sciences world-wide, as a member of the American Chemical Society.
» Join Now!