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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Rudy M. Baum DEPUTY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: A. Maureen Rouhi MANAGING EDITOR: Ivan Amato DESIGN DIRECTOR: Nathan Becker SENIOR ART DIRECTOR: Robin L. Braverman SENIOR DESIGNER: Yang H. Ku STAFF ARTIST: Monica C. Gilbert NEWS EDITOR: William G. Schulz SENIOR ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER: Marvel A. Wills ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT: Marilyn Caracciolo
BUSINESS Michael McCoy, Assistant Managing Editor NORTHEAST: (732) 906-8300. Lisa M. Jarvis (Senior Editor), Rick Mullin (Senior Editor), Marc S. Reisch (Senior Correspondent), Alexander H. Tullo (Senior Editor), Rachel Eskenazi (Administrative Assistant). HONG KONG: 852 2984 9072. Jean-François Tremblay (Senior Correspondent). HOUSTON: (281) 486-3900. Ann M. Thayer (Senior Correspondent). LONDON: 44 20 8870 6884. Patricia L. Short (Senior Correspondent). WASHINGTON: (202) 872-4406. Melody Voith (Senior Editor) GOVERNMENT & POLICY Susan R. Morrissey, Assistant Managing Editor Rochelle F. H. Bohaty (Assistant Editor), Britt E. Erickson (Associate Editor), David J. Hanson (Senior Correspondent), Glenn Hess (Senior Editor), Cheryl Hogue (Senior Editor), Jeffrey W. Johnson (Senior Correspondent) SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY/EDUCATION (617) 395-4163. Amanda Yarnell, Assistant Managing Editor. WASHINGTON: (202) 872-6216. Stuart A. Borman (Deputy Assistant Managing Editor), Celia Henry Arnaud (Senior Editor), Carmen Drahl (Assistant Editor), Stephen K. Ritter (Senior Editor), Sophie L. Rovner (Senior Editor). BERLIN: 49 30 2123 3740. Sarah Everts (Associate Editor). CHICAGO: (847) 679-1156. Mitch Jacoby (Senior Editor). NORTHEAST: (732) 9068302. Bethany Halford (Associate Editor). WEST COAST: Jyllian Kemsley (Associate Editor) (510) 991-6574, Rachel A. Petkewich (Associate Editor) (510) 991-7670, Elizabeth K. Wilson (Senior Editor) (510) 870-1617. BEIJING: 150 1138 8372. Jessie Jiang (Contributing Editor) BOSTON:
ACS NEWS & SPECIAL FEATURES Linda Raber, Assistant Managing Editor Susan J. Ainsworth (Senior Editor), Corinne A. Marasco (Senior Editor), Linda Wang (Associate Editor) EDITING & PRODUCTION Robin M. Giroux, Managing Editor for Production Alicia J. Chambers (Assistant Editor), Arlene GoldbergGist (Senior Editor), Faith Hayden (Assistant Editor), Kenneth J. Moore (Assistant Editor), Tonia E. Moore (Assistant Editor), Kimberly R. Twambly (Associate Editor), Lauren K. Wolf (Assistant Editor) C&EN ONLINE Rachel Sheremeta Pepling, Editor Tchad K. Blair (Visual Designer), Luis A. Carrillo (Production Manager), Ty A. Finocchiaro (Web Assistant), William B. Shepherd (Manager, Online Recruitment), Noah Shussett (Associate Web Content Manager) PRODUCTION & IMAGING Renee L. Zerby, Lead Digital Production Specialist Krystal E. King (Lead Digital Production Associate) SALES & MARKETING Elise Swinehart, Assistant Director Elaine Facciolli Jarrett (Marketing Manager) ADVISORY BOARD: Magid Abou-Gharbia, Kim Baldridge, David N. Beratan, Jim Birnie, Lukas Braunschweiler, Joseph C. Breunig, Gary Calabrese, David Clary, Rita R. Colwell, E. J. Corey, Marijn E. Dekkers, Daryl W. Ditz, Michael P. Doyle, Arthur B. Ellis, Robin L. Garrell, James R. Heath, Rebecca Hoye, Nancy B. Jackson, Harry Kroto, Roger LaForce, Aslam Malik, Andrew D. Maynard, Eli Pearce, Marquita M. Qualls, Sara J. Risch, Alan Shaw, Rakesh (Ricky) S. Sikand, Thomas R. Tritton, Pratibha Varma-Nelson, Paul A. Wender, George Whitesides, Frank Wicks Published by the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY Madeleine Jacobs, Executive Director & CEO Brian Crawford, President, Publications Division EDITORIAL BOARD: John N. Russell Jr. (Chair); ACS Board of Directors Chair: Judith L. Benham; ACS President: Bruce E. Bursten; Ned D. Heindel, Madeleine M. Joullié, Leah Solla, Peter J. Stang Copyright 2008, American Chemical Society Canadian GST Reg. No. R127571347 Volume 86, Number 51
Another Trip Around The Sun THIS IS THE LAST ISSUE of C&EN in 2008 as we do not publish an issue on the last Monday of the year. It is hard to believe that we have completed another year—another trip around the sun, in the parlance of the R.E.M. song. It has been an eventful year, for our nation and for the chemistry enterprise. We reflect on some of the significant events of the year in three stories in this issue. The cover story is our annual “Chemical Year in Review,” which has appeared in the last issue of the year since 2002. This year’s review was written by Senior Editor Stephen Ritter, who took over responsibility for the feature from Deputy Assistant Managing Editor Stu Borman. Ritter took a somewhat different approach to the “Chemical Year in Review” than Borman. Out of the several hundred articles published in C&EN in 2008 on important research advances, Ritter chose 12 items to focus on and presents them in roughly chronological order. As he writes in his introduction to the feature, “These choices … are necessarily subjective, and we do not pretend that they are comprehensive. Indeed, these studies represent only a few examples of the many ways in which chemists are pushing the boundaries of what we know and what we can do.” The research selected by Ritter is fascinating chemistry. Something I find interesting about his selections, however, is that only two of the 12 items he highlights received any attention whatsoever from the mainstream media. And those two items— selection of the winners of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and new information on Mars, Venus, and Mercury from space probes—while noteworthy, weren’t specific research discoveries. Great chemistry doesn’t make the news. Although that’s not news, it’s still great chemistry. Who would have suspected that the classic SN2 reaction occurs via two different pathways? In addition to the traditional view of how the reaction occurs, researchers discovered a “roundabout mechanism” in which the nucleophile bumps into the substrate and spins it 360°
before substitution and leaving-group displacement occur, Ritter notes. And although we have known since the 1940s that N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, better known as DEET, is effective against mosquitoes, isn’t it amazing that it has taken 60 years to identify the molecule’s targets in insects? Great chemistry also doesn’t occur in isolation from the outside world. In last week’s issue, Associate Editor Jyllian Kemsley wrote about the toll the financial crisis is taking on chemistry departments (page 7). Our lead news story last week by Senior Editor Melody Voith focused on chemical companies slashing employment as a result of the deepening recession (page 5). This week’s issue has news of further job cuts (see page 7). This week’s lead Business Department story is the annual “Year in Review” for the chemical industry by Senior Correspondent Mark Reisch and Senior Editor Alex Tullo (see page 18). Much of their story focuses on the impact of the recession. “History will remember 2008 as the year the financial system stood still,” they write. “But what began as strictly a financial crisis slowly drew in the chemical industry as the year wore on.” Throw in the incredible midyear spike in energy prices, twists and turns on the mergers and acquisitions front, and Hurricane Ike, and you have the makings of what Reisch and Tullo call an “exciting year for the chemical industry.” I, for one, could use a little less of this kind of excitement. Allow me to end on a personal note. The end of 2008 marks the end of my fifth year as editor-in-chief of C&EN. I feel very privileged to lead the team of highly talented reporters, editors, designers, and online personnel who put together C&EN each week. And privileged, too, to have this forum for communicating with you, the readers of C&EN, each week. Best wishes for the holidays and the new year. And thanks for reading.
Editor-in-chief
Views expressed on this page are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACS. WWW.CEN-ONLI NE.ORG
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