ACS
NEWS
Nomenclature Committee Steps Up Activity ACS Council committee to increase efforts to meet nomenclature needs of modern chemistry An intensified attack on problems of chemical nomenclature is under way. Expanded activities to meet modern nomenclature needs were planned earlier this month at the first full-scale conference held by the ACS Council Committee on Nomenclature, Spelling, and Pronunciation since its establishment 75 years ago. In the past, the committee had been able to carry on its work mostly through correspondence among its members and through its annual report to the Council, according to the committee chairman. Dr. Leonard T. Capell, director of nomenclature and executive consultant of Chemical Abstracts Service. The increasing volume and productivity of chemical research in recent times, however, has made a more formally organized and coordinated program necessary, Dr. Capell said. At the two-day meeting this month in the ACS headquarters in Washington, 22 committee members and invited guests took inventory of the cur-
rent status of chemical nomenclature and considered ways of increasing the committee's activity and influence. "We want to get nomenclature work started in the newer fields of chemistry before poor and ambiguous nomenclature becomes established," Dr. Capell explained. The committee will give special attention to its work with existing nomenclature committees of ACS divisions. These committees will be urged to initiate more activity in potential problem areas. Other divisions in fields of chemistry where nomenclature problems are likely to arise will be encouraged to form committees.
Division Committees.
The Di
visions of Organic Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, and Carbohydrate Chemistry have had active committees for years and have made many significant contributions to better chemical nomenclature. Recently the Division of Polymer Chemistry formed a similar committee. Dr. Capell observed that the actual
NOMENCLATURE COMMITTEE. At head of table, Dr. E. J. Crane (left), honorary chairman, and Dr. Leonard T. Capell (right), chairman, preside at first full-scale conference of Council Committee on Nomenclature, Spelling, and Pronunciation 72
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development work in nomenclature in a specific field should be done at the division level by specialists working in that field. The ACS committee will continue to serve as a coordinating unit, particularly in borderline areas such as organic-inorganic and organicbiochemistry. Editors of the ACS basic journals will be encouraged to call on the committee members, individually or collectively, when assistance is needed in nomenclature problems. Since each editor is a member of the committee, close cooperation is anticipated. In recent years some members of the ACS committee also have been members of the nomenclature committees of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the National Research Council. This overlapping membership has ensured cooperation between these scientific groups in nomenclature problems, and the committee plans to continue its mutual efforts with IUPAC and NRC. Educational Activity. The ACS committee also hopes to promote the use of good chemical nomenclature through increased educational activity. This could take the form of symposiums, college seminars, or short courses. To help keep its program up to date, the committee henceforth will meet annually. Among those participating in the recent conference was Dr. E. J. Crane, honorary chairman of the committee, who was editor of Chemical Abstracts for 44 years and chairman of the committee until his retirement in 1958. Other committee members are: Dr. Roy M. Adams, Dr. Alfred Burger, Dr. George O. Doak, Dr. W. Conard Fernelius, Dr. John H. Fletcher, Dr. Marshall D. Gates, Jr., Dr. F. D. Greene, Dr. Henry R. Henze, Dr. Charles D. Hurd, Dr. Kurt L. Loening, Dr. Mary A. Magill, Dr. Melvin G. Mellon, Dr. Hans Neurath, Dr. W. Albert Noyes, Jr., Dr. Howard S. Nutting, Dr. Robert W. Parry, Dr. Melville F. Ravely, Dr. Joseph H. Roe, Dr. Russell J. Rowlett, Jr., Janet D. Scott, Dr. Peter A. S. Smith, Dr. H. B. Vickery, Dr. M. L. Wolfrom, and Dr. Thomas F. Young. Invited participants in the conference were Dr. Robert B. Fox, Stanley P. Klesney, and Dr. James A. Moore. At a dinner meeting of the group, Dr. Herbert Koller of the Office of Research and Development, U.S. Patent Office, spoke on "Nomenclature Problems of the Patent Office."
Look at the interesting things you can do with TECQUINOL 5 Tecquinol, Eastman's technical hydroquinone, has a double usefulness. Organic chemists find it a good material for the synthesis of numerous pleasing and useful structures, and applications chemists in many fields find it interesting in the modification of free radical and redox reactions. For Mannich mechanics and others. Tecquinol has good reactivity. You can alkylate it with alkyl sulfates or chlorides, or catalytically with olefins. Oxidation, hydrogenation and halogenations are straightforward reactions. Mannich condensations with secondary amines yield fairly clear-cut mono- and di-substituted products, but when you employ primary amines the reactions become more complex. If the amine in question happens to be methyl, isopropyl, t-butyl, cyclohexyl, allyl or 2-dimethylaminoethyl, you end up with mixtures of 3,7-dialkyl2,3,4,6,7,8-hexahydro-l,5dioxa-3,7-diazaanthracene and3,6-dialkyl-2,3,4,5,6,7hexahydro-l,8-dioxa-3,6diazaphenanthrene. Benzylamine behaves similarly. React Tecquinol with ethyl acetoacetate (also available in commercial quantities from Eastman) and the substance you obtain bears an interesting similarity to one popularly used both to kill rats and prolong the life
span of patients with coronary disease. For single electron specialists. To the varied breed of application chemists, Tecquinol can be as interesting as it is to synthesis people. Ever since Michaelis began to elucidate the mechanisms of one-electron jumps, hydroquinone and hydroquinone-like molecules have intrigued workers in many chemical fields. Perhaps you remember the first redox electrode you constructed in P-chem? Things have come a long way since then. Tecquinol is being .' used as an inhibitor and short-stop in acrylic and vinyl polymerizations, in unsaturated polyesters, as an antioxidant, as an anti-skinning agent in paints. We have even heard a rumor of someone trying it as an assistant in the stripping of anthraquinone vat and anthraquinone-type acetate dyes. And though we have no information at hand on its use in biological E.M.F. cells, its physicochemical properties and relatively low toxicity would seem to make it a natural candidate for the lucky investigator with such a blue sky project. For more information on Tecquinol why not write Eastman today? (It would help us to help you if you could tell us a little about your needs or hopes for the molecule.) J
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If You Cannot Continue Resign Promptly ACS members who feel they must drop out of the Society at the end of 1963 should do so by resigning and not simply by ignoring their 1964 obligations. In accordance with the Bylaws, all who fail to resign promptly will be carried on the rolls in 1964 as members and will be responsible for dues. Future difficulties and the payment of a reinstatement fee can be avoided only if resignation is received in headquarters before Dec. 31.
Appointments Dr. Henry Eyring, President of the American Chemical Society, appointed the following members to represent the Society at special functions: • Dr. William G. Kessel represented the Society at the inauguration of William E. Kerstetter as president of DePauw University on Oct. 12. • Dr. William G. Scribner represented the Society at the inauguration of John Nissley Stauffer as president of Wittenberg University on Oct. 18. • Dr. James B. Reed represented the Society at the inauguration of Foster Sargent Brown as president of St. Lawrence University on Oct. 19. • Dr. Kenneth W. Scott will represent the Society at the inauguration of Robert Isaac White as president of IF YOU CAN SEPARATE IT, YOU CAN COLLECT IT Kent State University on Oct. 25. PREP/PARTITIONER* Fishers pre • Dean Adolph Stern will represent WITH THE FISHER the Society at the inauguration of parative-scale gas chromatograph can be run at 200°C, separates Dumont Francis Kenny as president components boiling well above 250°C. Interchangeable sectional of Queensborough Community Colcolumns make it easy to vary chromatographic packing and column lege on Oct. 29. dimensions to separate the type of sample you have, faster and more efficiently than fractional distillation. Collection system isolates each component as it emerges—85 to 9 5 % recovery with New Bulletin Editors 2to 3-ml components. Nitrogen carrier gas eliminates expense of The following are new editors of local gas reclaiming systems. Price: $2,750 and available under Fisher section publications: • Dr. Philip H. Rieger, Fission Financing Plan. More facts about the Prep/Partitioner? Get free Bulletin FS-239. Write today to Fisher Scientific Company, 101 Product, Rhode Island Section. Fisher Building, Pittsburgh 19, Pennsylvania. j-337 •Charlotte N. Gottschalk, The Southeaster, Southeast Pennsylvania *Fisher Scientific Company Trademark Section. • Thomas C. Frazier, Jr., The Bulletin, Virginia Section. • Richard R. Bratzel, The Capital World's Largest Manufacturer-Distributor of Laboratory Appliances & Reagent Chemicals Chemist, Washington, D.C., Section. Atlanta • Boston • Chicago • Fort Worth • Houston • New York • Philadelphia
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