ACS NEWS
Second Group of 1990 PRF Grants Approved Acting on recommendations from the February meeting of the PRF Advisory Board, the ACS Board of Directors has approved 146 new or continuing ACS-PRF grants-in-aid. The board's action adds $3,910,445 to PRF commitments for 1990. The new grants were recommend ed by the PRF Advisory Board from a total of 394 proposals. A third and final set of 1990 PRF grants will be announced this summer. Proposals for 1991 PRF grants are now being accepted. Applicants should note that new limits have been estab lished for the scientific text (exclud ing equations, figures, and referenc es) of 4000 words for PRF Type AC and Β proposals, and 1700 words for G proposals. The "34th Annual Report on Re search under Sponsorship of the Pe troleum Research F u n d " is now available. Individuals who wish a complimentary copy, or information and application forms for current ACS-PRF grant programs, should write the Petroleum Research Fund, American Chemical Society, 1155— 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036, or call (202) 872-4481.
ACS-PRF Grants for Fundamental Research in the Petroleum Field (Type AC) Antonio C. Lasaga, Yale U. The Role of Reactive Fluid Flow in Sandstone Diagenesis. $40,000 Gareth R. Eaton, Sandra S. Eaton, U of Denver, Col orado Seminary. Active Site Water in Metallobiochemistry. $40,000 David A. Hodell, U of Florida. Strontium Isotope Stratigraphy and Geochemistry of the Late Tertiary Ocean: Application to the Florida Platform. $34,900 Martin B. Lagoe, U of Texas, Austin. Late Quaternary Foraminifera and Palynomorphs from the North western Gulf of Mexico Slope: Biofacies and Mor phometry Approaches for Increased Neogene Paleoenvironmental Resolution. $40,000 George E. Ewing, Indiana U. Photochemistry on Salt Surfaces. $40,000
J. Michael McBride, Yale U. The Growth of Optically Anomalous Molecular Crystals. $40,000 Gregory I. Gellene, U of Notre Dame. Neutralized Ion-Beam Studies of Hydrides of Dinitrogen. $60,000 Richard Bersohn, Columbia U. Two- and ThreeDimensional Doppler Spectroscopy. $40,000 Peter M. Felker, U of California, Los Angeles. HighResolution Raman Spectroscopy of Molecular Clusters. $40,000 Bernd R. T. Simoneit, Oregon State U. Nitrogen, Sul fur, and Oxygen Compounds in Hydrothermal Pe troleum. $40,000 Joseph A. Heppert, U of Kansas. Aspects of Molec ular Rearrangements in Titanium Alkoxides. $40,000 Eric Block, State U of New York, Albany. The Chem istry of α .^-Unsaturated Disulfide Derivatives. $40,000 Anthony J. Pearson, Case Western Reserve U. Chemistry and Synthetic Applications of DieneMolybdenum Complexes. $40,000 Richard A. Yund, Brown U. Grain-Boundary Transport and Related Processes in Natural Fine-Grained Ag gregates. $40,000 Bonnie A. Wallace, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. Methods for Prediction of Protein Secondary Struc tures in Nonaqueous (Hydrocarbon) Environments. $40,000 George Stephanopoulos, Massachusetts Inst, of Technology. A Systematic Approach for the Identi fication of Hazards in Chemical Processing Sys tems. $40,000 Daniel J. Dwyer, U of Maine, Orono. Controlled At mosphere Photoelectron Spectroscopy Studies of π-Bonded CO on Iron Surfaces. $59,996 Sandro Gambarotta, U of Ottawa. Binuclear Zr(lll) and Zr(IV) Fulvalene Complexes. $40,000 Catherine E. Housecroft, U of Cambridge. Metal-Me diated Borane Transformations. $40,000 Michael B. Underwood, U of Missouri, Columbia. Thermal Consequences of Thrust Faulting: an Ex ample from the Kandik Basin, East-Central Alaska. $40,000 Bryan E. Kohler, U of California, Riverside. Electron ic Structure of Conjugated Organic Molecules by Laser Desorption Seeded Beam Spectroscopy. $40,000 Tai-chang Chiang, U of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Structural, Chemical, and Electronic Properties of Surfaces, Adsorbates, and Overlayers. $40,000 Azriel Z. Genack, Narciso Garcia, City U of New York, Queens C. Wave Propagation and Localiza tion in Random Structures. $40,000 Donald B. DuPre, U of Louisville. Induced Chain Ri gidity. $40,000 William B. Euler, U of Rhode Island. Synthesis and Characterization of Phenyl Containing Polyazine and Polyazomethine Conducting Polymers. $40,000 Earie F. McBride, U of Texas, Austin. Rock/Water Interaction and Provenance Determination: South ern Alleghenian Foreland Basin Rocks. $40,000
Gerald T. Schuster, U of Utah. Velocity Reconstruc tion from Seismic Data Using a Hybrid Traveltime Plus Full Wave Inversion Method. $40,000 Rinaldo Poli, U of Maryland. Electron Transfer Cata lyzed Ligand Exchanges on the 17-Electron MoCpX2L2 Compounds. $40,000 Howard R. Mayne, U of New Hampshire. Model Hamiltonians for Reaction of Rotationally Excited Molecules. $40,000 Joseph P. Konopelski, U of California, Santa Cruz. Chiral Dienes and Their Use in the Synthesis of Enantiomerically Pure Compounds. $40,000 Paul E. Dietze, U of Maryland, Baltimore County. Solvolysis of Silyl Ethers. $40,000 Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, Michigan State U. Soluble Polychalcogenide Chemistry of Late Transition and Main Group Metals. $40,000 Anthony J. Poe, David H. Farrar, U of Toronto. Kinet ic and Mechanistic Studies of High-Nuclearity Carbonyl Clusters. $40,000 Michael F. Hochella Jr., Stanford U. Scanning Tun neling/Atomic Force Microscopic and Spectro scopic Study of Mineral Dissolution and Sorption Reactions. $40,000 Karen W. Morse, Utah State U. Synthetic and Reac tivity Studies of New N-H Containing Amine and Aminophosphonate Borane Derivatives. $40,000 Walter S. Struve, Iowa State U. Ultrafast Pump Probe Studies of Phytochrome Kinetics. $40,000 R. Mark Leckie, U of Massachusetts. Mid-Cretaceous Planktonic Foraminiferal Biostratigraphy and Paleoecology. $40,000 W. Curtis Conner, U of Massachusetts. Zeolite Char acterization and Dynamics: the Effect in Molecular Transport and Catalytic Selectivity. $40,000 Adam P. Hitchcock, McMaster U. Chemical Reac tions at Surfaces Studied by Reflection Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy. $40,000 Robson F. Storey, U of Southern Mississippi. Investi gation of the Cationic Polymerization of p-Acetoxystyrene. $40,000 Udo H. Brinker, State U of New York, Binghamton. New Reactions of Cyclobutylidenes. $40,000 John K. Snyder, Boston U. Dienophilicity of Indole: Exploration and Synthetic Applications of Cycload ditions with 1,2,4,5-Tetrazines and 1,2,4-Triazines. $40,000 Christopher T. Baldwin, John D. Milliman, Boston U. Leeward Transport and Diagenesis of Carbonate Sediments from Great Bahama Bank: a Réévaluation of the Faciès Concept. $19,956 Daniel B. Blake, U of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Mode and Tempo of Evolution and Ecophenotypic Variation in a Paleozoic Bryozoan Lineage. $39,993 Michael W. Trenary, U of Illinois, Chicago. Infrared Studies of Platinum-Rhodium Catalysts. $60,000 James J. Valentin!, Robert B. Gerber, U of California, Irvine. Spectroscopy and Reaction Dynamics in van der Waals and in Hydrogen-Bonded Clusters. $40,000 June 11, 1990 C&EN
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ACS News John A. Westgate, U of Toronto, Scarborough Cam pus. Tephrochronology and Magnetostratigraphy of Late Cenozoic Loess in the Fairbanks Area, Interi or Alaska. $40,000 William J. le Noble, State U of New York, Stony Brook. Face Selection in Organic Synthesis. $40,000 Robert S. Brown, U of Alberta. The Fate of Anionic Tetrahedral Intermediates Produced from OH" Pro moted Hydrolysis of Amides and Amidines. $40,000
Markes E. Johnson, Williams C. Evolution and Paleoecology of Ancient Rocky Shores. $20,000 Mitsuru Kubota, Harvey Mudd C. Elimination and Mi gration Reactions of Carbonyl-Alkyl Compounds of Platinum, Palladium, Iridium, and Rhodium. $20,000 Jafar Hadizadeh, U of Louisville. An Experimental and SEM Study of Large-Strain Cataclastic Flow in Porous Rocks. $20,000 Randall H. Brown, Luther C. Surface Segregation in Binary Transition-Metal Alloys. $20,000
Matthew F. Vernon, Columbia U. Halogen Etching Reactions of lll-V Semiconductors. $40,000
W. Rodger Nutt, Davidson C. Single-Source Precur sors for Gallium Nitride. $20,000
Yee C. Chiew, Rutgers U. Statistical Mechanics of Sol-Gel Transition and Particle Aggregation in Dense Dispersions. $40,000
Edward J. Grubbs, San Diego State U. Electrostatic Effects, Base-Aggregation Effects, and Intramolec ular Base Participation in β Eliminations. $20,000
Harold C. Helgeson, U of California, Berkeley. Calcu lation of the Solubilities of Rock-Forming Minerals in Sedimentary Basins as a Function of Pressure, Temperature, and Fluid Composition. $40,000
William R. Bartlett, Fort Lewis C. New Stereocontrolled Strategies for Insect Pheromone Synthesis. $20,000
Rama Bansil, Boston U. Diffusion of Polymers in Gels. $40,000 Ken S. Feldman, Pennsylvania State U. Template Controlled Oligomerizations. $40,000 40
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Tullis C. Onstott, Princeton U. Ar/ Ar Laser Microprobe Dating of Authigenic k-Feldspar Over growths. $40,000 Simon C. Brassed, Stanford U. Combined Organic and Isotopic Assessment of Cretaceous Paleoenvironments. $40,000 Gary B. Schuster, U of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Photoinduced Phase Transitions in Discotic Liquid Crystals. $40,000
Joon C. Lee, U of Southern Mississippi. Critical Bina ry Liquid Mixtures in Porous Media and Ising Mod els with Correlated Disorder. $20,000 Alforts L. Baumstark, Georgia State U. The Effects of Structural Modifications on the Chemiexcitation Yields for Thermolysis of 1,2-Dioxetanes. $20,000 Neal R. O'Brien, State U of New York, Potsdam. In terpreting Shale Depositional Environments and Processes Using Integrated Fabric and Geochemical Techniques. $20,000 Rabindra N. Roy, Drury C. Thermodynamic Study of Electrolyte Mixtures. $20,000 Charles F. Beam Jr., C of Charleston. Novel Synthe ses with Reactive Polymetalated Intermediates. $20,000
Han Benjamin, U of California, Santa Cruz. Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Chemical Reactions at the Liquid-Vapor and Liquid-Liquid Interface. $18,000 Eric D. Edstrom, Utah State U. New Methods for the Construction of Pyrroline and Pyrrolidine Rings from Alkenes. $18,000 Bill J. Baker, Florida Inst, of Technology. A Synthe sis of the Marine Alkaloid Papuamine. $18,000 Andre W. Droxler, Rice U. Development of Pteropod Dissolution Indices: Application to Climatically In duced Quaternary Periplatform Aragonite Cycles in the Bahamas, Nicaragua Rise, Maldives, and the Queensland Plateau. $18,000 John G. Loeser, Oregon State U. Dimensional Con tinuation Treatment of Electron Correlation in At oms and Solids. $18,000 Thomas M. Gilbert, Northern Illinois U. Synthesis, Structure, and Electronic Properties of Alkylidynyl Polyyne Complexes. $18,000 Steven K. Pollack, U of Cincinnati. Electrostatic Sta bilization of Liquid Crystalline Polymer Structure. $18,000 Eric J. Beckman, U of Pittsburgh. Microporous Mate rials Processing Using Supercritical Fluids. $18,000 Randolph S. Duran, U of Florida. Monolayers and Multilayers of Side-Chain Liquid Crystalline Poly mers. $18,000 Paul S. Weiss, Pennsylvania State U. Vibrational Spectroscopy of Single Molecules on Surfaces. $18,000 Joan F. Brennecke, U of Notre Dame. Novel Reac tions in Supercritical Fluids. $18,000
Stanley H. Pine, California U, Los Angeles. Titanium Reagents in Organic Synthesis. $20,000
Scott R. Paterson, U of Southern California. Strain and Textural Analyses of Deformed and Nondeformed Clastic Rocks in Accretionary Wedges. $18,000
John W. Failer, Yale U. Catalysis and Stereochemi cal Control with Organometallic Lewis Acids. $40,000
Donald D. Adams, State U of New York, C at Pitts burgh. Gas Cycling in Fennoscandian and Adiron dack Peatlands. $20,000
Thomas L. Beck, U of Cincinnati. Quantum Effects on the Equilibrium and Dynamical Properties of Molecular and Rare Gas Clusters. $18,000
Kenneth G. Spears, Northwestern U. Picosecond Dy namics for a Two-Dimensional Isomerization. $40,000
Fred J. Grieman, Pomona C. Electronic Spectrosco py of Transition-Metal Dihalide Cations Produced in a Heated-Nozzle Expansion. $20,000
Clare C. Yu, U of California, Irvine. Low-Temperature Properties of Amorphous Materials. $18,000 Hans-Conrad zur Loye, Massachusetts Inst, of Tech nology. Synthesis of New Reduced Mixed-Metal Oxides Containing Early- and Late-Transition Met als. $18,000 Vicki H. Grassian, U of Iowa. Photochemical Reac tions of Adsorbates on Metal Surfaces. $18,000 Marcia Bjornerud, Miami U. Interpreting a Major Structural and Stratigraphie Discontinuity in North ern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada. $18,000
Russell H. Schmehl, Tulane U. Intramolecular Photoreactions of Covalently Linked, Multinuclear Tran sition-Metal Complexes. $60,000
Gerald R. Stevenson, Illinois State U. Electron Trans fer between Annulene Isotopic Isomers. $40,000 Richard F. W. Bader, McMaster U. Theoretical Syn thesis of Macromolecules and the Prediction of Their Role in Molecular Recognition. $40,000 Gary H. Posner, Johns Hopkins U. New Aspects of the Claisen Rearrangement. $40,000
ACS-PRF Grants for Fundamental Research in the Petroleum Field (TypeB) Narayan S. Hosmane, Southern Methodist U. Syn thetic, Spectroscopic, and Structural Studies on Extended Metallacarboranes. $20,000 Nancy S. Mills, Trinity U. Pyramidal Dications. $20,000 David K. Geiger, State U of New York, C at Geneseo. Mixed Porphyrin-Phthalocyanine Aggregates. $20,000 Susan T. Collins, California State U, Northridge. Or ganometallic Photochemistry of Rare-Earth and Transition-Metal Complexes in Rare Gas Matrices at 10 K. $20,000 Jan Tobochnik, Kalamazoo C. Diffusion in Porous Media. $20,000 Ronald L. Musselman, Franklin and Marshall C. Po larized Specular Reflectance of Metalloprotein Models and One-Dimensional Conductors. $20,000 Kensaku Nakayama, California State U, Long Beach. The Synthesis of Novel L-Tartrate Derived Chiral Auxiliaries and Their Employment in Asymmetric Induction. $20,000 48
June 11, 1990 C&EN
ACS-PRF Grants for Fundamental Research in the Petroleum Field (Type G) T. David Westmoreland, Wesleyan U. Mechanism and Electronic Structure in MolybdenumContaining Oxidases. $18,000 Paul R. Stoddard, Northern Illinois U. Epicenter Relo cation and Focal Mechanism Determinations for the Gorda Block Region. $18,000 Chang-Ho Park, U of Minnesota. Butanol Fermenta tion by Acid Mutant and Simultaneous Separation by Gas Stripping in a Hollow Fiber Reactor. $18,000 Scott McN. Sieburth, State U of New York, Stony Brook. Silanolates in Organic Synthesis: Unique and Versatile Intermediates. $18,000 Robert S. Coleman, U of South Carolina. Acylketene [4+2] Cycloadditions: De novo Carbohydrate Syn thesis. $18,000 Dennis M. Kiick, U of Tennessee, Memphis. Solvent Deuterium Isotope Effects on Enzyme-Catalyzed Carbon-Carbon Lyase Reactions. $18,000 Mark R. Hoffmann, U of North Dakota. Multiconfiguration-Based Coupled Electron Pair Approximation Studies of Phosphorus Multiple Bonds. $18,000 James E. Jackson, Michigan State U. Transition States of Carbene Reactions: a Structural Study. $18,000 Pamela M. Aker, U of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Dy namics of CI Atom Reactions. $18,000
Craig C. Martens, U of California, Irvine. Nonlinear Dynamics of Many-Body Processes. $18,000 Vincent J. Davisson, Purdue U. Enzymes of the Histidine Biosynthetic Pathway. $18,000 Michael H. Nantz, U of California, Davis. Chiral Re agent Mediated Prototropic Rearrangement. $18,000 Brian N. Popp, U of Hawaii, Manoa. Isotopic Biogeochemistry of Porphyrins from Recent and Ju rassic Sediments. $18,000 Nadine Aubry, City U of New York, City C. Dynamics of Coherent Structure in Near Wall Turbulence, Persistence of Strain, and Drag Reduction by Poly mers. $18,000 James F. Annett, Pennsylvania State U. Electronic Structure Calculations of Surface Steps. $18,000 Paul D. Majors, U of New Mexico. Characterization of Pore Structure Evolution and Transport Process es by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging. $18,000 Gloria J. Pyrka, Kent State U. Investigation of Organ ic Superconductors as Electrode Materials and as Ion-Selective Electrodes. $18,000 Dominick J. Casadonte Jr., Texas Tech U. Photonic Studies in Fractal Domains: Photoactive Supramolecules and Metallogels. $18,000
Leslie J. Fina, Rutgers U. An Investigation of the Concentration Gradient of Surfactant Molecules at Polymer Interfaces with FTIR Spectroscopy. $18,000 Jeffrey A. Bauer, Shawnee State U. Conodonts and Conodont Biostratigraphy of the Oil Creek Formation, Arbuckle Mountains, South-Central Oklahoma. $18,000 E. Timothy Wallin, U of Nevada, Las Vegas. Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Tectonic Significance of the Red Sandstone, Clark County, Nevada. $18,000 David M. Bice, Carleton C. Development of Computer Models of Carbonate Sedimentation. $18,000 Paul M. Myrow, Colorado C. Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of the Upper Proterozoic Dripping Springs Formation, Apache Group, Central Arizona. $18,000 Carolyn E. Osterberg, Concordia C. Water-Soluble Low-Valent Transition-Metal Carbonyl Compounds. $18,000 Alice A. Deckert, C of the Holy Cross. Reaction Kinetics in Langmuir-Blodgett Films Studied Using FTIR. $18,000 Frank L. Switzer, St. Anselm C. Conformational Analysis of Peptides Containing 2,3-Methanoamino Acids. $18,000 Mark D. Jackson, Florida Atlantic U. Investigation of the Crystal Chemistry of Transition-Metal Chalconides. $18,000 Jimmy L. Seidel, U of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. The Total Synthesis of (+)-Aspicilin. $18,000
Call for papers for regional meeting The ACS Kansas State University Section is inviting scientists and educators to submit abstracts of their research a n d / o r teaching innovations for presentation at the 25th ACS Midwest Regional Meeting, Nov. 7-9, Kansas State University. Symposia topics include problem solving in chemistry (chemical education); environmental chemistry; wheat proteins: their structure and role in baked foods; gas phase ion chemistry; asymmetric induction/ organic synthesis; magnetic and optical properties of molecular solids; and protein engineering. There will be both oral and poster technical sessions. These will encompass chemical education as well as the following areas of chemistry: agricultural and food, analytical, biological, environmental, inorganic, organic, physical, and polymer. For the regular technical sessions, send a camera-ready original abstract and two copies on a standard ACS form by July 13 to the program chairman, Joseph V. Paukstelis, Department of Chemistry, Willard Hall, Kansas State University, Man-
Annette M. Olivarez, U of Notre Dame. The RareEarth Element Geochemistry of Sediments from Lake Turkana, Kenya. $18,000 Leslie J. Root, Barnard C. Molecular Dynamics Investigation of Structure and Spectroscopy in Hydrogen-Bonded Liquids and Amorphous Solids. $18,000
ACS-PRF Grants for Fundamental Research in the Petroleum Field (Type SE) Robert M. Baldwin, on behalf of Colorado School of Mines. Low-Severity Coal Liquefaction, ACS national meeting, Boston, spring 1990. $1700 Jon F. Parcher, on behalf of the U of Mississippi. ACS Award in Chromatography, ACS national meeting, Boston, spring 1990. $3400 Rebecca Brune, on behalf of ACS Project SEED; JV to 81107/9130/E722. ACS Project SEED— Supplementary Program. $15,000 M. S. El-Aasser, Gary W. Simmons, on behalf of Lehigh U. 64th Colloid & Surface Science Symposium at Lehigh U, June 1990. $3400 Robert D. Miller, on behalf of the ACS Polymer Division. Sigma-Conjugated Polymers, ACS national meeting, Washington, D.C., fall 1990. $1700 Robert G. Silberman, on behalf of the Research Foundation of the State U of New York. Revolution and Evolution in Chemical Education, ACS national meeting, Washington, D.C., fall 1990. $850
hattan, Kan. 66505-3702, p h o n e (913) 532-6684. Indicate on the form the technical session of preference and whether your presentation is for an oral-slide or poster session. Potential exhibitors should contact Larry Seitz, USDA-ARS, Grain Marketing Research Laboratory, 1515 College Ave., M a n h a t t a n , Kan. 66502, phone (913) 776-2735. General questions about the meeting should be directed to Kenneth J. Klabunde, Department of Chemistry, Willard Hall, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan. 665063702, phone (913) 532-6849. D
Combined regional meeting call for papers The ACS 42nd S o u t h e a s t / 4 6 t h S o u t h w e s t C o m b i n e d Regional Meeting will be held Dec. 5-7 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans. Hosted by the Louisiana Section, the meeting will feature a variety of symposia, general technical and poster sessions, and exhibits of scientific equipment. Symposia topics include modern bioanalytical methods; electrochemical and spectroscopic studies in nonaqueous sol-
Joseph G. Carter, on behalf of the U of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Skeletal Biomineralization: Pattern, Process, and Evolutionary Trends, to be published by American Geophysical Union. $4000 James E. Lyons, Paul E. Ellis Jr., on behalf of the ACS Division of Petroleum Chemistry. Oxygen Activation in Catalysis, ACS national meeting, Boston, spring 1990. $1700 Gregory C. Turk, on behalf of FACSS. Atomic Spectroscopy, 1990 Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS), Cleveland, October 1990. $3400 Billy L. Crynes, on behalf of the U of Oklahoma. Novel Methods of Producing Ethylene, Other Olefins and Aromatics, ACS national meeting, Boston, spring 1990. $3400 Robert M. Giuliano, on behalf of Villanova U. Cycloaddition Reactions in Synthetic Carbohydrate Chemistry, ACS national meeting, Washington, D.C., fall 1990. $1700 Thomas M. Church, on behalf of the U of Delaware. Progress in Marine Chemistry, ACS national meeting, Washington, D.C., fall 1990. $3400 Tor P. Schuttz, on behalf of the ACS Cellulose, Paper & Textile Division. Emerging Materials and Chemicals from Biomass and Wastes, ACS national meeting, Washington, D.C., fall 1990. $2550 Hyuk Yu, on behalf of the Board of Regents of the U of Wisconsin System. Polymer Surfaces and Interfaces, Asilomar Conference Center, Pacific Grove, Calif., October 1990. $3400 D
vents; characterization of surfaces and interfaces by vibrational spectroscopy; advances in environmental analytical chemistry; advances in chromatography; advances in atomic spectroscopy; ion and electron conductivity in polymers; scanning tunneling microscopy; structure, mechanism, and modification of enzymes; chemical e d u c a t i o n ; h a z a r d o u s waste at educational institutions; synthesis of novel inorganic solids; activation of small molecules by polynuclear metal complexes; recent advances in the development of serotonergic agents; heterogeneous organic reactions; synthetic antiviral agents; topics in asymmetric synthesis; utility of ab-initio calculations in experimental structural determinat i o n s ; c u r r e n t aspects of h i g h temperature superconductivity; water-soluble polymers; mass spectroscopic methods in macromolecular systems; and chemical modification of cotton. There will also be a Gary Griffin Memorial Symposium, a workshop on the ACS report, "Education Policies for National Survival," and a roundtable discussion of coordinators of general chemistry programs. General technical paper presentations will include sessions in analytJune 11, 1990 C&EN
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ACS News
Letters
ical, biological, inorganic, medicinal, organic, physical, and polymer chemistry, chemical education, a n d u n d e r g r a d u a t e chemistry. C o n t r i b u t e d technical p a p e r s a n d poster p r e s e n t a t i o n s are invited in all areas of chemistry, i n c l u d i n g t h e symposia topics. A camera-ready abstract t y p e d o n a s t a n d a r d ACS abstract form a n d t h r e e copies m u s t be submitted by July 15 to Basil G. A n ex, D e p a r t m e n t of Chemistry, U n i versity of N e w O r l e a n s , N e w Orleans, La. 70122, p h o n e (504) 2866848. For a d d i t i o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n , contact t h e general c h a i r m a n , Ralph J. Berni, p h o n e (504) 834-7380. D
Continued from page 2 credit the efforts of such advocates by portraying them as antiscience terrorists—a view promoted by the C&EN article. I wish to point out, therefore, that the ranks of those trying to reform our society's attitudes toward animals include Ph.D. research chemists such as myself. Missing from the C&EN article were specific examples of important medical advances alleged to have been made possible by animal experiments along with explanations as to why such advances could have been made only through experiments performed on animals. Claims of breakthroughs critically dependent upon animal experiments have become commonplace in the news media, but I expected more from C&EN than just quotes gratuitously dismissing any question about the validity of such experiments as being "like creationism." Particularly ludicrous are efforts to minimize the role of animal welfare advocates in the increased attention given to reducing mistreatment of animals used in laboratory research. The Animal Welfare Act and similar regulations have come about because of perseverance on the part of those concerned about the humane treatment of animals, not because of concerns expressed by biomedical researchers. An example of the efforts to hide the conditions endured by laboratory animals is the original language of Senate Bill 727 introduced by Senator Howell Heflin in 1989. As originally written, the bill would have made it a federal crime for a laboratory employee to reveal any information about violations of animal protection statutes occurring in the lab. In trying to appeal for support from research chemists, those involved in experimentation on live animals try to invoke the ideal of knowledge for its own sake. As one who referees manuscripts submitted for publication in scientific journals, I am well aware that much research is conducted simply because it is publishable. It is one thing to expend resources and funds on research of minimal merit, but it should be of serious concern when animals are subjected to unspeakable pain and terror for the furtherance of individual publication lists. It pains me to think of the largely useless tests conducted on animals with the new c o m p o u n d s I synthesize. I am grateful that there are individuals and organizations whose efforts may someday reduce or eliminate the amount of animal testing done on chemical compounds. Not only will these efforts reduce suffering, but perhaps they will also reduce some of the absurd restrictions that result from extrapolating ani-
California Section passes resolution At its May 3 m e e t i n g , t h e Executive C o m m i t t e e of t h e ACS California Section passed t h e following official resolution: Whereas n o shortage of chemists is evident, especially in t h e category of 45 years or o l d e r w h o are freq u e n t l y sent into early retirement, Therefore be it resolved that t h e Executive C o m m i t t e e of t h e California Section reaffirms its strong s u p port of t h e ACS policy o n U.S. immigration rules; i.e., m a i n t a i n i n g t h e p r e s e n t r e q u i r e m e n t s for s t u d e n t s e n t e r i n g t h e U.S. o n a s t u d e n t visa to r e t u r n to their c o u n t r y of origin for t w o years before b e c o m i n g eligible for p e r m a n e n t i m m i g r a t i o n visa. T h e Executive C o m m i t t e e sees n o reason at all to c h a n g e t h e p r e s e n t ACS s u p p o r t of this r e q u i r e m e n t . D
Persian-American Chemists Group A second meeting of the PersianAmerican Chemists Group will be held at the ACS national meeting in Washington, D.C., this August. The first meeting was at the ACS national meeting in Boston in April. The participants explored many ways of improving communication among Persian chemists and chemical engineers. If interested, contact A. Rahni, Department of Chemistry, Pace University, Pleasantville, N.Y. 10570, phone (914) 773-3655.
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June 11, 1990 C&EN
mal experiments to the human response. An example of the harm that has come from such experimentation is the recent labeling of dichloromethane as a "probable human carcinogen/' despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. As a result of such labeling, many companies are substituting solvents that are flammable and, in actual fact, are more toxic in order to avoid customer rejection inspired by the fear of cancer. The issue of animal rights is fundamentally a moral one, and unfortunately scientists have not been prominent in advancing the moral evolution of human society. As we listen to those who offer philosophical justification for experimenting on other sentient creatures, let us ask ourselves whether the pursuit of knowledge is so supreme a goal that we must sacrifice our compassion for it. Paul R. West Fort Collins, Colo. SIR: I enthusiastically applaud the aggressive defense of animal research by Frederick K. Goodwin (C&EN, Feb. 26, page 6) and others. It is very important that the public know the importance of such research to human welfare. However, it will take more than just a focus on the benefits of animal research to disarm the advocates of animal rights. It will take a philosophical challenge to the very notion that animals have rights. For if animals do indeed have rights, no degree of practical benefits to humans will morally justify animal research. Defenders of animal research must also emphasize that to take animal rights seriously, by giving them legal status, is to reduce the sphere of human rights. One premise that must not be granted to animal rights advocates is their often asserted notion that rights arise from the "capacity to suffer." If the suffering theory of rights takes hold, the ranks of the animal welfare movement are sure to grow. The absurdity of this theory is evident when one considers that it implies that murder violates a victim's rights only insofar as he suffers in the process—that killing someone in his sleep entails no violation of rights. Surely, no animal rights advocate believes this, but it is a logical implication of the suffering theory. A proper concept of rights is one that arises only in the context of a society of rational beings—i.e., humans. It is because men can deal with each other rationally, by persuasion, that dealing with each other by force is immoral and must be outlawed. Such conditions simply do not apply to animals; they are nonrational beings. Man depends on his mind for survival; animals depend on instinct.
