acting assistant defense secretary, and Kathleen Bailey, former ACDA assistant director. They argued that the agreement is not verifiable, the U.S. can't trust the Russians to abide by its terms, and the accord's impact on industry is unduly burdensome and costly. Countering these contentions—though most observers say not too effectively— were two Bush Administration officials: Ronald F. Lehman, former ACDA director, and Michael L. Moodie, former assistant ACDA director for multilateral affairs. Both urged ratification, arguing the accord will serve the cause of deterrence. Bailey contended that "Monies spent on verification will be wasted... and the inspection regime runs a high risk of jeopardizing U.S. national security and costing U.S. industry dearly." Gaffney further argued that the treaty "will inevitably degrade the readiness and effectiveness of our defensive posture vis-àvis chemical attack." Using interesting logic, Gaffney and Bailey seemed to imply that since most of affected industry is unaware of the terms of the treaty, the pact shouldn't be ratified. Carpenter responded that CMA and ACDA are busy informing industry of its obligations and burdens, and when so instructed most then agree that the risks and costs are manageable. On the side of approval, Amy E. Smithson, senior associate at the Henry L. Stimson Center, a Washington-based public policy center, told the hearing, "The need to face the problem of chemical weapons proliferation, the merits of the [treaty], and the lack of feasible alternatives all point to one rational course of action on the part of the U.S. Senateratification of this treaty. Critics of this [treaty] have complaints, but they have no practical alternatives." Carpenter tells C&EN the national security issues opponents raise, which have little to do with industry, "are issues that should be raised and resolved." An administration official who asks not to be named says those issues will be addressed "by very senior Administration officials at an open Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing [possibly this week] and at a yet unscheduled Senate Armed Services panel hearing." This official says the President has made his support for the treaty very clear. "Bringing the [treaty] into force is one of the central elements of our nonproliferation policy." Lois Ember
'Wires' of nanometer dimensions developed In work with potential applicability to the design of nanoscale electronic devices, researchers have developed a conductive molecular "wire" of near-molecular dimensions. The work by postdoctoral associate Chun-Guey Wu and chemistry professor Thomas Bein of Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., was reported in last week's Science [264,1757 (1994)]. Work on molecular-scale wires has been motivated by efforts to increase computing speed and storage density by d e veloping miniaturized components— ultimately of molecular size. But a nagging conceptual problem has been the question of how molecular electronic devices can be made and how they can communicate with conventional circuits. Several groups have been working on this problem. For example, chemistry professor Charles R. Martin and coworkers at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, have devised polypyrrole wires with diameters of 30 ran that have the added benefit of being about 10 times more conductive than bulk polypyrrole [Chem. Mater., 3, 960 (1991)]. In unpublished work, they have since made smaller wires. And Michael J. Sailor and coworkers at the University of California, San Diego, recently reported the synthesis of random filamentary networks of con-
ducting polymer between electrodes in solution [Science, 262, 2014 (1993)]. Nanowires have also been produced by deposition of metals and semiconductors in the pores of membranes. Wu and Bein have moved a step closer to molecular-scale electronics by producing conducting filaments only a few molecules thick. The polyaniline filaments are essentially 3 nm wide because they are formed inside the channels of an aluminosilicate crystal with 3-nm-diameter pores. To make the filaments, aniline molecules are adsorbed into the pores of the crystal and then polymerized with ammonium peroxydisulfate. Microwave absorption measurements show that the filaments have significant conductivity—although only about one fourth that of bulk polyaniline. In earlier work, Bein's group synthe sized single polymer molecules in zeolite channels, but these were not conductive. The larger aluminosilicate channels used in the current work accommodate seven to 10 polymer chains. "The change to 3-nm-diameter pores was critical in allowing the transverse coupling between chains to increase the conductivity significantly," says Bein. Asked to comment on the work, Martin says, "The general concept is that you can take a membrane [or crystal] that has
Conductive 'wires' are made by polymerizing aniline in nanometer channels
Oxidation with (NH 4 ) 2 S 2 0 8
Note: Carbon atoms are blue, nitrogen atoms are red. Adapted with permission of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; copyright 1994.
JUNE 20,1994 C&EN
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NEWS OF THE WEEK pores, and you can fill those pores with polymers, metals, semiconductors, or other materials. The size of the nanostructure you make is limited by the pore diameter. Tom [Bein] now has the record—3 nm is pretty small/' According to Sailor, "Living systems can communicate on a molecular-size scale. For instance, (3-carotenes conduct energy or electrons over a truly molecular wire. Thomas Bein's work shows you can do this in a size regime that's pretty close to that." Achieving conductivity in such a small fiber, he says, "is a key achievement in pushing electronic devices down toward the molecular level." Stu Borman
Merck chooses outsider to head firm in new era In a move that has stunned the industry, Merck has named Raymond V. Gilmartin, an outsider to the world's largest drug maker with no experience in the pharmaceutical field, as the company's new president and chief executive officer (CEO). In succeeding P. Roy Vagelos to head the New Jersey-based firm, Gilmartin, 53, will also take the title of chairman upon Vagelos' retirement on Nov. 1 at age 65. Gilmartin is currently president, CEO, and chairman of Becton Dickinson & Co., a $2.5 billion medical supply company also based in New Jersey. Vagelos has headed Merck, which had sales of $10.5 billion last year, for nine years. Gilmartin comes to Merck at a tumultuous time, with the drug industry under attack for its pricing practices. He brings to Merck seven years of experience gained at Becton Dickinson to guide the drug company through the pressures of health care reform and managed health care. He is known for his success in strategic planning and marketing, aggressive cost cutting, and reorganization. At the same time, says Vagelos, Gilmartin understands and respects "the crucial link between business and science and technology" and is expected to continue Merck's more than $1.2 billion annual investment in R&D. The choice of Gilmartin surprised industry observers because he lacks direct experience in pharmaceuticals and he is the first outsider to become CEO in the firm's 103-year history. Speculation about Vagelos' successor has been rampant since he announced 8
JUNE 20,1994 C&EN
if too many women decide to pursue their individual claims instead, Dow Corning could face billions of dollars more in litigation costs than it now faces in its $2 billion commitment in the proposed implant settlement. In addition to Dow Corning, which had sales of $2 billion and income of $128 million from its 1993 operations, companies participating in the proposed settlement are other implant makers and silicone suppliers: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Baxter Health Care, 3M, and Union Carbide. But Dow Corning, which at one time supplied almost half of all silicone breast implants, has the most to lose if the settlement falls apart. Paul Raman, vice president of brokerage firm S. G. Warburg, New York City, agrees with Young's assessment. As Raman figures it, women who sign on will get an average $4,800 each— barely enough to remove the implants. Judging by settlements to date, women might receive awards of $6 million or more on some of the more than 10,000 federal lawsuits outstanding, he says. If women opt out, however, they will have to prove that silicones made them sick or that the implant manufacturers Dow Coming's handling of litigation re- misled them. Both assertions could be lated to problems with its silicone breast difficult to prove, Raman says. A new study reported in the New Enimplant materials has taken a new and gland Journal of Medicine last week [330, unusual turn. Earlier this month, company chairman 1697 (1994)] may, in fact, influence more Keith McKennon told a Wall Street Journal women to accept the implant settlement reporter that, although the company was than reject it. The study, based on data not thinking of filing for bankruptcy now, from the Mayo Clinic, casts doubt on it could be an option in the future if too claims that breast implants lead to dismany women decide to sue the company ease. Researchers compared the records individually rather than join a proposed of 749 women with implants with those $4.2 billion settlement. of 1,498 women who do not have imHis comments, in response to rumors plants. They found no increase in the about the company's plan to file for bank- likelihood of developing disease among ruptcy, led some financial analysts to sug- implant recipients. Marc Reisch gest the chairman was trying to "scare" women into joining the settlement, which could potentially save the company millions of dollars in litigation fees. William R. Young, a vice president and principal with investment bankers Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, New York City, says McKennon's comments were A federal jury in Anchorage last week made "to scare those [women] thinking of found that Exxon's reckless conduct opting out" of the proposed settlement, caused the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident under which women would receive com- that spilled 10.9 million gal of oil into pensation for claims that the implants Alaska's Prince William Sound. The decision, the first phase of a compromised their health. The deadline four-part civil case over the spill, opens for joining the settlement was June 17. The company, Young points out, has Exxon to punitive damages as high as already set up reserves it can live with to $15 billion and compensatory claims as fund the proposed settlement. However, high as $1.5 billion. Most of the plain-
about two years ago that he would retire in 1994. And the candidates whose names surfaced changed as frequently as Merck executives came and went. In early 1993, Richard J. Markham, now 43, was promoted to president and chief operating officer of Merck, and it was generally assumed that he was the most likely successor. However, he resigned about seven months later for "personal reasons" and became Marion Merrell Dow's president in late 1993. John L. Zabriskie, 54, executive vice president and president of Merck's manufacturing division, left the company in late 1993 to become Upjohn's chairman and CEO. And just last month, another candidate, Martin J. Wygod, resigned. Wygod, 54, was chairman of Medco Containment, the managed health care and pharmaceutical distribution firm that Merck took over for $6 billion in late 1993. Ann Thayer
Dow Coming mulls over filing for bankruptcy
Exxon found reckless in 1989 Valdez oil spill
