5:30 p.m.      Executive Committee Meeting -

6:30 p.m.     Buffet Dinner and Poster Session:

7:30 p.m.     Lecture

8:30 p.m.     Awards presentation for Outstanding Senior Chemistry majors at the sections colleges and universities.

Bob Jones University - David Jeremiah Gardenghi
Clemson University - Zach Cain
Converse College - Whitney Weeks
Erskine College - Sara Curtiss
Furman University - Michael Thomas Vagnini
Lander University - Alexandra Foguth
Presbyterian College - Katie Frances Glenn
University of North Carolina, Asheville - Jay G. Simmons, Jr.
University of South Carolina-Upstate - Christina G. Handford
Warren Wilson College - Anna Chollet
Western Carolina University - Erin Waugh
Wofford College - Bernadette Sikes

Reservations: Please make reservations by Thursday, April 12th. Reservations can be made by calling 864-294-2056 or by Emailing Myra.Crumley@Furman.edu

New plastics are being developed, with characteristics not usually associated with plastic--plastics made from natural, renewable starting materials, plastics that are able to biodegrade completely in an environ-mentally benign manner. They are made from agricultural feedstocks like starch and vegetable oils rather than irreplaceable fossil fuels; they contribute little to the already burdensome problems of waste management; and they help prepare us for the time when fossil fuels become exhausted. This talk will describe the driving force behind the emerging bioplastics industry, survey the new technologies, and examine their prospects for the future.

E. S. Stevens is Professor of Chemistry at the State University of New York at Binghamton. His training includes a B.S. in Chemistry from Yale University, a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard University. He has conducted research on biopolymers for more than thirty years and has published more than one hundred papers dealing with the conformational behavior of biomolecules, a topic he has explored through chiroptic methods. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, American Society of Testing and Materials, and BioEnvironmental Polymer Society.

The Western Carolinas Section is proud to sponsor the Chemistry Olympiad again this year for students in our Section. This year we have 358 students from 23 different schools with 10 counties represented! As in the past, we will be awarding the top scorer in each county with a $100 Savings Bond. The good news is that a $100 savings bond only costs $50, but we need your help to purchase all of these bonds. Please help the Section by considering a donation to this worthy cause. Other details about the Olympiad: the local test will be given in mid-March, the top 10 students in the Section will then take a National ACS exam in April, the top students nationally are invited to the US Air Force Academy for two weeks of intensive training, then four students will be chosen to compete in Moscow, Russia July 15-24. Many thanks to John Kaup at Clemson University for agreeing to administer the National exam again this year. If you are interested in making a donation, please see either me or our treasurer (Julia Brumaghim) at one of our local meetings. You may also send checks (payable to Western Carolinas Section), to me at

USC Upstate
800 University Way
Spartanburg, SC 29303.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the Olympiad (864-503-5755 or cbender@uscupstate.edu). Thank you for your past support and I look forward to your continued assistance this year, too!
--Chris Bender, Olympiad Coordinator

2007 CHAIR - MELANIE COOPER

2007 IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR - HERMAN HOLT

2007 CHAIR - ELECT - VICKI AUDIA (to be CHAIR in 2008)

2005 - 2007 SECRETARY - KEN BARTON

2007 - 2009 TREASURER - JULIA BRUMAGHIM

2005 - 2007 COUNCILOR - ROYCE WOOSLEY

2006 - 2008 COUNCILOR - HENRY RAMSEY

2005 - 2007 ALTERNATE COUNCILOR - LUCY EUBANKS

2006 - 2008 ALTERNATE COUNCIL - GEORGE HEARD

After several years of negotiating with the ACS Committee on Constitution and Bylaws, our Local Section has finally won their approval for new bylaws. On February 19, 2004, during our regular meeting, the revisions as proposed were approved by the members present. The revised bylaws were certified on 4 March, 2004.

Kameron Williams, who was a student in Mrs. Margaret Dacko's 8th grade class at Sever Middle School, Greenville, SC won second prize in the ACS Earth Day Illustrated Haiku contest in the 5th to 8th grade category. Kameron received a prize from Amazon.com, and a certificate. His teacher Mrs. Dacko received a periodic table of the elephants! As the ACS letter to Mrs. Dacko states "Science literacy is very important to our student's and our country's future. The contributions and support of teachers like (Mrs. Dacko) make a significant difference."

Here's the announcement from ACS Headquarters:

The Committee on Community Activities (CCA) and the Office of Community Activities (OCA) are pleased to announce that the list of Chemists Celebrate Earth Day (CCED) illustrated haiku winners found at:

http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=oca%5cearthday%5ccced_past_celebrations.html

now links to a page with photos of the entries and the haiku text:

http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=oca%5cearthday%5chaikus06.html .

Congratulations again to our 2006 winners!

We would also like you to know that there will again be an illustrated haiku contest for CCED 2007, and the information is attached. Please note that the decision was made to shift the contest deadlines and to change selection of the winners so that they may be announced on or before April 22, 2007.

We all think that this will be a major plus for publicity and for the participants. They will now know if they received an award within a month or so of their area-contest deadline.

Thank you for your participation in and interest for OCA programs!

We hope to hear from you again in 2007!

Regards,

Michael Mautino, Chair CCA
Judith Jankowski, Marisa Burgener and Tiffany Williams, OCA


American Chemical Society
1155 Sixteenth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
earthday@acs.org
Toll Free 1-800-227-5558
http://chemistry.org/oca

Click for Acrobat file for information on the 2007 Haiku contest.

---

The ACS Society Committee on Education (SOCED) selects student affiliates chapters to receive special recognition on the basis of their programs and activities as described in their annual reports. Awards are classified as outstanding, commendable, and honorable mention. Chapters that do not qualify for these awards receive a certificate of achievement for meritorious service.

For the 2005–06 academic year, SOCED has bestowed 34 outstanding, 58 commendable, and 75 honorable mention awards. Plaques will be presented to these chapters during the 233rd ACS national meeting in Chicago on March 25, 2007. The chapter president and report writer as Alexandra Foguth, and the faculty advisors are Ralph C. Layland and Peter A. Vahjen. Congratulations to the Lander student affiliate chapter of ACS.

LSAC will work with local sections to enhance their success, to promote the well-being of their members, to foster the spirit of volunteerism, and to carry out the mission of the American Chemical Society at the professional and community level.

The Local Section Activities Committee will continue to focus on ACS members at the local section level so that local sections will

* Access tailored ACS services delivered by various means that include transitioning toward electronic delivery via the Internet
* Effectively partner with Divisions and other units
* Increase member participation in local section events and programs
* Be infused with leaders having acquired leadership skills for developing sustainable activities and programs that foster member volunteerism and ensure value and satisfaction
* Receive customized feedback and recognition that focuses on the development of each local section to realize its full unique potential
* Clearly identify and value the Local Section Activities Committee as a key peer resource

* ACS's strength lies in its local sections and divisions
* Local Sections are our customers
* LSAC will be a peer resource to local sections
* LSAC will emphasize direct input and dialog with sections
* LSAC is responsible to be the point of contact with other ACS entities on behalf of local sections

For more information, see the ACS Office of Local Section Activities home page on the ACS Web or address correspondence to:

American Chemical Society, Office of Local Section Activities, 1155 16th St, NW, Washington, DC 20036; (202) 872-4610; (202) 872-435; E-mail: olsa@acs.org

In late 2006, the American Chemical Society launched a new social networking site targeted to professionals, students, and researchers interested in and working in biotechnology.

BiotechExchange.org provides individuals the opportunity to meet, dialogue, discuss, debate, and interact with other researchers and professionals involved in discovery and process development for the pharmaceutical and bio-based materials industries. BiotechExchange.org provides a forum to share information, identify opportunities, and seek collaborations with fellow scientists and industry professionals.

Features on the site include:

* Pre-meeting information from event organizers
* On-site blogs from event attendees
* Virtual poster sessions (including peer-review)
* Audio casts, news feeds, and journal article summaries

In addition, the site will permit the creation of special interest groups. These enable smaller collections of individuals to gather and share specialized information of interest. More information regarding the creation of groups may be found at www.biotechexchange.org.

---

The American Chemical Society Scholars Program is now accepting applications for the 2007-2008 academic year. Information and the applications documents can be found on our web site at http://chemistry.org/scholars. Applicants can now apply ON-LINE at the same web site!

Alternatively, interested individuals can contact us by e-mail at scholars@acs.org; they can call toll-free 1-800-227-5558, extension 6250; or they can write to:

American Chemical Society
Scholars Program
1155 16th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036

---

Chemistry plays a critical role in research on cancer diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. The American Chemical Society (ACS) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) have organized a joint conference to provide a forum for research discussions among chemists with cancer research interests. A major goal of the conference is to increase awareness in young chemists of the exciting career opportunities that exist in the field of cancer research.

This conference will feature research and educational lectures by prominent leaders in several key chemically oriented areas of cancer research such as drug discovery, proteomics, the chemical biology of carcinogenesis, biomarkers and analytical chemistry, modeling and bioinformatics, and structural biology. Each session will include two symposium talks, followed by short presentations from abstracts submitted by young investigators. We anticipate that this conference will energize younger chemical investigators and inform them of the many opportunities to apply the power of chemistry to important problems in cancer research.

For more information and to view the conference program, please go to www.chemistryincancerresearch.org.

---

Do you have a colleague whom you feel should be acknowledged for their work in chemical information? The Dayton and Columbus Sections of the American Chemical Society, which sponsor the Patterson-Crane Award, would like to hear from you. The biennial award consists of a $2,000 honorarium and a personalized commendation and is to be presented in the Spring of 2007 at an awards dinner to be held in Columbus, Ohio. The recipient is expected to give an address at the time of the award presentation.

Award Criteria
Nominees, who need not hold ACS membership, should demonstrate outstanding achievement in the field of chemical information science. Contributions of inter-national significance may relate to:

* Design, development, production, or management of chemical information systems or services.
* Electronic access to and retrieval of chemical information; critically evaluated data compilations.
* Information technology applications in chemistry or other significant chemical documentation, including production of original works, editorial work, or chemical library work.

Nominations for the award must be in writing and may be sent either hard copy or via email. They should discuss the nominee's contributions to the field as well as an evaluation of accomplishments. Materials supporting the nomination should include a biography and bibliography of publications and presentations. Seconding letters are required and may also be sent either hard copy or via email.

Send the nomination materials to Dr. Theresa Huston, Chair of the Patterson-Crane Award Committee, (thuston@cas.org or CAS, P.O. Box 3012, Columbus OH 43210) for receipt by 31 January 2007. To receive more information about this award, contact Dr. Huston (614-447-3600, ext. 3354).

Nominations will be judged by a seven-member selection committee consisting of Dayton and Columbus Section members as well as the Chair of the American Chemical Society's Division of Chemical Information.

The Patterson-Crane Award is international in scope and given in honor of two outstanding members of the Sections: Austin M. Patterson (1876–1956) and E.J. Crane (1889–1966), who were both Editors of Chemical Abstracts Service.

---

Want to put on a career-focused program but not sure where to start?

The Younger Chemists Committee has done the work for you! We currently have the packaged program "Mentoring: A Younger Chemist's Guide to a Career Essential" available on the YCC website. Learn how to leverage your senior colleagues as career mentors, and learn the peer coaching essentials that will set you apart as a leader. The information is available at www.acs.org/ycc; all that is needed is for you to schedule the event!

---

High School and College educators are invited to apply for a position as mentor for the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad program. (Preference will be given to high school teachers). To learn more visit: www.chemistry.org/education/olympiad.html

---

¡Ahora en español! Spanish Edition of "Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories"

The ACS Committee on Chemical Safety (CCS) is pleased to announce the publication (online) of the translation of the top seller of all ACS safety publications, (http://membership.acs.org/c/ccs/pubs/SACL_Spanish.htm).

CCS has as its prime responsibility the encouragement of safe practices in chemical activities. The committee serves as a resource to the chemical professional in providing advice and counsel on the handling of chemicals, and seeks to ensure safe facilities, designs, and operations by calling attention to potential hazards and stimulating education in safe chemical practices. CCS also provides advice to other ACS units on matters related to chemical safety and health.

---

Chemical Heritage has published several articles on chemistry sets and how they fit into the legacy of chemistry.1-4 From these articles, two phases are evident in the history of these chemistry teaching tools. In the 1930s–1950s, chemistry sets played an important role in stimulating young people to become chemists or to at least become familiar with chemicals. They provided small wooden or glass containers with solid chemicals as seen in the cover illustration of Chemical Heritage, Spring 2001. The physical form of an element or compound, whether solid or liquid, crystalline or amorphous, and the color were evident. However, from the 1980s on, a different picture emerges, with dilute solutions replacing the vivid materials of years past. Schmidt suggests that ?Liability concerns have forced most of what is ?dangerous? out of the sets, no doubt also forcing out some of their mystery and appeal.?1 Sacks? initial sentence, ?There has been an increasing restriction on the availability of many chemicals in the past 40 years,?2 is followed by the citation of the Columbine High School incident as an example of how easily obtained chemicals can be deadly when misused.

With these thoughts in mind, I?d like to illustrate how important an exciting chemistry set was in initiating my research career, and reflect a bit on chemistry sets as they are used today.

My first chemistry set was obtained at the age of 11 in Portland, Oregon, while the family was touring the west. It led to my desire and determination, encouraged by my Dad, to become a chemist. The picture shown below, taken 5 years later, is of my first lab in what had been the sewing room of my grandmother?s home. By this time, I was taking a correspondence course in chemistry. The texts are shown in the upper right of the photo and the chemicals on the shelves to the left. (My experiences in obtaining chemicals from the drug store were nearly identical to those given by Sacks, Linus Pauling as cited by Sacks, and Talkin3.) The experiment in progress involved the preparation of ethyl ether from alcohol (denatured, I?m sure). The source of heat was an open flame fed from a portable acetylene tank; cooling of the distillate was via gravity-fed ice water—definitely a dangerous way to do this experiment as an explosion could have resulted!

In my late teens I was fortunate in having a much larger lab built by my Dad with a fume hood, Kipp generator, analytical balance, gas and water connections, etc. I worked methodically through the chemistry of as many elements as possible using Treadwell and Hall?s text on qualitative analysis as my guide.

In the late 1940s my thesis research at the University of Minnesota required trapping of C13O2 and N15H3. I frequently transported a five-gallon container of several gallons of liquid nitrogen about six blocks by bicycle to the university lab for my experiments. In various analytical and synthesis projects during my career I worked with perchloric acid in the determination of silicon in iron, perchloric–nitric acid mixtures for wet ashing of agricultural products, or blood to determine silicon from silane-coated plastic tubing used in heart perfusions in the early days of heart surgeries. Similarly, I used diazomethane for methylation, and phosgene and liquid ammonia for various syntheses, all accomplished without problems. In later years I was amazed that some of my biochemist friends refused to have perchloric acid in the lab or were fearful of using diazomethane. I learned that proper planning and care would prevent disasters.

Some 15 years later, while on a National Heart Institute post-doctorate under David E. Green5 I was able to break several log jams holding up the publication of a couple of important papers. One involved a coenzyme Green thought to be to be different than Coenzyme A (CoA) while others in the field were sure it was CoA. As he left for vacation, Green assigned me the task of comparing two analytical procedures, one that required what he termed Co-reductase and the other a classical method for the determination of CoA. When he returned from vacation he looked at the data, which showed identical results for the two assays on the same samples. This resulted in a boost to my reputation for the year.

A couple of months later we made a surprising discovery of how Coenzyme A could be isolated in large amounts by a relatively simple process. However, the manuscript could not be released because of the appearance of glutamic acid and glycine, not components of CoA. It was found, by questioning the analysts, that they were using an acid hydrolysis prior to microbiological analysis. This resulted in the release of glutamic acid and glycine, the latter from decomposition of the adenine moiety of CoA and the former from glutathione, an agent used in the isolation of CoA. This finding allowed release of the manuscript6 for publication. Later I was involved in the removal of another log jam that involved an answer to the mechanism by which acetate ion is converted to a high energy form (acetyl CoA) for further utilization. Much of the approach that I took to these and other problems can be attributed to those early days in my home lab.

Experiments with chemistry sets in the 1980s were a disappointment to me and failed to interest my oldest grandson in chemistry. (A Harvard graduate, he is now a graduate student with a major in math and physics at the University of California, Berkeley.) To perform an experiment one withdrew a few drops of dilute chemical solution by means of a plastic pipette bulb and added it to a test tube or beaker with other constituents—not exciting or particularly educational. My first reaction was to write letters to the ACS and to the manufacturers of the sets. However, living 700 miles away from my grandchildren and procrastination overcame my first reaction. But reading about the experiences of others as described in Chemical Heritage rekindled my interest in recounting my own experiences.

It is interesting to speculate on the factors that may be responsible for the decline in the availability and usefulness of chemistry sets. They are probably numerous, including an increase in fear of chemicals due to misuse of tremendous quantities of certain chemicals e.g., ammonium nitrate; fears promoted by increased publicity of environmentally toxic chemicals; changes in the nature of chemical research and teaching methods; and exponential growth in the availability of computers, leading to some attempts at the use of virtual labs employing computer software experiments. One such case I explored was very misleading in regard to safety aspects. Also, experimentation online is a bit like reading hundreds of pages from a good book on a computer screen instead of turning pages by hand in an easy chair'not nearly as rewarding!

I owe an undying debt of gratitude to my wife Jane whom I lost to an amelanotic melanoma after 47 years of marriage. Her everlasting support and encouragement was a priceless gift of love.

1. James Schmidt, "The Chemistry Set: Chemistry's Legacy of the Home Laboratory," Chemical Heritage, Spring 2001, p. 12.
2. Oliver Sacks, "Hard Times for Curious Minds," Chemical Heritage, Spring 2001, p. 27.
3. Phillip S. Talkin, "A Nostalgia Cocktail," Chemical Heritage, Fall 2001, p. 22.
4. Rosie DiVernieri, "The Chemistry Set: From Toy to Icon," Chemical Heritage, Spring 2006, p. 22.
5. Institute for Enzyme Research, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
6. Helmut Beinert, R.W. Von Korff, D. E. Green, D.A. Buyaske, R.E. Handschumacher, Harvey Higgins, and F.M Strong, "A Method for the Purification of Coenzyme A from Yeast," J. Biol. Chem., 200, 385. (1953).

Editor's Note: Dick has been a member of the American Chemical Society since 1939 and has had a rich and varied career. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1951 from the University of Minnesota and began working with Dr. Lewis Thomas. After six months, he went to the University of Wisconsin at Madison on a National Institute of Health fellowship, working with Dr. David Green, a famous enzymologist. In six months they made three important discoveries involving CoA and fatty acid oxidation. After a year, Dick returned to the University of Minnesota as an associate professor in biochemistry, working again with Dr. Thomas. According to Dick, Dr. Thomas was not only a great medical research investigator, he was also the author of a number of well-read books and was a frequent contributor to the New Yorker magazine. After Dr. Thomas left, Dick worked with Dr. Robert Good, who did the first human bone marrow transplant, then with Dr. John Anderson, head of pediatrics in the medical school. In 1966, he moved to Maryland to become director of biochemical research, initially for Friends of Psychiatric Research, Inc., and then for the state of Maryland's new Maryland Psychiatric Research Center in Catonsville, Maryland. In 1977 he came to Midland as a research professor in biochemistry at what is now the Michigan Molecular Institute, retiring in 1985 at the age of 68.

---

The YCC Leadership Development Workshops will be held at the ACS Leaders Conference in Baltimore from January 26–28, 2007. ACS members who would like to apply for a YCC Leadership Development Award to attend one of these workshops should submit their applications to the Younger Chemists Committee, c/o Ms. Ivan Suleiman, American Chemical Society, 1155 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036 by December 1, 2006. Both electronic and printable versions of the application are available online at chemistry.org/ycc. ACS members who would like to participate in the workshop with the support of their employers or ACS local sections, divisions, or committees should send an E-mail to ycc@acs.org. Since participation is limited, YCC will be extending invitations for each workshop to only 15 interested ACS members who have external support.

See what other LDW participants have said:

* "The YCC leadership workshop was fabulous! I appreciated the interaction with others in small groups; this was very valuable."
* "I think the leadership breakout for the YCC was highly effective."
* "Truly, it was all very beneficial!"

---

The ACS Committee on Professional Training (CPT) has revised its printed brochure, Planning for Graduate Work in Chemistry. Now in its 8th edition, this publication has been transformed into an interactive website with updated content and format that allow rapid navigation through suggestions on how to plan for graduate school. This online resource is designed to guide both domestic and international undergraduate students who are considering graduate work in chemical sciences in selecting a program that best meets their needs and aspirations. It provides advice on how to prepare for successful work in graduate school, how and when to apply for admission, and to some extent, what to expect once enrolled in graduate school. The online format provides an opportunity for more regular revisions, so CPT would like to hear comments from both students and their advisers on the content, functionality, and ease of use of this new resource.

To submit comments or to get more information about this online publication, please contact Marta Gmurczyk at m_gmurczyk@acs.org or 202-872-4599.

---

Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) is addressing the growing interest in biology-based synthesis by making access to information on enzymatic reactions and other biotransformations easy to find through its SciFinder research tool. A new audience of researchers eager to go beyond traditional synthetic processes has found a wealth of information in the literature and patent records in CAS databases. CAS has demonstrated SciFinder and its biotech applications during recent American Chemical Society national meetings and found substantial interest among researchers in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

"CAS has processed decades worth of journal literature and patents containing information on biotransformations--reactions mediated by biological species-- including enzymatic reactions, which our scientists have been analyzing and adding to CAS databases," said CAS Vice President, Editorial Operations, Matthew J. Toussant. "An explosion of interest in using enzymes to synthesize substances more efficiently has made CAS databases and search tools such as SciFinder useful in many hot research areas of industrial biotech."

CAS reaction information extends back to 1840 and among the 11 million reaction records are thousands for biotransformations. Applying such biotransformations to industrial processes can improve cost efficiency and environmental safety, via greener methods. In addition CAS literature databases reference a wealth of research on biological processes relating to drugs, food, materials and energy, among other applications.

Just as yeast has been used since ancient times to induce fermentation for making beer, biological entities and enzymes play a role in many chemical reactions. Applying such biotransformations to industrial processes can improve cost efficiency and environmental safety. For example, biologically important chemicals can exist in two molecular forms that are mirror images of each other, with a right-hand and left-hand version. But only one version (or stereoisomer) may be valuable for the intended purposes (medicinal, specialty chemical and others), and isolating it may be difficult and costly using classical organic synthesis. However, a biological entity may produce an enzyme that is naturally selective for the desired molecule. Using such enzymes in biocatalysis can produce high purity substances in the desired quantities. SciFinder can easily lead scientists to information on these innovative chemical processes.

CAS has continuously enhanced SciFinder since its inception and SciFinder 2007 introduces a slate of new options and features to add additional power to the exploration of CAS' extensive information resources. These improvements will allow users to:

Combine answer sets for substances, reactions and references – users will be able to combine a saved answer set with an 'active' set of answers in SciFinder, to arrive at a focused set of answers; for example, references for a given research topic can be combined with the results of a saved author search; options to 'combine', 'intersect' or 'remove' answer sets allow the user to include only the desired references from the saved and active sets;

Export commercial chemical records from CHEMCATS® into Excel - users can move catalog information for commercially available chemicals into spreadsheets for sorting and manipulation.

More information about these and other new features of SciFinder can be found on the CAS web site at http://www.cas.org.

---

You have until December 31, 2006 to get your 2006 Periodic Table of the Elements throw and/or Professor Molennium Pillow. Make sure your membership information is included on the official MGM application when your nominee submits their paid membership application to the Society to ensure delivery of your gift(s).

And starting January 1, 2007 a new Periodic Table of the Elements Throw will be available to all current ACS members who nominate an eligible new member.

As an added bonus, at year?s end, the ACS member who recruits the most new members in 2007 will win a trip in 2008 to an American Chemical Society National Meeting. You will receive:

* roundtrip airfare (for one)
* hotel for five nights
* free registration

Just pick your meeting destination -- New Orleans, LA (April) or Philadelphia, PA (August)

For all the details and to download an official MGM application, go to chemistry.org/membership/mgm.html.

---

Since 1992 Dr. Kathleen A. Carrado, a member of the Chicago Local Section and a chemist at Argonne National Laboratory, has submitted a regular column titled "ChemShorts" for the section's newsletter, The Chemical Bulletin. Each ChemShort describes a simple and interesting chemistry experiment that a young student (grades K-6) can do at home with adult supervision and common household items. A selected ChemShorts for Kids will be featured in future Cut & Paste publications.

Kids, did you ever wonder about the chemistry of autumn leaf colors? Most plants contain several pigment molecules. If you experiment with different leaves in this activity you will see the wide range of pigments.

You will need leaves, baby food jars with lids, rubbing alcohol, coffee filters (preferably the Melitta type), hot water, and a shallow pan. Take 2-3 large leaves (or the equivalent with smaller leaves), tear them into tiny pieces, and place them into small jars with lids. Add enough alcohol to just cover the leaves. Loosely cover the jars and set them into a shallow pan containing an inch or so of hot tap water. Let the jars sit in the hot water for at least a half hour. Replace the hot water as it cools and swirl the jars from time to time. The jars are 'done' when the alcohol has picked up color from the leaves. The darker the color, the brighter the chromatogram will be. Cut a long, thin (1/2?) strip of coffee filter paper for each jar. Place one strip of paper into each jar, with one end in the alcohol and the other outside of the jar. As the alcohol evaporates, it will pull the pigment up the paper, separating pigments according to their molecular size. Pigments with the largest size will move the shortest distance. After 30-90 minutes, remove the strips of paper and allow them to dry. From the information below, can you identify which pigments are present?

The color of a leaf results from the different pigments produced by the plant. The main pigment classes responsible for leaf color are porphyrins, carotenoids, and flavonoids. The color depends mostly on the amount and types of these pigments. The pigment porphyrin has a compound called chlorophyll that is green. The pigment carotenoid has compounds carotene and lycopene that are yellow, orange , and red, as well as xanthophyll which is yellow. The pigment flavonoid has compounds flavone and flavonol ( yellow ) and anthocyanin that can be red, blue , purple , or magenta.

When leaves are green, it is because they contain a lot of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll masks all other pigment colors. The anthocyanins will mask carotenoids. As summer turns to autumn, decreasing light levels cause chlorophyll production to slow and the green color will fade. At the same time, anthocyanin production in leaves increases in response to increasing sugar concentrations. Leaves with a lot of anthocyanins will turn red. Leaves with good amounts of both anthocyanins and carotenoids will be orange, and leaves with carotenoids but little or no anthocyanins will turn yellow. In the absence of these pigments, other plant chemicals can affect leaf color. An example is tannins, which cause the brownish color of some oak leaves.

Options: Does the season in which the leaves are picked affect their colors? Also try using frozen chopped spinach leaves. If your chromatogram is pale, the next time use more leaves and/or smaller pieces.
-------------
Reference:

Dr. Anne Marie Helmenstine at
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/ht/paperchroma.htm
and
http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa082602a.htm

---

2007 is the 20th anniversary of the NCW program, so planning for the celebration will begin even earlier than usual. The theme is "The Many Faces of Chemistry" and it will be celebrated October 21-27, 2007.

Each ACS local section and division has been encouraged to highlight and celebrate their own 'faces' of chemistry. Please consider how this might happen within the Western Carolinas Section.

National Chemistry Week (NCW), a community-based outreach program, is designed to reach the public with positive messages about chemistry and to make a positive change in the public's impression of chemistry. Activities include chemical demonstrations, hands-on activities, lectures, open houses, displays, contests and games.

For more information on the NCW program visit chemistry.org/ncw.

---

The CCED theme for 2007 is "Recycling - Chemistry Can!" - April 22, 2007. There will be a hands-on activity newspaper publication to assist our outreach activities and there is a K-12 grade illustrated haiku contest as well as a video contest for college students. The event that everyone across the country is encouraged to conduct is "Recycling All We Can".

CCED is an environmental awareness campaign. This program provides activities that are designed to enhance public awareness of important contributions made through chemistry in preserving our planet and improving our environment. The event is held annually on April 22.

More information about CCED is available at chemistry.org/earthday.

---

The Western Carolinas Section is looking for community outreach coordinators to lead community activities such as Chemists Celebrate Earth Day (CCED) and National Chemistry Week (NCW). If you are interested in heading up one of these outreach programs, contact the local section chair [insert contact information] and sign up with the ACS Office of Community Activities at:

For additional information on these or other community activity programs available through ACS, visit the Office of Community Activities' website at chemistry.org/oca, or email oca@acs.org.

---

The Eli Lilly & Company is once again sponsoring a program to provide funding for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral women chemists to travel to scientific meetings in 2007 to present the results of their research. Grants may be applied only for registration, travel, and accommodations, and are restricted to travel to meetings within the United States. Grant funds are limited, but there are some funds set aside for undergraduates. Only U. S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible. Applications should be limited to one per research group. Awards will be given with preference to the following order: (1) any applicant who will be making her first presentation (regardless of format) at a national or major meeting, (2) graduate or postdoctoral applicants who have not presented at a national or major meeting since leaving undergraduate school. Women who have received a prior award under this program are ineligible.

The deadline is February 15, 2007, for receipt of applications for meetings between July 1 and December 31, 2007. For application and more information visit the WCC Web site http://membership.acs.org/W/WCC/ or write wcc@acs.org.

---

The Women Chemists Committee (WCC) will celebrate its 80th birthday in 2007. The committee has planned a number of events to honor and recognize their achievements since 1927. We will kick off our celebration at the American Chemical Society's 233rd National Meeting in Chicago, IL. Symposia planned include "Symposium in Honor of the Recipient of the ACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences" and "Women Achieving Success: The ACS as a Platform in Leadership Development." In addition to the above symposia, WCC will hold its WCC Luncheon on Tuesday, March 27, 2007. The keynote speaker is Dr. Laura Kiessling of the University of Wisconsin, Madison who is the recipient of the 2007 Garvan-Olin Medal, an ACS National Award that recognizes a female scientist for her contributions to chemistry.

Additionally, the WCC will recognize 13 of the 22 recipients of the 2007 spring Eli Lilly Travel Award during the WCC/Eli Lilly poster session and reception on Tuesday, March 27. On Monday, March 26, the WCC will hold its Women in Industry Breakfast. Other spectacular events and programs are in the works. Please check the WCC Web site http://membership.acs.org/W/WCC/ in January 2007 for a complete listing of all the Chicago national meeting activities.

---

The 2007 SERMACS meeting will be held in beautiful downtown Greenville, SC. The meeting will take place in the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Wednesday, October 24 through Saturday, October 27, 2007.

Plenary Speaker: Richard N. Zare, Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science, Department of Chemistry, Stanford University "The Chemistry of Propulsion".

Fuel Cells, Batteries and Capacitors, Steve Creager, Clemson University

Fluorine-containing Molecules and Polymers, Dennis Smith, Clemson University

NSF Broader Impacts: Panel Discussion and Successful Projects, Luis Echegoyen, Clemson University and Sibrina Collins, Claflin University

Crystal Engineering, Southern Style (Fried, Baked or Boiled), Alicia Beatty, Mississippi State University

Using Chemistry Education Research to Improve Teaching and Learning, Melanie Cooper, Clemson University

Photonic and Optoelectronic Materials, John Ballato, Clemson University

S and Se in the SE, Gregory Grant, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and Daniel Rabinovich, University of North Carolina-Charlotte

Organometallics in the Southeast, Gregory Robinson, University of Georgia

Biological Applications of Nanotechnology, David Cliffel and David Wright, Vanderbilt University

Nucleic Acids: Structure and Interactions, Karen Buchmueller, Wake Forest University and David Wilson, Georgia State University

Special Analytical Awards Symposium, John Wheeler, Furman University

Modeling of Covalent Bonding Interactions, Steven Stuart, Clemson University and Donald Brenner, North Carolina State University.

---

The highly popular ACS Video Course, Starting with Safety, has been adapted for delivery via the Internet. The Internet version includes all of the materials from the original Video Course including the video scenes and the Teacher's Guide. As an added bonus, the complete ACS Video Course, Seeing the Light, Eye and Face Protection, is also included in this ACS Internet Course.

Now you and your students can access this valuable training program from any computer connected to the Internet at any time, day or night. (We do recommend a relatively high-speed connection, such as a DSL, cable modem or higher. And you will need to install the Flash 6 player to view the videos).

This program is designed to be used as part of a standard high school or introductory college chemistry curriculum that is taught by an experienced chemistry teacher. The program is NOT meant to be a stand-alone training course. Students should only use this program under the supervision of a qualified teacher.

For complete details about this program, visit the American Chemical Society website at http://chemistry.org/elearning and click on the link to Starting with Safety.

---

In October, the Technology, Tools and Operations Subcommittee of the Local Section Activities Committee and the Office of Local Section Activities launched a new HTML newsletter for local section leaders! The quarterly newsletter is sent via email to all current local section officers. The goal of the newsletter is to provide officers with timely information, tools and tips for success, and innovative ideas and activities that local sections may find of interest. The newsletter is available online at http://membership.acs.org/l/localsections/leading_together. If you wish to subscribe to future issues of this newsletter please send an email to olsa@acs.org and indicate your subscription request.