chemistry · 2018. 2. 27. · Swansea University to reintroduce chemistry degrees Swansea...

• Biological control of pest plants • SI units under review• Detecting gravitational waves • Patents and the Trans-Pacific Partnership

in AustraliachemistryJune 2016

chemistry

Big questions in chemistry:the new VCE study design

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news & research6 News15 Research19 Aust. J. Chem42 Cryptic chemistry42 Events

members4 From the RACI32 RACI news

views & reviews5 Your say33 Books36 Economics38 Education40 Grapevine41 Letter from Melbourne

24 Biological control: a case for multidisciplinary researchBiological control of pest plants involves biology, ecology and a dose ofchemistry.

28 Quantum leap: redefining SISeveral units in the Système international d’unités, including the kilogram,are under review in the lead-up to the proposed ‘new SI’ in 2018.

Senior chemistry: Victoria’s new study designAn engaging and challenging new study design for VCE Chemistry hasarrived.

28

2024

Hello members. You are reading a column from the CEO ratherthan the President because, unfortunately, Paul Bernhardt wasseverely injured in a cycling accident in mid-April. At the timeof writing, it is a mere week after the accident and Paul isseriously ill in hospital. Hopefully, by the time you read themagazine he will be well on the way to recovery, but therehabilitation physio work is going to be long and arduous. I’msure you join with me to wish him a speedy recovery.

The first thing I would like to touch upon is the CentenaryCongress (23–28 July 2017 in Melbourne). We received a hugeboost for the event at the end of March when we managed tosecure the 17th Asian Chemical Congress (ACC) as one of ourCongress partners after their original host, Japan, dropped out.

This is a triple bonus because:• a competing congress is no longer running in the same

region at the same time as ours, freeing up a large numberof possible delegates

• we have gained an event that has regularly attracted over1200 delegates at its last three congresses

• the event will attract a large number of additional abstractsfrom quality Asian chemists, which will greatly enhance ourCongress’ program.All RACI divisions have put their hands up to run meetings,

so we will not be running a separate event for the ACC but willutilise the divisional meeting programs for the content for theACC delegates.

With six specialised topic partner events and 14 divisionalmeetings, we will have something for every brand of chemists,so there is no reason for you not to attend. We are expecting atleast 3500 delegates (3501 if you go), so it’s going to be amassive event.

The plan is that abstracts will be opening early June so getout there and put a couple in!

Visit the website at www.racicongress.com to get the latestnews.

I’d like to move onto a corporate governance issue. Every year, Board positions come up for renewal and this

year we have the very important positions of President Electand Treasurer up for grabs. Obviously, the current Presidentelect, Peter Junk, moves up the ladder to President so theposition will be vacant, while the current Treasurer, DavidEdmonds, has indicated that he’s stepping down after fouryears, so his position will also be vacant. In addition to thesetwo office-bearer vacancies, an Ordinary Board member positionis also up for election.

The Board sets the direction for the organisation and, forgood governance, it’s vital we get quality people at the helm.In the recent past the membership (you) has been apathetic inthis area, underlined by the fact that from 2010 to 2014, of the18 positions up for renewal only two had to go through anelection process. Last year was spectacularly different! For thetwo Ordinary Board member positions, there were sixnominations, and for the Honorary General Secretary position,there were two nominations. All of the nominated people werehigh-quality candidates, which was absolutely fantastic;however, there was still a downside: of the 4000 eligible votersonly 600 put their hands up.

Good governance requires a robust election process to ensurethe best people lead the organisation, so this year let’s have aplethora of nominations and then have all members considerthe suitability of the applicants and cast their vote.

More information on director’s duties can be found togetherwith a nomination form at www.raci.org.au/theraci/corporate-governance/board-elections-2016.

In closing, let’s hope that Paul’s recuperation process hasprogressed to a point where he will be able to write his owncolumn next month.

EDITOR Sally WoollettPh (03) 5623 [email protected]

PRODUCTION EDITORCatherine Greenwood [email protected]

ADVERTISING SALES Gypsy Media & Marketing Services Marc Wilson, ph 0419 107 [email protected]

PRODUCTIONControl Publications Pty Ltd [email protected]

BOOK REVIEWSDamien [email protected]

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTSDavid [email protected]

GENERAL ENQUIRIESRobyn TaylorPh/fax (03) 9328 2033/[email protected]

PRESIDENT Paul Bernhardt FRACI CChem

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEESam Adeloju (Chair) [email protected], Amanda Ellis, Michael Gardiner, Helmut Hügel, Alan Jones, Amanda Saunders, Colin Scholes, Madeleine Schultz, Richard Thwaites

CONTRIBUTIONSContributors’ views are not necessarily endorsed by the RACI, and noresponsibility is accepted for accuracy of contributions. Visit the website’sresource centre at chemaust.raci.org.au for information about submissions.

© 2016 The Royal Australian Chemical Institute Inc. unlessotherwise attributed. Content must not be reproduced whollyor in part without written permission. Further details on thewebsite (chemaust.raci.org.au). ISSN 0314-4240 e-ISSN 1839-2539


Chemistry in Australia4 | June 2016

from the raci

Congresses and corporate governance

Roger Stapleford MRACI CChem ([email protected]) isCEO of RACI.

http://chemaust.raci.org.au

RACI honorary 50-year life membersThe New South Wales Branch held the President’s Dinner and Awards Night on 7 April2016. Cecil Bannon, Peter Field and I received honorary life membership for 50 yearsof membership. Such an occasion is a good excuse to reflect on the history of theeducational institution that allowed me access to RACI membership. The SydneyInstitute of TAFE (aka Sydney Technical College, traceable to 1833 with the SydneyMechanics Institute) ‘spawned’ two universities: the University of New South Wales(1949) and University of Technology Sydney (1969). Both these universities had namechanges, with UNSW commencing life as ‘The New South Wales University ofTechnology’ and UTS known as NSWIT in earlier years. When I enrolled as anundergraduate in 1960, UNSW was known as ‘The New South Wales University ofTechnology’ although some historians claim this name change occurred in 1958. Mymemory is the name changed in 1961, also the same year of the last trams to UNSWKensington facility.

I believe the 1960 student intake was the last enrolled in a combined BSc (AppliedChemistry) and ASTC (Associate of Sydney Technical College = Applied ChemistryDiploma awarded by STC). Sydney Technical College‘s high international rating as ateaching/research institute assisted in the dual universities (UNSW and UTS) spin-offs. UNSW went on to established colleges at Newcastle (1951) and Wollongong(1961), which eventually became independent universities.

In any event, the final outcome is great news as all these institutions are successstories with impressive records of delivering educational and economic benefits tocurrent and future generations. Thank you STC/TAFE/UNSW and RACI for yourcontributions to my education.

I would like to hear from other ASTC graduates to arrange an annual lunch. Maybewith other RACI honorary 50-year life members we could be invited to attend andcontribute to the Annual Fellow Lunch.

Robert Ryan FRACI CChem

your say

June 2016

M1792 MEP Chemistry Metrohm new titration jun 16 275x76.indd 1 4/6/16 13:34

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As your RACI member magazine,Chemistry in Australia is theperfect place to voice your ideasand opinions, and to discusschemistry issues and recentlypublished articles.

Send your contributions(approx. 400 words) to theEditor at [email protected].

news

Swansea University to reintroducechemistry degrees

Swansea University is to re-introduce chemistry degrees from2017, after a 12-year gap, following discussions with the RoyalSociety of Chemistry.

New chemistry BSc and MChem programs focus on teachingexcellence, student experience and employability. Based in theCollege of Science, the programs will have strong links toengineering and medicine.

Students will be able to take up placements with companiesin the field, as well as having the option of spending a year inindustry, like many other College of Science students.

Postgraduate opportunities within the chemical sciencesalready exist in the University’s Medical School and College ofEngineering. Further opportunities will now be created in thenew Chemistry Department.

Chemistry degrees were withdrawn at Swansea University in2004, at a time when science and technology subjects hadfallen in popularity. The demand for chemistry degrees is nowincreasing, with undergraduate enrolment in the subject up 4%nationally in the last two years.

The College of Science at Swansea, which will be the homefor chemistry, is also growing rapidly: with undergraduateapplications rising 15% overall in 2015–16 on top of a 20%increase in 2014–15.

Swansea University Vice Chancellor ProfessorRichard B. Davies said: ‘The University has changed and theworld has changed since 2004. Swansea University is in a farstronger position. We are now in the top 25 universities forresearch in the UK … The wider context has also changed, withhigher demand for chemistry and other science subjects,including from overseas students.’

Swansea University

Uni maths bar set too low:mathematiciansMid-level maths should be madea prerequisite for studentslooking to enrol in science,engineering or commercedegrees according to a new 10-year plan for mathematics inAustralia launched in March bythe Federal education minister(bit.ly/1Xq4XhD).

Currently only 14% ofAustralian universities requirescience students to havestudied intermediatemathematics in year 12.

The plan, developed by theNational Committee forMathematical Sciences, makes adozen key recommendations,including increasingprofessional development forout-of-field maths teachers and a new national mathematicsresearch centre to link industry and research. It also highlightsan urgent need to address the low participation of women andrural Australians in the mathematical sciences.

Professor Nalini Joshi, chair of the National Committee, saidthat improving the mathematics skills of the next generation isvital for future workforce demands.

‘We are in the era of big data but what good is data withoutthe ability to interpret and analyse it? We need people whohave the skills to take that raw information and turn it intosomething useful,’ Joshi said.

National Committee member and Director of the AustralianMathematical Sciences Institute Professor Geoff Prince said theplan was developed to outline the challenges and opportunitiesfor the future of maths in Australia.

‘This plan is a clear vision for governments, universities andindustry to shape mathematical sciences over the next 10 years,starting now. Fundamental to that vision is education. We knowthat 75% of the fastest growing occupations will need science,technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills, andthat maths is at the heart of this skill set. If we’re notpreparing our teachers and students the way we should,Australia will be left behind by the rest of the world,’ Princesaid.

The ten-year plan was developed after extensiveconsultation with mathematical scientists in schools,universities, government agencies and industry.

Australian Academy of Science


Nitrate-rich beetroot juice might enhanceperformance among top athletes accordingto a joint study from the University ofWestern Australia, the Western AustralianInstitute of Sport and the AustralianInstitute of Sport.

Dr Peter Peeling from UWA’s School ofSport Science, Exercise and Health was oneof the scientists who looked at the influencebeetroot supplements had on physiologicaland performance outcomes in elite kayakers.

The research saw six national-level maleand five international-level female kayakerstake part in a two-part study at the WesternAustralian Institute of Sport and the NationalRegatta Centre in Penrith.

‘We looked at the difference that the useof a commercially available 70-millitrebeetroot shot made to the time-trialperformance and paddling economy of theathletes involved,’ Peeling said.

‘In laboratory-based four-minuteergometer tests, the beetroot supplementhad a small effect on the distance covered,but was effective in improving the taskeconomy of the male kayakers. When we useda greater volume of beetroot juice(140 millilitre) among our femaleparticipants during a field-based 500-metrekayaking time-trial, we found there was ameaningful performance improvement of1.7%.’

‘Given that the margin between gold andsilver medals in the Men’s K1-1000m and theWomen’s K1-500m races at the 2012 LondonOlympic Games was 0.3% and 1.0%respectively, the relatively small performancechanges that we recorded are clearly relevant.’

Peeling said the nitrate in beetroot juice has been shown toimprove ‘the efficiency of processes that occur in themitochondria … This means ATP … can be spared duringmuscular activity, resulting in a decreased oxygen cost for agiven task.’

‘If you can find a way of reducing the oxygen cost of a givenactivity, you might improve the ability to withstand theexercise intensity for a greater period of time, or you find agreater level of output for the original oxygen cost.’ he said.

‘Beetroot juice is also known to improve explosive power andactivate fast-twitch muscle fibres, although current literature isyet to establish why.’

The study, published in the International Journal of SportNutrition and Exercise Metabolism (doi: 10.1123/ijsnem.2014-0110), found the use of beetroot shots by high-level athletesshould be trialled on an individual basis with the load anddosage tailored for the desired outcome.

‘However, the use of this natural vegetable supplement insport has become increasingly popular, and seeing an athletewith red beetroot stained lips at an endurance event is nolonger unusual,’ Peeling said.

University of Western Australia

Chemistry in Australia 7|June 2016

Can beetroot juice give elite athletesan edge?

Dr Peter Peeling with a sample of the beetroot supplement.

news

8 | June 2016Chemistry in Australia

New approach to rapidlyidentify ‘legal highs’

Chemists from Queen’s University, Ireland, have developed anew approach that allows for rapid screening and identificationof ‘legal highs’ or novel psychoactive substances.

Published in Analyst (doi: 10.1039/C5AN02326B), the newapproach will enable statutory agencies to identify the actualsubstances contained within the legal highs more quickly,thereby enabling more prompt public health messages to beissued out to communities.

In addition, as well as allowing agencies to build acomprehensive and ‘live’ picture of which drugs are currently incirculation, it is envisaged that the new rapid identificationapproach will also help speed up related criminal prosecutions.

‘Legal highs’ are substances used like illegal drugs, and havebeen responsible for a growing number of deaths in the UK overthe last decade. Known as ‘legal highs’ because when firstproduced they were not covered by existing drugs legislation,they face a total ban since the UK government’s newPsychoactive Substances Act came into force in April. The bancovers (with the exception of a number of listed compoundssuch as alcohol and caffeine) ‘any substance intended forhuman consumption that is capable of producing a psychoactiveeffect’.

Devised by Professor Steven Bell and PhD researcher LouiseJones in Queen’s School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,the new approach combines rapid infrared and Ramanspectroscopy screening for known drugs with in-depth analysisof new compounds. The samples can then be searched against alibrary of known compounds. They are then either identified asknown compounds or marked as new variants.

In the Queen’s study, 75% of more than 200 previously seizedsamples could be identified immediately. In the future, it is hopedthat this will allow for laboratory facilities to be freed up for in-depth investigation of unidentified compounds. The next stage ofthe work will be to begin work on live casework samples.

Queen’s University Belfast

Where do STEMqualifications lead?Australians with qualifications in science, technology,engineering and mathematics (STEM) are working across theeconomy in many roles from winemakers to financial analysts,according to a new report from the Office of the Chief Scientist.

Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel said Australia’s STEMWorkforce is the first comprehensive analysis of the STEM-qualified population and is a valuable resource for students,parents, teachers and policymakers. The report is based on datafrom the 2011 Census, the most recent comprehensive anddetailed data set of this type of information. The report willserve as a benchmark for future studies.

‘This report provides a wealth of information on where STEMqualifications – from both the university and the vocationaleducation and training (VET) sectors – may take you, what jobsyou may have and what salary you may earn,’ Finkel said.

‘Studying STEM opens up countless job options and thisreport shows that Australians are taking diverse career paths.’

The report investigates the workforce destinations of peoplewith qualifications in STEM fields, looking at the demographics,industries, occupations and salaries that students studying forthose qualifications can expect in the workforce.

The report found that fewer than one-third of STEMuniversity graduates were female, with physics and astronomyand engineering having even lower proportions of femalegraduates. Biological sciences and environmental studiesgraduates were evenly split between the genders. In the VETsector, only 9% of those with STEM qualifications were women.

Finkel said that even more worrying than the genderimbalance in some STEM fields, was the pay gap between menand women in all STEM fields revealed in the report. Thesedifferences cannot be fully explained by having children or bythe increased proportion of women working part-time.

The analysis also found that gaining a doctorate is a soundinvestment, with more STEM PhD graduates in the top incomebracket than their Bachelor-qualified counterparts. However,these same STEM PhD holders are less likely to own their ownbusiness or to work in the private sector.

Finkel said that preparing students for a variety of jobs andindustries was vital to sustaining the future workforce.

‘This report shows that STEM-qualified Australians areworking across the economy. It is critical that qualifications atall levels prepare students for the breadth of roles andindustries they might pursue.’

The full report is available at chiefscientist.gov.au.

Office of the Chief Scientist

Professor Steven Bell, Justice Minister David Ford and Louise Jones.Simon Graham/Harrison Photography

Snapping shrimps, the loudestinvertebrates in the ocean, maybe silenced under increasingocean acidification, a Universityof Adelaide study has found.

Published in March inProceedings of the Royal Society B(doi: 10.1098/rspb.2015.3046),the researchers report thatunder levels of CO2 predicted tobe found in oceans by the endof the century, the sound ofsnapping shrimps would bereduced substantially.

This is expected to haveprofound consequences formany species that rely on soundcues for information about thelocation and quality ofresources (food, shelter,partners and potentialpredators).

‘Coastal reefs are far frombeing quiet environments –they are filled with loudcrackling sounds,’ says TullioRossi, PhD candidate in theUniversity’s School of BiologicalSciences.

‘Shrimp “choruses” can beheard kilometres offshore and areimportant because they can aid the navigation of baby fish totheir homes. But ocean acidification is jeopardising thisprocess.’

The snapping shrimp is the most common and noisiest of thesound-producing marine animals in coastal ecosystems. Theycan produce sounds of up to 210 decibels through the formationof bubbles by the rapid closing action of their snapping claw,used as a warning sign to scare off predators and in their ownhunting.

Rossi, working with supervisor Associate Professor IvanNagelkerken and co-supervisor Professor Sean Connell in theUniversity’s Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, measured thesound produced by shrimp in field recordings at natural CO2

volcanic vents at three different ocean locations and underlaboratory conditions. They found substantial reductions in boththe levels of sound produced and the frequency of snaps.

‘Our results suggest that this is caused by a change ofbehaviour rather than any physical impairment of the claw,’ saidNagelkerken.

‘This outcome is quite disturbing. Sound is one of the mostreliable directional cues in the ocean because it can carry up to

thousands of kilometres with little change, whereas visual cuesand scents are affected by light, water clarity and turbulence.

‘If human carbon emissions continue unabated, the resultingocean acidification will turn our currently lively, noisy reefs intorelatively silent habitats. And given the important role ofnatural sounds for animals in marine ecosystems, that’s notgood news for the health of our oceans.’

University of Adelaide


Ocean acidification stops shrimp chorus

Snapping shrimp species Alpheus randalli (right) with a gobi (Amblyeleotris yanoi). Wikicommons/Steve Childs

For 30 years University of Wisconsin-Madison professor ofchemistry and glass expert Mark Ediger has been exploring thefundamental properties of organic glass while inventing ways tocontrol the placement of molecules and slow the degradation ofa substance that does not have the rigidity of a crystal.

Glass is a non-crystalline, solid material built of molecules oratoms packed together in countless different arrangements.Crystals only tolerate one packing arrangement betweenneighbours. The science of ‘silicate’ glass – the stuff of lightbulbs, beer bottles and windows and made largely from sand –is already highly advanced. Many other glasses, however, existat the cutting edge of modern science. The glasses that interestEdiger, for example, are made from organic molecules.

Glasses are more versatile than crystals, Ediger said. ‘For anygiven organic molecule, you only have a few crystal structuresto pick from; you are out of luck if one of them does not havethe properties you want. But molecules in glass are reallyflexible about their local environment and who they are willingto hang out with, so for organic molecules, there are an infinitenumber of glasses we can make. Some glasses might, forexample, resist water uptake or be exceptionally hard or resistdegradation by light.’

As in most glasses, the light-making molecules in an organiclight-emitting diode (OLED) are oriented more or less atrandom, ‘but you want those molecules positioned so the lightis aimed toward your eye,’ he says. Advanced productiontechniques to control the orientation of OLED molecules wouldincrease efficiency and extend mobile phone battery life. Theslight but continual movement of molecules in glass willeventually degrade performance in the hundred-million-oddOLEDs made to illuminate mobile phone displays every year;more stable glasses would extend the display lifetime.

Ediger acknowledges that this sounds like taming arebellious group of molecules. ‘If we tame them completely, weget a crystal, which we don’t want, but we have found a middleway to produce materials that are in many respects better thantraditional glass, but are not crystals.’

Crystals have their uses – the silicon crystal is the basis forcomputer chips, for example – but glass is better if you want tosee through a window or use light for digital communication.‘An optical fibre has to be able to carry a signal what – 60 miles– without being scattered by the boundaries between crystals,’Ediger said. ‘There’s no way you could do that with crystals.’

In 2007, in Science, Ediger and colleagues published a keyadvance in the quest for a middle ground between the rigidrepetition of a crystal and the amorphous anarchy of a glass.The article described organic glass made by depositing a vapourof organic molecules on a cold plate in a vacuum chamber.‘Initially we did not know what we were making, we just knewthat it was bizarre, unexpected,’ he said.

The new material did not behave as expected under neutronirradiation. ‘We raised the temperature to something we figuredwould start the molecules moving, but we had to raise thetemperature another 25°C before the molecules started tomove. It turned out we had made a form of glass in which themolecules were so much better packed that they did not moveuntil we reached a much higher temperature.’

Ediger had stumbled upon a way to ‘pre-age’ glass andsidestep the seemingly inevitable degradation caused by slightatomic rearrangements over time. ‘Our contribution was showingthat there is this interesting space between traditional glassand crystals,’ he says. ‘You are putting order in, but if you put intoo much order, it becomes a crystal, and you have gone toofar.’

Ediger eventually worked out that the cold-plate depositionprocess allowed the molecules to settle into a ‘comfortable’position, ‘and then get buried by another molecule’ that lockedthem in place.

The cross-pollination between theory and practicalitiescontinues in Ediger’s lab, as graduate student Yue Qiu usesvacuum deposition to prepare a new set of compounds thatcould be useful for OLEDs. ‘Yue’s work answers a fundamentalquestion and also can be useful in practice,’ Ediger says. ‘OLEDsdeteriorate over time, so cellphone displays get dimmer, andYue’s work might eliminate that.’

Qiu ‘is also asking an important fundamental question thatapplies very broadly to many aspects of glass technology,’ Edigersays. ‘How do you pack the molecules in a glass so tightly thatlight cannot cause the molecules to rearrange? You couldimprove cellphone displays by trial and error, but that would bea long process. If we can identify the principles, we could cutyears from that.’

University of Wisconsin

news


Controlling molecules in glass

This sample of organic glass, made in University of Wisconsin-Madison chemistry Professor Mark Ediger’s laboratory, has been‘pre-aged,’ meaning it deforms more slowly than most glasses. Mark Ediger

Alkane fuel is a key ingredient incombustible material such as petrol,aeroplane fuel, oil – even a homemadebomb. Yet it’s difficult to detect andthere are no portable scanners availablethat can sniff out the odourless andcolourless vapour.

But University of Utah engineers havedeveloped a new type of fibre material fora handheld scanner that can detect smalltraces of alkane fuel vapour, a valuableadvancement that could be an early-warning signal for leaks in an oil pipelineor an airliner, or for locating a terrorist’sexplosive.

Their discovery was published inMarch ACS Sensors (doi: 10.1021/acssensors.6b00018). The team is led byUniversity of Utah materials science andengineering professor Ling Zang.

Currently, there are no small, portablechemical sensors to detect alkane fuelvapour because it is not chemicallyreactive. The conventional way to detectit is with a large oven-sized instrumentin a lab.

‘It’s not mobile and very heavy,’ Zangsaid of the larger instrument. ‘There’s noway it can be used in the field. Imaginetrying to detect the leak from a gas valveor on the pipelines. You ought to havesomething portable.’

So Zang’s team developed a type offibre composite that involves twonanofibres transferring electrons from oneto the other.

‘These are two materials that interactwell together by having electronstransferring from one to another,’ saidBen Bunes, a postdoctoral fellow in theUniversity of Utah’s materials science andengineering department. ‘When an alkaneis present, it sticks in between the twomaterials, blocking the electron transferbetween the two nanofibres.’

That kind of interaction would thensignal the detector that the alkanevapour is present. Vaporsens, a Universityof Utah spin-off company, has designed aprototype of the handheld detector withan array of 16 sensor materials that willbe able to identify a broad range of

chemicals, including explosives. This newcomposite material will be incorporatedinto the sensor array to include thedetection of alkanes. Vaporsens plans tointroduce the device on the market inabout a year and a half, said Zang, whois the company’s chief science officer.

Such a small sensor device that candetect alkane vapour will benefit threemain categories: oil pipelines, aeroplanefuel tanks and security.

If leaks from pipelines are notdetected early enough, the resultingleaked oil could contaminate the localenvironment and water sources. Typically,only large leaks in pipelines can bedetected if there is a drop in pressure.Zang’s portable sensor – when placed

along the pipeline – could detect muchsmaller leaks before they become bigger.

Fuel for aircraft is stored in removable‘bladders’ made of flexible fabric. Theonly way a leak can be detected is byseeing the dyed fuel seeping from theplane and then removing the bladder toinspect it. Zang’s sensors could be placedaround the bladder to warn a pilot if aleak is occurring in real time and where itis located.

The scanner will be designed to locatethe presence of explosives such as bombsat airports or in other buildings. Manyexplosives use fuel oils like diesel as oneof its major components. These fuel oilsare forms of alkane.University of Utah


Sniffing out a dangerous vapour

Ben Bunes (left), Ling Zang and Chen Wang (in lab coat), all researchers from the Universityof Utah’s material sciences and engineering department, demonstrate a new prototypedetector that can sense explosive materials and toxic gases. The research team developed anew material for the detector that can sense alkane fuel, a key ingredient in suchcombustibles as gasoline, airplane fuel and homemade bombs. Dan Hixson/University of Utah College of Engineering

Chinese medicines are manufactured and distributed all over theworld. Many people perceive them as natural, even benign andwith few side effects, but regulation of human medicinesfluctuates widely in different countries. Are they really as safeas we think? Previous studies have found conflicting evidenceof the presence of hazardous chemicals such as arsenic andmercury in Chinese medicines. Now a new research paperrecently published by Dr Etsuko Furuta (Ochanomizu University,Japan) and Professor Nobuaki Sato, (Tohoku University, Sendai,Japan) in Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry

(doi: 10.1080/02772248.2015.1135927),raises questions about what controlsshould be implemented regarding the use,importation and production of Chinesemedicines.

Furuta and Sato have published analysesof the chemical make-up of 32 Chinesemedicines; 21 samples were purchasedonline and the rest were purchased fromJapanese markets and pharmaceuticalcompanies. The authors employed two non-dissolving methodologies to test themedicines: instrumental neutron activationanalysis (INAA) to examine theconcentrations of any hazardous elementspresent, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) todetermine chemical structures of elementspresent in high concentrations. The resultsfrom these tests showed the presence of Asand Hg in all samples. Additionally, theresults showed that medicines withidentical names but different places ofproduction had considerably inconsistentconcentrations of these hazardous

elements. These tests also revealed that the use of INAA andXRD together yielded the most accurate results for quantitativeand structural analysis. XRD alone failed to detect low levels ofAs and Hg in some samples but without it the chemicalstructure of elements present could not be determined; this akey indicating factor for user safety, putting results of previous,less thorough, examinations in doubt.

Most of the Chinese medicines purchased had no ingredientsheet, which would make product evaluation difficult for thecustomer. However, those that did have an ingredient sheetwere not always right; tests revealed the presence of unlistedhazardous ores and again widely varying concentrations ofothers or different ingredients in identically named medicines.Furuta and Sato point out that raised levels of Hg are likely dueto environmental contaminants, yet another indicator for theneed for stricter regulation of Chinese medicines and their use.

This study reveals a very unclear picture of safety in Chinesemedicines. Despite their historically unregulated use, theauthors urge for tighter controls on importation, betterinformation on their chemical structures, and thoroughconsultation with a doctor before regular use. Their conclusionis clear: ‘a long-term continuous consumption of these herbsshould be avoided.’

Taylor & Francis

news


Chinese traditional medicines: do you know what youare buying?

PTYLTDRowe Scientific

www.rowe.com.au

Reference materials from all major worldwide sources including:NIST (USA), CANMET (Canada), SABS (South Africa), BAS (UK), Standards Australia, BGS (UK), BCR (Belgium), NWRI (Canada), NRCC (Canada), Brammer (USA), Alpha (USA), Seishin (Japan)

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Researchers from Flinders University inSouth Australia have managed to useadvanced X-ray technology from theAustralian Synchrotron Facility inMelbourne to analyse Aboriginal artefactswithout the need for sample extraction.

Old European-style portrait artworkshave been analysed by X-ray fluorescencemicroscopy, but the new research allowsfor more delicate artefacts such as barkpaintings to be examined whileremaining intact.

Flinders University researcher DrRachel Popelka-Filcoff MRACI CChem saidalthough the technique had been used inEuropean-style canvas paintings, this wasthe first time it was used on Indigenousobjects.

‘The compilation of these data intoelemental maps allows further insightsinto the composition, application andlayering of natural pigment on theXscale, and further cultural interpretationof the objects, as well as expanding thecapability of the (synchrotron beamline)technique towards complex analyticalproblems.’

Using the XFM beamline at theAustralian Synchrotron in Melbourne,Popelka-Filcoff joined South AustralianMuseum and University of South Australiaresearchers in analysing two differentAustralian Indigenous objects, aboomerang and bark painting from themuseum’s Australian Aboriginal CultureCollection.

‘The findings from across Australia willhelp to reconstruct ancient exchangeroutes, provenance of Indigenous art andobjects, and other unprecedentedanalysis to help conservation andauthentication studies,’ Popelka-Filcoffsaid.

‘We have been looking at the bulkanalysis of these pigments from knownsources, but there hasn’t really been anywork done on the really fine paintings.The technology had not really been thereto examine them.

‘At the Synchrotron we are able to dothings with a spot size of about fivemicrons or less. We can create anelemental map of the pigments on theobject that gives us an idea of thecomposition and structure of thepigments, how they were applied and thethickness.

‘There is no need for a vacuum, noneed to take physical samples, and weget a wealth of information.’

The high sensitivity x-ray fluorescencedetector allows for a low radiation dose,

returning larger amounts of data thanother traditional X-ray methods.

‘One of the reasons we are so excitedto have this published is because it’s notjust important in understandingindigenous cultures in Australia, but tounderstand indigenous culturesworldwide,’ Popelka-Filcoff said.

The latest findings have beenpublished by the Royal Society ofChemistry in Analyst(doi: 10.1039/C5AN02065D).

Flinders University

X-ray technology helps map indigenous artefacts

Dr Rachel Popelka-Filcoff with some of the artefacts.

news


Curtin University WA-Organic and IsotopeGeochemistry researchers will play a keyrole in an international project that willsee scientists drill into the 180-kilometre-wide Chicxulub Impact Craterassociated with the dinosaur extinctionevent. The researchers aim to understandhow life recovered and repopulated Earthfollowing the catastrophic asteroidimpact event 66 million years ago.

Associate Professor Marco Coolen,geomicrobiologist and ancient DNAexpert, will be the only representativefrom Australia to visit the drillinglocation in Mexico to obtain samples forthe team’s research.

The drilling project aims to reach1500 metres below the ocean floor intothe crater’s ‘peak ring’. The samples willbe frozen and shipped to Curtin

University for further analysis by the WA-Organic and Isotope Geochemistry teamand the John de Laeter Centre.

John Curtin Distinguished ProfessorKliti Grice FRACI CChem, a molecularfossil and stable isotopic expert of massextinctions, said the team will beapplying an innovative approach tocombine geological, biological andgeochemical tools to study theenvironmental factors accompanying lifeduring and after the impact event.

‘It is estimated that close to theimpact, greater than 50% of speciesbecame extinct, including calcifyingplankton, whereas non-calcifyingorganisms recovered from the event,’Grice said.

‘Research associated with this end-Cretaceous event is the most closely

related to the rise of our current CO2

concentrations, which saw the levels riseat least approximately four times morethan present levels,’ Grice said.

Curtin University Associate ProfessorFred Jourdan, a geologist and expert onargon dating and the causes of massextinctions, explained that this end-Cretaceous period extinction event iscurrently the only one that can beassociated with an asteroid impact eventand volcanic activity 66 million years ago.

‘Other extinctions are associatedsolely with voluminous volcanic activity,which affected the biogeochemical cyclesand microbial communities in the ancientseas,’ Jourdan said.

Curtin University

Geochem team to research dinosaur extinction impact crater

New research led by Professor CathieMartin of the John Innes Centre, UK, hasrevealed how a plant used in traditionalChinese medicine produces compoundsthat may help to treat cancer and liverdiseases.

The Chinese skullcap, Scutellariabaicalensis – otherwise known in Chinesemedicine as Huang-Qin – is traditionallyused as a treatment for fever, liver andlung complaints.

Previous research on cultured cells hasshown that flavones found in the roots of

this plant not only have beneficial anti-viral and anti-oxidant effects, but theycan also kill human cancers while leavinghealthy cells untouched. In live animalmodels, these flavones have also haltedtumour growth, offering hope that theymay one day lead to effective cancertreatments, or even cures.

As a group of compounds, the flavonesare relatively well understood. But thebeneficial flavones found in Huang-Qinroots, such as wogonin and baicalin, aredifferent: a missing hydroxyl group intheir chemical structure left scientistsscratching their heads as to how theywere made in the plant.

Professor Cathie Martin, lead author ofthe paper published in Science Advances(doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1501780), explained:‘Many flavones are synthesised using acompound called naringenin as a buildingblock. But naringenin has this –OH groupattached to it, and there is no knownenzyme that will remove it to produce theflavones we find in Huang-Qin roots.’

Working in collaboration with Chinesescientists, Martin and her team exploredthe possibility that Huang-Qin’s root-specific flavones (RSFs) were made by a

different biochemical pathway. Step bystep, the scientists unravelled themechanism involving new enzymes thatmake RSFs using a different buildingblock called chrysin.

‘We believe that this biosyntheticpathway has evolved relatively recentlyin Scutellaria roots, diverging from theclassical pathway that produces flavonesin leaves and flowers, specifically toproduce chrysin and its derived flavones,’said Martin.

‘Understanding the pathway shouldhelp us to produce these special flavonesin large quantities, which will enablefurther research into their potentialmedicinal uses. It is wonderful to havecollaborated with Chinese scientists onthese traditional medicinal plants.Interest in traditional remedies hasincreased dramatically in China since TuYouyou was awarded the Nobel Prize forMedicine in 2015 for her work onartemisinin. It’s exciting to consider thatthe plants which have been used astraditional Chinese remedies forthousands of years may lead to effectivemodern medicines.’

John Innes Centre

Scientists discover how medicinal plant makes anti-cancer compound

Scutellaria baicalensis may help to treatcancer and liver diseases. Qing Zhao, Chinese Academy of Sciences

research

Current materials for capturing carbon from power plant exhausttend to bind CO2 too effectively. This causes problems when thecarbon needs to be released again for sequestration orrecycling. The same problem exists for hydrogen-storagematerials, which should ideally load hydrogen quickly at thepump and then release it on demand for the automobile’s fuelcell. The material will not load quickly if H2 binding is tooweak, but it will not release on demand if the binding is toostrong. Professor Sean Smith and the team at the IntegratedMaterials Design Centre (IMDC) at the University of New SouthWales run first-principles materials simulations to reveal newapproaches for carbon capture and hydrogen storage. The IMDCteam has recently identified several conductive materials thatadopt stronger binding with CO2 and with H2 when electricallycharged (Tan X., Kou L., Tahini H.A., Smith S.C. Sci. Rep. 2015,5, 17636; ChemSusChem 2015, 8, 3626−31). When the materialsare neutral there is very weak binding; but if the charge ismodulated, they can bind and release CO2 and H2 quiteeffectively. The IMDC team is running calculations to predictthe binding strength and voltage response profiles in order tofind a new way around the thermochemical ‘Goldilocks problem’.

CO2 capture and H2 storage: solving Goldilocks’ dilemma

Physical delivery of anticancer drugs tocontrolled anatomic locations cancomplement advances being made inchemo-selective therapies. To this end,Dr Matthew Hill and co-workers at CSIRO,Institut de Ciència de Materials deBarcelona, Monash University andVictoria University have developed ametal–organic framework (MOF)-baseddrug-delivery device (Nazari M.,

Rubio-Martinez M., Tobias G., Barrio J.P.,Babarao R., Nazari F., Konstas K.,Muir B.W., Collins S.F., Hill A.J.,Duke M.C., Hill M. R. Adv. Funct. Mater.2016, doi: 10.1002/adfm.201505260). Tomake the device, the surface of an opticalfibre catheter was plasma etched, whichallowed it to be coated with a thin layerof the MOF UiO-66. The anticancer drug5-fluorouracil (5-FU) was then sublimated

and stored within the MOF pores. Deliveryof light of an appropriate wavelengththrough the fibre catheter was found totrigger the release of 5-FU on demand,offering a new route to localised drugadministration. The system exhibits greatpotential, delivering sufficient drug totreat a tumour from less than 1 mm ofoptical fibre.

Light-triggered drug delivery

research


Proto(n)-type: first enantioselective catalysis via the b-azolium ylide Studies by Associate Professor DavidLupton at Monash University havefocused on N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)organocatalysis, particularly as it relates

to the generation of novel reactivitypatterns with acyl azoliums. NHCorganocatalysis has flourished in the last20 years, moving beyond the Breslow

intermediate to encompass a diverserange of reactive intermediates now.While many have received significantattention, others, such as the b-azoliumylide, have largely been overlooked.Though reported 10 years ago, thisintermediate has for the most part beenignored in reaction discovery. Researchby Associate Professor David Lupton andYuji Nakano has recently led to thediscovery of the first enantioselectivereaction proceeding via the b-azoliumylides. The transformation provides 2-arylpropionates from enones, in up to a 91:9enantiomeric ratio and 96% yield, whileshowing robustness and good generality(Nakano Y., Lupton D.W. Angew. Chem.Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 3135−9). Remarkably,initial formation of an enolate does notprovide Rauhut−Currier products, but isinstead followed by proton transfer toprovide the b-azolium ylide. Examinationof the impact of alcohol-containingadditives has demonstrated that a seriesof proton transfer events are integral tothe enantioselectivity of the reaction.

Optical multiplexing plays a key role in applications such asoptical data storage, anti-counterfeiting, bioimaging andmolecular sensing. Conventional optical information carriersusually support only one optical phenomenon, eitherfluorescence (e.g. dyes, quantum dots and up-conversionnanoparticles) or light scattering (e.g. photonic crystals). Incontrast, plasmonic (metal) nanoparticles that exploitelectronic resonance with optical radiation are able to interactwith light in multiple fashions. This leads to the generation ofmultiple optical signals, such as far-field scattering,fluorescence and Raman scattering. In collaboration withresearchers at Monash University, the group of Professor JustinGooding at the University of New South Wales has recentlydeveloped a low-cost, non-destructive, unclonable anti-counterfeiting strategy that takes advantage ofsmartphone-readable multiplex plasmonic nanoparticles asinformation carriers (Zheng Y., Jiang C., Ng S.H., Lu Y., Han F.,Bach U., Gooding J.J. Adv. Mater. 2016, 28, 2330−6). Thesecurity labels were fabricated by shadow-mask-lithography-assisted self-assembly using multifunctionalfluorescein-embedded silver@silica core–shell nanoparticles as

building blocks. The multiple optical signals emitted by thenanoparticles can be assigned as spectral codes for security andanti-counterfeiting applications. The produced security labelslook the same from batch to batch on the macroscopic level;however, at the nanoscopic level, they are quite different fromeach other. This makes the security labels unique andunclonable.

Unclonable plasmonic security labels


Despite tremendous efforts being made to implement renewableenergy sources, there remains a need in the long term togenerate liquid fuels sustainably for applications such astransportation. Electrochemical reduction of captured CO2 toproduce fuels using renewable energy as a power source couldpotentially provide a solution to this problem. However, currentelectrocatalysts for this reaction generally suffer from highcost, low energetic efficiency and/or poor product selectivity.On the contrary, in nature, molybdenum- or tungsten-containing formate dehydrogenases (FDH) can efficiently andselectively catalyse electrochemical reduction of CO2 to formate.Inspired by the structure of the active sites in FDH, researchersfrom Monash University have synthesised a novel and cheapelectrocatalyst consisting of amorphous molybdenum sulfide(MoSx) immobilised on a polyethylenimine (PEI)-modifiedreduced graphene oxide (rGO). The catalyst can efficientlyconvert CO2 into a hydrogen/CO mixture similar to syngas (Li F.,Zhao S.-F, Chen L., Khan A., MacFarlane D.R., Zhang J. EnergyEnviron. Sci. 2016, 9, 216−23). Syngas in this form can be usedto form methanol directly. This promising rGO-PEI-MoSx composite catalyst may pave a new way towardsefficient CO2 reduction catalysis based on inexpensive noble-metal-free materials.

Renewable fuels from CO2 using cheap efficient catalysts

The alarming increase in drug resistanceby Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a majorthreat to global health. Ketol-acidreductoisomerase (KARI) is an essentialNADPH-dependent enzyme in thebranched-chain amino-acid biosynthesispathway of plants and microorganisms,including M. tuberculosis, and catalysesthe concerted isomerisation andreduction of substrates such as 2-acetolactate. KARI is not present inhumans and is thus an ideal new targetto combat tuberculosis. The groups ofProfessors Gerhard Schenk and LukeGuddat at the University of Queenslandhave recently solved the crystal structureof KARI from M. tuberculosis to 1.0 Å(Lv Y., Kandale A., Wun S.J.,McGeary R.P., Williams S.J., Kobe B.,Sieber V., Schembri M.A., Schenk G.,Guddat L.W. FEBS J. 2016, 283, 1184–96,and demonstrated that only Mg2+ canpromote catalysis, whereas the substratebinds in a non-competent mode in thepresence of other metal ions (e.g. Co2+),

thus inhibiting the reaction(Tadrowski S., Pedroso M., Sieber V.,Larrabee J., Guddat L.W., Schenk G.Chem. Eur. J. 2016,

doi: 10.1002/chem.201600620). Theseobservations pave the way to developurgently needed new drug leads to dealwith a major global disease.

Novel target to treat tuberculosis

research


Compiled by David Huang MRACI CChem ([email protected]). This section showcases the very best research carried out primarily in Australia. RACI memberswhose recent work has been published in high impact journals (e.g. Nature, J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.) are encouraged to contribute general summaries,of no more than 200 words, and an image to David.

Alternative descriptions of chemical bondingare often mere questions of semantics, butrecent work by Professors Jeffrey Reimers andNoel Hush and co-workers at ShanghaiUniversity, University of Technology Sydney,the University of Sydney, and the DanishTechnical University shows thatunderstanding bonding is critical tounderstanding the synthesis of sulfur-boundself-assembled monolayers on gold or goldnanoparticles (Reimers J.R., Ford M.J.,Halder A., Ulstrup J., Hush N.S. Proc. NatlAcad. Sci. USA 2016, 113, E1424−33). TheAu−S bonding has been assumed to be of theAuI-thiolate form found in many smallmolecules, but reaction conditions optimisedto make such products lead instead to surfaceetching. However, gold surfaces are noble andcannot bond this way using their s electrons. Instead theyinteract with sulfur through their filled d band via strong vander Waals interactions, binding as Au0-thiyl. Reactions thatexploit this bonding result in surface protection rather thanetching. This work establishes the first broad understanding of

Au−S chemical reactivity, leading to the discovery of a keyintermediate species in the Brust−Schiffrin synthesis, the mostcommon method used now to make gold nanoparticles. It alsoshows that Au-S bonding fits smoothly into periodic-tablevariations and explains its ‘anomalous’ surface spectroscopy.

How sulfur binds to gold

Sweet discovery in leafy greensTen billion tonnes of the sulfur-containing sugar sulfoquinovose(SQ) are produced annually by photosynthetic organisms. Theamount of sulfur in this sugar rivals that used in the totalannual biosynthesis of the essential amino acids cysteine andmethionine. As such, SQ plays a critical part in the cycling ofsulfur in the biosphere. The major form of SQ is a sulfolipidcalled sulfoquinovosyl diacylglyceride (SQDG). The researchgroups of Professor Spencer Williams at the University ofMelbourne and Dr Ethan Goddard-Borger at the Walter and ElizaHall Medical Institute, and colleagues in the UK, have reportedthe discovery of the first enzyme (a sulfoquinovosidase orSQase) dedicated to releasing SQ from SQDG (Speciale G., Jin Y.,Davies G.J., Williams S.J., Goddard-Borger E.D. Nat. Chem. Biol.2016, 12, 215−7). SQases are glycosidases, and release SQ sothat it can undergo sulfoglycolysis, a catabolic processsupporting primary metabolism that produces ATP and pyruvate.

The work defined the characteristic features of SQases, andbioinformatics was used to reveal the widespread occurrence ofSQases across the tree of life. It is speculated that consumptionof leafy green vegetables in the diet, which are rich in SQDG,may promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, such asE. coli, which express SQase and are capable of sulfoglycolysis.

Your advert could be here.For further information about advertising here or at chemaust.raci.org.au contact:Marc Wilson ◆ Gypsy Media Services ◆ 0419 107 143 ◆ [email protected]

iStockphoto/Jirkab

aust j chem


Two reviews and a focus article are highlights of the June issueof Aust. J. Chem. Colin A. Scholes of the Department ofChemical and Biomedical Engineering, University of Melbourne,provides a comprehensive overview of thermally rearrangedpoly(benzoxazole) (TRPBO) copolymer membranes for high-performance gas separation. Their superior mechanicalproperties together with chemical resistance promiseconsiderable application in industrial gas separation. Theunderlying chemistry for their preparation and separationperformance is described.

The C–S cross-coupling reaction of aryl halides with thiols orsulfur is an important synthetic transformation reaction inchemistry and medicine. The review by Lotfi Shiri andcolleagues at the Department of Chemistry, Ilam University,Iran, is a detailed description of the use of metal-basednanocatalysts in such reactions. A focus is provided on threeseparate metallic catalysts, Cu, Pd, Ni and In, Fe304, andcopper ferrite nanoparticles. A clear overview of the recoveryand reuse of these nanocatalysts is also provided.

On the subject of organic catalysts, Reece Crocker of theSchool of Chemistry, University of Sydney, provides a researchfocus on the use of bis(amino)cycloproenylidenes (BACs) asalternatives to the more commonly employed N-heterocycliccarbenes. BACs were originally developed as organometallicligands and, despite lacking satisfactory stereochemistryinduction from their chirality, are now acknowledged to behighly promising organocatalysts with important applications toorganic chemistry.

The issue is complemented by 10 research articles, includinga contribution by Angel Ramos-Organillo and colleagues at theUniversity of Colima, Mexico, describing the preparation of newsilicon-containing amide and esters derived from ibuprofen. Theamide analogues showed significantly improved ability to bindto nuclear transcription factor κβ (which is directly associatedwith the mechanism of onset of inflammation) and yet showedno increase in toxicity. The results suggested these newcompounds may be suitable lead molecules for the developmentof novel therapeutics against inflammation.

George Koutsantonis FRSC, FRACI CChem and John D. Wade FRSC, FRACI CChem,Co-Editors-in-Chief, Australian Journal of Chemistry

Highlights of the June issue


An engaging andchallenging newstudy design forVCE Chemistry hasarrived.

BY JENNYSHARWOOD

At no time has it been moreimportant for the future ofAustralia for us to inspireand empower students to be

innovative, creative and criticalthinkers, informed participants insolving the major issues of our time,responsible and contributing citizensand highly skilled researchers,scientists and applied scientists,mathematicians, technology experts,academics, engineers, skilled workers,educators and communicators. This iswhy Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr AlanFinkel, and his predecessor, ProfessorIan Chubb, the Australian Academy of

Science, the Australian Academy ofTechnological Sciences andEngineering, and many other leadingscientists and educators are doing allthey can to increase enrolments inSTEM subjects across Australia.

This year an exciting new VCEChemistry study design has beenintroduced in Victoria. It is the productof ongoing research, analysis andevaluation of chemistry study designsand examinations across the world andacross Australia and aims to achieveinternational best practice.

In Victoria, enrolments in VCEChemistry continue to increase, with

Seniorchemistry Victoria’s new

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an almost 50 : 50 gender ratio. Thisrevised study design also aims toinspire students to continue to enrol inChemistry, a key STEM subject, intheir senior years, so that they havemany options for their future studiesand careers. To that end, the studydesign was developed in conjunctionwith wide consultations with manyexperts in the field, includingresearchers in chemistry andchemistry education, industry leaders,as well as chemistry lecturers andteachers.

Key study design featuresA focus on student independentlearning, scientific inquiry andcommunication underpins thestructural and assessment changes inthe new VCE Chemistry study design.

The key features of the new studydesign are:• its thematic approach, with each of

the four semesters based on adifferent and very relevant themethat is meaningful to students

• the embedding of science as ahuman endeavour across the keyknowledge and key skills

• its focus on the development ofscience investigation skills, thinkingskills and science communicationskills, including, where possible,student-designed investigations,site tours and field trips

• opportunities for students to applyand further develop their skills inindependent learning, and to directtheir own learning through theirself-selection of areas of interest forinvestigation, including generationand analysis of both primary andsecondary data

• its introduction to key quantitativeconcepts and skills throughpractical, meaningful contexts, suchas its introduction to stoichiometrythrough the context of gravimetricand volumetric analysis of water,and to gas laws, gas stoichiometryand thermochemistry through thecontext of the combustion of fuels

• opportunities to build research

skills and critical thinking skillsthrough investigations of a numberof major current chemical issues,including, where possible, meetingexperts in the field

• opportunities to investigate moderndevelopments in chemistry, such asnanochemistry, synchrotronapplications, designer materialsand fuel cells.Compared with other states and

territories, Victoria’s new studydesign maintains the higherproportion of quantitative applicationwork that is traditionally taught inVictoria. The study design also stillincludes a range of analyticaltechniques, including volumetric,gravimetric and instrumental analysis.A new feature is the inclusion ofinstrumental analysis in the new Unit2, when students investigate waterquality. Students use colorimetryand/or UV–visible spectroscopy andalso analyse results from AAS andHPLC analyses.

Through the study of instrumentalanalysis across Units 2–4, students gaina ‘taste’ of real-world, current chemicalendeavour. In fact, many teachers taketheir students to analytical laboratoriesso they can observe and evenparticipate in instrumental analyses,which makes this area of work all themore meaningful and relevant forstudents and enables them to learnabout the scientific approach toinvestigations from practising chemistsand to appreciate its importance.

The four themes of the studydesign, one per unit, are eachpresented as a challenging ‘big’question in order to promote scientificinquiry. Each unit is divided into areasof study, which also are presented askey questions (see p. 23).

Anecdotally, Victorian students andteachers report that they really enjoythe challenge of quantitative andanalytical chemistry, especially thechallenge of deducing an unknownorganic structure from MS, IR and NMRanalyses, because it is like solving apuzzle.

Building science investigationskillsUnits 1 and 2 each consist of threeareas of study. In the first two areas ofstudy, students not only build their keyknowledge and understanding of thatthematic content, but also develop andapply a range of thinking skills andscience skills in the process. The thirdarea of study requires students toundertake extended scientificinvestigations. In Unit 1 this mayinclude practical laboratoryinvestigations as well as research usinga range of resources. In Unit 2 studentsundertake an extended practicallaboratory investigation, which mayinclude a field trip to take watersamples, and/or a site tour.

Units 3 and 4 each consist of twoareas of study in which students buildtheir key knowledge andunderstanding, as well as undertakelaboratory investigations. As they honetheir science skills and thinking skills,students gain more experience inanalysing and evaluating experimentalfindings and experimental designsand in suggesting how they can beimproved. These skills are applied inan additional area of study that isundertaken at a time of the yearselected by the classroom teacher.


... Victoria’s newstudy designmaintains thehigher proportionof quantitativeapplication workthat is traditionallytaught in Victoria.

In this area of study, students designand perform their own extendedlaboratory investigations and report onthem in the form of a scientific poster.While the experiment may bedesigned and performed inpartnership with another student, eachstudent must independently processtheir results, draw their ownconclusions and analyse and evaluatetheir findings and suggest how theexperimental design can be improvedand extended.

This work and other assessmenttasks performed by the students overthe year will contribute 40% towards astudent’s final VCE Chemistry studyscore. An external examination, held inNovember, covers the knowledge andskills developed across Units 3 and 4and will contribute 60% towards astudent’s final VCE Chemistry studyscore.

Investigation of issues relatedto chemistryIssues related to chemistry that can beconsidered in this study designinclude safety issues that might beinvolved in the use of nanoparticles,chemical manufacturing and wastemanagement, water pollution, oceanacidification, non-renewable versusrenewable energy resources, and theuse of natural and artificial sweetenersin food.

Students are expected toinvestigate particular issues, critically

examine the arguments andsupporting evidence presented in themedia and other resources, draw theirown conclusions and communicatetheir findings.

Supporting and inspiringteachers and studentsA program of implementationworkshops as well as informationsessions held at teacher conferences,which have been run by the VictorianCurriculum and Assessment Authority,as well as support material, has helpedteachers prepare for the wide-rangingchanges in this new study design. As aresult, the new study design has beenwell received by most teachers.

Chemistry teachers with whom Ihave spoken have made commentssuch as ‘I like the thematic approach. Itmakes chemistry relevant andmeaningful and the course morecohesive’ and ‘I am really pleased thatfood chemistry is there’. Others havesaid that they thought that the greateremphasis on scientific skills will helpstudents build stronger laboratoryskills and understandings, and thatthey are very relieved that instrumentalanalysis has been retained. Those whowere initially cautious about the idea ofreporting an investigation by means ofa scientific poster and have attendedworkshops on this new aspect of thecurriculum can now see that it willfoster some very worthwhile andwidely used skills.

I believe that the new study designwill really engage and challengestudents and teachers alike. I lookforward to hearing their feedback asthey experience it for themselves.

But chemistry teachers will need asmuch support as possible. Here theRACI can make a significantcontribution, particularly in the areasof site tours, analytical laboratories,chemistry updates and updatedtraining in science investigation andlaboratory skills. The VictorianChemical Education Group would bemost interested to hear from RACImembers who may be able to help inthis regard.

In the meantime, the VictorianChemical Education Group, inpartnership with the Victorian Branch,are offering VCE chemistry studentsand teachers a range of opportunitiesto build their interest in andenthusiasm for chemistry. Theseinclude the Titration Stakes, theHartung Youth Lectures, the excitingnew ‘Chemistry is Everywhere –Bubble Mania’ program, the essay andart competitions and the AustralianNational Chemistry Quiz, which is nowentered by students from many othercountries as well as from acrossAustralia.

Further informationThe new VCE Chemistry study designcan be found at:• www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/vce/

studies/chemistry/chemunits1and2.aspx

• www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/vce/studies/chemistry/chemindex.aspx Units 1 and 2 of this new VCE

Chemistry study design (usuallystudied in Year 11) are beingimplemented this year. Units 3 and 4(usually studied in Year 12) will beimplemented in 2017.

Jenny Sharwood MRACI CChem is a retired VCEchemistry teacher and was a member of the VCEChemistry Review Panel. She continues to be achemistry and education writer, is actively involvedin the RACI Australian National Chemistry Quiz andhas rejoined the RACI Victorian Chemistry EducationGroup this year.


The quality of water in waterways is an important chemicalissue students will investigate in the new study design.

Chemistry in Australia 23|

Unit 1 How can the diversity of materials be explained?Students investigate the properties of a range of materialsfrom ionic compounds and metals to polymers andnanomaterials, and the reasons for those properties. In theprocess, they investigate the structure of the atom, themodern periodic table, and the relationship betweenstructure and bonding and properties. They also investigatehow materials may be modified to better suit particularpurposes and are introduced to mole theory and therelative sizes and masses of particles. This culminates in an

in-depth investigation of oneparticular aspect of materials

from a range of options,including the application ofthe principles of green

chemistry to chemicalmanufacturing, andcommunication of the

findings.

Unit 2 What makes water such a unique chemical?Students explore the physical and chemical properties ofwater and explain them in terms of its structure andbonding. They investigate solutions and solubility, pH andreactions in water including acid–base, redox andprecipitation reactions. They are introduced tostoichiometry and solution concentration. This leads to astudy of various analytical techniques for determining theconcentrations of salts, acids and bases and organiccontaminants in water, including acid–base titrations,gravimetric analysis and instrumental analysis. With thisfoundation behind them, students then design and conducttheir own investigation of some aspect of water quality.

Unit 3 How can chemical processes bedesigned to optimise efficiency? Students explore the combustion of fossilfuels and biofuels, and are introduced tothe principles of thermochemistry in thiscontext. They compare these energyresources in terms of factors such asenergy efficiency, renewability andimpact on the environment. Students alsoinvestigate galvanic cells, fuel cells andelectrolytic cells and examine andcompare their designs and operatingprinciples. They use the electrochemicalseries to explain and predict theprocesses occurring in the cells, andapply Faraday’s laws. They investigate theapplication of rate and equilibriumprinciples behind the selection ofoptimum conditions for the manufactureof industrial chemicals, and study andapply the equilibrium law and LeChatelier’s principle.

Unit 4 How are organic compounds categorised,analysed and used?Students investigate the carbon atom and the reason for theversatility of the design of carbon compounds. They studythe structures, systematic names and reactions of keyorganic families, and predict the products of and alsodesign reaction pathways that are used to synthesiseparticular organic compounds. They perform volumetricanalyses to determine the concentration of organiccompounds, and use data from the instrumental analysis ofan unknown organic compound (MS, IR and NMR) todeduce its structure. Students then study various foodbiomolecules in terms of their structures and the reactionsused to build them up and break them down. Calorimetry isused to investigate the energy content of various foods.

VCE Chemistry: the four themes

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iStockphoto/Michał Strzelecki

iStockphoto/Martin M

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iStockphoto/ansonsaw

June 2016


Biological controlof pest plantsinvolves biology,ecology and adose of chemistry.

BY DEIDRE TRONSON

Invasive plants or weeds areusually from ‘somewhere else’.These plants are kept in check intheir natural environment by

being in balance with the soil andweather systems, and also becausethey are a food source for a range ofinsects, other animals andmicroorganisms. Looking in particularat insect–plant relationships, ecologistsfind that some are very specific, whichindicates to me that some herbivoresmight use chemical signals to detectwhich plants are the right ones forthem.

There are many ‘unknownunknowns’ of the biological control ofpest plant species; but as a result of

ongoing research, there are now a few‘knowns’. This article is based oninterviews with two researchers in thearea of biological control of Australianplants.

Matthew Purcell is the team leaderof Biological Control in the ManagingInvasive Species Impacts program atCSIRO, and also Director of the USDepartment of Agriculture,Agricultural Research Service (USDAARS) Australian Biological ControlLaboratory. He is elucidating somecomplex biology and ecologyinvolved in biological control of pestplants. Dr R. Andrew Hayes, ForestHealth Research Fellow at the ForestIndustries Research Centre, University

Biologicalcontrol A case for

multidisciplinary research

The weevil Cyrtobagous salviniae ona leaf of the weed Salvinia molesta.Matthew Purcell

of the Sunshine Coast, undertakesresearch into the chemical signals(called semiochemistry orinfochemistry) that enable plants andother organisms to interact with eachother.

I know both these researchers fromprevious lives, and didn’t know thatthey both work at the EcosciencesPrecinct at Dutton Park, Queensland(opened in 2010), which is a largemultidisciplinary research centre withover 1000 people working in it fromtwo state government departments,CSIRO, and a few universities.

Matthew Purcell becameinvolved in monitoringour own little biologicalcontrol agent here at the

Centre of the Universe (Werombi, NewSouth Wales). In the mid-1980s, CSIROresearchers introduced the weevilCyrtobagous salviniae to help controlan infestation of the water weedSalvinia molesta on large farm dams.The larvae and adults of the weevilsnibble at the growing points of theweed, which then – eventually – diesand sinks. Both the weed and itspredators come from Brazil, but it wasonly due to perseverance after acouple of false identifications thatresearchers found exactly the rightspecies of Cyrtobagous weevils tocontrol the plant.

The Salvinia weed is a problem inmany tropical and warm temperateareas all over the world, includingFlorida, where the same species ofweevil has been imported, and usuallyeffects some biological control.However, it is too cold for the Brazilianor Floridian weevils to control the plantin Texas. Matthew and his US

collaborators have recently found that‘our’ weevils, having been breedingfor 30 years in the coolest climaticextreme of their range, havegenetically adapted to the cold, so theongoing plan is to find how to breedcold-adapted weevils(Obeysekara P.T., Knutson A.,Mukherjee A., Heinz K.M. Environ.Entomol. 2015, vol. 44(6), pp. 1590–8,doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvv123).

Matthew defines biological controlas ‘reuniting invasive insects and plantswith their native parasites andherbivores’. His research for the past30 years has been focused onidentifying the many, many insects thatnaturally keep some Australian plantsin balance with their homeenvironment and he has successfullyused some of these insects to control


Matthew definesbiological controlas ‘reunitinginvasive insectsand plants withtheir nativeparasites andherbivores’.

Matthew Purcell at the farm dam atWerombi, NSW, collecting the water weedSalvinia molesta on which the weevilCyrtobagous salviniae feeds. He reallywants the weevils, but they are tiny andhard to see, and for travel to the lab theyare best kept on some of the weed. Theseweevils are adapted to the cold, and will besent to labs in Texas, US, to compare theirgenetics with those from other places.

several Australian plants that have runrampant in the US.

One particular menace that oncecovered 500 000 acres in Florida(including the Everglades) is theQueensland paperbark Melaleucaquinquenervia. After a long process ofdedicated research, Matthew and histeam used the melaleuca weevil,psyllid and stem gallfly to control theinvasion as part of an integratedmanagement system approach thatalso used some chemical control andmechanical removal. As a result of this,flowering has been reduced by 95%,and 85% of saplings that do grow canbe removed in some areas (althoughthis is very difficult in the Everglades,which is a ‘river of grass’ withcrumbling underlying limestone).Matthew says he is fortunate to havestayed with his project and seen itsdevelopment from finding his firstpotential biological control agent toseeing the unwanted melaleuca inFlorida being reduced from28 000 trees per acre to a manageableand sustainable 4000 trees per acre15–20 years later. Not many people getto see an overview like that in a field ofresearch.

This is the largest of his manyprojects in Florida. His successes aredue partly to rigorous and painstakingscience, coupled with the support ofresearchers and employers who cantake the long view. But success is alsopartly due to Matthew’s personalenthusiasm and passion. When he wasa new graduate, he ‘visitedeverywhere and anywhere to get paidor unpaid experience in science’. Hereceived an offer for an interview for asix-month fill-in job at CSIRO, and‘zoomed straight up there and frontedthe counter immediately’. Impressedwith his enthusiasm, CSIRO hired him.During that time, a US scientist waslooking for someone based inBrisbane to search for Australianinsects as biological control agents forAustralian plants that were pests inFlorida. Matthew is still there, doingthat ‘temporary’ job, 30 years later.

What has surprised him in his workwith insects is the impact of genetics.His team has found that not all insectsof one species will be equally aseffective in controlling the plant hosts.New techniques and methodologiesare enabling genetics researchers tofind more knowns where once wereonly unknowns.

Although Matthew told me he didnot know of any research into potentialchemical communications betweeninsects and plants in his particularproject areas, I suspected there mightbe someone doing some relatedchemical studies, somewhere. Andthere is: my own investigations in thisarea turned up another familiar name.

Ifirst met Dr R. Andrew Hayes whenhe was a biology PhD student atthe (then) University of WesternSydney, Hawkesbury campus

looking at the chemical composition ofthe odours that rabbits use in their chin

gland secretions to control their socialstructure. In the same multidisciplinarylab, joining the same queue for theonly GC-MS, I was investigating theodours of banksias (see October 2015issue, pp. 38–9).

Andrew told me: ‘I haven’t stoppedstudying smell ever since.’ He hasstudied odour and geneticrelationships in captive and wildlemurs, the faecal odours of native ratsand the implications in their predator–prey interactions, and the chemicalecology of the cane toad.

Andrew moved to Queensland for apostdoc position, adamant he wouldonly stay two years. Thirteen yearslater, he vows: ‘we won’t be movingany time soon!’ Queensland must havesomething the rest of the world doesn’tknow about.

The Forest Industries ResearchCentre where he now works aims tosupport the forest and timber industriesof Queensland and the rest of Australia,


Andrew Hayes in the laboratory with Timber Durability Scientist Lesley Francis discussingwood extracts.

with the ultimate goal of improvingprimary productivity, but also ofreducing pesticide load in theenvironment. Although the chemistryprojects Andrew is working on do notrelate directly to Matthew’s projects,some are complementary to them.

For example, one of the Centre’scurrent projects involves research withpartners in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam

and Thailand in a project funded by theAustralian Centre for InternationalAgricultural Research (ACIAR). Theproject aims to identify biocontrolagents for Australian-introducedeucalypt pests in plantations in theMekong basin. Another project, incollaboration with the NSW Departmentof Primary Industry, hopes to identifypheromone-trapping for the fruit-

spotting bug Ambypelta nitida, which,although an Australian native species, isa pest in some tropical crops such asmacadamia and avocado. Andrewindicated that this research has shownmixed results so far, and the team istrying to tweak the integrated chemicaland biological systems to make a moreeffective control strategy.

Although a proud biologist andecologist, Andrew is always willing tolook outside the square and use a rangeof ideas and methodologies from otherdisciplines. His long and continuingresearch in using chemistry to solvebiological and ecological problems isimpressive, as indicated by the title ofone of his papers: ‘Corymbia phloemphenolics, tannins and terpenoids:interactions with a cerambycid borer’(Hayes R.A., Piggott A.M., Smith T.E.,Nahrung H.F. Chemoecology 2014,vol. 24, pp. 95-103).

The coda to this story relates to theimportance of enthusiasm, which bothAndrew and Matthew have inabundance. I recently visited theEverglades in Florida, where no onementioned melaleuca as being aproblem, although they all talkedabout introduced Burmese pythonsdecimating the raccoon population.Our enthusiastic and knowledgeableyoung tour guide told us he started outas an English major who entered acompetition to write a promotionalarticle about the Everglades. Theshort-listed candidates were taken onan introductory camping tour of thenational park, and our guide was‘hooked’ to such an extent that hechanged his major to environmentalscience. His passion was contagious,something that helped secure him hiscurrent permanent job as a ranger atthe Everglades.

Deidre Tronson FRACI CChem used to be a madscientist, but is now the Good Little Banksia Ladywho, in retirement, is an enthusiastic member ofScientists and Mathematicians in Schools at a localprimary school. She has proudly raised three sciencegraduates. She has had separate careers in researchand teaching, culminating in a position as part-timesenior lecturer at the University of Western Sydney,Hawkesbury campus.


Range of chemical structures from the inner bark (secondary phloem) of the importantforestry tree Corymbia variegata and its hybrid with C. torelliana, as a first step indetermining if some of these compounds influence the attack by the beetle Phoracanthasolida which attacks some of the hybrids more often than the parent.

... one of the Centre’s current projects ...aims to identify biocontrol agents forAustralian-introduced eucalypt pests inplantations in the Mekong basin.

ssecond

molmole

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kgkilogram

cdcandela

Kkelvin

Aampere

Redefining SIQuantum leap

The arcane science ofmetrology is on the cusp of aquantum leap, a boldredefinition of four of the

seven SI base units, in the aftermath ofwhich we will find our lives radicallyunchanged.

The Système international d’unités(SI) has its roots in imperial France. Inthe late 1700s, King Louis XVI orderedinvestigations into a new, standardisedsystem of weights and measures tocrack down on rampant fraud. Louis’expert committee proposed measuresbased on nature – such as the triplepoint of water for temperature, and afixed volume of water for mass. Beforethe revolution, the ‘grave’ wasproposed as the mass of litre of water,but in 1799 this was updated to the‘gramme’ – the mass of 1 cm3 of waterat 4°C.

However, a pea-sized volume ofwater (for extremely large values of‘pea’) was not a practical unit, so thekilogram gained traction as a standardunit, embodied as a physical object.

Following the Metre Convention of1875, 17 member countries agreed toa standardised system, and themodern SI system was born. Since1889, the International Prototype of theKilogram (IPK) has been stored at theBureau International des Poids etMesures (BIPM) near Paris, under theauspices of the Conférence Généraledes Poids et Mesures (CGPM).

One of 40 identical artefactscarefully manufactured by British firmJohnson Matthey as a 39 mm cylinder(approximate length and diameter) ofplatinum (90%) and iridium (10%) andthen selected by lot, this IPK isperiodically brought out and checked

BY DAVE SAMMUT

Several units in the Systèmeinternationald’unités, includingthe kilogram, areunder review in thelead-up to theproposed ‘new SI’ in2018.

against the national prototypes thathave been distributed to memberstates around the world. Of the original40 manufactured, there remain sixnational prototypes, eight workingstandards and two additional copiesfor special units.

And here lies the key problem withphysical constants. More than just thelogistical problems of access, transportand measurement, by definition aphysical constant should be bothuniversal in nature and constant intime. But successive measurementshave shown a drift in some of thenational prototype kilograms againstthe IPK of up to 50–60mg (6×10–8

relative uncertainty). Either the IPK is losing mass

(possibly through the diffusion of gasencapsulated during manufacture, orloss of atoms on handling), or thenational prototypes are gaining mass(such as through mercury vapouradsorption or carbonaceouscontamination). Either way, the IPK isby definition a kilogram, so the rest ofthe world is getting heavier, and thatcan’t be allowed to continue (see box,p. 31).

At its 23rd meeting in 2007, theCGPM mandated a committee of18 eminent scientists, the ComitéInternational des Poids et Mesures(CIPM) to investigate the use of naturalconstants to replace the IPK. TheCGPM has eliminated the InternationalPrototype Metre (1960) and thedefinition of the second based on theperiod of rotation of the Earth (1956,1967), leaving the kilogram as the onlybase SI unit still anchored to a physicalartefact.

Two alternative methods of definingthe kilogram in terms of naturalconstants have been proposed. CIPM’spreferred method (amidst strenuousongoing debate) is to define thekilogram in terms of Planck’s constant(see box), specifically by setting thenumerical value of h to exactly6.62606x×10–34 joule second (wherethe numbers making x have yet to bedetermined).

The science of the arguments getscomplex pretty quickly, but toparaphrase BIPM’s very cogentexplanation: the natural constant h iscomposed as the product of twocomponents, its numerical value {h}and its unit [h], so that in this case:

h = {h}[h] = 6.62606 …×10–34 kgm2/sThe factors {h} and [h] can be

chosen in different ways such that theconstant itself, h, remains unchanged.Until now, the unit [h] has beendependent on the fixed definition ofthe kilogram, making the numericalvalue {h} a measured variable. UnderCIPM’s preferred approach, thenumerical value {h} will be fixed, inturn yielding the definition of the unit[h]. The metre and second are bothdefined by natural constants, and thisin turn yields a new definition for thekilogram.

The current definition fixes themass of the IPK at 1 kg with zerouncertainty, which in turn means thatthe current best measurements ofPlanck’s constant have a relativeuncertainty of 4.4×10–8. By fixing thevalue of Planck’s constant (with zerouncertainty), the IPK itself may nolonger have a mass of 1 kg, but willassume the relative error of 4.4×10–8.

In practice this means that thekilogram can be experimentallymeasured on a watt balance, whichcompares electrical power andmechanical power. In simple terms, aconducting wire carrying an electriccurrent (I) perpendicular to amagnetic field of known strength willexperience a force of known strength.In a watt balance, the current is variedto precisely counteract the weight (atknown local gravity, g) of a standardmass (m).

By moving the wire through themagnetic field at known speed (in aseparate ‘calibration mode’), apotential difference (U) is generatedacross the ends of the wire, which canbe used to remove the effect of themagnetic field strength and the lengthof wire, such that:

UI = mgv

With extremely accuratemeasurements available for U, I, g andv, it is expected that the watt balancecan be used to generate extremelyaccurate measurements of thekilogram. As example, the US’sNational Institute of Standards andTechnology’s (NIST) newest prototypewatt balance, NIST-4, wascommissioned in 2015, and isexpected to measure thekilogram/Planck’s constant with an


Quantum leap

Planck’s constantThe duality of light has been anenduring paradox for physics. As earlyas 1801, Young’s two-slit experimentdemonstrated that light is a wave.Maxwell’s equations and Faraday’sdiscoveries reinforced this view. Butthen came Max Planck and AlbertEinstein.

In 1900, Planck – using onlymathematical foundations – showedthat light must be emitted andabsorbed in discrete amounts if it isto correctly describe black bodyradiation (the fact that hot objectsemit light at different wavelengthsdepending on temperature). Einsteinfollowed this in 1905, using Planck’sinitial equations to explain thephotoelectric effect, and therebyclearly showing that light wascomposed of discrete particles –photons. Einstein showed that theenergy of a photon was related to itsfrequency by Planck’s constant:

In 1954, Einstein said of Planck’swork: ‘This discovery became thebasis of all twentieth-century researchin physics and has almost entirelyconditioned its development eversince. Without this discovery it wouldnot have been possible to establish aworkable theory of molecules andatoms and the energy processes thatgovern their transformations.’

uncertainty of 3×10–8 – half thecurrent uncertainty from the IPK.

The alternative method formeasurement has includedCSIRO and the NationalMeasurement Institute facility atLindfield, Sydney. The AvogadroProject, as it has come to beknown, uses perfectly sphericalballs of ultra-pure (99.9995%)silicon-28. Each ‘super sphere’costs about US$3.2million, and ishandcrafted by a master lens-maker. CSIRO’s Australian Centrefor Precision Optics has claimedthat the spheres have total out-of-roundness’ of only 35nanometres.

The crystalline balls have apredictable pattern of atomicspacing that can be measuredby X-ray crystallography. Withonly one dimension to bemeasured (via highly preciseoptical interferometers), andwith nanometre precision in themilling (so that if theapproximately 94 mm sphereswere blown up to the size of theEarth, the difference betweenthe highest peak and the lowesttrough would be 3–5 metres), thenumber of atoms in the spherescan be determined withextremely high precision.

According to NIST, the bestmeasurement to date has thesame level of uncertainty as thebest watt balancemeasurements: 3×10–8. Thisthen provides an excellentsecond method of verifying themeasurements from the wattbalance approach. As stated byNIST: ‘The watt balance andAvogadro Project measurements

are not so much competing withas complementing each other todefine the kilogram. In fact,metrologists are counting on alarge amount of agreementbetween the two experimentsfor a first-shot redefinition. Thetwo strategies can act as checksagainst one another, whichwould give scientists moreconfidence that each newdefinition is a reliablereplacement for “the big K” [theaffectionate term for the IPK].’

One of the consequences ofthe Avogadro Project approachis that it would link the definitionof the kilogram to the mole,which is also under CGPMreview. The current definition ofthe mole is the amount ofsubstance of a system thatcontains as many elementaryentities as there are atoms in0.012 kilogram of carbon-12.

The proposed revision fixesthe value of Avogadro’s constantat 6.02214x×1023 mol–1, whichwould in turn affect the definitionof the dalton and the atomicmass unit (which would bedropped as an SI unitaltogether), with minordifferences emerging betweenthe last two.

CIPM has advised that thecriteria for acceptance ofkilogram measurements shouldbe that three separateexperiments using the wattbalance and silicon sphereshould yield values havinguncertainty of no more than5×10–8, with at least one valuebetter than 2×10–8.


Crystals of silicon-28 can be machined into spheres with adefined mass of 1 kilogram. Using this, the spatialparameters of the silicon’s crystal lattice and the mass ofan individual silicon atom, Avogadro’s number can bedetermined. NIST

In the NIST watt balance experiment, a kilogram test massis placed on a balance pan that is connected to a coil ofcopper wire, which surrounds a superconductingelectromagnet. If electric current is sent through the coil,then just as in an electric motor, electromagnetic forcesare produced to balance the weight of the test mass. Theapparatus measures this current and force. The apparatusalso can move the coil vertically, and, like an electricgenerator, that induces a voltage. The velocity and voltageof the coil also are measured. These four measurementsdetermine the relationship between mechanical andelectrical power, which can be combined with other basicproperties of nature to redefine the kilogram.R. Steiner/NIST

The Avogadro Project ... usesperfectly spherical balls of ultra-pure (99.9995%) silicon-28.

Redefining the kilogram in terms of afundamental natural constant will ensure itslong-term stability and reliability. After yearsof detailed argument, it is now proposedthat a new approach will be adopted at the25th CGPM meeting in 2018. This is to betermed the ‘new SI’.

And at the end of all of that effort, whatwill have changed in our laboratories andday-to-day lives? Well … nothing, actually.While the changes will affect certain high-precision industries such astelecommunications, and will become moreimportant as our technologies develop, themethods used now to calibrate ‘at the coalface’ will remain unchanged.

From my limited perspective, thekilogram will no longer be an object that Iwill never see outside a photo, and insteadwill be derived from a concept based on anarcane theory by a bloke who hadsomething against cats. Call it a quantumleap in my lack of understanding.

Dave Sammut FRACI CChem is principal of DCS Technical, aboutique scientific consultancy, providing services to theAustralian and international minerals, waste recycling andgeneral scientific industries.


Matters of substanceAs I dolefully contemplate my bathroomscales of a morning, I find that thesubject of mass is of fundamentalimportance to me. The problem startedwhen our son was born. Did you knowhow you weigh less in the morning thanwhen you go to bed at night? After stayingup all night with a screaming baby, thisstopped happening for me. I started to getfatter. So I went on my first diet ever.Like a good scientist, I applied thescientific method to my experiment:Aim: To avoid having to purchase newpants.Method: Measurements taken at t = 0.Ingest nothing but healthy food forseveral weeks. Measurements repeated.Results: System changes observed andrecorded.Conclusion: Judging by what I lost duringthe test, the ‘will to live’ weighsapproximately 2 kg.iStockphoto/urfinguss

Master optician Achim Leistner measuring the roundness of a precision silicon sphere that was manufactured at CSIRO. CSIRO

The Athel Beckwith Lectureship Generously supported by the JohnMorris Group

The Organic Division has established an annual fundedlectureship to allow outstanding, recently appointed, organicchemists to travel around Australia and present the results oftheir research work. The objective is to provide the lecturerwith the opportunity to achieve broader recognition andexposure at an early stage in their career. Reasonable travel andaccommodation expenses up to a maximum of $3500 will beprovided.

The Mander Best PhD Thesis inOrganic Chemistry Award

Generously supported by Davies CollisonCave

The Mander Best PhD Thesis in Organic Chemistry Awardrecognises the best PhD thesis in the field of organic chemistryfor outstanding achievement and communication. The recipientwill receive a cash prize of $1000, generously provided byDavies Collison Cave.

Student Bursaries for ConferenceTravel

Generously supported by CSIRO ManufacturingUp to 10 student bursaries (of up to $500) areavailable to assist current RACI student members,

who have been a member for at least one year, with attendanceat organic chemistry related conferences within Australia.


RACI Organic DivisionAwardsThe RACI Division of Organic Chemistry is calling fornominations for the following awards. Nominations should besubmitted to Dr John Tsanaktsidis([email protected]), Chair of the Organic ChemistryDivision, by 30 June 2016. For more information, visitwww.raci.org.au/events-awards/organic-chemistry.

raci news

Kliti Grice honoured withGibb Maitland Medal Internationally recognised organic geochemist and chemistProfessor Kliti Grice FRACI CChem has been awarded the GeologicalSociety of Australia’s (GSA) 2016 Gibb Maitland Medal.

Grice, a John Curtin Distinguished Professor in the Departmentof Chemistry, Curtin University, and the founding director of theWA-Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre at Curtin, receivedthe award in recognition of her work in organic and isotopegeochemistry and its applications to fundamental geology, and forher substantial and sustained contributions to the petroleum andminerals resources sector in Western Australia and internationally.

Grice, who has held two Australian Research Council (ARC) QEIIfellowships and a Discovery Outstanding Research Award atProfessorial level, has been responsible for a number of majorinternational scientific breakthroughs.

Her research has significantly contributed to knowledge aroundthe causes and recovery of four of the five largest mass extinctionevents on Earth, with special relevance to Western Australiangeology and exploration of critical resources.

She has also developed and applied sophisticated analyticalbiomarker and compound specific isotopes (C, H, N and S) from‘living’ stromatolites – ancient sediments, petroleum and mineralsystems including but not limited to the Devonian of the CanningBasin, Permian/Triassic of the Perth Basin, and Triassic/Jurassic ofthe North West Shelf to very ancient Precambrian petroleum basins.

More recently, Grice has focused on organic geochemistry inAustralia’s mineral deposits, including gold, lead, zinc, silver,copper and uranium, through her leadership of the CSIRO MineralsSystem cluster. Her team’s research on the role of biomarkers,biomolecules and microbial-mediated processes has also led tonovel and international groundbreaking evolutionary theoriesassociated with exceptional preservation of fossils within ancientconcretions.

‘Concretions act as molecular time capsules of species thatevolved or became extinct over major events including oceananoxic events,’ Grice said.

Grice and her team will shortly begin work analysing samplesexpected to emerge from the current international expedition thatis drilling into the Chixculub impact crater in Mexico – the craterlinked to the extinction of the dinosaurs at the end-Cretaceous(see p. 14). She is also chief investigator of the oceans and climatetheme of a major International Ocean Discovery Programsubmission between Geoscience Australia and the Japan Agency forMarine-Earth Science and Technology, which is investigating theend-Cretaceous event in Australia.

In accepting the award, Grice said: ‘Much of the research workwould not be achieved without a collegial and collaborative teamapproach from inspiring and truly passionate interdisciplinaryresearchers who collaborate and profit from each other to achievethe highest goals.’

Curtin University

RACI Board electionsNominations are open for the following positions on theRACI Board.• President elect• Treasurer• Ordinary board memberForms are available at www.raci.org.au/theraci/corporate-governance/board-elections-2016Nominations close 20 August and elections will be held

the first week in October.

books


Future energy:improved,sustainable andclean options for ourplanet Letcher T.M. (Ed.), Elsevier, 2014,hardcover, ISBN 9780080994246,716 pp approx., $129.95

Future energy: improved, sustainableand clean options for our planet (2ndedition) is an absolutely superbbook. Everyone who has any interestat all in our climate-change-wracked

planet will benefit from reading it and it ought to becompulsory reading for members of parliament and nationalleaders, planners and other bureaucrats associated with energysupply and energy source development and nationaldevelopment. Then, perhaps we might hear less asinine bleatingfrom many of our representatives – lawyers and narcissistsalmost to a man (and woman), but, alas not scientists – whojudge wind farms and other new energy options on theirpersonal aesthetic perceptions, or on which particular lobbygroup offers the best political capital, rather than on anyrigorous assessment of the technological problems confrontingour world and the potential solutions on offer. They understandthe aesthetics. They understand the politics. But many do notseem to appreciate the scientific and technologicalimplications. This authoritative work would certainly wise themup, as assuredly it will all of us.

Editor Trevor Letcher, formerly of the chemistry departmentof the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa (butnow living in Somerset, England) has assembled some55 significantly expert authors to contribute to this 31-chapterbook. In every sense it is a heavyweight book; the book isphysically daunting at 716 pages, and the authors too havedaunting pedigrees and achievements. Each chapter is standalone and extensively referenced, but the entire book assemblesas a remarkably harmonious, complete and well-roundedentirety. Obviously, a great amount of editorial effort has goneinto achieving this and the clear vision and guiding hand of theeditor is absolutely commendable. So often these multi-authorworks seem to wind up as a series of peripherally relatedpapers, simply stapled together, prettied-up and, like thecurate’s egg, good in parts. Well, I can tell you that this book ismuch, much, better than that. The oeuvre (indulge me!) is allgood. And with its extensive colour illustrations, it is goodfodder for curates and others alike.

The first edition of this book was copyrighted in 2008. Withthis second edition, the book has grown from 20 chapters to31. That tends to happen with second editions. It’s sort of likeinflation – it just seems to happen. However, it is also an

indication of the developments and discoveries in thetechnology and the widening global scientific and politicalinterest in future energy sources and supply systems. We canthen, perhaps, take heart. The messages of global warming aregetting through, at least in some quarters. People are thinkingabout future global energy scenarios and the potential forvarious energy sources to contribute to that future in ways thattend towards minimal environmental harm. New technologiesare being developed and assessed, maybe not as fast as we’dlike, but the picture is not totally one of future doom andgloom.

Essentially, the book explores current and developing sourcesof energy from various perspectives including explanation of thetechnology of their exploitation; where they sit as contributorsto national/international and, where appropriate, domesticenergy supply at the moment; what their future prospects aretogether with discussion of what strengths, limitations,challenges and opportunities they offer; as well as what theirenvironmental and societal impacts are likely to be. Earlychapters are devoted to conventional energy sources, coal andoil and nuclear power, including fusion as a source of energy.Novel and emerging energy sources for transport, whichconsumes nearly one-third of global energy use, are canvassedover the ensuing sections, including an excellent chapter onlithium ion batteries and future technology emerging in batterytechnology. Renewable sources are extensively discussed, as aremore speculative options currently under development.

The final section of the book provides an excellent review ofenvironmental impacts and what the future might look like asthe world moves gradually (too gradually?) towards novel, moresustainable and less problematic sources of energy. I’d like tostress that this book is in no ways trying to push barrows orram ideas down your throat. The book says of each energysource: this is what it is, this is how it works, this is where thetechnology is at, these are its beauty spots and these are itswarts, this is an assessment of its present and future capacity,and here is how it might contribute to energy futures.

Finally, I will share one snippet that has stuck in my mind.You could meet all your energy requirements for your entire lifewith the energy from a modest piece of uranium-235, about thesize of a golf ball. Now, I haven’t checked the calculation(depends how long you’re planning on living and under whatconditions I suppose), but given there are about seven billionor so of us, that’s one almighty big pile of golf balls! Oh, and ifyou had seven billion golf balls, what is the most efficient wayto stack them? Ignore criticality in the first instance, else theneed for future energy might simply … well … evaporate in anultimate cataclysmic explosion! Better to stick to stackingoranges, methinks.

I was tremendously impressed by this book. It is a big book,in every sense, and far-from-light reading, but absolutely worththe effort.

R. John Casey FRACI CChem

Success strategiesfrom women in STEM:a portable mentorPritchard P.A., Grant C.S. (Eds), Elsevier,paperback, ISBN 9780123971814,$52.95

Success strategies from women inSTEM: a portable mentor (2nd edition)is a comprehensive read. The bookincludes sage advice for all careerstages from beginning to retirement.

Five hundred and nineteen pagescomprise 13 chapters in this explicithandbook covering topics such as

career management, networking, mentoring, mental toughness,time stress, personal style, communicating science, strategicallyusing social media, negotiating with emotional intelligence, acall to leadership, climbing the ladder, balancing professionaland personal life and transitions. Allow an hour at a time tofully absorb the content of a specific chapter. Vignettes tell ofauthentic experiences, and references made within the chapterand at the end of the chapter are worth following up. The bookis useful regardless of your gender or indeed whether you workin a STEM occupation or not.

No matter the stage of your career, there are remindersthroughout the book about what you should be doing and howto go about achieving what it is you desire. For example, careermanagement can be broken down into four simple steps(Chapter 1), or in networking (Chapter 2) advice on how toprepare your 30-second introduction of yourself, or seven tipsto maintain your LinkedIn profile provides practicalrecommendations. In communicating science (Chapter 7) emailetiquette is covered, use of Arial font is recommended and awebsite for choice of colour palettes for PowerPointpresentations appears. Regardless of such recommendations,every organisation will likely have its own ‘branding’ and fontchoice. As an example, where I work fonts Bommer Slab andGotham Book have been selected for all media presentations.Chapter 9 about negotiating with emotional intelligence is astand-alone and worthy read. These examples provide just asnapshot of the content within.

Sixteen female authors with backgrounds in science(physical/organic chemistry, biochemistry (virology), biology(ecology), pharmacology, engineering (chemical/biochemical,mechanical, geomatics) and psychology and the arts havecompiled the book. Of note, there is no representative from thepure mathematics field. While most work in universities, threeof the contributors work in management in large companies. Allauthors attained PhDs, save for three who have acquiredMasters degrees or Bachelors’ degrees in more than one field ofinterest. Six writers hail from Canada, nine from the mainlyeastern side of the US and one from Australia (Queensland).

These passionate women have devoted the time in alreadydemanding and busy lives to create this helpful referencematerial.

I highly recommend Success strategies from women in STEM:a portable mentor as a practical and valuable handbook to havein your library.

Alison McKenzie

Rare: the high stakes raceto satisfy our need for thescarcest metals on EarthVeronese K., Prometheus Books, 2015,ISBN 9781616149727 (hardback),9781616149734 (ebook), 270 pp., $49.99

Rare: the high stakes race to satisfy our needfor the scarcest metals on Earth providesfascinating insights into the world of raremetals: where they come from,; what theyare used for, who controls the supply chains, what the recyclingprospects look like, and where we might look to finding futuresupplies of scarce metals. Author Keith Veronese is a scientificwriter with a strong background in chemistry. He has written afine book, which is readily intelligible to any interested adult,irrespective of scientific literacy.

Some metals are very rare indeed. Estimates are there is onlyabout 500 grams of promethium on Earth. As Veronese put it,this is about enough to ‘fill the palm of a kindergartner’s hand’.(Now, there’s a unit you won’t find in your conversion tables!)If there were enough of it, it would make useful atomicbatteries.

The book is brim full of interesting bits of information. Forexample, the London murder of the Russian defector Litvinenko,using polonium-210, is discussed along with speculation thatYasser Arafat may have received the same treatment. Thalliumwas a widely used rat poison until recent times and was equallyefficacious for knocking over the odd spouse or in-law. Theantidote is fairly straightforward: a few glassfuls (Ah! Nowthere’s another odd unit!) of Prussian Blue solution. The onlypossible drawback is bright blue motions, which, while exciting,is unlikely to kill you.

Thulium would be a good contender for use in brachytherapy.Palladium can be used in dentistry, for crowns and the like, sothat instead of being ‘as flash as a rat with a gold tooth’ onecould have a gleaming silvery smile. Even tungsten has beenknown to be buried deep within gold bars to fool the unwary. Ifyou have a flash of inspiration about recovering gold fromseawater, then I’m terribly sorry to disillusion you. Between theworld wars, Hitler put Fritz Haber on this task as a way ofgetting money to pay war reparation debts. It didn’t work. Andthen, we all know about square-planar platinum compounds for

books



chemotherapy, but did you know it is also used in breastimplants to help the implant hold its shape?

If you fancy getting into the business of recovering gold andother rare metals from your old computer (well, really, you’dneed a decent heap of scrap computers), Veronese tells you howyou can do it in the garage. My only comment is that althoughit is possible, you would be extremely foolhardy and breakingjust about every environmental and OHS law you can imagine.Alas, of course exactly these horrors accompany much of thecomputer recycling/recovery operations in the Third World. Ifyou are interested, Veronese refers to the classic 1940s book byCaroline M. Hoke, Refining precious metal wastes: a handbook forthe jeweller, dentist and small refiner. This book is stillobtainable. You can download it free, but be warned. Theversion I first tried to download brought with it a plethora ofTrojan horses and sundry other nasties.

So, what are we to do when we get really, really short of therare metals that, let’s face it, are pretty essential to our

lifestyles and wellbeing? Veronese discusses ways some of themcould be recovered from spent nuclear fuel rods. There are veryreal difficulties in doing this and in getting a product that istotally free of radioactive contamination. Other optionscanvassed include mining on the Moon, Mars or nearby spacerocks. Possibly, these activities are somewhat speculative. Whatseems to me rather less speculative, and quite depressing really,is the possibility of mining on the Antarctic Continent.Currently, the Antarctic Treaty forbids mining. What it doesn’tforbid is geological mapping and surveying of the continent. Iam pessimistic for the longer-term future of the beautiful wildworld to our south, particularly when the treaty comes up forrenegotiation.

All in all, this is a very informative and enjoyable book. It iswell written and easy to read and there is much to be learnedfrom it. It is highly recommended reading for anybodyinterested in the rare and obscure metals that underpin modernlife.

R. John Casey FRACI CChem

John Wiley & Sons books are now available to RACI members at a20% discount. Log in to the members area of the RACI website,register on the Wiley Landing Page, in the Members Benefits area,search and buy. Your 20% discount will be applied to yourpurchase at the end of the process.

Receive 25% off Elsevier books at www.store.elsevier.com (usepromotion code PBTY15).

Our 2016 media kit is now available atchemaust.raci.org.au

For further information,contact Marc Wilson at Gypsy Media Services:[email protected],0419 107 143

If you fancy getting into thebusiness of recovering goldand other rare metals fromyour old computer ...Veronese tells you how youcan do it in the garage.

economics


At the time of writing there is a major concern surrounding theviability of the Arrium steelworks at Whyalla in South Australia.This operation, which is based around a blast furnace and cokeoven, is small by world standards. The steelworks producesmainly unsophisticated products such as rails, wire andconstruction steel. This is supplemented by several electric arcfurnace operations in Victoria and New South Wales. In recentyears, a major part of the company profits has come from ironore export from the nearby Middleback range.

The collapse of commodity prices for both iron ore and steelhas exposed Arrium to apparently unsustainable levels of debt.Problems seem to be exacerbated by dumping of steel from thelarge integrated steel mills in Asia (particularly China, SouthKorea and Taiwan).

Because of the impact of the steelworks closure on thetownship of Whyalla, there is considerable pressure on theCommonwealth and state governments to financially support thecompany. Blast furnace operations are innately carbon emissionintensive, so the reintroduction of carbon charges wouldinevitably lead to demands for further government subsidy tomaintain viability.

It is about a year now since I reported on the productioncost of aluminium in Australia and its strong dependence on thepower price (see April 2015 issue, pp. 36–7). The key featuresare illustrated in the graph.

The graph illustrates the relationship between aluminiumproduction cost and power price (US dollars), aluminium metalproduction being highly electricity intensive. The top line is thecost for a greenfield smelter and the lower line represents thecash cost for production of metal.

Since the earlier article, we have witnessed a significant fallin the price of oil; this lowers the production cost of aluminiumby reducing the price of anode carbon, which is a major costinput. This is reflected in the graph – it now shows that thecash cost is approximately $1500/t compared to the earlier$2000/t. Unfortunately, there has been a concomitant fall inthe price of aluminium ingots, which at the time of writing isreported as US$1478/t (31 March 2016).

However, Australian producers have been helped with the fall

in the Australian dollar, which has servedto reduce the cost of electricity (this isgenerally charged in Australian dollars) andemployee and related costs. But aluminiumsmelting in Australia still remains amarginal operation at best.

In the next few months it is reportedthat in Victoria the Portland aluminiumsmelter power supply contract is up forrenegotiation. This was the foundationcontract for the Loy Yang A power stationin the La Trobe Valley and as thefoundation contract, was negotiated at alow power price. There is now considerablepressure to increase the power costs, whichwill further marginalise the operation andmay force its closure. If this happens, itcould have serious repercussions on thesupply and price of electricity to otherusers, not only in Victoria but in otherstates that now rely on the Victoriangenerators for back-up power – SouthAustralia and Tasmania.

In the October 2015 issue (pp. 36–7), Ireported on the possible impact of the gasdemand of the three large LNG facilities atGladstone on the chemical processindustries, and gas intensive industries ingeneral. There have been several developments since then. Animportant change has been the collapse in the price of oil,which is now feeding into lower prices for LNG. This isrendering new LNG investments uneconomic at the high capitalconstructions cost for land-based facilities, especially inAustralia.

Shell, and its partner Petro China, has cancelled its proposedLNG project at Gladstone and has written off a substantial partof its Arrow Energy coal seam gas joint venture. The latter wasstated to be due to poor results for Bowen Basin coal seam gasrecovery. At the time of writing, Shell is in the final stages oftaking over the BG Group, which operates two LNG trains atGladstone. We may speculate that any CSG gas developed fromArrow’s Bowen Basin resources would be dedicated to supportthe BG operations and be unavailable for use elsewhere inQueensland.

The write-down of Bowen Basin assets by Shell, and otherreports of abandonment of CSG projects in New South Wales,will increase concerns that there is insufficient gas on theeastern seaboard to supply the three LNG export plants or tocontinue to supply other gas-intensive industries andcustomers. This concern serves to maintain a reluctance of gassuppliers to enter into long-term contracts at what the presentchemical industry users consider a reasonable price. This has

Steel, aluminium, LNG – on rocky ground

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Chemistry in Australia 37June 2016

further increased calls for a gas reservation system, keeping gasfor domestic use.

One proposal that has gained some momentum is for a gaspipeline from the Northern Territory to the eastern seaboard.This would bring gas from the north to the Moomba gas hubfrom where it would be distributed to Adelaide, Sydney orBrisbane. Unfortunately, there is little conventional gas in theNorthern Territory and any that was to become available wouldprobably be diverted to the Darwin LNG facility, which is nowrunning short of gas from the Timor Sea. The aim of thepipeline proponents is to develop unconventional gas reserves,mainly in shale, by fraccing and similar production techniques.However, the Northern Territory government is consideringbanning these advanced production methods, which would

eliminate the Territory as a source of gas for the easternseaboard.

At this time, the demise of the process industries is beingwelcomed by commentators across the political spectrum as ‘theeconomy transitions to the digital age’. This ‘digital age’ is onlyvaguely defined and, as I have opined previously aboutlithium/graphite batteries, there is little in this new technologyfor Australia other than a supplier of the basic (low value) rawmaterials.

Duncan Seddon FRACI CChem is a consultant to coal, oil, gas andchemicals industries specialising in adding value to naturalresources.

The write-down of Bowen Basin assets by Shell, and otherreports of abandonment of CSG projects in New South Wales,will increase concerns that there is insufficient gas on theeastern seaboard to supply the three LNG export plants or tocontinue to supply other gas-intensive industries and customers.

Alcoa's aluminium smelterat Portland, Victoria. Stuart Woollett

education

Over the last few months, I have been watching MadamSecretary on DVD. The television series revolves around theprofessional and personal life of a fictional female US Secretaryof State, and also features a female Chair of the Joint Chiefs ofStaff (head of the military), a female Attorney General, and afemale director of the FBI. In real life, the US has had threefemale Secretaries of State in recent administrations, includingone who could be the next President, significant numbers ofwomen at the top levels of government, and more than 30 4-star admirals and generals.

At the same time, I have also been reading Jay Newton-Small’s Broad influence: how women are changing the wayAmerica works (Time Books, New York, 2016): when theproportion of women at the top of any organisation reachescritical mass, they begin to change how things are done. Forexample, when the US federal government was facing financialshutdown in October 2013, it was the 20 female senators whoput aside partisan blame and brokered a compromise to end thecrisis. It is not the purpose of this column to comment onNorth American politics – Broad influence also has allegoricalmeaning for us: it is the story of how the mainstream culturewas changed by a minority group with distinctive practice.

Many educational innovations have failed to be widelyimplemented, while others have become mainstream practice.For example, interactive whiteboards are now standard featuresin most primary and secondary schools but not in tertiaryinstitutions. The early adopters of any innovation are initially aminority group. Innovations tend to take off after 10–20% ofthe relevant population have adopted the change, which issimilar to Newton-Small’s observation that after achieving acritical mass of 20–30%, the minority group starts to effectchange in the community and the majority adjusts toaccommodate that minority group. Similarly, a guiding coalitionwith sufficient position power, expertise, credibility andleadership is one of eight essential factors for implementingchange. Before achieving critical mass, the minority group isseen as the other, both separate from and not fully accepted bythe majority; after the critical point, the presence and practicesof the minority are viewed as part of the norm.

There are two lessons for us to take away from these ideas.First, when funding is provided for innovative teaching andlearning projects, it is important to have critical mass early.Hence teaching and learning projects should concentrate on afew pilot schools or universities, which can achieve and

implement the project goals, and then spread from thoseinstitutions to others. This is the model that has been used inALIUS and ASELL for Schools projects, which are spearheaded bya small number of institutions (see June 2010 issue, pp. 18–19;and February 2016 issue, p. 40). It is also the model used bythe ARC and other funding bodies to give bigger grants to arelatively small number of groups, rather than more-numeroussmall grants to many more recipients; numerous small grantswould each be unable to achieve critical mass or have effectiveimpact. Harking back to Madam Secretary and Broad influence,the second lesson is that many women have a different mode ofoperation from most men, and that any project or institutionwould benefit from critical masses of both genders in positionsof influence.


Mainstreaming change

… a guiding coalition withsufficient position power,expertise, credibility andleadership is one of eightessential factors forimplementing change.

Kieran F. Lim ( ) FRACI CChem([email protected]) is an associate professor in the Schoolof Life and Environmental Sciences at Deakin University. He and JayNetwon-Small are cousins.

Shrouded in mystery, the Trans-PacificPartnership (TPP) negotiations provided fuelfor the media to engage in endlessspeculation about Australia’s commitments.Unsurprisingly, once the TPP negotiationswere concluded, the Agreement that had beenachieved provided answers to much of thisspeculation.

Importantly, while the Intellectual Property Chapter 18 ofthe Agreement provided appropriate clarity, what is not at allclear is how Australia will comply with its obligations, inparticular, the requirement for a patent term adjustment(PTA), patent term extension for pharmaceuticals (PTE) andprotection of data in the regulatory approval of biologics.

The criticality of these aspects is that they all directlyimpact on the cost of health care. This is especially significantfor two reasons. First, the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme(PBS) is a key component providing pharmaceuticals at agovernment-subsidised price. While ever third parties areprevented from supplying pharmaceuticals, the cost of thePBS will be negatively affected. Second, since Australia’spharmaceutical industry is small, any reciprocal benefit to begained by this industry through export is likely to fall wellshort of the net cost of imported pharmaceuticals.

At the heart of PTA is the requirement that a patent officeensure that a patent is issued by the later of five years fromfiling or three years from the filing of a request forexamination. If this does not occur, Article 18.46 providesthat a patentee may request that a patent office effectivelyextend the patent term by a period representing theunreasonable delay in processing the application.

The Patents Act 1990 does not provide for a PTA. Assumingthe Patents Act is amended, the impact will be two-fold. First,a system would be required for a third party to readilydetermine an actual patent expiry date. Conveniently thiscould be based on that current for pharmaceuticals. Second,when the underlying patent is for a pharmaceutical, a PTAcould provide a patent term extension in addition to thecurrent PTE and that contemplated by Chapter 18.

A PTE is currently available for all pharmaceuticals.Essentially, the maximum extension of five years is achieved ifregulatory approval takes at least 10 years. By contrast,Article 18.48 of the TPP calculates a PTE with reference to‘unreasonable curtailment of the effective patent term as aresult of the marketing approval process.’ Compliance with thisArticle can only be accepted if 10 years or more is regarded asexcessive for the marketing approval process.

All pharmaceuticals that are regulated by the TherapeuticGoods Act 1989 are afforded five years of data protection fromachievement of regulatory approval. By contrast, Article 18.52requires for biologics a period of either eight years or fiveyears and ‘through other measures, and recognising thatmarket circumstances also contribute to effective marketprotection.’ There is nothing in the Therapeutic Goods Act thatprovides these latter measures and circumstances.

Australia’s position that no legislative changes are requiredfor compliance with these aspects of Chapter 18 appears to beincorrect. Rather, it seems that changes will be required thatmay well impact on the cost of pharmaceuticals.

For more information, email [email protected].

advertisement


TPP: the mystery continuesPaul Whenman, Partner and Registered Patent and Trade Marks Attorney, FB Rice

www.�rice.com.auThe IP Navigators

grapevine

In my May column, I outlined what many winemakers inAustralia see as the need for acid adjustment to decrease thepH and increase the titratable acidity (TA) of crushed grapesand wine. In this and my next column, I will address variousoptions for acid adjustment, some of which involve some ratherintriguing chemistry.

Leaving aside the old approach of sulfuric acid addition,which is no longer approved, the most widely used method inAustralia is the addition of tartaric acid. This is relatively easyto perform and the amount to be added to lower the pH by thechosen amount can be determined by bench trials or by usingweb-based calculators. The tartaric acid is then dissolved andmixed with the juice (white grapes) or must (red grapes) orwine in tank and allowed to stabilise.

There are several limitations to this apparently simpleprocedure. First, it is expensive because quality L(+)-tartaricacid (the natural form in grapes) is costly. For grape juice andwines that are very low in acid, the amount of tartaric acidrequired to attain the desired decrease in pH can be large. Thiscan add an additional layer of complexity as some countrieshave limits on the amount that can be added. One frustration,especially with juice or wine that may be high in potassium, isthat the added tartaric acid may exceed the solubility productof potassium hydrogen tartrate (KHT) with subsequentprecipitation of some of the added tartaric acid. This canrequire further additions and more cost.

To try and minimise the cost, some winemakers haveexplored adding DL-tartaric acid, rather than the L(+)-form. Thecost of the DL-form is approximately one-tenth that of the pureL(+)-form, but the DL-form can lead to unpredictableprecipitation post-bottling, especially of calcium DL-tartrate.Calcium tartrate tends to settle out as flakes, rather thancrystalline material, and more than one winemaker has hadbottled wine returned because of the presence of ‘detergentflakes’.

Blending options of grapes and/or wines of different aciditylevels is an option that has been explored by some winemakersto minimise the amount of tartaric acid addition required.Earlier harvested grapes are generally higher in acidity and ajudicious combination of early and later harvested grapes willhelp improve the acidity. Dual harvesting introducesconsiderable cost to the winemaking exercise. As grapes grownin cooler regions have higher acidity than those from warm tohot regions, multi-region blending is also an option if a wineryhas access to different types of vineyards. A colleague fromMendoza in Argentina told me that he has tried this approachusing grapes from the warm region and those grown at over2000 metres on the slopes of the Andes. It works in terms ofimproving acidity, but the high cost of the grapes from theelevated vineyard impacts on the final price point of the wine.

A third blending possibility is to use a small portion of adifferent grape cultivar in a blend, within the approved

blending rules. Some white and red cultivars are known to holdtheir acidity in warm to hot regions and the challenge is howbest to use these cultivars to benefit a blend and minimise therequirement for acid addition. Some examples are:• Pinot Gris holds its acidity until late in the ripening process.

It was grown successfully at Charles Sturt University formany years and was used as a sparkling wine base. Some ofthese sparkling wines showed amazing acidity, even after20 years on lees.

• Furmint is a white cultivar common in Hungary as a principalcomponent of the famous Tokaj wines. Its wines have beendescribed as ‘fine’ and ‘fiery’, with many having very highacidity (TA values in excess of 10 g/L) and high alcohol(14%).

• Graciano is a red cultivar from La Rioja, Spain, and is nowplanted to a small extent in various regions in Australia. Itswines are characterised by a deep red colour, good tanninstructure and high acidity with strong ageing potential. InLa Rioja, Graciano is used as a blending component withTempranillo. The downside is that Graciano vines are lowyielding, so production costs are high.Several countries including Australia now allow the addition

of malic acid, lactic acid or citric acid as an alternative totartaric acid.• Malic acid can be added as either the L-form, as found in

grapes, or the DL-form. The effect is similar to tartaric acidin terms of acid adjustment, especially the lowering of thepH value. As malic acid is a weaker acid, a higher additionrate is required in comparison to tartaric acid, so the final TAwill be higher.

• Lactic acid is claimed to produce a rounder and smoothermouthfeel than malic acid. Being weaker than malic ortartaric acid, addition rates are higher to achieve the samepH decrease. On the positive side, its potassium salt issoluble so that losses after addition are minimal and this inturns means that the pH decrease is more predictable.

• Citric acid is effective in white wine as it generates a freshermouthfeel. As it is a substrate for bacteria, additions tend tobe limited to 0.15–0.2 g/L. There is a higher risk of bacterialspoilage if citric acid is added to red wine, due to the lowerSO2 concentration.In my next column I will outline additional chemical and

physical methods for acidity adjustment.


Geoffrey R. Scollary FRACI CChem ([email protected]) wasthe foundation professor of oenology at Charles Sturt Universityand foundation director of the National Wine and Grape IndustryCentre. He continues his wine research at the University ofMelbourne and Charles Sturt University.

Adjustment of grape and wine acidity

I have been researching the way that Australian chemistsincreased their involvement with the US, replacing Britain inthat segment of professional development called ‘overseasexperience’. Naturally I looked at the working of the Fulbrightscheme, which provided travel and support for a variety of visitsacross the Pacific. In the golden years of the scheme, 1950–89,Australian chemists received 28 postgraduate awards and 23postdoctoral awards; 70 of the senior awards went to universitychemists going on sabbatical leave.

This scheme sprang from the Fulbright Commission, whichowed its existence to J. William Fulbright (1905–95), USSenator for Arkansas 1945–74 and chairman of the ForeignRelations Committee 1959–74. Fulbright’s initiative owed a lotto his own experience of studying in a foreign country. Aftermajoring in political science at the University of Arkansas (BA1925), he won a Rhodes Scholarship, which took him to OxfordUniversity where he spent three years studying modern historyand completing an MA degree.

Funding for the Fulbright scheme was to come from the saleof surplus war materials described in the Surplus Property Act1944. The Australian version of the Fulbright initiative was theUnited States Educational Foundation in Australia (USEFA),which was signed into being by the two countries in November1949. $US5.6 million in accumulated Australian war debt wasdedicated to an educational exchange program and the firstawards were made in 1950. When the money ran out, asuccessor scheme, the Australian–American EducationalFoundation, was put in place in 1964.

As well as travel to the US, the Fulbright scheme facilitatedvisits to Australia by American chemists, 16 of whom weresenior scholars and eight were postgraduate students. As withtraffic in the other direction, some of those coming west asstudents already had PhD degrees and took advantage of thetravel grant to continue their research careers here before(usually) returning home. One who didn’t return was Jay Kent,my colleague at Monash for many years. Recently I have been intouch with another of those scholars, organic chemist BartonMilligan, who is living in retirement in the US.

Milligan completed his BS degree at Haverford College, aQuaker school in Philadelphia, with honours in chemistry. As anundergraduate, he contributed to work published in 1955 byO. Theodor (Ted) Benfey. He completed his PhD at theUniversity of North Carolina and then secured a postdoctoralposition with Arthur Birch, who was Professor of OrganicChemistry at the University of Sydney 1952–5. Milligan hadapplied for a Fulbright award but, having heard nothing by thetime he was due in Sydney, borrowed the money for fares forhimself and his new wife. Birch set him to work on a newsynthesis of vitamin A but Milligan soon discovered that anidentical scheme had been patented and so he was switched toa new project on the constituents of the non-saponifiablefraction of sesame seed oil. He must have also had a hand in

some work on lignans, for which he shared publication withBirch, R.N. Speake and (Mrs) E. Smith in 1958. (I’ll have somemore to say in a subsequent Letter about the way in whichwomen authors were recognised in those days.)

Milligan had not been in Sydney for long when G.K. Hughes,a senior organic chemist in the department, died suddenly inFebruary 1955 at age 46 and the American postdoc wasappointed as Temporary Lecturer in Organic Chemistry. Heearned his increased salary with lectures in physical organicchemistry. In mid-year, Birch resigned to take up anappointment at the University of Manchester, and at about thesame time Milligan learned that he had a Fulbright Award. Hestayed at Sydney for a while, and made a side trip to Melbournein August 1956 as representative of the University of NorthCarolina at the University of Melbourne centennial celebrations.Teaching physical organic chemistry was not his first love, so toget back into research he elected to take up the Fulbright atthe University of Adelaide. After corresponding with the newprofessor there, Geoffrey Badger, the deal was done whenMilligan called at the university as he passed through the cityon his way to holiday in Alice Springs. Badger was happy tohave him ‘provided he didn’t cost any money’, so Milligansettled down in 1958 to tidy up some of the loose ends from histhesis work. There do not seem to be any publications arisingfrom this Australian work.

Returning to the US, Milligan found a place at the Universityof Mississippi and stayed there teaching, researching andsupervising postgraduate work for eight years before moving toa position at the Florida Atlantic University. His publishedresearch concerned the photochemical interchange of halogensin aromatic compounds. This new institution was slow todevelop and so after a couple of years Milligan moved intochemical industry with Air Products & Chemicals in Allentown,Pennsylvania, where he worked for 18 years before retiring. Oneof his interests was aromatic nitration reactions, for which Ifound a J. Org. Chem. publication and a patent. However, hismajor output was a series of patents on polyurethanes.

Milligan is virtually unknown in Australia (although BettyMoore (BSc 1956) remembers him as ‘tall with glasses’), but thenames of some of the senior scholars will be better known,especially that of W.J. Moore (1918–2001). Under the auspicesof the Fulbright scheme, Moore spent 1950–1 at the Universityof Bristol, and then some time in 1966 at the University ofQueensland. He was later (1973–84) professor of physicalchemistry at the University of Sydney. He is perhaps best knownto chemists for his textbook Physical Chemistry, first publishedin 1950 and growing to almost 1000 pages by the time of thefifth edition (1972).


Fulbright comings and goings

letter from melbourne

Ian D. Rae FRACI CChem ([email protected]) is a veterancolumnist, having begun his Letters in 1984. When he is notcompiling columns, he writes on the history of chemistry andprovides advice on chemical hazards and pollution.

cryptic chemistry

Across3 For example, got first cackleberry. (3)9 Extent of sulfur break down. (5)10 Choose way sensing plate. (9)11 Mixes load to make compounds of

formula RCH=NOH. (9)12 Regions are as . . . (5)13 . . . chosen and titled. (5)14 They live nearby Spooner’s inlet

(Scandinavian). (9)15 Chlorine fools school groups. (7)18 One lute playing compound. (7)20 Blunder in East charges radiation. (9)23 Visitor sequestered by rogue state. (5)25 Cans old televisions. (5)26 Net matter becoming procedure. (9)28 Distributed false ID and pressed

flesh. (9)29 Adjacent acids having the structure

RC(OH)3. (5)30 Sulfur a French star. (3)

Down1 Continent as artificial intelligence

returns. (4)2 Models models, but not often. (6)3 Oxygenated six deep new cyclic

ethers. (8)4 European name 111 translated. (6)5 An increase in wavelength and he

drifts away. (8)6 Join at 7361. (6)7 Predestined, it’s said, that beryllium

disappeared. (8)8 Determined: enters tips in a different

way. (10)13 New clue noted iodine monomer of,

perhaps, DNA. (10)16 A group of investigators post important

reactions. (4-4)17 Little examination sounded most

discourteous. (8)19 Joining of nucleic acid fragments to

ailing structure. (8)21 Messy time over method. (6)22 Deep S2 reaction is fast. (6)24 Makes a great effort and arrests

sexter. (6)27 Spoils lifting equipment. (4)

events

Graham Mulroney FRACI CChem is Emeritus Professor of Industry Education at RMIT University.Solution available online at Other resources.

7th Heron Island Conference on Reactive Intermediatesand Unusual Molecules9–15 July 2016, Heron Island, Qldwww.Heron7.org

27th International Conference on OrganometallicChemistry(incorporating the RACI Inorganic Chemistry DivisionConference)17–22 July 2016, Melbourne Convention and ExhibitionCentre, Melbourne, Vic.http://icomc2016.com

International Conference and Exhibition on Marine Drugsand Natural Products 25 July 2016, Rydges, Melbourne, Vic.http://naturalproducts.pharmaceuticalconferences.com

2nd Energy Future Conference and Exhibition4–6 July, University of NSW, Sydney, NSWhttp://energystoragealliance.com.au/event/energy-future-conference-exhibition

NZIC-1621–24 August 2016, Millennium Hotel, Queenstown, New Zealandwww.nzic16.org

6th International Meeting on Antimicrobial Peptides1–3 September 2016Leipzig, Germanyhttp://peptideconferences.org/imap-2016

European Symposium of Biochemical EngineeringSciences (ESBES)11–14 September 2016, Dublin, Irelandwww.esbes2016.org

Chemeca 201625–28 September 2016, Adelaide Convention Centre,Adelaide, SAwww.chemeca2016.org

6th International Conference and Exhibition onPharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs and IPR 29 September – 1 October 2016, Orlando, Florida, UShttp://regulatoryaffairs.pharmaceuticalconferences.com

AusBiotech 201624–26 October 2016, Melbourne Convention Centre, Vic.www.ausbiotechnc.org

RACI events are shown in blue.


In March I attended the World Science Festival, Brisbane, onbehalf of the RACI. Held annually in New York since 2008, theWorld Science Festival is now one of the most celebratedscience festivals in the world. Becoming the first city outside ofNew York to do so, Brisbane hosted an amazing inaugural event!The WSF held its promise and brought some of the world’sgreatest thought leaders to Queensland, and showcased localscientists and performers from around the Asia–Pacific region.

Tasked to explore opportunities of how the RACI canpotentially become involved in the WSF, and to collect ideas forpublic engagement activities we can instigate for next year’sRACI Centenary and beyond, I was thrilled to witness how thepublic and media welcomed and engaged in WSF Brisbane.

WSF Brisbane offered a huge variety of activities, with morethan 100 events scheduled over five days. The program featureda mix of day and evening activities, including liveperformances, big debates, intimate discussions, workshops,films, and hands-on demonstrations. True to the vision of WSFBrisbane, a great many people were ‘talking, doing and enjoyingscience’. I was thrilled to witness the enjoyment of young andold alike at Street Science. Street Science lived up to itsdescription as a ‘Free, two-day extravaganza – explore the funof science in a non-stop, action packed program’. It offeredstalls run by universities and science organisations, showcasingtheir expertise across all aspects of science through talks,debates and engaging science demonstrations. Chemistry wasreasonably well represented, such as the Uni Open Day classicfavourite making slime, which was popular, as were QueenslandUniversity of Technology’s featured demonstrations of a 3Dprinter, and Griffith University’s offering, Periodic TableBattleships.

Reflecting the background of one of its co-founders,renowned physicist and best-selling author Brian Greene, theWSF particularly highlighted physics-based events. Brianfounded the event with his wife, Emmy award-winning producerTracy Day, and Queensland welcomed him in the most Australianway possible – they named a spider after him! While I wouldlike to see some more chemistry-led and centred events duringthe WSF, all the physics based events I attended – fromBreakfast with the Brians (a conversation between ABC Radio’sRobin Williams, Brian Greene and Brian Schmidt, Nobel PrizeLaureate and the Australian National University’s Vice-Chancellor – a personal highlight) through to theschool-children-focused Chasing Down the Comet, to Light Falls:Space, Time and an Obsession of Einstein, a play about Einstein’slife – were booked out and enthusiastically enjoyed by the verybroad audiences.

Another special highlight was the opening reception (a VIPevent to which I was privileged to be invited – special thanks

to Brisbane Marketing) at The Lab – a marquee based atSouthbank on the banks of the Brisbane River. The food alonewas a gorgeous array of classic chemistry with cocktails servedin beakers, dry ice fountains and a period table cake! It was awelcome opportunity to network with academia, learnedsocieties, politicians and industry.

I travelled as a guest of Brisbane Marketing on behalf of theRACI. A special thank you to Brisbane Marketing for affordingthe opportunity to experience the WSF and the plethora offantastic conference facilities Brisbane has to offer.

Julia Stuthe MRACI CChem is Books Publishing Director at CSIRO Publishing. Sheis Vice-President and President Elect of the RACI’s Victorian Branch.

events


World Science Festival comes to Brisbane

Breakfast with the Brians. Courtesy of Brisbane Marketing.

Street science. Courtesy of Brisbane Marketing.

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