St. Louis Section
of the American Chemical Society

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The TIE Workshop is a unique learning experience for Missouri's teachers. The Workshop's mission is to exhange ideas and information on environmental issues among educators, the chemical industry, and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The Workshop also includes a Legislative Reception, where teachers and sponsors can establish or maintain relationships with Missouri's legislators.

Report from one attendee

This event honors the outgoing section Chair, 50 year members, and the Distinguished Service Award Winner. This year we also prepared a Salute to Excellence Award to Dr. William Knowles, St Louis Section member and 2001 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.

program.pdf Photos of Entire Evening (large file) Thank you letter from one honoree

The chemistry contest is a written exam for students in two divisions, regular for first year
chemistry students and advanced for students in AP or having completed the first chemistry course.
Approximately 300 students took this exam.

All participants, and especially the 30 winners of the High School Chemistry Contest are invited to attend the Awards Night banquet. These include 1st through 5th place in each division (who receive a free dinner for themselves and a guest), as well as 10 honorable mentions in each division. Each winner receives a certificate and check. In addition, the top 3 winners receive a plaque. In 2002, each winner also received a subscription to ChemMatters, donated by section members and local industry. The teachers of each winning student are also recognized.

Photos (click to enlarge):

Board Members Ponder a Problem

Chair Lisa Balbes amuses Kevin Tibbs and Greg Wall
Minutes of the Meeting

6th Annual Women Chemists Luncheon (28)
12 noon, St Louis Art Museum Restaurant
Speaker: Dr. Catherine Didion, Exec. Director, Association for Women in Science
"Advancing Women in Chemistry: Strategies for Success"
Photos Program: page 1 page 2 Poster

Winners of St Louis Section ACS's cash prizes:
Indu Chandrasekhar, The Effect of the Temperature on the Liquid on the Surface Tension of the Liquid
West Junior High School (grade 9), Columbia, MO

Kelly Marie Hollenberg, A Determination of the Amount of Reducing Sugars and Starch in Different Stages of Bananas
Ursuline Academy, St. Louis MO

St Louis Award Symposium (35)
Washington University, Louderman Hall 458
Honoring Awardee: Professor Scott Gilbertson, Chemistry Department, Washington University

1:00 PM Opening Remarks, Professor Kevin D. Moeller
Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis

1:05 PM Synthesis and Structure of the Marine Toxin Azaspiracid
Professor Craig Forsyth, Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota

2:00 PM New strategies for preparing medium ring systems
Professor Mark Snapper, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Boston College

3:15 PM Catalytic Asymmetric Aziridination with a Chiral VAPOL-Boron catalyst: Scope and Applications
Professor William D. Wulff, Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University

4:10 PM “Rational” and Parallel Approaches to Catalyst Development
Professor Scott R Gilbertson, Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis

5:05 PM Concluding Remarks
Professor Kevin D. Moeller, Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis

Reception immediately following in Millstone Lounge
Photos program.gif

The top 11 scoring students in the advanced division of the High School Chemistry Contest qualify for the US Chemistry Olympiad exam. The Olympiad exam has written and laboratory components. From the national competition, 20 students are chosen to participate in a study camp from which comes the US Chemistry Olympiad Team. In 2002, High Honors (top 50 nationally) was earned by local student Arvind Ravi, and honors (National top 150) was earned by local scholars Karth Ponnusamy, Jonathan Ray and Peter Scully.

Details and Photos

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A total of 14 resarch posters and a special display of 10 historical posters detailing important develoments in mass spectrometry were presented. Brats and burgers with assorted side dishes and liquid refreshments were supplied.

Carl Tempas, James Carroll, and Roger Upham; Fong-Hsu and Mike Gross enjoy the picnic.
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Sponsored by St Louis ACS, Sigma Chemical and the University of Missouri - St Louis.
Story and photos.

Activity or Program that Best Addresses the ACS Strategic Thrusts, for Chemical Progress Month
Certificate of Excellence in 2001 for the Most Innovative Use of Technology
Certificate of Excellence in 2001 in the Outstanding Large Section category

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This was an informal event geared towards encouraging interaction between young scientists.

A good time was had by all.

Program Front/Back Cover Interior

University of Missouri - St Louis Chemistry Department Chair Professor Lol Barton introduces Dr. Bader	Dr. Bader speaks.....	....to a standing room only crowd

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Reception at 6:00 PM, talk at 7:00 PM.

Program Front/Back Cover Interior

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Guests enjoy Sigma-Aldrich's hospitality
A packed audience	Dr. Greg Wall introduced the speaker
Dr. Alfred Bader addresses the crowd	..
Dr. Bader signs copies of his book	Chemists line up for autographs	Event organizer Greg Wall, Isabella and Alfred Bader

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Program cover and interior

Attendees enjoy refreshments
Greg Wall introduces the speaker		Dr. Alfred Bader addresses the crowd

Computational Chemisty Discussion Group Meeting (11)
"Quantum Core Technology"
5:00 p.m., refreshments from 4:30 p.m.
Speaker: David Young, Tripos, Inc.

Abstract: Mechanism-based drug design is the process of designing drugs that are covalently bound to their enzyme target. This talk will discuss some of the technical issues involved in this type of computational modeling. A set of computational tools for doing mechanism-based drug design, and the methodology for using them will be presented. This combination of software and methodology is Quantum Core Technology, which was developed at eXegenics Inc.

Thank you letter: front back Click on photos for larger images.

Educational Topics Discussion Group (10)
Social: 4:00 PM
Meeting: 4:30 PM

The topic of the presentation was outreach activities that you can do with your students, especially for National Chemistry Week which begins on October 20 this year. Greg Wall from the Kids & Chemistry section presented information on activities available for you and your students to carry out or become involved in. Rose Davidson will share her experiences with the outreach programs which she has done with her students at area elementary schools as a part of National Chemistry Week and area Science Nights. Other presentations or input would be appreciated.

Where: St. Joseph's Academy, 2307 South Lindbergh

Abstract: In recent years there has been increasing attention on the development of early screening as a way to improve the efficiency of the drug discovery process. This has led to the emergence of highthroughput screening assays for ADME and toxicity prediction. A rapidly developing component of this screening approach for drug discovery is the use of computer based (in silico) prediction. In this presentation we will describe the results from a recent validation study in which the computer based predictive systems (TOPKAT, DEREK, CASETOX) were compared in their ability to predict mutagenicity for a series of mutagenic and non-mutagenic molecules. In addition, this presentation will discuss statistical approaches for the evaluation of this data and discuss the advantages of using more that one system for toxicity prediction. Finally, a brief discussion of strategies for predicting novel structure metabolism will be presented.

photos

The 58th ACS Midwest Award winner, Professor Michael Gross (pictured above), boasts a distinguished academic career first at the University of Nebraska –Lincoln (1968-94) and, since 1994, at Washington University in St. Louis. Mike has authored over 400 scientific articles and book chapters, edited or co-edited four books, and trained over 80 graduate students, postdoctoral associates, and staff. Mike’s notable contributions to the field of mass spectrometry began early in his career and include the first observation of a gas-phase distonic ion and the discovery of “charge-remote fragmentation.” With coworker Charles Wilkins, Mike built the second FT-ICR mass spectrometer in the late 1970s and went on to demonstrate a number of significant analytical applications such as GC/FTMS, laser desorption FTMS, high-pressure trapping in FTMS, and the algorithm for exact mass measurements. Current research has as goals the development of a low-magnetic field MALDI instrument that employs high-pressure focusing, the use of H/D exchange to understand protein/ligand interactions, and the use of mass spectrometry in cancer.

Announcement in C&EN

Proclamation from State of Missouri

Proclamation from City of St Louis

Excerpts from thank you notes:

"Thank you Dr. Balbes for coming to our class to talk about chemistry."

"It was a ton of fun. I was wondering what would happen to the balloon when you put it in. The ice cream was one of the best I have tasted."

"Thank you so much for coming to our class and teaching us about liquid nitrogen.
The ice cream was so good. I thought it was really cool how the balloon shriveled up when you poured L.N. on it and then it expanded."

more photos

The 10th annual Battle of the Burets was held October 30th at the St. Louis Community College - Florissant Valley in conjunction with National Chemistry Week. Twenty-seven teams from 15 area high schools participated in this exciting test of titration skills. Three preliminary rounds were held and the winning teams competed in the final round for the grand championship. Contest Rules.

more photos and participant list

NMR Discussion Group Meeting (35)
Department of Physics, Washington University
Coffee: 3:45 PM, Compton 241
Lecture: 4:00 PM, Compton 241

Speaker: Boyd M. Goodson, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
"Applications of Optical Pumping and Polarization Techniques in NMR"

Abstract: NMR spectroscopy has been established as one of the premiere analytical tools that scientists have at their disposal. Yet, conventional NMR methods suffer from a common drawback that in many circumstances, can limit their power and applicability: a notorious lack of sensitivity resulting from low equilibrium nuclear spin polarization. This weakness can lead to a variety of critical limitations, including the attainable spatial and temporal resolution, the available information content in structure determination, the overall feasibility of potential experiments, and the minimum amounts of substances and time required to obtain adequate spectra. However, by combining the high detection sensitivity of optical methods with the well-resolved spectral sensitivity of NMR, optical/nuclear double resonance (ONDR) techniques can provide unique capabilities for studying molecules, materials, and living tissues. For example, the optical pumping of noble gases with laser light can increase their nuclear spin polarization (and hence detection sensitivity) by many orders of magnitude. Nevertheless, the power and general applicability of such ONDR approaches can be vastly improved if the high nuclear spin magnetization achieved in systems like xenon can be efficiently transferred to substances of greater interest. The sensitive spatial and temporal dependences of the polarization transfer would provide a direct probe of the sample under study; moreover, the polarization enhancement could significantly improve the sample's NMR detection sensitivity as well.

Two 75 minute workshops for child care providers on how to "do" science with children ages 3-6 kids at Florrisant Valley Community College.
Announcement Schedule

After the board meeting and general section meeting, Dr. Attila Pavlath, immediate past president of national ACS, presented "It's Time for a Change", his musical program. Ten members of the Clayton High School Choir backed Dr. Pavlath up, inserting "The Impossible Dream", "Impossible" from Cinderella, "Climb Every Mountain", and other uplifting musical messages through his talk.

Program: front interior back more photos Minutes of the meeting

Computational Chemistry Discussion Group Meeting (16)
5:00 p.m., refreshments from 4:30 p.m.
"RACHEL: A New Tool for Structure-Based Lead Optimization"
Chris M.W. Ho, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Drug Design Methodologies, LLC

Lead optimization is still something of an art. Structural modifications that logically should enhance affinity can decrease it. The time lines can be long, the process uncertain and frustrating, and the progress hit-or-miss. RACHEL is software designed to streamline lead optimization by automated combinatorial optimization of substituents on a lead scaffold. Starting from a ligand/receptor structure, substitutions are systematically done at user-defined points on the ligand core. Custom substituent databases based on in-house sources can be used, allowing the incorporation of enterprise and project experience. The impact of these substitutions on affinity is assessed using RACHEL's general scoring function or a custom scoring function generated by PLS analysis of user-supplied ligand/receptor affinity data. This presentation will discuss RACHEL's unique capabilities along with specific applications that demonstrate its value in lead optimization.

Speaker: Greg Karczmar, Ph.D., Director, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Laboratory, University of Chicago

"Integration of spectral, spatial, and temporal resolution for optimal MR imaging of cancer"

Early detection and accurate staging of cancer requires anatomic images and functional information regarding blood flow and capillary permeability. Accurate assessment of vascular function entails acquisition of images with high temporal resolution following bolus injection of contrast media. On the other hand, high quality anatomic images have high spatial resolution but low temporal resolution.Spectral information can greatly improve the sensitivity and specificityof anatomic and functional imaging. Using echo-planar spectroscopic imaging, data can be acquired with high spectral and spatial resolution so that detailed spectra of the water and fat resonances are obtained for each voxel with spatial resolution equivalent to that of typical anatomic images. Analysis of water and fat line-shapes in each voxel yields images with improved contrast and anatomic accuracy, and increased sensitivity to contrast agents. These advantages come with a penalty - high spectral and spatial resolution (HiSS) images have relatively long acquisition times. Therefore this approach is not appropriate for imaging the first pass of contrast media, or for imaging large volumes of tissue. An optimal clinical protocol could include imaging a selected region - where there is increased risk of cancer - with high time resolution immediately before and after contrast media injection, followed by HiSS imaging of the same region. Subsequently, a much large volume of tissue could be imaged with much lower spectral resolution for surveillance purposes. The division of available bandwidth between spectral, spatial, and temporal dimensions would be tailored to produce the best possible result for each patient.

Greg Wall was the surprise speaker,
giving the Henry Godt Memorial Lecture in verse!

Donna Friedman was announced as the 2003 winner of the Distinguished Service Award.

A Salute to Excellence was presented to Marie Sherman
Program cover interior back

Minutes of the meeting

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