ISOTOPICS
The Cleveland Section of the American Chemical Society
Volume 86
Issue 1
On Deck:
February 2010
John Fortman, Wright State U.
Energy from Chemistry Through
the Ages
Location TBD
Cleveland ACS Officers
Chair:
Dr. Mekki Bayachou
Department of Chemistry
Cleveland State University
Phone: 216-875-9716
m.bayachou@csuohio.edu
Chair-Elect:
John Protasiewicz
Department of Chemistry
Case Western Reserve Univ.
Phone: 216-368-5060
john.protasiewicz@case.edu
Treasurer:
Theresa Nawalaniec
Michael Schwartz Library
Cleveland State University
Phone: 216-687-3504
t.nawalaniec@csuohio.edu
Secretary:
Alice McFarland
Cleveland Section Web Site:
http://www.csuohio.edu/sciences
/dept/cleveland_acs/
January 2010
January Meeting Notice
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Past Chair’s Night
Sterle’s Slovenian Country House, Cleveland
4:30 pm
5:30 pm
6:30 pm
7:30 pm
Executive Committee Meeting
Social Hour
Dinner
Presentation
Vitamin B12 – An Ancient Molecule Teaches Us New Tricks
Dr. Donald W. Jacobsen, Lerner Research Institute
Vitamin B12 is a very old molecule. It served as a catalyst for microbial metabolism in an
anaerobic world perhaps 3 billion years ago. It has survived 3 billion years of evolution
and now serves as a catalyst in the human species. Vitamin B12 was discovered only 60
years ago and is thus the youngest of the known “B-complex” vitamins. It is an absolutely
essential micronutrient, the RDA of which is only 2.4 micrograms. But is 2.4
micrograms/day enough for everyone? Probably not considering that 20% of the elderly in
the US have functional B12 deficiency. ATTENTON PAST CHAIRS: did you take your
B12 supplement today?
All human cells require B12. It serves as a coenzyme for two enzymatic reactions:
methionine synthase in the cytoplasm and methylmalonyl-CoA mutase in the mitochondria.
Individuals who become B12 deficient have increased blood levels of homocysteine, a
non-protein sulfur-containing amino acid, and methylmalonic acid, an intermediate in
propionic acid metabolism. Elevated homocysteine is a risk factor for cardiovascular
disease and cognitive impairment (dementia and Alzheimer’s disease). Elevated
methylmalonic acid may be responsible for the neurological problems associated with B12
deficiency.
My laboratory studies B12 transport and metabolism in cardiovascular cells. We recently
discovered how B12 is “processed” after it enters cells. Thus, the cyanide group (CN-) of
vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) must be removed before it can serve as a coenzyme. Other
forms of B12 such as alkylcobalamins are also processed by these newly discovered
biochemical reactions. Mutations in the genes responsible for B12 transport and processing
can lead to B12 deficiency. Because B12 deficiency is not uncommon in the US, vitamin
B12 may be added to our nation’s food supply just as folic acid was added to cereal grains
and flour products in 1998.
DINNER RESERVATIONS REQUIRED:
Please RSVP by contacting
David Ball, by phone at 216-687-2456 or by e-mail at d.ball@csuohio.edu by 5 pm on
Friday, January 15. (For phone reservations, please clearly spell your last name and
leave a return phone number). Cost of the dinner is $20 for members & guests and $10 for
students/retirees/unemployed and Past Chair’s. Checks made out to “Cleveland ACS” are
greatly appreciated. Dinner will include Soup and Salad, Wienerschnitzel (Veal Slovenian
style), Roast Pork, Chicken Breast (those who don’t eat pork may choose from two kinds
of Chicken and Veal), Rigatoni or rice, Vegetable, Potato, Sauerkraut, Coffee and Strudel.
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Isotopics January 2010
Directions to Sterle’s
1401 East 55th St.
Cleveland, OH 44103
Take I-90 and exit at E. 55th Street. Proceed south on
E. 55th St. Sterle's will be on the left, about 2 blocks
south of St. Clair Ave.
Speaker Bio
Donald W. Jacobsen is a member of the
Professional Staff of the Lerner Research
Institute,
Cleveland
Clinic.
He
holds
appointments in the Department of Cell Biology
(primary) and the Department of Cardiovascular
Medicine (secondary). He is also Professor of
Molecular Medicine, Department of Molecular
Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of
Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. He
holds adjunct professorships in Chemistry and
Biology at Cleveland State University and adjunct
professorships in Chemistry and Biomedical
Sciences at Kent State University. Professor
Jacobsen is also a Fellow of the American Heart
Association.
He received his B.A. degree from the University
of Pennsylvania in 1961 and his M.S. (1965) and
Ph.D. (1967) degrees from Oregon State
University. He did postdoctoral training in the
Department of Biochemistry at The Scripps
Research Institute (formerly Scripps Clinic and
Research Foundation) in La Jolla, California. He
remained at Scripps as a member of the staff for a
number of years. In 1984, Professor Jacobsen
joined the research staff of the Cleveland Clinic.
In 2006 the Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the
National Institutes of Health bestowed the
prestigious MERIT Award to Professor Jacobsen.
His current research interests focus on
cardiovascular disease and the role that
micronutrients play in atherogenesis and
progression of atherosclerosis. He has studied the
vascular biochemistry of the sulfur-containing
amino acid homocysteine, an intermediate in
methionine metabolism. Elevated homocysteine is
an independent risk factor for cardiovascular
disease. Professor Jacobsen found that
homocysteine forms stable disulfide complexes
American Chemical Society Cleveland Section
with specific proteins and impairs or alters the
normal function of these proteins. Thus, the
“molecular target hypothesis” has been proposed
to explain the adverse effects caused by elevated
homocysteine.
The micronutrients folic acid and vitamin B12 are
strong determinants of blood levels of
homocysteine. A deficiency of one or both of these
vitamins can lead to severe elevations of blood
homocysteine (hyperhomocysteinemia). Vitamin
B12 deficiency is widespread in the US and other
countries, particularly in elderly populations. In
the US, it is estimated that 15 to 25% of
individuals over 60 years of age have functional
vitamin B12 deficiency. Professor Jacobsen is
currently conducting a detailed study on the
cardiovascular biochemistry of vitamin B12.
A Message from the Incoming Chair
As the incoming Chair for
the Cleveland section of the
American Chemical Society
for 2010, I would like to
welcome
all
of
our
members
and
our
community at large to
another exciting year of
activities,
dynamic
interaction, and professional
development. It is an honor to serve as a Chair for
this great section. Last year has been a tremendous
challenge with the economic crisis that our nation
faced and we were all affected one way or another.
These challenging times bring along great
opportunities for our section and the American
Chemical Society as a whole to reach out and
better connect with our community, fellow
professionals, and student members.
We have a great section with a very diverse
membership and we need to capitalize on this
asset to better serve our community. This goal
cannot materialize if we simply don’t take action
to better engage our local membership. The
official 2009 roster that I received indicates over
one thousand members (1,035 active members to
be exact) in our section. The very small fraction of
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Isotopics January 2010
members attending every month is just not
representative of this “medium-large” section by
ACS standards. One of the challenges that I ask
our section to address this year is to better engage
our members in order to raise attendance in our
meetings and improve participation in our
activities and local projects. As a Chair for this
year, I welcome ALL suggestions and strategies
on how we can do this. A viable suggestion that is
already on the table is to conduct a short survey in
order to gain some clues from our membership on
how to proceed. A survey will be sent shortly and
I strongly urge our members receiving our email
and print communications to take 3-5 min to
respond.
Along the same lines, we need to better engage
our student-members in our local activities. Last
year, ACS approved by an overwhelming margin
constitutional and bylaw changes for all studentaffiliates to become full members. As we
welcome this new membership block, we need to
work hard to support and integrate these members
in all activities of our section. These members
have the potential to shape the future or our
section and we need them now to intensify our
“Put-a-Public-Face-on-Chemistry” campaign. The
timing cannot be better: an initiative by the
International Union of Pure and Applied
Chemistry and the UNESCO is underway to
celebrate the year 2011 as the International Year
of Chemistry (IYC-2011). The goal is to increase
the public appreciation of the contributions of
Chemistry and encourage interest in chemistry.
Under the unifying theme “Chemistry-our life, our
future,” the goal is also to increase the public
understanding of the creative solutions of
chemical sciences to environmental challenges,
energy, and sustainability. We have a whole year
to prepare for this celebration and involving our
student members for this preparation is important.
Thanks to continued efforts by some active
members, we always had very successful National
Chemistry Week and other similar activities over
the past years. As we start a new year, I would
like to expand this experience throughout the year
by urging our new and old members to participate
in programs such as the ACS’ “Chemistry
Ambassadors” program, a nationwide ACS
American Chemical Society Cleveland Section
activity but with a local impact. We also certainly
can do better by expanding into programs such as
Science Cafes within our community, which will
reinvigorate our local public relations.
On the service side, and as our economy recovers,
our section needs to provide professional support
to our fellow members who are currently in the
chemistry -and related- markets. I intend to
explore ways to organize networking opportunities
in the social hour of our monthly meetings.
One word on a relatively new ACS program: In
December of 2008, the ACS Board of Directors
created the “ACS Fellows Program” to recognize
members with outstanding achievements in
Science and outstanding service to ACS. The
inaugural class of 162 ACS fellows was
recognized in a ceremony this past August. The
program of course continues this year and local
sections can nominate potential ACS fellows. I
strongly urge our section to discuss and identify
potential nominees for this prestigious distinction.
If you cannot make it to meetings, feel free to
contact me to convey your ideas via email or
phone.
Finally, I would like to thank David Ball, the now
past Chair, for the great support that he showed as
he passes the “Baton” to me. I also would like to
thank John Protasiewicz, the new Chair-Elect, for
willing to serve. I cannot finish my remarks
without thanking all members of all committees
who are constantly working behind doors to keep
this great section moving forward. The past year
has been spectacular with the great success of the
regional meeting. The credit goes to the
management team and to the army of dedicated
members who volunteered countless hours to
make this a reality. Again welcome to all of our
members for another exciting year.
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Isotopics January 2010
Election Results
Chair-elect: John Protasiewicz
Secretary: Alice McFarland
Trustee: Betty Dabrowski
Councilors: David Ball
Alt Councilor: Pieter deHaseth
Director: Ken Street
Call for Nominations: Heller Award
By Kenneth W. Street
The Cleveland Section of the American Chemical
Society annually sponsors an award to recognize
an outstanding high school chemistry teacher in
the Cleveland Section. The award consists of an
honorarium of $1,000 and a framed certificate.
The award is named for Irene Heller of North
Olmsted High School in recognition of her
contributions as an outstanding high school
chemistry teacher and her service to the Cleveland
Section. For more details regarding the award
please visit:
http://www.csuohio.edu/sciences/dept/cleveland_
acs/Heller.htm
Nominations for the award should be presented to
Kenneth Street, at the address below by close of
business Friday, March 12, 2010. The
nominations should consist of information on the
candidate's education, professional experience and
activities, awards and honors, offices held and
specifics on significant contributions. The letter of
nomination should highlight these significant
contributions. Seconding letters are suggested. A
detailed curriculum vita of the candidate may also
be included. Nominations should be sponsored by
at least one member of the Cleveland Section. If
you do not know a local section ACS member
willing to serve as Champion for your candidate,
American Chemical Society Cleveland Section
contact Ken Street and he will provide one for
you. The Cleveland Section is geographically
confined to the counties of Cuyahoga, Geauga,
Lorain, Medina, Huron, and Erie. Nominators of
candidates who work outside of these counties
may contact the Cleveland Section of the
American Chemical Society for more information
about High School Chemistry Teacher Awards.
Hard copy nomination packages should be
addressed to: Kenneth Street, NASA-GRC, MS23-2, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, Ohio
44135. Electronic nominations using Word or
PDF Files mailed to kenneth.w.street@nasa.gov
are preferred. Ken Street may be contacted at 216433-5032 during business hours for assistance
with submissions.
The award will be presented at the April 21, 2010
meeting of the Cleveland Section.
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Isotopics January 2010
American Chemical Society Cleveland Section
December/January Historical Events in Chemistry
By Leopold May
The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
December 1, 1909
One hundred years ago on this date, the first production of calcium cyanamide in
North America was started by American Cyanamide Co.
December 29, 1800
Charles Goodyear, who was born on this date, invented the vulcanization of rubber.
It was in the year 1839, by an accident, that he discovered the true process of
vulcanization, which cured not the surface alone but the whole mass. He was trying
to harden the gum by boiling it with sulphur on his wife's cook stove when he let
fall a lump of it on the red-hot iron top. It vulcanized instantly.
January 12, 1579
Jan Bapista Van Helmont, born on this date, was an alchemist who proposed two
basic elements, air and water. He was a founder of pneumatic chemistry and coined
the term “gas.”
January 16, 1817
Thomas Antisell, the first president of the Chemical Society of Washington, was
born on this day.
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Day-Glo Color Corporation
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Associate Editor
Dr. Lily Ng
Cleveland State University
Phone: 216-687-2467
l.ng@csuohio.edu
Associate Editor
Daniel Scheiman
QSC/NASA GRC
Phone: 216-433-3223
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