ISOTOPICS
The Cleveland Section of the American Chemical Society
Volume 86
Issue 3
On Deck:
April 21, 2010
Education Night and Award
Ceremony
Dr. Helen Mayer
100 Years of Chemistry in
Cleveland
Location: GrafTech
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
mcfarlands1@earthlink.net
Cleveland Section Web Site:
http://www.csuohio.edu/sciences
/dept/cleveland_acs/
March 2010
March Meeting Notice
Meeting-in-Miniature
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
CSU, Maxine Goodman Levin Urban Building (Atrium)
2:00 pm
2:30-5 pm
5:00 pm
6:00 pm
6:30 pm
Registration
Parallel Talks
Plenary Speaker (Dr. Gary Wnek)
Social Time and Dinner
Award Ceremony (while dinner continues)
Multi-Functional Polymer Microfibers, Regenerative
Medicine, and some thoughts on Innovation and
Entrepreneurship
Dr. Gary E. Wnek, Case Western Reserve University
Significant challenges exist in bringing technology developed in academic laboratories to
commercial applications, yet the need grows to bridge this gap in many key areas including
medicine and health care, energy, clean water, and information technology. Toward that
end, polymer scaffolds for regenerative medicine will be discussed with an attempt to
bridge fundamental research with technology opportunities. Over the past decade,
electrostatic micro- and nanofiber polymer spinning has been established as a broad
platform technology for applications in drug delivery and regenerative medicine. Several
classes of polymers, including biodegradable synthetics (e.g., PLGA), biocompatible but
non-biodegradable synthetics (e.g., PVA, EVA) and natural polymers (e.g., collagen,
fibrinogen) have been studied. We have been interested in fundamental understanding of
electrospinning in cases of weak and strong polymer-polymer interactions in solution, and
are now aiming to understand more complicated situations involving biopolymers such as
collagen. We also continue to identify unique application opportunities. Attention in our
laboratory has been directed toward the eye, with an emphasis on multi-functional polymer
scaffolds for retina regeneration using retinal progenitor cells. Recent work has
established that electrospun, biodegradable fibers containing immobilized MMP2 can
release the enzyme to degrade scar tissue near a damaged retina without adversely
affecting the behavior of seeded retinal progenitor cells. Regeneration and repair of the
cornea is also of current interest. Broad prospects for the use of electrospun polymer
scaffolds in regenerative medicine will be discussed.
DINNER RESERVATIONS REQUIRED:
Please RSVP by contacting Mekki
Bayachou, by phone at 216-875-9716 or by e-mail at m.bayachou@csuohio.edu by 5 pm on Friday,
March 12. (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.
Checks made out to “Cleveland ACS” are greatly appreciated. Dinner will include Stuffed Chicken
Breast with Spinach and Boursin Cheese or Eggplant Parmesan Lasagna or Chicken Parmesan,
Spring Greens with Berries and Nuts, Tuscan Onion with Gruyere Croutons, Italian Salad, Herb
Roasted Red Potatoes, Moroccan Cous Cous Salad, or Traditional Risotto, Honey Ginger Glazed
Root Vegetable, Roasted Vegetable Medley, Éclair, Apple Pie.
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Isotopics March 2010
Directions to Levin College, CSU
1717 Euclid Ave
Cleveland State University
Cleveland, OH 44115
FROM THE SOUTH: Follow I-71 north to the
East 22nd Street exit (#172B). Turn left onto East
22nd Street; drive several blocks to Euclid
Avenue, turn left, drive to East 17th Street, turn
right; garage entrance on your right. Exit garage
into College of Business, walk through to Levin
College of Urban Affairs.
FROM THE SOUTH: Follow I-77 north to the
East 22nd/East 14th Street exit (#162B). Turn left
onto East 22nd Street, drive several blocks to
Euclid Avenue, turn left, drive to East 17th Street,
turn right; garage entrance on your right. Exit
garage into College of Business, walk through to
Levin College of Urban Affairs.
FROM THE WEST: Follow I-90 east to the East
22nd Street exit (172B). Turn left onto East 22nd
Street; drive several blocks to Euclid Avenue,
turn left, drive to East 17th Street, turn right;
garage entrance on your right. Exit garage into
College of Business, walk through to Levin
College of Urban Affairs.
FROM THE WEST: Follow the Shoreway
(Route 2) east to I-71/I-77 South. Exit at the
Chester Avenue/CSU exit (#173B). Turn left
onto East 24th Street and right at the light onto
Chester. Follow Chester to E. 17th Street, turn
left, garage entrance on your left. Exit garage into
College of Business, walk through to Levin
College of Urban Affairs, 1st floor.
FROM THE EAST: Follow I-90 west to the
Chester Avenue/Cleveland State University exit
(#173B). Turn left onto East 24th Street and right
at the light onto Chester. Follow Chester to E.
17th Street, turn left, garage entrance on your left.
Exit garage into College of Business, walk
through to Levin College of Urban Affairs.
Speaker Bio
Gary Wnek received a B.S. in Chemical
Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute
in 1977 and a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and
American Chemical Society Cleveland Section
Engineering from the
University
of
Massachusetts, Amherst,
in 1980. He has been a
member of the faculty of
the
Department
of
Materials Science and
Engineering at MIT and
the
Department
of
Chemistry at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, and
was Founding Chair of the Chemical Engineering
Department
at
Virginia
Commonwealth
University. In 2004, he joined Case Western
Reserve University as Professor of Chemical
Engineering, the Joseph F. Toot, Jr., Professor of
Engineering, and Co-Director of The Institute for
Management and Engineering (TiME). In 2006, he
became Faculty Director of TiME and was Chair
of the Department of Macromolecular Science and
Engineering from 2006-2009. Gary Wnek’s
research interests include polymers in medicine
(tissue engineering scaffolds, drug delivery;
electrostatic polymer processing of nanofibers and
nanoparticles), microfluidic devices, and polymers
in energy storage. He has co-authored over 130
papers, co-edited 4 books and the Encyclopedia of
Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, and
holds 21 U.S. and 2 European patents. He
received the 2007 John W. Hyatt Award (benefit
to society) from the Society of Plastics Engineers
for his work on polymer nano- and microfibers for
regenerative medicine and related biomedical
applications.
Meeting-in-Miniature
It is that time of the year again! Welcome to the
Cleveland Section ACS’s annual Meeting-InMiniature. We are still accepting presentations by
undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs as
well as area professionals. The talks will be given
in four to five parallel sessions. The schedule and
abstracts will be available to download from the
Cleveland
ACS
website
http://www.csuohio.edu/sciences/dept/cleveland_acs/,
and in print at the Meeting. Cash awards will be
given to outstanding student presenters. In
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Isotopics March 2010
addition, this year the section introduces a new
category of awards for top graduate students: up
to 4 students may win an additional $750 to cover
expenses to attend the CeRMACS meeting in
Dayton on June 19, 2010.
Call for Papers
We invite abstracts for presentations at our MIM
meeting from graduate students, undergraduate
students, as well as principal investigators and
postdocs. Abstracts are to be submitted by email
only as Microsoft Word documents to Prof. John
Protasiewicz at the following email address:
protasiewicz@case.edu. Please include a succinct
title, name of authors and affiliation (the name of
the presenter should be underlined). Please write
MIM-Undergrad in the subject line of the email
for undergraduate student presenters, MIM-Grad
for graduate student presenters, and MIM-PI for
principal investigators. Abstracts must be
submitted no later than Monday March 8, 2010.
Monetary awards for best undergraduate and
graduate student oral presentations will be given,
so please urge your students to participate. In
addition, top graduate student winners may also
receive additional award money to attend the
Central Regional ACS meeting in Dayton, OH.
Questions about paper submissions can be
directed to John Protasiewicz.
Professor Norman C. Craig to receive
2010 Edward W. Morley Medal from
the Cleveland Section of the American
Chemical Society
Contact: Dr. Don Jaworske, Publicity Chair,
Cleveland Section
Telephone: (216) 433-2312
Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin College chemistry
professor Norman C. Craig, retired, was recently
selected to receive the 2010 Edward W. Morley
Medal presented by the Cleveland Section of the
American Chemical Society.
A native of
Washington D.C., Professor Craig received a B.A.
in chemistry from Oberlin College and an M.A.
and Ph.D. from Harvard University. He joined
the faculty at Oberlin College in 1957. For 43
American Chemical Society Cleveland Section
years he taught general chemistry, environmental
chemistry, and physical chemistry. His research at
Oberlin centered on molecular spectroscopy with
an emphasis on vibrational spectroscopy supported
by the synthesis of many isotopomers. Raman
spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy were the
principal experimental methods.
Normal
coordinate calculations and, later, quantum
chemical calculations played central roles. In the
mid-1980s, Professor Craig’s work focused on
high-resolution
infrared spectroscopy and
microwave spectroscopy with the goal of
determining accurate molecular structures. Over
130 undergraduate students have done research
with Professor Craig and 83 are coauthors of
research publications. In 1987 he received an
ACS/Chemical
Manufacturers
Association
Catalyst Award for teaching and in 1996 he
received the ACS award for Research in an
Undergraduate Institution. In 2004, Norm was
elected chair of the Cleveland Section.
The Cleveland Section of the American Chemical
Society annually sponsors the Morley Award to
recognize significant contributions to chemistry
through achievements in research, teaching,
engineering, research administration and public
service, outstanding service to humanity, or to
industrial progress in the region. Professor Craig
will be presented with the Morley Medal at the
joint Society of Applied Spectroscopy – American
Chemical Society conference to be held at John
Carroll University on May 26, 2010. Professor
Craig will be giving the Edward W. Morley
Lecture at 5:30 pm followed by a joint SAS-ACS
social hour and banquet.
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Isotopics March 2010
American Chemical Society Cleveland Section
Chemistry is for the Birds - 8
By Dwight Chasar
In part 7, I began a discussion on bird coloration and covered the physical interaction of light with
feathers. In this and subsequent articles, I intend to address the chemical structures that are now known to
contribute to bird coloration, whether this be feathers or other body parts of birds.
The first of these is melanin. As many readers know this pigment is responsible for imparting the brown
color to our skin when we sun tan. For birds this pigment contributes to the black, grays, browns and to a
lesser extent some blues. It is manufactured at the epidermis and is not obtained from the bird diet.
Melanins are complex two dimensional polymers, the exact structures of which have yet to be completely
described (a Google search will give you some idea about the structures). There are two basic categories,
eumelanin (blacks) and phaeomelanin (buff and reddish-brown) and the amino acid tyrosine is the starting
compound for the synthesis of these two structure types (see below). The melanins act not just as
pigments but are also thought to act as antioxidants, photo-protectorants, tissue strengtheners, parasite
deterrents, and thermoregulators. Crows and Golden Eagle are examples of birds whose colors derive
from melanin.
O
H2N
CH C
OH
OH
CH2
N
HO
S
N
HO
H
OH
Tyrosine
eumelanins
HOOC
NH2
phaeomelanins
Another major class of pigments is derived from beta-carotene. These pigments are responsible for the
yellows, oranges, and reds found in our North American birds, e.g., American Goldfinch, Baltimore
Oriole, Northern Cardinal, and many others. These carotenoids are obtained from the diets of birds and
many times the success of bird coloration depends on the bird’s ability to find appropriate food sources.
While many of the identified structures may be found in the food source itself, birds can further
metabolize these molecules to other colored structures and all together constitute a host of colorants, e.g.,
luteins, xanthophylls, xanthins, etc.
The carotene’s basic structural unit is isoprene (same for natural rubber) and when two isoprene units are
dimerized, this creates a terpene. Four of the terpenes create a tetraterpenoid, of which beta-carotene is
one example (see below). Most often the various carbons in the terminal rings become oxidized,
replacing some hydrogens by hydroxyl (-OH) or keto (C=O) groups, while the double bond (C=C) in these
rings can also shift locations. These variously highly conjugated structures, too numerous to show here,
form the variations for the bird’s color palette.
In the next installment, I will cover some of the other structures that contribute to bird coloration.
Page 5
Isotopics March 2010
American Chemical Society Cleveland Section
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,
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.
March Historical Events in Chemistry
By Leopold May
The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
March 1, 1910 One hundred years ago, Archer J. P. Martin was born. He shared the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry with Richard L. M. Synge in 1952 for their invention of partition
chromatography.
March 13, 1733 Joseph Priestley, who was born on this date, was the discoverer of oxygen, ammonia,
hydrochloric acid gas, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and oxides of nitrogen. He also
made the first soda drink.
March 23, 1962 Neil Bartlett made the first noble gas compound, XePtF6, on this date.
March 27, 1847 One hundred years ago, Otto Wallach, a researcher on essential oils and terpenes, was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1910 in recognition of his services to organic
chemistry and the chemical industry by his pioneer work in the field of alicyclic
compounds. He was born on this date.
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Isotopics March 2010
American Chemical Society Cleveland Section
ISOTOPICS STAFF
Editor:
Daniel Tyson
Day-Glo Color Corporation
Phone: 216-391-7384
daniel_s_tyson@yahoo.com
Business and Advertising:
Alice McFarland
mcfarlands1@earthlink.net
Associate Editor
Dwight Chasar
dwight.chasar@yahoo.com
Associate Editor
Richard L. Middaugh
Phone: 440-785-0293
rlmiddaugh@ameritech.net
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
daniel.a.scheiman@nasa.gov
Isotopics is looking to highlight local chemistry professionals, companies, teachers, research groups, students,
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