Northeastern Section of the ACS
Monthly Board Meeting
Written Reports
Tufts University, Somerville MA
5/12/11
Members and guests in Attendance: D. Harris, Morton Hoffman, April Jewell, D.
Lewis, M. Levine, Jim Piper, Marietta Schwartz, Mary Shultz, M. Singer, Ruth
Tanner and G. Weisman
The meeting was called to order at 4:05pm with M. Hoffman as the Chair
The minutes from Mar 2011 were approved as presented.
The minutes from Apr 2011 were reviewed. One correction was made under
Norris Award to change the number of new nominations from 8 to 3. The Apr
2011 minutes were approved as modified.
Chair: P. Gordon (written report)
 I will be in Buffalo with Dan Eustace to do a career Fair for the students at U
of Buffalo on May 12
Chair Elect: R. Tanner
 I attended to Cape Cod Science Café Program, Alternative Energy &
Sustainable Living: An IYC Cape Cod SciCafe. It was held in Hyannis, and
well attended. Two more Café’ programs are planned for the Fall, one that
focuses on the 3rd Quarter IYC theme (recycling, and properties of materials
and nanomaterials) and one that focuses on the 4th Quarter IYC theme
(Health).
 The October meeting (Tuesday, October 11, 2011) will be hosted by
Schlumberger located on Hampshire Street in Cambridge. Lee Johnson is
our liaison with the company. The company is going to host a reception, but
they are not set up for providing a dinner. The meeting will more resemble
our meeting at Novartis, with a Board meeting, program(William Carroll from
OxyChem), and reception hosted by Schlumberger with dinner following,
possibly at the Cambridge Brewing Company within a short walking distance
from Schlumberger.
 A Boston-based NMR discussion group is being organized and is interested
in affiliating with NESACS as a Subgroup. Dr. Mark Milton at Millennium is
their spokesman. For their group, they have scientists from academia and
industry represented by MIT, Harvard, Merck and Novartis among others who
have expressed an interest, and Amgen has agreed to host their meetings.
Venders such as Bruker, Agilent, CIL, Norell and Isotec have pledged funding
for the group. Dr. Milton has been made aware of the Section’s Bylaw IX that
describes the procedure for groups to become Local Groups of the Section. It
is anticipated that the Group will petition the Board in the very near future to
form a Local Group of the Section.
 This past month, the Section came close to losing its domain name,
nesacs.org when it came up for renewal. This is managed by a company
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called NetNation Communications. To renew the name required the
customer ID and password for the account, which no one on the Board or the
Webmaster knew because it had not been passed along by the previous
account managers for the website. In addition, in order to get that information
from NetNation Communications, their representative agreed to send it to the
e-mail address they had on file for our domain. However, whoever put it in
originally made a mistake in the address and to get the information, we
needed to be able to answer the “secret question”. No one knew the answer
because it was not known who had put it in originally. This problem has been
exasperated by the number of webmasters we have been involved. Thanks
to the persistence of Roy Hagen and Anna Singer, the problem was finally
resolved. Our domain has been renewed for one year. For our domain
name, the Webmaster is now officially the Account Manager, and
secretary@nesacs.org s the official e-mail address for the domain.
 This is another example of not having a back-up for critical areas for the
section. I would like to suggest that our Secretary keep a confidential file with
this type of information. If there are other critical areas that have confidential
information for access to files or information, I recommend that the Secretary
be given the information to be placed in a confidential file. In addition, all
critical areas of the Section should have a back-up.
 Paypal – A dedicated PayPal webpage has been created for registering all
our future monthly programs. The link for the webpage is
http://acssymposium.com/pay/pal.html. Many thanks to Raj Rajur for his
efforts in getting this finalized for section programs. It is currently being used
for the May 19th Medicinal Chemistry Symposium.
Secretary: M. Singer
 No written report
Treasurer: J. Piper
 See Treasurer’s report appended at the end of this report.
Archivist: T. Frigo
 No written report
Trustees: M. Strem
 See Trustee’s report appended at the end of this report.
Councilors:
Mary Jane Shultz
 I attended the 241st meeting of the American Chemical Society held in
Anaheim, CA and engaged in the following activities.
 On Sunday morning, I presented an invited technical talk at the Physical
Chemistry Chemical Reactions and Dynamics at Surfaces: Dynamics at
Liquid Interfaces session.
 Monday morning I participated in the Women’s Chemists Committee
session “Recognizing and Preventing a Hostile Work Environment.”
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Monday afternoon, I attended the NSF Town Hall session concerning the
Federal Budget and current funding for chemistry.
Monday Evening, I attended to Graduate Student and Post Doc reception.
Tuesday morning I attended to Physical Chemistry Award Symposium.
Tuesday afternoon, I attended to District I Councilors Caucus discussing
issues that were likely to come up in the Council Meeting on Wednesday
morning.
Wednesday morning, I participated in the ACS Council meeting. The
council is working out issues associated with electronic voting via clickers
at the Council Meetings. Dues were raised by $2.00.
Standing Committees
Budget Committee: J. Piper
 No written report
Awards: D. Phillips
 No written report
Local Arrangements: M. Burgess
 The Esselen Award meeting was held at Harvard University on Thursday,
April, 14, 2011. Arthur Nozik was the recipient of the Esselen Award. There
were 91 attendees. The Awardee spoke on, ‘The prospects and novel
approaches for the low cost power conversion of solar photons to electricity
and solar functions’. The May meeting will be held at Tufts University. The
Education Award Program will be awarded after the dinner meeting. This
meeting usually attracts a large group
Chemical Education: M. Schwartz
 Education night will be this evening.
 The panel discussion this evening can be counted as an IYC activity.
 The fourth Norris-Richards Scholar Research report has been approved by
the advisor and will be published in the summer issue of the Nucleus.
Board of Publications: M. Levine
 There have been approximately 20 responses for an e-copy of the Nucleus to
date. Currently considering offering a raffle as incentive to increase
response.
 The summer issue is likely to be 8 pages to save budget.
Nucleus Editor: M. Filosa
 No written report
Web Report: M. Levine
 We received 21 responses to the survey about the website (thank you to all
the board members!), and the vast majority (19/21) indicated that they
thought the website could use some re-designing and simplifying. We are
obtaining a cost estimate for what such a redesign will cost. For comparison,
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the original work in the summer of 2007 took 85 hours and cost approximately
$3000.
 Those people who have indicated that they would be willing to evaluate “beta”
versions of the website will be contacted when we have such versions
available, which will hopefully be in the near future.
 We have had13 people opt to receive only electronic versions of the Nucleus,
and 3 people have responded that they would like to receive the Nucleus in
both forms. We are discussing the possibility of offering incentives that will
increase our response rate.
 The BOP is also discussing more efficient ways to upload the presentations
from monthly meetings on the website (using slides, audio, and/or video).
Constitution & By-laws: C. Costello
 No written report
Membership: M. Chen
 The list of 86 new members was received on 30 April from the Nucleus
Business Office. There were 62 new members and 24 transfers from other
sections to NESACS. The welcome new members invitation will be sent for
the September Monthly Meeting.
Nominations: Michael Singer for the Nominating Committee
 From the results of the 2011 ACS census, NESACS has gained two Councilors. The
total is now 16 councilors. Based on the census the Nominating Committee
Recommends that the NESACS Board of Directors:
o Increase the number of Councilors / Alternate Councilors to be elected
in the 2011 Election from 5 to 6. The 2011 Election Tellers will be
informed of the change prior to their counting of the ballots.
o Increase the number of Councilors / Alternate Councilors for the term
2011 - 2013 from 4 to 5. The new positions are to be filled by the next
highest vote tally from that election cycle.
 Motion passed by voice vote.
Professional Relations: M. Chorghade
 No written report
Public Relations: L. Johnson
 No written report
Special Committees
Continuing Education: VACANT
 No written report
Fundraising: VACANT
 No written report
Government Relations: D. Lewis
 The ACS is looking for the best ways to approach Congress given the current
fiscal situation.
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 Local groups are encouraged to respond when a LAN e-mail blast is sent
asking for members to contact their congressman.
Esselen Award: A. Obermayer
 No written report
IYC 2011: M. Hoffman
 Today, May 12, is the 132nd day of the 365 days of IYC. According to the
“ACS Celebrates IYC 2011” website <http://iyc2011.acs.org>, today’s
celebration is in memory of Roy J. Plunkett.
The day commemorates the death of Roy J. Plunkett, who accidentally
discovered Teflon in 1938 when he found that a tank of gaseous
tetrafluoroethylene had polymerized to a white powder. During WWII this new
polymer was applied as a corrosion-resistant coating to protect metal equipment.
From the 1930s to the present, beginning with neoprene and nylon, the American
chemical industry has introduced a cornucopia of polymers to the consumer.
Teflon, discovered by Roy J. Plunkett (1910–1994) at the DuPont Company’s
Jackson Laboratory in 1938, was an accidental invention – unlike most of the
other polymer products. But as Plunkett often told student audiences, his mind
was prepared by education and training to recognize novelty.
Plunkett had produced 100 pounds of tetrafluoroethylene gas (TFE) and stored it
in small cylinders at dry-ice temperatures preparatory to chlorinating it. When he
and his helper prepared a cylinder for use, none of the gas came out – yet the
cylinder weighed the same as before. They opened it and found a white powder,
which Plunkett had the presence of mind to characterize for properties other than
refrigeration potential. He found the substance to be heat resistant and
chemically inert, and to have very low surface friction so that most other
substances would not adhere to it. Plunkett realized that, against the predictions
of polymer science of the day, TFE had polymerized to produce this substance –
later named Teflon – with such potentially useful characteristics.
 The following fund-raising request was sent by LaTrease Garrison, Assistant
Director of Member Communities in the Department of Volunteer Support of
ACS:
As part of the American Chemical Society’s International Year of Chemistry 2011
celebration, we have launched a very exciting program – “Pennies for PUR™
Water.” Please join us in raising funds to support this initiative.
Every day, several billion people around the world live without safe drinking
water. More than 4,000 children die every day from diseases caused by drinking
unsafe water. ACS is seeking to raise funds to purchase water purification
packets that can be used in areas of the world that do not have readily available
safe drinking water. The goal of the program is simple and if successful, the
impact will be huge: a true demonstration and validation of the ACS Vision,
“Improving people’s lives through the transforming power of chemistry.”
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Procter & Gamble, in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, has developed a low-cost technology in a sachet, called PUR™, to
purify even heavily contaminated drinking water so that it meets World Health
Organization standards for safe drinking water. P&G’s PUR™ packets are being
distributed through its Children’s Safe Drinking Water (CSDW), a special
foundation that the company created in 2004. Since CSDW’s creation, P&G has
distributed over 300 million packets to 63 countries and has partnered with 110
organizations. Through these efforts over 3 billion liters of clean water have
been made available to people around the globe. The program has saved more
than 16,000 lives and prevented over 120 million days of diarrhea. For more
information on the CSDW, please visit <http://www.csdw.org/csdw/home.shtml>
Each packet costs only 3.5 cents to produce (and 7 cents to distribute) and safely
treats 2.5 gallons of water. ACS is proud to be partnering with P&G’s Children’s
Safe Drinking Water program. All funds raised by ACS will go towards the
production costs.
Our goal is to raise enough funds to be able to provide over 1.5 million
gallons of safe water before the end of 2011! We are asking all local sections
to participate in this effort by raising funds and sending them to ACS by
December 1, 2011. Here’s what you need to do.
1. Request a PUR™ kit from ACS to demonstrate how the packets purify water,
making it safe to drink. (One kit per section.)
2. Download files to print posters or flyers to make your community aware of this
activity.
3. Download the informational PowerPoint to share with your local section and
local community.
4. Encourage attendees at your Chemists Celebrate Earth Day and other
outreach events to donate.
5. Partner with the Student Member Chapters and High School Chem Clubs in
your section to raise funds.
6. Send the collected funds to ACS (check or money order made payable to the
American Chemical Society – note for the PUR water project in the memo area).
All donations are tax deductible and ACS will provide receipts as requested.
7. Visit <http://water.chemistry2011.org> to find activities related to water as part
of the IUPAC Global Water Experiment. You may use these activities during
events where you’ll be raising funds.
Thanks in advance for your participation. We are looking forward to reaching our
goal and helping to improve people’s lives through the transforming power of
chemistry! If you have any additional questions, email <olsa@acs.org>.
 The IYC Second Quarter Science Café (Topic: Alternative Energy and
Sustainability) was held on Friday, April 29, from 6:30-9:00 p.m. at the
Hyannis Golf Club, Hyannis, MA. About 50 attendees heard the keynote
speaker, Prof. Daniel Nocera (M.I.T.), and a presentation by Jeffrey Wootan
(Broadway Electrical Co., Boston). Prof. Walter Johnson (Suffolk University),
who was scheduled to speak, was on a field trip with his students and was
unable to be present; his slides were shown by Dr. Jack Driscoll (PID
Analyzers), one of the hosts for the event. The event was sponsored by
NESACS, PID Analyzers, The Cape Cod Commission, and the Town of
Barnstable, and was also hosted by Jennifer Maclachlan (PID Analyzers).
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 The Northeast Student Chemistry Research Conference (NSCRC), an IYC
event organized by the Northeastern Section Younger Chemists Committee
(NSYCC), was held on Saturday, April 30, in the Curry Student Center at
Northeastern University with approximately 100 undergraduates, graduate
students, and postdoctoral research associates in attendance. The keynote
lecture was given by Prof. Suzanne Walker of the Department of Chemistry
and Chemical Biology at Harvard University on “Structure, Function, and
Inhibition of Human O-GlcNAc Transferase.” Twelve oral presentations were
made of which three were given by undergraduates; 60 posters were on
display. The judges for the awards were Dr. Penny Beuning (Northeastern
University), Dr. Morton Hoffman (Boston University), Dr. Marietta Schwartz
(University of Massachusetts Boston), Dr. Yibin Xiang (Genzyme), Dr.
Sharotka Simon (Brandeis University), and Dr. Andrew Scholte (Genzyme),
NSYCC Vice-chair. The following awards were presented:
Outstanding Oral Presentation Award: Joseph Wzorek (Harvard University)
Excellent Oral Presentation Award: Melissa Brulotte (Bridgewater State University)
Excellent Oral Presentation Award: Laura Brozek (Boston College)
Excellent Graduate Student Poster Presentation Award: Christopher Pace (Boston
College)
Excellent Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation Award: Michael Lacy (Tufts
University)
Graduate Women in Science Poster Presentation Award: Allison Greene (Boston
College)
Phyllis A. Brauner Memorial Undergraduate Book Award: Jaizuo “Henry” Feng (Boston
University)
 Although the following was not a NESACS IYC event, it is worthy of note
because it involved a chemistry science café in Boston, was part of the IYC
program of the scientific outreach effort of WGBH, and was organized by
NESACS member, Jennifer Larese, Outreach Coordinator for NOVA/WGBH.
Name of Café: Café Sci Boston
Meeting time/date: Wednesday, May 11, 2011. Doors open at 6:30pm. Conversation
starts at 7pm.
Meeting location:
Cambridge 1 (Fenway)
1381 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215
Description of meeting: Why does chemistry matter? (pun intended!)
Join us at Café Sci Boston as we talk with Cheryl Lavoie from Simmons College about
how and why chemistry matters – to everyone! Highlights to include the joys of teaching
chemistry, measuring radioactivity in our everyday lives, and eating bananas. We'll do a
quick case study of the Japanese nuclear power plant crisis, too.
In preparation for the talk, feel free to review this illustration from the web comic
xkcd.com of a radiation dose chart: <http://xkcd.com/radiation/>. This co-hosted NOVA
and COPUS (Coalition for the Public Understanding of Science) event is part of the
International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC2011), which is a worldwide celebration of the
achievements of chemistry
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Join Café Sci on Wednesday for great food, drinks, and conversation.
Café organized by: NOVA/WGBH, producers of the public television series NOVA
scienceNOW and COPUS.
Café contact: <getinvolved@wgbh.org>
Date of next meeting: to be announced
About the café: Thirsty for real conversation? Come to Café Sci and join a lively
discussion at a local pub. Café Sci encourages open, easy-to-understand conversation.
No lectures. No technical jargon. Café Sci is free and open to all. Bring your friends, tell
your neighbors, post this announcement, and pass it along. Café Sci is an ongoing
series. To be added to the e-mail list write to <getinvolved@wgbh.org>.
URL: <http://www.sciencecafes.org/event_pages/Boston1.html>
 The following requests for mini-grant funding from the IYC line of the 2011
NESACS budget were received:
a) The amount of $500 for the upcoming NSCRC (a NESACS IYC event) on Saturday,
April 30, at Northeastern University was requested by April Jewell, NSYCC Chair.
The requested funds were to provide, in part, for the snacks and beverages during
the registration period and the two poster session/coffee breaks. Amount granted:
$500. The actual expenditure was $300.
b) The amount of $250 for partial support of a reception (a NESACS IYC event) at the
American Industrial Hygiene Association conference on Sunday, May 15, at the
Hilton Hotel in Portland, Oregon, was requested by Jennifer Maclachlin. The
reception, which will be part of a symposium on the commercialization of the
technology of photoionization, will be in honor of Dr. Jack Driscoll (PID Analyzers)
and his contributions to industrial hygiene monitoring instrumentation. Symposium
speakers will include Geoffrey Hewitt (Ion Science Americas) on The History of
Photoionization and the Early Days at HNU Systems, Inc., and Phillip Smith (USDOLOSHA Salt Lake Technical Center) on The Impact of Photoionization-based
Instrumentation on the Field of Industrial Hygiene. Dr. Driscoll will receive a plaque
from NESACS with the following inscription: “In recognition of your visionary efforts to
improve the practice of industrial hygiene through development of highly portable
detection instruments, including development of the first handheld photoionization
detector, the HNU PI101, and numerous other handheld and transportable detection
systems. Your work has had a large and lasting impact on the practice of industrial
hygiene, and in other fields where the need exists to measure airborne chemicals in
real-time or near real-time.” Amount granted: $250.
c) The amount of $250 for “Celebrating IYC at Hanover Day” on June 25 in Hanover,
MA, was requested by Christine Jaworek-Lopes, NCW Chair. This NESACS IYC
event will feature a table of hands-on activities on the use of sunscreen, acid-base
chemistry, and water purification with PUR™ kits, supervised by students from
Emmanuel College. Amount granted: $250.
Medicinal Chemistry Group: R. Rajur
 No written report
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National Chemistry Week: C. Jaworek-Lopes
 Members of the NCW Committee will participate at Hanover Day in Hanover,
MA – the UV bead activity will be performed at this event; Pennies to Pur
program will be promoted.
 NCW events:
o October 23, 2011 from 1 pm – 5 pm at the MoS-Boston
o October 27, 2011 from 9 am – 1 pm – HSSS program
o October 29, 2011 from 11 am – 4 pm at the Boston Children’s
Museum
 Our Section will be participating in the ACS National NCW Poetry Contest
from Sept 1 – Oct 21.
 Our Section will be holding a design the NCW t-shirt from June 1 – Sept 20.
The IYC logo will appear on the sleeve of the shirt.
Norris Award: K. Browne
 The members of the Norris Committee have selected Dr. Peter Mahaffy of
The King's University College in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada as the recipient
of the 2011 James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the
Teaching of Chemistry. The awards dinner is tentatively scheduled for Friday,
November 11, 2011
 Astra Zeneca in Waltham is willing to host the event. More details to come.
NERM: M. Hoffman
 NERM 2012 will take place on Sunday-Wednesday, September 30-October 3,
2012, at the Radisson Hotel Riverside in Rochester, NY; see
<http://nerm.sites.acs.org>. The meeting will be the occasion of the
celebration of chemistry at Eastman Kodak and the 100th anniversary of the
Rochester Local Section.
Project Seed: C. Schnitzer
 No written report
Richard’s Award: R. Gordon
 No written report
Speakers’ Bureau: VACANT
 No written report
Summerthing: D. Lewis
 Tickets are available for the September 4th Red Sox game. The game is
being advertised on the YCC website.
 The other Summerthing event at Tanglewood is a purchase your own ticket
event.
Women’s Chemist Committee: P. Mabrouk
 No written report
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YCC: A. Jewell
 The 13th Annual NSCRC was a resounding success. The event took place on
April 30, 2011 at Northeastern University’s Curry Student Center.
 There were >70 abstracts submitted, 12 of which were chosen for oral
presentations, and >100 registrants from 21 different institutions.
 The NSYCC secured sponsorship from local companies in the amount of
$2000, and an additional $300 from the NESACS IYC Committee to offset the
cost of coffee and snacks during the poster presentations.
 Professor Suzanne Walker (Harvard University/Harvard Medical School)
delivered the keynote address.
 Photos will be posted on the NSYCC website within the next few weeks.
 There were seven sponsored presentations prizes awarded at the NSCRC.
The winning presentations are listed below.
 Outstanding Oral Presentation (sponsored by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)
o Joseph Wzorek – Harvard University
o “A Macrocyclic Approach Toward the Tetracycline Antibiotics”
 Excellent Oral Presentation (sponsored by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)
o Melissa Brulotte – Bridgewater State University
o “Structure and Function: The Crystal Structure of Dop4 with NAcetyl-2-Aminofluorine”
o Laura Brozek – Boston College
o “Asymmetric Allyl-Allyl Coupling via 3,3´-Reductive Elimination of
Allyl-Metal Complexes”
 Phyllis A. Brauner Book Award (awarded by the NESACS Education
Committee)
o Henry Feng – Boston University
o “Functionalized Nanoparticles: Old Drugs, New Tricks”
 Excellent Poster Presentation (sponsored by Strem Chemicals, Inc.)
o Christopher Pace – Boston College (Graduate)
o “A FlAsH-Tetracysteine Assay for Quantifying the Association and
Orientation of Transmembrane α-Helices”
o Michael Lacy – Tufts University (Undergraduate)
o “Digital Quantification of Single Molecules by Total Internal
Reflection Microscopy”
 Graduate Women in Science Award (sponsored by GWIS Alpha-Omega
Chapter)
o Allison Greene – Boston College
o “Advancements in the Total Synthesis of a [6,6] Carbon Nanotube
End-Cap Through Enhanced Solubility of Polycyclic Aromatic
Hydrocarbon Precursors”
YCC / GDCh 2011 exchange: A. Jewell
 The details for the 2012 exchange are being worked on.
BAGIM: K. Mattes
 No written report
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ACS Fellows Nominating Committee: P. Gordon
 We have submitted nominations for ACS fellows: The nominees are:
o John Neumeyer
o John Warner
o Stephen Lippard
o Tom Gilbert
o Pam Mabrouk
o Cathy Costello
o Esther Hopkins
 John and I thank all of you who helped in the process in order to get the
nominations submitted. We trust that all the nominees will be inducted.
Old Business
 There was no old business.
New Business
 The Board of Publications presented the agreements to hire Karen Piper as
the Nucleus Business Manager and Vince Gayle as the Nucleus Advertising
Manager for approval. Small financial increases over last year, otherwise the
same terms as in previous years.
o The agreements were approved by voice vote.
 Ruth Tanner:
o The ACS Office of International Activities requested our section to
assist with the work of Seeding Labs, a nonprofit organization
based in the Boston area. Seeding Labs supports and expands the
scientific research in developing countries by providing affordable
reclaimed laboratory equipment and facilitation connections with
the global community.
o I seem to remember that the Board felt there were some downsides
in sending used equipment to labs which may not be able to
support them in terms of repairs, getting parts, etc. There was
reluctance to put out a call for equipment. However, putting the
information for them on our website with the appropriate links, I
seem to recall, was the service the Section would offer.
o Patrick is following up with Liezel Perez at the Office of
International Activities and with Nina Dudnik, the founder of
Seeding Labs.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:05 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted
Michael Singer
Secretary - NESACS
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