ACS Chemistry for Life

February 2011 – Issue 2

The Virtual Journal, the Calendar, and THE CONTEST
Our monthly journal serves as a complement to the wonderful milestones, the triumphs and the trivia in chemistry and related fields of science described on the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) popular 365: Chemistry for Life online calendar.

But our calendar isn’t complete. We want you to join in on the celebration by helping us fill in the gaps in the online calendar in our 365: Chemistry for Life Contest. You can enter by submitting a 300-400 word description of a chemistry-related person, place, innovation or everyday item.

Entries accepted for use in the calendar will be eligible for a monthly drawing for a $50 Visa card, and a December drawing for an iPad, iPod Touch, or iPod Nano. Entries will be accepted until midnight on Dec. 1, 2011. There is a limit of three entries per person. View complete contest rules, and enter soon.

But wait! Don’t leave us yet, not until you sample our February selection of scientific discoveries being made in the four core themes of the International Year of Chemistry – health, energy, environment, and materials with free access to the related news and research articles.

New evidence supports 19th Century idea on formation of oil and gas
Energy & Fuels

Anurag Sharma and colleagues are reporting laboratory evidence supporting the possibility that some of Earth’s oil and natural gas may have formed in a way much different than the traditional process described in science textbooks. The traditional process involves biology: Prehistoric plants died and changed into oil and gas while sandwiched between layers of rock in the hot, high-pressure environment deep below Earth’s surface. The new study describes a test of the idea that oil and gas originated in other ways, including chemical reactions between carbon dioxide and hydrogen below Earth’s surface. The scientists combined ingredients for this so-called abiotic synthesis of methane, the main ingredient in natural gas, in a diamond-anvil cell, which generates high pressures and temperatures similar to those that occur deep below Earth’s surface. The results “strongly suggest” that some methane could form strictly from chemical reactions in a variety of chemical environments.

Toward home-brewed electricity with “personalized solar energy”
Inorganic Chemistry

Researcher Daniel Nocera explains that the global energy need will double by mid-century and triple by 2100 due to rising standards of living and world population growth. He reports the development of a practical, inexpensive storage system for achieving personalized solar energy that could help power homes and plug-in cars in the future. At its heart is an innovative catalyst that splits water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen that become fuel for producing electricity in a fuel cell. The new oxygen-evolving catalyst works like photosynthesis, the method plants use to make energy, producing clean energy from sunlight and water. “Because energy use scales with wealth, point-of-use solar energy will put individuals, in the smallest village in the nonlegacy world and in the largest city of the legacy world, on a more level playing field,” the report states.

Enlisting a drug discovery technique in the battle against global warming
Energy & Fuels

Michael Drummond and colleagues Angela Wilson and Tom Cundari are reporting that a technique used in the search for new drugs could also be used in the quest to discover new, environmentally friendly materials for fighting global warming that would capture the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from industrial smokestacks and other fixed sources before it enters the biosphere. The scientists became interested in evaluating the possibility of using proteins in carbon capture technology, knowing that proteins can catalyze reactions with carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, in an environmentally friendly way. The German chemist and Nobel Laureate Paul Ehrlich, who originated the concept a century ago, defined a pharmacophore as the molecular framework that carries the key features responsible for a drug’s activity. In the study, they used the pharmacophore concept to probe how the 3-dimensional structure of proteins affects their ability to bind and capture carbon dioxide.

Chemicals that eased one environmental problem may worsen another
Journal of Physical Chemistry A

Jeffrey Gaffney, Carrie J. Christiansen, Shakeel S. Dalal, Alexander M. Mebel and Joseph S. Francisco point out that hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) emerged as CFC replacements in the 1990s because they do not damage the ozone layer. However, studies later suggested the need for a replacement for the replacements, showing that HCFCs act like super greenhouse gases, 4,500 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The new study adds to those concerns, raising the possibility that HCFCs may break down in the atmosphere to form oxalic acid, one of the culprits in acid rain. They used a computer model to show how HCFCs could form oxalic acid via a series of chemical reactions high in the atmosphere. The model, they suggest, could have broader uses in helping to determine whether replacements for the replacements are as eco-friendly as they appear before manufacturers spend billions of dollars in marketing them.

Evidence of Increasing Antibiotic Resistance
Environmental Science & Technology

David Graham and colleagues are reporting evidence that soil microbes have become progressively more resistant to antibiotics over the last 60 years. The study involved an analysis of 18 different antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) to four different classes of antibiotics in soil samples collected in the Netherlands from 1940 to 2008. Using data from sites around the Netherlands, the scientists found increasing levels in 78 percent of the ARG tested, clearly indicating increased potential for resistance over time. They express concern that increased antibiotic resistance in soils could have broad consequences to public health through potential exposure through water and food supplies. Their results “imply there may be a progressively increasing chance of encountering organisms in nature that are resistant to antimicrobial therapy.”

Healing haze: Substances in smoke left over from forest fires speed plant growth
Chemical & Engineering News

C&EN Senior Editor Bethany Halford notes that scientists in Australia in 2004 identified the first smoke-derived chemicals responsible for promoting the germination of seeds. Named “karrikins,” after the Aboriginal word for smoke, these substances trigger seed sprouting and foster seedling growth. Studies now show that karrikins speed the growth of corn, tomatoes, lettuce, and other food crops and help crops tolerate a wider range of temperatures. The article points out that scientists in Australia already are using karrikins on a limited basis to restore vegetation to land stripped bare during mining of aluminum ore. Wider use depends on development of ways of producing large amounts of karrikins at low cost, the article notes.

Resilient gypsy moth continues to shrug off best pesticides
Chemical & Engineering News

C&EN Senior Correspondent Stephen K. Ritter notes that the gypsy moth, a highly destructive insect, has been plaguing the Northeastern United States and parts of Canada for more than a century. The leaf-munching insects have defoliated millions of acres of trees, leaving trees vulnerable to destruction by disease or other pests. Pest-management workers have counterattacked with a series of powerful pesticides and other weapons over the years, including most recently a sex hormone that disrupts mating and a virus-based pesticide that kills gypsy moth larvae. Despite these efforts, gypsy moths keep on fluttering and spreading across the nation. A final victory may not be in the cards, but scientists and government agencies are continuing to try new and innovative ways to limit the spread of these tough bugs, the article notes.

Toward reading your own personal “Book of Life”
Chemical & Engineering News

C&EN Senior Editor Celia Henry Arnaud notes that the first human genome sequence cost more than $2 billion and took about a decade to complete. Technological advances now have cut the time to as little as one week, and some companies are charging individuals $48,000 for the service, a cost that experts expect to drop sharply in the coming years. With their genomic sequence in hand, consumers and their physicians could map out strategies for the prevention, early diagnosis, and more effective treatment of diseases ranging from cancer to rare-genetic disorders. But the technology also raises important ethical and legal issues, including the possibility of discrimination on the basis of genetic information in the areas of employment and insurance coverage.

More evidence on benefits of high blood pressure drugs in diabetic eye disease
Journal of Proteome Research

Edward Feener and colleagues reported new evidence that certain high blood pressure drugs may be useful in preventing and treating diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of vision loss in people with diabetes, which affects millions of people worldwide. It involves damage to blood vessels in the retina, the light sensitive tissue in the back of the eye. Previous studies suggested that drugs used to treat high blood pressure, including ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), may help prevent the condition. The scientists analyzed proteins from the retinas of laboratory mice with normal blood pressure and diabetes and compared them to those of non-diabetic mice. They identified 65 abnormal proteins in the diabetic mice out of more than 1,700 proteins in the study. Treatment with the ARB medication, candesartan, prevented the abnormal changes in more than 70 percent of the proteins.

Nitric oxide-releasing wrap for donor organs and cloth for therapeutic socks
Chemistry of Materials

Researchers Kenneth Balkus and Harvey Liu are reporting development of a first-of-its-kind cloth that releases nitric oxide gas — an advance toward making therapeutic socks for people with diabetes and a wrap to help preserve organs harvested for transplantation. They note in the new study that nitric oxide (NO) helps increase blood flow and regulates a range of other body functions. Scientists have tried for years to find practical ways to store and deliver NO for use in medicine. However, they have had difficulty finding a suitable material that allows controlled delivery of NO. The scientists describe development of a new bandage composed of nitric oxide-absorbing zeolites embedded in a special water-repellant polymer. In experiments with laboratory rats, the bandage slowly released nitric oxide and increased blood flow.

Toward a less expensive version of the anti-flu drug Tamiflu®
Organic Letters

Anqi Chen, Christina Chai and colleagues have developed an alternative method for producing the active ingredient in Tamiflu®, the mainstay for fighting H1N1 and other forms of influenza. The new process could expand availability of the drug by reducing its cost, which now retails for about $8 per dose. Tamiflu®, also known as oseltamivir phosphate, remains the most widely used antiviral drug for the prevention and treatment of H1N1 infections as well as bird flu and seasonal influenzas. But growing demand for the drug has put pressure on the supply of shikimic acid, the raw material now used in making the drug. They found that D-ribose, a naturally-occurring sugar produced by fermentation in large scales, potentially provides an inexpensive and abundant substitute for shikimic acid at about one-sixth the cost.

New biomarkers for predicting the spread of colon cancer
Journal of Proteome Research

Maode Lai and colleagues report the discovery of two proteins present in the blood of people with colon cancer that may serve as the potential biomarkers for accurately predicting whether the disease will spread. Surgery is the main method of treating the disease. However, half of colon cancer patients undergoing surgery develop a recurrence of the disease within 5 years due to its spread, or metastasis, to other parts of the body. The spread of colon cancer can be difficult to detect and there are currently no reliable chemical markers in the body for predicting its spread, the scientists say. They identified two proteins that occurred at significantly higher levels in metastatic cells than in the primary cancer cells. The two proteins could serve as potential biomarkers in a blood test for predicting the spread of colon cancer, allowing earlier intervention and treatment, the scientists say.

First evidence that blueberry juice improves memory in older adults
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

Robert Krikorian and colleagues are reporting the first evidence from human research that blueberries — one of the richest sources of healthful antioxidants and other so-called phytochemicals — improve memory. Until now, however, there had been little scientific work aimed at testing the effect of blueberry supplementation on memory in people. In the study, one group of volunteers in their 70s with early memory decline drank the equivalent of 2-2 1/2 cups of a commercially available blueberry juice every day for two months, while a control group drank a beverage without blueberry juice. The blueberry juice group showed significant improvement on learning and memory tests, the scientists say. The report said, “These preliminary memory findings are encouraging and suggest that consistent supplementation with blueberries may offer an approach to forestall or mitigate neurodegeneration.”

An electrifying advance toward tomorrow’s power suits
Nano Letters

Yi Cui and colleagues are reporting an easier way of changing ordinary cotton and polyester into “conductive energy textiles” — e-Textiles that double as a rechargeable battery. They note, “Wearable electronics represent a developing new class of materials with an array of novel functionalities, such as flexibility, stretchability, and lightweight, which allow for many applications and designs previously impossible with traditional electronics technology. High-performance sportswear, wearable displays, new classes of portable power, and embedded health monitoring systems are examples of these novel applications.” The report describes a new process for making E-textiles that uses “ink” made from single-walled carbon nanotubes — electrically conductive carbon fibers barely 1/50,000 the width of a human hair. When applied to cotton and polyester fabrics, the ink produced e-Textiles with an excellent ability to store electricity, retained the flexibility and stretchability of regular cotton and polyester, and kept their new e-properties under conditions that simulated repeated laundering.

Toward safer plastics that lock in potentially harmful plasticizers
Macromolecules

Helmut Reinecke and colleagues report on a new way of preventing potentially harmful plasticizers — the source of long-standing human health concerns — from migrating from one of the most widely used groups of plastics. The advance could lead to a new generation of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics that are safer than those now used in packaging, medical tubing, toys, and other products, they say. Manufacturers add large amounts of plasticizers to PVC to make it flexible and durable. Unfortunately, they migrate to the surface of the plastic over time and escape into the environment. People who come into contact with the plastics face possible health risks. The scientists describe development of a way to make phthalate permanently bond, or chemically attach to, the internal structure of PVC so that it will not migrate. Laboratory tests showed that the method completely suppressed the migration of plasticizer to the surface of the plastic.

Alternative chemicals ease safety concerns about nonstick, repellent coatings
Chemical & Engineering News

C&EN Senior Editor Stephen K. Ritter cites indications that long-chain compounds like perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) used in nonstick cookware, water-repellent clothing, and other consumer products can cause developmental problems, liver toxicity, and cancer in animals. Uncertainty exists over their health effects in people. Nevertheless, chemical companies are working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to phase out PFOS and are in the process of phasing out PFOA, and replacing these chemicals with shorter chain fluorochemicals that perform just as well but appear to be safer. Although these new ingredients are considered sound replacements, they may only be a temporary fix, pending development of a new generation of less toxic substitutes. After being surprised by the unexpected environmental persistence of PFOA and PFOS, EPA is taking extra caution with the replacements to avoid a similar problem in the future.