Sensient Technologies Corporation is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of colours, flavours and fragrances. The company started in 1882 as Meadow Springs Distillery in Milwaukee, producing gin, then shifted to baker’s yeast production for several years and other commodity-oriented food products, such as bulk cheese and frozen potatoes. When Mr Manning became CEO in 1996 he divested these low growth companies and acquired companies with good growth prospects and specialty products such as fragrances, colours and flavours.

Consideration of societal needs and looking at the almost countless number of initiatives in green, “sustainable” chemistry leads us to the conclusion that chemistry in the next decade(s) will be even more challenging, interesting and relevant than ever before. The IYC 2011 helped make this more visible to large audiences. However, the number of initiatives is so huge that it might be bewildering for the individual scientist and thus unclear how he or she can contribute and where his or her contribution fits in the grand scheme of things. In this editorial we concentrate on the green, sustainable elements of the “making of molecules”. This editorial tries to sketch - for scientists in this field - a bird’s eye perspective on how green, sustainable chemistry could develop over the next, say, 2-3 decades

A recent survey points to a lack of access to professional marketing resources within the small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in the fine and speciality chemicals industry. Only 20-30 percent of the companies have access to internal or third party professional marketing support. The marketing function in SMEs generates critical business information such as market size and market share for various products. It helps companies differentiate their value proposition from elusive and yet valuable soft interactions with the customers. The SMEs that have a defined marketing function can also deliver efficient market communication programs. The availability of mission critical information for strategic decision and market communications programs are an infallible sign of better managed companies. Reciprocally, the lack thereof signals a serious internal weakness (...)

The “2011: International Year of Chemistry” allows me and my colleagues from the scientific advisory board of Chimica Oggi/Chemistry Today to reflect on the influence of advances in chemistry research during the past 109 years by looking at who was awarded with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and which socio-economic impact did the research contributions of the Laureates have.

The Biocide Product Directive (BPD, 98/8/EEC) of the European Union is intended to balance the efficacy of biocides in their intended use(s) for their impact on human/animal health and the environment. The Directive gives the criteria to regulate the process of putting a biocide on the market and harmonizes the regulation of the EU Member States. Only biocidal commercial products that contain an active substance included in Annex I of IA of the BPD will be authorized for use. Active substances have to be evaluated to assess whether or not they will be included in Annex I or IA. Once an active substance has been included in such annexes, National Competent Authorities of Member States can authorize commercial products (mixture) containing such active. Once a product has been authorized in the first Member State, it will be possible to have it mutually recognized and authorized by other Member States (providing relevant conditions of use are similar) but specific application from other Member States is needed by the authorisation holder

Biocides are a necessary component of architectural coatings, extending their service lives by preventing microbial defacement. However, they have the potential to enter surface waters in runoff from building façades during driving rain events. Increased regulation necessitates a closer look at the release process, both for proper source input estimations for regulators, and product development insights for producers. The mature field of controlled release offers a vast information store of research that can be applied to this particular problem, with adjustments made for problem-specific conditions such as how wind driven rain leads to façade runoff.

The recent spread of infectious diseases like avian and swine flu, and the increasing resistance of pathogenic germs against the majority of antibiotics make hygiene an ever more critical challenge. To master it, we rely on disinfectants as a first line of defence against undesired microorganisms. In the past, those disinfectants were often very effective but raised concerns of being harmful to humans or the environment. Modern disinfectants, however, contain active ingredients that combine both aspects. Especially the family of modern phenolic active ingredients combines a high level of effectiveness with low toxicity and an outstanding compatibility with environmental standards. These actives are furthermore suited for a broad spectrum of applications

Chemtrix’ KiloFlowTM is the first flow chemistry platform to scale your reaction from mg method development to hundreds of kilogram production! This combination of scalability and flexibility, in a single system, allows the exploration of new chemical space and kilo-lab operations to be performed in a standard laboratory fume hood. KiloFlow® is a turnkey system comprising of pumps, reactors, heat exchangers, temperature control and pressure regulation, designed to enable the researcher to readily access “extreme” temperature (-40 to 195ºC), reaction times (ms to min) and pressure conditions (20 bar), enabling previously “forbidden” transformations and intensified processes within a conventional laboratory setting.

This paper describes the syntheses of a series of 14C labelled phosphorothioate 2’-methoxy (2’-OMe) RNAs containing two 14C labels. The labelled oligonucleotides were prepared by solid phase synthesis utilizing an AKTA OligoPilot 100 synthesizer and 2’-O-methyluridine[2-14C]. Trityl-on purification was performed using preparative anion exchange HPLC and on-column detritylation. In addition, a 14C labelled phosphorothioate 2’-OMe RNA sequence having a C6-amino spacer at the 5’ terminus was synthesized and post-synthetically conjugated to a reporter group via an amide linkage. The purified phosphorothioate 2’-OMe RNAs were desalted utilizing a Millipore stir cell apparatus. These phosphorothioate 2’-OMe RNAs contained between 20 to 22 bases and were obtained on a scale of 100-200 mg with a specific activities of 10-15 Ci/mg and a radiochemical purity of greater than 95 area percent.

Most proteins fold to specific native conformations in order to function. Conformational stability is a thermodynamic quantity which reflects the population of protein in its native, functional state. We review experimental measurements of the stability of folded conformations of proteins. Globular protein stability is an important factor that can limit the usefulness of proteins as pharmaceuticals or in biotechnology applications

We have successfully shown that readily available vinyl dibromides in combination with copper catalysis are especially efficient and useful reagents for the alkynylation of benzimidazoles and indazoles. This process allows the direct and straightforward synthesis of a variety heterocyclic ynamines, which are otherwise difficult to access and which may provide interesting platforms in drug discovery and material science as well.

There is considerable interest in carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a means of reducing emissions from power stations and heavy industry. However, for each molecule of carbon dioxide stored that is one carbon atom lost from the chemical economy. In this article, examples of how carbon capture and utilization can supplement CCS efforts are highlighted. A number of reaction types are identified and reference is made to seminal work in the area. The future opportunities for using CO2 as a feedstock in the chemicals industry are discussed and some suggestions made for future research targets. Consideration is made for the energy penalty in carrying out such suggestions and it is recommended that whole systems analyses be carried out on processes that are identified and that alternative, sustainable energy sources are considered at an early stage in reactions and process design

If you are a scientist or researcher looking for the latest innovations in laboratory equipment - then Pittcon 2012, the world’s largest annual conference and exposition for laboratory science, is a must attend event

Presented is a method to combine advantageous properties of both phosgene and triphosgene (solid phosgene, BTC) in a two-step process for typical phosgenation reactions to form chloro-carbonates and isocyanates. Also a 5 kg triphosgene batch process for the synthesis of benzyl chloroformate within a loop reactor is documented. Scope and limitations of these triphosgene applications are discussed. A concept for a small-scale batch processing phosgene generator ready for construction is presented.

Chemical halogenation is a well-established methodology often associated with hazardous starting materials and products. This review focuses on enzymatic halogenation as a source of future biocatalysts and the potential of this approach for production of highly specific and selective compounds thereby avoiding the associated hazards of chemical halogenation. We highlight the need to discover and screen for new halogenases and we exemplify the only fluorinase that has been characterised to date. The marine environment holds much promise for prospecting for halogenases and recently many marine derived products have shown pharmaceutical activity. In particular, coral reefs ecosystems are prime targets for biohalogenase discovery as they consist of many diverse organisms including corals, sponges, algae and bacteria. We conclude that targeted academic-industry research for the screening and characterisation of halogenated intermediates and their pathways will allow the discovery of novel halogenating enzymes for use as biocatalysts

Plastics are mainly created from refined crude oil. Crude oil is a natural non-renewable resource that cannot be replaced. So, when crude oil is used to manufacture plastics, vast amount of natural resource is lost. Plastics are used in almost every aspect of our lives. Some methods have been developed including thermal degradation, where the waste plastics are melted at a certain temperature to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuel. This hydrocarbon fuel’s carbon chain ranges from C3 to C27. This indicates the fuel can be fractionalized further to produce various types of fuels. Instrumental tests have shown that the produced fuel has a considerate amount of energy value

SusChem was established in 2004 by Cefic and EuropaBio to help foster and focus European Research in chemist, chemical engineering and industrial biotechnology: a European Technology Platform that brings together stakeholders from many different backgrounds to boost sustainable chemistry with a focus on technology, research and innovation issues. Founding members of SusChem were the Cefic (European Chemical Industry Council), the DECHEMA e.V. (Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology), the ESAB (European Federation of Biotechnology Section of Applied Biocatalysis), EuropaBio (the European Association for Bioindustries), the GDCh (the German Chemical Society) and the RSC (Royal Society of Chemistry). The scope of European Technology Platforms (ETPs) is to stimulate research and innovation, particularly in the private sector, to enhance European competitiveness, develop the European Research Area (ERA) and increase the overall investment in R&D

The Pharma ChemOutsourcing Conference has with no doubt become The Meeting Point in the USA, and not only, of the Gotha of major players in the field of pharma and biotechnology. In fact, Pharma ChemOutsourcing is the only event during the year in which large numbers of sourcing managers from pharmaceutical and biotech companies gather to interact among themselves. The numbers of this years’ show, which celebrated its fifth edition, were impressing: during four days more than seven-hundred participants belonging to more than four-hundred companies or subsidiaries from worldwide, more than one-hundred exhibitors and, last but not least, one-hundred qualified speakers met in a picturesque beachfront resort, Long Branch, in New Jersey. Despite the attempt of hurricane Irene to mess up the location less than a couple of weeks before, the event was once again successful.

Also this year, Chimica Oggi/Chemistry Today had the opportunity to participate at Informa’s annual EuroTIDES & PepTIDES 2011 conferences which took place in Berlin, 15-16 November 2011.