A Journey to the Scientific

World

Ramesh C. Samanta

JSPS post doctoral Fellow

Chubu University, Japan

June 15, 2016

India: Geographical Location and Description

Total Area: 32,87,364 km2 (No. 7 in

the world)

Population: 1,251,695,584 (2015,

No. 2 in the world)

Capital: New Delhi

Time Zone (IST): GMT + 5.30 hrs

Number of States and Union Territories: 29 States and 7 Union Territories

India: Languages and Religions

In the history India has experienced several great civilizations in different part of

it and they had different languages. This resulted several different languages:

Majority from Indo Aryan civilization, Dravid civilization.

Major Languages: Hindi and English

Official Languages: Total 23 languages with countless dialect

India is well known for its diversity of religious

beliefs and practices.

All the major religions of the world like

Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam

and Christianity are found and practiced in India

with complete freedom

Weather in India

Hot summer (Temperature goes up to

50 oC)

Windy monsoon (average rainfall

1000 mm per year)

Pleasant Autumn Snowy winter in Northan part of India

Extreme climate of being tropical country !!!

Indian Food

North Indian Food South Indian Food

Indian Curry

Indian Spices

Tourist Attractions in India

Taj Mahal, Agra The Ganges, Varanasi

Sea Beach, Goa

Victoria memorial Hall , Kolkata

India’s Great Personalities

Mahatma Gandhi Netaji Subhas

Chandra Bose

Jawaaharlal

Nehru

Rabindranath

Tagore

Swami

Vivekananda B. R. Ambedkar Sri Aurobindo Sarojini Naidu

Indian Nobel Laureates

Kailash Satyarthi

Nobel Peace Prize 2014

Mother Teresa

Nobel Peace Prize 1979

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan

Nobel Prize in chemistry 2009

Rabindranath Tagore

Nobel Prize in

Literature, 1913

C. V. Raman

Nobel Prize in Physics, 1930 Har Gobind Khorana

Nobel Prize in Medicine,

1968

Indian Scientists

Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858-1937):

Known for pioneering investigation of radio and microwave

optics and plant biology.

Prafulla Chandra Roy (1861-1944):

Extensive research on mercurous nitrite

Satyendra Nath Bose (1894-1974)

Known for Bose Einstein Statistics

Meghnad Saha (1893-1956):

Known for thermal ionization, Saha ionization equation

Indian Scientists

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobish (1893-1972):

Statistician, Known for Mahalanobis distance

Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920): Mathematician,

Known for his contribution in number theory

Ashima Chatterjee (1917-2006): Significant

contribution in synthetic organic chemistry and

phytomedicine: Vincristine

C.N.R. Rao (1934- ):

Known for solid state chemistry, Material science

Govardhan Mehta (1943- ):

Known for remarkable contribution in synthetic organic

chemistry

Indian Institutes for Science and Technology

Council For Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR): This was

established in 1942 and provide funds for science and

technology.

Department of Science and Technology (DST): This was

established in 1971 and provide funds to promote science and

technology research.

Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) in

Kolkata: This was founded in 1876 and the work for the

Nobel Prize in Physics to C.V. Raman was conducted in this

institute.

Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore: This was

established in 1899 for higher educational research.

Indian Institutes for Science and Technology

National Institute of Technology (NITs): They are autonomous institute

for studying engineering. There are 31 NITs located all over the India.

Indian Institute of Technology (IITs): They are autonomous institute for

higher studies in science and engineering. Total 18 of this type of institute

are functioning and 5 new institutes will be established soon.

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER):

Autonomous institute for advanced research in science. There are 6 of

such institute are functioning now 2 more will be started soon.

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR): Two of this type of

institues are functioning now. They have been founded by Tata industrial

group for advancement of science.

Apart from those upper mentioned institution there are many more

universities and institutes where students from abroad can study.

My Research Career

Bachelor of Science (B. Sc):

Vidyasagar University, India

Master of Science (M. Sc.): Indian

Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-

Kanpur), India

Doctor of Natural Sciences (Dr. rer. nat.): NRW International Graduate

School of Chemistry, Westfälische

Wilhelms-Universität Münster,

Germany

Current Position: JSPS Postdoctoral

Associate, Chubu University Japan

Europe

International Students

NRW International Graduate School of Chemistry

Provides funding to foreign students to go to Germany and and

conduct research in chemistry. They have similar graduate schools

for Biology, Medicine and other branches of science also.

Though deutsch is national language in Germany, English is well

accepted from those programs!!!

I belonged to this graduate school to pursue my doctoral study.

Berlin International Graduate School of Natural Science

and Engineering

Welcomes international students for higher studies in the

universities in Berlin. All the programs are in English!!!

Learning english is the Key to explore the world!!!

Chemistry for Mankind

Medicines for Fever, Headache, etc…

Famous Scientists from Japan

Professor Ryoji Noyori

Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2001

“For his work on chirally catalyzed hydrogenation reactions”

Professor Hideki Shirakawa

Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2000

“For the discovery and development of conductive

polymers”

Koichi Tanaka

Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2002

“For development of soft desorption ionisation methods for

mass spectrometric analyses of biological

macromolecules”

He was born in Toyama City, Japan!!!

Famous Scientists from Japan

Professor Ei-ichi Negishi

Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2010

“for palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic

synthesis” : Known as Negishi Coupling !!!

Professor Takaaki Kajita

Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics 2015

“for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which

shows that neutrinos have mass”

Professor Akira Suzuki

Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2010

“for palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic

synthesis” : Known as Suzuki Coupling !!!

Chemistry

Catalysis

Catalyst is a substance that helps to synthesize a molecule in a easy way

This lowers the activation

energy of a reaction

A + B C

catalyst

catalyst[A-catalyst]

[A-catalyst-B]

B

A

C

Catalytic cycle

**At the end of the reaction catalyst structure remains unchanged

Heterogeneous and Homogenious Catalysts

Heterogeneous Catalyst: Catalyst and reactants are

In two different phase

Homogeneous Catalyst: Catalyst and reactants are

in one phase

Heterogeneous Catalysis

**Catalyst facilitate the reaction but remains in different phase

**Reaction takes place at the surface of the catalyst

**Larger surface area will show high efficiency in catalysis

Haber-Bosch Process for Ammonia (NH3) Production

N2 (gas) + 3H2 (gas)

Metal catalystHigh PressureHigh Temperature

2NH3 (gas)

Advantage: Purification of product is very easy and reusable catalyst

Reaction on metal surface

reactant

product

catalyst catalyst

Homogeneous Catalysis

**Catalyst and reactants remain in one phase that means they are soluble in

the given solvent.

Example:

Glucose and fructose are produced by acid catalyzed hydrolysis of sugar

(sucrose)

**Catalyst substrate interaction is very good **The reaction rate is faster

Different Types of Homogeneous Catalysis

Some other example of transition metal catalyzed reactions:

Hydrogenation, Hydroformylation, …..

Advantages: High yield, Low catalyst loading

Disadvantage: Transition metals are toxic !!!!

Different Types of Homogeneous Catalysis

Organocatalysis

**Typical organic molecules serve as catalyst, no metal is actively involved in

the reaction

Traditional Medicine from Natural Sources

Quinine is extracted from the bark of

cinchona is used for the treatment of

Malaria. As this is extracted from natural

source, this is called natural product.

Representative example of other natural

products, isolated from marine algae

(Seaweed)

Marine Algae (Seaweed)

Catalytic Asymmetric Bromocyclization

Analytical Instruments

NMR: For structure determination of organic

molecule ESIMS: For determination of mass of a molecule

HPLC: Determine the purity of a sample

IR: Functional

group detection Rotary evaporator: Solvent

distillation

Acknowledgement

Sincere Thanks to Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

All my supervisors and colleagues for continuous support

Toyama High School and Mrs. Nakamura

Thank You Very Much for Your Kind Attention!!

Demonstration of Suzuki Miyaura Cross

Coupling Reaction

Procedure:

After

reaction Before

reaction

1) Take 5 mL of Solution A to the vial 2) Add 2.5 mL of Solution B into the same vial 3) Add 2.5 mL of Solution C into the same Vial 4) Shake the vial for 30 seconds 5) Check the color under UV lamp 6) Add 0.1 mL of Solution D into the same via 7) Shake it and check the color under UV Lamp 8) Appearance of Blue color Done