VOLUME 37, NUMBER 4 May 2011 The Alembic - 4 may 2011.pdf · VOLUME 37, NUMBER 4 May 2011 Visit the...

The AlembicNewsletter of the Central Wisconsin Section of the American Chemical Society

VOLUME 37, NUMBER 4 May 2011

Visit the ACS web site at … www.acs.org

Also, up-to-date information about our Section activities including the

Alembic and meeting notices is

found at..... www.uwsp.edu/chemistry/acscws/

2011 ACS - CWS

Mini-Directory

Chair

Robin Tanke

Department of Chemistry

Univ. Wisc. - Stevens Point

Stevens Point, WI 54481

Phone: (715) 346-4325

E-mail: [email protected]

Chair-Elect Dale Pillsbury

796N Pripps Road

Park Falls, WI 54552

Phone: (715) 583-4426


Immediate Past Chair

Stephen Leiterman

307 5th Street

Mosinee, WI 54455

Phone: (715) 693-3998


Secretary - Treasurer Tipton Randall

Phone: (715) 720-1969


Councilor C. Marvin Lang

Phone (715) 346-3609

Email: [email protected]

Alternate Councilor James Brummer

Phone: (715) 346-2888


Newsletter Editor Dale Pillsbury

796N Pripps Road

Park Falls, WI 54552

Phone: (715) 583-4426


The Chair’s Corner - Thanks & Congratulations

Continued on page 2

We had a great meeting in April for our second WI and UP local

section’s organized tour. Thanks to Jerry Gargulak for organiz-

ing the meeting and Bob Blackledge for a wonderful seminar.

Bob spoke about a number of techniques to differentiate the sur-

face coatings on cotton fibers. To me the most interesting was

the use X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and learning

that XPS can differentiate between different types of carbon at-

oms in organic molecules. Bob also discussed his work at the

May 2011 CWS ACS Meeting

“ 2 011 Awards Banquet ” Honoring :

● Abbigail Roehrborn - Outstanding High School Chemistry Teacher

● Seth Berger - Outstanding High School Chemistry Student

● Adam Schneider - Outstanding College Chemistry Student

Also Honoring :

● 60-year ACS member William Detroit

● 50-year ACS member William Copa

Where: Sweetwaters Restaurant

1104 W. Clairemont Ave

Eau Claire, WI 54701

When: Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

Gathering & Social Time 5:30 PM

Dinner (banquet menu) 6:15 PM

Award Presentations 7:00 PM

Contact Cristina Altobelli for reservations at (715) 346-2888 or e-mail:

[email protected] by Noon on April 29th.

See page 2 for map & pages 3-4 for the 2011 Awardee’s pictures & biographies

http://www.uwsp.edu/chemistry/acscws/

http://acswebcontent.acs.org/iyc

Volume 37, number 4 The Alembic 2011

Robin

The Editor ’s Desk

Well, this is the 7th issue for me as the new editor of the

Alembic and the end of the 2010 - 2011 academic year is on

the horizon. Soon the Alembic will be taking its usual sum-

mer vacation and I can scurry around cyberspace looking for

7 more topics to prepare for ―Men and Molecules‖ vignettes

and search for more topics to review ―from a chemist’s per-

spective‖. I have enjoyed meeting more section members

while working on the Alembic and urge you to continue to

offer your suggestions and comments.

I’m looking forward to a pleasant meeting on May 3rd when

we will honor some outstanding academics, as well as some

long-time ACS members. On pages 3-4 you can see pic-

tures and brief biographies for our outstanding high school

teacher, outstanding high school student and outstanding

college student. On page 5, you’ll see a photo of Marv Lang

receiving his certificate marking 50 years of exceptional

service to the ACS, both on the national scene and on behalf

of our local section. On the 3rd, we’ll be honoring William

Copa for 50 years of ACS membership and William Detroit

for a remarkable 60 years of ACS membership. We know

we have some longer-term members and are looking for-

ward to celebrating their 70-year memberships in a few

years.

On page 6, you can see Ms. Jaclyn Thompson’s winning

entry for the Earth Day poster contest. On page 7, I present

Werner Bachmann and RDX as my last ―Men and Mole-

cules‖ vignette, as well as giving an update of upcoming

ACS Webinars for May through August.

I urge you all to work and play safely during the late spring

Dale

Directions to

Sweetwaters Restaurant

UW-Madison Synchrotron to develop a method to obtain IR spectra of surface molecules. Since Bob worked at the Na-

val Criminal Investigative Service Regional Forensic Laboratory in San Diego near where they produce the TV show

NCIS, he met the actors, writers and producers who have visited the labs to learn about forensic techniques.

At the meeting, we recognized Marv Lang for his 50 years of service with the ACS. Don Showalter presented Marv with

the certificate. Marv chartered our local section nearly 40 years ago and Don reminded us of the numerous positions

Marv has held in the ACS, and the many awards he has received, including the Helen Free Award and becoming an ACS

Fellow in 2010. Thank you Marv (and Don) for your contributions to the ACS and especially to our local section.

We had four entries for the Chemists Celebrate Earth Day (CCED) illustrated poem contest from Eau Claire North High

School. The winner from our section was Jaclyn Thompson and her poem was about Solar Energy. See page 6 for Ms.

Thompson’s illustrated poem, which was advanced for judging in the National Competition.

As part of an early Earth Week activity I travelled to Grant Elementary to help third graders identify plastics based on

their physical properties. We also discussed what products are made from recycled plastics. If you engaged in any out-

reach activities for CCED, please let me know as I will report our activities to the ACS.

Thanks to Dana Haagenson, (UW Wood County, Marshfield) we have a host for our November meeting! I am happy to

write we now have speakers and hosts for the remaining 2011 meetings.

Please join us at Sweetwaters Restaurant in Eau Claire on May 3rd to congratulate the winners of this years scholastic

awards and to honor two long-time ACS members. I hope to see you there.

Sweetwaters Restaurant is located at 1104 W. Clairemont

Ave (aka US 12) in Eau Claire. The phone number is

(715) 834-5777.

Note: Sweetwaters is on a frontage road on the north side

of Clairemont Ave. Proceeding west on Clairemont, go

just pass Sweetwaters & turn right onto Craig Rd, then

immediately turn right again onto the frontage road and

proceed back a short way to Sweetwaters.

I-94

Clairemont Avenue

aka US 12

X

US

BR 53

US

53

US 53 (north)

I94 Exit 70

I94 Exit 65

WI 37 & WI 85

US 53 Exit 86

Sweetwaters Restaurant

Central Wisconsin Section of the

American Chemical Society

2011 Scholastic Award Recipients


Mrs. Abbigail M. Roehrborn

Outstanding High School Chemistry Teacher of the Year

Greenwood High School, Greenwood WI

● Department Chair for 5 years

● Taught

— Chemistry — Physics — Human Anatomy

— Biology — Physical Science — Science Issues

● Revised existing curriculum & developed new course proposals in numerous settings

● Collaborated with various colleagues to initiate a variety of innovative teaching practices, as well as evaluating tiering

tests to better assess student mastery of course content

● Student Council Advisor

● Currently conducting a book study and review of Rick Wormeli’s differentiated grading text, ―Fair Isn’t Always

Equal‖ and Dr. Robert J. Marzano’s book ―Formative Assessments & Standards-Based Grading‖

● Organizing a school clean-up day at various community sites in celebration of Earth Day

Mr. Seth Berger

Outstanding High School Chemistry Student of the Year

Senior, Marshfield High School, Marshfield WI

● High placement in Chemistry Olympiad (a 4 ½ hr, locally administered exam )

— Freshman (#2 out of 74 students)

— Sophomore (#1 out of 91 students

— Junior (#1 out of 193 students)

● 2010 Recipient of Siemens Foundation Scholarship ($2,000)

— Two recipients per state (One outstanding female student & one outstanding male student)

— Awarded to top achievers in Advanced Placement Exams in Science & Math

— Seth has taken 15 AP classes as of February 2011

Continued on page 4


● Extensive Chemistry Education

— Freshman ( Introductory Chemistry )

— Sophomore (AP Chemistry )

— Senior ( College Organic Chemistry, UW - Wood County/Marshfield )

● Other Scientific Interests:

— National Ocean Sciences Bowl (National Champions 2009 & 2010)

— National Science Bowl (driving force behind Marshfield High School's two state titles)

— Porcupine Ecology Project

— Science Olympiad

● Entering UW-Madison majoring in Chemistry fall of 2011

● Research Projects

— As an incoming freshman, Adam started working as a Blugold Fellow* with Dr. Tali Lee in Biology

— As second-semester freshman he also pursued a research project with Dr. James Boulter in Chemistry, Adam’s

second declared major

— In both areas of study he is already making independent contributions to the work while exhibiting a strong

collaborative approach to research

— This semester, he is studying in Ghana, where field trips tie in well with his Biology major

● Well-rounded Scholar

— Enrolled in Honors program in Liberal Studies as freshman & appreciates a broad-based education

— Jumped at opportunity to study in English-speaking Ghana to fully experience an alternative culture

while simultaneously broadening his biology knowledge base

— Active in ACS Student Affiliate program which conducts chemistry demonstrations at local elementary

and middle schools

● Other interests include

— Leadership role in University Lutheran Church activities

— Social Justice (serving at the local Community Table Charity Group)

— Environmental sustainability ( active in campus Conservationists group)

— Active in music ensembles (singing in church choir & playing trumpet in the University band)

Mr. Adam Schneider

Outstanding College Chemistry Student of the Year

Sophomore, UW - Eau Claire ( Hometown, Middleton, WI)

● Exceptionally well-prepared Freshman

— With an AP5 in chemistry & chemistry classes taken at UW-Madison as a high

school student, took qualitative analysis as first semester freshman

— Excelled in both class and laboratory portions of class (1st of 50 students) Adam in Ghana

Seth Berger - Outstanding High School Chemistry Student (from Page 3)

* Up to 20 Eau Claire freshmen per year are selected as BluGold Fellows for 2 years to start research in their first

semester of college. The selection is based on High School standing and ACT/SAT scores.


HONOR ROLL

The Central Wisconsin Section of the

American Chemical Society

60 Years of ACS Membership

William Detroit

50 Years of ACS Membership

William Copa & C. Marvin Lang

At the April CWS meeting, Don Schowalter (left)

presented C. Marvin Lang (right) with a certificate

honoring his 50 years of exceptional service to the

American Chemical Society, with special emphasis

on our gratitude for his service to the Central Wis-

consin Section. Marv was a Founding Father of the

Section and has been a powerful sustaining force

since its inception.

Marv was unavailable to receive his award at the

May Awards Banquet, hence the ―early‖ presentation

at the April Section meeting.


This year’s themes were either ―Energy—It’s Everywhere!‖ or the IYC theme of ―Water!‖ The poems were evaluated

on the basis of word choice and imagery, colorful artwork, use of a familiar poem style, originality and creativity, and

overall presentation. Ms. Thompson’s poem was forwarded to the National Competition for judging.

Chemists Celebrate Earth Day — Winning Illustrated Poem

Jaclyn Thompson

Junior at Eau Claire North High School

Science Teacher — Ms. Kara Davis


Men and Molecules

Werner Bachmann was born in 1901 in Detroit and obtained his PhD in 1926

at the University of Michigan. He became an assistant professor at Michigan in

1929 and by 1939 he was a full professor working in natural product chemistry.

He returned to this work full time at the end of WWII with considerable success.

In 1940, with America’s greater involvement in the war in Europe, Bachmann

joined the National Defense Research Committee’s efforts and was charged with

improving the batch synthesis of RDX. This explosive was widely used by the

Allies and the Axis during WWII, since it was 1.5-2 times as powerful as TNT,

wasn’t petroleum-based and could be mixed with TNT, etc to allow casting into shells and bombs.

The English used batch nitration of hexamethylene tetramine (hexamine), an adamantane analog with tertiary amines at the

four apices. This reaction gave a maximum of one mole RDX per mole of hexamine, but with this yield the so-called Wool-

rich batch process used by England could not meet the increasing demand for RDX.

In January, 1941 Bachmann and his post doctorate, John Sheehan, added ammonium nitrate, acetic acid and acetic anhydride

to the hexamine nitration reaction, based on some hexamine-free nitrations carried out at McGill University in Montreal.

They finally achieved greater than 100% yields based on hexamine. Remarkably, by 1942 Tennessee Eastman Company had

a continuous-flow pilot plant working. Multiple trains were built and eventually ~360 tons/day of RDX were produced.

RDX was used in Korea and in Vietnam and it is the principle explosive component of the widely known plastic explosive,

C4.

A Tennessee Eastman coworker described Bachmann as (only) ―a test-tube and beaker guy...‖, but given the devilishly com-

plex and hazardous chemistry involved, the lack of modern instrumental analysis techniques, and their meticulous lab tech-

niques, Bachmann and Sheehan were ideally suited to unravel and optimize the chemistry portion of the RDX process.

Photo from the papers of Dr. Werner Bachmann, Bent-ley Historical Library at the Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor & is used by permission.

ACS Webinars™

See below for upcoming Webinar topics . For more information and to register see http://acswebinars.org/.

May 2011

May 3, 2011 – ―Ten Commandments for Being a Successful Scientist.‖ with Prof. Darren Griffin, University of Kent.

May 5, 2011 – ―Creative Problem Solving in Chemical Research‖ with Dr. Bill Mattson, Randolph College.

May 12, 2011 – ―Standards in Green Chemistry‖ – TBD

May 19, 2011 – ―Turning on the Light Bulb – Idea generation and Idea Evaluation.‖ with Dr. Nick Conti, VP, Quest

Diagnostics.

May 26, 2011 - ―The Chemistry of Cheese and Why We Love it‖ with Dr. Michael Tunick, USDA.

June – August 2011

June 2, 2011 – ―Can We Grow Energy? Role of Chemistry in the Energy Future.‖ with Dr. Bruce Dale, Office of Bio

based Technologies, Michigan State University.

June 9, 2011 – TBD

June 16, 2011 - ―Protecting Your Idea & Safeguarding Your Business Structure.‖ with Dr. Christine Bellon, VP Intellec-

tual Property/Legal Affairs, Hydra Biosciences, and Dr. Christopher Curfman, Principal, McKeon, Me

unier, Carlin & Curfman, LLC, and moderator Dr. Andy Gilicinski, Clorox.

June 23, 2011 – TBD

June 30, 2011 – ―Advanced Culinary Chemistry – Sizzles for the Summer‖ with Dr. Kent Kirshenbaum, New York

University, and Founder of Experimental Cuisine.

July 21, 2011 - ―Who’s around the corner? Performing technology scouting and market feasibility analysis.‖

Aug 18, 2011 - ―The science of selling: Selling science to non-scientists.‖ with Dr. Carol Nacy, CEO, Sequella.

http://acswebinars.org/griffin

http://www.kent.ac.uk/bio/griffin/

http://acswebinars.org/griffin

http://acswebinars.org/mattson

http://www.randolphcollege.edu/x15041.xml

http://acswebinars.org/mattson

http://acswebinars.org/conti

http://acswebinars.org/tunick

http://www.ars.usda.gov/pandp/people/people.htm?personid=5725

http://acswebinars.org/tunick

http://acswebinars.org/dale

http://www.chems.msu.edu/people/profile/bdale

http://acswebinars.org/dale

http://www.hydrabiosciences.com/about_team_management.htm#cbellon

http://www.m2iplaw.com/attorneys/Christopher/Curfman,+Ph.D./

http://www.linkedin.com/in/gilicinski

http://acswebinars.org/kirshenbaum

Mark your calendar … plan to come:

Central WI Section Awards Banquet

Sweetwaters Restaurant, Eau Claire, WI

Tuesday, May 3rd at 6:15PM

The Alembic (May 2011)

Newsletter of the Central Wisconsin Section, ACS

c/o Chemistry Department (#605516)

University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point

Stevens Point, WI 54481

Member Address Label

Central Wisconsin Section, ACS Meetings and Programs - 2011

Date (Day) Location Speaker/Event Host

May 3 UW-Eau Claire Awards Dinner Dave Lewis

Sept 20 UW-Stevens Point Glenn Roy ( ACS Tour ) Jim Brummer

Oct Wausau area Jason D ’ Acchioli ( UW-SP Chem ) Steve Leiterman

Nov Marshfield Paul Fowler ( Wisconsin Institute for

Sustainable Technology, UW-SP ) Dana Haagenson

Chemists Celebrate Earth Day (CCED) - April 22

Central Region Meeting - June 8-10: Indianapolis, Indiana

Fall National Meeting – August 28 - September 1, Denver, Colorado

Mark the above dates and locations on your calendar; plan now to attend and participate in

the Section’s various meetings and activities. Future issues of the Alembic will give exact loca-

tions and arrangements for these meetings. Of further interest are the following national and regional events:

VOLUME 37, NUMBER 4 May 2011 The Alembic - 4 may 2011.pdf · VOLUME 37, NUMBER 4 May 2011 Visit the...

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