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Salts with melting point below 100 degree Celsius and typically comprising of a heterocyclic nitrogen-containing organic cation and an inorganic anion and liquid at room temperatures are known as room-temperature ionic liquids. They are being used in several applications varying from nucleoside chemistry, biosensors, organic solvent nanofiltration, rocket propulsion, lubrication, mineralogy and the activities in the field are continuously growing.

The first-ever European Chemistry Congress, which took place at Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary, attracted 2,348 industrial, academic, and governmental chemists and molecular scientists from 57 countries. The Congress is the result of the growing need felt by the European chemists to enter into partnership with other science groups related to chemistry and the molecular sciences, and it aims provide a showcase for chemical sciences in Europe.

A new organization established by the British government, Chemistry Innovation Knowledge Transfer Network aims to improve innovation performance in the country's chemistry-using industry by using cutting edge technology and research. This would boost the competitiveness of UK's chemistry using industries in the global market and would help in development of new technologies and products.

ACHEMA 2006, the international trade fair for the chemical process industries held in May 2006 in Frankfurt, Germany substantiated the claims that nanomaterials is a rapidly growing big business. Man-made nanostructures are being specifically built to interact with biological systems for particular medical or biological applications, however there are increasing concerns about health, safety and environmental issues relating to nanoparticles.

ACHEMA, a German acronym for the chemical engineering exhibition and congress, held once in three years in G, provides a platform for presenting the latest developments in chemical industry, pharmaceutical and food industries, energy production, biotechnology, environmental technology, materials technology and laboratory techniques. The trade fair, organized by the Frankfurt-based German Society for Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology (DECHEMA), is a mega event in more ways than one.

The way polymer molecules organize on the nano scale in a solid has large influence on the macroscopic properties of the material as it determines if the solid is crystalline, semicrystalline, or amorphous while also influencing the mechanical, optical, electronic and other physical properties of the material. Thus controlling properties at the nano level and translating them into the macro level would enable to realize applications of these nanostructured materials.

Advanced organic and inorganic materials being developed for separations offer a number of advantages over other gas separation technologies such as improve gas and vapor selectivity, offer environmental energy and cost benefits. The gas separation membranes are currently used in industry for hydrogen separation, separating nitrogen from air, CO2 and water removal from natural gas and organic vapor removal from air or nitrogen streams.

The opportunities for the designing polymers and developing polymerization processes that are safe, prevent pollution and are more efficient in the use of materials and energy are presented. One of the major initiatives focuses on utilizing renewable and environmentally safe starting materials obtained form agricultural, animal, and microbial resources for the synthesis of a wide range of bioplastics.

Fluorous chemistry has reached beyond traditional organic chemistry into other realms such as supramolecular chemistry, biology and medicine. One of the key features of fluorous chemistry is the use of fluorous tags tethered to non-fluorinated domains of molecules.

The influenza vaccines that are available and provide protection is discussed where the inactivated flu vaccines are found to protect 70-90% of healthy adults from the flu but are less effective among the elders. New flu strains emerge, evolve, and replace old strains continuously making influenza a complex and dangerous disease.

Ionic liquids due to their unique physical and chemical properties are finding increasing application for performing organic reactions. Some of the advantages are that they are good solvents for organic, organometallic and inorganic compounds, product recovery is easier and the catalysts can be recycled.

John Brophy, former general manager of corporate research at BP Chemicals, England reported that chemical industries will adopt Microchannel reactors in plants that will benefit lower investment costs and more efficient energy use. Microchannel reactors consist of stacks of closely spaced thin plates designed to form microchannels with specific dimensions, regularity, and connectivity in the spaces between the plates.

The issues highlighting the supply of drinking water and the pollution of water resources were the focus of CHEMRAWN XV, the latest in the chemical Research Applied World Needs series of international conferences. The major objective of CHEMRAWNXV was to discuss the way in which chemistry and chemical engineering could help tackle problems relating to the distribution of water, its purification and analysis, waste treatment, and water pollution.

The Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) was set up in 2000 to advance the country's technological and economic credentials by creating quality technology-based companies who would work with university researchers towards advancing scientific knowledge and an entrepreneur-friendly environment. Biotechnology and information and communications technology (ICT) research will be concentrated on initially to maintain and consolidate Ireland's current strong hold on these sectors.

Ionic liquids are not only employed as solvents for various types of polymerization, but are also used to dissolve polymers and to create new polymer composites. The liquids have generated increasing interest as potential designer solvents for clean technologies because they have no detectable vapor pressure and are thermally stable and nonflammable.

The report published by the London-based Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) declared that thinking 'green' should be integral to the teaching, research and practice of chemistry in academia and industry. The RSC project manager stated that green chemistry involves promoting the design of environmentally benign processes that minimize or eliminate the use of toxic substances and maximizes overall efficiency through the reduction of unwanted by-products, especially toxic materials.

At the recent joint meeting of the International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry and the Canadian Society for Chemistry in Ottawa, Canada, papers were presented that show that metals containing organic materials offer potential applications in a wide variety of areas, including: molecular electronics, nanolithography, catalysis, photonics, and biosensing.

Louis Pasteur?s separation of tartrate enantiomers (1848) is believed by many chemists to be the most beautiful experiment. Second to this was Antoine Lavoisier?s research into the oxidation of metals. Eight other historic experiments are listed.

ACHEMA (acronym for chemical engineering exhibition and congress) is a trade show sponsored by the German Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (DECHEMA). The 27th such show featured new developments within chemical engineering, environmental protection, and biotechnology. This article provides an overview of this Frankfurt trade show.

Micrometer-thin molecular sieve films are considered as potential materials for chemosensors, catalysts, microelectronic devices, and separation membranes. The scientific and technical hurdles faced by the researchers during the fabrication of Zeolite films are discussed.

Chemists at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) have developed a family of naked-eye colorimetric anion sensors that has the characteristics of litmus paper, to check domestic water quality and for environmental and other applications. These sensors are easy to use and greatly useful for colorimetric tests for simple anions such as acetate, fluoride, and phosphate, and the thiourea-based chemosensors work by forming strong hydrogen bonds with the anions.

Researchers have described the choline chloride-urea mixture as a family of liquids consisting of eutectic mixtures of choline chloride and either an organic hydrogen-bond donor or an inorganic metal salt that exhibit a significant drop in freezing point relative to that of their constituents. These so-called deep eutectics are proving useful as solvents for organic reactions, for the recovery and extraction of metals and for electroplating and electropolishing.

Polymeric materials play increasingly important roles in the development of novel medical devices and drug delivery systems. According to Shrirang V. Ranade, a senior research scientist at the medical device company Boston Scientific in Natrick, USA, polymeric science and engineering have enabled the explosive growth in the medical device industry, particularly in therapeutic -device combination products.

A catalytically driven motion on a nanoscale is possible outside a biological system demonstrated by two chemists working independently. Catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide fuel is seen to propel synthetic nanomotors.

Joe B. Sweeney, a reader in chemistry at the University of Reading, England carries out research on synthesis of biologically important molecules. He observes that the total synthesis of a compound isolated from natural resources can be a molecular gamble.

The International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry and the Canadian Society for Chemistry held a joint meeting in Ottawa, Ontario last month. The focus of the conference was research and education within the chemical sciences.

A new heat-transfer technology enables better control of temperature in batch reactors to unprecedented levels than it is possible with existing methods. The constant flux or Coflux method promises many benefits for the fine and specialty chemical and pharmaceutical industries, including better yields and selectivities and reduced waste from processes involving complex chemistries.

Newly founded nuclear energy systems are now in various stages of planning and development and will feature so-called passive safety systems that do not require human intervention in the case of accident. Experts consider that the new systems will be more economical to build, operate, and maintain the current generation of nuclear reactor.

The London-based biophysicist, Suwan N. Jayasinghe is working on jet-based fabrication process technologies to encapsulate various materials including living organisms. He is researching on electrospraying, electrospinning, and other related jet technologies for use in wide range of tissue engineering and biological and medical applications and aims to make finely-tuned 2-and 3- D biologically active structures by depositing living cells on one another which can be used to repair damaged tissues.

Chairman, Aldo Belloni of the ACHEMA Committee stated that the development of laboratory and analytical techniques aimed at across-the-board process acceleration and automation continues unabated. He also remarked at a press conference at the opening in May of ACHEMA 2006 in Frankfurt, Germany that no sector in the process industry has grown in significance as much as automation.

The archives of scientific journals of the London-based Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) are made available online free of charge to scientists in educational and research institutions in more than 50 developing countries, mainly in Africa. The main aim of the program is to strengthen research in developing countries by helping institutions to produce, disseminate, and gain access to information and knowledge.

The ability of organic polymers to store large quantities of hydrogen safely and economically for future hydrogen-fueled transport systems is evaluated. A follow-up to the reported synthesis of a novel family of polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) that have exceptionally high internal surface areas is presented.

A team from Cardiff University in Wales led by Neil B. McKeown, professor of organic materials chemistry has achieved the precise enclosure of space on the nanoscale by the simple recrystalization of a readily prepared phthalocyanine derivative from acetone to give cubic packing arrangement in which six of the extended square-shaped molecules self-assemble to define the nanovoid. As each of the nanovoids contains 80 molecules of solvent that are interconnected and the clathrate is able to act as a nanoporous material.

Chemists at Florida State University (FSU), Tallahassee, stimulated the lotus effect with ultrathin layers of fluorinated polyelectrolytes containing nanorods of a naturally occurring material. This stimulated effect could be used as low-volatility stain-resistant coatings for fabrics and carpets and on material as bioadhesive or bioinert surfaces.

A study consisting of a multivalent dendrimer host for guests based on urea acids or tripeptides provided information on their dissociation. By observation and analysis of the individual host-guest complexes, the work demonstrates quantitatively the selectivity that could be achieved for individual guest dissociation events.

The Novartis Chemical & Analytical Development Group in Basel, Switzerland, has prepared 60 G of (+)-discodermolide, a potent inhibitor of tumor cell growth in a 39-step synthesis. The synthetic material is undergoing Phase I clinical trials for pancreatic cancer at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center in San Antonio, Texas.

At the ACHEMA 2003 trade show in Frankfurt, Germany, various uses for microreactor technology were presented, as described in this article. Also discussed is how such small devices are superior to their larger-sized versions.

Researchers in Europe have been using polarized Raman spectroscopy to reveal the structure of viruses that infect bacteria. Previous efforts to define the structure of these viruses have been rather ineffective.

The First World War, also known as The Great War, was fought from late July 1914 to November 1918. It pitted the armies and industrial might of the Central Powers, notably Germany, against those of Britain, France, and other Allied Powers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amber, the yellow transparent or translucent fossilized material is formed from resin oozed from the trees thousands or millions of years ago and usually contains a fly. It has a long interesting past of various medical applications and is used in jewellery because of its prized value.

Physicists in Germany have manufactured a new type of synchrotron for investigating low energy neutral molecules. It is revealed that the devise known as molecular synchrotron could be used to study collisions between neutral molecules.

Results of a new study show that the uptake of functionalized carbon nanotubes by living cells does not depend on cell type or on the nature of the chemical moieties grafted onto the tubes. The research also indicated that various types of functionalized carbon nanotubes act like nanoneedles and move through the cells as individual nanotubes when they penetrate cell membrane.

The development of a solution-phase plug-and-socket molecular system, designed and developed by chemistry professors Vincenzo Balzani of the University of Bologna, in Italy and J. Fraser Stoddart of University of California, Los Angeles and their colleagues, is similar to a macroscopic electrical extension cord will prove beneficial for the development of the molecular computers. The system comprises of a three molecular parts, a light-powered electron source, an electron drain and a connecting cable and the connection between the three parts are reversible.

Fluorescence-based molecular logic gates can be used to generate millions of distinct tags that can be used for encoding nano- and microscale objects. The molecular computational identification (MCID) is the molecular equivalent of radio-frequency identification (RFID) and it can be used for the analysis of large combinatorial libraries of beads, such as those used in split-and-mix peptide library synthesis.

X-ray crystallography reveals that the neuraminidase enzyme in the potentially pandemic H5N1 avian flu virus contains a cavity adjacent to its active site, which presents new opportunities for the design of anti-influenza drugs, a group of British researchers reported August 2006. Neuraminidases, which facilitate the spread of influenza viruses during infection, serve as attractive targets for developing new drugs that work by inhibiting the activity of the enzymes.

A living polymerization process that is governed by light might lead to the generation of novel functional and complex metal-rich polymer architectures. Chemists in England and Canada have shown that, in the presence of bright sunlight or light from a mercury lamp, ferrocene derivatives with a silicon atom bridging the two cyclopentadienyl ligands can be polymerized by using a cyclopentadienyl anion as a nucleophilic initiator.

A novel molecular transporter system could be used to ferry drugs into cells as it carries probe molecules across cell membranes, allowing the uptake of the transporter and the release of its molecular cargo to be monitored as the processes occur. The system consists of a peptide transporter linked by a disulfide bond to luciferin, a drug stand-in that is exploited to study the kinetics of the delivery system.

The Chemistry department at the University of Sussex is inviting companies to donate between $2,000 and $20,000 per year from 2006 for the next five years to save and support their department. The aim of the fund-raising project is to stop the closure of the department and show that chemistry at Sussex is a centre of excellence that can generate external support and be financially sustainable in the mid to long term.