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Sulfur is an element that is indispensable throughout the growth of plants. In plant cells, reactive sulfur species (RSS) play a vital role in maintaining cellular redox homeostasis and signal transduction. There is demand accordingly for a simple, highly selective, and sensitive method of RSS detection and imaging for monitoring dynamic changes and clarifying the biological functions of RSS in plant systems. Fluorescent analysis based on organic small-molecule fluorescent probes is an effective and specific approach to tracking plant RSS characteristics. This perspective summarizes the recent progress regarding organic small-molecule fluorescent probes for RSS monitoring, including small-molecule biological thiols, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfane sulfurs, in plants; it also discusses their response mechanism toward RSS and their imaging applications in plants across the agricultural chemistry field.

Att lära sig grunderna i kemisk kinetik på universitetsnivå är utmanande, vilket bland annat beror på begreppens abstrakta natur och den begränsade kopplingen till vardagliga tillämpningar. Denna studie bestod av två faser. I det första steget, en inlärningsmiljö för inlärningskinetik baserad på hållbar kemi. Sammanhanget var den samhällsvetenskapliga modulen för miljökemi, som tittade på de kinetiska processerna för herbicider i vulkaniskbaserade jordar och deras potential att förorena grundvatten. Syftet med inlärningsmiljön var att bidra till utvecklingen av hållbara utvecklingsfärdigheter, att främja inlärning av kemisk kunskap i sammanhang och att utveckla vetenskapliga färdigheter. Materialet utformades för två kurser i analytisk kemi och en kurs i fysikalisk kemi i ett lärarutbildningsprogram. Effektiviteten av materialet studerades med hjälp av elevernas uppfattningar. Urvalet omfattade 22 studenter, som delades in i tre målgrupper. Materialet analyserades och klassificerades med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys med hjälp av TPASK-ramverket (Technology Pedagogical Science Knowledge). Baserat på resultaten förvärvade studenter kontextualiserad kunskap om kemi och utvecklade färdigheter och kunskaper relaterade till användning av digitala resurser och kalkylblad i ett vetenskapligt sammanhang. Denna fallstudie visar att den problembaserade inlärningsmetoden erbjuder stor potential att stödja ovanstående färdigheter. Kemiallisen kinetiikan perusteiden opettaminen korkeakoulutasolla on haastavaa, mikä johtuu mm. käsitteiden abstraktista luonteesta ja rajallisesta yhteydestä arkipäivän sovelluksiin. Tämä tutkimus koostui kahdesta vaiheesta. Ensimmäisessä vaiheessa kestävään kemiaan pohjautuva reaktiokinetiikan oppimisympäristö. Kontekstina toimi sosio-tieteellinen ympäristökemian moduuli, jossa perehdyttiin rikkakasvien torjunta-aineiden kineettisiin prosesseihin tulivuoren tuhkapohjaisessa maaperässä ja niiden mahdollisuuteen saastuttaa pohjavesiä. Oppimisympäristön tavoitteena oli myötävaikuttaa kestävän kehityksen taitojen kehittämiseen, edistää asiayhteyteen kemiatietojen oppimista ja kehittää tieteellisiä taitoja. Materiaali suunniteltiin kahdelle analyyttisen kemian kurssille ja opettajankoulutusohjelman fysikaalisen kemian kurssille. Materiaalin vaikuttavuutta tutkittiin opiskelijoiden käsitysten avulla. Otos sisälsi 22 opiskelijaa, jotka jaettiin kolmeen kohderyhmään. Aineisto analysoitiin ja luokiteltiin laadullisen sisältöanalyysin avulla käyttäen TPASK (Technology Pedagogical Science Knowledge) -kehystä. Tulosten perusteella opiskelijat hankkivat kontekstualisoitua kemian osaamista ja kehittivät taitoja ja tietoja, jotka liittyvät digitaalisten resurssien ja laskentataulukoiden käyttöön tieteellisessä yhteydessä. Tämä tapaustutkimus osoittaa, että ongelmapohjaisen oppimisen lähestymistapa tarjoaa suuren potentiaalin edellä mainittujen taitojen tukemiseen. Teaching the fundamentals of chemical kinetics on the college level is challenging to teachers and students alike due to its abstract nature of concepts and limited connection with real context applications. This study consisted of two phases starting with designing a chemistry education for the sustainable development-based learning environment of reaction kinetics, followed by a case study in which students' perceptions toward learning chemistry by solving a real environmental problem using digital resources, spreadsheets, and an active learning environment, were explored. First, we designed a Socio-Scientific Environmental Chemistry module centered on the sorption kinetic processes of herbicides in volcanic ash derived soils (VADS) and their potential to pollute groundwater. The objective of the learning module was to contribute to the development of sustainability skills, to promote learning of contextualized chemistry knowledge, and to develop scientific skills. This module employs spreadsheets as computational tools in chemistry to model real sorption kinetic data of herbicides in VADS. The learning module was designed for one section of two Analytical Chemistry courses and one Physical Chemistry course of an undergraduate chemistry teacher-training program. After the design phase, the learning module was implemented in each course, and students' perceptions were gathered using the focus group technique. The sample was of 22 students distributed into three focus groups. The data collected were analyzed and categorized through qualitative content analysis using the Technological Pedagogical Science Knowledge (TPASK) framework. On the basis of our findings, the students acquired contextualized chemistry knowledge and develop skills and knowledge related to using digital resources and spreadsheets in a scientific context. Besides, the preservice chemistry teachers' knowledge of pedagogy allowed them to develop some elements of their pedagogical science knowledge and TPASK. This case study shows that the problem-based learning approach offers great potential in supporting a learning environment suitable to working with spreadsheets to solve real-environment problems in chemistry education.

Brewing science is an interdisciplinary course taught at many universities in both lecture- and lab-based modalities. The laboratory component of this class typically focuses on the brewing process from malted barley to beer. However, this ignores the malting process—an essential step in making beer, although one typically performed by maltsters outside of the brewhouse. In this report we discuss the development of a malting lab that is suitable to incorporate into introductory brewing science courses in order to help students demonstrate and explain the key process of converting raw barley into malt. During this week-long experiment, students start with raw barley (commercially available in scales that work for all course sizes) and, using small scale and inexpensive custom-made equipment, malt the barley at home for later use in the course. This experiment is suitable for hybrid course laboratories in student homes and apartments with minimal course expenses or requirements and can be implemented in any brewing science course—even those that are predominantly lecture-based.

A laboratory exercise was developed for the study of the effect of three cations (Al, Ca, and Na) on the flocculation and dispersion of soil particles. The exercise was designed for Soil Science undergraduate students in the second-course in the Agricultural Engineering and Environmental Sciences department at the University of Vigo. The students’ exercise consisted of the addition of different concentrations of NaCl, CaCl2, or AlCl3 to a kaolinite water suspension and to an agricultural soil water suspension (a more complex system). The most relevant results showed that for the same cation concentration (equiv L-1), the effects on increased flocculation of colloidal material followed the sequence Al > Ca > Na, for both kaolinite and agricultural soil; that is, aluminum is the cation with the highest flocculation capacity, while Na is the cation with the lowest one. These differences are important for the sustainability of agricultural soils, since flocculation in soil systems is a key factor to sustain a suitable soil structure, and therefore, for suitable air and water fluxes in soils. Moreover, the differences in flocculation capacities of different cations should be taken into account in the fertilization programs during the selection of fertilizers (in relation to composition), in order to avoid irreversible problems for the soil structure. The experimental results obtained by students were highly satisfactory, showing experimental values similar to those previously found by the teachers. According to postlab surveys, the students were highly satisfied and in favor of the laboratory exercise developed from both sides, the didactic point of view and the importance of the exercise for the understanding of soil science concepts.

“Beer Brewing: Chemical and Biochemical Principles” is a 15 week laboratory and lecture course specifically designed for nonscience majors as an introduction to science literacy via structured labo...

This paper presents an experimental lab designed for undergraduate students which focuses on soil science and chemistry. Students perform a series of tests to classify soil’s phosphate retaining ch...

Undergraduate students in an environmental chemistry laboratory course were taught QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe), a sample preparation procedure that is commonly used i...

N-Heterocyclic sulfones and sulfides are key functional motifs in medicinal and agricultural chemistry and important building blocks in organic synthesis. Currently available methods produce N-hete...

The First International Conference on Nanotechnology Applications and Implications of Agrochemicals toward Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems was held in Beijing, China, on November 17–18, 2016 to address and exchange the latest knowledge and developments in nanotechnology of agrochemicals toward sustainable agriculture and food systems. World-leading scientists gathered to discuss a wide range of relevant topics. The purposes of this symposium introduction are to provide an introduction to the international conference, summarize in brief the contributions of papers that follow within this special issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, provide a synthesis of conference outcomes, and suggest future directions, including an important role of converging science and technologies to advance sustainable agriculture, food, and natural resource systems.

Metabolomics applies multivariate statistical analysis to sets of high-resolution spectra taken over a population of biologically derived samples. The objective is to distinguish subpopulations within the overall sample population, and possibly also to identify biomarkers. While metabolomics has become part of the standard analytical toolbox in many areas of chemical research, its principles and methods have not yet been generally incorporated into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. Identification of the arabica and robusta varieties of green coffee beans using 1H NMR-based principle component analysis provides an inexpensive teaching laboratory experiment that introduces students to the methods of metabolomics. The experiment does not require any expensive chemicals, or unique equipment or software, or access to higher-field instruments. Because there is a general curiosity among students about the chemical composition of coffee, the experiment is also particularly engaging to the students’ interest...

National legislation concerning soil pollution by heavy metals in different countries is mostly based on the total heavy metal concentration levels allowed in different soils. As soil pollution is an issue of worldwide concern, here we develop a laboratory exercise for students in which they must check the suitability of a total metal concentration for soil pollution assessment. Undertaking two different Cu extractions promotes student discussion about soil pollution by heavy metals: Cu extracted with EDTA and Cu extracted with DTPA. These two extractions are commonly used by the soil science community to estimate the potentially available Cu for plants, which is compared with information about total Cu that is provided to the students. The results of this laboratory exercise demonstrate that the total concentration of Cu in the soil is not suitable for decision-making about whether a soil is polluted. However, establishing reference values from EDTA and DTPA extractions or EDTA/Total and DTPA/Total ratio...

A new, general approach to the organic chemistry laboratory is introduced that is based on learning about organic chemistry techniques and research methods by exploring the natural products found in local native plants. As an example of this approach for the Sonoran desert region, the extraction of jojoba oil and its transesterification to biodiesel are presented. The oil of jojoba seeds contains a large quantity of wax esters that are smoothly converted to biodiesel using various methods. The biodiesel is isolated using preparative thin layer chromatography, and infrared and NMR spectroscopies are used to evaluate the product. Either traditional expository (“cookbook”) or guided inquiry approaches may be used.

China faces great challenges in protecting its soil from contamination caused by rapid industrialization and urbanization over the last three decades. Recent nationwide surveys show that 16% of the soil samples, 19% for the agricultural soils, are contaminated based on China’s soil environmental quality limits, mainly with heavy metals and metalloids. Comparisons with other regions of the world show that the current status of soil contamination, based on the total contaminant concentrations, is not worse in China. However, the concentrations of some heavy metals in Chinese soils appear to be increasing at much greater rates. Exceedance of the contaminant limits in food crops is widespread in some areas, especially southern China, due to elevated inputs of contaminants, acidic nature of the soil and crop species or cultivars prone to heavy metal accumulation. Minimizing the transfer of contaminants from soil to the food chain is a top priority. A number of options are proposed, including identification of the sources of contaminants to agricultural systems, minimization of contaminant inputs, reduction of heavy metal phytoavailability in soil with liming or other immobilizing materials, selection and breeding of low accumulating crop cultivars, adoption of appropriate water and fertilizer management, bioremediation, and change of land use to grow nonfood crops. Implementation of these strategies requires not only technological advances, but also social-economic evaluation and effective enforcement of environmental protection law.

Plants can store the chemical energy required by their developing offspring in the form of triglycerides. These lipids can be isolated from seeds and then converted into biodiesel through a transesterification reaction. This second-year undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory experiment exemplifies the conversion of an agricultural energy source directly into a mechanical energy source.

In the last decade, our understanding of the chemistry of olive oil has dramatically improved. Here, the essential chemistry of olive oil and its important minor constituents is described and related to the typical sensory categories used to rate and experience oils: color, aroma, bitterness, and pungency. We also describe experiments to explore some of the characteristics of olive oil related to its status as a new health food. Simple qualitative experiments on olive oil can be done in conjunction with tastings of the oil. First, we establish the relationship between the color of an object and the absorption of light by its molecular constituents using gummy candies and laser pointers. Then, the color of the various oils can be measured quantitatively using an iPhone app (Irodori). Illuminating the oil with a green laser produces a startling red fluorescence in the presence of the natural chlorophyll in some olive oils. Relatively straightforward colorimetric assays can reveal the presence of unsaturated...

Immunoassay is a promising method that is suitable for rapid and simple analyses of pesticides, which are likely to persist at a trace level in agro-environments, including agricultural products, soil, and water. Particularly, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has wide application to development of analytical methods for pesticide residues because it can very sensitively and very accurately determine them in samples. This paper presents a review of the fundamental analytical performance, a device for the sample pretreatment methods before determination, and cases of applications to various samples on ELISA methods that have been developed for detection of neonicotinoid insecticides in food or environmental matrices. The reviewed ELISAs can be ranked as quantitative, rapid and simple analytical methods for single analytes. The recognition of ELISA as an analytical methodology for pesticide residues is expected to advance rapidly in the future.

Internet databases serve as an important source of information on chemical compounds that students can readily investigate, including those studying food science and food technology. This Activity provides a brief introduction to the application of chemical information resources with a focus on conducting structure-based searches.

Soil is an important and complex environmental compartment and soil contamination contributes to the pollution of aquifers and other water basins. A simple and low-cost experiment is described in which the mobility of three organic compounds in an artificial soil is examined using dry-column flash chromatography. The compounds were applied on top of the soil surface, and the column was irrigated with a dilute solution of calcium chloride that mimics rain. The compounds were detected in column drainage fractions using classic qualitative tests in which the intensity of the color produced is related to the concentration of the analyte. The experiment replicates a leaching system in which organic substances migrate through soil at distinct rates as a result of differences in partition constants and water solubility, properties that are related to structural features.

Students explore the fundamental chemical concepts of vapor pressure and flash point in a real-world technical context, while gaining insight into the contemporary societal issue of biofuels. Lab activities were developed using a closed-cup instrument to measure the flash point of various biodiesel samples. Pre- and post-tests revealed that the student’s grasp of the relationship between vapor pressure and flash point went from 46% to 91% after completing the lab and 76% of students responded that measurement of flash point helped them better understand the concept of vapor pressure. In the 3-h lab, students produce a small sample of biodiesel fuel and then evaluate the safety and quality of their product compared with a commercially available reference fuel that meets ASTM specifications. The experiment illustrates how fuel properties depend on the production process and the resulting composition and purity of the fuel product. The observed differences in fuel flash points provide for an introduction of the concepts of chemical quality assurance and quality control. The goal of this lab is to increase understanding of biofuels and associated chemical concepts that influence the properties of various renewable and fossil fuels.

Nutrition in the 20th century is examined with respect to changes in the American diet due to changes in the economy and evolution from an agrarian to an industrialized society. The American farm family diet from two regions of the United States during the 1930s is studied on the basis of overall availability of food commodities. A discussion of the diet staples and differences in farm family health is presented and related to nutritional deficiencies. Beginning in the 1920s through the early 1930s dietary deficiencies became a major focus of public health officials in the United States. Identification of the cause of these human nutritional deficiencies prompted significant research by government agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration, and National Institutes of Health. Medical schools, universities, pharmaceutical corporations, and private institutions directed their resources into basic chemical research and clinical trials to assess the role of vitamins, minerals, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and nutrients for improving human health and nutrition. Chemists played an important role in the discovery of vitamins, minerals, and essential nutrients, validating the efficacy through tedious clinical trials. They developed synthetic vitamins affording food manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies the opportunity to capitalize upon fortifying foods for consumers. The American chemist was also responsible for the development of commodities to maximize crop yield through pesticides and fertilizers.

Sinking agricultural botanical and soil residues to the deep seafloor may not be a viable option for long-term carbon sequestration.

This article describes a simple, automatic, and closed grinding system for small samples using common laboratory equipment that is particularly useful for air-sensitive samples or volatile compounds analyses.

We present a novel bottom-up approach to estimate biofuel-induced land-use change (LUC) and resulting CO2 emissions in the U.S. from 2010 to 2022, based on a consistent methodology across four essential components: land availability, land suitability, LUC decision-making, and induced CO2 emissions. Using high-resolution geospatial data and modeling, we construct probabilistic assessments of county-, state-, and national-level LUC and emissions for macroeconomic scenarios. We use the Cropland Data Layer and the Protected Areas Database to characterize availability of land for biofuel crop cultivation, and the CERES-Maize and BioCro biophysical crop growth models to estimate the suitability (yield potential) of available lands for biofuel crops. For LUC decision-making, we use a county-level stochastic partial-equilibrium modeling framework and consider five scenarios involving annual ethanol production scaling to 15, 22, and 29 BG, respectively, in 2022, with corn providing feedstock for the first 15 BG and the remainder coming from one of two dedicated energy crops. Finally, we derive high-resolution above-ground carbon factors from the National Biomass and Carbon Data set to estimate emissions from each LUC pathway. Based on these inputs, we obtain estimates for average total LUC emissions of 6.1, 2.2, 1.0, 2.2, and 2.4 gCO2e/MJ for Corn-15 Billion gallons (BG), Miscanthus × giganteus (MxG)-7 BG, Switchgrass (SG)-7 BG, MxG-14 BG, and SG-14 BG scenarios, respectively.

These research advances focus on obtaining biodiesel fuel from food and beverage industry waste.

The first green revolution began in the 1940s with the transformation of agricultural practices. Widespread use of pesticides, fertilizers, and irrigation techniques, coupled with the development of new, high-yielding crop varieties, dramatically increased food production. The green revolution enabled worldwide food production to keep pace with the rapidly expanding population of the globe. Like most revolutions, however, there were consequences. Energy inputs increased, fertilizer use resulted in eutrophication of bodies of water, and some pesticides affected nontarget organisms and persisted in the environment. Nonetheless, the widespread implementation of modern agricultural practices reduced famine in many countries, such as India and Pakistan. We are currently experiencing the second green revolution and are bombarded with green messages in the media. Green buildings, green dry cleaning, green fuels, and even green weddings: the message that we need to be aware of the impact of our actions on the environment is inescapable. (Recently, one television network even touted “green dramas” and “green comedies”!) Making environmentally responsible choices lets us contribute as individuals to the sustainability of our planet. As chemists, we can also contribute to sustainability. Our discipline's unique contribution to sustainability is green chemistry. By designing chemical products and processes that are better for both the environment and human health, chemists can provide society with the goods and services on which it depends in a way that uses Earth's resources more responsibly than before and with an eye toward the needs of future generations. Green chemistry is not a field solely under the purview of green chemists: It is an approach that is applicable to all areas of chemistry, and it is the responsibility of all practicing chemists. Chemistry is essential to sustainability: chemists and engineers have the knowledge and skills necessary to transform the chemical industry into one that is cleaner and greener. Where does chemical education fit into the current green revolution? We must do a better job of educating our students with respect to green chemistry, sustainability, and environmental issues. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report Green at Fifteen? How 15- Year-Olds Perform in Environmental Science and Geoscience in PISA (the Programme for International Student Assessment) (1) indicates that while a majority of students are aware of environmental issues, their understanding of the underlying causes of these issues lags behind their awareness. U.S. students scored below the average on this OECD assessment. Sustainability education is so important that the United Nations declared the years 2005 through 2014 the “Decade of Education for Sustainable Development”. The goal of this decade is “to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning, in order to address the social, economic, cultural, and environmental problems we face in the 21st century” (2). Teaching chemistry in the context of the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development will enable our students to design environmentally beneficial products and processes as professional chemists and make informed choices as consumers and voters. As curricular topics, green chemistry and sustainability tend to be relegated to the margins of textbooks or confined to specialized courses. Perhaps we should inaugurate a third green revolution, one that will focus on education, to ensure that all students are well versed in environmental problems and potential solutions. A commitment to green education would produce an informed global citizenry and create a cadre of environmentally savvy scientists and engineers. Safe drinking water, alternative energy sources, and sustainable agricultural practices will be realized only by building an educated and innovative workforce. The first and second green revolutions are embedded in this year's Chemists Celebrate Earth Day theme of Plants: The Green Machines. Plants are the ultimate chemical factories, using sunlight to transform carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen. It is hard to find a “greener” reaction than photosynthesis! And the sun is the ultimate energy source for our planet, providing the energy to grow plants that feed both people and animals. Too many people equate chemistry with harming the planet. Earth Day provides us with an occasion to emphasize the positive contributions of chemistry to human health and the environment. As we mark the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, please take this opportunity to highlight both the role of chemistry in securing the future of our planet and the part that chemical educators will play in making this happen. The vision of the American Chemical Society is “improving people's lives through the transforming power of chemistry”. Lifesaving drugs and revolutionary new materials are but two examples of chemistry's ability to improve people's lives. These breakthroughs were made possible through education, the foundation upon which our sustainable future will be built.

Fertilizer a flush away. New test for anthrax. Winged PAH monitors. Hen or rooster? Raman to the rescue!

We have developed a laboratory experiment that uses high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to quantify flavonoid levels in a variety of commercial teas. Specifically, this experiment analyzes a group of flavonoids known as catechins, plant-derived polyphenolic compounds commonly found in many foods and beverages, including green and black tea. HPLC is the most prevalent technique to determine catechin concentrations in plant-based products and this laboratory exercise is ideal for introducing students to chromatographic separations using an analysis method important in agricultural chemistry and nutrition.

The aim of this book is to give the non-specialist a feel for the science and technology that underpin a truly international beverage. As such it is is a perfect combination of an interesting topic...

Online soil chemistry resources related to the 2006 theme—Chemists Celebrate Earth Day: Dig It!—are described, and a number of links are provided for further exploration.

The use of physicochemical data to estimate the fate of chemical pollutants in environmental systems in an easy way is described. This application is presented to students in a series of labs in an environmental chemistry course, which is mainly focused on the chemical behavior of contaminants in the environment. Specifically, physicochemical parameters are used to determine the phase equilibrium distribution of a substance in a closed system. The model is applied to estimate the phase distribution of three organic pollutants, namely, pentachlorophenol, hexachlorobenzene, and hexachlorocyclohexane, in a defined environmental model system.

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a powerful technique used to detect and amplify a specific DNA sequence. In this experiment, DNA is isolated from commercially available corn meal and corn-mu...

This Report from Other Journals surveys articles that have been recently published in other science journals of interest to chemists.

A survey of environmental chemistry laboratory experiments published during the period 1969-2000 in the mainstream chemical education journals, The Journal of Chemical Education and Education in Chemistry, was conducted. The experiments were categorized as being related to the environmental domains of air, water, or soil. Using the same timeframe, a similar survey was carried out for commonly used environmental chemistry textbooks, assessing the relative number of pages devoted to the same areas. The data obtained from both analyses indicate that the area of soil is seriously underrepresented in the environmental chemistry educational literature. This suggests a need to develop more environmental chemistry educational material (in the form of published laboratory experiments and textbook material) related to soil chemistry and soil contamination. To provide a basis for optimizing the level of integration in the design of such experiments, the publications surveyed were categorized according to how they in...

Genetically modified crops are grown in most parts of the world nowadays. These transgenic plants have new properties such as herbicide tolerance or insect resistance that often cannot be introduced by conventional breeding. Using examples of very common transgenic varieties, the article explains how the knowledge of metabolic pathways and genetic information is used to design these plants and how the same knowledge is used to detect them. It reviews why detection of genetic modifications in plants has become necessary and describes the most common detection methods, from immunological assays to polymerase chain reaction and real-time detection.

Synopsis of role playing activity designed to help students understand the increasing role played by science and technology in determining public policy and the importance of a scientifically literate populace.

This lab could represent an undergraduate comparative synthesis and analysis of biologically active molecules, suitable for an introductory lab session.

No. 420 in the ACS Symposium series and covers a program of the Division of Agrochemicals at the Dallas meeting in 1989; presents applications of LC/MS in agricultural, pharmaceutical, and environm...

Dwindling reserves and increasing costs of petroleum have brought the realization that agricultural production of substitutes may be both feasible and the best long-term alternative. Multi-use oil- and hydrocarbon-producing (botanochemical) crops, specially designed for an adaptive agricultural system, appear to offer potential for combining the production of both food and industrial raw materials with increased overall productivity. Processing methods are being developed for extraction of primary botanochemicals, i.e,. soluble polyphenols, whole-plant oils, and isoprene polymers that could serve as chemical feedstocks. The extractive-free residues are promising raw materials for papermaking fibers, animal feeds, fermentation substrates, chemical feedstocks, fuels, and soil amendments. Preliminary cost assessments of crop production, collection, and processing compared with projected produce values suggest that a new and radically different agricultural system would be economically attractive.

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The fluorimetric analysis of "real" samples is often undesirable as a student experiment, since prior separations of elaborate sample preparations are required. It is the purpose of this paper to r...

Testing soil pH as a first experiment in quantitative analysis; involves sampling and subsampling, massing techniques, moisture determination, data recording, and the variability common to real samples.

Students examine the solubility of nitrate ions, the insolubility of iron hydroxide and iron carbonate, and the reaction between acid and carbonates.

Examines the research in soil chemistry and political activities of Edmond Ruffin, who fired the first artillery shell on Fort Sumpter.