Distillations by University of Toronto

2011

2010

DISTILLATIONS University of Toronto CHEMISTRY ALUMNI MAGAZINE

INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF CHEMISTRY

Celebrating Chemistry All Year Long

Caption

INNOVATION • EDUCATION • EXCELLENCE

Message from the Chair

ver the entrance to the Lash Miller Building you will find a two storey banner that proudly states, “In our labs today … in your life tomorrow.” It celebrates the International Year of Chemistry in 2011 (IYC2011) but it also acknowledges the amazing accomplishments and contributions of the students, faculty and alumni of our Chemistry Department. Some of these have been “distilled” into the pages of this newsletter that covers 2010 and 2011 in particular. There are currently over 50 undergraduate and 270 graduate students and over 120 postdoctoral fellows and research associates in labs on three campuses pushing back the boundaries of science. Of the graduate students, almost one half hold competitive Ontario or Canadian Government funded scholarships. Anyone who visits our website knows that they make the news almost daily. I can only highlight some of their activities here. Our Department is a powerhouse in the area of chemistry applied to medicine. Andrei Yudin and his group have developed a powerful method to tie together the ends of proteins into rings using the Yudin reagent, aziridine aldehyde. Ryan Hili won the Chair’s Doctoral medal in 2010 for his thesis about some of this work. Vy Dong and her students have devised ways to make double ring compounds. Mark Lautens and his group have discovered methods for very efficiently making organic compounds with multiple rings. These methods have huge potential for synthesizing effective new drugs. Patrick Gunning at UTM has had great success at finding small organic molecules to attack molecules implicated in leukemia. Scott Tanner and his company DVS have developed a single cell mass cytometer for allowing the simultaneous detection

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and quantification of many different antibodies binding to molecules of interest inside cells. This has been applied to the rapid diagnoses of different variants of leukemia and has limitless potential in the study of many other diseases. Aaron Wheeler and his lab have developed a revolutionary digital microfluidic method for blood analysis that could make diagnosing and monitoring metabolic disorders in infants more convenient. Gilbert Walker heads a huge Biopsys network focused on developing very sensitive methods for detecting molecules on the surfaces of cells. I presented the 2011 Chair’s Doctoral Medal to Russ Algar whose thesis described the synthesis conducted with Ulli Krull of nanometer-sized devices that emit different colours depending on which DNA strand is present. Deborah Zamble’s and Mark Nitz’s groups are uncovering chemistry that might be used to combat bacteria. Several groups are making great advances in sustainable and green chemistry. Eugenia Kumacheva, one of the world’s most prominent women chemists, has developed an ingenious new method to study reactions of gas bubbles as they flow through micro channels. This is being applied with Doug Stephan‘s famous Frustrated Lewis Pair chemistry, to develop metal-free catalysts to convert some of our overabundance of carbon dioxide into useful chemicals. Myrna Simpson at UTSc is currently applying her solid state NMR expertise to find out the implications of this overabundance of CO2 on soils. My group has found that iron can catalyze certain useful reactions as efficiently as more expensive and toxic platinum metals. Scott Mabury (recently named Vice President - Operations) and his group are keeping a sharp eye on fluorinated chemicals in the environment and even in our microwave popcorn bags. Understanding how photosynthesis works is a priority to help design more efficient solar energy devices. It turns out it could also help to design the next revolution in the information age, quantum computing. A string of discoveries in these areas by Greg Scholes and his students have opened up the field named “quantum biology.” Dwight Seferos’ work on organic photovoltaic materials with the potential for flexible solar cells is also catching a lot of attention. Our strong theory group continues to

This mix of incredible talent naturally leads to a huge output of inventions. In 2010 Geff Ozin, Scott Tanner, Andrei Yudin and Shana Kelly won four of the nine UofT Innovator of the Year awards. For example the company Opalux that spun out from technology of the groups of Geff Ozin and Ian Manners, has burst onto the world stage with a range of technologies based on synthetic opal films that change colour with, for example, pressure, heat, molecular or voltage signal. You will be seeing these incorporated into everyday items soon. This is but one of six spin-off companies currently preincubating in our building. Our Department plays a key role by providing the training and research environment needed to help Canada develop as many high tech companies as possible, a key world advantage that we must continue to nourish. We continue to teach thousands of undergraduate students and hundreds of graduate students the ever increasing concepts and skills of chemistry needed to practice this profession. This includes the elite Chemistry Olympiad team trained in our Department by a team headed by Stan Skonieczny (retiring, 2012) and Andy Dicks that won three silver medals in 2010 in Japan and a record three silver and one gold medal in Turkey in 2011. The IYC2011 celebrations put our Department under the spotlight. Due to the efforts of teams of students and faculty events like Ask A Laureate, Science Rendezvous and Chemistry Nuit Blanche, we gave thousands of people of all ages an opportunity to experience chemistry at the University of Toronto. During the Nuit Blanche event Canada Post unveiled the stamp to commemorate IYC2011 and the 25th anniversary of John Polanyi’s Nobel Prize. In the background of the stamp is an artistic rendering illustrating his current surface chemistry.

Highly trained for Canada’s niche in the world I started as Chair in 2010 after sampling other administrative roles as Acting and Interim Chair. I have worked on improving the student experience through the creation of the space for the Chemistry Learning Centre where tutorials are held and offices serve as the focal point for the ChemClub and the Chemistry Student’s Union. We are currently looking for donations to fund the construction of a $12M, two storey wing on top of the lecture halls. These would provide the labs needed for our burgeoning green and solar chemistry research.” If you drop into Chemistry’s administration offices you will find a space transformed into a airy, bright modern office space with offices, a grad meeting room and space for our mobile videoconferencing equipment. More and more of our faculty and students are connecting via videoconference for grad courses, seminars and meetings. At our seminars, students on all three campuses take turns asking the speaker questions. We continue to renovate old labs in Lash Miller for faculty research. The sixth floor in particular has been transformed to accommodate the expanding research programs of Eugenia Kumacheva, Dwight Seferos, Aaron Wheeler and Mark Taylor – what a line-up! I hope that you enjoy reading about the new members of our Department, our award winners and their activities as well as about the activities of alumni who are key to making this Department a home of Chemistry for the world. In closing, we want to thank you for your continuing interest and support of all that happens in our Chemistry Department. Please see page 30 for an opportunity to support our graduate students. We look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely,

Robert H. Morris, FCIC FRSC Professor and Chair

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Message from the Chair

lead the way in developing the mathematical underpinnings of chemistry, including those required to understand or predict reaction, polymer, protein and materials chemistry mentioned above. Dvira Segal’s group in particular is focusing on theory that might be applied to electronic and magnetic devices.

Message from the Chair

Message from Message from the East the West …and now there are three. A strong team of recent Chemistry faculty, staff and students at the University of hires at the University of Toronto Scarborough’s Toronto Mississauga (UTM) are celebrating the successful Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences $6,000,000 renovation of their undergraduate chemistry is breathing new life into chemistry in the GTA East teaching laboratories. Demolition commenced in April – biological chemistry that is. A new leaf has been 2011, with completion scheduled in time for the start of added to the university tree that has been growing Fall classes in September 2011. The “top-to-bottom” renthrough the ages. And the spectrum that Xiao-an ovations included modernization of all electrical, plumbZhang, Kagan Kerman, and Bernie Kraatz (see profiles ing, ventilation and lighting infrastructure, installation of on pages 34 & 35) are covering is vast, ranging from new mechanical air handling units in order to provide bioanalytical chemistry and the detection of patho- fumehoods for all students, all new benches and cabinegens, to bioorganic chemistry, and a series of advanced try and the development of teaching stations with comnew diagnostic agents for puter-controlled flat-screen magnetic resonance imagdisplays and whiteboards. ing, to bioinorganic chemisIn addition, students will try, molecular design, and now enjoy the use an entire investigations into molecsuite of brand new instruular causes for diseases. ments including analytical Very quickly the three have balances, pH meters, water built a strong research baths, spectrophotometers, presence augmenting our glove boxes, ovens and cenmultiple award winning trifuges. Furthermore, our Environmental Chemists. chemistry technical staff has The Biological Chemists been provided with a comhave a total of over twenty pletely modernized chemical new undergraduate chemistry teaching laboratories at UTM graduate students and The storage and solution prepaPhoto credit: Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, UTM postdoctoral fellows, and ration area plus new office benefit from modern anaspace and furniture. lytical instrumentation in the new TRACES facility and from high quality electron microscopy on cam- The final design of the laboratory was the result of a colpus. Their labs are connected and group meetings are laborative effort amongst chemistry faculty, staff and stujoint, fostering a cohesive identity and promoting syn- dents, with the invaluable assistance of UofT architects ergies among the research groups. And publications and facilities planning experts. Although the timeline are already appearing in Analytical Chemistry, Chem- for completion of the renovations was quite “aggressive”, ical Communication, to name but a few journals. thanks to the talent and commitment of UofT capital project managers and the expertise of our on-site conGone are the times, where everyone looked at Scar- tractors, the many hours of planning prior to commenceborough and remembered only the stark and futur- ment of demolition in April 2011 paid off when we were istic features of the Science Building. Watch out for able to re-open the undergraduate chemistry teaching us… and remember the new scientific landscape - the laboratories on-time and on-budget in September 2011. biological chemists have arrived. It’s an exciting time! Not only do these new laboratories permit more efficient and flexible use of laboratory space, they provide chem…sumus folia arboris… istry students with new opportunities to perform a host of enhanced chemistry experiments, and thus broaden William A. Gough, Professor and Chair their chemistry educational experience. The reviews are and Graduate Chair now in, from students, and staff, and faculty, and they Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, can be summarized in one word, “Hurrah!” University of Toronto Scarborough Peter Macdonald, Professor and Chair Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, University of Toronto Mississauga 4

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is published by the University of Toronto Department of Chemistry 80 St. George Street Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6 CANADA

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Penny Ashcroft Moore

Contributing Editor/ Layout and Design Nina Lee

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Contact Chemistry at 416-978-3564 or chair@chem.utoronto.ca

Distillations

In this Issue

Message from the Chairs.....................................................................................2 International Year of Chemistry

Canada Celebrates International Year of Chemistry......................................6 Gala Dinner................................................................................................8 Ask a Laureate Lectures and Essay Competition.........................................9 Chemistry Nuit Blanche............................................................................10 Additional Events.....................................................................................11

Awards

Awards Reception.....................................................................................12 Undergraduate Award Recipients..............................................................12 Graduate Award Recipients.......................................................................13 Staff Award Recipients..............................................................................17 Celebrating Faculty Achievements.............................................................18

Community Outreach

Chemistry Olympiads...............................................................................20 Riding for the Cure....................................................................................23 The Magic Wand Ownership Project.........................................................24

Undergraduate News

Chemistry Learning Centre.......................................................................24 AstraZeneca Undergraduate Summer Research Experience .....................25 Southern Ontario Undergraduate Student Chemistry Conference................26 Chemistry Students’ Union.......................................................................26

Graduate News

Professional Develeopment Initiatives.......................................................27 Graduate Student Weekend.......................................................................28 Graduate Student Profiles.......................................................................28 Provost’s PhD Enhancement Fund..........................................................30 Chem Club................................................................................................32

Faculty News

Spotlight on Gunning Research Group....................................................33 Welcome New Faculty................................................................................34 Faculty in the Media..................................................................................36 German Science Helped Fuel Canadian Discovery......................................36 Faculty Publication Covers.......................................................................38 Spotlight on DVS Sciences.........................................................................40 Faculty Retirements..................................................................................41

Staff News

Get to Know our New Staff........................................................................42 Staff Retirements......................................................................................42

Colloquia & Special Lectures All photographic and written material is © 2012 University of Toronto, Department of Chemistry unless previously published in another format, in which case copyright remains with the original author/photographer. Fair usage rules apply. This publication shall not be distributed for any form of financial remuneration.

Departmental Named Special Lectures.....................................................43 A.R. Gordon Distinguished Lecture Series..................................................44 Chemistry Biophysics Symposium.............................................................46 Environmental Chemistry Colloquium......................................................47 Upcoming Events......................................................................................47

Special Events

Canadian Society for Chemistry Conference and Exhibition........................48 Chemistry Squash Tournament..............................................................48 Techno2011......................................................................................49 Canada-China Analytical Chemistry Conference......................................49

Alumni Alumni News...........................................................................................50

Nyburg and O’Brien Group Reunion..........................................................52 Alumni Profiles.......................................................................................53

Weddings, Births, In Memoriam........................................................................54

International Year of Chemistry

Canada Celebrates International

Canada is well into this year-long celebration of the achievements of chemistry and its contributions to the well-being of humankind. It is an occasion to raise the awareness of science, especially among youth and women. The year 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize to Marie Curie and the 25th anniversary of the prize to John Polanyi, FRSC, shared with Dudley Herschbach and Yuan Lee. Here are highlights of some of the events which included a Science Rendezvous for tens of thousands, exploding watermelons, Nobel Laureate lectures, a giant H2O molecule made out of glow sticks, delicious cake, a successful treatment for leukaemia, and prime-time TV exposure on Jeopardy! On Saturday May 7th, Science Rendezvous brought chemistry to tens of thousands of people across Canada. The public peeked behind the doors of various research institutions to see what was going on at the frontiers of science. There were instructional demonstrations, hands-on experiments, fun and interactive activities, and direct one-on-one discussions with scientists. University of Toronto volunteers, mainly graduate students, set up more than fifty hands-on activities for the general public. Children were engulfed in giant soap bubbles or made chromatography flowers as presents for Mother’s Day, the daring walked over or sank into a non-Neutonian fluid, and everyone was deafened by the sounds of exploding hydrogen balloons and watermelons (see the Science Rendezvous videos on YouTube). This was the 4th year for Science Rendezvous, the creation of Professors R.J. Dwayne Miller, FRSC and Cynthia Goh of the University of Toronto. 6

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A warm-up to Science Rendezvous in Toronto was the “Ask a Laureate” lecture series at Convocation Hall at the University of Toronto, now in its second year. Steve Paikin, Anchor and Senior Editor of The Agenda, who had just moderated the Leader’s Debate, was the emcee. As he explained: “the Chemistry Department at the University of Toronto and the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research brought together four award-winning chemists to talk about their chemistry to an audience of 700 high school science students and their teachers and members of the public and to answer their questions.” The main message of the first speaker, Nobel Laureate Sir Harold Kroto, to the students was “ask for the evidence and decide for yourself.” To convince himself he had the correct structure for the sixty-carbon molecule “Buckyball,” he applied his “four out of five rule” and recommended this approach to everyone. A theory is likely to be correct if four out of five observations or facts support it. He listed important benefits of chemistry to the well being of humankind including anaesthetics and penicillin. His views on science were wide-ranging. The questions from the students were diverse, ranging from discovery, to science and religion, to achieving a work/home balance in life. The Chemistry Department provided two of the Laureate speakers and some magicians. Chemistry Professor and Canada Research Chair Eugenia Kumacheva, FRSC, talked about her cutting edge research into shrinking laboratories down to the size of computer chips. Paikin thanked her in Russian. John Polanyi spoke about his study of the “dance” of molecules and in particular his recent discovery of how ethylene mol-

International Year of Chemistry

Year of Chemistry From left: Professor John Polanyi and Dean Meric Gertler speak during the International Year of Canada Gala Dinner, photo credit: CPimages/Stephanie Lake. Toronto Police demonstrate how a breathalizer works during Chemistry Nuit Blanche, photo credit: Hasan Khan. Laureates congratulate the student essay winners during the Ask a Laureate Lectures, photo credit: CPimages/Salvatore Sacco. Future scientists get wrapped up in chemistry during Science Rendezvous, photo credit: Bob Morris

ecules are thought to do cartwheels over gold surfaces. Why is this important? The world is clothed with synthetic fibres and food is grown with fertilizer produced by means of chemical reactions occurring on surfaces. The magicians were chemistry graduate students Nadine Borduas and Hasan Khan. They ran through a typical day working and studying in a research lab, on the way turning water into milk and then into wine. They made pink-colour nylon and got volunteers from the audience organized into nylon-like chains to illustrate the molecular chains being formed in the mixture. The other visiting Laureate was Dr. Jürg Zimmerman, Head of Global Discovery Chemistry, Novartis. Zimmerman described how his team designed and synthesized molecules systematically until they narrowed the search to the molecule now known as Gleevec. Gleevec became a new, effective treatment for Chronic Myelogenous Leukaemia (CML). At the end of his talk, Emeritus University Professor Adrian Brook, FRSC, of the Chemistry Department, came up and shook Zimmerman’s hand. “You saved my life. I had given up, until the treatment with Gleevec brought back my health,” said Professor Brook.

sticks. They formed the molecule of life: water. Science populariser Joe Schwarcz is touring the country giving lectures on the importance of chemistry and the reason that chemistry’s public image needs a face-lift. He gave a very humorous and enlightening lecture entitled, “Are chemists more trustworthy than cows?” at the University of Toronto in March. Other IYC events included: National Chemistry Week in October, a Global Water project, a YouTube video contest and a Canada Post commemorative stamp. A list of activities held in Canada during 2011 can be found at the Chemical Institute of Canada website at http://www.iyc2011.ca. World-wide events are announced at the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry at http://www.chemistry2011.org/ - Robert Morris This report has been made available with the permission of the Royal Society of Canada. http://www.rsc-src.ca

You may have watched the June 21st episode of Jeopardy where Alex Trebeck asked questions supplied by the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC) and the American Chemical Society (ACS). A truly spectacular event was recorded on video at Université Laval where 308 people created the largest figure made with glow 20 1 0 & 20 1 1 D i s t i l l at i o n s / c h e m . u t o r o n t o . c a

International Year of Chemistry

Gala Dinner More than 60 people attended the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) Gala Dinner, held on May 5, 2011 Department of Chemistry at the Faculty Club to celebrate the achievements of International Year of Chemistry chemistry and its contributions to the well-being of Organization Committee humankind. Chair Robert Morris reflected on the significance of the International Year of Chemistry and Robert Morris, Chair explained that the dinner marked the start of a busy Penny Ashcroft Moore Rhea Cohen (OICR) year full of events that began with the Ask a Laureate Andy Dicks Vy Dong Lectures and the Science Rendezvous festival in May. Cynthia Goh Sharonna Greenberg Professor Morris spoke passionately about the achieveDanny Hickie Cecilia Kutas ments of chemistry and its positive impact on humanMark Lautens Dwayne Miller kind, the importance of raising awareness of science to Stan Skonieczny David Uehling (OICR) the public and encouraging women to pursue science. Gilbert Walker Aaron Wheeler He then introduced our special guests and dignitaries: Nicola Woods (UofT FAS) Dr. Reza Moridi, MPP for Richmond Hill and Parliamentary Assistant for the Minister of Research and Innovation; the Honourable Bryon Wilfert; Corneliu Chisu, MP for Pickering-Scarborough East; Professor Meric Gertler, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science; and Rima Al-awar, Director of Medicinal Chemistry from the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR). During his remarks, Dean Gertler celebrated the achievements of chemistry and its contributions to society, “This event provides a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the achievements of chemistry and its contributions to society. It also serves to encourage high school students to aspire to great scholarship and to study science at a University such as ours, with a strong history of chemical education and research,” he said, “New principles, and new chemicals and materials are produced each day in our state-of-the-art facilities. Thousands of students are instructed and trained in laboratory arts in our undergraduate program, while new companies are spinning off from UofT research in chemistry every year.” Following Gertler’s tribute, Dr. David Uehling from OICR, University Professor John Polanyi and Dr. Reza Moridi were invited to speak. Professor Morris closed the evening by thanking the IYC Committee Members and acknowledging the generous support of our International Year of Chemistry activities.

From left: Dr. Reza Moridi, M.P.P. extends warm greetings from the Minister of Research and Innovation. Sr. Lecturer Cecilia Kutas and her husband Corneliu Chisu, MP speak with the Honourable Bryon Wilfert. Dean Meric Gertler celebrates the achievements of chemistry. Photo credit: CPimages/Stephanie Lake

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As a part of the International Year of Chemistry celebrations, Chemistry organized two events aimed at engaging high school students in chemistry: an essay competition and a lecture series featuring prominent laureates in chemistry. The inaugural event held on May 7, 2010 brought students from across the greater Toronto area to the University of Toronto’s Convocation Hall, where they attended lectures by Chemistry faculty: Professors Vy Dong, Dwayne Miller, Jennifer Murphy and Aaron Wheeler. The day began with a series of short lectures and demonstrations broadcast over the internet to classrooms across Canada. After each talk, students had an opportunity to ask the speakers questions about their research. Following the morning’s activities, students participated in lab tours and a poster session. Host Robert Morris, Chair explained to the UofT News, “What makes this event special is that it introduces high school students to university. It shows them that university researchers do both research and teaching. Students get to meet the people doing the science they read about in their textbooks and they get to see that they can be a part of that research too.” The Ask a Laureate event also included an essay competition where high school students were invited to write an essay based on a choice of themes, such as the contribution and significance of a Canadian chemist or the evidence for the exis-

tence of atoms. As a part of their award, 17 contest winners and their teachers joined the laureates for a lunch hosted by Chemistry. Our second annual Ask a Laureate Lectures were held on May 6, 2011, again at Convocation Hall. As in 2010, Chemistry held an essay contest and invited students from across Canada to participate. We invited four distinguished laureates to give the lectures, described by Robert Morris in the article on pages 6-7. Following the lectures, 16 student essay winners, their teachers and the students participating in the Chemistry Olympiad program had an opportunity to enjoy a luncheon with the laureates and learn about their research. The generous contributions by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Faculty of Arts and Science, the Department of Chemistry, the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry and the Chemical Institute of Canada, and the countless volunteers, faculty and staff made these events a resounding success. Please join us for the third annual event, to be held on May 11, 2012. UofT News (2010) U of T’s chemistry department wows Ontario secondary school students. Retrieved May 30, 2010 from http://www.news.utoronto.ca/uts-chemistry-department-wows-ontario-secondary-school-students-0

From left: Professor Sir Harold Kroto illustrates the “bucky-ball” to the audience. University Professor John Polanyi reveals the complex molecular dance in chemical reactions. Professor Eugenia Kumacheva describes how laboratories are shrinking down in size to computer chips. Dr. Jürg Zimmerman details how his team designed and synthesized the drug, Gleevec. Photo credit: CPimages/Salvatore Sacco

For more information about future Ask a Laureate events and to view the video recordings of the lectures, visit http://www.chem.utoronto.ca/chemistry/askalaureate.php 20 1 0 & 20 1 1 D i s t i l l at i o n s / c h e m . u t o r o n t o . c a

International Year of Chemistry

Ask a Laureate Lectures and Essay Competition

International Year of Chemistry

Chemistry Nuit Blanche: A Night to Remember

The International Year of Chemistry (IYC) 2011 is a unique celebration and an exceptional opportunity to promote chemistry worldwide. To highlight this event at the University of Toronto, graduate students from all areas of science put together the very first Chemistry Nuit Blanche. The inaugural event was held on the evening of Saturday October 1, 2011 in and around the Department of Chemistry. It took place alongside the Toronto Scotiabank Nuit Blanche and attracted the nuit blanche enthusiasts. The chemistry event served as a platform to answer the public’s chemistry questions in a fun and interactive manner.

And that was only the beginning! Pueblo Science, an organization devoted to raising science literacy in developing countries, had participants walking a tight rope and drawing with lasers while the Canadian Institute of Chemistry (CIC) convinced everyone of how awesome chemistry can be. A nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer was cut open to display its functions. And that’s not all; the Institute of Optical Science showed off their talents through holograms and the Toronto Police Department explained how a breathalyzer operates. But the main attraction was the unveiling of the IYC 2011 stamp sponsored by Canada Post and CIC. Nobel Laureate Professor John Polanyi of our very own Department stole the show by launching the stamp created in his honour.

The overarching goal of Chemistry Nuit Blanche The event started off with a BBQ and was to reach out to included a number of booths each demonthe general public and strating and discussing particular chemistry showcase the importopics in lay terms relevant to our daily lives. tance and relevance of Chemistry Nuit Blanche was a joint venture chemistry in our lives. between several different areas of study. Top: Four chemistry graduate student organizers of the The turnout was more Nadine Borduas, Peter Dornan, Christina Müller Pharmacy explained how drugs operate in event: than we expected and and Jessica Sonnenberg the body; Food engineering challenged the Bottom: Nobel Laureate Prof. John Polanyi unveils the the event was a huge participants’ taste buds; Chemistry created IYC 2011 stamp success among all the beautifully coloured fireworks; Food chemis- Photo credit: Nadine Borduas volunteers and particitry exploded gummy bears and painted picpants. Everyone had a tures with vegetable juices; Forensics used chemical great time. No doubt was our enthusiasm to share evidence to help determine a verdict; Biochemistry the wonders of chemistry contagious! talked about life at the molecular level with protein models; Forestry displayed the chemical equilibrium More at of ecosystems; Chemistry hosted a glow in the dark www.chemistry2011.ca room; Astronomy introduced you to their planetarium. - Nadine Borduas

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International Year of Chemistry

Additional Events: Lectures and Festivals Lecture: Are Cows More Trustworthy Than Chemists?

Photo credit: McGill University

The Chemical Institute of Canada Toronto Section hosted a talk at Chemistry by Professor Joe Schwarcz, Director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society on March 4, 2011. Professor Schwarcz gave a dynamic and informative public lecture that demystified chemistry.

Lecture: Chemists Have Solutions! Professor Robert Morris, Chair participated in the Toronto Public Library’s Chemistry Speaker Series on September 14, 2011, during which he spoke about pivotal moments in chemistry research and the role of chemistry in everyday life.

Photo credit: CPimages/ Stephanie Lake

Science Rendezvous Returns! Chemistry continued to participate in the massively popular Science Rendezvous festival on May 8, 2010 and May 7, 2011. Chemistry’s students and faculty opened their lab doors and shared their research with the city during this annual festival. “We are all born scientists,” says Professor Dwayne Miller, founder of Science Rendezvous, “To become a scientist, at some stage you need to have a ‘can do’ experience. If parents see an aptitude for science in their children, they will help nurture it.” Children and children-at-heart flocked to the informative and entertaining exhibits prepared by our students and faculty which featured explosions, an opportunity to create “gold” pennies, glow in the dark and try homemade ice cream made with liquid nitrogen. Science Rendezvous is held annually during May and with Chemistry events are organized by our Chem Club. The event will next be held on Saturday, May 12, 2012. Visit www.sciencerendezvous.ca for more information about the event.

Future scientists create chromatography flowers, watch a demonstration about the phases of matter and make elephant toothpaste. Photo credit: Bob Morris

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Awards

Awards Reception On June 17, 2011, students, staff, faculty and guests gathered together to celebrate the many accomplishments and honours received by our department throughout 2010 and part of 2011. Chair Robert Morris hosted the event which recognized faculty for their many accolades, staff for their dedication and students for their accomplishments. Professor Robert Batey, Associate Chair, Undergraduate Studies, presented awards and scholarships to the undergraduate students, and the Croft TA awards to four graduate students. The graduate awards were distributed by Professor James Donaldson, Associate Chair, Graduate Studies. Faculty were honoured for their excellence in research and teaching, and thanked their research groups. The Outstanding Staff Awards were presented to Johnny Lo (2010) and Patrick Wong (2011), see story on pages 17 & 18. The numerous awards celebrated during the event demonstrate the tremendous strength and effort of our entire community.

We were pleased to welcome our special donors and friends to help celebrate our many accomplishments with the Chemistry family. The donors and the students who received the named awards had an opportunity to discuss the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; research during a luncheon held in the Davenport Atrium. Afterwards, during the awards reception the donors presented their named awards to the graduate and undergraduate student recipients, joined by Professors Donaldson and Batey. The event was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the many accomplishments of the Chemistry family, and look forward to another stellar year in 2012. We thank our donors for helping us celebrate our success and congratulate all awards recipients. - Nina Lee

Undergraduate Award Recipients We were pleased to honour 29 undergraduate students with scholarships and prizes in 2010. These deserving students received their awards for their academic accomplishments and contributions to University life. Of note, the following awards were distributed during our Awards Reception:

David H. Farrar Scholarship in Chemistry Simon Chen 12

Robert and Jean Hadgraft Scholarship in Chemistry Landon Edgar

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University of Toronto Chemistry Club Prize in Chemistry Wasim Kaqzi

Our graduate students are among the most distinguished in the country. Every year, we acknowledge their success and distribute more than 40 awards and innumerable scholarships to our students. 2010 and 2011 were no exception. A complete list of awards and their recipients is available from http://www.chem.utoronto.ca/grad/award_ recipients.php We are proud to announce the following awards were distributed in 2010 and 2011:

Boehringer Ingelheim Award of Excellence in Organic or Bio-Organic Chemistry

Dalton Pharma Services Advanced Inorganic & Materials Laboratory Fellowship

Edwin Walter Warren Graduate Student Award

Chairâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Doctoral Medal

Leslie Gladstone Cook Memorial Fellowship

Xerox Research Centre of Canada Graduate Award

Charles Yeung (2010), Stephen Newman (2011) Ryan Hili (2010), Russ Algar (2011)

Michael J. Dignam Graduate Travel Award

Colin Zamecnik Moir (2011)

and

Jonathon

Kevin Gar Ming Kou Michael Wong (2011)

(2010),

ONTARIO STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES TRUST FUND

David H. Farrar Graduate Scholarship in Chemistry

Vijay Shahani (2010), Sohyoung Her (2011)

Robert and Jean Hadgraft present their Graduate Fellowships in Chemistry to Zhi He and Xianming Zhang

CIBA Specialty Chemical Inc. Graduate Student Award

Robert & Jean Hadgraft Graduate Fellowship in Chemistry

Jiao Lu (2010), Peter Mirtchev (2011)

Greg Gibson (2010), Colin Bridges (2011)

GRADUATE STUDENT ENDOWMENT FUND

Li, Isaac (2010 & 2011)

John Bunting Graduate Prize in Chemistry

Joel Drewry and Sohyoung Her (2010), Jordan Goodreid and Zhi He (2011)

Zhi He and Xianming Zhang (2010), Taunia Closson and Paul DiCarmine (2011)

Raluca Ellis Duodu (2011)

(2010),

Eugenia

Jim Guillet Chemistry Graduate Scholarship

Shun Shang Lo and Gavin Chit Tsui (2010), Ramsay Beveridge and Zhi He (2011)

Merck Frosst Canada Inc. Chemistry Conference Award

Charles Yeung (2010), Jane Panteleev (2011)

Merck Frosst Canada Inc. Graduate Award in Chemistry

Mohamed El-Salfiti (2010), Sean Liew (2011) Mr. Peter Pekos (President and CEO) and Dr. Natalie Lazarowych (Director of Technical Operations), both of Dalton Pharma Services present Jennifer Howell with the Dalton Chemical Laboratories Organic Chemistry Scholarship

Dalton Chemical Laboratories Organic Chemistry Scholarship in Memory of Peter Yates

Jennifer Howell (2010), Lori Yin (2011)

Dr. L. Bradley Pett Graduate Award in Biological Chemistry

Serge Zaretsky (2010), Miriam Avadisian and Adelle Vandersteen (2011)

Relocation Assistance Award

Mohamed El-Salfiti, Peter Mirtchev and Stephanie Hofley (2010), Trevor Janes (2011)

Helen Guillet presents Shun Shang Lo with the Jim Guillet Chemistry Graduate Scholarshp

Alex Harrison Award in Analytical Mass Spectrometry

Keegan Rankin (2010), Xianming Zhang (2011)

Ministry of the Environment Graduate Scholarship

Anne Myers (2010), Elyse Henderson (2011)

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Graduate Award Recipients

Awards

ChemClub Graduate Scholarship

Graeme Cambridge and Jimmy Yuk (2010), Gregory Gibson and Jieshu Qian (2011)

OGSST 2010-2011 & QEII GSST 2011-2012 F.E. Beamish Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology

Stephen Murphy and Charles Yeung (2010), Daniel Oblinsky and Ran Zhao (2011)

Martin Moskovits Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology

Zaheen Syed Sadeq and Hao Mark Yang (2010), Trevor VandenBoer and Adelle Vandersteen (2011)

Edwin Walter and Margery Warren Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology

Christina Gouliaras and Rivka Taylor (2010), Elvin de Araujo and Chanelle Jumper (2011)

Digital Specialty Chemicals Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology

Each year, the Undergraduate Office recognizes excellence in teaching by our graduate students with the Croft TA Awards. The awards are given to lab demonstrators and tutors for both the Fall and Winter session.

Winter 2010

Tutor - Tom Hsieh, CHM138H/ CHM151Y Lab Demonstrator - Christina Mueller, CHM139H

Fall 2010

Paraskevi Lagaditis (2010), Fatme Dahcheh (2011)

Tutor - Sohyoung Her, CHM138 Lab Demonstrator - Robert Di Lorenzo, CHM138

Dina Gordon Malkin Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology

Jordan Goodreid (2010), Miriam Avadisian (2011)

Croft TA Awardees

Winter 2011 Jordan Wosnick (Research Scientist, Xerox Research Centre of Canada) presents Greg Gibson with the Xerox Research Centre of Canada Graduate Award

Tutor - Tom Hsieh, CHM138H Lab Demonstrator - Rayomond Dinshaw, CHM139H

2010 Chair’s Doctoral Medal Dr. Ryan Hili

Dr. Ryan Hili (centre, PhD 2010, Yudin group), is the recipient of the 2010 Chair’s Doctoral Medal Ryan Hili is one of the bright stars to emerge from Chemistry in recent years. An alumnus of the Yudin group, Ryan received the 2010 Chair’s Doctoral Medal for distinction in research by a PhD candidate who has recently defended their thesis. Professor Yudin nominated Ryan for this prestigious award, citing his many accomplishments, discoveries and creativity as having profound influence on the Yudin group’s research. Yudin wrote in Hili’s nomination statement, “He has been exceptionally creative and can certainly be described as a ‘non-linear thinker’. From the very beginning, it was obvious that Ryan was superb both experimentally and academically.” Ryan was an outstanding graduate student who singlehandedly shifted the direction of research in the Yudin lab by discovering bench-stable amino aldehydes, the subject of a JACS communication he published in his second year. He is also responsible for the group’s 14

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inroads in the area of amphoteric reagents. More recently, his 2008 breakthrough in cyclic peptide synthesis have been profound, attracting the attention of the scientific media in 2010, including Chemical and Engineering News (C&E News. vol. 88. iss. 9, 34 (2010), SCIENCE (“Corralling Peptides.” March 19, 2010: 1430) and JACS (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132, 2889 (2010). As a result of Ryan’s exemplary efforts, he has received a number of awards, including the 2009 Boehringer Ingelheim Prize in Organic Chemistry and several University of Toronto Fellowships (2005 and 2008). In addition to his many accolades, Hili holds two patents, published nine articles and presented at five conferences during his time in the Yudin group. During his PhD studies, Ryan developed amphoteric aziridine aldehydes and showed their synthetic utility in a wide range of processes. These reagents are now commercially available through Sigma-Aldrich. Ryan’s scientific accomplishments and potential are truly exceptional. Since graduating from Chemistry in 2010, Ryan has been working as a Postdoctoral Fellow with Professor David Liu’s research group at Harvard University. - Nina Lee with information provided by Andrei Yudin

Awards

2011 Chair’s Doctoral Medal Dr. Walter Russ Algar

Dr. Russ Algar (PhD 2011, Krull group), is the recipient of the 2011 Chair’s Doctoral Medal “The PhD research work of Russ Algar was pioneering...”, begins the nomination submitted by Professor Ulrich Krull. Russ graduated from the Krull group in 2011 after completing ground-breaking research in quantum dots. The research by Algar has been credited as the first to demonstrate multiplexing based on mixtures of quantum dots in solution that have different emissions, where each emission is tined to excite one of a set of distinctive oligonucleotide probes. Algar then extended the multiplexing concept to demonstrate solid-phase density in monolayer coverage on surfaces, and learned to build chemical selectivity on these immobilized quantum dots. He has been able to create a system that offered simultaneous analysis of four different target oligomucleotides using four colour channels. There is a growing interest in using

quantum dots as a basis for bioanalytical assays and biosensors, and his work has already become internationally recognized, and his publications were cited 115 times in 2010. Russ is a regular reviewer for manuscripts submitted to journals such as Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, and has received a number of invitations to speak at conferences. Russ has published 11 research articles, two book chapters and five review articles since beginning his PhD studies. He has received a number of fellowships and awards, including the Chorofas Foundation Prize (2007), a Governor General’s Award (2011) and the F.E. Beamish Ontario Graduate Scholarship in Science & Technology (2009). He was ranked as the top Chemistry Postdoctoral Fellow across Canada for the NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship competition. Since 2011, Russ has been working as a Postdoctoral Fellow with Igor Medintz at the Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering at the US Naval Research Laboratories. Beginning in July 2012, Russ will be joining the Department of Chemistry at the University of British Columbia as an Assistant Professor. - Nina Lee with information provided by Ulrich Krull

2010 Andre Hamer Postgraduate Prize Nadine Borduas

Nadine Borduas is the recipient of the NSERC André Hamer Postgraduate Prize. The prize is awarded to the most outstanding candidates in NSERC’s master’s scholarship competition. Her research interest lies in total synthesis, the creation of a complex organic product made by executing chemical reactions from simpler pieces. Most organic chemistry is petroleumbased, and as the world’s limited supply is depleted, the need for new base materials, such as carbon dioxide and starch, will become necessary.

Borduas intends to demonstrate the usefulness and efficiency of new, but underutilized forming reactions that will aid in the production of biological products. Her research results will particularly benefit fields concerned with the environment. Her work will provide new reliable tools for chemists to use when conducting synthesis of molecules for biological products and help to advance the entire field of green chemistry. Information provided by NSERC (http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Prizes-Prix/ Hamer-Hamer/Profiles-Profils/NadineBorduas_eng.asp) Photo credit: Nadine Borduas

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Awards

2010 & 2011 Vanier Scholarships Nadine Borduas, Christina Müller and Jessica Sonnenberg Nadine Borduas, Christina Müller and Jessica Sonnenberg were awarded prestigious Vanier Scholarships in 2010 and 2011. The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program was launched by the Government of Canada in 2009 to strengthen Canada’s ability to attract and retain the world’s toptier doctoral students. Each scholar receives up to $50,000 annually for up to three years, and each is selected based on their demonstrated leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in their graduate studies. Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the recipients noting “Canada’s prosperity is fundamentally linked to science and technology and highly skilled individuals whose talents bring innovative ideas to life. I am pleased to congratulate the recipients of this year’s Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships – researchers whose ideas will help produce tomorrow’s breakthroughs and keep Canada’s economy growing.” In addition to their strong academic performances, Nadine, Christina and Jessica are all very active in the department. All three were members of the organization committee for Chemistry’s Nuit Blanche celebrations, during which a postage stamp in honour of Professor Polanyi was unveiled

(see page 10). Nadine and Jessica have served on the executive of the ChemClub, while Christina has been a part of our graduate student’s advisory committee. Currently, Nadine is researching the environmental impacts of volatile amines and their degradation products, compounds which may have negative effects on human health as well as on ecosystems. Her research involves detecting, characterizing and gaining insight into the fate of these amines in the atmosphere to ultimately help create a sustainable future. Christina’s research is focused on the development of nano and microfabrication methods and their experimental implementation in diffraction and spectroscopy experiments, she is working towards understanding atomic resolution of structural dynamics in solution phase and laser selective chemistry. Jessica is investigating the mechanism of transfer hydrogenation using iron catalysts developed in the Morris group. Specifically, she has determined that the active species are zero-valent iron nanoparticles doing asymmetric catalysis. Information provided by Nadine Borduas, Christina Müller, Jessica Sonnenberg and http://www.vanier.gc.ca Photo credit: Nadine Borduas (top), Christina Müller (middle) and Jessica Sonnenberg (bottom)

External Awards

Presented to Chemistry’s Undergraduate and Graduate Students Canadian Society of Chemistry Toronto Conference, June 2010: Organic Chemistry Graduate Poster Award, Honourable Mention Shannon Decker (Yudin group)

Undergraduate Poster Award in Physical Theoretical Chemistry

Rayomond Dinshaw (Scholes group)

Surface Science Graduate Poster Award, Honourable Mention Alon Eisenstein (Goh group)

Environmental Chemistry Graduate Poster Award

Industrial Chemistry Graduate Student Oral Presentation Award

Inorganic Graduate Poster Award

2010 AACR AstraZeneca International Scholar in Training Award

Robert McWhinney (Abbatt group) Gabriel Menard (Stephan group)

Division of Inorganic Chemistry (DIC) Award for Graduate Work in Inorganic Chemistry Danny Puzzo (Ozin group)

Organic Chemistry Oral Presentation Award Rob Webster (Lautens group)

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Serge Zaretsky (Yudin group)

Brent Page (Gunning group)

2010 University of Toronto Alumni Association Gordon Cressy Student Leadership Award

Leo Mui (BSc 2008, MSc 2010, Chin group)

Awards

2010 Outstanding Staff Award Johnny Lo

Johnny Lo (Machine Shop), is the recipient of the 2010 Outstanding Staff Award Skilled, dedicated, artistic, professional, modest, helpful, and gifted! When asked about Johnny Lo, these adjectives are used to describe him. A master machinist working in Chemistry’s Machine Shop since 1980, Johnny’s skilled work is appreciated by everyone in our department. Virtually everyone in Chemistry has benefitted from his skilled and precise hands. From repairing broken banner stands for the administrative offices to fabricating pieces used in research by our faculty and students, Johnny performs his job with the greatest attention to detail and with style. As the recipient of the 2010 Outstanding Staff Award, Johnny joins a group of distinguished staff who have demonstrated ongoing distinguished service to the

43rd Inorganic Discussion Weekend, November 4-6, 2010 Best Oral Presentation Gabriel Menard (Stephan group)

Best Poster

Demyan Prokopchuk (Morris group)

2011 Governor General’s Gold Medals

Russ Algar (PhD 2011, Krull group)

2011 John Charles Polanyi Prizes

Arash Zarrine-Afsar (Miller group)

department, or who have contributed exceptional performance in a project or service effort. A few of our former students have written to tell us that they have worked with machinists around the world, and have never encountered anyone more skilled than Johnny Lo, and nowhere have they encountered anyone who puts more creative energy into their finished product. Johnny does more than create pieces that are machined precisely to specifications; he always makes sure that he understands the purpose of a piece and how it fits into a setup. This level of understanding allows him to make suggestions on how to optimize the performance of a piece, simplify it, or improve it in some other way, as only a very experienced, skilled and dedicated machinist could. Johnny not only got the job done, he ensured that we always get the best and most suitable product for our needs. This has been especially helpful for our students who often visit Johnny looking to craft a resolution to a problem, or create a prototype, but without sufficient technical knowledge to create a schematic. Johnny is most definately a master craftsman and we are the lucky beneficiaries of his talent. Thank you Johnny, for helping to make Chemistry a great place to learn and work!

Canadian Society of Chemistry Montreal Conference, June, 2011: Organic Chemistry Graduate Poster Award, Third Prize

Michael Chudzinski (Taylor group)

Reg Friesen Award for Best Undergraduate Student Oral Paper in a Chemical Education Session

Katherine Koroluk (1st prize) Liliana Guevara Opinska (2nd prize)

Environmental Graduate Student Oral Presentation Award Sarah Styler (Donaldson group)

44th Inorganic Discussion Weekend, August 19-21, 2011 Best Oral Presentation

Vincent Annibale (Song group)

2011 CIC Macromolecular Science and Engineering Division Undergraduate Thesis Competition Award Alexander Kumachev

2011 Developments in Protein Interaction Analysis (DiPIA) Conference, November 12-15, 2011 Poster Award Isaac Herrera (Winnik group)

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2011 Outstanding Staff Award Patrick Wong

Patrick Wong (Electronics and Computer Shop), is the recipient of the 2011 Outstanding Staff Award Having been a part of Chemistry’s Electronic and Computer Shop for a relatively short time, Patrick Wong has already made his mark on the department. Impressed with the barrage of letters citing his dedication, friendliness, enthusiasm and helpfulness, the nomination committee selected Patrick to receive the Outstanding Staff Award in 2011. Patrick accepted the award at our Awards Reception held on June 17, 2011 with his usual grace and humble attitude, “This award is a great honour, and encourages me to work harder in the future,” he explained, “Whenever technical issues arise, everyone is very understanding and patient. They give me time and space to resolve their issues, which allows me to focus on the problems that I need to fix.” Patrick is known to go beyond the call of duty. He is always pleasant and will take on any assignment with his usual dedication and enthusiasm. Patrick is the kind of person who will analyze any computer-

related problem and come up with a working solution in no time. Course instructors that use computer labs, undergraduate, graduate and postdocs all benefit enormously from his conscientious, courteous and friendly assistance. He regularly helps students and faculty with their own web projects. Faculty have written enthusiastically supporting his nomination, “I can rely on him and know that he will take my concerns seriously and has the knowledge to solve difficult problems.” Another writes, “He is always ready to offer some help and hints on how to cope with more and more complicated software.” The administrative and technical support staff all benefit from Patrick’s strong work ethic and dedication to see every project to completion: “He went beyond our expectations and researched the perfect solution for our archaic system. Patrick took the lead from selecting the software to training our staff to minimize the impact on our productivity.” Virtually everyone in the department can share a story about how Patrick has helped them with a project or in a moment of crisis. Patrick’s cheerful, prompt, reliable and courteous assistance helps us to sustain our productive and enjoyable workplace in many ways; whether it be recommending the most appropriate software to support our varied needs, fixing code on a malfunctioning webpage, implementing new energy savings routines or updating the servers in our labs. Congratulations on your well-deserved award, Patrick!

Celebrating Faculty Achievements Our faculty received 57 prestigious awards and honours in 2010 and 2011. Among these many accolades, four received UoT Inventors of the Year Awards in 2011 (Shana Kelley, Geoff Ozin, Scott Tanner and Andrei Yudin), while the Royal Society of Chemistry bestowed honours to Mark Lautens, Geoff Ozin, John Polanyi and Andre Simpson. Our faculty also received the highly prestigious Sackler Prize (Greg Scholes) and the SCI-LeSueur Memorial Award (Mitch Winnik). Four of our faculty were named fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry (Mark Lautens, Geoff Ozin,

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Andre Simpson and Frank Wania), Scott Mabury was elected to the fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada, and Molly Shoichet was appointed to the Order of Ontario. Please visit our website regularly to read more about these, and additional honours that our faculty have received at, http://www.chem.utoronto.ca/chemistry/news.php

Awards

2011 Sackler Prize Professor Gregory Scholes

Professor Greg Scholes was honoured with a 2011 Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in Physical Sciences by Tel Aviv University. The Sackler Prizes are awarded by Tel Aviv University every two years and recognize dedication to sciences, originality and excellence by outstanding young scientists up to 45 years of age. Awards are given for chemistry one year and physics the next. The research field for the 2011 was “molecular dynamics of chemical reactions.” Scholes, who shared the prize with Professor Martin Zanni from the University of Wisconsin, was cited for “his seminal contribution to the field of ultrafast spectroscopy and the applications to quantum coherent energy transfer and exciton dynamics in biophysics and materials science through the development of multi-dimensional electronic spectroscopy”. Former winners of the prize include James Heath (Caltech) and Moungi Bawendi (MIT), who were awarded the inaugural prize in 2001 for their contributions to Physical Chemistry of Advanced Materials. “This is a great honour from a great university. I knew I had been nominated but the award still came as a total surprise,” said Scholes. “Tel Aviv University has such a strong tradition in chemistry research, so it was a memorable experience for me to visit there and meet their amazing scientists. It was also a wonderful experience for my wife and I to visit Israel for the first time.”

From left to right: Eran Rabani (Tel Aviv University and Chair of the Prize Committee), Greg Scholes, Martin Zanni, Michael Urbach (Tel Aviv University and coChair of the Prize Committee), Joshua Jortner (Tel Aviv University) Photo provided by Greg Scholes

Scholes’ research focuses on interactions between molecules that are initiated by light – for example, photosynthesis in algae. He says nature has shown its genius in how chemical reactions can create energy through light, as is the case with photosynthesis. “Plants and algae have been doing this for 3.5 billion years. If we could learn how to put together such a sophisticated machine and master what nature does, the possibilities would be incredible,” he says. - Greg Scholes

Can You Solve This? Professor Douglas Stephan sent us the following problem: The compounds P5Ph5 is an oligophosphine that binds in a bidentate fashion to Rh. The 31P spectrum (see aside) is shown. Can you rationalize the observation of 5 inequivalent P atoms? The answer is available on the Chemistry website, at http://www.chem.utoronto.ca/chemistry/magazines.php

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Community Outreach

Chemistry Olympiads 2010 & 2011 National Finals University of Toronto & Université de Montréal The International Chemistry and Physics Olympiads (IChO and IPhO) rose from very humble beginnings in 1967, when only three nations from Eastern Europe participated. The Olympiads are now held in a different country every year and attract close to 80 countries from all continents. The goal of these competitions has always been to encourage excellence in

science education throughout the world; these competitions are the most prestigious of their kind for students at the high school or CÉGEP level.

Canada first participated in the International Chemistry Olympiad in 1986 and in the International Physics Olympiad in 1985. Since 1986, our Chemistry students have won 7 Gold, 24 Silver, and 43 Bronze Medals, along with 3 Honourable Mentions. Since 1985, our Physics students have won 8 Gold, 15 Silver, and 34 Bronze Medals, in addition to 29 Honourable Mentions.

All participating countries, Canada included, devote an enormous amount of time, energy, and money encouraging and preparing their most talented students so that they will do well in these competitions. The caliber of the competition is high and encompasses both theoretical knowledge and laboratory expertise.

- Stan Skonieczny and Andy Dicks

Based on the results of the Canada-wide examinations in chemistry and other local competitions, 10 chemistry students participated in the 2010 National Olympiad Finals at the University of Toronto, May 20-26th, 2010. Brian Bi, Woburn Collegiate Institute (Ontario) Jaclyn Chang, Western Canada High School (Alberta) Daniel Hidru, Don Mills Collegiate Institute (Ontario) 1 Richard Liu, University of Toronto Schools (Ontario) 1 Philip Sohn, Northern Secondary School (Ontario) Steven Song, Semiahmoo Secondary School (British Columbia) Clinton Jia Wang, University Toronto Schools (Ontario) Dongbin Zhang, Citadel High School (Nova Scotia) 1 Connie Zhao, University Toronto Schools (Ontario) Pei Jun Zhao, London Central Secondary School (Ontario) 1

2010 National Olympiad Finalists. Photo credit: Andy Dicks

The 2011 National Olympiad Finals were held at the University of Montréal, May 31st-June 6th, 2011. Based on the results of the Canada-wide examinations in chemistry and other local competitions, the following students were selected to participate in this event: Boden Anderson, Yale Secondary School (British Columbia) Run Ze Cao, Martingrove Collegiate Institute (Ontario) Nathan Cheng, Yale Secondary School (British Columbia) 3 Melody Guan, University of Toronto Schools (Ontario) 3 Richard Liu, University of Toronto Schools (Ontario) 3 Shuoli Liu, Glebe Collegiate Institute (Ontario) David Pechersky, Vaughan Secondary School (Ontario) 3 Steven Song, Semiahmoo Secondary School (British Columbia) William Tang, University of Toronto Schools (Ontario) Isabelle Yang, Don Mills Collegiate Institute (Ontario) Chemistry Mentors: 2,4 Andrew Dicks, University of Toronto (Toronto, ON) Frederic Fontaine, Université Laval (Québec City, PQ) 4 John Janetzko, University of Toronto (Toronto, ON) 2 Jeffrey Mo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Boston, MA) Patrick Kim, University of Toronto (Toronto, ON) Karen Waldron, Université de Montréal (Montréal, PQ) 20

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Students selected to represent Canada at the 42nd IChO, Tokyo, Japan, July 19-28, 2010 2 Mentors, 2010 3 Students selected to represent Canada at the 43rd IChO, Ankara, Turkey, July 9-18, 2011 4 Mentors, 2011 1

42nd International Chemistry Olympiads Finals in Tokyo, Japan July 19-28, 2010 The Canadian team arrived in Tokyo on July 18 in order to adjust to the time difference. Mentors stayed at the Overseas Vocational Training Association in Chiba (30 km east of Tokyo) while the students stayed at the National Youth Centre (NYC) in Tokyo. NYC was the Olympic Village for the 1960 Tokyo Summer Olympics, the first Olympic Games ever held in Asia. The Japanese organizers did a wonderful job organizing the IChO. Every aspect of our stay was meticulously organized and all needs were attended to. All participants were truly immersed in Japanese culture. Students experienced a number of tours - they saw shrines and temples, went to the Tokyo Tower, took part in judo, tried on kimonos, and ate at two conveyer belt sushi restaurants. The mentors had the opportunity to attend two trips, but it was enough to learn something about the history and culture of Japan and to buy some souvenirs. The technical part of this year’s IChO was fairly demanding. The jury meetings were long and protracted, and involved many arguments about significant figures, wording/translation issues and regulations. A lot of the difficulties were due to language barriers between the Japanese organizers and the international jury, for most of whom English is a second language; and a cultural divide between the reserved Japanese organizers and the more animated international jury. Arbitration,

The exams themselves were rather easy. In the practical examination, the students were faced with three tasks: (i) an organic synthesis (oxidation of 1,4-dihydro2 , 6 - d i m e t h y l - The Canadian Chemistry Olympiad team with mentors Stan Skonieczny and pyridine-3,5-di- Jeffrey Mo. Photo courtesy of Dr. Stan Skonieczny carboxylic acid diethyl ester (Hantzsch product, 1,4-DHP) ing (and being granted) a spot in with urea hydrogen peroxide (an the Catalyzer newsletter. The four environmentally-friendly oxi- Canadians were also a very cohedant, UHP). Techniques involved sive unit, and there seemed to be TLC and recrystallization. Task a sincere camaraderie amongst 2 involved determination of Fe(II) them. As for the mentors, we and Fe(III) by visual colometry talked to and made connections (Nessler tubes). The third task fea- with a large variety of countries – tured a polymer titration (with a this was perhaps made easier by blue to purple endpoint). The the- our wide linguistic and cultural oretical examination was based, backgrounds. We would say that and virtually taken directly from, we probably talked to almost all the preparatory problems, and was European countries, most counvery easy. The exam heavily tested tries in the Americas, the Oceaniphysical chemistry, with only two ans, and the majority of the counquestions involving organic chem- tries from East Asia. istry and no questions that tested any of the reactions/reagents Our four students performed very that the students worked hard to well. Philip Sohn was awarded study. No biochemistry knowledge with an honourable mention. Conwas required. A question regard- nie Zhao, Brian Bi and Richard ing perhaps the most difficult con- Liu won silver medals. cept in the preparatory problems – molecular orbital theory – was We are extremely proud of our stuthrown out because the steering dents, both in terms of their perforcommittee thought the exam was mance and the way they behaved already too long. and interacted with others. It confirms that the right team memAnother important part of the bers were chosen. We would like IChO, especially for the students, to express our sincere thanks to is its social component. Almost everyone who helped train the stuimmediately once we arrived in dents and organize things behind Japan, our students became the scenes. friends with the Dutch and Australian teams. They seemed to be - Stan Skonieczny and Andy Dicks a very popular team, taking part in a dorm game called “Werewolves,” becoming very involved in stealing other teams’ mascots, and request-

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Community Outreach

likewise, was very difficult.

Community Outreach

sia, the United Kingdom, Korea and Hungary.

43rd International Chemistry Olympiads Finals in Ankara, Turkey July 9-19, 2011 Turkish Delight for Olympiad Students!

Chemistry

Canadian high school students achieved the best-ever national results at the 43rd International Chemistry Olympiad this summer, held in Ankara from July 9th – 18th. The four-person team, which was announced at the 94th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition in Montréal this June, won four medals (one gold and three silvers) representing the best performance since Canada started sending students in 1986. The gold medal winner was Steven Song, who was placed 22nd in the world out of 273 students from 70 countries. Silver medals were earned by Shuoli Liu, Melody Guan and Richard Liu. Richard had previously won a silver medal at the 42nd Olympiad in Tokyo last year. The top five gold medalists in Ankara hailed from China, Rus-

The Chemical Institute of Canada now provides administrative support for the national team, with academic training at both provincial and national levels organized at the University of Toronto. Dr. Andy Dicks and former Olympian John Janetzko (B.Sc. in The Canadian Chemistry Olympiad team with mentors Andy Dicks Synthetic and Catalytic and John Janetzko. Photo courtesy of Andy Dicks Chemistry, now a graduate student at Harvard University) topics including “click” chemistry acted as mentors in Turkey this and atom-economical reactions, year. synthesis of a carbasugar, thiosulfate leaching of gold, polynitrogen The Turkish organizers of this compounds, sodium borohydride year’s program devised challeng- fuel cells and ammonia as an altering but fair written and practical native liquid fuel source. These tests. In the five-hour laboratory tests were at the level normally examination, students undertook taught in second- and third-year three separate tasks. The first was Canadian undergraduate courses. a titrimetric analysis of unknown mixtures to determine chloride Congratulations to all the students and magnesium ion content. Sec- and mentors involved in the proondly, the kinetics of hydrogen gas gram this year! The 44th Internaproduction from ammonia borane tional Chemistry Olympiad will be was measured under catalytic con- held in Washington, DC from July ditions. The final task involved 21st – 30th, 2012 (www.icho2012. synthesis, purification and separa- org). tion of a diastereomeric mixture of ferrocene-containing ligands. The - Andy Dicks theoretical problems focused on

Thank you

Olympiad supporters: The organization of the Canadian Chemistry and Physics Olympiads is heavily based on volunteer work. Fundraising, organizing the academic program with related provincial and national selection processes, team training and escorting of students to international competition venues were all done by volunteers. This tireless commitment is why we are very grateful to dozens of individuals across the country for their involvement and expertise. Our major sponsor is the PromoScience Division of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). We are very grateful that NSERC has continued their support to the most talented high school students in Canada. 22

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The University of Toronto was the site of the Ontario finals of the Chemistry and Physics Olympiads and the site of the National Finals and team training in 2010, while the University of Montreal hosted the National Finals in 2011. The Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Toronto remains a major source of volunteers, who work at different levels of the selection process and final training of the national teams. We are also very grateful to Professor Pekka Sinervo, former dean, and Professor Meric Gertler, current dean, for their steadfast support of the program. The Faculty of Arts and Science also provides special scholarships for students who qualify for the Canadian teams in Chemistry and Physics and choose to study at the University of Toronto. In addition, we are indebted to Professor Robert Morris, Chair of the Department of Chemistry, University

Community Outreach

Riding for the Cure On June 11th and 12th, 2011, Miguel Neves (Thompson group), Ethan Tumarkin (Kumacheva group) and Mike Watson (Wheeler group) took on a huge challenge to participate in the 2011 Ride to Conquer Cancer. The event benefits the “Why do Campbell Family Institute at the Princess Margaret we ride? We Hospital (PMH) in downtown ride because Toronto, one of the top-five cancer treatment our sweat centers in the world. We rode is nothing over 200 km from Toronto to Niagara Falls along compared to with 4,610 other participants their tears! We and together raised over $17.5 ride because our Million for the PMH! Riding this pain is nothing distance is not a trivial activity and compared to took months of training rides to build up to the their fight!” work was all event. Our hard worth it for the stories we shared during this event and the people we met that have changed our lives. All three of us have signed us for next year’s ride to continue to make an impact on cancer research. See you in 2012! - Mike Watson Top: At the start line at BMO Field. From Left: Mike Watson, Miguel Neves and Ethan Tumarkin. Bottom: Celebrating at the top of Niagara Falls! Photos courtesy of Mike Watson

of Toronto, for his support of our program. We also greatly appreciate the secretarial, technical, and financial advice from the best personnel in the Department of Chemistry. We are very thankful for the strong and continued support of our program by Professor Gordon Bates from the Chemistry Department, University of British Columbia. Professor Bates ran and coordinated the IChO program for many years and in 2010 and 2011 he obtained significant funding from his department to sponsor the CCPO. We also thank our industrial supporters: Merck Frosst Canada has supported us for more than 20 years, and we acknowledge their steady support in 2010. Imperial Oil Foundation was a sponsor in 2010. Boehringer Ingelheim, Recochem, and MacLean Foundation also continued to support our program in 2010 and 2011.

In addition, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, the Physics Department at the University of Toronto, and the Ontario Ministry of Education supported the program as well. We are very thankful for their continued support. We would also like to acknowledge donations of textbooks by the John Wiley & Sons Inc., Nelson, and Houghton Mifflin publishing companies. We would like to acknowledge the sponsorship and support of the following corporations, institutions, and government bodies, in supporting the Canadian Chemistry Olympiad program. - Stan Skonieczny and Andy Dicks

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Community Outreach

The Magic Wand Ownership Project The Magical World of Chemical Physics The world we live in is full of magic. Magic created by science and technology. Scientists and engineers swing their magic wands and create wonderous things. The Magic Wand Ownership Project was created to make the magical worlds of chemistry physics accessible and understandable to general audiences. Students in the Chemistry department organized the series of 3 lectures, each on a cutting edge scientific research topic were all themed upon the magical world of Harry Potter. Krister Shalm, a graduating PhD student from physics department, gave the first lecture, entitled “The Quantum Physics of Harry Potter”. Krister introduced light in both the classical and in the quantum mechanics senses, and spoke about quantum mechanics, the phenomenon of quantum entanglement and how it’s used for teleportation and encrypted communica-

tion. The audience enthusiastically participated in the demonstrations. You can view the lecture at, http://vimeo.com/10109704 The second lecture, entitled “Harry Potter and Snakes”, was given by Clement Yang, a masters student from system and cell biology department. The audience was fascinated to learn about the evolution of snakes and how they interact with the outside world with their tongues. The children in the audience were particularly keen to learn about the reptiles and impressed the audience with their knowledge and questions. Yaser Khan (Scholes group) gave the third lecture, entitled, “More physics and Harry Potter”. Yaser explained the quantum tunneling effect with animations and demonstrations while Michael Zedler, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department spoke about metamaterials and the design of invisibility cloak. You can view Yaser’s portion of the lecture at, http://www.vimeo.com/10590259 - Nina Lee with information provided by Claire Yu

Chemistry Learning Centre Opening Celebrations

Chair Robert Morris and Dean Meric Gertler opened the Chemistry Learning Centre on November 11, 2010. The newly renovated space provides an area for students to study, a place for the Chem Club to sell chemistry merchandise, lab supplies and manuals, office space for our very active student groups: Chem Club and the Chemistry Student’s Union (CSU), and a tuto-

rial room to facilitate learning. The intention to renovate the Learning Centre began when Professor Morris saw an opportunity to enhance chemistry student learning, support the undergraduate chemistry tutorials organized by Victoria University and Chemistry, and provide more functional space to the chemistry student organizations. The funding for the renovation

came from the entrepreneurial and cost-saving actions of Chemistry’s staff, faculty and students. Today, the space is consistently used by VicOne, a tutorial program run by Victoria University, the Chemistry Course Communities and our students. - Nina Lee

From left: Greg Gibson (President, 2010-11 ChemClub), Dean Meric Gertler (Faculty of Arts and Science), Principal David Cook (Victoria University), Chair Robert Morris and Richard Huang (Academic Events Coordinator 2010-11, CSU); Dean Meric Gertler speaks with students during the opening of the Chemistry Learning Centre; Student tutors use the Chemistry Learning Centre

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Summer Research Experience Summer is always an exciting period for second and third year undergraduate students in Chemistry. A select group of students are given the opportunity to join the research groups of our faculty. This summer research opportunity is funded by the NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) and from the Department’s Ontario Student Opportunities Trust Fund (OSOTF) summer research scholarships. Typically we have approximately 200 students competing for a small number of research positions, making the task of choosing the students very difficult for the selection committee. The students who are chosen are academically the strongest and show a keen interest in chemical research, with the expectation that they will consider pursuing graduate studies in the future. Research challenges the students with investigating new approaches, the exhilaration of discovering results, understanding that expected results are not always forthcoming, and that research becomes more interesting as results start to reveal themselves from the experiments and tests. Joy Yu, who is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Biological Chemistry in Summer 2012, worked in Professor Andrei Yudin’s lab during the summer of 2010, comments, “My mentor showed me that patience and passion are indispensable attitudes in performing chemistry. Chemistry might not work in every single experiment, but that’s the key part in doing chemistry --- how you can solve the problems.” Fred Chiu, a two-time recipient of USRA, said that he made a lot of mistakes when he was working with air- and watersensitive compounds, but was quick

to admit that “in a research lab, the freedom and excitement of designing and optimizing a new reaction, as well as finding occasional surprising and unexpected results, are quite intriguing… .” Fred, who is in final year, is very grateful for his two USRA opportunities in the faculty research labs that has strengthened his resolve to pursue graduate studies in the future.

Towards the end of the 16-week research program, our young budding scientists present their research during a poster session. The poster session offers them an opportunity to discuss their research in a more formal setting with their peers, students, faculty and guests industry professionals. During the course of the event, judges interviewed the undergrad students and awarded prizes for the best posters. The best The guidance and support that the posters are selected based on the students receive from their supervi- presentation, the interview and the value of research. The winners receive monetary award through the generous donations from AstraZeneca Canada and the department’s ChemClub. The excellence of research, enthusiasm during the presentation and the level of intelligence these Matthew Lumba presents his research undergraduate students during the 2011 USRA Poster Session displayed are a testament to the quality of sors and the other members in the research opportunities that the research groups helps to reinforce Department of Chemistry has made their passion and respect for sci- available to young undergraduates. entific research. Sarah Hughes, who worked in the Stephan lab, Dennis Dobrovolsky, a third year tells us “I felt very included within Biological Chemistry student who the group, and received help from received one of the Best Poster almost everybody. The poster ses- prizes, wrote to tell us, “My NSERC sion and my presentation to the research experience [in the Lautens group helped build my confidence lab] this past summer offered an in speaking, and being able to pres- invaluable window into the world ent information is just as important of research science ... I had the as having information to present chance to travel to Montreal for the ….The great ‘chemistry’ I felt within CSC Conference and hear a host of the lab inspired me to work hard fascinating lectures including one no matter what, so that I may go to by the exceptional Barry Sharpless. graduate school and be informed ... Although scientists are often porabout the developments in the trayed as reclusive eccentrics toiling future of chemistry.” Sarah, a third away amid clouds of fumes, I think year student enrolled in the Syn- that science is primarily a social thetic and Catalytic Chemistry spe- phenomenon, and it is important to cialist program and looks forward communicate your work to others to future research opportunities to and inspire their interest.” expand her experience. - Armando Marquez 20 1 0 & 20 1 1 D i s t i l l at i o n s / c h e m . u t o r o n t o . c a

Undergraduate News

AstraZeneca Undergraduate

Undergraduate News

Southern Ontario Undergraduate Student Chemistry Conferences The Southern Ontario Undergraduate Student Chemistry Conference (SOUSCC) was held at the University of Waterloo in 2011 and the University of Western Ontario in 2010. During the two events, 35 Chemistry undergraduate students gave oral presentations on their research. Rayomond Dinshaw (Scholes group) received the Physical/Theoretical Chemistry prize in 2010 for his presentation on modeling electronic energy transfer in light-harvesting proteins. Six students received honours during the 2011 SOUSCC: John Janetzko (Batey group) received 1st place while Richard Huang tied for 2nd place in the

Students enjoy a dinner hosted by the University of Western Ontario during the 2010 SOUSCC awards presentations. Photo credit: Bijan Dragisic

Organic Chemistry category, Alex Kumachev (Walker group) tied for 1st place in the Polymer and Materials category and Hisashi Ohara (Morris group) received 2nd place in the Inorganic category. Landon Edgar (Nitz group) and Irsa Ademi (Zamble group) were awarded 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, in the

Biological and Medicinal Chemistry categories. - Nina Lee with information provided by Armando Marquez and Andy Dicks

Chemistry Students’ Union The Chemistry Students’ Union (CSU) is the official course union that represents all undergraduates enrolled in courses at the Department of Chemistry. Throughout the academic year, the CSU sponsors various academic lectures and social events to engage chemistry students outside the classroom, and to give them another opportunity to network with each other and the faculty. Thanks to the talents and dedication of the Executive members and the generous support and encouragement of the faculty and staff at the Department, the CSU has had yet another great and accomplished year.

Chemistry Beyond the Classroom

One of the central missions of the CSU is to hold academic seminars at which faculty can present their latest research to undergraduate students, thereby stimulating interest in chemistry and chemical research among undergraduates and giving them an opportunity to ask questions and reach out to professors in relation to undergraduate research opportunities. During these past two years the CSU was very fortunate to have three faculty members give engaging talks about their work, at a level digestible and relevant to undergraduates. In Fall 2010, Professor Geoff Ozin gave an exciting presentation about the material chemistry and optical properties of photonic crystals. Professor Mark Taylor updated students about his group’s cutting-edge work on halogen bonding and boron-catalyzed transformations of carbohydrates. During the Winter 2011 term, Professor 26

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Andrei Yudin spoke about the fascinating reactivity and applications of amphoteric amino aldehydes to macrocycle synthesis. Undergraduate student turn-out at the seminars continued to be high, reflecting the excitement for chemistry and research among the undergraduates and the engaging and relevant nature of the faculty’s research work.

Social Events and Highlights

The undergraduate chemistry experience goes beyond courses and research. To this end, this past year the CSU staged various social events to help chemistry students connect with each other and with other members of the Department, thereby making their experience more enjoyable and giving them the networks that will become important for their personal and professional lives. The Fall “Welcome Back” barbecue fundraiser was a great success and generated spectacular turn-out. Undergraduate students, young and old, and even graduate students and postdocs had a great time at the Fall pub night, hosted at Toby’s on College. In the winter term, students also had great fun at the Games Night, held in the Davenport Atrium. The CSU thanks everyone for their interest and support, and we hope to have yet another great year! - Simon Chen, 2010-11 Vice President & 2011-12 President

Graduate News

Professional Development Initiatives Enhancing the Graduate Student Experience About two years ago, the University embarked on a funding program as an incentive to increase the enrolment of domestic PhD students. The Graduate Studies Committee decided to put this money towards a series of programs designed to enhance the experience and professional development of our graduate students. We have had a tremendously positive response from our students since introducing these initiatives in 2010, and we hope that this program will attract graduate applicants in the future. Already we are hearing from our prospective students that one of the reasons they have chosen to apply to Chemistry is the opportunity to enhance their own professional development in addition to a strong research and academic experience.

Associates), Nita Ichhpuran (Director, Drug Development at Celerion), Marla Gale (Vice President, Investor Relations at Malbex Resources Inc.) and Mary Soler (Manager, Regulatory Affairs Team at GlaxoSmithKline). A number of the invited speakers were Chemistry alumni who have pursued non-academic careers after graduation. The lively panel discussion proved to be very beneficial to our students who learned about the speakers’ inspiring career paths and received advice for their own journeys. Following the panel discussion, our students had an opportunity to meet with the speakers, many of whom made plans to continue discussing career options and mentorship opportunities in the future. We were thrilled to hear that our students had heard Dr. Balbes’ important message about networking, and they were already benefiting from the workshop.

As one of these initiatives, in May 2011, the Graduate Office hosted a two day workshop entitled “Preparing for life after Graduate School”. This workshop In addition to the workshops and Career was organized by the American Chemical Lunch Talk Series we established two Society and lead by Dr. Lisa Balbes, an types of competitive travel grant proexpert in career development for sciengrams - the Special Opportunity Travel tists. Students participated in informal Fellowship (SOTF) and the Chemistry round-table discussions with Chemistry Travel Grant programs. The SOTF has faculty: Scott Mabury, Dwight Seferos allowed our PhD students to experiand Mark Lautens, and Postdoctoral ence an unparalleled and inspirational Fellow Daniel Turner (Scholes group). opportunity to conduct research at leadSome students had an opportunity to ing institutions like MIT, Osaka Univerhave mock interviews with either Dr. sity and the Helmholtz Centre for EnviLouis J. Kirschenbaum, Professor of Top: Panel discussion held in Decem- ronmental Research-UFZ in Germany, Chemistry at The University of Rhode ber 2011. or to take a highly specialized course Dr. Lisa Balbes leads a semiIsland, or Dr. Balbes. The students Bottom: at Oxford University. Work carried out nar and discusses career options for appreciated the valuable feedback they scientists in December 2011. during these exchanges has led to pubreceived from their interviews and about lications in peer-reviewed journals and their CVs. The success of this workshop has led to a the creation of longer lasting collaborations with number of informal lunchtime career talks with fac- other institutions. A number of our students have ulty and scientists discussing their career experiences also been offered positions as Postdoctoral Fellows in post graduate school. We were thrilled to present Dr. leading institutions like Harvard University after comAndy Dicks from our department as the first speaker pleting their SOTF research projects. The travel grant in October, followed by Dr. Dan Cziczo in November. program, with funds matched by the students’ faculty supervisors, sponsors our students to attend major We held a second successful workshop in Decem- conferences and showcase their research around ber 2011 in response to student comments from the the world. These programs have received excellent first workshop. Dr. Lisa Balbes returned to lead this response from our students and have prepared them workshop discussing nontraditional careers for chem- for a strong career after they graduate. ists. The workshop included a panel discussion with enthusiastic speakers Darren Anderson (CTO, Vive - Nina Lee with information provided by Anna Liza Crop Protection), Nicole Dinaut (Patent Agent at Nor- Villavelez ton Rose group), Gillian Daly (Risk Assessor at Golder 20 1 0 & 20 1 1 D i s t i l l at i o n s / c h e m . u t o r o n t o . c a

Graduate News

Graduate Student Weekend Chemistry Welcomes Prospective Students We hosted the annual Graduate Student Weekends (GSW) on March 4-6 in 2010 and March 3-5 in 2011. During the two events, more than 70 enthusiastic prospective students toured the Department’s facilities, visited the three campuses, and explored Toronto. The majority of attendees came from within Ontario, but some came from as far away as Vancouver, New York and New Mexico. The attendees toured the research facilities and attended a poster session at the Scarborough Campus during the first day of their visit. Afterwards, they relaxed and mingled at the Madison Pub in downtown Toronto. During the second day, the attendees visited either the Mississauga or Scarborough Campus where they met potential supervisors and enjoyed lunch. After returning to the department, they were given a tour of St. George Campus, followed by a party, hosted by the ChemClub in our Davenport Atrium. They sampled traditional food from Ethiopia during the 2010 event, and danced to zydeco music during the Cajun night in 2011.

The following morning, breakfast was served during an information session, followed by a tour of the department by the Chair, culminating with a poster session and lunch in the Davenport Atrium. Late Saturday afternoon, they were given a chance to visit either the Royal Ontario Museum, Art Gallery of Ontario or the Hockey Hall of Fame. The successful weekend ended with a dinner party at the 89 Chestnut Conference Centre. The night’s entertainment consisted of playing Rock Band, featuring closeted rockers amongst the Department’s faculty and student population. The prospective students were impressed by the “close-knit community” on all three campuses. They were inspired by the department, one remarked that we were “the best equipped departments (he had) ever seen”. The Graduate Student Weekend continues to be a great success with 87% of 2010 and 75% of 2011 attendees accepting our offer of admission. - Denise Ing

Profiles: Johnny Westgate

PhD Student with Professor Frank Wania at the University of Toronto Scarborough Although I study the long-range transport of contaminants, I haven’t strayed, geographically, Photo courtesy of Johnny very far from Westgate my hometown of London, Ontario. My career path is a different story; although I’ve always been fascinated with science and passionate about the environment, I was seduced by the theatre. I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from the Univer28

sity of Windsor and spent several years filling the long gaps between acting jobs working in Toronto’s retail world, eventually landing at Mountain Equipment Co-op, a leader in social and environmental responsibility. It was on an MEC sponsored environmental expedition – cleaning up the messes left behind by inconsiderate backcountry trippers – that I decided I wanted to combine my two nonthespian interests into a career. I received my BSc as a Specialist in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Toronto Scarborough, spending much of my time, including a co-op term, as a research assistant in Professor Frank

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Wania’s laboratory. I began my PhD studies with Professor Wania before the ink on my Bachelors’ degree had dried and I now study the levels of certain trace organic contaminants in remote areas, including Alaska and the Yukon, and tease out ways in which we can assign potential source areas for the substances we measure. When I complete my studies I intend to remain in academia where I can both create new knowledge and train others to think scientifically about our environment. - Johnny Westgate

PhD Student with Professor Ulrich Fekl at the University of Toronto Mississauga I was raised in the city of Mississauga, and although it lacks the lustre of big city living, it allowed me to enjoy a carefree suburban lifestyle and the opportunity to attend a top ranking university without sacrificing my family life by moving far away. I completed my Honors BSc degree in chemistry at the University of Toronto Mississauga Photo courtesy of Danielle To(UTM) where I was inspired by karz professors in the Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences to truly enjoy all fields of chemistry. The unique learning experience at UTM allowed me to get to know top chemistry professors with outside-of-the-box type research ideas who inspired me to pursue a PhD at UTM in a cross-listed field half

way between chemistry and biological physics. As an interdisciplinary chemistry student I am supervised by two faculty: Professor Ulrich Fekl in computational and inorganic chemistry, and Professor Virginijus Barzda in nonlinear optics and biological physics. My research includes the synthesis as well as the quantification of novel labels for nonlinear optical microscopy. Although physicists in my research group tend to label me as a new-born physicist, I will always remain a chemist at heart: I promote Mole Day in our lab, I wear chemistry T-shirts and I correct my group of physicists on chemical matters whenever possible. In addition, I also participate in several social and professional school committees including the organizing committee for the annual Chemical Biophysics Symposium conference, the Chemical and Physical Sciences Graduate Student Association at UTM and the Graduate Student Advisory Committee for the Department of Chemistry. - Danielle Tokarz

Profiles: Ashlee Jahnke

PhD Student with Professor Dwight Seferos at the University of Toronto I hail from College Station, TX, a small city centered around Texas A&M University. I attended Texas A&M for my BSc degree in Chemistry and did my research in inorganic chemistry under the supervision of Dr. Francois Gabbai. I then spent a year and a half working on diverse Photo courtesy of Ashlee Jahn- projects as a research assiske tant at Lynntech, Inc., a small research and development firm. I soon realized that I would like to lead my own research projects, and that brought me back to school. I began my PhD in September 2009 with Professor Dwight Seferos. My current research is in conjugated polymers for solar cells and other organic electronics. Specifically, I work on developing the largely unexplored class of materials known as polytellurophenes. My research contains a heavy focus on developing high yielding monomer syntheses so that other researchers can readily access this class of polymers. I am also interested in the exploration of the conductivity and optoelectronic properties of this class of polymers, as well as their incorporation into photovoltaic devices.

Outside of the lab I am a co-coordinator for the Toronto chapter of the Canadian Association of Girls in Science, which serves to introduce young girls to the various sciences with engaging and hands on activities at our monthly meetings. I enjoy participating in science outreach programs put on by the Department such as Science Rendezvous and Chemistry Nuit Blanche. I also serve as the Graduate Student Union representative for the Department of Chemistry and as a member of the Chem Club executive. After graduation, I hope to become involved in a small startup company where I can blend my passion for chemistry with my love of business, marketing, and networking. - Ashlee Jahnke

Did you know? During the 1889-1890 academic year, the department offered six chemistry courses to undergraduate students. In 2011-2012, students are able to select from 45 courses.

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Graduate News

Profiles: Danielle Tokarz

Graduate News

Provost’s PhD Enhancement Fund Program U of T’s Department of Chemistry has earned an international reputation as a graduate education and research powerhouse. Graduate students, and the original research they undertake, are essential to Canada’s competitiveness in the knowledge economy. Moreover, the ability to work with the world’s best graduate students is a key factor in the successful recruitment and retention of leading faculty. Global competition for this talent is fierce. To enhance our efforts to attract top graduate students, we are inviting investments in the form of endowed scholarships from alumni and friends. To encourage donations, the University of Toronto has established the Provost’s PhD Enhancement Fund (PPEF) Program. The PPEF Program provides a remarkable leveraging opportunity that doubles the impact of gifts in support of PhD students.

The PPEF Program works as follows: A donation of $50,000 per award will be matched 1:1 through the PPEF. (Note: $50,000 is the minimum amount necessary to establish a named endowed graduate scholarship at the University of Toronto.) The annual payout on the resultant $100,000 endowment will create a named scholarship of approximately $4,000 per annum to benefit graduate students, in perpetuity.

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This is a time-limited program: to be eligible, pledges must be made by December 31, 2012 and paid in full by December 31, 2013. At the Faculty of Arts and Science—where a pressing need for financial assistance for international students has been identified—preference for the match eligibility will be given to gifts which support international students enrolled in a PhD program. If you would like more information on this program, please contact Leslie McCarley, Director of Development, Faculty of Arts and Science at 416-946-5192 or leslie.mccarley@utoronto.ca

Graduate News

Yes, I would like to make a donation to the Department of Chemistry! 1.) YOUR INFORMATION: Name: ____________________________________________ Email: ___________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________________ Phone: _______________________ May we recognize you in published donor listings ? Yes, please recognize me as _________________________________

The Provost’s PhD Enhancement Fund (PPEF) is a new program announced by the Provost at the University of Toronto, will provide 1:1 matching support if we raise $50,000 (pledges must be received by December 31, 2012 and donations by December 31, 2013). The new fund will help the Department of Chemistry enrol the best and brightest graduate students from around the globe. Please check here if you would like to support this fund.

PPEF

DEPARTMENTAL TRUST

2.) YOUR GIFT: (Please select one option)

a.) Here is my single donation of

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Name on card: ________________________________ Signature: _______________________________________

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b.) Here is my monthly donation of

Please charge my credit card on the 1st day of each month:

Card Number: _________________________________________________ Exp: _______ /________

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$____________ Visa

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Blank cheque marked VOID, which is enclosed. I authorize the University of Toronto to deduct the amount I have specified from the account number on the cheque, on the 1st day of each month.

Signature: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________________

3.) HOW TO DONATE: (Please select one option) a.) Return this completed form to: University of Toronto, Donations Management 21 King’s College Circle Toronto, ON M5S 3J3

b.) Donate online: Visit https://donate.utoronto.ca/chemistry to make a secure online gift.

Your Privacy: The information on this form is collected and used solely for the administration of the University’s advancement activities, undertaken pursuant to the University of Toronto Act, 1971. If you have any questions, please refer to www.utoronto.ca/privacy or contact the University’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Coordinator at 416.946.7303, McMurrich Building, Room 201, 12 Queen’s Park Crescent West, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8. Monthly Donation: You have certain recourse rights if any debit does not comply with this agreement. For example, you have the right to receive reimbursement for any debit that is not authorized or is not consistent with this PAD Agreement. To obtain more information on your recourse rights, contact your financial institution or visit www.cdnpay.ca. Charitable Registration #: BN 1081 62330-RR0001 Solicitation Code: 0570044057 Project ID: 0560001540

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Graduate News

CHEM CLUB The ChemClub Executive wishes everyone in the chemistry community a great new year ahead! Last year was one of the most successful ChemClub has ever had, with record-breaking attendance at many of our events, and beginning a number of new initiatives.

Although ChemClub is most widely known for organizing, sponsoring and subsidizing events for the graduates, ChemClub also takes the initiative to aid the academic aims of department as well. In addition to our annual scholarship contributions, ChemClub contributes funds to various colloquiums and symposiums held by each of the sub-disciplines in the department including the Polymer/Materials Seminar, the Environmental Chemistry Colloquium, Biological Chemistry Days, and the Chemical Biophysics Symposium. With the recent renovation of the Chemistry Learning Centre, located on the second floor outside of the undergraduate laboratories, last year’s ChemClub graciously donated multiple textbooks to the library for the specific purpose that undergraduate students could use them to 2 study in the beautiful new workspace. ChemClub has also continued their support to larger national and global initiatives with donations to the Haiti relief fun, 4 Hallowe’en UNICEF donations and holiday drives for the Daily Bread Food Bank. Students, faculty and staff continued to flock to events organized by ChemClub over the past two years. It is wonderful to have a department of this size feel like such a strong community. Our annual Ski Trip to Mt. Tremblant was extremely successful with double the number of attendees in 2011 – from 50 attendees to 100, filling two buses to make the trek to the beautiful, snowy slopes of La Belle Province. In addition, our 2011 holiday party – nicknamed the Festivus Extravaganza – and our end-of-year formal were at capacity. ChemClub set up a new photo sharing website, accessible through our homepage, to allow all attendees to download high-resolution copies of photos taken by ChemClub at all of our major events. This was especially popular for our photo booth-style pictures at our recent “ChemProm” and “Japanese Cultural Night”. 32

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The 2011-2012 ChemClub is quite excited about many upcoming events during the academic year. With the success of our summer and fall terms which included the first annual Support Staff Appreciation Lunch and the “Fruit Fridays” held throughout the summer, our fall barbecue night, the new graduate student welcome at Bar Italia restaurant, Halloween festivities including costume and pumpkin carving 1 contests, and a visit to Bier Markt for our festivus extravaganza, ChemClub has already been very busy. We are looking forward to 3 the winter term, which expects to be even busier! The annual ski trip, end of year formal and Science Rendezvous have the potential to be bigger than they’ve ever been. There is much to look forward to in the coming months!

You can keep up with the recent on goings of ChemClub as well as find some photos from our past events, at http://www.chem.utoronto.ca/chemclub/ - Rob Di Lorenzo, President, ChemClub

1. Alberta Cultural Night, September 24, 2010 2. Science Rendezvous, May 7, 2011 3. Chem Club Festivus Extravaganza, December 9, 2011 4. Chem Club Formal, May 13, 2011 5. Chem Club Halloween party, October 29, 2010 Photos courtesy of the Chem Club

Faculty News

Spotlight On: Gunning Research Group

Patrick Gunning (centre) and group. Photo courtesy of Patrick Gunning.

Most biological processes involve permanent and with reduced peptidic character that inhibit Stat3– nonpermanent interactions between different pro- Stat3:DNA binding activity. In one project in our lab, teins, and many protein complexes play key roles in we have rationally designed and developed Stat3 various human diseases. Molecular modulation of inhibitors that disrupt transcriptionally active Stat3– specific protein-protein interactions offers a dynamic Stat3 homo-dimers, suppress Stat3 activation (phosapproach of artificially regulating aberrant phorylation), inhibit Stat3-target gene expres2010protein activity in human disease. In parsion (c-Myc, Bcl-xL, survivin) and potently ticular, our group has targeted hyperinduce apoptosis in tumor cells harbor2011 was a very activated Signal Transducer and ing aberrant Stat3 activity. Moreover, successful period for Activator of Transcription 3 (Stat3) the Gunning research group. lead compound BP-1-102, a salicylic protein complexation events in acid containing small molecule, Professor Patrick Gunning human cancers. induced strong antitumor effects was the recipient of the Boehon human breast cancer xenoAberrant Stat3 activity is preva- ringer Ingelhiem Young Investigator grafts and in multiple myeloma lent in numerous human cancers Award, the University of Glasgow preclinical tumor models. Most and is widely recognized as a critnotably, given via oral gavage, Young Alumnus of the Year, the ical molecular abnormality and BP-1-102 strongly inhibited the Ontario Early Researcher Award, a master regulator of tumor progrowth of human breast tumor the Dean’s Research Excelcesses. Our group seeks to silence xenografts, identifying it as a most lence Award at UTM and aberrant Stat3 signaling using potent orally bioavailable Stat3-tarthe CSC Ichikizaki potent and selective Stat3 inhibitors geting inhibitor. that block transcriptionally active Stat3– Award. Stat3 protein complex. Using structureOur global objective is to identify the first based design, targeting the phospho-tyrosine‘drug-like’ Stat3 inhibitors for the treatment of SH2 domain interactions that stabilizes active Stat3 human cancers harbouring activated Stat3. Given dimers, phosphopeptides have been identified that the critical role of Stat3 in tumour cell proliferation block Stat3 dimerization and DNA-binding activity. and survival these small molecule inhibitors may be However, phospho-peptidic agents suffer from limited promising agents for the treatment of numerous cancell permeability and metabolic lability, properties cers. that have restricted their practical application in vivo at therapeutic doses. Thus, our group has been active - Patrick Gunning in developing non-phosphorylated small molecules

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Faculty News

Welcome New Faculty

Chemistry Welcomes Artur Izmaylov and Bernie Kraatz Professor Artur Izmaylov

Artur will join Chemistry at the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus on July 1, 2012 Research Areas: Theoretical Physical Chemistry

My interest in chemistry started with a bright spark of burning magnesium that my first chemistry teacher showed during a demonstration. From that point I wanted to repeat the fascinating experience by doing various firework mixtures on my own. I have learned that chemistry provides the ultimate guidance to pyrotechnics and allows one to manipulate with the outcome to a certain extent. Later, my interest in chemistry was also reinforced by high school chemistry olympiads that took my understanding of chemistry to a higher level. The olympiads stimulated me to become more well-rounded not only in various areas of chemistry but also in related parts of math and physics. I did my undergraduate study at Moscow State University, Russia. I had first worked in a biochemistry lab and did protein immobilization on ferromagnetic particles. Binding the protein to ferromagnetic particles allowed us to control the protein presence in a solution by using a regular magnet. Despite such experimental beginnings, eventually my interests in theoretical chemistry, math, and physics overweighed my desire to do experiments, and I joined the laboratory of Molecular Structure and Quantum Mechanics. This was a large group with several independent subgroup leaders, and I was lucky to work on a variety of topics from purely applicational electronic structure calculations on small molecules to more formal developments of the propagator formalism. Being not quite satisfied with both of these extremes, I decided to do my master thesis somewhere in between by developing new computational methods to investigate the electronic structure of negatively charged molecules with very small or even negative electron affinities. These systems are surprisingly challenging for regular electronic structure methods and are quite ubiquitous in atmospheric chemistry and in the physics of plasma. Upon graduation, I wanted to explore science abroad and was directed by one of my friends to the laboratory of Professor Gustavo Scuseria at Rice University in the US. After a short summer visit I decided to join his group for pursuing my PhD in chemistry. Many of 34

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the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s projects involved developments of novel density functional methods in the famous electronic structure program Gaussian. My first projects also involved struggling with the Gaussian code, mostly trying to understand what dozens of programmers had done before. Although hard in the beginning, at some point reading the Gaussian code became more interesting than watching a detective movie: you could not only follow the logic but also could easily test your hypotheses and change things the way you want in the program. Eventually, efficient machinery we developed in Gaussian allowed us to push the envelope of density functional developments to new large systems that were not amenable to accurate computational studies before (e.g., carbon nanotubes, actinide metals, etc). At the end of my PhD I decided to transfer my expertise from solving static problems of electronic structure to problems that are posed by intricate dynamics of electrons and nuclei. I had accepted a joined postdoctoral position with professors John Tully at Yale University and Michael Frisch at Gaussian Inc. The main theme of my research was developing new computational strategies for studying photoinduced dynamics in large systems. This was a completely new area for me and it felt like I went through another grad school. I was fortunate to work with great lab mates who were very supportive and eager to discuss any naive ideas or questions I had. All this extra learning paid off in the end, because only by combining newly acquired knowledge with some of my old expertise was I able to derive a simple computational approach that provided insights into complex dynamics of energy transfer in large systems. In 2011, I was happy to accept an offer to join the faculty of the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough. My current research interests focus on development of computational methods to obtain detailed understanding of processes involving simultaneous dynamics of electronic and nuclear subsystems in molecules. Such processes inevitably require quantum description and constitute crucial steps in many areas of contemporary and fundamental interest: solar energy conversion, photochemistry, catalysis at surfaces and general surface chemistry. Outside the lab I like to spend time with my family and to play various sports, among my favorite ones are volleyball, badminton, and soccer. - Artur Izmaylov

Bernie joined Chemistry in the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus on July 1, 2011 Research Areas: Inorganic, Biological and Analytical Chemistry

Chemistry is second nature to me. Always has…always will be. I love it. And it all started with a gift my grandparents gave me – an innocent looking chemistry set that promised 100 experiments. At the age of 9, I had no idea what an experiment was, I just figured out very quickly that bad smells and having things blow up was a great way to annoy my parents. I do not want to belittle the impact that my first chemistry set had on my life. I have to thank my grandparents for putting me on track for a life dedicated to study, education, discovery, and scientific excitement. High school led to University. And of course it had to be chemistry. I started out at the Heinrich-Heine Universität in Düsseldorf, and after a few years moved to the University of Kent at Canterbury working with Michael Went and got my first taste of a real research environment and even learned some organometallic chemistry along the way. I loved what I was doing and I wanted more. I moved to the University of Calgary and learned more inorganic chemistry. Calgary was a great place to do that and Mike Boorman was a good mentor who gave me the freedom to pursue what I wanted to do and was there when I needed advice. In 1993, with my PhD certificate in hand, I moved to Rinaldo Poli’s group at the University of Maryland and then to David Milstein’s group at the Weizmann Institute and pursued organometallic chemistry, first paramagnetic Mo and W complexes and then C-C and C-H bond activation chemistry, with a passion that had to be infectious. I returned to Canada in January 1996 - from Rehovot to Ottawa within a day – and somehow it must have slipped my mind that Canada in January meant -20oC. But that did not dampen my enthusiasm and after a brief stay at the Steacie Institute with Janusz Lustyk, I landed my first academic appointment at the University of Saskatchewan as an assistant professor in the coldest place on earth, you might say, but for me it will always be paradise. It was like I came home. There was something wonderfully familiar about being an assistant professor and I am not talking about writing grant applications. I had a

department that I belonged to, I had colleagues that I could talk to. Somehow I made that transition to a faculty member and I could do what I wanted to do (but wasn’t I doing that all along?) and I got good at it. And yes I have the diplomas on the wall to prove it – there was a Canada Research Chair, a PetroCanada Young Innovator Award (I was locally known as the middle-aged innovator), and an award from the Canadian Society for Chemistry. There is nothing better than being recognized for doing what you love doing – Chemistry. But of course, I could not have achieved any of this without the help of a group of very dedicated students and postdoctoral fellows. We learned much about bioconjugates and bio(nano)materials and learned how to exploit them for electrochemical sensing of biorecognition events. Together with my research group and a truckload full of equipment, I moved to the University of Western Ontario in 2007, and started again. The good thing about this move is that it allowed me to start fresh and begin new projects. It kept me on my toes – a new academic environment and new colleagues but it was an exciting new start. We started working on protein kinase-driven phosphorylation reactions and made a move that is decisively more to the biological side of inorganic chemistry. And now in 2011, I accepted an offer from Toronto and joined as a Professor of Chemistry - my second move - the truckload of equipment was even bigger - but at least I only had to drive it down the 401 to Toronto. I am fortunate enough to have members of the Western team accompany me to Toronto and we have hit the ground running. What did I say earlier? Moving to a new location allows one to start fresh and begin new projects. We are doing that and we have begun to explore chemistry related to tau, a protein that is involved in the formation of neurofibrillar tangles, which are found in the brain of people afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease. So here I am in Toronto… I feel, I have arrived. - Bernie Kraatz

Welcome New Faculty in 2012-13 Jessica D’Eon and Barb Morra will join us as Lecturers beginning July 1, 2012. Jessica and Barb will provide the lecturing and lab expertise in the areas of environmental and organic chemistry, respectively, as well as general chemistry. Watch for their stories in our next issue.

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Faculty News

Professor Heinz-Bernhard Kraatz

Faculty News

Faculty in the Media

http://www.chem.utoronto.ca/chemistry/chem_news.php From The Scientist magazine to Toronto’s free daily newspaper, Metro, our faculty featured prominently in the media in 2010 and 2011. Our faculty received news coverage in the following publications: The Scientist Magazine, Embassy Magazine, The Globe and Mail, American Associate for Cancer Research magazine, Chemical & Engineering News, Nature, UoT’s research magazine Edge, Science, National Research Council’s Dimensions, UoT Magazine, UoT Bulletin, Metro newspaper, Health Technology Exchange, Bachem Peptalk, Aldrich ChemFiles, UoT’s Faculty of Arts and Science Year in Review, Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, PLoS ONE,

Nature Photonics, Materials Views, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News, and the Toronto Star. Our faculty and staff have been interviewed by the Canada Foundation for Innovation and CBC News where their contributions to research have been recognized. Our International Year of Chemistry events received coverage throughout the year on the University’s website, the CBC, and The Globe and Mail. To read more about our faculty and events, and their media coverage, please visit our website at www. chem.utoronto.ca and select “In the News”.

German Science Helped Fuel Canadian Discovery The following text is based on remarks Canadian Nobel Prize winner John Polanyi was set to make Dec. 6 at an event at the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Pearson Building hosted by Minister of State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear and attended by science policymakers to mark 40 years of science collaboration between Canada and Germany. The host, Minister of State for Science Gary Goodyear, invited me to speak on the subject of CanadaGermany cultural exchange. He could not have been informed that my main experience of Germany was between the ages of zero and four. Nonetheless that experience has relevance to cultural exchange. I was born in Berlin to parents who were there for no other reason than that it was the world capital for science. My father, a recently demobilized Hungarian army medical officer, was a beginning scientist. Working in Fritz Haber’s laboratory in what was then the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, he came to respect his boss, revere Max Planck, and befriend a host of fabled scientific leaders, among them Max von Laue, Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer, Lisa Meitner, Erwin Schroedinger, Werner Heisenberg and, of course, Albert Einstein. They triggered a historic leap in understanding of the physical world. Atoms, molecules, and matter came to be understood in a new way. 36

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Marvellously, the names of these pioneers of the atomic age, who were then relentlessly driven apart, live on today as an inspiration to German science. Their memory did not survive Germany’s dark ages by chance, but by a bold choice on Germany’s part. Emerging from destruction, and then division, the German electorate was persuaded to participate in the establishment of some 80 Max Planck Institutes for basic science—surely unparalleled in the world— and an almost equal number of distinguished Fraunhofer Institutes for applied research, while simultaneously re-building Germany’s universities. It was the country’s act of faith in science. Since the Max Planck Institutes were built around the most eminent researchers, this was also an important affirmation of the principle that science grows from the bottom up; first come the skilled people, from them come the projects. This too was exceptionally far-sighted. Over the past four decades the green shoots of Canadian science have been nourished by Canadian investment, US investment, and by this German renaissance. For example, 530 Canadians have been recipients of Germany’s Humboldt Fellowships that fund up to two years of research at a German laboratory, the laboratory being chosen by the applicant. After this, the Humboldt Fellows returns to Canada.

he had been trained in Germany. The pair of us (he much the superior, but no matter) owed a lifelong debt to the liberal thinking that animated NSERC and the National Research Council laboratories.

Hard to manage into existence

My theme being Canada- Germany cultural exchange, I close with a quotation from a speech I attended in Berlin on Oct. 28, given by Germany’s federal minister for science, Annette Schavan. Ms. Schavan said (but in German, so that it had to be translated for me):

What do we learn from all this? We learn, in the first place, that the public can be supporters of basic as well as applied science. To believe otherwise in this century, would be a failure of imagination. We may also learn that it is not essential to pursue basic and applied science hand-in-hand in the same laboratory. It could even be counter-productive, since these pursuits demand to be judged differently. Both basic and applied science are vital, both challenging. If both are to flourish, they must communicate but, as in the best marriages, they must respect one another’s differences. What, then, is the difference? Basic science is to be judged on the breadth of its impact on understanding, applied science in terms of its utility. The organization of each is, correspondingly, different. Basic science, being a voyage into the unknown, is particularly in need of the freedom to explore. Had it not been for the freedom given me by Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, NSERC, I would not be making these remarks. So, I end, as I began, with a brief personal reminiscence. I came to NSERC, the body responsible for funding Canadian university science, with the promise of learning a little about chemical reactions by studying their infrared emission. Because NSERC officials were persuaded we were on the way to learning something significant, they invested public money in us. What we found was a surprise to them and to us. That is the nature of discovery. It is, therefore, the hardest thing there is to manage into existence. The research council officials did not try. Subsequently their far-sightedness was rewarded by a further surprise, this time in the realm of technology. New insights we had gained into vibrating molecules, led to a category of laser that found a modest international market—equal in size to a few years of (what was then) Canada’s national science budget.

“immer wieder unser grosses Thema [ist] Wissenschaft braucht Souveränität, braucht Autonomie.” Loosely translated, this means that her ministry will always remember that discovery has its own internal logic that must be respected (its own “sovereignty and autonomy,” is how she put it). Here, from a high level in the councils of the German government we have a plea for the freedom of enquiry essential for discovery. To hear that message echoing across the Atlantic, is a powerful argument for continued international collaboration. - John Polanyi

This article originally appeared in Embassy Magazine on December 7, 2011, and is available at http://www. embassymag.ca/page/view/polanyi-12-07-2011

Did you know? In 1900, the department was composed of three faculty. In 2012, the department comprises of 80 faculty and six crossappointed faculty across three campuses.

Such surprises do not come by chance. This one owed a lot to the insights of a great scientist, Gerhard Herzberg, who worked at the National Research Council laboratories in Ottawa. How interesting, and significant, that 20 1 0 & 20 1 1 D i s t i l l at i o n s / c h e m . u t o r o n t o . c a

Faculty News

As a result, Canada has skills that have been honed, and Germany has hundreds of enthusiastic scientific ambassadors in Canada. (I say this without prejudice, since I have never been a Humboldt Fellow.)

Faculty News

Faculty Publication Covers

G.D. Scholes. QuantumCoherent Electronic Energy Transfer: Did Nature Think of It First? J. Phys. Chem. Letters (2010) 1, 2–8.

T. Mirkovic, N.S. Zacharia, G.D. Scholes, G.A. Ozin. Nanolocomotion: Catalytic Nanomotors and Nanorotors. Small, 2010, 2, 159.

J.A. Drewry, S. Fletcher, P. Yue, D. Marushchak, W. Zhao, S. Sharmeen, X. Zhang, A.D. Schimmer, C. Gradinaru, J. Turkson, P.T. Gunning. Coordination Complex SH2 Domain Proteomimetics: An Alternative Approach to Disrupting Oncogenic Protein-Protein Interactions. Chem. Commun., 2010, 46, 892-894.

A.I. Abdelrahman, O. Ornatsky, D. Bandura, V. Baranov, R. Kinach, S. Dai, S.C. Thickett, S. Tanner, M.A. Winnik. Metal-containing polystyrene beads as standards for mass cytometry. J. Anal. At. Spectrom, 2010, 25, 260-268.

S.C. Thickett, A.I. Abdelrahman, O. Ornatsky, D. Bandura, V. Baranov, M.A. Winnik. Biofunctional, lanthanide-labeled polymer particles by seeded emulsion polymerization and their characterization by novel ICP-MS detection. J. Anal. At. Spectrom, 2010, 25, 269-281.

L.D. Bonifacio, D.P. Puzzo, S. Breslav, B.M. Willey, A. McGeer, G.A. Ozin. The Photonic Nose: Combinatoric Molecule to Bacteria Sniffing. Adv. Mater, 2010, 22, 13511354.

K. Franjic, R.J.D. Miller. Vibrationally excited ultrafast thermodynamic phase transitions at the water/air interface. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2010, 12, 5225-5239.

M.J. Sgro, D.W. Stephan. Synthesis and Exchange Reactions of Ni-DimineCOD, Acetylene and Olefin Complexes. Dalton Trans., 2010, 39, 57865794.

D.J. Donaldson, C. George, V. Vaida. Red sky at night: Long wavelength photochemistry in the atmosphere. Environ. Sci. Technol., 2010, 44, 5321-5326.

M.J. Jebrail, A.H.C. Ng, V. Rai, R. Hili, A.K. Yudin, A.R. Wheeler. Synchonized Synthesis of Peptide-Based Macrocycles by Digital Microfluidics. Angew. Chemie. Int. Ed., 2010, 49, 8625-8629.

M.J. Jebrail, A.R. Wheeler. Let’s Get Digital: Digitizing Chemical Biology with Microfluidics. Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol., 2010, 14, 574-581.

W. Wang, J.E. Lofgreen, G.A. Ozin. Why PMO? Steps Towards Functionality and Utility of Periodic Mesoporous Organosilicas. Small, 2010, 6, 2634-2642.

D.L. Andrews, C. Curutchet, G.D. Scholes. Resonance Energy Transfer: Beyond the Limits Resonance Energy Transfer: Beyond the Limits. Laser & Photon. Rev., 2011, 5, 114–123.

C. Shunthirasingham, T. Gouin, Y.D. Lei, C. Ruepert, L.E. Castillo, F. Wania. Current use pesticide transport to Costa Rica’s high altitude tropical cloud forest. Environ. Toxicol. Chem., 2011, 30, 2709-2717.

E. Tumarkin, L. Tzadu, E. Csaszar, M. Seo, H. Zhang, A. Lee, K. Peerani, P. Zandstra, E. Kumacheva. High-throughput Combinatorial Cell Coculture using Microfluidics. Integrative Biology, 2011, 3, 653-662.

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Faculty News

A. Dicks. Green Organic Chemistry in Lecture and Laboratory. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2011. A.K. Yudin. Catalyzed CarbonHeteroatom Bond Formation. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2010. M. Shapiro, P. Brumer. Quantum Control of Molecular Processes. Wiley-VCH, New York, 2011. A. Jahnke, D. Seferos. Polytellurophenes. Macromol. Rapid Commun. 2011, 943-957.

M.J. Jebrail, H. Yang, J.M. Mudrik, N.M. LafreniĂ¨re, C. McRoberts, O.Y. AlDirbashi, L. Fisher, P. Chakraborty, A.R. Wheeler. A Digital Microfluidic Method For Dried Blood Spot Analysis. Lab on a Chip, 2011, 11, 3218-3224

C. Shunthirasingham, C.E. Oyiliagu, X.S. Cao, T. Gouin, F. Wania, S.C. Lee, K. Pozo, T. Harner, D.C.G. Muir. Spatial and temporal pattern of pesticides in the global atmosphere. J. Environ. Monitor., 2010, 12, 1650-1657.

M.H. Shamsi, H.B. Kraatz. Electrochemical identification of artificial oligonucleotides related to bovine sepcies. Potential for identification of species based on mismatches in the mitochondrial cytochrome C1 oxidase gene. Analyst, 2011, 22, 4605-4856.

A.J. Veloso, H. Yoshikawa, X.R. Cheng, E. Tamiya, K. Kerman. Optical trapping for the characterization of amyloid-beta aggregation kinetics. Analyst, 2011, 136, 4164-4167.

P. Gunning. Identification of a non-phosphorylated, cell permeable, small molecule ligand for the Stat3 SH2 domain. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett., 2011, 21, 5605-5609.

L. Li, J. Hollinger, A.A. Jahnke, S. Petrov, D.S. Seferos. Polyselenophenes with Distinct Crystallization Properties. Chem. Sci., 2011, 2, 2306-2310.

S. Cheung, L.J. Fick, D.D. Belsham, D.A. Lovejoy, M. Thompson. Interfacial behavior of immortalized hypothalamic mouse neurons detected by acoustic wave propagation. Analyst, 2011, 136, 4412-4421.

H.A. Khan, K.G.M. Kou, V.M. Dong. Nitrogen-directed ketone hydroacylation: Enantioselective synthesis of Benzoxazecinones. Chem. Sci., 2011, 2, 407.

E. Kumacheva, P. Garstecki. Microfluidic Reactors for Polymer Particles. John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester, UK, 2011.

M.J. Sgro, D.W. Stephan. Non-Innocent Reactivity of bis-phosphinimine Pincep Ligands in Palladium Complexes. Dalton Trans., 2010, 40, 2419-2421.

F. Wong, F. Wania. Visualising the equilibrium distribution and mobility of organic contaminants in soil using the chemical portioning space. J. Environ. Monit., 2011, 13, 1569-1578.

V.M. Shahani, P. Yue, , S. Fletcher, S. Sharmeen, M.A. Sukhai, D.P. Luu, X. Zhang, H. Sun, W. Zhao, A.D. Schimmer, J. Turkson, P.T. Gunning. Design, Synthesis and in vitro Characterization of Novel Hybrid Peptidomimetic Inhibitors of STAT3 Protein. Bioorg. Med. Chem., 2011, 19, 1823-1838.

E. Redel, C. Huai, M. Renner, G. von Freymann, G.A. Ozin. Hierarchical Nanoparticle Bragg Mirrors: Tandem and Gradient Architectures. Small, 2011, 7, 3465-3471

R.G. Wylie, S. Ahsan, Y. Aizawa, K.L. Maxwell, C.M. Morshead, M.S. Shoichet. Spatially controlled simultaneous patterning of multiple growth factors in three-dimensional hydrogels. Nature, 2011, 10, 799-806.

E. Mann, T. Meyer, C.P.J. Mitchell, F. Wania. Mercury fate in ageing and melting snow: Development and testing of a controlled laboratory system. J. Environ. Monit., 2011, 13, 2695-2702.

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Faculty News

Spotlight On: DVS Sciences

The DVS Sciences team and the Department of Chemistry (Tanner) group at the Opening of DVS’ R&D and Manufacturing Centre, Markham in May 2011. Photo courtesy of Scott Tanner.

DVS Sciences Inc. formed in 2004 as a consulting company in order to facilitate the transition of the founders from industry (MDS Sciex, which was itself a 1970’s spin-off from the University of Toronto’s Institute for Aerospace Studies) to the University of Toronto. From their new home in the Department of Chemistry, exemplary multi-disciplinary collaborations, notably with Dr. John Dick of the University Health Network and Professors Mitchell Winnik and Mark Nitz of the Department of Chemistry, led to the development of a transformational technology for the analysis of single cells at high throughput. Applying atomic mass spectrometry to resolve the challenges of multi-parameter flow cytometry, the resulting “mass cytometry” technology was cited by Science magazine (May 2011) as “a game-changer ... poised to revolutionize our studies of disorders in the human immune system”. The Scientist magazine (January 2012) named mass cytometry as one of the top 4 innovations of 2011. During the course of their initial Genome Canada project, DVS transformed into the developer and manufacturer of the CyTOF® Mass Cytometer and the MAXPAR® reagents that it reads. The first commercial instrument order was received in 2008, and first deliveries were made in 2009. At the time of writing, there are CyTOF mass cytometers in Toronto (Ontario Institute for Cancer Research), US (6 installations), Taiwan, Tokyo, Paris, Switzerland (2), Israel and the UK. Late in 2010, DVS Sciences closed a $14.6M Series A investment that included a syndicate of Silicon Valley and pharmaceutical company investors. That investment encouraged the establishment of an R&D and manufacturing facility in Markham, Ontario and 40

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an antibody conjugation facility in the (new) corporate headquarters in Sunnyvale California. By the end of 2011, DVS employed 25 people in the Toronto (Markham) office and 7 in Sunnyvale, with plans to expand to 53 staff during 2012. The founders team, led by Professor Scott Tanner, included Professor Vladimir Baranov, Dr. Dmitry Bandura and Dr. Olga Ornatsky, appropriately a team of physical chemists, an engineering physicist and a biologist. They led the development of the instrument platform and the biological methods and protocols. Many essential collaborations were developed, both within and beyond the university. Especially important was the development of the metalchelated polymer constructs by the Winnik and Nitz groups in Chemistry: these constructs, in monodisperse polymer and nanocrystal formats, are used to encode the proteins and genes in the cell with transition elements. Single whole cells are vaporized, atomized and ionized in a high temperature plasma source, and the atomic composition of the individual cells, including the encoding elements, is measured by the mass spectrometer at the rate of up to 1000 cells per second. The technology is used to enquire into the genesis of disease: to understand the transmutation and translation of DNA into the proteins that define the state of health of the cell, or the mechanism of immune system response. That understanding also lends itself to the discovery of rational drugs that can intercept the unhealthy translation. Ultimately, the technology might contribute a quantum step towards more effective, personalized health care. - Scott Tanner

Chemistry Salutes Sr. Lecturers Helen Ohorodnyk and Dr. Stan Skonieczny

elen Ohorodnyk will retire at the end of 2012 after 41 years in the Department. She is a Sr. Lecturer and has been a part of almost every single undergraduate student’s experience since she began working in Chemistry. She proudly serves as the Undergraduate Secretary, working with the Undergraduate Office to maintain student records and coordinate undergraduate course enrolment. Cecilia Kutas spoke during Helen’s retirement party, “You’ve been a pillar of strength and wisdom in the department, my “turn to” person for advice in all sorts of delicate situations,” she reflected. “You’ve been a warm and giving friend, helping me connect with my first demonstrator as friends, organizing my wedding shower…I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your friendship and support.” Helen has had an immeasurable impact on our students throughout the years, many of whom wrote to us to share their experiences when they heard Helen would be retiring. One wrote to tell us, “I appreciated Helen’s kindness, generosity and support to us throughout the years. I am privileged to have worked with her as a demonstrator for first year Chemistry course CHM 151. I always admired her professional and hard working values. Her commitment and dedication to her students is inspiring. In fact, she is the reason why I loved teaching and demonstrating.”

tan Skonieczny will retire at the end of 2012 after 25 years in the Department. A Sr. Lecturer, Stan also served as the Associate Chair Undergraduate Studies in 2008 and National Director of the Chemistry Olympiad program from 2005-2011. Our students have told us that Stan has been an inspiration in their future studies and careers, one wrote that she “learned skills in her organic chemistry and spectroscopy courses with Stan that she uses on a daily basis in her PhD studies.” Another shared, “Stan is the best teacher I have

ever known … Now that I am a teacher myself I appreciate everything he taught me. I am passing the torch to others.” Stan has influenced the direction of our undergraduate teaching efforts, and acted as a beacon for our teaching faculty. Cecilia Kutas recalled during his retirement celebration, “Stan has been a guiding light for all teaching support personnel, being the first to gain recognition as Faculty through your pioneering collaborations in research with professorial staff. In addition, you’ve re-conceptualized the Department’s outreach efforts to appeal to future Chemists, by providing opportunities for deserving High school students to engage in university-level chemistry, and working tirelessly to initiate and sustain the Department’s pivotal role in the success of the Canadian Chemistry Olympiad team.” Stan’s commitment to the Canadian Chemistry Olympiads resulted in the best results ever recorded by a Canadian team in the competition. Stan accompanied the team to several of the International Finals, including Russia in 2007 and Japan in 2010. Stan’s influence on his students is remarkable. His former students wrote en mass to share their stories about this excellent teacher, one wrote, “Stan is the best teacher I have ever known … He taught me to expect more of myself and to think critically before answering a question.” Another shared “He elevated me into a teaching position that inspired me to strive for greater things. Very few people are capable of changing a student’s trajectory; Stan Skonieczny is directly responsible for changing mine.” Helen and Stan have been the cornerstones of our undergraduate programs, they have established a welcoming atmosphere in our undergraduate wing, and set our exceptional standards in undergraduate teaching. In honour of their years of service, the department prepared a book of memories with contributions from faculty, staff, current and past students. Chair Robert Morris presented the books to the Helen and Stan during our annual year-end party in 2011. Following the party, a number of faculty and staff celebrated Helen and Stan’s many achievements during a dinner organized by Rose Balazs. Cecilia Kutas, Andy Dicks and Scott Browning spoke fondly about Helen and Stan, reminiscing about courses taught together, events organized and lessons learned. During the reception, Helen was presented with a beautiful painting and Stan with a watch to commemorate their time with us. We thank them for their years of hard work and dedication, and wish them all the best on their upcoming adventures. - Nina Lee 20 1 0 & 20 1 1 D i s t i l l at i o n s / c h e m . u t o r o n t o . c a

Faculty News

Faculty Retirements

Staff News

Get to Know Our New Staff:

Kuihua Cai, Matthew Forbes, Denise Job, Nasrin Manouchehri and Stefanie Steele

Kuihua Cai Photo courtesy of Kuihua Cai

Matthew Forbes Photo credit: Nina Lee

Denise Job Photo courtesy of Denise Job

What is your job title? Kuihua Cai: Technician, Undergraduate Lab Staff Matthew Forbes: Manager, Mass Spectrometry Laboratory Denise Job: Research Information Officer, Business Office Nasrin Manouchehri: Chemistry Stores Coordinator Stefanie Steele: Receptionist, Chair’s Office

Nasrin Manouchehri Photo credit: Nina Lee

Stefanie Steele Photo credit: Mark Morreale

When did you start working in the Department of Chemistry? KC: May 2010 MF: June 2010 DJ: September 2010 NM: February 2011 SS: January 2011

What is the most important thing you have learned about working in the Department? KC: I have learned the importance of scheduling, preparing labs earlier and the importance of collaborating with the course instructors, the co-workers in Chemistry Stores, demonstrators and other course technicians. MF: I have learned that it is a pleasure to work with so many talented people in the Department of Chemistry. DJ: Being part of a team that enjoys their work and works well together makes all the difference in creating a successful work environment. The Business Office is such a team. NM: I learned some very important concepts from the courses I studied while earning a certificate in Health and Safety. I want to create a safe environment for our staff, customers and suppliers. The courses provided many insights on how to prevent accidents while promoting safe working practices. SS: The most important thing I’ve learned about working for the Department of Chemistry is that you must have sense of humour.

Staff Retirements

Chemistry Salutes Aviva Kats and Alex Young We thank Aviva and Alex for their years of hard work and dedication in the Department, and wish them all the best during their adventures in the future.

viva Kats retired from the Department in May 2010. As an Undergraduate Lab Technician since the early 1990’s, Aviva worked with Dr. Douglas McIntosh, a Sr. Lecturer in the Department, to administer the lab component for our 2nd, 3rd and 4th year inorganic chemistry courses. She also assisted Sr. Lecturers Andy Dicks and Stan Skonieczny with the lab components of their 3rd year organic chemistry and 4th year spectroscopy courses. Aviva diligently prepared the labs and reagents for up to six courses at a time, and ensured the labs were always ready for the students. A concerned “lab mother”, Aviva befriended her students and always made sure their lab experiences were positive. Douglas spoke fondly about working with Aviva, “She was a great person with strong opinions, and always wanted her students to succeed.” Aviva’s mothering approach extended to assisting her colleagues, Doug las remembered, as she and her husband brought his newborn twins home from the hospital after their birth. 42

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lex Young retired from the Department’s Mass Spectrometry Laboratory in June 2010 after serving as Lab Manager for 20 years. During his tenure in the Department, Alex revived the Mass Spec Labs during the 1990’s and again in 2005. Throughout his time in Chemistry, Alex incorporated new instruments that modernized the facility and allow our faculty and students to make use of the highly sensitive equipment in their research. Alex also oversaw the move of the AIMS Mass Spectrometry lab to their new state-of-the-art facility in 2005. Our faculty, staff, students and postdoctoral fellows have all admired and appreciated Alex’s dedication to excellent service and his commitment to maintaining the Department’s high standards in their research facilities.

2011 Organic Synthesis Lecture Michael Greaney, U of Manchester New chemistry for heterocycles A. R. Gordon Distinguished Lecture Series Rienk van Grondelle, Vrije U. Amsterdam The Design of Photosynthesis Photosynthetic Light-harvesting and Photoprotection Fuels by Photosynthesis Bryan Jones Lecture Patrick Gunning, U of Toronto Miss. Silencing Stat3 signaling in human cancers: identifying potent small molecule inhibitors of Stat3 function David Farrar Lecture Bernie Kraatz, U of Toronto Scar. Ferrocene Peptides: Solution and Surface Studies John Valleau Lecture Dvira Segal, U of Toronto Impurity models: Nonequilibrium dynamics at the nanoscale Ates Tanin Chemical Education Lecture Stan Skonieczny, U of Toronto Chemistry Olympiad, Extracurricular Education and Community Service David Farrar Lecture Datong Song, U of Toronto Inorganic Fun: When the Right Metal Meets the Right Ligand John Polanyi Lecture Gilbert Walker, U of Toronto Aquatic Materials and Hydrophobicity John Valleau Lecture Stu Whittington, U of Toronto Polymers subject to a force: some simple but solvable models

2010 Alphora Lecture Lutz Ackermann, George-August-U. Transition Metal – Catalized Direct Arylationa and Alkylations of (Hetero) Arenes via C-H Bond Cleavages

A. R. Gordon Distinguished Lecture Series Steven V. Ley, U of Cambridge New Tools for Molecule Makers: Enabling Technologies A Fascination with 1,2-Diacetals The Azadirachtin Story

Bruker Lecture Guy Bertrand, UC Riverside Stable carbenes and related species: Powerful tools in organic and inorganic chemistry

Alphora Lecture Magnus Rueping, RWTH Aachen U. Bio-Inspired Catalysis – From Concepts to Applications

Adrian Brook Symposium Michael Brook, McMaster U. Structuring Siloxanes at Interfaces Organic Synthesis Lecture Gregory C. Fu, M.I.T. Palladium- and Nickel-Catalyzed Coupling reactions of Alkyl Electrophiles Organic Synthesis Lecture Frank Glorius, Westfälische WihelmsUniversität Münster N-Heterocyclic carbenes in catalysis and more: interesting concepts! Boehringer Ingelheim Lecture Tamejiro Hiyama, Kyoto University Invention of Transition MetalCatalyzed Carbon-Carbon Bond Forming Reactions for Organic Synthesis Adrian Brook Symposium Jeffrey Johnson, UNC, Chapel Hill Polarity Therapy Or: How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Brook Rearrangement

Eli Lilly Lecture Brian Stoltz, Caltech Complex Natural Products as a Driving Force for Discovery in Organic Chemistry Ates Tanin Lecture David Stone, U of Toronto Why Good Students Fail

Did you know? The A. R. Gordon Distinguished Lecture Series began in 197172. Since then, the Department has welcomed in 40 internationally celebrated lecturers, including four Nobel and eight Wolf Prize laureates.

Adrian Brook Symposium Mark Lautens, U of Toronto Synthesis and Reactions of Heterocycles

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Colloquia & Special Lectures

Departmental Named Special Lectures

Colloquia & Special Lectures

2009-2010 A. R. Gordon Distinguished Lecture Series Professor Steven V. Ley

which has been the subject of intensive research within the scientific community ever since its isolation from the neem tree in 1968. During the presentation, Steven described the worldwide synthesis efforts towards this fascinating molecule.

Photo credit: Nathan Pitt

Professor Steven V. Ley was our 2009-2010 Gordon Lecturer from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. An enthusiastic and engaging speaker, Steve captured the audience’s attention with during his talks. During his first talk on Tuesday March 30, Steve gave an introductory presentation entitled “New Tools for Molecule Makers Enabling Technologies” during which he described the application of continuous flow reaction systems, along with advanced scavenging agents and catch-andrelease techniques, to optimize multi-step reaction paths for the rapid and flexible production of pharmaceutical molecules at various scales. His second talk, held on Wednesday April 1, “A Fascination with 1,2-Diacetals” was more involved, and explored his research on 1,2-Diacetals. Steve gave his final lecture, “The Azadirachtin Story” on Thursday April 2. This final lecture explored Azadirachtin,

Steve’s prolific work is even broader outside the context of the Gordon Lectures. His work involves the discovery and development of new synthetic methods and their application to biologically active systems. The TPAP catalytic oxidant that is now used worldwide and cited extensively was one of his inventions. His group has published extensively on the use of iron carbonyl complexes, organoselenium chemistry, the use of microwaves in organic chemistry, biotransformations for the synthesis of natural products, and strategies for oligosaccharide assembly. To date more than 120 major natural products have been synthesised by the group. The group is currently developing new methods and techniques, in particular, the use of solid-supported reagents in a designed sequential and multi-step fashion, and in combination with advances in the use of scavenging agents and catch-and-release techniques and for flow microreactor systems. In addition to his lectures, Steve met with faculty and students during his very busy visit. Those who met with him at lunch or dinner enjoyed hearing of his personal and scientific anecdotes. Professor Steven Ley’s visit was exciting and inspiring, and we were grateful for being fortunate to have such a gracious and engaging visitor.

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Having followed his research over the years, it was a pleasure to meet Professor Ley and to attend his lectures. He is a very enthusiastic and engaging speaker, impressing the audience with his innovative work in flow chemistry, synthetic methodology and natural product synthesis. - Praew Thansandote

In the field of synthetic organic chemistry, Prof. Ley has been quite prolific, attempting and successfully completing numerous challenging targets in an elegant manner. In addition to sharing with us his wisdom of chemistry he shared his sense of humour, notably in commenting on my large appetite for not only chemistry over lunch. - John Janetzko

It was a pleasure to attend all of Prof. Steven Ley’s Gordon Lectures. They provided comprehensive insight into the elegant chemistry being performed in his laboratory as well as a poignant and convincing argument for the use of microreactors in synthesis. It was great to have the opportunity to meet with him to learn of his opinions on various scientific matters and to hear his interesting personal and scientific stories. - Timothy Ramadhar

Professor Dr. Rienk van Grondelle

I was one of the lucky students who were given a chance to have lunch with Prof. Grondelle. It was enlightening to hear Prof. Grondelle’s speak about photosynthetic science and its development, his research, but also on common interesting topics like how one should look to the prospect of science? - Anil Kumar

Photo courtesy of Rienk van Grondelle

Our 2010-2011 Gordon Lecturer was Professor Dr. Rienk van Grondelle from the Department of Biophysics at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam. Rienk was a PhD student of one of the great names in early photosynthesis research, Prof. L.N.M. Duysens. Since those early days, Rienk’s research has continued at the forefront of this field. Characteristically, his work advances hand-in-hand with the latest developments in instrumentation and theory, as he demonstrated in his first lecture: “The Design of Photosynthesis”. He showed beautifully how complex protein machinery is put together to convert the sun’s energy into biological energy equivalents. The challenges in biophysics for understanding the capture of sunlight by light harvesting proteins were described.

play in regulating light-harvesting. Most of the day, it transpires, there is just too much sunlight! Plants require sophisticated ‘safety valves’ to dissipate the surplus energy before it harms the cells. In his final lecture, Rienk challenged us with some new ideas. Could photosynthetic algae be programmed genetically so they become production lines for chemicals such as ethylene?

In his second lecture, Rienk discussed the complex mechanisms at

- Gregory Scholes

Overall, the lecture series was an immense success. Rienk was stunned by the quality of research going on in our department. He was genuinely thrilled to meet with so many faculty and learn about the latest achievements in their research groups. He was so impressed that he offered to help review our department any time it was required.

The lectures were so informative and I was exposed to a lot of new ideas. I enjoyed the opportunity to have lunch with him. We spoke about our research, and he gave me a lot of good advice about how to establish a good career in academia. - Ahmed Ali

I was fortunate enough to attend a portion of his lecture series which presented a very detailed and thorough explanation of photosynthesis; a topic that is typically over my head felt much more accessible during his talks. - Jon Hollinger

Aside from the science, we discussed a range of topics from travel and cycling to mentorship strategies and ideas for promoting commercialization of academic research. Professor van Grondelle coaches soccer in his spare time and, me being the Varsity Blues Men’s Rugby coach, we discussed coaching strategy and philosophy, and the many parallels between motivation in sport and motivation in academics. - Paul DiCarmine

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Colloquia & Special Lectures

2010-2011 A. R. Gordon Distinguished Lecture Series

Colloquia & Special Lectures

Chemical Biophysics Symposium The Chemical Biophysics Symposium (CBP) is held annually every spring at the University of Toronto. It is organized by U of T graduate students and typically brings together about 120 attendees for a weekend of presentation and discussion of topics at the intersection of chemistry, physics, and biology. Keynote speakers, leaders in their fields, are invited from across North America and abroad. Participants are a diverse mix of graduate students, post-docs, faculty, senior scientists, undergraduates, and industry representatives, from across Canada and parts of the United States. Such diversity creates a lot of opportunity for active networking and discussions on science. Symposium attendees return year after year, due in large part to the wonderful hospitality that the organizers offer. Good food plus good science make for a very enjoyable meeting format, in which attendees are able to mingle, discuss, and collaborate during coffee breaks, buffet lunches, pub nights, and the always entertaining evening banquet. The CBP has its roots in the Department of Chemistry. The symposium was born out of the desire for a meeting format with a more intimate size than other large-scale conferences, which would foster scientific dialogue in a more engaging and accessible manner. Its inaugural year was organized by Professors Cynthia Goh, Ray Kapral, Dwayne Miller, Jeremy Schofield, Greg Scholes, and Andrew Woolley. Over the years, graduate student involvement has steadily increased, and today the CBP is entirely studentorganized, with support from faculty advisors. In particular, Professors Gilbert Walker, David McMillen and Claudiu Gradinaru (Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, UTM) have been very supportive of the CBP in recent years, together with the CBP founders. With participants across the fields of biology, chemistry and physics, both experimental and theoretical, the main goal of the CBP remains true to its original mandate, which is “to bring together a diverse set of researchers from the various 46

branches of physical science to stimulate the exchange of ideas in an informal environment”. The 9th annual CBP took place at the Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building on the weekend of April 9th-11th, 2010. The organizational committee, comprised of 30+ students from the Departments of Chemistry, Physics, Chemical and Physical Sciences (UTM), and Pharmacy, worked very hard on sponsorship, program planning, logistics, advertising, and speaker coordination to ensure the success of CBP 2010. The CBP has an established reputation of bringing world class researchers from North America and abroad to the University of Toronto as keynote speakers. CBP 2010 was no exception; the eight invited speakers included Peng Chen (Cornell University), Ron Weiss (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Christopher Yip (University of Toronto), and Julio Fernandez (Columbia University). For the first time, the organizers, led by student chair Isaac Li, Department of Chemistry, introduced a Friday morning workshop to the symposium, with the aim of giving participants an opportunity to learn more about a specific area of research in greater depth. The workshop, which focused on force and fluorescence microscopy, was a great success in terms of the turnout and feedback from the participants. Overall, the content of CBP 2010 consisted of 23 oral presentations and 67 poster presentations, with authors from across Canada, the US, and overseas. It was a great experience and a promising prelude to the CBP’s 10th anniversary. In celebration of CBP’s 10th anniversary, the organizers of CBP 2011 (chaired by students Soyoung Lee, Department of Pharmacy; Jordan Ang, Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, UTM; Christina Müller, Department of Chemistry; and Hiren Patel, Department of Pharmacy) sought to make the symposium bigger and better. Held once again at the Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building, on the weekend of April 8th

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– 10th, CBP 2011 welcomed a record 147 participants from various Canadian and US American universities. In addition, nine keynote speakers from North America and Europe accepted their invitation to Toronto. Speakers included Shekhar Garde (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), William Shih (Harvard University), Roland Winter (Technical University Dortmund), Régis Pomès (Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto), and Villy Sundström (Lund University). The Friday sessions were expanded, with three morning workshops covering hydrophobic interactions, microcalorimetry in biophysical chemistry applications, and commercialization of research. David McMillen, host of the Saturday night banquet festivities at the Forest View Chinese Restaurant, gave his comedic best and the annual CBP Jeopardy game was taken to new heights with the voice and antics of a remarkable facsimile of Watson (IBM’s AI). Participants enjoyed a total of 22 oral presentations and 78 poster presentations over the course of the symposium. The CBP organizers were very pleased to note that 18 different disciplines were represented at the conference, with participants from Nanotechnology, Pharmaceutical Science, Molecular and Structural Biology, Surgery, and many more. After ten years of growth, the CBP continues to provide an excellent opportunity to widen the scientific horizon of its participants. At the closure of our 10th anniversary, we look forward to the Chemical Biophysics Symposium in the years to come. It remains to thank all sponsors, participants, speakers and presenters, and especially the organizational committee. Everyone is looking forward to welcoming guests again to next year’s conference, which will surely continue to build on the success of years past. CBP 2012 will take place on April 13th – 15th, 2012, and we hope to see you there! - Adrienne Tanur, with contributions from Christina Müller and Isaac Li

May 3rd, 2011 marked the beginning of the 11th Environmental Chemistry Colloquium – a.k.a. ECC-XI – the annual gathering at which students share their work and ideas with colleagues and faculty in Environmental Chemistry. More than thirty presentations were made over three days at three novel locations. The first day of talks, food and games was held in the theatre at the historic ECC-XI participants. Wychwood Barns, a reclaimed TTC streetcar garage that now acts as a community centre housing a greenhouse, gallery and artists spaces. The space also boasts a large playground with a volleyball area and weekly farmers’ and craft markets. The second day of talks was held at the Multifaith Centre on the St. George campus, who kindly provided ECC with space, including a working kitchen, at no cost. The second day also featured the annual Faculty Barbeque, during which the faculty treated the whole group to a sumptuous dinner. The final day of presentations and meetings showcased the new lecture hall in the Science Research Building at UTSC, so everyone got to show off their ‘home’ campus. From the planning stages, ECC-XI set out to be the most environmentally and ethically neutral of the colloquia to date: all the venues were easily accessible by transit or bicycle, and every attempt was made to eliminate waste from the serving of food. As well, with the exception of the barbeque, much of the supplied food

Colloquia & Special Lectures

Environmental Chemistry Colloquium

Photo credit: Barbara Weiner

was vegetarian, and the coffee and tea were certified Fair Trade. Each year the ANALEST facility kindly donates a monetary prize to be awarded to the best presentation at ECC. This year that honour went to Jeff Geddes of the Jennifer Murphy group, which includes having his name added to the plaque in ANALEST. Finally, the all important task of choosing a new student organizer led to the selection of Sumi Wren, who will assist Anne Myers in hosting ECC XII! ECC-XI would not have been possible without the kind and generous financial support of Chem Club, the Department of Physical and Environmental Science (UTSC) and the Department of Chemistry. We all look forward to another successful ECC in 2012! - Johnny Westgate (Sr. Organizer), Anne Myers (Jr. Organizer) and Jamie Donaldson (Faculty Liaison)

Upcoming Events Third Annual Ask a Laureate Lectures May 11, 2012 Science Rendezvous May 12, 2012 National Chemistry Olympiad May 31-June 6, 2012 NMR Boot Camp: June 4-9, 2012

Royal Society of Chemistry International Symposia for Advancing the Chemical Sciences (ISACS) July 19-22, 2012 Departmental Awards Reception Spring 2012 (Watch our website for more details) 2012-2013 A. R. Gordon Distinguished Lecture Series Early 2013 Colloquia and Special Lectures For more details visit: www.chem.utoronto.ca

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Special Events

Canadian Society for Chemistry 93rd Chemistry Conference and Exhibition Our department was the primary host for the program of the 93rd CSC Chemistry Conference and Exhibition held May 29 - June 2, 2010. The sessions and exhibition were held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. This conference is Canada’s largest annual event devoted to the science and practice of chemistry. It gives participants a chance to exchange ideas, discover opportunities, make new contacts and broaden their knowledge. We chose as a theme for the conference “Diversity in Chemistry”, which emphasizes both the wide impact of chemical science as well as the people that make up our field. The diversity can be seen in the areas of emphasis in the initial announcement: innovation and commercialization, green chemistry, life sciences, medicinal chemistry, climate change and the environment. The sessions opened with plenary addresses by John Polanyi on chemical diversity and Richard Silverman on the irrationality of rational discoveries. Faculty and students from our department were involved in organizing and running sessions over the next four days for over 2400 participants.

The program at the 2010 CSC meeting was a roaring success. The divisional representatives: Bob Morris (inorganic) Mark Taylor (organic) Tim Bender (macromolecular), Cynthia Goh (physical-theoretical), Mike Thompson (analytical), Andy Dicks (chemical education), Deborah Zamble (biological-medicinal chemistry), Eugenia Kumacheva (materials chemistry) and Nick Toltl (industrial chemistry) did a wonderful job of recruiting approximately 90 symposium organizers from across the discipline. These symposia targeted hot topics in each of the sub-disciplines that drew in participants from across Canada. The main social event was the annual Awards Dinner, which was held at the Palais Royale ballroom on Lake Ontario. The weather was perfect and Toronto proved to be an excellent venue. - Ronald Kluger, Conference Chair and Doug Stephan, Program Chair

2011-12 1st Annual Chemistry Squash Tournament This year marks the birth of the first official departmental squash tournament here at the St. George campus, which is of course open to all graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty and support staff alike. Back when I was a graduate student at the University of Guelph, a colleague of mine started a squash league, and I had so much fun that I knew that starting a tournament here was a no-brainer. Of course, many of us are here because we eat, sleep, and breathe chemistry on a daily basis, but perhaps we all need reminding from time to time that there is more to life than chemistry and work. And I am 100 % convinced that regular physical exercise will give you more energy and help you stay focused while at work. Perhaps more importantly, staying active will help you to maintain a positive attitude about yourself and your life (regardless of what has or has not happened in your reaction flask), so really it’s a win-win. This tournament is also an excellent opportunity to meet all kinds of people from all over department. I know everyone has a busy schedule, so I kept the general format of the tournament simple; you sign up in September at the start of the school year, then you will play one practice game a week with other 48

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league members for about 3 months, this is followed by a round-robin style tournament until a clear victor has emerged.

Photo credit: Jordan Goodreid

There will be a celebratory “dinner and drinks” at the end of every tournament with prizes for the top 3 players. So far this year we have around 20 league members, and I hope this tournament and the traditions that come with it, continue long after I am gone. When all is said and done, it’s not the shots that won the championship that you remember, but the friendships you made along the way. - Jordan Goodreid

“Technopreneurs” attend the 2nd annual workshop The Institute for Optical Sciences (IOS) recently hosted Techno2011, its second annual month-long intensive workshop for aspiring “technopreneurs” – science and engineering graduates and post-docs, current students and faculty supervisors during the summer of 2011. The workshop aims to educate young students on how to successfully translate scientific discoveries and knowledge into commercially viable products. This year the workshop hosted 25 participants from the University of Toronto, University of Guelph, Waterloo University, McMaster University, and Memorial University. Over the course of the workshop 11 teams worked tirelessly on to developing their ideas, conducting market research, createing go-to-market strategies, learning the fundamentals of IP, legals and corporate governance, and how to present their companies to potential investors. This was all completed with the help of over 25 lecturers, mentors, and workshop leaders who volunteered their time to come work with the teams. The workshop also featured three ‘Entrepreneur Story’ sessions, where Dr. Darren Anderson, CTO Vive Nano; Carlos de Oliveira, CEO of Cast Connex; and Jeannette Ho, Director of Operations, Interface Biologics, presented their start-up stories and strategies. Other key events included a networking dinner at the Faculty Club, a reception hosted by UofT’s VP Research, and the final “Life is a Pitch” session at MaRS where each team had 10 minutes to show off all the work they had done in the past four weeks. As usual, the Department of Chemistry was well represented within the workshop participants. A few examples of the companies from both Techno2010 and Techno2011 that have included individuals from the Department include Ecoatra (see the story about this start up by Mallika Das on page 53), Dale-

nyi Biosurfaces, Biostring, Lunanos, Eitan, and the not-for-profit company Pueblo Science. The IOS was very grateful for the support from our Techno2011 sponsors, including MaRS, the Office of the President (UofT), Department of Chemistry (UofT), Department of Physics (UofT), and Ryerson University. The team behind Techno are the IOS staff, Professor Cynthia Goh, Dr. Richard McAloney, Dr. Venkat Venkataramanan, and Dr. Emanuel Istrate. Professor Goh, the Director of the IOS, is a professor in the Department of Chemistry who not only conducts research on collagen formation and nanoparticle synthesis, but has mentored countless students over the years who have been interested in commercialization. Dr. Richard McAloney is a graduate from the Department who, after working for a number of years in the U.S., returned to Canada to work as the Director of Technology Management at the IOS. Dr. Emanuel Istrate received his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UofT and has been the Academic Programs Coordinator since 2006 where, among other initiatives, he runs a popular undergraduate holography course. Finally, Dr. Venkat Venkataramanan, the Director of Scientific Operations, obtained his doctoral degree in Physics from the India Institute of Science, Bangalore, and has significant interests in new LED technologies. In the future, the IOS hopes to expand the scope of the workshop and create Innovation Fellowship positions to support students, post-docs, and researchers who are interested in setting their using their knowledge and technologies to help create new solutions to both market and social problems. - Scott McAuley Innovation Fellow, Institute of Optical Sciences

Chemistry Participates in Canada-China Analytical Chemistry Conference Faculty from University in China and Ontario met on August 29, 2011 during the Canada-China Analytical Chemistry Conference to discuss partnership opportunities in clean tech and biotech. The workshop was opened by Mr. Tony Rockingham, former Assistant Deputy Minister, Innovation and Commercialization and included presentation from Professor Qiankun Zhuang, Director of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Professor Peter Lewis, Associate Vice President Research from UoT. A panel discussion, moderated by Professor Ulrich Krull (Chemistry at UTM) and Chris Le (University of Alberta) included a presentation by Professor Robert Morris.

Photo courtesy of Bob Morris

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Special Events

Techno 2011

Alumni News & Profiles

Alumni News Professor Robert G. Ackman (BA 1950) has retired from the Canadian Institute of Fisheries Technology at Dalhousie University after a busy and illustrious career in lipids and fisheries. An officer of the Order of Canada, Professor Ackman is credited with developing numerous techniques to analyze marine oils and authoring over 550 scientific papers. Dr. Norman Allentoff (BA 1950, MA 1951, PhD 1956 with G. F Wright) shares this story from his experiences during WWII: “We landed our trusty Dakota on the short jungle airstrip during the British Burma campaign in early 1945, the first major military operation to be totally supplied by air. Our 267 Squadron RAF was tasked with two or three delivery missions a day. Sometimes the Japanese would retake the airstrip during the night, requiring caution before landing. This time we had five bright green 500 pound bombs chained in the cargo space. Normally we would be met with lorries manned by the troops, often Askaris, to unload our cargo, but this time there was no one to be seen. We had other errands to do, and couldn’t wait around indefinitely to unload. We gingerly unchained each bomb, rolled it down to the unloading doors, and for lack of an alternative, let them drop the four feet or so on to the tarmac. To say that we were a little nervous about this operation would be an understatement. As it turns out, I need not have been so concerned about this operation. Working on my doctorate under the supervision of Professor George F Wright some years later, I learned that any practical explosive compound had to be quite stable under ordinary conditions and required a specific method for detonation. I would have appreciated knowing that back in Burma.” Professor Ludovico Cademartiri’s (PhD 2008 with G. A. Ozin) research was featured in an article for National Geographic and the Houston Chronicle. Working with the Whitesides group as a Postdoctoral Fellow, he discovered that it was possible to put out an 18-inch flame with nothing but a wand powered by a 600 watt amplifier - about the amount needed to power a home stereo system. Scientists have known for about 200 years that electric fields can interact with flames, but most experiments use direct current (DC), not alternating current. Cademartiri spoke with the Houston Chronicle saying it’s too early to tell how an electric current could affect a larger flame. But he said he’s optimistic about the potential. He presented his findings at the March 2011 American Chemical Society meeting in Anaheim, CA. http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Harvardchemists-use-electricity-to-snuff-out-1687866.php 50

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Congratulations to Cecilia Kutas (BSc 1974) and her husband, Corneliu Chisu, P.Eng., elected conservative member of parliament for Pickering Scarborough East on May 2nd, 2011. Dr. Alen Hadzovic (PhD 2006 with R. H. Morris) has been appointed as a Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Toronto Scarborough effective July 1, 2011. Alen completed his undergraduate studies at University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Mathematics and Sciences in 1997. In 1997, he joined the same institution as a junior faculty member. From then till 2000, my time was divided between teaching inorganic chemistry laboratory courses and mineralogy for chemists in Sarajevo and working research visits to Universities of Vienna and Graz in Austria as well as the Research Institute “Rudjer Boskovic” in Zagreb, Croatia. In 2001, he joined Professor Robert H. Morris’ group at the University of Toronto as a PhD student. After completing his graduate studies, he spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow working with Professor Datong Song, also at University of Toronto. Afterwards, his next three years were devoted to teaching undergraduate courses at both the St. George and Scarborough campuses. Alen’s current teaching and research are focused on developing on-line, open-access teaching tools and preparing upper year undergraduate students for future graduate research through independent research projects. Professor Russell P. Hughes (PhD 1972 with J. Powell) was the 2010 recipient of the American Chemical Society Award for Creative Work in Fluorine Chemistry. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to the advancement of the chemistry of fluorine. Professor Hughes, currently the Frank 2010 recipient Russell P. Hughes R. Mori Professor of Chemis- (center) is presented his award by Michael Van Der Puy from try at Dartmouth College in Honeywell (right) and ACS PresiNew Hampshire, was hon- dent Joseph S. Francisco (left) oured with the prestigious Photo credit: American Chemical Society award for discovering a way to lessen the hold fluorine atoms have on certain molecules. His findings will have a significant impact on making technologies like air conditioners and silicon chips more environmentally friendly. Chemical and Engineering News described Hughes’ research as “molecules containing bonds from carbon to fluorine are important in medicine and industry, and owe much of their inertness to the unusual

Dr. Kenneth Lopata (BSc 2004 with A. Dhirani) is the inaugural recipient of the William Wiley Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL). Lopata was chosen based on a research proposal he created under the mentorship of EMSL scientist Niri Govind to Photo courtesy of EMSL develop robust massively parallel computational methods to study femtosecond/sub-femtosecond electron dynamics in realistic systems. This work would expand the EMSLdeveloped NWChem to link to additional experimental platforms with real-time femtosecond computational dynamics. Information provided by U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory. Dr. Francine Lui (PhD 2011 with R. H. Kluger), a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Zapol group at the Harvard Medical School, received the Young Investigator Award at the meeting of the International Symposium on Blood Substitutes in July 2011. Francine’s Ph.D. research work was carried out under the supervision of Professor Ronald Kluger, and together, they have been involved in the development of “blood substitutes”. They have modifed hemoglobin, the oxygen carrying protein in red cells, to create hemoglobinbased oxygen carriers (HBOCs). Although these novel oxygen-carrying products have significant potential use, clinical observations indicate that there are many adverse side-effects (such as heart attacks) associated with these products that hinder their commercialization. Their research dealt specifically with understanding the associated toxicity, and the long-term goal is to recognize and counteract the processes that stimulate HBOC-induce toxicity. Together, they have discovered that an enzymatic reaction that is inherent to hemoglobin - its nitrite reductase activity, produced nitric oxide, a potent vasodilator, at enhanced rates when the hemoglobin is modified with polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains. This work has implications in

the future development of blood substitutes that are both safe and effective. Dr. Paul Piunno (BSc 1992, MSc 1994, PhD 1999 with U. J. Krull) has been appointed as a Lecturer at the University of Toronto Mississauga, beginning July 1, 2011. Paul teaches courses in analytical chemistry and research opportunities in the development of analytical devices, including: chemical sensors and biosensors, sensor-arrays and microarrays, microfluidic based analytical instrumentation and associated instrument control and analysis software. Paul’s research has focused on the development and commercial implementation of optical biosensor technologies for rapid, reusable, sensitive and selective nucleic acid diagnostics. The overall aim of his research has been the development of chemicallyselective surfaces and associated instrumentation that together are suitable for practical application as biosensor devices. In particular, his work has focused on the development of fluorimetric nucleic acid biosensors that rely on the use of immobilised nucleic acid probes of well-defined sequence and organisation to detect and identify organisms (e.g. pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli 0157, Salmonella typhimurium and Listeria monocytogenes), viruses (e.g. Human Papillomavirus and Influenza A virus subtype H1N1) and genetic mutations (including those for inherited diseases, such as Spinal Muscular Atrophy) through selective DNA hybridisation reactions. Dr. Alan Rodgman (BA 1949, PhD 1953 with G. F Wright) and colleague Thomas Perfetti were the 2010 recipients of the Coresta Prize at the Coresta Conference in Edinburgh. They received the prize for their book The Chemical Components of Tobacco and Tobacco Smoke. The prize is presented in recognition of their extensive work documenting the literature on the chemical composition of tobacco and tobacco smoke.

Do you have news to share? Have you published an article or been featured in the media recently? Perhaps you have celebrated a promotion, wedding or birth recently that you would like to share with your fellow alumni. Contact us at chair@chem.utoronto.ca so that we can work with you to share the details of your success!

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Alumni News & Profiles

strength of these C-F bonds. But the notorious reputation of many perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as potent greenhouse gases has prompted the development of what’s hoped will be less environmentally detrimental hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).” Information provided by Professor Russell Hughes, Dartmouth News (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~news/releases/2010/02/15. html) and Chemical and Engineering News (Vol. 88, no. 6, p. 61)

Alumni News & Profiles

Nyburg and O’Brien Group Reunion Dr. Vlad Kocman (PhD 1970 with S. C. Nyburg) held an alumni reunion August 13-14, 2010 at Lash Miller and Hart House for the O’Brien and Nyburg groups. The inorganic group of Professor R. J. O’Brien and the X-ray structure analysis group of Professor S. C. Nyburg and their spouses came from across Canada, the United States and Europe, most of whom had graduated more than 40 years ago. We were honoured that Professor Stanley Nyburg and wife Jo were able to attend. They travelled all the way from London, England where they are both enjoying their retirement.

Carol Corben Pierce, Lada Prasad, Stan Nyburg and Hartwig Luth. Photo courtesy of Susan Buram and Vlad Kocman

On August 13th, we enjoyed a tour of the Lash Miller Chemistry laboratories followed by a barbecue. The modern equipment in the laboratories and the new expanded Davenport building amazed us. Chair Robert Morris gave us a thorough explanation of the teaching and research work currently being carried out by the staff and the graduate students in the department. After the tour, most of us parted for private meetings with colleagues and friends, many of whom we had not seen for years. During the following day, we enjoyed a formal dinner and an evening at Hart House, organized by Diana Santo (wife of Dr. William Santo, graduate of O’Brien’s group). Following dinner, we watched a presentation prepared by Vlad Kocman depicting our life on campus and in Toronto during our studies at the University in the 60’s and 70’s. The partying and talks went well and everybody went home happy after the events. We would like to express our thanks to Dr. Andrew Cleland, graduate of the O’Brien group, for his great organizational help, to Mrs. Diana Santo for the dinner and flower arrangements and to Professor Robert Morris and Penny Ashcroft Moore for the assistance with the Lash Miller Laboratories tour. We hope to return again to our Alma Mater in the future. - Vlad Kocman

The reunion group following the luncheon Photo courtesy of Susan Buram and Vlad Kocman

Chair Bob Morris gives a tour of the Lash Miller and Davenport Buildings. Photo courtesy of Susan Buram and Vlad Kocman

Design Your Own Reunion Do you want to get in touch with your friends from Chemistry at UofT? You’re not restricted to attending the spring reunion. We can help you plan your own reunion! We have a BBQ and a gorgeous patio that can be used in spring, summer or fall, and our fabulous Davenport Atrium can be used in inclement weather. Please contact Penny Ashcroft Moore at 416-978-3566 or send an email to chair@chem.utoronto.ca for more details. 52

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Department of Chemistry Christmas Party, December 1953, Undergraduate Inorganic Laboratory, Wallburg Building. Photo credit: W. A. E. McBryde

When Dr. Mallika Das (MSc 2003, PhD 2008 with E. Kumacheva) graduated in 2008, she had a lot of ideas based on her scientific knowledge that she felt she could use to solve real problems, and turn into commercial products. Like a lot of recent graduates, she wanted to start a business where she would be able to apply her scientific expertise to create commercially viable products to solve real world problems and positively impact society rather than follow the traditional, well-beaten path and compete for a dwindling number of academic jobs. However, Mallika had little experience in business, and was not entirely sure how to create a start-up company. She enrolled in the Institute for Optical Science (IOS)’s Techno2010 program (Techno2010 and 2011, pg. ##), where she attended hands-on workshops, met with mentors and learned how to turn her scientific discoveries into products and solutions for the consumer market. These technology ideas found their way to becoming Ecoatra, a company that Mallika and Dr. Nikhil Gunari (G. Walker group) founded in 2010. Ecoatra is now developing clean, eco-friendly multifunctional coating treatments for wood protection and preservation, for energy-efficient windows, and coated agriculture shade nets, which will slightly raise or lower the temperature and humidity over a small area. These coated “smartProfessor Francesca Marassi (BSc 1987, MSc 1989, PhD 1993 with P. Macdonald) earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Toronto in 1993 with Peter Macdonald. Afterwards, she moved to the University of Pennsylvania where she held Postdoctoral Fellowships from the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada (1993-1995) and from the Medical Research Council of Canada (1995-1998). In 1998, she joined the Division of Structural Biology at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia as Assistant Professor, and in 1999, was appointed Wistar Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania. In December 2000, Francesca was recruited to the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Since this is a biomedical research institute, she has spent the majority of her time engaged in research on problems directly related to diseases.

nets” could be used in the future as low-cost alternatives to greenhouses in developing countries. In early 2011, Mallika was able to secure some seed money from the New Entrepreneur Program through the Ontario Centres of Excellence. This seed money helped her hire two staff, and gave her the resources to start off. Mallika quickly learned that as a fledging, bootstrapping company, Ecoatra needed many resources– space, business mentorship, support networks and other operations assistance in order to flourish. IOS has provided all this and more. Mallika, an IOS Innovation Fellow currently supported by MITACS, credits IOS’ support as crucial to the success of Ecoatra’s early endeavors. As mentors, Professor Cynthia Goh and the IOS staff have provided her with invaluable support and advice to launch and grow her company. Ecoatra now has three employees, all of whom are alumni of the Chemistry department, with plans to expand. They have spent much of 2011 optimizing the formulation and testing their eco-friendly coating treatments for wood protection and preservation with industry partners. Interested to learn more about Mallika Das and Ecoatra? You can reach her at mallika@ecoatra.com Information provided by Mallika Das, Faculty of Arts and Science

(www.artsci.utoronto.ca/main/newsitems/qa-with-mallika-das), and the UofT Magazine (Motluk, Alison, “Business Boot Camp.” Winter 2012: 20. Print) Professor Marassi is particularly interested in bacterial infectious diseases. The research in her group focuses on the structural characterization of integral membrane proteins in phospholipid bilayer membranes. They use and develop NMR methods for membrane protein structure determination in membranes, including computational methods for structure calculations. The basic training she received in the general field of chemistry and especially the cutting-edge research that Peter Macdonald directed in the area of phospholipids as the major constituent of membranes provides the fundamental background for this research. Professor Marassi wrote to tell us about her experience at UofT: “I am often surprised to find out how much less my colleagues working in the same field know about these things. At the time it was hard to know, but with experience I appreciate that I received an extraordinary education at the University of Toronto. All of the professors were great, and I often dream of what it would be like to return to that wonderful department. I miss both the collegiality and the science, and my message to the current students would be to appreciate every day that you spend in your studies at the University of Toronto.” 20 1 0 & 20 1 1 D i s t i l l at i o n s / c h e m . u t o r o n t o . c a

Alumni News & Profiles

Alumni Profiles

Weddings, Births, & In Memoriam

Births and Weddings

Professor Aaron Wheeler and Sabreena Delhon exchanged wedding vows on July 10, 2011.

Professor Ulrich Fekl and Rosalie Wang were married on March 12, 2011.

Keegan Rankin (Mabury group) and his wife, Katherine Mary exchanged wedding vows on June 25, 2011.

Mike Watson (Wheeler group) and his wife, Margot du Manoir were married on August 27, 2011.

Nancy (BSc 1994 with J. Donaldson), and her husband Cameron Forde (PhD 1997 with R. Morris) and big sister Gillian welcome Alistair James Forde, born December 8, 2010.

S. Hesam Shahravan (PhD 2011 with J. Shin) and his wife, Fatemeh welcomed little Leila on September 28, 2011.

Dr. Doug and Mary McIntosh celebrated the birth of their daughters Elizabeth and Mirella on June 23, 2010.

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Professor Deborah Zamble and Brian Murray welcomed David Louis Murray on November 18, 2010. Big brother, Matthew, is excited to play with his little brother.

Alan Howard Allman and Margaret Wallace Allman BA 1940 Alan Allman passed away in Toronto on January 16, 2010. He received his BA from Chemistry in 1940, where he befriended and studied with our alumnus and benefactor Edwin Walter Warren, after whom two of our graduate awards are named. Alan was a chemistry professor at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute for over thirty years. He is survived by his two children, two grandchildren and his sister. Allman’ beloved wife, Margaret Wallace Allman (née Jack) passed away on July 7, 2011. Joan Phyllis Cochrane Romeyn Birnie BA 1937, MA 1938 Joan Romeyn Birnie passed away in London, ON on July 25, 2011 at the age of 95 years. She received her BA in 1937 and her MA in 1938 from Chemistry. Joan worked 19 years as a chemist at the Royal Victoria Hospital and at McGill University. She is remembered by her four children, 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Donald William Hughes Don Hughes passed away on April 30, 2010 in Hamilton, ON. He worked with Bill Reynolds in our NMR facility during the 1980s. More recently, he worked at the NMR facility at McMaster University. While at Chemistry, he taught NMR graduate courses and assisted faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and visitors in solving complex NMR puzzles. He is remembered by his many cousins. Edward Grant Jones BSc 1965, MSc 1967, PhD 1969 Grant Jones passed away on June 6, 2011 in Dayton, OH. Grant received his PhD with Professor Alex Harrison in 1969 and worked as a Research Chemist for Systems Research Laboratory and Innovative Scientific Solutions. He is remembered by his wife Susan, four children and seven grandchildren.

Paul Olynyk PhD 1944 Paul Olynyk passed away on March 5, 2010 Cleveland, OH. He received his PhD in Physical Chemistry in 1944. He taught chemistry and environmental sciences at Cleveland State University for more than 30 years. Paul is survived by his wife Maryanne, six children, nine grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and a brother. G. N. Russell Smart Postdoctoral Fellow 1946 Russell Smart passed away on May 3, 2011 in Salisbury Township, PA. Russell was engaged as a Postdoctoral Fellow where he conducted explosives research with George F Wright in 1946. He taught chemistry at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania for more than 40 years before his retirement in 1987. He is survived by his three children and sister. George W. Vari The Honourable George W. Vari P.C., C.M., O.L.H, Ph.D., H.LLD passed away on December 9, 2010 in Toronto. George Vari was a special friend of the department and the University of Toronto. He is survived by his beloved wife Helen and many nieces and nephews. Saul Wolfe BA 1954, MA 1955 Saul Wolfe passed away on August 9, 2011 at the age on 78 in Vancouver, BC. Saul was a Professor Emeritus in the Chemistry Department at Simon Fraser University. He was a Canada Council Killam Research Fellow, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a recipient of the First R.U. Lemieux Award. He is survived by his wife Thelma, two children, and grandchildren.

Ernest Everet Minett BA 1938 Everet Minett passed away on September 5, 2007 in Toronto. Everet received his BA in Chemistry in 1938 and subsequently did graduate work in Physics at MIT. Everet played significant roles in the Manhattan Project in the 1940’s, in the development of RCA’s EN1AC and Remington Rand’s UNIVAC computer systems during the 1950’s, held senior positions at Xerox in the 1960’s, and returned to the UoT as director of the Library Automated System in the 1970’s. He is remembered by his many children and grandchildren. 20 1 0 & 20 1 1 D i s t i l l at i o n s / c h e m . u t o r o n t o . c a

Weddings, Births, & In Memoriam

In Memoriam

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