COSMOS

Man has been using plastics for thousands of years, and some of the earlier uses of plastics include spoons, buttons and combs. Today, plastics are used for a myriad of applications, such as for aerospace, microelectronics and water purification. With polymer chemistry, man has been able to alter the properties of plastics or polymers to suit almost any application. Their properties can also be tailored for use as advanced biomedical implants in the human body. An example of such a polymer is the biocompatible lactide/glycolide polyesters. These biodegradable polymers are currently used as sutures, drug delivery systems, temporary implants and even as scaffolds for tissue engineering.

Solid-phase synthesis is a technique of synthesizing compounds that was first reported by R. Bruce Merrifield in 1963. This revolutionary way of performing chemical synthesis has changed the face of synthesis — yet few people outside the halls of chemical research will ever hear about it. So, what is this technique and why is it useful? How has the technique of solid-phase synthesis changed the world? How has the solid-phase synthesis changed over time? This article aims to give a background of the area of solid-phase synthesis and answer these questions.

The scientific study of fragrances brings together many different facets of chemistry, and is an excellent illustration of the importance of chemistry in our daily lives. This article briefly describes the history of fragrance chemistry, from its origins in natural product isolation, to the improved technologies of synthetic chemistry and the analytical methods used to determine fragrance composition. The biological basis of smell and molecular recognition is explored, including examples and applications of fragrant compounds from five different fragrance families.

There is more to organic chemistry than the covalent bond. The design and synthesis of molecules, because of their particular architecture, are able to bind strongly target ions or molecules by utilizing lots of individually relatively weak non-covalent interactions has led to many novel and important applications. Examples include the transport of ions across biological membranes, the generation of unusual ionic species, such as sodium anions, the recovery of pure metals from mineral ores, and contrasting agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Colonization of ship hulls by living organisms, which occurs on molecular, microbial and macro organism levels, decreases ship performance, increases costs and is a biological problem with global consequences. Managing fouling is necessary for efficient economics and to prevent environmental damage due to introduction of invasive species. Colonization is managed by broad spectrum long-lived toxins which kill colonizers. Broad spectrum long-lived toxins build up and impact environments. Toxins damage ecosystems and directly or indirectly kill food species. Ideally, novel antifouling approaches will be compatible with existing business models and with the environment. A mixture of short-lived biologically active molecules that manage colonization has this potential. The mixture would contain a short-lived toxin that managed colonization of organisms that have no behavior and then additional molecules that interfere with the process of colonization by organisms with behavior and those that attach as part of a change in life stage. Environmentally benign antifouling approaches are novel and require cooperation rather than competition or adversarial relationships. They require cooperation by individuals with expertise from business, governmental agencies and academia. The science is likely to be easier than the necessary changes in philosophy and governance required to successfully address this and other complex global problems.

Catalysis plays an important role in our day-to-day life either directly or indirectly. While the petrochemical industries are largely based on catalytic processes, in recent decades, small volume specialty and fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals are increasingly produced through catalytic routes as part of effort to improve efficiencies of reactions. In this review, some of the important homogeneous catalytic methodologies relevant to the synthesis of value added products are described.

The changing state of our molecular world involves the making and breaking of bonds. Some researchers make chemical structures, others break them. Both approaches play an important part in the development of new drugs, detectors and materials. However, modern endeavors in research involve understanding and overlapping the interfaces of a myriad of disciplines. No more do scientific pioneers work alone. In this article, we shall give background of our selected scientific endeavors, and briefly show how, within chemistry, we can bond seemingly disparate disciplines together in unexpected ways in a collective attempt to deliver new materials and hybrid systems.