Mid-Hudson
ACS Section Meetings for Winter 2006
Mechanism
of Oxidation of DNA by Pt(IV) Complexes
Dr.
Sunhee Choi
Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Middlebury
College
Friday, March 31, 2006
Vassar
College
Refreshments:
6:15 PM
Lecture:
7:00 PM
Mudd
Chemistry
Building
(Room TBA)*
*Room
to be announced on the Mid-Hudson ACS listserv and at www.midhudsonacs.org.
Contact
Joe Tanski (Vassar) at 845-437-7503
or by e-mail at jotanski@vassar.edu.
About
the lecture:
Platinum
complexes are biologically important for their anticancer activities.
The interaction of DNA with PtII complexes has been
extensively studied by many research groups.
PtIV complexes are kinetically inert and their reaction with
DNA was not generally expected. However,
Dr. Choi’s research has shown that PtIV complexes with highly
electron-withdrawing and bulky ligands have high reduction potentials and high
reactivity toward 5'-GMP.
Furthermore, a PtIV complex, trans-Pt(d,l)(1,2-(NH2)2C6H10)Cl4,
[PtIVCl4(dach)], which has a high reduction potential, oxidizes 5'-dGMP, 3'-dGMP and
5'-d[GTTTT]-3'. Kinetic studies and
the proposed mechanism will be discussed.
About
the speaker: Dr. Sunhee Choi is Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at
Middlebury
College
in
Vermont
.
Dr. Choi received a B.A. degree from
Seoul
National
University
in
1973 and went on to receive a master’s degree in Physical Chemistry at the
Korean Advanced Institute of Science in 1975. She earned her Ph.D. in Physical
Chemistry at
Princeton
University
in
1982 in the laboratory of Professor Thomas G. Spiro. After her Ph.D. she became
an industrial chemist at Colgate-Palmolive where she was awarded the Colgate
Presidential Award for Technical Excellence and obtained a U.S. Patent for cold
water detergency. In the fall of
1987, she joined the faculty at Middlebury.
Dr. Choi is active in research in metals in biological system with many
of her undergraduate colleagues. Her research has been funded from a variety of
sources such as the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation,
Petroleum Research Fund, Research Corporation, and Vermont-EPSCOR.
Directions:
Vassar
College
is
located off
Raymond Avenue
in
Poughkeepsie
,
NY
.
Refer to the following link for driving directions and campus map: http://www.vassar.edu/directions/.
Enter
the Main Entrance of the campus on
Raymond
Avenue
and go right towards
the
Mudd
Chemistry
Building
.
The Security Guard at the Main Entrance will direct you to parking.
Plants
as a Source of Drugs
Dr. Ralph N. Blomster
University
of
Maryland
at
Baltimore
Monday, April 10, 2006
SUNY New Paltz
Refreshments:
6:15 PM
Lecture:
7:00 PM
(Room TBA)*
* Room to be announced on the Mid-Hudson ACS
listserv and at www.midhudsonacs.org.
Contact
Dan Freedman (SUNY New Paltz) at 845-257-3795
or by e-mail at freedmad@newpaltz.edu.
About
the lecture:
It is remarkable to what a large extent medicinal treatment for many centuries
rested on the use of plants. Plants have given the field of medicine many useful
drugs; such pharmacological phenotypes as digitalis, cinchona, ergot, and opium,
to mention a few. Humankind's first investigation of the plant kingdom was
prompted by a dependence on plants as a source of food. From varied observations
of the effects of plants on themselves, human use of plants in arrow and weapon
poisons, as hallucinogens, and medicaments slowly evolved. In the early days,
witch doctors, apothecaries, and physicians used plants to treat disease,
elevate mood, and relieve pain. As the art of chemistry evolved, humans learned
to isolate the pure chemicals that caused the medicinal effect and to use them.
Opium yielded codeine and morphine to relieve pain, and digitalis provided
digitoxin for the heart. Ergot made available ergonovine and ergotamine for
migraine and childbirth and, paradoxically, the synthetic LSD as a hallucinogen.
The presence of such a wide and diversified group of compounds has prompted the
search of plants for new narcotics, heart drugs, and psychoactive and anticancer
compounds. Although many drugs are produced synthetically, natural products have
served as the molecular model for their starting point. Today, some 40% of all
prescriptions include compounds of natural origin. Many diseases still cannot be
effectively treated with current therapy. How does one find effective agents for
these diseases? Plants contain many more compounds than chemists can synthesize.
The more than 250,000 uninvestigated higher plant species on the face of the
Earth are a source of potential new and effective drugs. However, in the face of
the destruction of the Amazon rain forest, time grows short.
About
the speaker: Dr. Blomster received a B.S. degree in 1953 from
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and a master’s degree in 1958 from the
University
of
Pittsburgh
.
He earned his Ph.D. in 1963 from the
University
of
Connecticut
and
was a member of the faculty at the
University
of
Pittsburgh
until
1968. Dr. Blomster then joined the
faculty at the
University
of
Maryland
at
Baltimore
,
where he was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacognosy (1968
–1979), Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry/Pharmacognosy
(1979-1989), and Professor in the Department of Biomedicinal Chemistry (1989 –
1996). Dr. Blomster is presently
professor emeritus in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Areas of research interest include phytochemistry, medicinal folklore
evaluation, phytochemical screening, collection and extraction of native plants for biological
testing, indexing, storage and retrieval of phytochemical literature, drug plant
exploration in primitive geographic areas, plant tissue culture and
biotransformations.
Directions:
Take I-87 to Exit 18 and turn left at the traffic light after the toll
plaza (Rte. 299). From Rte. 299, turn left at the third traffic light onto
S.
Manheim Blvd.
(Rte. 32 South).
Turn right onto
Mohonk
Ave. East
.
For complete directions and campus map, visit http://www.newpaltz.edu/about/directions.html.
7th Annual ACS Undergraduate Chemistry Research Symposium
Wednesday, April 19,
2006
3:00 – 8:00 PM
Villard Room,
Vassar
College
Poster
Session:
3:00-4:30 PM
Talk:
4:45 PM
Dinner:
6:15 PM
(Alumnae House)
Guest
Speaker: Dr. Jenny Glusker
Fox
Chase
Cancer
Center
Philadelphia
,
PA
The
Mid-Hudson Section of the American Chemical Society is pleased to announce the
seventh annual Undergraduate Chemistry Research Symposium to be held at
Vassar
College
on Wednesday,
April 19, from
4:30 PM
to
8:30 PM
. The
symposium provides a chance for area undergraduate students in the chemical
sciences to present their research. All
areas of chemistry, environmental science, molecular biology, and related fields
are welcome. The poster presentations will be held from
4:30-6:00 PM
, followed by a guest speaker at
7:30 PM
.
The Symposium: The symposium will be held from
4:30 PM
to
8:30 PM
in the
Student
Center
on the second floor of the All-Campus Dining Center (ACDC) at
Vassar
College
. Set-up
must be completed by
4:30 PM
.
As in previous years, all research will be presented as posters.
To present a poster, please submit an abstract of 200 words or less.
The format for the abstract should adhere as closely as possible to the
following guidelines: 1) 12 point Times-Roman font, 2) One inch margins, 3) MS
Word document, 4) The abstract title should be typed in capital letters,
followed by the authors' names and institution name, institution address, and
telephone number in lower case letters. Advisor’s
name should be followed by an asterisk (*).
Please submit the abstract no
later than Friday, April 7 by e-mail or
diskette to Dr. Joe Tanski. If
you are unable to meet this deadline, please contact Dr. Tanski by phone or
e-mail. Poster easels will be
available for the first 35 participants; tables will also be available.
Your poster should be self-supported on cardboard or posterboard backing.
The standard size for ACS posters is 48 inches wide by 36 inches high.
You will be contacted before the symposium to confirm acceptance of your
abstract. Please note: there will be
a $25 conference fee per poster up to $100 maximum per school.
Please
submit your abstract, via e-mail or diskette, to:
Dr.
Joe Tanski
Department
of Chemistry
Vassar
College, Box
601
124
Raymond Avenue
Poughkeepsie
,
NY
12604
Phone:
845-437-7503
E-mail:
jotanski@vassar.edu
Dinner:
Please make reservations with Dr. Joe Tanski by Friday, April 7.
Dinner will be at
6:15 PM
at the
Alumnae House, immediately following the keynote speaker.
Directions:
Vassar
College
is
located off Raymond Avenue
in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Refer to the following link for driving directions and campus map: http://www.vassar.edu/directions/.
Enter
the Main Entrance of the campus on Raymond
Avenue and The Main Building
and College Center are in front of the Main Entrance. The Security Guard at the Main Entrance will
direct you to parking. The Villard Room is on the second floor of the Main
Building/College Center. The Alumnae
House is located across the street from the tennis courts on Raymond
Ave at Vassar.
What
You Always Wanted to Know About Chemicals in Foods but Were Afraid to Eat
Dr. Robert P. Bates
University
of
Florida
Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Refreshments:
6:15 PM
Lecture:
7:00 PM
Mount
Saint
Mary
College
(Room TBA)*
* Room
to be announced on the Mid-Hudson ACS listserv and at www.midhudsonacs.org.
Contact
Lynn Maelia (Mount Saint Mary) at 845-569-3131 or
by e-mail at maelia@msmc.edu.
About
the lecture:
Foods are complex mixtures of chemicals, but with difference. There is a very
important legal distinction between naturally occurring food constituents and
other chemicals that end up in food by design or default. Conversely, the much
more important matter, chemical compatibility, dictated by human physiology and
nutritional biochemistry and vital to well-being, health, performance, and
survival -- is often ignored or misinterpreted by vocal yet chemically
illiterate groups. Despite considerable progress in understanding the science
and technology of foods, culture and perception have a far greater influence
upon food acceptance and regulation than the reality of nutrition and
toxicology. Paradoxically, as science uncovers more about the complex
interactions of foods with the human body, the less confident and more confused
the public becomes regarding the safety, value, and nutritional efficacy of the
U.S.
food
supply. Food additives and now phytochemicals are examples of food consumption
concerns that should also stress total diet, lifestyle, and common sense. This
presentation will deal with both essential and trivial food constituents and
emphasize some of the positive and negative aspects of each. Despite our
imperfect and changing knowledge, a better appreciation of the chemistry and
metabolism of foods has dramatic potential for improving health and well-being,
while ignorance is sure to have the opposite effect.
About
the speaker: Dr. Bates received his B.S. degree in Food Technology from
MIT. After several
years in the food industry, he obtained an M.S. degree in Food Science from the
University
of
Hawaii
and a
Ph.D. in Food Science from MIT. After a year at the
Institute
of
Nutrition
of
Central
America
and
Panama
in
Guatemala
, he
joined the
University
of
Florida
where
he has been for 3+ decades. He is presently professor emeritus of Food Science
in the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department. Dr. Bates' areas of interest
are food processing and utilization, small-scale process and equipment
development, fermentation technology and byproduct recovery, food product
development, and international technical assistance. His major responsibilities
involve teaching graduate and undergraduate food processing, fermentation, and
product development courses; and conducting research/extension activities in
home, community, and small-scale industrial food processing operations. He has
completed short and long-term international assignments in many countries in the
Caribbean
, Central and
South
America
, and
Asia
. He
fields frequent inquiries on food science and technology and related subjects
from national, international, and industrial sources. Dr. Bates has developed
and presented many short courses in the
U.S.
and
overseas and has been an ACS tour speaker on various food science and technology
topics for over 25 years.
Directions:
Mount Saint Mary College is located at
330 Powell
Avenue
in
Newburgh
,
NY
. For
additional information, visit http://www.msmc.edu.
Take I-84E to Exit 10. At the bottom of the ramp take a right onto 9W
South. (From the East, take I-84W to the second exit after the
Newburgh-Beacon
Bridge
(Exit 10S). At the bottom of
the ramp, turn right onto Rte. 32 and then another right at the first traffic
light onto 9W South.) From 9W South,
turn left onto
North Plank Road
(south of the I-84 overpass).
Stay on
North Plank Road
1/4 mile and turn right at the
first traffic light onto
Powell Avenue
. The College is 1/4 mile on the
left.
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