Chemformation

The Weekly Newsletter of the MIT Chemistry Department

Volume 14, Number 7

February 20, 1998

Next issue: Friday, February 27th. Chemformation is published by the Office of the Department Chairman. The deadline for the next issue is Tuesday, February 24th. Please convey items of interest (or mailing list changes) to Linda Earle, Room 18-390, Department of Chemistry, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, 617/253-1803; 617/258-7500 (fax) or e-mail to lkn@mit.edu Back issues of Chemformation can be accessed via the Chemistry Department Website.

Visit the Chemistry Department Website at http://web.mit.edu/chemistry/www/

Monday, February 23, 1998 12:00 noon in Room 68-121 Seminar in Macromolecular Structure/Function	Dr. Scott Betts MIT- Dept. of Biology "Folding and Misfolding of the Parallel Beta-Coil P22 Tailspike Protein"
Wednesday, February 25, 1998 4:00 p.m. in Room 6-120 Refreshments @ 3:30 p.m. in 6-321 Seminar in Inorganic Chemistry	Carlos Navas MIT (Tuller Group- Materials Science) "Mixed Ionic/Electronic Conductivity in Layered Oxides: Effect of Doping in Sr3Ti2O7"
Thursday, February 26, 1998 4:00 p.m. in Room 6-120 Refreshments @ 3:30 p.m. in 18-490 Seminar in Organic Chemistry	Professor Dale L. Boger Scripps Research Institute "Azadiene Diels-Alder Reactions: Scope and Applications"
Tuesday, March 3, 1998 1998 Arthur D. Little Lecturer in Physical Chemistry 4:00 p.m. in Room 6-120 Reception following lecture in Amdur Room 6-233	Professor Richard A. Mathies University of California at Berkeley Lecture I: "A Coherent Picture of Visual Excitation"
Thursday, March 5, 1998 1998 Arthur D. Little Lecturer in Physical Chemistry 5:00 p.m. in Room 6-120 Refreshments @ 4:30 outside 6-120	Professor Richard A. Mathies University of California at Berkeley Lecture II: "New Tools for the Genomic Revolution"
Wednesday, March 4, 1998 4:00 p.m. in Room 6-120 Refreshments @ 3:30 p.m. in 6-321 Harvard/MIT Inorganic Symposium	Professor James Espenson Iowa State University "Catalytic Reactions with Methylrhenium Trioxide: Mechanisms and Applications"
Tuesday, March 10, 1998 4:00 p.m. in Room 2-105 Refreshments @ 3:30 p.m. in 6-233 Seminar in Physical Chemistry	Professor Victor Romero-Rochin National University of Mexico Visiting Professor, MIT Topic TBA
Wednesday, March 11, 1998 4:00 p.m. in Room 6-120 Refreshments @ 3:30 p.m. in 6-321 Seminar in Inorganic Chemistry	Laura Goetting (MIT-Wrighton/Whitesides) "Coordination Chemistry of Surfaces: Studies of Self-Assembled Monolayers on Au, Pt and Al"

Message from Erja Kajosalo Re: New Chemistry Books

At the following URL there is a list of new chemistry and chem engineering books received between Dec 1, 1997 and Feb 15, 1998:

1998 Women Chemists Committee Travel Awards

The Eli Lilly and Company, Hoechst Celanese Corporation, and the Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society are sponsoring a program to provide funding for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral women chemists to travel to scientific meetings in 1998 to present the results of their research. Grants may be applied only to registration, travel, and accommodations and are restricted for travel to meetings within the US. Grant funds are limited, but there are some funds set aside for undergraduates. Only US citizens and permanent residents are eligible. Preference will be given to those who have not made a previous presentation at a national or major meeting. Applications should be limited to one per research group. Women who have received a prior award under this program are ineligible. The deadline dates for receipt of applications for 1998 meetings are as follows: March 15th, 1998 for meetings between July 1 and December 31, 1998; and October 15, 1998 for meetings between January 1 and June 30, 1999. Please submit the following: (1) a brief resume of educational and scientific training; (2) an abstract of the work which you have submitted for presentation, using an official meeting abstract form if possible; (3) a letter detailing the reasons you want this award (both scientific and financial) and specifying whether you have made a previous presentation at a national or major meeting; (4) a letter from your advisor confirming your participation in the meeting at which you will be making your presentation, commenting on your technical ability and potential, and listing any other travel support that would be available from the department or research grants; (5) an estimate of your registration, lodging, and travel expenses to the meeting (please indicate auto, train, bus or plane), (6) a completed application that you must obtain though the staff liaison at the American Chemical Society (See address below or call 1-800-227-5558; e-mail c_brown@acs.org). Send completed applications to: Ms. Cheryl H. Brown, Women Chemists Committee, American Chemical Society, 1155 15th St. NW., Washington, D.C. 20036.

Glass Blowing Services Available

Bob DiGiacomo will be coming in on Wednesdays or Thursdays to pick up any glass blowing work that you may have available. Please bring any work to room 6-031 or call Ed Udas or John Annese at 3-4505. Bob will do the work on a first-come, first-served basis.

Help Get Organized!

Call Ed Udas at 253-4505 or stop by room 6-026 if students, faculty, or staff need help in organizing their MIT space.

Faculty Positions

Please note, unless otherwise specified, most faculty positions require a resume, short description of research plans and arranging for three letters of recommendation to be sent directly to the specific university or college.

• Frances Marion University, in Florence, South Carolina has openings for an assistant professor and for an instructor of chemistry. Please contact Mrs. Alice C. Baker, Assistant Vice-President for Human Resources, Francis Marion University, PO Box 100057, Florence, SC 29501-0547, (803) 661-1140, email: abaker@fmarion.edu and fax is (803) 661-1184.

Postdoctoral Fellowships

• Applications are invited for a post-doctoral position in the area of spectroscopy of gas phase cluster ions and radicals, within the group of Dr. E.J. Bieske, at The School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Australia. The laboratory is well equipped with Nd:YAG pumped dye laser and optical parametric oscillator systems, a cavity ring down spectrometer, and a tandem mass spectrometer. The appointment is for between two and three years, to start immediately. Applicants should have a background in laser spectroscopy or mass spectrometry. The salary range is A$40,606-A$43,588 (A$=0.67US$). Applications should include the names and email or fax adresses of two references. Enquires (preferably email in the first instance) and applications should be directed to: Dr. Evan Bieske, School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne Parkville, Victoria 3052 Australia; email: e.bieske@chemistry.unimelb.edu.au. Ph: ++61 3 9344 7082, Fax: ++61 3 9347 5180.
• University of Rochester, Rochester, NY: Seeks postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Richard Eisenberg involving research on different projects but with a common element in platinum metal complex chemistry and in the design and synthesis of new ligand frameworks. One project will focus on the bond activation reactions and catalytic behavior of phosphine and diimine complexes of the platinum group elements. New electrophilic complexes are being synthesized that have novel chelate structures and ligands capable of facilitating substrate-catalyst interactions. Metalloradicals having Schiff base ligands are also being synthesized to examine odd-electron activation pathways while recent successes with parahydrogen induced polarization in complexes of early transition metals point to future lines of invesitigation as well. The second project involves research in the design, synthesis and study of di- and multi-component systems for photoinducted electron charge transfer and light-to-chemical energy conversion. The systems under study have platinum diimine dithiolate chromophores and connect through ligand bridges to electron transfer quenchers and dark reaction catalysis for proton reduction to hydrogen. Major efforts in synthesis will be augmented by studies of the spectroscopy and light driven reactions chemistry of new systems. Please send a letter of application, a cv, and arrange to have three letters of recommendation sent to: Professor Richard Eisenberg, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627-0216, internet: RSE7@chem.Rochester.edu.

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