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Look for C&EN’s next issue on Jan. 1, 2018

DECEMBER 11/18, 2017

 YEAR IN
 CHEMISTRY
 The science that shone
 brightest in 2017
 P.18

Contents VOLUME 95, NUMBER 49

 December 11/18, 2017

 Cover story
 Research of the year

 C&EN’s Year in C&EN reviews notable chemistry
 research advances from 2017

 Chemistry
 Page 20

 The biggest headlines. The most thrilling Headlines of the year
 research findings. The coolest new
 C&EN highlights the biggest
 molecules. And much more. chemistry stories of 2017
 Page 18
 Page 30

 What to watch
 for in 2018
 C&EN reporters share their thoughts
 Page 40

 Look back at 2007
 C&EN steps back in time to
 look at research advances
 from a decade ago
 Page 42

Quote of the week Departments ACS News
“Being in the U.S. 2 Editorial 47 ACS Comment
with DACA has really 3 Reactions 48 Highlights from
 5 Concentrates National Chemistry
been a life-changing 51 Product showcase Week 2017
event for me. It’s 52 C&ENjobs ACS local sections demonstrate
allowed me to do 56 Newscripts the many ways that ‘Chemistry
 Rocks!’
research and pursue
a degree in STEM.” Note to our readers
 —Rudy, an undocumented C&EN will not publish an issue on Dec. 25. Our
student, University of California, Illustration by Yang H. Ku/ next issue will be Jan. 1, 2018. C&EN staff members
 DavisPage 36 C&EN/Shutterstock wish all of our readers a happy holiday season.
 CE NEA R 9 5 (49 ) 1–56 • ISSN 0009 -2347

1155—16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036
 (202) 872-4600 or (800) 227-5558
 Editorial
 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Bibiana Campos Seijo
 EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Amanda Yarnell
 PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Rachel Sheremeta Pepling What made headlines in 2017

 G
 SENIOR ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER: Marvel A. Wills
 et ready for the biggest chem- In 2017 we lost many notable scien-
 BUSINESS
 NEW YORK CITY: (212) 608-6306
 istry-related stories of 2017. If tists. I’d like to spare a thought for Ronald
 Michael McCoy, Executive Editor you enjoyed our Dec. 4 issue, Breslow, Mildred Dresselhaus, Isabella
Rick Mullin (Senior Editor), Marc S. Reisch (Senior Correspondent), Alexander
H. Tullo (Senior Correspondent), Rachel Eskenazi (Administrative Assistant). which brought you highlights Karle, George Olah, and Gilbert Stork,
 BOSTON: Ryan Cross (Assistant Editor). of what happened in the world of pharma among many others (see page 39). They
 CHICAGO: (917) 710-0924 Lisa M. Jarvis (Senior Correspondent).
 HONG KONG: 852 9093 8445 Jean‑François Tremblay (Senior during the year, you are going to love this exemplify the best of the chemical enter-
 Correspondent). LONDON: 44 1494 564 316 Alex Scott (Senior Editor). issue too. prise and will be sorely missed.
 WEST COAST: (315) 825-8566 Melody M. Bomgardner (Senior Editor)
 This year has been incredibly busy—as I Besides what made headlines in 2017,
 POLICY
 WEST COAST: (925) 519-6681 Jyllian Kemsley, Executive Editor
 said in my last editorial, a whirlwind—but in this issue we also take a look back at
 WASHINGTON: Cheryl Hogue (Senior Correspondent) also quite unusual because of the conflu- the fate of research from a decade ago.
 Britt E. Erickson (Senior Editor), Andrea L. Widener (Senior Editor)
 ence of a series of circumstances affecting Can you remember what was trending in
 SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY/EDUCATION different parts of the world: A new ad- terms of chemical research in 2007? If you
 WASHINGTON: Lauren K. Wolf, Executive Editor, Deputy Editorial Director
 Celia Henry Arnaud (Senior Editor), Stuart A. Borman (Senior ministration in the U.S., the Brexit con- guessed the elucidation of G protein-cou-
 Correspondent), Matt Davenport (Senior Editor, Multimedia), Emma
 Hiolski (Contributing Editor), Kerri Jansen (Assistant Editor, Multimedia),
 troversy in the U.K., and much more. So pled receptor structures and the role they
 Tien M. Nguyen (Assistant Editor), Stephen K. Ritter (Senior what made headlines? There is simply too play in drug discovery, you guessed right
 Correspondent). BERLIN: 49 30 2123 3740 Sarah Everts (Senior Editor).
 BOSTON: (973) 922-0175 Bethany Halford (Senior Editor). much to list here—you’ll have to read this (see page 42).
 CHICAGO: (847) 679-1156 Mitch Jacoby (Senior Correspondent). issue—but for the purpose of this editorial And for first time this year we look for-
 WEST COAST: (626) 765-6767 Michael Torrice (Deputy
 Executive Editor), Sam Lemonick (Assistant Editor) I’m going to pick some personal favorites. ward and ask a selection of C&EN writers
 JOURNAL NEWS & COMMUNITY
 The first thing that comes to mind and editors to predict what will be in the
 (510) 768-7657 Corinna Wu (Senior Editor) is the March for Science. Seldom have limelight in 2018. There are some interest-
 (651) 447-6226 Jessica H. Marshall (Associate Editor)
 we seen scientists take to the streets to ing suggestions, including Steve Ritter’s
 ACS NEWS & SPECIAL FEATURES celebrate science and the role it plays in prediction that “chemistry’s cold war,” the
 Linda Wang (Senior Editor)
 everyday life. Scientists who took part divide between science and public policy,
 EDITORIAL PROJECTS EDITOR: Jessica Morrison called for evidence-based policy-making, “will continue to grow and get chillier”
 AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT EDITOR: Dorea I. Reeser appropriate funding for scientific research, and Britt Erickson’s suggestion that there
 EDITING & PRODUCTION and greater government transparency for will be further lawsuits on the reform of
 Kimberly R. Bryson, Executive Editor scientific matters. It was an unprecedent- the U.S.’s Toxic Substances Control Act
Sabrina J. Ashwell (Assistant Editor), Craig Bettenhausen (Associate Editor),
Melissa T. Gilden (Assitant Editor), Taylor C. Hood (Assistant Editor), Manny ed global event, with more than 1 million (see page 40).
 I. Fox Morone (Associate Editor), Alexandra A. Taylor (Assistant Editor) participants from about 600 cities around For a bit of fun and lighthearted read-
 C&EN MEDIA PRODUCTION LAB the world that held rallies. But it wasn’t ing, turn to page 28. We selected the
 Robert Bryson, Creative Director, Head of Media Production Lab
 Tchad K. Blair, Head of UI/UX Design without controversy. Many in the scien- most interesting and innovative chemical
 Robin L. Braverman (Senior Art Director), Luis A. Carrillo (Web ­Production tific community resist the notion that structures that chemists made in 2017 and
 Manager), Ty A. Finocchiaro (Senior Web ­Associate),
 Yang H. Ku (Art Director), William A. Ludwig (Art Director), scientists should participate in public life asked people to vote on their favorites. A
 Kay Youn (Art Director) in this fashion and see these activities as a complex polysaccharide won the poll with
 C&EN BRANDLAB politicization of science. 34% of the vote, followed very closely, with
 Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay, Executive Editor
 Jeff Lee (Senior Editor), Kirsten Dobson (Marketing Manager),
 In terms of scientific advancement, the 32% of the vote, by a pair of unusual trini-
 fields of machine learning and quantum trogen structures. What was your favorite?
 SALES & MARKETING
 Stephanie Holland, Assistant Director, Advertising Sales & Marketing computing started to deliver on their prom- As the year draws to an end, the team
 Natalia Bokhari (Advertising Operations Manager),
 Sondra Hadden (Senior Marketing Manager), Joyleen SanFeliz Parnell
 ises, with significant advances announced and I would like to thank you for your
 ­(Advertising Operations Associate), Quyen Pham (Lead Generation this year (see page 20) and likely to contin- loyalty to C&EN and for your continued
 ­Associate), Ed Rather (Recruitment Advertising Product Manager),
 Shelly E. Savage (Recruitment Advertising Associate)
 ue into 2018. Also noteworthy is the evolu- support of our journalism.
 tion that we have continued to observe in
 ADVISORY BOARD
Deborah Blum, Raychelle Burks, Jinwoo Cheon, Kendrew H. Colton, François- the field of flow chemistry, which has made
 Xavier Coudert, Cathleen Crudden, Gautam R. Desiraju, Paula T. Hammond, inroads in the pharmaceutical industry with
Matthew Hartings, Christopher Hill, Peter Nagler, Anubhav Saxena, Dan Shine,
Michael Sofia, William Tolman, James C. Tung, Jill Venton, Helma Wennemers, the manufacture of a chemotherapy drug
 Geofrey K. Wyatt, Deqing Zhang candidate (see page 23).
 Published by the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY When it comes to chemicals that made
 Thomas M. Connelly Jr., Executive Director & CEO
 Brian D. Crawford, President, Publications Division headlines this year, there was global con-
 EDITORIAL BOARD: Nicole S. Sampson (Chair),
 troversy around regulation and safe use
 ACS Board of Directors Chair Pat N. Confalone, of pesticides like chlorpyrifos, glyphosate,
 ACS President Allison A. Campbell, Cynthia J. Burrows,
 Jerzy Klosin, John Russell, Gary B. Schuster
 and dicamba. But one could say that opi-
 oids, at least in the U.S., dominated the
 Copyright 2017, American Chemical Society
 Canadian GST Reg. No. R127571347 agenda. Deaths by overdoses skyrocketed
 Volume 95, Number 49 this year, and the issue is now widely re- Editor-in-chief
 ferred to as a serious national crisis. @BibianaCampos

 Views expressed on this page are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACS.

2 C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | DECEMBER 11/18, 2017

Reactions
 range of pH values (Inorg. Chem. 2017,
 DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.7b01911). The
 equilibrium quotient for formation of
 metaperiodate is much smaller than had
 been generally accepted in previous kinet-
 ics studies. Metaperiodate, though present
 at low concentrations, insufficient to be
 unambiguously detected in equilibrium
 ▸▸Letters to the editor The equilibrium and kinetics studies studies, can manifest its presence in aque-
 are not necessarily in conflict, however. ous solution. For example, the subtle role
 The equilibrium study of Horváth and col- of this species is in accordance with ... [an]
 Bird problem leagues indicates that orthoperiodate pre- independent kinetics study reported on
 In the Nov. 20 issue, herring gull is cited dominates in aqueous solution over a wide complex formation of an iron(III) hydroxo
 as one of the species that scientists are
 watching for possible environmental im-
 pacts (page 26). However, I have been a
 birder for over 45 years, and I knew imme-
 diately that the photo of the “herring gull” New Version!
 on the cover and in the accompanying ar-

 ticle cannot be such. The bird is obviously
 (to a birder) an adult bird, and thus to be
 a herring gull would have a larger, thicker
 yellow bill with a bright red spot on the
 lower mandible. The bird in this photo,
 with a thin, small, greenish-colored bill
 lacking any clear marking (as well as sev-
 eral other factors), is more likely a black-
 legged kittiwake, a species also mentioned
 in the article.
 R. Martin Smith
 Madison, Wis.

 Periodate chemistry
 I read with interest the Oct. 2, 2017, article
 (page 6) about new studies of aqueous
 periodate equilibria which found no evi- Over 75 New Features & Apps in Origin 2018!
 dence for metaperiodate (IO4–) in aqueous For a FREE 60-day
 solution. Kinetics studies tell a different Over 500,000 registered users worldwide in: evaluation, go to
 story. Two independent temperature-jump ◾ 6,000+ Companies including 20+ Fortune Global 500 OriginLab.Com/demo
 studies (J. Phys. Chem. 1964, DOI: 10.1021/ ◾ 6,500+ Colleges & Universities and enter code: 8467
 j100794a057; Z. Naturforsch., B: J. Chem. ◾ 3,000+ Government Agencies & Research Labs
 Sci. 1977, DOI: 10.1515/znb-1977-0127) and
C R E D I T: I STOC K P H OTO

 a corroborating 17O NMR line-broaden-
 ing study (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1965, DOI: 25+ years serving the scientific & engineering community
 10.1021/ja01096a008) indicate the exis-
 tence of a rapid meta-orthoperiodate hy-
 dration-dehydration equilibrium in acidic
 media.

 DECEMBER 11/18, 2017 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN 3

dimer with periodate ion (Dalton Trans. with her old man when she moved on. resource on the life of her famous mother.
2004, DOI: 10.1039/B313341A). Beginning with Marie Curie and followed A paperback copy updated in 2001 is read-
Kenneth Kustin by Lise Meitner, the book takes the reader ily available. In 2012, I offered a lifelong
Chapel Hill, N.C. through biographies of 11 additional Nobel learning course over four evenings on
 Prize-winning women and their respective the life and accomplishments of Madame
Women in chemistry struggles to compete in the male-dominat- Curie at Michigan State University. This
 ed scientific communities during much of course was well attended.
Bibiana’s editorial in the Nov. 13 issue on the 20th century. The book aptly describes Paul R. Loconto
the giants of chemistry (page 2) connected what each accomplished scientifically and Okemos, Mich.
well with my current reading. My oldest how each overcame great gender discrim-
daughter, upon graduating from college, ination obstacles. Eve Curie’s “Madame Join the conversation.
was given this book by a classmate: “Nobel Curie” (Da Capo Press, 1937) is a great facebook.com/CENews
Prize Women in Science” (Carol Pub-
lishing Group, 1993) by Sharon Bertsch @cenmag
McGrayne. My daughter left the book
 ACS 2016 IRS FORM
 990 AVAILABLE How to reach us
 Corrections The American Chemical Society’s
 2016 IRS Form 990 is now
 Chemical & Engineering News
 ▸▸Nov. 27, page 35: The ACS Letters to the Editor
 available on the ACS website. To ▸ Oure-mail address is edit.cen@acs.org.
 Comment in the C&EN print edition access the information, go to www. ▸ Our fax number is (202) 872-8727.
 contained an incomplete headline. It acs.org/acsirsform990. Please ▸ Comments can be left at cen.acs.org.
 should have read, “Friends in need: scroll toward the bottom of the ▸ Or you can send your letter to:
 ACS’s role in disaster relief.” page to access the 2016 form and C&EN Editor-in-Chief
 ▸▸Dec. 4, page 45: The ACS Com- 1155—16th St., N.W.
 related “Guide to Schedule J” for
 ment incorrectly stated that the ACS explanatory information regarding
 Washington, DC 20036
 Defined Contribution Retirement Plan ▸ Letters should generally be 400 words or fewer and
 ACS executive compensation. If should include the writer’s full name, address, and home
 was frozen in 2009. The ACS Defined you have any access problems, telephone; letters and online comments may be edited
 Benefit Pension Plan was frozen that please contact service@acs.org. for purposes of clarity and space. Because of the heavy
 year. volume of mail received at C&EN, writers are limited to one
 letter in a six-month period.

4 C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | DECEMBER 11/18, 2017

Concentrates
 ▸ Highlights
 In utero immune response linked to sexual orientation 6
 Chemists forge green path to alkylated amines 7
 DNA origami makes micrometer-sized structures 8
 Lightning triggers nuclear reactions 10
 Nobel Prize winner introduces skin care line 13

 Chemistry news from the week Outlook good for chemical industry in 2018
 CSB sued for lack of reporting rule
 Brazil asbestos ban impacts U.S. imports
 14
 16
 16

CATALYSIS

Catalyst treatment could
boost exhaust cleanup
Steam enhances platinum catalyst’s durability and
knack for scrubbing CO from engine exhaust
The catalysts that clean up automotive extreme. In 2016, the group reported that
emissions typically consist of particles isolated platinum atoms on ceria could
of platinum and other precious metals convert CO to CO2, a key reaction in en-
anchored on oxides. Because only the gine-emissions cleanup. But the catalyst
metal atoms at the particle surfaces worked weakly.
come in contact with reactants and cat- So the team, which includes Yong Wang
alyze reactions, catalyst manufacturers of the Pacific Northwest National Labora-
strive to make these particles as tiny as tory, searched for chemical and physical
possible. treatments that would boost the Pt-CeO2
 But these supported catalysts come catalyst’s activity without causing it to fail
with trade-offs. Dispersing the precious quickly, a common occurrence during cat-
metal as finely as possible can go too far, alyst development.
and the catalysts can become unstable: Eventually the group found that heating
The metal particles diffuse, coalesce, the catalyst to 750 °C in steam drasti-
and lose their catalytic oomph. And the cally improves its ability to mediate CO
catalysts are often inactive when the tem- oxidation. Specifically, in contrast to the
perature of the exhaust is low, which is untreated catalyst, which needs to be heat-
the case when today’s engines start on a ed to roughly 210 °C to begin oxidizing
cold morning and will regularly be the case CO and achieves 100% CO conversion at
with future energy-efficient engines. 320 °C, the treated catalyst begins working
 A new study on automobile exhaust at just 60 °C and reaches 100% conversion
cleanup describes a way to bypass those at 148 °C. Furthermore, the treatment
problems in a catalytic two-for-one deal. makes the catalyst durable: It showed no
Researchers have shown that a simple signs of deactivation even after 300 hours
procedure can stabilize a platinum-based of testing.
automotive catalyst and reduce the tem- Microscopy and spectroscopy analyses
perature at which it can thoroughly strip indicate that the steam enhances CO-ox- Exposing this catalyst to steam at high
CO from engine exhaust (Science 2017, idation performance by creating catalyt- temperature creates oxygen vacancies
DOI: 10.1126/science.aao2109). ically active sites featuring ceria-bound at the catalyst surface (top). Water
 Such a treatment could help clean up Pt-OH groups. dissociates there (middle), forming Pt-
emissions from future engines designed “This discovery could help advance the Ce-OH groups (dashed lines, bottom)
to recover energy lost in hot exhaust, technology for vehicle exhaust conver- which are active sites for CO oxidation.
which results in lower temperatures of sion,” remarks Bruce C. Gates, a catalysis
the gas that passes through the catalytic specialist at the University of California, Gates proposes that researchers should
converter. Davis. “The authors’ catalyst characteri- examine the nature of the sites on ceria
 In the run-up to the new study, a team zations provide deep insights and point at which platinum bonds and determine
led by University of New Mexico chemical the way forward.” The characterization if they are defects. He also wonders if a
engineer Abhaya K. Datye took dispersing work also raises intriguing questions metal cheaper than platinum would work
metal particles on an oxide support to the for further study, he adds. For example, similarly.—MITCH JACOBY

 DECEMBER 11/18, 2017 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN 5

Science Concentrates
NEUROSCIENCE

Mother’s immune response linked
to sons’ sexual orientation
 To test the hypothesis, the psychologists
Antibodies against male-specific proteins teamed up with some immunologists and
could help explain why having older brothers collected blood samples from 54 mothers
 of gay sons, 72 mothers of straight sons, 16
increases a man’s likelihood of being gay women with no sons, and 12 men. Moth-
 ers of homosexual sons had higher levels
The greater number of older brothers a of antibodies for the protein neuroligin 4
man has, the more likely he will be homo- Y-linked than did mothers of heterosexual
sexual. Researchers have observed this sons, and mothers of gay sons with older
so-called fraternal birth order effect across brothers had even higher levels. Not a lot is
societies and over time. Now scientists known about the function of the neuroligin
report a possible biological mechanism protein except that it helps form connec-
behind it. tions between brain cells and facilitates
 They found that mothers of gay men communication between them.
with older brothers have elevated lev- Because the study’s sample size was
els of antibodies against a male-specific small and the observed effect was modest,
brain protein (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA Rahman thinks the experiment should be
2017, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1705895114). The replicated on a larger scale to confirm the
findings support the hypothesis that a results.
mother’s immune response could shape Bogaert says it’s important not to think
brain structures in male fetuses that are Mothers’ immune systems may target of this mechanism as a disorder—as some-
involved in the development of sexual ori- brain proteins encoded on the Y thing pathological caused by a mother’s
entation, the researchers say. chromosome (shown) in male fetuses. immune response. “An atypical biological
 The fraternal birth order effect is one of process creating a trait doesn’t mean that
the most robust correlations uncovered in two psychologists had a hypothesis about the trait it produces necessarily needs fix-
sexual orientation research, and this study the biology underpinning the phenome- ing,” he adds.
is an important first step in understand- non. They thought that mothers’ immune In general, he says, work on uncovering
ing the biology underlying the effect, says systems might treat a specific protein in the biological basis for sexual orientation
Qazi Rahman of King’s College London, male fetuses like a foreign invader and this has helped the gay rights movement. “It
who was not involved in the work. response would grow stronger with each suggests that sexual orientation is not a
 Anthony F. Bogaert of Brock University boy born to the same mother. Eventually, choice,” Bogaert says. “It also resonates
and Ray Blanchard of the University of the immune response would influence the with gay people’s lived experience—that
Toronto first observed the phenomenon developing brain of a son born later among they have felt different from early on in
in a Canadian population in 1996. The a line of male siblings. their lives.”—MICHAEL TORRICE

MATERIALS

MOF sets methane storage record
A porous material that sucks up re- lighter, and safer tanks. But in practical made lumps of HKUST-1 using a sol-gel C R E D I T: BI O P H OTO AS S O C I AT ES /S C I E N C E S O URC E
cord-breaking amounts of methane could tests, no material has met a U.S. De- process. The researchers mixed the MOF’s
pave the way to more economical natu- partment of Energy gas storage target of precursors in ethanol, centrifuged the par-
ral-gas-powered vehicles (Nat. Mater. 2017, 263 cm3 of methane per cm3 of adsorbent ticles that formed, and then allowed them
DOI: 10.1038/nmat5050). at room temperature and 64 atm. to dry overnight at room temperature.
 Cars powered by methane emit less CO2 A team led by David Fairen-Jimenez at Fairen-Jimenez estimates that a car’s gas
than gasoline guzzlers, but they need ex- the University of Cambridge has now de- tank would need about 60 kg of this MOF
pensive tanks and compressors to carry the veloped a synthesis method that endows a to operate. So far, he and his team can pro-
gas at high pressure. Certain metal-organic well-known MOF with a capacity of 259 cm3 duce hundreds of grams of high-capacity
framework (MOF) compounds can store of methane per cm3 under those conditions, HKUST-1 using a continuous flow version
methane at lower pressures because the gas at least 50% higher than its nearest rival. of their synthesis method, and their spin-
molecules pack tightly inside their pores. The MOF, HKUST-1, contains copper out company, Immaterial Labs, aims to
 So MOFs, in principle, could enable nodes connected by 1,3,5-benzenetricar- achieve kilogram-scale production next
methane-powered cars to use cheaper, boxylate linkers. Fairen-Jimenez’s team year.—MARK PEPLOW, special to C&EN

6 C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | DECEMBER 11/18, 2017

GREEN CHEMISTRY

Chemists forge green path to alkylated amines
Process uses microbe-derived amino acids to to these amino acids, ethanol, isopropa-
produce the industrially important building blocks nol, and other simple alcohols act as both
 solvents and reactants. The chemists ini-
Chemists use alkylated amines to build way to make these industrially crucial tially used a ruthenium catalyst but also
plastics, pharmaceuticals, and more. building blocks. demonstrated the reaction with a catalyst
Unfortunately, making these important Making alkylated amines is so energy containing iron, a more abundant metal.
building blocks on a large scale is energy intensive because it requires the Haber- In either case, the catalyst borrows a
intensive and relies on nonrenewable Bosch process, which converts atmospher- hydrogen atom from the alcohol and pro-
feedstocks. Now a team of researchers re- ic nitrogen to ammonia at around 500 °C. duces a carbonyl intermediate that then re-
port a green approach to synthe- acts with the amino acid, shedding
sizing the molecules. Alcohols a water molecule. The resulting
 Tao Yan, Ben L. Feringa, and ( )10 OH Value-added imine intermediate then takes a
Katalin Barta of the University Amino acids H2O amines hydrogen back from the catalyst,
 Dodecanol
of Groningen describe an envi- OH ( )10 N OH producing an alkylated amine.
 H2N
ronmentally-friendly catalytic Iron catalyst H The researchers demonstrated
 O O
process that uses alcohols to their method by synthesizing
 Glycine Surfactant
add alkyl groups to amino acids a surfactant from glycine and
harvested from microbes (Sci. Adv. 2017, To add alkyl substituents to ammonia, 1-dodecanol using an iron catalyst. Feringa
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao6494). The method chemists use molecules derived from fos- says they believe the technique has broad
retains the chirality of the amino acids and sil fuels and reactions that often generate potential beyond surfactants. The chem-
releases water as its only waste product. as much waste as they do useful products. ists have filed for a patent on the method
 Calling the research “nothing short of Yan, Feringa—who shared the 2016 No- and are looking for partners to explore
revolutionary,” Paul T. Anastas, the direc- bel Prize in Chemistry—and Barta instead adapting it for industrial uses.
tor of Yale University’s Center for Green let nature do the hard work of reducing “This shows, once again, that green
Chemistry & Green Engineering, says the nitrogen: They isolated amino acids from chemistry is just simply better chemistry,”
approach could mean a cheaper, cleaner bacteria. As for adding alkyl substituents Anastas says.—SAM LEMONICK

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 DECEMBER 11/18, 2017 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN 7

Science Concentrates
NUCLEIC ACIDS

DNA origami hits the big time
New set of techniques enables the mass- 8 x 8 panel about 650 nm wide (Nature
production of micrometer-sized DNA structures 2017, DOI: 10.1038/nature24655). The team
 decorated the tiles’ staples with additional
Molecular architects have developed a DNA structure ever made (Nature 2017, chunks of DNA, creating patterns (includ-
quartet of methods that could propel DNA DOI: 10.1038/nature24651). ing a version of the “Mona Lisa”) that were
nanotechnology into wider use. Together, Peng Yin of Harvard Medical School and visible under an atomic force microscope.
the techniques offer a tool kit to mass-pro- colleagues built more complicated shapes DNA architects tend to work with mere
duce larger and more complex “DNA ori- by using short strands of DNA with four micrograms of material, insufficient for
gami” structures than ever before, paving unique binding domains, which snapped testing biomedical applications such as
the way for applications from drug deliv- together with other strands like Legos drug encapsulation and delivery. To scale
ery systems to nanoelectronics. (Nature 2017, DOI: 10.1038/nature24648). up production, Dietz’s team used virus-
 “I think people will now see that DNA The team developed a software tool called es called bacteriophages to make single
nanotechnology is not just a small box of Nanobricks that allowed them to delete strands of DNA containing a scaffold,
Tinkertoys,” says Hao Yan at Arizona State specific bricks from the mixture to leave staples, and built-in scissors called DNA-
University, who was not involved in the re- cavities in the resulting cuboid structures, zymes. When activated by zinc ions, these
search. “Now they will see some hope that fashioning shapes such as a teddy bear. scissors snipped out the components so
you could use this for real applications.” The third construction method, called that they were ready for self-assembly.
 In DNA origami, a long “scaffold” of fractal assembly, began with flat tiles of When the team amplified the viral DNA
single-stranded DNA is folded into a pre- DNA origami that could interlock with strands inside Escherichia coli in a 2 L fer-
determined shape by hundreds of shorter their neighbors, ultimately forming an mentation vessel, the components assem-
“staple” strands, which bled to form 163 mg of a 70-nm-
bind to specific positions long nanorod. If this process
on the scaffold. were run at a contract biotech
 To create larger DNA facility, the researchers esti-
structures, Hendrik Dietz mate that DNA origami could
of the Technical University be produced for a mere 18 cents
of Munich and coworkers per milligram, at least 1,000
used DNA origami to make times as cheap as conventional
various building blocks, methods (Nature 2017, DOI:
including wedge-shaped 10.1038/nature24650).
“V bricks.” These could “With mass production in
self-assemble into a range place and the ability to make
of 3-D shapes, including a these integrated structures, I
dodecahedron with a mass hope progress will be faster,”
of 1.2 billion daltons that DNA-based components self-assembled to form this 1.2-billion- Dietz says.—MARK PEPLOW,
Dietz reckons is the heftiest dalton dodecahedron (right), as seen by electron microscopy (left). special to C&EN

SUSTAINABILITY

 C R E D I T: KLAUS WAG E NBAUE R , CH R I STI A N S I GL & HE N D R IK D I E T Z
A greener way to get lithium?
A newly improved sorbent could offer an back underground could collect the metal of the initial lithium in the brine with the
environmentally friendly way to get lithi- without the heavy environmental impacts improved sorbent and found that the ma-
um from a relatively untapped resource in of typical extraction methods, which can terial is strongly selective for lithium over
the U.S.: the brine produced by geother- generate large amounts of acid or salt sodium and potassium.
mal power plants (Environ. Sci. Technol. waste. York R. Smith, a metallurgical engineer
2017, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b03464). The sorbent in the new study is made at the University of Utah, notes that this
 These plants pump hot water from out of layers of [LiAl2(OH)6]+ with chlo- sorbent has a lower capacity than alter-
deep geothermal deposits and use it to ride ions and water in between them. native sorbents that have been tested. He
generate electricity, leaving behind a salty Voids in the structure can fill with addi- adds, however, that the researchers’ use of
solution that can contain hundreds of tional lithium ions but are too small to let lithium chloride to release lithium from
parts per million lithium—a commodity in in competing cations like sodium. the sorbent instead of acid, as is required
demand for lithium-ion batteries. Passing Using a simulated brine solution, for other sorbents, is attractive from an
the brine through a sorbent that captures Parans Paranthaman of Oak Ridge Nation- environmental perspective.—DEIRDRE
the lithium ions before pumping the brine al Laboratory and colleagues captured 91% LOCKWOOD, special to C&EN

8 C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | DECEMBER 11/18, 2017

SYNTHESIS H
 O O H
 H O

Final twist in marine
 O OH OH
 O
 NH H HO
 O
toxin structural saga
 H H
 O
 O O
Researchers synthesize azaspiracid H
and correct its structure
 Azaspiracid-3
In the mid-1990s, scientists started to no- azaspiracid synthesis in 2004 when K. C.
tice cases across Europe of people falling ill Nicolaou, then at Scripps Research Insti- The researchers chemically inverted
from a new kind of shellfish food poisoning. tute California, reported a 96-step synthe- the alcohol’s configuration, and were
The culprit, researchers discovered, was a sis that revised the azaspiracids’ originally “overjoyed” when the resulting com-
family of marine toxins called azaspiracids. reported structure. Using the 2004 struc- pound’s retention time matched that of
The structures of these amorphous toxins ture as a target, Forsyth’s group devised a the natural product. While previous total
have been difficult for chemists to pin new total synthesis. But when the chemists syntheses did succeed in making the cor-
down, though some have come very close. used liquid chromatography to compare rect natural product, they had misassigned
 A pair of papers from the laboratory of their newly synthesized azaspiracid-3 with one of the molecule’s 19 stereocenters.
Craig J. Forsyth at Ohio State University an authentic sample, they found that the Nicolaou, now at Rice University,
now corrects the stereochemistry of a compounds’ retention times didn’t match. congratulated the team for their “meticu-
key position in azaspiracid-3 and details a After some head-scratching, Forsyth lous” efforts that led to azaspiracid’s final
total synthesis of the reassigned structure says, they suspected that the stereo- structural revision. “That they were able
(Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, DOI: 10.1002/ chemistry of an alcohol group may have to decipher the last detail for the correct
anie.201711006; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, been misassigned in the 2004 structure. structure as they did is a testament not
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201711008). A synthetic Forsyth’s team definitively set the stereo- only to their brilliant and scholarly work
route to the azaspiracids along with accu- chemistry of the C20 alcohol, whereas but also to the current powerful state of
rate structures could help scientists devel- the Nicolaou synthesis could have yielded the art of total synthesis and the modern,
op assays to detect the toxins in food. either stereoisomer, possibly leading to a high-resolution analytical techniques that
 Forsyth’s lab had been working on an misassignment. support it.”—TIEN NGUYEN

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 DECEMBER 11/18, 2017 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN 9

Science Concentrates
 ELECTRONIC MATERIALS
BIOTECHNOLOGY
▸▸ Cell-based hormone Electric eel
replacement inspires
Women whose ovaries stop functioning
because of either menopause or disease can
 soft power
experience health effects that go beyond
the loss of fertility, including osteoporosis source
and obesity. The standard treatment—hor-
mone replacement with estrogen alone The knifefish Electrophorus electri-
or in combination with progestin—can cus, better known as the electric This soft power source combines four

 CR E D I T: T HO MAS S C HRO E D E R /A N I RVAN GU H A (SO F T- P OW E R SO U RCE ); N AT. CO M M U N . (DI AG RA M ); LYO H A 1 23/ W I K I M E DI A COM MON S (LI GH T N I N G)
mitigate those problems. But the treatment eel, can generate electricity to types of hydrogel.
comes with other risks, including an in- stun its prey thanks to specialized
creased chance of breast cancer and heart organs that generate power via ion flux—no batteries required. The structure
disease. A team led by Emmanuel C. Opara of these organs provided a jolt of inspiration to researchers led by Michael
of Wake Forest School of Medicine is de- Mayer of the Adolphe Merkle Institute at the University of Fribourg, who want-
veloping bioengineered polymeric capsules ed to create a soft power source. The electric eel’s organs contain thousands of
that mimic ovarian follicles for use as a alternating compartments containing either potassium or sodium ions separat-
 ed by membranes that keep the ions apart. When the knifefish charges up, the
 membranes let the ions flow, creating a burst of power. To create ion gradients
 in their system, Mayer and colleagues used three-dimensional printing to pat-
 tern a substrate with alternating spots of hydrogels loaded with either sodium
 chloride or pure water (shown in red and blue, respectively). On a different
 substrate, they dotted cation-selective and anion-selective hydrogels (shown
 in green and yellow, respectively). When overlaid, the system of dots creates a
 conductive pathway that can generate up to 110 V (Nature 2017, DOI: 10.1038/
 nature24670). The researchers note that because the materials are biocom-
 patible, they have the potential to power implantable medical devices, such
 as pacemakers. “To get there, we are looking for talented Ph.D. students and
 postdocs,” Mayer says.—BETHANY HALFORD

This ovarian-follicle mimic delivers cell- the hormone pellets or in rats whose ova- trons, and positrons, the team concludes
based hormone replacement therapy that ries were still intact.—CELIA ARNAUD that it observed γ-ray-induced photonu-
could replace current drug therapies at clear reactions (Nature 2017, DOI: 10.1038/
lower doses and with fewer side effects. nature24630). Specifically, the researchers
 detected telltale signs that γ rays, which
cell-based method of hormone replacement NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY are produced in thunderclouds as intense
(Nat. Commun. 2017, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-
017-01851-3). To make these artificial ova- ▸▸ Lightning triggers electric fields drive high-energy electrons
 into airborne molecules, can knock a neu-
ries, the researchers encapsulate two types tron out of an 14N nucleus, creating an 13N
of hormone-producing ovarian cells—gran-
 nuclear reactions isotope. That isotope is unstable: It decays
ulosa and theca cells—in separate layers into a neutrino,
of cross-linked alginate (a polysaccharide) Nearly 100 years ago, physicists proposed a positron, and a Lightning-
with layers of poly-l-ornithine between. that high-energy processes occurring stable 13C nucleus. generated γ rays
They tested the capsules by implanting during thunderstorms might trigger nu- Upon collision with can trigger nuclear
them in rats whose ovaries had been re- clear reactions. But limitations in detector an electron in an reactions in
moved and comparing the performance technology and difficulties in making atmospheric mol- atmospheric
with rats whose ovaries had been removed measurements during thunderstorms have ecule, the positron molecules.
and treated using hormone-containing pel- prevented researchers from recording di- and electron under-
lets at high and low doses of estrogen with rect experimental evidence of such nuclear go annihilation and
or without progestin. After 90 days, rats reactions—until now. On Feb. 6, a team produce a pair of
that received the cell-based therapy had led by Teruaki Enoto of Kyoto University γ rays with a char-
similar body weight, fat percentage, bone tracked two cloud-to-ground lightning acteristic energy of
mineral density, and uterine morphology as strikes during a thunderstorm over the 0.511 MeV. The re-
rats with intact ovaries. These positive ef- coast of the Sea of Japan. Using data re- searchers note that
fects were achieved with hormone levels in corded at monitoring stations near the related processes
the blood that were lower in rats receiving lightning strikes, which include time- and generate 14C and
the cell-based therapy than in rats receiving energy-correlated signals of γ rays, neu- 15N isotopes. These

10 C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | DECEMBER 11/18, 2017

findings broaden understanding of atmo-
 spheric electrical phenomena and reveal MOLECULAR MACHINES
 a previously unrecognized natural source
 of radioactive isotopes on Earth.—MITCH
 JACOBY
 Motor molecules
 CATALYSIS
 made into
 ▸▸ Uranium doubles muscles
 Chemists have gotten a lot of mileage out of the
 up as a catalyst Nobel Prize-winning, light-activated motor mole-
 cules invented in Ben L. Feringa’s lab at the University of Groningen. Feringa
 Reversible, two-electron redox processes has used them to create molecule-sized cars that scoot along a surface, and
 in which a substrate is added and subse- others have incorporated them into polymers or used them to drill holes in
 quently eliminated from a transition metal cancer cells (see page 24). Feringa’s group has now managed to get these mol-
 are a defining feature of most catalytic ecule-sized machines to flex some muscle. His team created a water-soluble
 cycles. This behavior is typically unheard version of the motor that assembles into fibers. In the presence of calcium
 of, though, when it comes to lanthanide ions, these fibers organize into macroscale strings made mostly of water that
 and actinide metals. The f-block metals are flex in response to ultraviolet light. They can even lift a small weight: a 400-mg
 used as catalysts, but they tend to exhibit piece of paper (Nat. Chem. 2017, DOI: 10.1038/nchem.2887). As with previous
 irreversible one- or multielectron oxidation versions of Feringa’s motors, these molecules rotate via isomerization around
 or reduction steps, and the complete redox a double bond when hit with UV light. The motor molecules pack closely to-
 sequence hasn’t been observed in one re- gether in the self-assembled fibers and expand a little bit in the presence of the
 light, causing the string to bend. “You amplify a tiny motion from the molecu-
 lar level all the way up to the macroscopic level,” Feringa notes. While others
 have made artificial muscles using molecular machines covalently linked to
C R E D I T: CO URT ESY O F STE P H E N LI D D LE ( 3-D MO D E L) ; A DA PTE D F RO M N AT. CH E M . (M OTO R M O L ECU L ES ); CAS E Y K E N N E DY (CRA N B E R R I ES )

 polymers, this is the first time that such muscular systems have been assem-
 bled entirely from small molecules.—BETHANY HALFORD

 but the findings provide a pathway to dis- reports that aluminum sulfate treatment
 covering new lanthanide and actinide cat- can trap phosphorus in the sediment of
 alysts—for example, to synthesize aniline irrigation ponds and cranberry bogs, pre-
 derivatives.—STEVE RITTER venting it from draining away (J. Environ.
 Qual. 2017, DOI: 10.2134/jeq2017.04.0134).
 The researchers, led by Casey D. Kennedy
 POLLUTION of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service,
 This dimeric uranium(V) complex, joined
 at the center by azobenzene, provides the ▸▸ To trap fertilizer tested the ability of various salts to re-
 move phosphorus from pond water. Cer-
 tain salts can neutralize negative charges
 best evidence yet for transition-metal
 redox behavior in an f-block element. in cranberry bogs, on sediment particles, causing them to

 action system. Researchers led by Stephen
 just add salt clump together and settle out of the water.
 This process locks residual phosphorus
 T. Liddle of the University of Manchester away so it’s unavailable to plants and al-
 and Laurent Maron of the University of Phosphorus from fertilizer can readily es- gae. Lab experiments showed that alumi-
 Toulouse have now found evidence that a cape farms by hitching a ride on sediment num sulfate, compared with iron and calci-
 uranium complex can satisfy all the criteria particles suspended in water runoff. Cran- um salts, most effectively binds phospho-
 of classical single-metal, two-electron oxi- berry bogs, in which farmers use water rus at low concentrations (5 to 15 mg/L).
 dative addition-reductive elimination, and to help harvest the scarlet berries, are no To test the feasibility of using aluminum
 they make a case that uranium can mimic different. Scientists with USDA and the sulfate on cranberry farms, the scientists
 traditional transition-metal catalysis (Nat. University of Massachusetts Cranberry dispersed 15 mg/L aluminum sulfate into
 Commun. 2017, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017- Station are working to keep phosphorus an irrigation pond and a former cranberry
 01363-0). The researchers added azoben- in cranberry bogs to reduce the amount bog. Aluminum sulfate treatment worked
 zene to a uranium(III) triamide complex of the nutrient in water and limit harm- best in the shallow waters of the former
 they previously reported to form a dimeric ful algal blooms downstream. The team cranberry bog, removing 94% of the phos-
 uranium(V) imido complex, which readily phorus from the water compared with 78%
 expels azobenzene back out upon heating. from the irrigation pond.—EMMA HIOLSKI
 The researchers confirmed the oxidation
 and reduction steps using a combination Farmers harvest cranberries by flooding
 of structural, spectroscopic, magnetic, fields, but the water can carry excess
 and computational studies. The reaction phosphorus downstream and pollute
 sequence is not yet optimized, Liddle says, waterways.

 DECEMBER 11/18, 2017 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN 11

Business Concentrates
 START-UPS
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
 Obsidian
FTC seeks to block Tronox’s launches to
purchase of Cristal tune CAR-Ts
Regulator says the combined firm will have too Armed with $49.5 million in its first
much power in the titanium dioxide market formal round of funding, Obsidian
 Therapeutics has launched to fine-
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is tune the activity of cellular and gene
attempting to block Tronox’s purchase of therapies. The Boston-based biotech
the Saudi Arabian titanium dioxide maker firm aims to make the treatments
Cristal, maintaining that the transaction safer and more effective across a
will diminish competition in a market that broader range of diseases.
is already an oligopoly. Ever since early clinical trials
 Tronox agreed to purchase Cristal suggested chimeric antigen receptor
in February for $1.7 billion in cash, plus (CAR) T cells could quickly obliter-
stock. The purchase would create the ate blood cancer in some patients,
world’s largest producer of the white companies have been racing to
pigment—ubiquitous in paints, plastics, harness the technology, in which a
and other products—edging out perennial Regulators say Tronox’s purchase of patient’s own T cells are genetical-
leader Chemours. Cristal had $1.7 billion Cristal would make for too hefty a player ly engineered to include a protein
in 2016 sales; Tronox had $1.3 billion. in the white pigment market. receptor that helps them see and
 The FTC has issued a complaint against attack cancer cells.
the deal and is seeking a restraining order duction,” FTC said in a statement. The problem is that CAR T cells
and a court injunction. Tronox CEO Jeffry N. Quinn told ana- “are sort of on a therapeutic knife
 The regulator is worried about concen- lysts on a conference call that he disagrees edge: They can either be profoundly
tration in the business of making TiO2 by with FTC’s assessment. “We believe the effective or terribly toxic,” says Ob-
the chloride process. The process yields a appropriate geographic market is the sidian CEO Michael Gilman.
high-quality, potent pigment that generally global TiO2 market, and we believe the When CAR T cells home in on
commands a premium over pigment made relevant product market includes TiO2 cancer cells, they can prompt a rap-
with the sulfate process. Should the deal produced from both the chloride and the id—and potentially deadly—release
go through as is, FTC asserts, Chemours sulfate processes,” he said. of cytokines, proteins involved in
and Tronox would control more than 80% Quinn moreover maintained that the immune system response. More-
of the North American market for chlo- aim of the transaction is integration be- over, CAR T cells don’t always pro-
ride-process TiO2. tween white pigment production and TiO2 duce lasting responses.
 Tronox operates three plants around ore extraction, not to cut capacity to boost Obsidian hopes its technology,
the world, one of which is in Hamilton, prices. which was discovered in the labs
Miss.; Cristal runs eight plants globally, Quinn vowed to fight the FTC, though of Stanford University professor
including a site in Ashtabula, Ohio. he also promised to engage in discussions. Thomas Wandless, can address
 “The market is already dominated by a “We are always willing to consider appro- those limitations.
few large players with a history of seeking priate action to address the commission’s Wandless found a way to add a
to support higher prices by restricting pro- concerns,” he said.—ALEX TULLO region on a protein, what he calls a
 “destabilizing domain,” that allows
 expression of the protein to be con-
 trolled based on exposure to a small
BY THE NUMBERS molecule. Without the small mol- C R E D I T: TRO N OX ( P LA N T) ; S H U T TE RSTO CK ( P I LL )
 ecule around, the protein is tagged

 $32.8 billion
 for disposal in the cellular trash bin;
 when the small molecule—an al-
 ready-approved drug—is given, the
 protein is stabilized.
 By giving proteins something like
 a volume knob that can be tuned by
 Total sales of Pfizer’s sildenafil, more commonly known as Viagra, small molecules, Obsidian expects
 since 1998. Generic versions of the drug hit the U.S. market last week. The to avoid the sometimes-deadly cyto-
 ground-breaking erectile dysfunction treatment was discovered in 1993 kine storms, while also giving CAR T
 after unusual side effects were reported in clinical studies of sildenafil cells “entirely new functionalities,”
 to treat high blood pressure and chest pain. Viagra works by blocking an Gilman says.—LISA JARVIS
 enzyme that interferes with nitric oxide’s ability to dilate blood vessels.

12 C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | DECEMBER 11/18, 2017

NANOMATERIALS

 Nobel Prize winner introduces skin care line
 J. Fraser Stoddart is behind new firm that even though spelled
 will sell high-priced antiaging cosmetics differently than the
 prize, is “unseemly but
 In 2016, J. Fraser Stoddart won the peptides onto the skin not illegal,” he says.
 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his part in “at predefined times Kalichman, who is
 designing a molecular machine. Now as with molecular preci- director of the Research
 chief technology officer and cofounder of sion,” according to the Ethics Program at the
 nanotechnology firm PanaceaNano, he has Noble skin care website. University of California,
 introduced the “Noble” line of antiaging PanaceaNano cofound- San Diego, adds, “If
 cosmetics, including a $524 formula de- er Youssry Botros, former his goal is to make
 scribed as an “anti-wrinkle repair” night nanotechnology research money, this may
 cream. The firm says the cream contains director at Intel, contends work. But if his goal is to
 Nobel Prize-winning “organic nano-cubes” that the metering technology makes retain credibility and pursue other
 loaded with ingredients that reverse skin the product line “far superior to com- more laudable goals, maybe he should stay
 damage and reduce the appearance of parable products in the market today.” focused on those goals.”
 wrinkles. However, the nanocubes aren’t molecular Botros says PanaceaNano is also devel-
 Other prize-winning chemists have machines, for which Stoddart won his No- oping nanotechnology materials for mar-
 founded companies, but Stoddart’s back- bel prize. kets including hydrogen storage, flexible
 ing of the antiaging cosmetic line takes While acknowledging the product line batteries, and molecular memory based
 the promotion of a new company by an trades on his Nobel prize, Stoddart points on technology from Stoddart’s lab and
 award-winning scientist to the next level. out to C&EN that “we’re not spelling our licensed from Northwestern University.
 The nano-cubes are made of carbohy- product name, Noble, the way the Swedish But PanaceaNano chose to make its first
 drate molecules known as cyclodextrins. Nobel Foundation does.” commercial product a line of cosmetics
 The cubes, of various sizes and shapes, Ethicist Michael Kalichman has a dif- because of the high margins and the ease
 release ingredients such as vitamins and ferent perspective. Use of the word Noble, of market entry.—MARC REISCH

 ENVIRONMENT

 EU’s chlorine makers end
 mercury-based production
 Europe’s Dec. 11 ban brings 21 mercury
 cell production plants to a halt
 European Union regulations requiring EuroChlor, a trade association, esti-
 companies to stop making chlorine via mates that since 2001 the conversion of
 a process that involves mercury came mercury plants to cleaner technology will
 into effect last week. Of the 21 mercury have cost the industry about $3.5 billion.
 technology plants that were operating at In 2016 European chlorine producers
 the start of 2017, seven have closed and 14 released a total of 1.4 metric tons of mer- Kem One began converting this chlor-
C R E D I T: PA N AC EA N A N O ( CR EA M) ; K E M O N E ( P LA NT )

 have been converted—or are about to be cury into the atmosphere. At the end of alkali plant in Lavéra, France, in 2015.
 converted—to the less environmentally 2016 they were still using about 5,400 met-
 harmful membrane technology. ric tons of mercury in the cells, which at the 21 sites. EU regulations allow for
 The seven closed plants had a combined electrolyze sodium chloride into chlorine liquid mercury to be stored temporarily
 capacity of 665,000 metric tons per year of and sodium hydroxide. for up to five years with a possible exten-
 chlorine, or 5.5% of Europe’s chlorine pro- In one of the final closures, Hydrochem sion of three years. Liquid mercury must
 duction capacity. The 14 plants being con- Italia shut down its mercury cell chlorine be converted to mercury sulfide before its
 verted have a combined capacity of 1.4 mil- plant just last week with the loss of 30 permanent disposal.
 lion metric tons per year of chlorine. jobs, according to the Italian newspaper “Issues such as the demolition of build-
 Six of the 21 mercury cell plants are lo- La Stampa. The firm plans to convert its ings and the treatment and follow-up of
 cated in Spain, with the rest spread across plant and reinstate staff when the facility contaminated sites will continue to keep
 the bloc. In the U.S., where no equivalent reopens at the end of 2019. the chlor-alkali industry busy for sever-
 regulation exists, only one plant still uses A major clean-up of mercury-based al more years,” EuroChlor says.—ALEX
 the toxic element. hazardous waste is now set to take place SCOTT

 DECEMBER 11/18, 2017 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN 13

Business Concentrates
 ECONOMY
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
▸▸ ICL’s phosphorus Clear vista for chemicals
 The U.S. chemical industry is on the cusp of a strong 2018, while its counter-
specialties go to SK parts in Europe, including Germany, are expecting a good but not spectacular
 year. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) trade association is calling for
Israel’s ICL is selling two phosphorus an increase in U.S. chemical production of 3.7% in 2018 after an estimated
chemical businesses to the private equity 0.8% increase this year, when Hurricane Harvey hampered production along
firm SK Capital for about $1 billion. One the Gulf Coast. “Manufacturing has turned a corner, business investment is
business makes phosphorus pentasulfide, on the rise, and domestic oil and gas production is on the rebound,” notes
used in lubricants, mining chemicals, and Kevin Swift, ACC’s chief economist. Cheap and abundant feedstocks and en-
pesticides. The other business makes fire- ergy give U.S. chemical makers an edge, he points out. The European Chemi-
fighting mixtures, based on ammonium cal Industry Council and Germany’s Chemical Industry Association each pre-
phosphate and other ingredients, that dict a 2.0% rise in chemical output in the regions they represent. The groups
are air-dropped onto forest fires. In the say they are enjoying robust demand from the European Union as well as
past 12 months, the businesses generat- Asia and Russia. However, both note that high energy and feedstock prices as
ed $112 million in operating profits on well as carbon costs under the EU Emissions Trading System will put them
$294 million in sales. ICL says it is selling at a disadvantage to North America and China in 2018.—MARC REISCH
them because they have limited fit with its
other phosphorus-related businesses such
as phosphoric acid. —ALEX TULLO
 ethylene plant will use the company’s on his promise to launch a major re-
 Advanced Sclairtech process and have a structuring of the indebted generic-drug
GREEN CHEMISTRY capacity of 450,000 metric tons per year. giant. Schultz aims to reduce Teva’s costs
▸▸ Partners convert To feed the plant, Nova is expanding the
 cracker by 50%. Earlier this year the Cana-
 around the globe by $3 billion by 2019. To
 do that, Teva will slash 25% of its work-
 dian firm opened a polyethylene plant in force, about 14,000 employees, and shut-
waste to ethanol Alberta, bought a controlling interest in a ter many of its R&D facilities, manufac-
 Williams Cos. cracker in Louisiana, and an- turing plants, and offices worldwide next
Sekisui Chemical and LanzaTech are using nounced plans to build a cracker in Texas year. The Israeli firm’s stock spiked 16%
fermentation to convert municipal solid with Total and Borealis.—ALEX TULLO upon the news.—RYAN CROSS
waste into ethanol at a demonstration
 facility at a Japanese
 landfill. In traditional INVESTMENT CONSUMER PRODUCTS
 fermentation, yeast
 ▸▸ Covestro adds MDI, ▸▸ DuPont launches
 Sekisui and
 LanzaTech converted chlorine in Spain microbiome venture
 waste to ethanol in
 this demonstration Covestro will spend about $235 million DuPont Nutrition & Health has launched
 facility. to increase its production capacity for a microbiome venture that will partner
 methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) with scientists in academia and industry to
 converts sugar into in Tarragona, Spain, by about 30% to develop new products. DuPont says it cur-
 products. LanzaTech 220,000 metric tons per year. Covestro rently offers microbiome-enhancing probi-
 uses bacteria to also plans to establish its own facilities otics and prebiotics, including human milk
convert carbon-containing gases from for making chlorine, a raw material for the oligosaccharides. The firm’s first partner is
waste incineration and other industrial polyurethane intermediate, in Tarragona. the APC Microbiome Institute, a collabo-
sources into chemicals such as etha- The new MDI capacity is due online in ration of three Irish institutions. The part-
nol.—JEAN-FRANÇOIS TREMBLAY 2022 and the chlorine by the end of 2020. ners will focus on products that establish
 Covestro had considered closing the Tar- healthy microbiomes in infants.—MELODY
 ragona plant in 2015 when chlorine supply BOMGARDNER
PETROCHEMICALS became uncertain.—ALEX SCOTT
▸▸ Nova advances BIOLOGICS
 EMPLOYMENT
Canadian polyethylene ▸▸ WuXi throws switch
 ▸▸ Teva will cut 14,000 on biologics expansion
 C R E D I T: LA N Z AT EC H

Nova Chemicals is going ahead with
plans to build a polyethylene plant in Sar-
 jobs worldwide
nia, Ontario, and to expand its ethylene WuXi Biologics says its new biologics
cracker there. Nova will invest more than Kåre Schultz, the new CEO of Teva Phar- manufacturing plant, which it claims is the
$1.3 billion in the projects. The poly- maceutical Industries, is making good world’s largest such facility using dispos-

14 C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | DECEMBER 11/18, 2017