IUPAC Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry 2021

IUPAC thrives to boost the impact of chemistry around the world. Recently, it established a new initiative—the Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry—to showcase the tremendous importance of the chemical sciences by highlighting developments on the verge of becoming game-changing commercial breakthroughs [1]. Some have been truly transformational for our society, such as RNA vaccines and rapid tests, both key technologies to enable a smooth transition to the new normal after the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the Top Ten efforts continue—featuring a brand-new logo and further actions to disseminate and promote the project beyond this publication. The new selection of emerging technologies gathers both well-established, high-technology readiness level (TRL) applications and ground-breaking opportunities for the chemical industry. Of course, many of them still address the ongoing coronavirus crisis, focusing on new pharmaceutical solutions to prevent the spread of pathogens like SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, many tackle the climate crisis and provide new roadmaps to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [2]. The consequences of global warming are here—heatwaves, floods, and wildfires devastate our planet constantly. Chemistry will provide pivotal tools towards a sustainable future [3], many included in this singular selection. IUPAC experts have selected the Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry 2021—ten ideas to catalyse industrial innovations and transform our world.

Chemistry International–Freely-Available Across the World

From January 2022 Chemistry International will be freely-available to all in electronic form and will no longer be available in print. The objective is to make it readily-available to a much broader audience. It will still be published four times a year and whilst retaining its familiar layout, will be web based in a page-turning format from both the De Gruyter and IUPAC websites.

IUPAC Provisional Recommendations

Provisional Recommendations are preliminary drafts of IUPAC recommendations. These drafts encompass topics including terminology, nomenclature, and symbols. Following approval, the final recommendations are published in IUPAC’s journal Pure and Applied Chemistry (PAC) or in IUPAC books. During the commentary period for Provisional Recommendations, interested parties are encouraged to suggest revisions to the recommendation’s author. https://iupac.org/recommendations/under-review-by-the-public/

IUPAC Announces the 2021 Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry

IUPAC has released the results of its 2021 search for the Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry. The goal of this project is to showcase the transformative value of Chemistry and to inform the general public on the potential of the chemical sciences to foster the well-being of Society and the sustainability of our Planet. Following the same guidance as it did last year, the Jury The Jury was an international group of objective and unbiased experts who reviewed and discussed a pool of nominations, and ultimately selected the final top ten. The following comprised the panel of judges for the 2021 Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry: Chair, Michael Droescher, (German Association for the Advancement of Science and Medicine), Jorge Alegre-Cebollada (Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares, Spain), Sophie Carenco (French National Center for Scientific Research, France), Javier García Martínez (Universidad de Alicante, Spain), Ehud Keinan (Technion, Israel), Rai Kookana (CSIRO Land & Water, Australia), Greg Russell (University of Canterbury, New Zealand), Ken Sakai (Kyushu University, Japan), Natalia P. Tarasova (D. I. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology, Russia), and Bernard West (Life Sciences Ontario, Canada). , a selection of international experts, identified different emerging technologies, scientific advances in between a discovery and a fully-commercialized ideas, with outstanding capacity to open new opportunities in chemistry, sustainability, and beyond. The 2021 finalists are (in alphabetical order):

An Interview with Joseph Wang

Professor Joseph Wang of the University of California San Diego (UCSD), USA, is the first to be awarded the IUPAC Analytical Chemistry Medal—an award that recognizes a significant lifetime contribution to analytical chemistry and for researchers who have a substantial record of achievements demonstrated by the number and quality of their publications, by being actively involved in international partnerships as well as by their commitment in the training of the next generation of analytical chemists.