SSSIHL WORKSHOPS & CONFERENCES 2017/18 sssihl.edu.in | 1

Frontiers in Chemical Sciences

24 FEB 2018 @ BRINDAVAN

CAMPUS

Department of MATHEMATICS & COMPUTER SCIENCE

Department ofCHEMISTRY

With the growing awareness and focus on greener technologies, research in Chemistry shows emerging products and technologies that are environmentally friendly and, in some cases, help sustain the environment. Chemistry is too universal and a dynamically-changing subject that places its major focus on the structure and properties of substances, especially on the changes that they undergo.

The real importance of Chemistry is that it serves as an interface to all other branches of sciences, as well as to many other areas of human endeavour. For this very reason, Chemistry is said to be the central science. With a solid background in Chemistry, one may find it far easier to migrate into other fields as one’s interests develop. Chemistry is so deeply ingrained into so many areas of business, government, and environmental management that a background knowledge in the subject is useful in varied fields like product development, marketing, management, computer science, technical writing, and even law.

The Dept. of Chemistry created a platform, The Frontiers in Chemical Sciences, on 24 February 2018 for researchers, scholars and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, concerns, practical challenges encountered and the solutions adopted in the field of Chemistry.

All the speakers at the symposium were alumni of SSSIHL.

21ST CENTURY CHEMISTRY Dr. E N Prabhakaran, Associate Professor, Dept. of Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

He started his talk referring to the current areas of research.

Chemistry – The Central ScienceUsing examples, he expressed the excitement in pursuing pure sciences. He mentioned the advancements which predominated in 20th Century Science especially with respect to atomic / molecular theory. He then explained the importance of molecular synthesis and cited some molecules with inherent energy that have potential applications.

The discovery of crown ethers and the birth of Supramolecular Chemistry lead to a novel branch of Science that unified Organic Chemistry and Life sciences – Bioorganic Chemistry and Bioinorganic Chemistry. Different applications of Superconductivity like particle accelerators, generators, power transmission, electric motors, transportation, military, computing, medical, etc., were discussed. Lastly, he highlighted how sunlight can be converted to energy for effective utilization using super solar cells. He ended his talk by explaining the importance of the relationship between academic study and the needs of society.

RATIONALE OF DRUG DESIGN Dr. K Anand Solomon, Professor & Chairman, Dept. of Chemistry, Dayananda Sagar University

In ancient times, medicines were herbs and poisons. Serious efforts were made to isolate and purify the active principles after the mid-nineteenth century. A large variety of biologically active compounds were obtained and structures were determined (e.g. morphine, cocaine, quinine, etc.). Thus, natural products became the lead compounds though there was no real design or reason.

The speaker then deliberated on important steps in drug discovery, viz., choosing a disease and a drug target, identifying a bioassay, finding a lead compound, isolating

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and purifying the lead compound, and determining the structure of the lead compound. He concluded in saying that the discovery and development of new medicines is a long, complicated process. Each success is built on many prior failures. However, he mentioned that advances in understanding human biology and disease are opening up exciting new possibilities for breakthrough medicines.

SUPRAMOLECULAR CHEMISTRY: A CHEMISTRY OF NON-COVALENT INTERACTIONSDr. Ramesh Kandanelli, Research Officer, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., Green Research and Development Centre, Bangalore

The speaker began by quoting Prof. Lehn, a pioneer in Supramolecular Chemistry. Supramolecular Chemistry is the Chemistry of the intermolecular bond, covering the structures and functions of the entities formed by the association of two or more chemical species. He then emphasized that Supramolecular Chemistry involves investigating molecular systems in which the most important feature is that components are held together by intermolecular forces, not by covalent bonds. He explained how supramolecules like catenenes are useful in the field of molecular recognition and metal ion sensing applications. He also cited some amazing applications of supramolecular gels.

Supramolecular Chemistry is not limited to some special molecules or hosts, he said. Cations, neutral species, anions and even metal complexes can act as both host and guest. Host-guest interactions influences the chemical and spectroscopic properties of both host and the guest. Different analytical methods can be adopted in order to measure or estimate the strength of such interactions. He mentioned that association constant is an important factor in this case. Solvents have an important role in all these interactions.

He concluded by saying that self-organization (of supramolecular systems) is driving force that led to evolution of the Biological world from inanimate matter. He opined that closer you mimic nature, a better chemist you become.

COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY: A POWERFUL TOOL FOR RESEARCHERSSri Parth Gupta, Doctoral Research Scholar, Dept. of Chemistry, IIT Madras

He started with a brief historical review of the developments in theoretical chemistry. Computational Chemistry, he said, uses the results of theoretical chemistry incorporated into efficient computer programmed to calculate structure and properties of molecule. This discipline has become widely used because of the dramatic increase in computer speed and the design of efficient quantum chemical algorithms. The computer calculations enable us to explain and rationalize known concepts in chemistry to explore chemistry theoretically.

Computational Chemistry underpins a broad array of scientific applications and grand challenges like efficient combustion systems, drug design, understanding biological systems, semiconductor design, water sustainability, materials chemistry, etc. He then discussed various software in use to study the concepts like protein-ligand interactions, reaction path and mechanisms, etc. He highlighted his research work on atmospheric computational chemistry and ended with a statement that Computational Chemistry is another green way to Experimental Chemistry.

CHALLENGES IN CHROMATOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUESSri S Ghajesh, Senior Executive, Quality Control, Symrise Pvt., Ltd., Chennai

He started his talk with introduction to chromatography and discussed the real time challenges associated with GC/MS technique. He then deliberated on how the productivity can be achieved in chromatographic analysis, for which fast GC is the solution. He dealt with the Selected ion monitoring (SIM)mode, which is a mass spectrometry mode in which only a limited mass-to-charge ratio range is transmitted/ detected by the instrument, instead of a full spectrum range. SIM typically results in significantly increased sensitivity and helps to detect target molecules. SIM method is widely used to quantify the presence of benzene, toluene, xylene etc., in food materials as a contaminant analysis. He also mentioned that small quantity of samples and at low concentrations and dilutions can be analyzed using the technique of Direct Injection Port (DIP). He ended his talk with latest advancements in chromatographic techniques.

CHEMISTRY OF FLAVORS AND FRAGRANCES Dr. Sridhar G, Director, QA/QC and Regulatory Affairs, Symrise Pvt. Ltd., Chennai

He gave introduction to Aroma Science to all the audiences

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present there by explaining the role of Chemistry in Flavours & Fragrances. He distributed strips laced with flavors and fragrances, much to the excitement of all the delegates, to enable them to get a first-hand experience of the aroma and explained different chemical moieties responsible for varied flavors and fragrances.

He then discussed the emerging trends in Flavours & Fragrances Industry and future molecules. He emphasized on safety assessment of flavouring and fragrance molecules with their price drive with the associated factors. A short video presentation on the latest technology employed in soft drink manufacturing unit with great attention to hygiene and productivity was shown.

OMNIPRESENT CORROSION Sri Raghav Krishna, Senior Quality Control Officer at Hindustan Petroleum, Bengaluru.

The speaker was instrumental in launching India’s First 99 octane Gasoline for high end vehicles. He addressed us on the topic. He put forth his ideas based on the available information that, corrosion can be viewed as a universal phenomenon, omnipresent and omnipotent. It can cost up to 3.5% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It causes a huge economic and environmental impact. Losses due to corrosion can run a bill up to `2 Lakh Crores per annum in India. Corrosion interferes with human safety, disrupts industrial operations and poses danger to environment. Awareness of corrosion and adaptation of timely and appropriate control measures hold the key in the abatement of corrosion failures. He has explained how the corrosion affects crude oil processing with appropriate mitigation strategies. In the end, he talked about the success story of HPCL, a case study on Mangalore Hassan Mysore Bangalore LPG

Pipeline. A short video presentation on the state-of-the-art facility at the Green Research centre at Hindustan Petroleum was shown.

RESEARCH PROFILE,DEPT. OF CHEMISTRY, SSSIHL Dr. B Siva Kumar, Associate Professor, Dept. of Chemistry, SSSIHL

He started his talk with vision of the department under three broad categories: Medicine, Materials and Energy, with Computational Chemistry being the core. Under these broad categories, he listed the sub-categories and went on to explain the ongoing research work at the department. Using visuals, he showed different laboratories and the instrument facilities available and talked about the various thrust areas the faculty have taken up, along with the collaborations associated with each of them.

He then discussed the current projects and their funding agencies. He ended his talk by making the listeners cognizant of all the sophisticated instruments facility available at the newly opened, Central Research Instruments Facility (CRIF), at the Prasanthi Nilayam Campus, SSSIHL.

CONCLUDING REMARKSDr. C N Sundaresan, Associate Professor, Dept. of Chemistry, SSSIHL.

He underlined the need to have strong moorings in the fundamentals of Chemistry. He mentioned about the excitement which research offers, the availability of sophisticated instruments and the benefit which can accrue from these endeavors to alleviate the suffering of humanity.