Program

Conference Topics/Symposia Organizers


Benign Synthesis

Joelle Pelletier, Université de Montréal

Key to the successful application of industrial Green Chemistry is the development of benign synthesis methods. Reducing the energy input and increasing selectivity by developing new catalytic approaches, exploring new solvents that are non-toxic or can be recycled, and exploiting nature’s machines for chiral synthesis with higher yields, are among the topics that will be presented.

Keynote and Invited Speakers

John Vederas, Understanding the chemistry by which Nature assembles biological molecules is not only an exciting intellectual endeavour, but is also a prerequisite to rationally influence life processes in medicine and agriculture. Research in the Vederas group centers on the formation of important biological molecules, including antimicrobial peptides, amino acid metabolites, and polyketides. Experimental aspects encompass organic synthesis and spectroscopic methodology (especially NMR and mass spectrometry), as well as isotopic techniques, natural products isolation, enzymatic reactions, and culturing of microorganisms.

Kenneth Seddon, Director of the Queen’s University Ionic Liquid Laboratories (QUILL). Quill investigates, develops and operates a green strategy for the chemical industry. The Seddon group focuses on ionic liquids as media for synthesis, including polymer chemistry and petrochemical processes.

Andreas Liese, Director of the Institute of Technical Biocatalysis at the Hamburg University of Technology. The Liese group studies technical and fundamental aspects of biocatalysis in industrially relevant asymmetric synthesis for production of fine chemicals.

The Benign Synthesis symposium will host 3 main topics:

1) Advances in Catalysis (Chemical and Biological)

2) Alternative Solvents/Reagents (Chemical and Biological)

3) New Systems (Chemical and Biological)

Green Chemistry for Energy Production

R. Tom Baker, University of Ottawa

As the world gears up to address increased energy demands in the face of dwindling fossil fuel resources and the need to curtail emissions of greenhouse gases, it is important that new chemistry solutions are designed, developed, and applied with sustainability in mind.

Keynote and Invited Speakers

Daniel Nocera, Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy and Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Nocera group focuses on basic mechanisms of energy conversion in biology and chemistry. Their "make and measure" synergy has led to both fundamental and practical advances in several fields including molecular chemistry of renewable energy.

Thomas Rauchfuss, William H. and Janet G. Lycan Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. A major interest of the Rauchfuss group is environmentally-motivated organometallic chemistry such as fundamental studies of functional models of hydrogenase enzymes for hydrogen production.

Merja Penttilä, Research Professor at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Dr. Penttilä’s research in sustainable chemistry focuses on development of technologies for production of value-added and platform chemicals, biofuels and polymers from renewable biomass resources with the aid of biotechnology and chemical technology.

The Green Chemistry for Energy Production symposium will host 3 main topics:

1) Hydrogen and Fuel cells (Chemical and Biological)

2) Green Energy Storage

3) Fuels from Biomass

Education in Green Chemistry and Engineering

Mary M. Kirchhoff

Adoption of green chemistry and engineering depends heavily on education – how can we expect chemists and chemical engineers to develop and implement greener technologies if they have never been introduced to the concepts? The need to educate students about green chemistry, particularly its role in achieving sustainability, becomes increasingly important as the growing population of the planet places more demands on the resources of the Earth. This symposium will feature innovative educational approaches to green chemistry and engineering.

Keynote and Invited Speakers

Jim Hutchison is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oregon and the founding director of the ONAMI Safer Nanomaterials and Nanomanufacturing Initiative. His is the co-author of Green Organic Chemistry: Strategies, Tools, and Laboratory Experiments.

Supawan tantayanon is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, and the President of the Chemical Society of Thailand. She has developed a workbook for organic chemistry using small-scale equipment.

Peter Licence is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Nottingham in the UK. Peter’s research investigates ionic liquids in ultra high vacuum. He has played an active role in establishing green chemistry in Ethiopia.