Mauricio F. Erben is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Chemistry of the National University of La Plata, Argentina, and works on inorganic and physical chemistry of main group elements, mainly sulfur compounds.

1. What made you want to be a chemist?

Honestly, nothing in particular. When I was a kid, I was interested in natural sciences; not particularly chemistry, although I remember some experiments at home extracting chlorophyll from leaves using ethanol. However, during the secondary school, I turned my attention to questions of political economy. The final decision was adopted during the last year of my secondary school, when I did some training and spent a semester “working” in both a bank and a small biochemistry laboratory. I liked the second option more.

During my first year in the university, I was not decided between biochemistry and chemistry, yet. Luckily in the Universidad Nacional de La Plata both careers are in the same Faculty and finally I chose the “Licenciatura” in Chemistry.

2. If you weren’t a chemist and could do any other job, what would it be – and why?

Probably something related with education, I enjoy very much my job as a professor at the university. Because of the social relevance I would like to be a secondary school teacher, this is really a challenge!

3. What are you working on now, and where do you hope it will lead?

I’m working on main group chemistry, particularly the synthesis of sulfur-containing compounds. We determine some fundamental aspects on the electronic and structural properties of these compounds. For instances, we are trying to prepare new inorganic thionitrites, simple molecules that could serve as a model to understand more complexes systems. In particular, these species are of interest in connection with the physiological role of nitric oxide.

In a broader sense, my hope is to contribute to reinforce the scientific capacities of my country, in order to better response to the challenge we are currently facing. I think (following Oscar Varsvasky) that science is not neutral and science is a result of the society it’s developed in. And vice versa as well: the consequences of what we do in science and technology affects the profile of a society. So, as a nation, it is important to have science and technology that addresses our own problems.

4. Which historical figure would you most like to have dinner with – and why?

On July 26, 1822, a secret meeting took place, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, between the principal leaders of the South American wars of independence, the “liberators” José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar, it was called “The Guayaquil Conference”.

There are many hypotheses on what exactly they discussed, but no one really knows all that went on at that memorable interview. After the meeting, a banquet was given: I would like to be among the guests invited at that dinner.

5. When was the last time you did an experiment in the lab – and what was it?

I am quite active in the laboratory, indeed. For instance, last week a PhD student synthesized a novel thionitrite. As mentioned above, these are fascinating covalent molecules that are strongly coloured. We are now investigating the electronic transitions by using UV, fluorescence and Raman resonant spectroscopy.

6. If exiled on a desert island, what one book and one music album would you take with you?

I would take some stories by J. L. Borges, for instances “Ficciones” (Fictions) or “The Aleph”. My song would be “Adiós Nonino” a beautiful tango by Astor Piazolla.

I realized that both pieces are from Argentinean authors!

7. Which chemist would you like to see interviewed on Reactions – and why?

Interview Mario Molina, winner of the 1995 Nobel Price in Chemistry. It is interesting how his research activity (ozone depletion) influences many aspects of the political, social and economic life. The present discussions on the climate change probably will define the fate of the chemistry in the medium term future, especially in relation with energy production and agricultural practices.

Timothy Shiau is an Assistant Director in the department of Drug Discovery, at NovaBay Pharmaceuticals and a Principal Chemist at Emeryville Pharmaceutical Services, and primarily works on topical antiinfective agents and NeutroPhase, a skin and wound cleanser .

1. What made you want to be a chemist?

All throughout my life, I’ve been attracted to building things. I built a lot of Lego spaceships as a child, and was particularly fascinated with the idea of design. I never built any of the spaceships the instructions told me to build – I’d just throw all my Legos into a big pile and create my own. That fascination with design transferred to organic chemistry in high school, when I turned to the back of the book (the part we weren’t going to study) and started reading about all the different molecules that could be made with just carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. At that point, the builder in me took over.

2. If you weren’t a chemist and could do any other job, what would it be – and why?

Prior to my discovery of organic chemistry, I had always wanted to be a computer programmer, for much of the same reasons that led me to be a synthetic chemist. Like molecules, computer programs are machines, built and designed to accomplish a purpose. Like synthetic chemistry, there’s a sense of accomplishment watching your machine at work, and an extra measure of satisfaction seeing it do something that nobody had done before.

3. What are you working on now, and where do you hope it will lead?

NovaBay’s main program involves a set of topical antiinfective compounds called Aganocide^® compounds. They’re N-chloroamine and N-chloroamide containing molecules which inactivate proteins on viruses, bacteria, as well as fungi. Most importantly, these compounds selectively attack microbes over human cells with no chance of resistance. NovaBay’s goal is to reduce the overuse of antibiotics for applications that don’t really need systemic drugs – eye, ear, skin, and wound infections are all readily treatable with Aganocides.

4. Which historical figure would you most like to have dinner with – and why?

Georges Lemaître, a physicist who was one of the first to propose an expanding universe – in addition to being an engineer, decorated WWI veteran, as well as a priest! I’d love to hear his thoughts on having so many vastly different experiences in life.

5. When was the last time you did an experiment in the lab – and what was it?

This afternoon. My coworker, Dr. Dmitri Debabov, and I have started a new company, Emeryville Pharmaceutical Services, which partners with small companies in the San Francisco Bay Area to provide NMR, LCMS, and Microbiology services to people who may not have their own infrastructure or lack the expertise to run some of the tough experiments like 2-D NMR or biofilm assays. Today, I ran a ³¹P-¹³C HMBC to locate where a phosphorylation had occurred on a large molecule.

6. If exiled on a desert island, what one book and one music album would you take with you?

I would bring a star chart so that I could enjoy the magnificent, unspoiled view of the night sky. I suppose, then, it would be only appropriate that I listen to the Jupiter movement from Gustav Holst’s The Planets.

7. Which chemist would you like to see interviewed on Reactions – and why?

Prof. John Soderquist at the University of Puerto Rico is an exciting and excitable guy who excels in chemistry as well as personal anecdotes. I’d love to see his wit and wisdom in a future post.

Waldemar Adam is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Chemistry of the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, and worked in physical organic chemistry on diverse topics: Radical and oxidation chemistry, photochemistry and bioluminescence.

1. What made you want to be a chemist?

Our ‘Mittelschule’ science and mathematics teacher (English also!) in Germany enamored me about the wonders of the ‘molecular world’ of chemistry. In postwar Germany we had no teaching lab, but our teacher set up a demonstration table and made me his assistant to help the day before with the experiments to be shown to the class. Surely you may appreciate what motivation a youngster derives from such a privilege. Chemistry became my hobby and fortunately I had the chance to make it my profession. Had you asked me whether I would choose chemistry again as my profession – by the way, this would be a revealing question to ask future ‘Reaction’ candidates – my reply would be an unconditional YES: Chemistry is my ‘bread and butter’ as well as my ‘joy and enlightenment’. Those are the lucky retirees, who make such a claim about their profession in their ‘Lebensabend’ phase!

2. If you weren’t a chemist and could do any other job, what would it be – and why?

Maybe hard to believe, but as a teenager I would have also liked to have become a historian. Again, we had a fascinating ‘Mittelschule’ teacher in history, who really entertained us by teaching about such illustrious personalities as Alexander the Great, Barbarossa, Bismarck, Cesar, Charlemagne, Charles V, Elizabeth I, Frederick the Great, Hannibal, Henry VIII, Maria Theresa, Napoleon Bonaparte, Peter the Great, and many more. Some of these were my heroes and I yearned to learn more about them. Be it as it may, I am grateful for having become a chemist rather than a historian.

3. What are you working on now, and where do you hope it will lead?

The opening sentence identifies me as a ‘retiree’ since october 2002: No research lab, no grants, no students! What does a retiree do after having operated a research group of over forty students at a time, published with them 50–60 papers per year in the best chemistry journals, and trained flocks of excellent chemists for academia, industry and government? Well, I decided to relive my life by composing my life story titled ‘I, Me and Myself’! I am having a barrel of fun; it keeps me intellectually agile.

4. Which historical figure would you most like to have dinner with – and why?

There are quite a few, it is hard to select just one. Confucius, the fascinating Chinese philosopher and inspiring teacher, would be one of these intellectual giants with whom I would love to dine and learn first-hand about his ‘mechanism of thought’, by that I mean what made him tick. His wise saying “The day you learn something new is a day worth living!” I have lived by throughout my academic career and is the motto during my ‘Lebensabend’.

5. When was the last time you did an experiment in the lab – and what was it?

What an embarrassing query! Hands-on experiments are for  an experimental scientist like myself a form of ‘chemotherapy’. Unfortunately, while running a large research group as I did for several decades one finds little time for ‘chemotherapy’. But I vividly remember an incident some decades ago helping a frustrated doctoral student crystallize the new cyclic peroxide he made. The trick was to dissolve most of the oily sample in a little hot solvent, decant the hot supernatant from the slimy residue, wrap the clear solution in aluminum foil and let it stand to cool slowly. A couple of hours later beautiful snow-white crystals had formed. My student was impressed and confessed that he was too afraid to heat the peroxide because it might decompose. Eureka, once more I lucked out!

6. If exiled on a desert island, what one book and one music album would you take with you?

This brainteaser I love because I have returned to live again in Puerto Rico, ‘island of enchantment’, its revered name. To answer, I must qualify that the appreciated reading material would depend on the phase of my life.

Were it in my formative period, I would appreciate something from the ‘Sturm und Drang’ era, my favorite Goethe’s ‘Götz von Berlichingen’ drama.  When we read this drama in class, our teacher – an elderly lady, conservative and most correct – voiced out loud the famous Berlichingen’s words …“Leck mich im Arsch” … For us teenagers it was a victorious moment.

Were it in my maturing academic period, I would appreciate the ‘Diary of Christopher Columbus’. His travel-log should help me to sail through the ‘world of molecules’ and discover new continents of structures.

Now in my ‘Lebensabend’ period, I would appreciate a set of essays by the Israeli humorist Ephraim Kishon, to cheer me up and entertain me.

As for a music album, I would treasure a collection of Louis Armstrong, alias Satchmo, especially his inspiring song “What a Wonderful World”.

7. Which chemist would you like to see interviewed on Reactions – and why?

May I suggest Ottorino De Lucchi, Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Venice (Italy), the prototype of a remarkable ‘molecular artist’. Driven by his artistic appreciation of symmetry, he designs novel molecular structures and paints beautiful nature images. To have him reply to your ‘Reactions’ questions should be entertaining and revealing.

Werner Nau  is in the Department of Chemistry at Jacobs University Bremen, Germany, and works on supramolecular chemistry and photochemistry.

1. What made you want to be a chemist?

I think I told this story before: I didn’t intend to study chemistry, I applied for biology. In 1987, biology was hip in Germany and therefore admission was regulated centrally. The story is that my express letter which I sent took a week instead of a day, so I missed the deadline. As a generous compensation, Deutsche Post reimbursed me 3.20 Deutschmarks for the postage, which I invested in studying chemistry.

2. If you weren’t a chemist and could do any other job, what would it be – and why?

For sure it must be an investigative one. Being a well-paid medievalist would be quite tempting. Just one month back, I was admitted to the Bishop’s archive to do family research, and it is amazing how time flies browsing all day long in old books, finding a hint here and there, and piecing everything together. It even gave me a chance to revive my Latin.

3. What are you working on now, and where do you hope it will lead?

Our research focus could be defined as unconventional applications of fluorescent probes and host-guest complexes. We develop, for example, fluorescent probes to assess the dynamics and structure of short peptides, a bottleneck in the understanding of the holy grail of protein folding. Additionally, we develop supramolecular approaches to set up enzyme assays and other nifty applications. Our favorite macrocycles are cucurbiturils, and we are convinced they will soon rival cyclodextrins with respect to real-life applications.

4. Which historical figure would you most like to have dinner with – and why?

Napoléon Bonaparte. He could have used some good advice.

5. When was the last time you did an experiment in the lab – and what was it?

Just a year ago, when I taught one of my coworkers how to do freeze-pump-thaw cycles on the vacuum line and to administer different pressures of a hydrocarbon gas. I even did some titrations myself (which worked), and also demonstrated how to professionally break one of those expensive degassable cuvettes.

6. If exiled on a desert island, what one book and one music album would you take with you?

Of course, there will be at least a shed with a CD player, right? Then I would actually dare to take a novel, maybe “The Pillars Of The Earth” by Ken Follet, and “Made in Heaven” by Queen, these would be just fine to enjoy the sandy beach.

7. Which chemist would you like to see interviewed on Reactions – and why?

Interview Waldemar Adam! He exiled to Puerto Rico, so can tell you more about the island question. With 75 years of experience, he’s got something to say and he wanted to write his memoirs anyways.

Russell Johnson is an Associate Editor for Nature Chemistry.

1. What made you want to be a chemist?

To be honest it was probably the cumulative effect of quite a few small things. I was always more interested in science than humanities etc… but the memories that stick out are growing blue copper sulphate crystals with my dad, and wanting to know what caused the different colours and the bang on fireworks night. I also had an enthusiastic chemistry teacher at school who encouraged me to study chemistry at university.

2. If you weren’t a chemist and could do any other job, what would it be – and why?

I’d like to write novels – unfortunately I’m not sure anyone would want to read them!

3. What are you working on now, and where do you hope it will lead?

Well I’ve just joined Nature Chemistry! The most exciting part for me is reading some cutting edge chemistry and seeing some innovative solutions to intractable problems. I can’t say where it will lead but I’m sure it’ll be interesting.

4. Which historical figure would you most like to have dinner with – and why?

Michael Faraday. Cooking isn’t my strong point but Faraday was meant to be a great experimentalist so perhaps he could investigate ways to improve the dinner while I question him about his research into electromagnetic induction and electrolysis.

5. When was the last time you did an experiment in the lab – and what was it?

My last experiment would have been at the end of my PhD. I can’t remember exactly which my final experiment was, but it would have been something like confirming the formation of amyloid fibrils by transmission electron microscopy or searching for conditions to populate a partially unfolding protein state.

6. If exiled on a desert island, what one book and one music album would you take with you?

I’d need a survival manual if I was to last more than a few days! Normally I listen to guitar-based pop music, but if I was stranded on a desert island I’d need something to keep me calm so I’d choose Dvořák’s New World Symphony.

7. Which chemist would you like to see interviewed on Reactions – and why?

Michael Grätzel to hear his thoughts on how solar cells and photo-electrochemistry could help with some of the problems facing society, or someone like William DeGrado to hear about the opportunities for chemistry presented by artificial enzymes. If I’m allowed to choose a historical chemist I’d pick Antoine Lavoisier to find out what inspired him.

Peter Shapland is in the Second Generation department of Product Development, GlaxoSmithKline and works on developing new approaches to existing and late stage medicines to improve sustainability, minimise waste, and enhance cost of goods. If significant cost of goods reductions can be achieved this could enable greater access to these products.

1. What made you want to be a chemist?

My original intention was to become a veterinary surgeon as I always wanted to use my scientific leaning to help improve the lives of living creatures. Things didn’t work out that way and chemistry was a back up that turned out to suit my way of thinking far better. I’ve always enjoyed solving puzzles and chemistry has always rewarded my efforts to solve the puzzles it poses. Fortunately, working in the pharmaceutical business allows me to satisfy my desire to help people through my work.

2. If you weren’t a chemist and could do any other job, what would it be – and why?

I really have no idea but I would like to think it would involve using my hands to create something.

3. What are you working on now, and where do you hope it will lead?

The 2^nd Generation API group at GSK has been tasked with working on new approaches to medicines to enhance access, increase sustainability and minimise waste through innovation and this is a hugely exciting challenge. Improving the “greenness” of our processes is obviously appealing but, for me, the challenge to get anti-virals to many more HIV/AIDS patients around the world is a real motivation. Millions of people cannot afford these life-extending medicines at present so lowering the costs of production should enable many more people to be successfully treated.

4. Which historical figure would you most like to have dinner with – and why?

Lucius Annaeus Seneca. The conversation could include “stoicism versus other philosophical schools” or just back-stabbing gossip about Caligula, Claudius and Nero, whom he advised. He was an astute political mover who thought deeply about what makes people tick.

5. When was the last time you did an experiment in the lab – and what was it?

Last week: It was a Functional Group Interconversion on a steroid (sorry, can’t be more specific). I really like working with steroids as, for a synthetic chemist, they’re highly satisfying molecules to work with. Their rigid structure that is used to teach stereochemistry to graduate students always seems to throw up some unexpected non-trivial result that is exciting to understand. A tendency to crystallise also gains them significant favour with me.

6. If exiled on a desert island, what one book and one music album would you take with you?

I’ve just started reading Eihei Dōgen’s “Shōbōgenzō” so would take that and I’d listen to “The Tired Sounds Of …” by Stars of the Lid.

7. Which chemist would you like to see interviewed on Reactions – and why?

I’m going to nominate a couple. Firstly, I’ll suggest Professor Makoto Fujita. I’ve enjoyed his work for a number of years and, while I’ve never done anything similar, I find it fascinating. He is a wonderful speaker who can communicate his work with exceptional clarity. Secondly, I’ll suggest Derek Lowe whose In The Pipeline blog is essential reading.