ACS DIVISION OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
232nd NATIONAL MEETING
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
SEPTEMBER 10 - 14, 2006

CHEMISTRY IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS

The particular chemistry that occurs in extreme environments is frequently not able to be inferred from the familiar chemical processes associated with room temperatures and pressures. The desire to understand and model chemistry in extreme environments, whether natural or manmade, has long been a driving force for innovation in experimental and theoretical chemistry. Advances in our basic understanding of chemical reactivity and physical properties, as well as breakthroughs in technology, often require computational modeling which describes the macroscopic phenomena of extreme environments. These models depend critically on a detailed knowledge of the spectroscopy or chemical kinetics/dynamics that may be unique to such environments. Conversely, the quest to understand, for example, chemical reactivity in extreme environments, may drive new innovations in experiment and theory and thus new insight into physical chemistry. This symposium focuses on the unique chemical processes that occur under extreme conditions, which may be characterized by very low or high temperature, high pressure, or high chemical reactivity

Timothy K. Minton, University of Montana, tminton@montana.edu
Michael R. Berman,, AFOSR, michael.berman@afosr.af.mil

CYBER SCIENCE, CHEMISTRY

The emergence of computer-enabling technologies in the late 20^th century has transformed the way science is practiced in the U.S and around the world. Science researchers and educators now take advantage of electronic literature databases and virtual classrooms, and have benefited from a sustained growth in all areas of low- mid-, and high-performance computing hardware. So profound has been the change that the use of information, computational and communication technologies is now an accepted part of the research infrastructure we expect to maintain and grow in the 21^st century. The chemistry community encompasses researchers in a broad range of sub-disciplines including the core chemical sciences, interdisciplinary activities at the interfaces of biology, geosciences, materials, physics and engineering, and through the interplay of computational modeling and prediction with experimental chemistry. This symposium will address a broad range of cyber-infrastructure issues in the context of how they impact the breadth of the chemical sciences.

Mark Gordon, Iowa State University, mark@si.fi.ameslab.gov
Theresa Head-Gordon, University of California, Berkeley, thead-Gordon@lbl.gov

FUNDAMENTALS OF METAL OXIDE CATALYSIS

Recent experimental and theoretical advances present us with the opportunity to describe and control metal oxide catalytic systems at an atomic level. Presentations leading to the understanding of fundamental principles and structure-reactivity relationships will form a focal point of this symposium. The emphasis will be put on a synergistic approach between theory and experiments. Sessions dealing with model metal and metal-oxide catalytic systems, nanoscale induced reactivity, structure-reactivity relationships, and non-thermal processes will be held to stimulate the exchange of ideas and the formation of new collaborations in this interdisciplinary field.

Zdenek Dohn, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Zdenek.Dohnalek@pnl.gov
J. Michael White, University of Texas, Austin, jmwhite@mail.utexas.edu

PHYSICAL CHEMICAL FOUNDATIONS OF BIOLOGICAL
MEMBRANE PHENOMENON

Biomembranes are complex two-dimensional fluids that not only separate cells from their surroundings, but also actively participate in their functions, such as signaling, sorting and trafficking. This symposium will bring together experimentalists and theorists investigating how biophysical and mechanical properties of lipids and proteins drive biological function and how these properties can be exploited as biosensors. We focus on the following areas: 1. Cholesterol-induced membrane heterogeneities have been implicated in immunoreceptor signaling and virus trafficking; however we do not yet understand how compositional heterogeneities facilitate these biofunctions. 2. Mechanical properties of biomembranes (curvature, membrane tension, etc.) are likely to control specific molecular interactions. 3. The two-dimensional membrane surface can act as a scaffold to faciliate biological functions, and protein binding to membrane surfaces may promote lipid demixing (or domain formation). 4. The molecular interactions within biomembranes and between neighboring membranes are driven by these complex biophysical properties and can be exploited to fabricate improved biosensors.

Tobias Baumgart, University of Pennsylvania, baumgart@sas.upenn.edu
Erin D. Sheets, eds11@psu.edu

FIFTY YEARS OF ELECTRON TRANSFER & RRKM THEORIES

Exactly fifty years ago, the first paper that led to the development of electron transfer theory was published by Rudy Marcus in the Journal of Chemical Physics. Not long before that, a series of papers providing a quantitative theory, later becoming known as RRKM, for unimolecular dissociation of polyatomic molecules had appeared. That was the beginning of a truly amazing era of developments in physical chemistry. This symposium will review the past and the present of the electron transfer and unimolecular dynamics fields.

Alexei Stuchebrukhov, University of California, Davis, stuchebr@chem.ucdavis.edu

Stephen Klippenstein, Argonne National Laboratory, sjk@anl.gov
Robert Cave, Harvey Mudd College, Robert.Cave@HMC.Edu

FRONTIERS IN SINGLE-MOLECULE BIOPHYSICAL
CHEMISTRY AND IMAGING

Over the last fifteen years, single-molecule spectroscopy and imaging have profoundly changed the way of studying and thinking about complex chemical and biological systems. Single-molecule biophysical chemistry has emerged and has been playing an increasingly significant role in chemistry, biology, and life sciences, providing new information that is not obtainable from conventional and ensemble-averaged approaches. In this symposium, sessions will be held on biophysical chemistry with an emphasis on the new experimental and theoretical advances of single-molecule spectroscopy and single-molecule biophysical chemistry.  The sessions on cutting-edge technical developments and applications of this field will highlight the extensive versatility and unique capability of single-molecule spectroscopy and imaging.

H. Peter Lu, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, peter.lu@pnl.gov
Daniel T. Chiu, University of Washington, chiu@chem.washington.edu

FRONTIERS IN MOLECULAR DYNAMICS: EXPERIMENT & THEORY

Experimental and theoretical research in gas phase reaction dynamics and the interplay between them continue to play a fundamental role in advancing our understanding of the details of chemical reactivity. Transporting and extending this understanding to condensed phases and to interfaces is an essential goal of the field as well. This symposium is devoted to virtually every advance made in these fields, from potential energy surfaces to new experimental techniques to probe the finest details of chemical reactions and intermolecular processes.

Laurie Butler, University of Chicago, L-Butler@uchicago.edu
Joel Bowman, Emory University, jmbowma@emory.edu

THEORY OF RARE EVENTS & ACCELERATED DYNAMICS

One of the fundamental limitations of atomic scale simulations is that of time scale. Direct classical dynamics simulations can reach nanoseconds while many important chemical reactions take place on a human time scale of milliseconds or longer. The purpose of this symposium is to discuss novel simulation methodologies that strive to bridge this time scale gap.

Graeme Henkelman, University of Texas, henkelman@mail.utexas.edu
Arthur F. Voter,, Los Alamos National Laboratory, afv@lanl.gov

PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY OF IONIC LIQUIDS

Ambient-temperature ionic liquids have been found to be useful for an astonishing array of chemical and engineering applications, as a direct result of exponential growth in research activity in this area over the past eight years. The purpose of this symposium is to focus on the unique structures, electrical properties, dynamics and interactions, and transport properties that are observed in these liquids. Symposium sessions will be organized to bring together researchers from a wide range of experimental and theoretical backgrounds, with the goal of synthesizing a more coherent knowledge base from the broad spectrum of results from both theory and experiment.

Edward W. Castner, Jr., Rutgers, ed.castner@rutgers.edu
James F. Wishart, Brookhaven National Laboratory, wishart@bnl.gov

PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY POSTER SESSION

Contributions from all areas of physical chemistry are highly encouraged for the poster session to be held on Wednesday evening, September 13, 2006. See the announcement below for information about the Physical Chemistry Student Poster Awards

Bruce D. Kay, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; bruce.kay@pnl.gov

On-Line Abstract Submission Deadline:

April 7, 2006

http://oasys.acs.org/oasys.htm

PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY STUDENT POSTER AWARDS

The Physical Chemistry Division inaugurated a program of Student Poster Awards at the 224th National Meeting in Boston. At the meeting in San Francisco, several awards with monetary prizes will be awarded for posters presented by students at the Physical Chemistry Poster Session on Wednesday evening of the meeting. To be eligible for the awards, the presenting author must be a graduate or undergraduate student at the time of the poster presentation. Poster presenters will be contacted by e-mail and invited to declare their eligibility (student status) and desire to participate in the student poster award competition.