Editorial

Welcome

Welcome to this new style EuCheMS Newsletter!

We would like this to be your Newsletter embracing all the member networks of EuCheMS (Member Societies, Supporting Members, Divisions and Working Parties) so sections will be set aside for your news and updates. We hope it will be read very widely within Europe and beyond.

With the increased activity of EuCheMS and the extra staff in Brussels, we have decided to produce the Newsletter in-house with the bulk of the editorial work being carried out by Nineta Majcen, Bruno Vilela and Marta Kucza. The new Newsletter is electronic although a printable PDF version is also available.

There could not be a more important time for EuCheMS to have a dynamic and interactive newsletter. We are beginning to become noticed by the wider European community, with amongst others Executive Board member, Wolfram Koch being appointed to the High-Level Group on Open Science, Nicola Armaroli, Chair of the Working Party for Energy in Chemistry, being a key member of EU Missions on the circular economy and Hartmut Frank, Chair of the Working Party on Ethics in Chemistry, being heavily involved in the ALLEA revision of the EU Code of conduct on Ethics and The Hague Ethical Guidelines.

In addition, with the UK voting to leave the EU, threats in academic freedom in Turkey, chemical weapons again being used in Syria and a new President soon to enter the White House who may not be so supportive of carbon emissions reduction, there has never been a more important time to have a strong, united, independent voice speaking on chemical matters for all chemists in Europe.

The newsletter will be one way in which we plan to reach not only all our members but also the legislators and remind them how central chemistry is to all of life.

More locally, this year sees most of the Divisions and Working Parties having their biennial meetings. These are events where experts in specific disciplines talk to one another about the most recent developments in their research area. Some of these have been running for many years, others are new, but all of them are exciting and invigorating. I hope you will find at least one in which you can participate with enjoyment.

Finally, the Executive Board meeting in Sevilla, which took place in September 2016, was the last one for Ulrich Schubert as Past President. Ulrich has now served 6 years on the Presidential Council, three as President. Ulrich has had a huge influence on the development of EuCheMS and we thank him deeply for what he has done. After many successful years as EuCheMS Treasurer, Franco de Angelis will now end his mandate. Antonio Laganà has completed his term on the Executive Board as a representative of the Divisions. We thank him for his very positive interventions, particularly his commitment to Open Science.

I would like to thank Karin Schmitz and her team at GDCh for the truly exceptional work they have done over the last 10 years in editing and producing the Newsletter to a very high standard and always on time. We are really grateful for what they have done. I wish the new Editorial team of the Newsletter every success in developing it in this exciting future.

David Cole-Hamilton
EuCheMS President

Focus

Dynamic chemical equilibium

A dynamic chemical equilibrium is a balanced condition within a system of chemical reactions in which both reactants and products are present in concentrations which have no further tendency to change with time, while the reaction rates of the forward and backward reactions are generally not zero, but equal. In EuCheMS, such dynamic equilibrium occurs with chemistry, research, education, professional networks, member organization, research conferences, responses to public consultations and communication as key reactants and products.

Sometimes reactions need to be speeded up and then we add a catalyst in a form of management and leadership actions, which affects both the forward and the reverse reaction in the same way and does not have an effect on the equilibrium constant, but increases the speed at which equilibrium is reached.

Furthermore, rather often we deal with multiple equilibria, and sometimes with disturbed dynamic equilibria, by changing the reaction conditions (though the equilibria constant stays the same, as described by the Le Châtelier’s principle). With this new old EuCheMS Newsletter the reaction conditions are changing and let us see if the system will adjust itself in such a way that the effect of the change will be nullified and the high quality of the Newsletter remains as it was so far.

I hope you will enjoy reading thought provoking contributions and news on chemistry related topics in Europe and worldwide. If you would like to contribute, you are most welcome to contact the Editorial Board members for details.

Nineta Hrastelj
EuCheMS General Secretary

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