2nd SEC annual meeting, Hanau 7th - 9th May 2009

Exceeded all expectations: the enthusiasm for chemistry brought more than 200 senior chemists from all professional fields together in Hanau to hear top-class lectures and to use the meeting for lively discussions.

The organizing committee, especially Prof. Henning Hopf, Prof. Axel Kleemann and Prof. Heribert Offermanns, had put together a program for the 2nd annual meeting of the CDCh's Senior Expert Chemists in Hanau from May 7th to 9th, which was more than in 2007 than attracted twice as many participants. The premises - the esscom on the grounds of the Wolfgang industrial park - were used down to the last seat.

On the welcome evening, the participants accepted the gracious invitation from Materials Valley. In the fully occupied Heraeus Casino, Dr. Wulf Brämer entered the world of materials and precious metals and thus the global importance of Hanau. In his lecture , the fortunes of companies such as Heraeus, Siebert, Vakuumschmelze, Degussa or Leybold were casually combined to form a network of globally leading know-how. The subsequent meal at the invitation of Materials Valley eV gave the opportunity to deepen what had been heard in conversation.

After the opening by Prof. Horst Altenburg, the first lecture on the next day - in the Wolfgang Industrial Park - casually continued the previous evening. Dr. Karl-Gerhard Seifert reported on the metamorphosis of Hoechst: exciting and at the same time thought-provoking, because from the point of view of a Hoechst board member at the time.

The following lectures covered a wide range from world nutrition to stem cell therapy and natural product chemistry.

Prof. Friedrich Berschauer showed that targeted and adapted plant protection, fertilization and the development of plants with improved resistance and, for example, short growing periods are necessary in order to feed the growing world population. In a dedicated lecture , Prof. Stefanie Dimmeier reported on the potency and safety of current stem cell therapy.

Prof. Heinz Langhals showed how chemists successfully make the color of the terracotta army of the first Chinese emperor "viable" in light and air. Subsequently, Prof. Wilhelm Boland gave a lecture on protective substances with which brightly colored leaf beetles defend themselves against enemies in both the larval and imago stage.

Before an extensive panel discussion on "chemistry and energy - What Comes After Oil and Gas?", Which, as expected, left many questions unanswered, Dr. Herbert Otteneder, as a wine expert, gave an excellent overview of how modern and "classic" methods are asserting themselves in this traditional trade in order to remedy wine errors or to support certain wine characteristics. Particularly informative were statements on the detection of adulterations, on determining the origin of wine and checking the grape variety .

So that it didn't stop at theory, Prof. Offermanns and Prof. Kleemann then invited to a tasting of carefully selected wines from the nearby Franconia. After the wine tasting there was a "Hessian buffet" at the invitation of the Wolfgang industrial park.

A special treat of a different kind was the "After Dinner Speech" by Prof. Theo Dingermann "Freddie Mercury - Living with AIDS". Introduced musically by "Bohemian Rhapsody" (Queen), the speaker impressively described the tragedy of the pop star's AIDS disease, the current status of therapy options and the spectacular advances in diagnostics and treatment.

On Saturday morning, Prof. Wolfgang Steglich presented "Remarkable facts from mushroom chemistry", including the mechanism of some striking color reactions of mushrooms with common laboratory chemicals. Fungal ingredients such as fungicidal strobilurins protect stored grain in the form of UV-stable analogues. Prof. Wolfgang Fratzscher then remembered "Wilhelm Ostwald: 100 Years of the Nobel Prize". In the award certificate, contributions to catalysis, chemical equilibria and reaction kinetics are mentioned as an achievement of the great but also idiosyncratic researcher. Finally, Dr. Joachim Schummer "an introduction to the philosophy of chemistry" and commented on the limits and ethical responsibility of chemical research.

The Conference ended with a discussion with GDCh President Prof. Klaus Müllen and GDCh Executive Director Prof. Wolfram Koch .

"Be sure to continue!" was the result of a survey among 99 participants. In their overall assessment, 92% rated the 2nd SEC annual meeting as very good to good. Above all, the participants praised the excellent quality of the presentations as well as the variety and successful selection of topics.

"Is there a sequel?" asked the report about the 1st annual meeting in 2007. This year the question is more like "Can we build on the success of the second at the third annual meeting?" The 3rd annual meeting of the SEC will take place in 2010 in Bitterfeld-Wolfen.