BEYOND THE MOLECULAR FRONTIER

CHALLENGES FOR CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Chemistry is central to providing the products, materials,

and processes that support human needs and to understanding
life itself. In the past century, chemical discoveries have raised
the standard of living throughout the world and defined
modern life. Metals, concrete, glass, paper, plastics, electronic
materials, agrochemicals, drinking water, fuels, refrigerants,
and pharmaceuticals are among the many products that have
been created or advanced through chemistry.
The astonishing developments of the 20th century have
made it possible to dream of new goals that were previously
unthinkable. Chemistry is moving rapidly from a reductionist
science concerned with atoms, molecules and pure substances
to an integrationist science concerned with organized molecular systems. Chemists and
chemical engineers, working in concert with biologists, physicists, electrical engineers,
and other professionals, are on the road to fantastic achievements: commercially viable
replacement organs; computer chips that are not carved in silicon, but rather self-assembled
from chemical components; therapeutics tailor-made for individual genetic make-up; and
materials that interact with living tissue.
What else could we dare to dream in the 21st century? Is it possible that we could
conquer disease, deter terrorism, solve our energy problems, clean the environment, and
reduce poverty and inequality? Beyond the sociopolitical and economic dimensions of
these problems lie scientific questions that chemists and chemical engineers will help solve.
The National Academies’ report Beyond the Molecular Frontier: Challenges for Chemistry
and Chemical Engineering outlines numerous challenges for chemists and chemical engineers
in the 21st century –a daunting but tremendously important list of goals that, if accomplished,
could lead to many new discoveries. The report breaks new ground by summarizing, for
the first time, the full spectrum of chemical science activities from fundamental, molecular-
level chemistry to large-scale chemical processing technology. The authors of the report
fully expect that the challenges they outline can and will be realized.

Chemists as Creators: Challenges in Synthesis

Chemistry, more than any other science, seeks not only to discover but also to create.
Chemists create new compounds, consisting of new molecules, at the rate of more than
one million per year with the aim that their properties will have a tangible benefit for
society or will create new scientific knowledge. Beyond the millions of molecules that
occur in nature, there is a nearly infinite number of molecules that could exist within the
limits of natural law.
One of the most important continuing challenges for chemists is to devise new ways to
manipulate molecules in order to create and manufacture useful new substances. Polymers,
along with pharmaceuticals, are arguably the most important and beneficial substances
that synthetic chemistry has brought to the human race. For more than a half-century,
polymers (chains of repeating subunits) have transformed our world through the development
of novel materials--from nylon to synthetic tires to new copolymers that combine, for example,
rubbery polymers with glassy polymers for better windshields. Significant progress continues to
be made in polymer synthesis, including a current focus on how the architecture of
macromolecules affects function.
Developments in electronic, optoelectronic, photonic, and magnetic devices provide another
great story of science and have enabled television, computers, and fiber optic telecommunications
among other applications. Chemists continue to develop materials that are superconductors,
which conduct electricity free of any resistance and thus free of power loss. Superconductors
that operate at room temperature are being actively pursued, which, if made, could transfer
electric power very efficiently over long distances, or even pave the way to futuristic visions of
using magnetic levitation for transportation systems.
A good example of the integrationist trend in chemistry is advancing work with composites,
which combine different materials to gain beneficial properties. For example, ceramics are of
interest for use in automobile engines because they are poor conductors of heat and electricity
and perform well at high temperatures. However, they are fragile. A challenge for the future is to
invent improved structural materials, such as composites based on resins or ceramics, that are
stable at high temperatures and easily machined.
The study of surfaces is another important area of focus. The chemistry of gene chips used
in genomic research, for example, depends on properties of system surfaces. New techniques
and tools that enable researchers to penetrate and manipulate nanometer-thick surfaces are
fundamentally changing the ability to characterize and prepare surface materials.
One of the grandest challenges in synthesis for chemists is to learn how to design and
produce new substances and materials with properties that can be predicted, tailored, and tuned
before production. Unlike architects, who know enough about buildings that they can design
them in great detail before breaking ground, chemists seeking to produce a substance with
certain properties must now conduct time-consuming trial-and-error procedures in the laboratory.

Inspired by Nature
Nature is an inventive chemist. Explaining the processes of life in
chemical terms is one of the greatest challenges continuing into the future.
Such complex events as the cleavage of RNA by the enzyme ribonuclease,
the multistep synthesis of ATP in vivo (Paul Boyer and John E. Walker
received Nobel prizes in 1997 for working this out), and the activity of
molecular motors that power bacterial flagellae are now understood in
molecular detail, but these represent only a tiny fraction of the universe of
natural processes.
Imitating some aspects of life, biomimetic chemistry, is not the only
way to invent new things, but it is an important way. Today, the chemical industry produces
ammonia for fertilizers and other products by causing nitrogen to react with hydrogen at high
temperature and pressure. Yet microorganisms in the roots of some legumes are capable of
carrying out the same conversion at ordinary temperatures and pressures. We need to understand
their chemistry, even if it is not as practical as our current methods.
Much research in recent times has centered on trying to understand the chemical mechanisms
by which various biological processes occur. Enzymes are of particular interest because of their
unique selectivity. They can react at a particular site on a molecule even though it’s not the most
chemically reactive site. Enzymes can selectively bind a particular molecule out of the mixture of
substances in the cell, then hold it in such a way that the geometry of the enzyme-substrate
complex determines what happens next in a sequence.
The catalytic mechanisms of enzymes are understood well enough to have already produced
drugs, such as cholesterol-reducing agents, that block the active sites of enzymes. However, the
factors that contribute to enzymes high selectivity are not completely understood, and we do no
yet have good synthetic analogs. A full understanding of enzymes will be of great value in
manufacturing and also the development of new classes of medicines.
 The sequencing of the human genome has provided a molecular foundation from which
other complex biological processes might be tackled at a molecular level. A critical challenge in
the postgenomic era will be to make the connections between protein sequence and architecture,
and between protein architecture and functions. The 3D shape of a protein is a key factor in
determining its function. If chemists could predict how a protein folds and how that folded
structure is related to function, they could then seek to design new functions for proteins that
would have a profound impact on medicine.
One of the most intriguing aspects of nature is the process of evolution, which illustrates the
ability of living systems to self-optimize. If the chemical sciences could build on this approach, a
system would produce the optimal new substance as a single product, rather than as a mixture
from which the desired component must be isolated and identified. Self-optimizing systems
would allow visionary chemical scientists to use this approach to make new medicines, catalysts,
and other important chemical products, in part by combining new approaches to informatics
with rapid experimental screening methods.

Self-Assembly and Nanotechnology

Sidebar 1
Chemists have been moving atoms with Soft Lithography
subnanometer precision for most of the last century.
Building ever smaller devices has been a
However, the new areas of nanoscience and
dominant trend in microelectronics technology for
nanotechnology—work with particles that range in size
50 years. Photolithography, a kind of photography
from about 1 to 100 nm (about 1/100,000 the width of a used to fabricate small devices, changed the world
hair)—are exploding as tools used to explore these by enabling the computing revolution.
dimensions have become available. One vision of this A less expensive, more versatile technique
revolution includes the possibility of making tiny called “soft lithography” has been developed to
machines that can imitate many of the processes in single- make micro- and nano-structures. It is a “back to
cell organisms that possess much of the information the future” strategy that uses stamping, printing,
content of biological systems. Several techniques are now and molding. Patterns of small features are
available to fabricate nanostructures, including electron embossed on a stamp or mold that can print lines
beam writing, scanning probe devices, and soft that are <100 nm in width. These patterns become
microchannels for analysis of nucleic acids,
lithography (see Sidebar 1).
proteins, or cells.
There is a growing focus on the use of “self-assembly”
The technique has opened doors for chemists
in constructing nanostructures. Self-assembly is the wishing to play an active role in many areas of cell
ability of properly designed mixtures of chemical biology, bioanalytical chemistry, microfluidics, op-
components to organize themselves into complex, tics, and new forms of electronics.
organized structures. It’s as if the components of an
automobile would automatically fall in the correct places,
rather than being placed there by machines. In the
computer industry, the etching of silicon chips could be replaced by self-assembly techniques.
Such spontaneous self-assembly is possible on the molecular scale, but needs to be developed.
A vital aspect of chemical self-assembly is selection. In a mixture of compounds, the correct
pairing of chemicals must occur, so the system must have a way to choose those pairings. An
exciting new challenge is to develop ways to impose a process of selection on the mixture of
components, so that unwanted interactions are suppressed. In biological systems, mutants
convey an advantage to a cell, illustrating nature’s ability to self-optimize. Chemists need similar
tools, for example, a library of possible catalysts from which the system would self-select the
most potent. This would remove the current need to screen the entire library for such activity.
New approaches in synthetic chemistry and biochemistry have paved the way for tremendous
advances in self-assembly. The future will hold the opportunity for chemists to make molecules
of size and complexity approaching protein structures—and to fold and assemble them. By
creating the appropriate molecules, patterning them on surfaces, and providing them with the
appropriate functions, chemists could mimic taste and smell, the most chemical of the senses.
Chemical engineers are now aiming to use these advances on larger scales. Taking self-
assembly methodology from laboratory experimentation to the practical manufacturing arena
could revolutionize chemical processing. The approach to the future should be a holistic one,
with synthetic advances moving in concert with assembly and microstructural control.
 Characterization and Measurement
The need for measurements of chemicals is ubiquitous—of mass and
dimensions of chemical substances and their capacity to absorb heat, absorb
or reflect light, and respond to pressure and temperature. The determination
of quantity in complex mixtures is vital in developing pharmaceuticals and
other products. There is a constant need for better methods of chemical
analysis to answer, “What’s in that, how much is present, and how long
will it last?” The frontiers in this field lie in improving sensitivity to detect
vanishingly small quantities, to separate extremely complex mixtures, and
to assess the structures or compositions of components.
The number and types of customers who need analysis are growing and now encompass
industrial enterprises and government functions that span manufacturing, shipping,
communications, domestic power, water supplies, waste disposal, forensic analysis,
environmental policies, and national security. These customers place urgent demands on
chemical scientists for new, better, faster, cheaper, more sensitive and more selective
measurements.
One of the grand challenges in chemistry is to understand how molecules react over all time
scales and the full range of molecular size. An increase in this fundamental understanding will
directly affect our ability to improve the practical applications in chemistry. However, there are
still big gaps in our understanding of molecular details of chemical and biochemical reactions.
Many intermediates along the path of a reaction cannot be directly observed with current
instrumental technology, making this objective one of the long-standing goals of the chemical
sciences.
An exciting advance was acknowledged in 1999 when Ahmed Zewail received the most
recent of the several Nobel Prizes recognizing developments of methods to follow fast reactions.
He was able to witness the bond-breaking and bond-making process on the time scale of 10-15
seconds, which some say is the limiting time scale for chemical reactions. Chemical science still
seeks to develop ultrafast techniques, such as superfast electron diffraction, that will permit
observation of the actual molecular structure of a transition state, not just its rate of passage.
Even mature instrumentation techniques continue to advance in small steps. Mass
spectrometry requires that material being studied be converted into a vapor. Great strides have
been made in recent years to entice large, thermally fragile molecules into the vapor states from
solids and surfaces through new techniques. These strides have reinvigorated this field and
provided a good example of how supposedly “dead” areas can find new life.
Detailed molecular structure determinations can be
accomplished by diffraction techniques, electromagnetic
Sidebar 2 radiation absorption, and emission techniques such as
Crystallizing the Ribosome microwave spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR). The major current limitation of NMR is its
The use of diffraction techniques to sensitivity. Stronger magnets, improved instrumentation,
determine molecular structure depends on the and software could help NMR move toward analyses of
ability to obtain crystalline structures. Chemists
single molecules. A major limitation of diffraction
are still challenged by the need to routinely
crystallize large molecules.
techniques has been the need to obtain crystalline
In a breakthrough in 2000, chemists learned samples. Chemists are now devising techniques to
how to crystallize the ribosome, a particle about crystallize proteins in two-or three-dimensional lattices
100 times as large as a simple protein enzyme, but are still challenged to crystallize large molecules in a
so that its structure could be analyzed. The routine manner (see Sidebar 2).
surprising results revealed that the catalytic center Chemical measurements will continue to advance
of the ribosome, where the protein is actually toward the need for high-throughput, miniaturized
made, was seen to consist of RNA, not of a protein instrumental analyses, preferably with “smart
enzyme. The many proteins present help organize instruments” that are self-calibrating and highly
the structure, but do not play a catalytic role. This automated. A related need exists for massive automation
finding helped to validate an earlier idea that the
in data, reduction, storage, retrieval, and graphic
original process in early life forms used RNA alone.
presentation. Urgent expansion is needed in the following
five broad categories.
 1 High-performance instruments and measurements of unprecedented precision,
sensitivity, spatial resolution, and specificity.
2 Low-cost, robust instruments for analyzing exceptionally small volumes.
3 High-throughput measurements including informatics and mathematics for
interpretation of large-volume data streams.
4 Separation and analysis of chemical and biological mixtures of extreme complexity.
5 Determining the structural arrangements of atoms within noncyrstalline chemical
substances and resolving how they change as a function of time.
Advancing Chemical Theory and Modeling
The chemical sciences are built on a set of fundamental mathematical theories, such as
quantum mechanics, that have increasing utility as computational hardware and software have
become more powerful. Impressive recent progress has been made in determining molecular
structures. A continuing important goal is to devise better and more accurate ways to predict
molecular structures, bond energies, molecular properties, transition state structures, and energies
for systems increasing in size. While quantum mechanics can be reliably applied to isolated
molecules, another important goal is to develop methodologies for molecules in organized systems.
Chemistry covers an enormous span of time and space from atoms and molecules to
industrial-scale processing. Chemical processes at the commercial scale ultimately involve spatial
scales on the order of meters, and time scales ranging from seconds to hours and, in the case of
many bioengineering processes involving fermentations, days or weeks. Advances in computing
and modeling could help us connect phenomena at the electronic and molecular scale to the
commercial processing.
The chemical industry can largely be viewed as being composed of two major segments. The
“value preservation” industry is largely based on the large-scale production of commodity
chemicals. The “value growth” industry is based on the small-scale production of specialty
chemicals, biotechnology products, and pharmaceuticals. To stay competitive and economically
strong, the “value preservation” industry must be able to reduce costs, operate efficiently, and
continuously improve product quality. The value growth industry must be agile and quick to
market new products, making supply chain management one of its key technologies. In both
cases, major challenges over the next two decades will be to gain a better understanding of the
structure and information flows underlying the chemical supply chain, and to develop novel
mathematical models and methods for its simulation and optimization.
Greener by Design
An increasing concern with the environment is
affecting all of chemistry from the laboratory to Sidebar 3
The Green Revolution
manufacturing. A half-century ago, people were only
beginning to understand the extent to which human As evidence of the “green revolution” in
activity could affect the environment, often in very industry, manufacturers are replacing the use of
negative ways. Tough environmental problems of toxic organic solvents in processing with the use of
waste dumps, smog acid rains, and polluted rivers and supercritical CO2 (sCO2), an inert molecule that has
oceans require a full understanding of the complex excellent performance attributes as a solvent. The
chemical interactions of the earth and atmosphere. use of sCO2 dramatically reduces the amount of
Almost all U.S. chemical manufacturers now subscribe water used mostly for washing, that subsequently
must be cleaned through waste treatment to avoid
to a program called Responsible Care, pledging to make
polluting the environment. In addition, the low heat
only products that are harmless to the environment and of vaporization of sCO2 also reduces energy usage
its occupants through processes that are in comparison to conventional solvents.
environmentally benign. The use of sCO2 is being commercialized in
In addition, an important initiative called “green several applications: decaffeination of coffee and
chemistry” seeks to design chemical products and tea and extraction of flavors, fragrances,and
processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation neutraceuticals; production of certain plastics;
of hazardous substances. New methods are still being professional garment dry cleaning; and coatings/
sought for even the simplest transformations. For encapsulation technologies for pharmaceuticals,
example, the oxidation of an alcohol to a ketone or textiles and automotive parts.
aldehyde has long been performed in the laboratory by
 using chromium as the oxidant, which often further oxidize the end products and result in
environmentally harmful waste products. If oxygen were used as an oxidant, water would be the
resultant waste produce. Catalysts for air oxidation already exist; however, improved catalysts
may be needed for manufacturing processes. Another example of the green revolution is the use
of CO2 to replace organic solvents, reducing the use of both water and energy (see Sidebar 3).
Reducing waste in chemical processes is another continuing challenge. In the
pharmaceutical industry, for example, classical methods produce, on the average, about nine
times as much disposable waste as desired product. This has led to the demand for procedures
that have atom efficiency, in which all the atoms of the reacting compounds appear in the
product. The use of multicomponent processes could contribute to this goal. Conventional
process development has focused on optimizing single reactions. New processes that involve
reaction cascades, where the product of one reaction feeds the next, will permit more efficient
production of industrial or biomedical products. The future will also likely see greater use of
more abundant or renewable raw materials and greater reuse of materials such as carbon dioxide,
salts, tars,and sludges which are currently discarded as waste.

Chemistry and Medicine

Medicinal chemistry has greatly contributed to the fight against disease.
Modern biochemical engineering began with the challenge of large-scale
production of penicillin by fermentation during World War II, requiring the
cooperation of microbiologists, biochemists, and chemical engineers. Other
early contributions include the artificial kidney and “pharmacokinetic
models” used to successfully deliver chemotherapeutic drugs and assess
risk exposure from toxins. More recently, bioprocesses have been developed
that produce high-purity proteins from genetically engineered cells that are
used to treat stroke, heart attack and other diseases. Chemists, of course, are
integrally tied to continuing advances in pharmaceuticals (see Sidebar 4).
The explosive growth in our understanding of the chemical basis of life couldn’t come at a
better time. The aging generation of baby boomers will sorely challenge the nation’s resources
and intensify the need for more effective and cost-efficient therapies—therapies are on the horizon
for problems of memory and cognition, vision and hearing, pain, addiction, sleep disorders,
weight gain, or loss and even aging. Chemists and chemical engineers are working toward the
production of human “spare parts”: joints and valves, eyes and ears linked to the brain, and even
implantable endocrine systems that act as mini chemical factories and delivery systems.
Progress in genomics and proteomics will become
increasingly important in strategies for the prevention,
Sidebar 4 diagnosis, and treatment of disease. We are entering a new
A Better Pain Blocker era of molecular medicine where we will develop technologies
to rapidly screen the effects of small molecules on large arrays
Aspirin and ibuprofen block pain by
blocking the action of the enzyme
of gene products. Capitalizing on self-assembly and
cyclooxygenase (COX). A major drawback nanoscience will enhance the ability to screen drugs for
to inhibiting COX is that this also individual sensitivities. Advances in drug discovery,
inadvertently blocks its good action— combinatorial synthesis, and screening with sensors that have
protecting the intestinal tract. It was recently the ability to detect multitudes of specific genetic matches—
discovered that COX is not a single enzyme, marrying microelectronics and self-assembly—are expected
but rather a family containing at least two to be near-term breakthroughs enabling the possible creation
isoenzymes—COX-1, the protective agent, of “in the field” or “in the office” tests for chemical risks,
and COX-2, the enzyme involved with pain. pharmaceutical compatibility, or environmental hazards.
The availability of detailed structural There are still many major challenges ahead: treating viral
information at a molecular level was key,
diseases from influenza to the AIDS and Ebola viruses;
revealing that COX-2 had a side pocket.
This knowledge paid off in 1999 with the
bacterial resistance to antibiotics, cures for cancer, heart
availability of an anti-inflammatory with a 50- disease, stroke, and Alzheimer’s diseases; better treatments
fold selectivity for the COX-2 enzyme, thus for diabetes, arthritis and psychological conditions such as
providing a drug with reduced schizophrenia or manic depression. Commercially viable
gastrointestinal side effects for treatment organ replacements are more than a decade away, inhibited
of pain and inflammation. by a poor understanding of the signals tissues use to control
the growth and differentiation of tissues.
Fueling New Energy Sources
The basic science of chemical reactions has been put to
good use in the fuel industry for more than a half century, with Sidebar 5
notable early work that dramatically improved fossil fuels (see Fuel Efficiency
Sidebar 5). About 85% of the world’s energy today is obtained
In 1947, chemist Vladimir Haensel
by burning fossil fuels. At current rates of consumption, we dramatically improved the process by
may still be using petroleum as a major source of energy 50 which gasoline is produced from crude
years from now. Natural gas may last 100 years, while coal oil by using platinum as a catalyst for the
reserves could last for perhaps four centuries. Despite refining process, despite the fact that
continuing improvements, atmospheric carbon dioxide platinum was expensive and hard to get.
produced by combustion of fossil fuels has increased by about Ultimately, his method more efficiently
one-third since the beginning of the industrial revolution with produced gasoline that was a remarkably
potentially significant consequences for global warming. The higher-grade fuel. The result was reduced
real solution may be in finding fuel alternatives. U.S. reliance on foreign oil, broadening of
Solar energy is currently captured on rooftops by the world’s long-term energy outlook,
reduced pollution due to combustion, and
photovoltaic cells that convert as much as 30% of the incident
lower transportation costs.
sunlight to electricity. The chemical sciences are challenged to Chemists and chemical engineers
devise materials and processes for photocells that are cheap, have continued to advance and improve
long lasting, and efficient in converting sunlight and also devise energy sources, pursuing research in
better means to collect, store, and distribute the energy where nuclear, solar and alternative sources of
it’s needed. Another approach to capturing solar energy is to energy such as the hydrogen fuel cell.
grow special plants that can be converted to electricity either by
burning or in a fuel cell.
Nuclear energy is currently the source of 7% of the world’s total energy and 20% of U.S.
electrical energy. Chemists and chemical engineers devised the processes for producing nuclear
fuels and play a critical role in the development of safe methods for dealing with radioactive
wastes. A steady decline in the number of university programs in nuclear chemistry and in the
graduates they produce poses a significant challenge for the ongoing health of the field.
Chemists and chemical engineers are actively pursuing a viable hydrogen fuel cell, a specific
type of electrochemical cell in which the reactants are hydrogen and air that are continuously
supplied from outside of the cell. Hydrogen fuel cells were first used in the space program, but
they are being developed for land applications, including portable electronics, vehicles, and
back-up emergency power systems. Several problems remain to be solved, including speeding
up the rate of the reaction at the electrodes and making lightweight cylinders that will hold high-
pressure hydrogen. If chemists are successful in overcoming these problems and appropriate
ways are found to generate and store hydrogen, we could potentially usher in the so-called
“hydrogen economy.”

National and Personal Security

Chemistry has long played a direct role in personal security applications. Police are protected
with strong bulletproof vests made of modern synthetic materials, firemen rely on clothing coated
with temperature-resistant polymers, our homes are equipped with smoke detectors, and water
purification and chemical testing assures clean water and food. Chemistry has aided the military
through radar, synthetic antimalarials, weapons, and other developments.
The September 11 attack on our country has directed tremendous attention to the ways that
science and technology could be mobilized for personal security and homeland defense and has
shaped new directions in chemistry and chemical engineering. The future will require a better
understanding of the actions and time scales of both chemical and biological weapons and an
increased focus on detection capabilities. Sensors and other fast analytical techniques must be
developed. Chemists can also contribute to developing protective gear for first responders and
new approaches for delivering drugs and vaccines.
Part of the root cause of terrorism is the tremendous gap in the standard of living between
industrialized and developing countries. Chemists and chemical engineers could help mitigate
this difference by applying technology to improve energy, information infrastructure, and
medicine and public health infrastructure as well as food, water shelter and clothing in poorer
nations.
Public Perception of Chemistry
Chemists and chemistry as a science enjoy a fairly favorable public perception. In a recent
survey of 1,012 U.S. adults commissioned by the American Chemical Society (ACS), chemistry as
a career option was ranked third on a list of eight scientific professions, and chemists scored
high as visionary, innovative, and results oriented. Also, 59% of those surveyed said that
chemicals made their lives better. On the other hand, only 43% of the respondents had a favorable
opinion of the chemical industry. It was ranked lowest among a list of 10 industries, and only 1
in 10 felt very well informed about the role of chemicals in improving human health.
An ongoing challenge for the chemical sciences is to help the public understand its
contribution to applications such as medicine, energy solutions, and microcomputing. When a
drug is released, for example, a drug company should more actively recognize the underlying
chemistry that made the drug possible. Chemists should make better efforts to describe their
work in nontechnical terms so that it is more accessible to the public and the media.

Research and Education

U.S. prosperity depends on high technology, and much of that depends on chemical expertise.
For most of the past decade, the chemical industry has been one of the few U.S. manufacturing
industries with a positive balance of trade. In fact, the chemical process industries are as much
as one-third of the entire U.S. manufacturing sector in terms of value added.
Good chemistry pays off. A recent study carried out by the Council for Chemical Research
finds that, on average, every dollar invested in chemical R&D today produces $2 in corporate
operating income over six years—an average annual return of 17% after taxes. The study also
reported a strong linkage of industrial patents to publicly funded academic research. The chemical
industry has a big stake in the health of the chemistry and chemical engineering fields.
U.S. companies swiftly use the new leads from basic research in U.S. universities, in part
because they have good contacts and in part because they hire students or even faculty who have
played a role in creating basic knowledge. However, support of the research itself is mainly the
function of the federal government and to a lesser extent of private foundations. A review of
federal funding for the physical sciences shows that, although there has been a steady increase
in funding since the 1970’s, support for chemistry has lagged considerably behind the overall
trend. Support for chemical engineering has actually decreased.
The challenges are so great, and the demand for talent so large, that it is important to attract
the best and brightest students to the field. Graduate enrollments in chemistry and chemical
engineering have declined slightly over the last decade, despite the need for them. Those already
in the field will need to be active ambassadors, recruiting students and describing the rewards of
life on the “molecular frontier.”
Educators must convey the excitement of the chemical sciences to students, especially those
in introductory courses. Education must become increasingly multidisciplinary if it is to keep up
with the same trend in the field. The federal government has a clear stake in supporting enhanced
education and training of chemical scientists and the recruitment of U.S. students. The government
could also provide important support by endorsing the challenges and goals that this book
describes.

The Committee on Challenges for the Chemical Sciences in the 21st Century: Ronald Breslow,
Columbia University (Co-Chair), Matthew V. Tirrell, University of California, Santa Barbara
(Co-Chair), Jacqueline K. Barton, CalTech, Mark A. Barteau, University of Delaware, Carolyn
R. Bertozzi, University of California, Berkeley, Robert A. Brown, MIT, Alice P. Gast, MIT,
Ignacio E. Grossmann, Carnegie Mellon University, James M. Meyer, E.I. du Pont de Nemours
& Co., Royce W. Murray, University of North Carolina, Paul J. Reider, Amgen, Inc., William
R. Roush, University of Michigan, Michael L. Shuler, Cornell University, Jeffrey J. Siirola,
Eastman Chemical Company, George M. Whitesides, Harvard University, Peter G. Wolynes,
University of California, San Diego, Richard N. Zare, Stanford University.
For more information: Contact the National Academies’ Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology
(BCST) at (202) 334-2156. Beyond the Molecular Frontier: Challenges for Chemistry and the Chemical
Sciences is available from the National Academies Press, 500 5th Street, Washington, DC, 20001; (800)
624-6242 or at http://www.nap.edu.

Copyright 2003 by the National Academies

Permission granted to reproduce this report brief in its entirety, with no additions or alterations.