Subject: Call for Papers, Pacifichem2000 (Symposium #175, Use of Chemical Information in Organic Synthesis)

From: Guenter Grethe <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 16:03:35 -0800

The following Call for Papers has been listed on several servers, I
apologize for any duplication.

CALL FOR PAPERS

The 2000 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies will
take place in Honolulu, Hawaii, from December 14 - 19, 2000.  The congress
is cosponsored by the American Chemical Society , the Chemical Society of
Japan, the Canadian Society for Chemistry, the New Zealand Institute of
Chemistry and the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.  Chemical Societies
in the countries that border the Pacific Ocean will be Official
Participating Organizations.  Overall, 6,000 reports on current research and
development will be presented in 179 symposia and in oral and poster general
sessions in 10 topical areas.  If previous congresses are any indication,
this year's program should be highly interesting and attendance should be
very large.

You are invited to submit an abstract for a paper or poster to be considered
for presentation at symposium #175 "Use of Chemical Information in Organic
Synthesis", co-organized  by Prof. Kimito Funatsu, Toyohashi University of
Technology, Japan, Dr. David Winkler, CSRIO Division of Molecular Science,
Australia, and Dr. Guenter Grethe, MDL Information Systems, Inc., USA.
Abstracts of approximately 150 words must be submitted to the Congress
Secretariat at ACS by April 3, 2000, for paper versions, or April 14
electronically.  The congress abstract form is available for electronic
retrieval and submission from the Pacifichem 2000 web site at

				 http://www.acs.org/meetings/pacific2000
      
Paper forms can be obtained by contacting the Congress Secretariat at

			Pacifichem Congress Secretariat 
			American Chemical Society
			1155-16th S., N.W.
			Washington, DC 20036, USA
			e-mail: [email-masked]

To encourage attendance at the congress by young chemistry professionals
>from developing countries that border the Pacific Ocean, the sponsoring
societies of Pacifichem 2000 are making available up to 40 grants of $1,000
(U.S.) plus complimentary registration to assist with travel and attendance
costs.  Details about the scholarship are to be found on the congress web
site. 

Why is participation in this symposium essential for synthetic chemists and
information specialists?
 
During the last two decades various programs and databases, large
comprehensive and smaller thematic ones, covering a broad range of synthetic
chemistry, have been developed to assist synthetic chemists with their
tasks.  Additionally, these databases have the potential to serve as a rich
source for extracting data into knowledge bases for reaction planning and
reaction prediction programs.  

Speakers at the symposium will address issues important to the various areas
of reaction information management, such as synthesis planning, reaction
retrieval and prediction, reagent selection, integrated web-based
information, information needs in combinatorial chemistry and other related
topics.  Emphasis of the symposium will be on the integration of various
programs and data from multiple sources to simulate the working habits of
synthetic chemists in gathering necessary information, thereby generating an
environment in which they will use electronic tools comfortably and
efficiently - the synthetic workbench of the future.  Papers describing the
use of the various tools and information sources available to synthetic
chemists and information specialists alike are solicited.  Presentations for
contributed papers will be restricted to 25 minutes, including 5 minutes for
Q & A.

Following is a description of some of the topics we hope to cover in the
symposium: 

Reaction retrieval

	Retrieval of relevant information from existing databases to plan
the synthesis of discrete compounds or libraries and to search for
applicable methodologies and efficient functional group transformations is
the most frequently used and therefore the most important part of any
reaction information system.  Presentations on available systems and
associated applications to facilitate their use, the contents of available
reaction databases, efficient management of large datasets, such as
classification, post-search tools to manage large hitlists and other
retrieval related topics are invited. 
		
Reaction prediction

	Reaction prediction plays an important role in synthesis,
particularly in process development and combinatorial chemistry.
Presentations addressing the use of available programs and the generation of
knowledge bases from reaction databases to assist in the validation of
reaction proposals in the planning process will be part of the symposium.
Other topics for discussion are applications of methodologies to use
physico-chemical parameters in predicting the outcome of reactions and the
importance of functional group perception and their dependency on reaction
conditions as criteria for reagent selection and automated synthesis.

Synthesis planning

	Synthesis planning is experiencing rejuvenation, largely due to
developments in combinatorial chemistry. Emphasis of programs has shifted
>from planning syntheses of complex molecules to generating efficient and
economic preparations of libraries of compounds, frequently involving the
use of solid-phase methodology.  We invite speakers to discuss progress made
in this important area as well as talk about validation procedures used in
the planning process and methods to select viable starting materials. 

Combinatorial chemistry

	Combinatorial synthesis continues to have an immense impact on the
developments in managing chemical information.  Finding the most relevant
methodologies, planning a library, and selecting the most viable reagents
and solid supports are some of the important tasks to be carried out by the
synthetic chemist. Presentations on these topics as well as discussions
about the utilization of available information for automated synthesis and
effective data management are desirable. 

Electronic workbench

	The future and success of using electronic information in synthesis
is heavily dependent on the smooth integration of the required tools in an
electronic workbench through friendly graphical interfaces and smooth
operations. To guarantee good results, the workbench must provide easy
access to large amounts of data in diversified databases - online and
inhouse - and in electronic versions of the primary and secondary
literature.  The electronic labjournal must serve both as an archiving and
registration tool.  We are soliciting papers describing the use of any of
these tools, particularly web-based applications. 

If you have any questions please contact any of the organizers at the
addresses shown below:

Dr. Guenter Grethe
MDL Information Systems, Inc.
14600 Catalina Street
San Leandro, CA 94577
(+1) 510-357-2222, ext. 1430 (voice)
(+1) 510-614-3616 (fax)
[email-masked]

Prof. Kimito Funatsu
Department of Knowledge-Based Information Engineering
Toyohashi University of Technology
Tempaku, Toyohashi 441-8580
Japan
(+81) 532-44-6879 (voice)
(+81) 532-47-9315 (fax)
[email-masked]

Dr. David A. Winkler
CSIRO Molecular Science
Private Bag, Clayton South MDC 3169
Australia
(+61) 3-9545-2477 (voice)
(+61) 3-9545-2446 (fax)
[email-masked]