The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is a member of the International Science Council (ISC). IUPAC is registered in Zürich, Switzerland, and its administrative office, known as the "IUPAC Secretariat", is in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, United States.
IUPAC was established in 1919 as the successor of the International Congress of Applied Chemistry for the advancement of chemistry. Its members, the National Adhering Organizations, can be national chemistry societies, national academies of sciences, or just other bodies representing chemists. There are a total of fifty-four National Adhering Organizations and three Associate National Adhering Organizations. IUPAC's Inter-divisional Committee on Nomenclature and Symbols (IUPAC nomenclature) is the recognized world authority in developing standards for naming chemical elements and compounds. Since its creation, IUPAC has been run by many different committees with different responsibilities.IUPAC Committees list. . Retrieved 15 April 2010. These committees run different projects; of those which include standardizing nomenclature,Interdivisional Committee on Terminology web page. . Retrieved 15 April 2010. finding ways to bring chemistry to the world,Chemdrawn. . Retrieved 15 April 2010. and publishing works.Pure and Applied Chemistry Editorial Advisory Board web page. . Retrieved 15 April 2010.Evaluation Committee page. . Retrieved 15 April 2010.
IUPAC is best known for its works standardizing nomenclature in chemistry, but they have publications in many science fields including chemistry, biology, and physics. Some important work IUPAC has done in these fields includes standardizing nucleotide base sequence code names; publishing books for environmental scientists, chemists, and physicists; and improving education in science.IYC: Introduction. . 9 July 2009. Retrieved on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010. IUPAC is also known for standardizing the atomic weights of the elements through one of its oldest standing committees, the Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights (CIAAW).
Creation and history
The need for an international standard for chemistry was first addressed in 1860 by a committee headed by German scientist Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz. This committee was the first international conference to create an international naming system for organic compounds. The ideas that were formulated at that conference evolved into the official IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry. IUPAC is a legacy of this meeting, making it one of the most important historical international collaborations of chemistry societies. IUPAC as such was established in 1919.International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry: About . IUPAC. Retrieved on 29 July 2013.Since this time, IUPAC has been the official organization with the responsibility of updating and maintaining official organic nomenclature.
One notable country excluded from early IUPAC was Germany. Germany's exclusion was a result of prejudice towards it by the Allied powers after World War I. Germany was finally admitted into IUPAC in 1929. However, Nazi Germany was removed from IUPAC during World War II. At this time, IUPAC was affiliated with the Allied powers, but had little involvement with the war effort itself. East and West Germany were only readmitted to IUPAC in 1973. Since World War II, IUPAC has focused on standardizing nomenclature and methods in science.
In 2016, IUPAC denounced the use of chlorine as a chemical weapon. In a letter to Ahmet Üzümcü, director of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the organization pointed out their concerns in regards to chlorine weapon usage in the Syrian civil war and other places . The letter stated, "Our organizations deplore the use of chlorine in this manner. The indiscriminate attacks, possibly carried out by a member state of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), are of concern to chemical scientists and engineers around the globe and we stand ready to support your mission of implementing the CWC." According to the CWC, "the use, stockpiling, distribution, development or storage of any chemical weapons is forbidden by any of the 192 state party signatories."
Committees and governance IUPAC is governed by several committees that all have different responsibilities. The committees are as follows: Bureau, CHEMRAWN (Chem Research Applied to World Needs) Committee, Committee on Chemistry Education, Committee on Chemistry and Industry, Committee on Printed and Electronic Publications, Evaluation Committee, Executive Committee, Finance Committee, Interdivisional Committee on Terminology, Nomenclature and Symbols, Project Committee, and Pure and Applied Chemistry Editorial Advisory Board. Each committee is made up of members of different National Adhering Organizations from different countries.
The steering committee hierarchy for IUPAC is as follows:IUPAC Project Committee Retrieved 15 April 2010 All committees have an allotted budget to which they must adhere. Any committee may start a project. If a project's spending becomes too much for a committee to continue funding, it must take the issue to the Project Committee. The project committee either increases the budget or decides on an external funding plan. The Bureau and Executive Committee oversee operations of the other committees.
+IUPAC committeesCommittee name (abbreviation) Responsibilities Bureau Discussing and making changes to which committee has authority over a specific project Controlling finances for all other committees and IUPAC as a whole Discussing general governance of IUPACIUPAC news and references Retrieved 15 April 2010 Physical and Biophysical Chemistry Division (Division I) Organizing and promoting the international collaboration between scientists in physical and biophysical chemistry and related fields Inorganic Chemistry Division (Division II) Inorganic and inorganic materials chemistry, isotopes, and atomic weights, periodic table Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry Division (Division III) Promoting the goals of IUPAC in the field of organic and biomolecular chemistry in the broadest sense Polymer Division (Division IV) The science and technology of macromolecules and polymers Analytical Chemistry Division (Division V) The general aspects of analytical chemistry, separation methods, spectrochemical methods, electrochemical methods,nuclear chemistry methods, and applications to human health and the environment. Chemistry and the Environment Division (Division VI) Providing unbiased and timely authoritative reviews on the behavior of chemical compounds in food and the environment. Chemistry and Human Health Division (Division VII) Medicinal and clinical chemistryChemical Nomenclature and Structure Representation Division (Division VIII) Maintaining and developing standard systems for designating chemical structures, including both conventional nomenclature and computer-based systems. CHEMRAWN Committee (Chem Research Applied to World Needs) Discussing different ways chemistry can and should be used to help the world Committee on Chemistry Education (CCE) Coordinating IUPAC chemistry research with the educational systems of the worldChemistry Education Retrieved 15 April 2010 Committee on Chemistry and Industry (COCI) Coordinating IUPAC chemistry research with industrial chemistry needsChemistry and Industry Retrieved 15 April 2010Committee on Ethics, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (CEDEI) Promoting and developing the core values stated in the IUPAC strategic plan Committee on Publications and Cheminformatics Data Standards (CPCDS) Designing and implementing IUPAC publications Heading the Subcommittee on Spectroscopic Data StandardsCommittee on Electronic and Printed Publications webpage Retrieved 15 April 2010 Evaluation Committee (EvC) Evaluating every project Reporting back to the Executive Committee on every project Executive Committee (EC) Planning and discussing IUPAC events Discussing IUPAC fundraising Reviewing other committees' workExecutive Committee meeting Retrieved 15 April 2010
Current officers of the Executive Committee: President: García Martínez, Javier Vice president: Keinan, Ehud Past President: Brett, Christopher M. A. Treasurer: Koch, Wolfram Secretary General: Hartshorn, Richard M. Finance Committee (FC) Helping other committees properly manage their budgets Advising union officers on investmentsFinance Committee web page Retrieved 15 April 2010 Interdivisional Committee on Green Chemistry for Sustainable Development (ICGCSD) Advancing IUPAC Strategic Plan for green and sustainable chemistry Coordinating all the work of IUPAC in this area to develop a coherent program of action Initiating and coordinating projects in green and sustainable chemistry Encouraging activities in these areas from across the Divisions and Standing Committees Harmonization, regulation, and standardization in green and sustainable chemistry Organizing the series of IUPAC International Conferences on Green Chemistry Managing IUPAC participation in the PhosAgro/UNESCO/IUPAC Green Chemistry for Life awards program Managing the Green Chemistry Postgraduate Summer School series Managing IUPAC CHEMRAWN Prize for Green Chemistry Working and collaborating with other international organizations and industries Seeking additional sponsorship and support from industrial sources Interdivisional Committee on Terminology (ICTNS) Managing IUPAC nomenclature Working through many projects to standardize nomenclature Standardizing measurements Discussing atomic weight standardization Project Committee (PC) Managing funds that are under the jurisdiction of multiple projects Judging if a project is too large for its funding Recommending sources of external funding for projects Deciding how to fund meetings in developing countries and countries in crisis Pure and Applied Chemistry Editorial Advisory Board (PAC-EAB) Helping to plan, implement, and publish Pure and Applied Chemistry
Nomenclature
Scientists framed a systematic method for naming organic compounds based on their structures. Hence, the naming rules were formulated by IUPAC.IUPAC Publications List Retrieved 15 April 2010
Basic spellings IUPAC establishes rules for harmonized spelling of some chemicals to reduce variation among different local English-language variants. For example, they recommend "aluminium" rather than "aluminum", "sulfur" rather than "sulphur", and "caesium" rather than "cesium".
Organic nomenclature
IUPAC organic nomenclature has three main parts: the substituents, carbon chain length, and chemical affix. The substituents are any functional groups tied to the main carbon chain. The main carbon chain is the longest possible continuous chain. The chemical affix denotes what type of molecule it is. For example, the ending ane conveys a single bonded carbon chain, as in "hexane" ().
Another example of IUPAC organic nomenclature is cyclohexanol:
The substituent name for a ring compound is cyclo. The indication (substituent name) for a six carbon chain is hex. The chemical ending for a single bonded carbon chain is ane. The chemical ending for an alcohol is ol. The two chemical endings are combined for an ending of anol indicating a single bonded carbon chain with an alcohol attached to it.
Inorganic nomenclature
Basic IUPAC inorganic nomenclature has two main parts: the cation and the anion. The cation is the name for the positively charged ion and the anion is the name for the negatively charged ion.
An example of IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic chemistry is potassium chlorate (KClO3):
"Potassium" is the cation name. "Chlorate" is the anion name.