Page 173 - CW E-Magazine (26-3-2024)

Special Report

The wonderful world of chemistry

Chemistry and life of hormones! On PROF. M.M. SHARMA
ife is not possible without chemi- the lighter vein, Emeritus Professor of Eminence
stry; but life can be much better when a boy meets & Former Director
Lwith chemistry. a girl, they don’t Institute of Chemical Technology
say “there is a Mumbai
Why do I say so? First, let us ponder biology between
how our body works; how we are able them,” they say Even MRI is linked to chemistry,
to breathe; how we are able to run. “there’s a chemi- and chemists have made a major contri-
stry.” So, chemi- butions in the area. A number of Nobel
You all know that oxygen solubi- stry has got into prizes have been awarded for NMR.
lity in water is very low. And air is only lingua franca of everybody today.
21% oxygen. How it is that we are able Chemistry of clothing
to inhale such a large amount of air and Benefi ts of chemistry The science of polyester developed
consume the oxygen, and exhale carbon I’ll give you some simple examples around the same time as nylon. Originally,
dioxide? It happens due to one of the to show what wonderful things we do nylon was meant for apparel wear –
fastest reactions that we know in chemi- with chemistry. as material for stockings for women –
stry – the reaction between oxygen but today it is known as an engineering
and haemoglobin. It is very diffi cult to For example, seawater is converted material.
measure the kinetics of this reaction into drinking water at room temperature
because its half-life is less than millionth through reverse osmosis (RO) mem- Polyester comes in several forms: as
of a second. If it were not so, we would branes. Everybody in society today fi bre, fi lm, and bottle. If polyester fi bre
not have been able to breathe. knows about RO, but without knowing were not developed, economically-weak
what a vital role chemistry has played persons, would not have been able to use
Then, having consumed that oxygen on two fronts. Firstly, the chemistry of garments at affordable costs. Imagine
and converted this substantially to osmosis and the chemistry of polymers. what would have happened to bottled
carbon dioxide, we have to exhale it These were originally fl at sheets, but mineral water, if polyester resin had not
out. And when you run or do exercise, then came hollow fi bres. Today, hollow come about. The world today produces
you consume more oxygen and exhale fi bre based desalination is practiced on 65-billion PET bottles per annum and
more carbon dioxide. Have you ever a grand scale. Even in India, in Chennai, to think that the inventor of that bottle,
wondered how we are able to exhale which faces acute water shortage, they Mr. Nathaniel Wyeth, had 10,000 failures.
carbon dioxide at such a variable rate – have RO-based desalination plants. DuPont (USA) and ICI (UK) both
from a position of rest to a position simultaneously invented polyester, but
of exercise? This is due to the fi nest Membranes have had life-saving the Americans – unlike the British –
example of catalysis! Our blood contains impacts for persons with kidney pro- were very familiar with a hot climate
an enzyme, carbonic anhydrase, with- blem. Dialysis – the word comes from and so created polyester-cotton blends.
out which we would not have exhaled the science of chemistry – is not pos-
carbon dioxide at that extraordinarily sible without chemistry and chemical Chemistry in nature
high rate when we indulge in exercise. engineering, through its role in the Nature is the most outstanding
invention of suitable membranes. chemist, and is hard to beat. Nature pro-
Another example comes from the duces cotton, as well as other compli-
space programme, where carbon dioxide The impact of radio-chemistry on cated molecules, which are extremely
is exhaled by astronauts in a confi ned society is also remarkable. We can diffi cult to synthesise or are synthesised
space. Carbonic anhydrase, extracted today measure the fl ow of blood into the at very high cost. Take for examples,
from animal blood, is used to remove heart by a non-invasive method, using morphine, which has a very complex
this carbon dioxide. a physiologically-acceptable radio- structure; or artemisinin – a treatment
tracer. Taking the concept to a chemical for malaria, which is very expensive to
Have you wondered how your mood plant, we can similarly determine the synthesize. Taxol is a cancer drug
depends on chemistry? This is because fl ow rate in a pipe. obtained from the bark of a tree.

Chemical Weekly March 26, 2024 173

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