C&EN feature highlights role played by Prof. Wachs in organizing symposium on Raman spectroscopy.

Thirty years after it was first used to study a catalyst, Raman spectroscopy is enjoying an exponential surge in popularity among catalysis researchers, says Israel Wachs, the G. Whitney Snyder Professor of chemical engineering.

Wachs made his comments recently at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in New York City during a symposium titled "Three Decades of Raman Spectroscopy of Heterogeneous Catalysts."

The symposium was organized by Wachs and Peter C. Stair, a chemistry professor at Northwestern University, and co-sponsored by ACS's Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry and Jobin Yvon, a French company that manufactures Raman spectrometers and other instruments.

The symposium was also the subject of a major feature article, "'Raminiscing' About Catalysis," that was published Oct. 13 in the journal Chemical & Engineering News.

In an address at the symposium, Wachs cited two reasons for the growing use of Raman spectroscopy. First, it provides molecular-level information about catalysis. Second, the technique can be used to probe catalytic systems while reactions are occurring.

The full text of the C&EN article can be found at:

http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/cen/81/i41/html/8141sci1.html