Sanford A. Asher Wins Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award
Sanford A. Asher, a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), was presented with the Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award on March 8 at Pittcon 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Sanford A. Asher, a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), was presented with the Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award on March 8 at Pittcon 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Asher pioneered the development of deep ultraviolet resonance spectroscopy for use in biophysical, physical, and analytical chemistry. His group developed both instrumentation and methodologies for determining protein structure and protein folding. Among the projects Asher and his group have in the works are the development of standoff instruments for the detection of explosive molecules, and the development of novel photonic crystal optical devices and responsive materials.
Asher received his PhD in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts) in applied physics. He is the author of more than 290 publications and holds more than 29 patents in the area of photonic crystals.
New Study Explores Micro-Raman and FT-IR Analysis of Early Human Tools
June 16th 2025Researchers from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and the University of Padua have uncovered the earliest direct evidence of Upper Palaeolithic humans deliberately processing the non-edible plant Isatis tinctoria, revealing complex behaviors involving medicinal or dye-related plant use over 32,000 years ago.
Rapid Analysis of Logging Wellhead Gases Based on Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy
Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used in this paper to rapidly analyze seven light alkanes (methane, ethane, propane, n-butane, i-butane, n-pentane, and i-pentane) in wellhead gases.
Short Tutorial: Complex-Valued Chemometrics for Composition Analysis
June 16th 2025In this tutorial, Thomas G. Mayerhöfer and Jürgen Popp introduce complex-valued chemometrics as a more physically grounded alternative to traditional intensity-based spectroscopy measurement methods. By incorporating both the real and imaginary parts of the complex refractive index of a sample, this approach preserves phase information and improves linearity with sample analyte concentration. The result is more robust and interpretable multivariate models, especially in systems affected by nonlinear effects or strong solvent and analyte interactions.
Best of the Week: SciX Award Interviews, Tip-Enhanced Raman Scattering
June 13th 2025Top articles published this week include an interview about aromatic–metal interactions, a tutorial article about the recent advancements in tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS), and a news article about using shortwave and near-infrared (SWIR/NIR) spectral imaging in cultural heritage applications.
