Brazilian Journal of Analytical Chemistry

I EXPEDIENT

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Brazilian Journal of Analytical Chemistry

BrJAC is a trade mark of OKK Comunicar;ao. Ouartely publication dedicated to Science, Technol­ogy and Innovation professionals of universities and industries of Brazil and abroad.

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Br J Anal Chem

I

I EDITORIAL

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THE INSPIRING EXAMPLE OF PASCHOAL SENISE

Brazilian Analytical Chemistry in particular and the entire Higher Education sector of the country lost one of its most outstanding figures, Professor Emeritus Paschoal Ernesto Americo

Senise, last July, 21 . Born in August 19, 191 7, Senise belonged to the 1935 inaugural class ofthe

chemistry course of the newly established University of Sao Paulo (USP).ln 1939 he became a teaching assistant and in 1942 he concluded a doctoral thesis under supervision of Heinrich Rheinboldt. Senise pioneered research in Analytica l Chemistry at USP and publ ished mainly in topics like solvent extraction and reactions of coordination compounds with pseudo­halides as ligands. As a consequence of post-docs with Phil ip W West and Paul Delahay (USA,

1950-1952) and interactions w ith Fritz Feigl, he developed some spot tests and enrolled PhD students in microanalysis, spectrophotometry and electroanalytical chemistry. Eduardo F. A Neves, Alcfdio Abrao, Jaim Lichtig and Oswaldo E. S. Godinho, the most prolific of his ten disciples, greatly contributed to the expansion of Senise's school w hich presently reaches the 6th generation, maybe with one thousand followers.

Senise disseminated the view that research activity shou ld highlight the elucidation of basic

phenomena and generation of broad knowledge that leads to new analytical applications in a logical and natural way. The quote: "In su mmary, the creation process, whether with fundamental or applied goals, is the heart of Analytical Chemistry, wh ile the simple use of

knowledge unraveled by this process characterizes Chemical Analysis:' (Oufm. Nova, 1993, 16,

257) exemplifies his thoughts.

Senise was the first and the third Director of IQ-USP but he gave even more remarkable and enduring contributions to USP and, by extension, to the Brazilian Higher Education, as

President of the Central Chamber of Postgraduate Studies (nowadays called Pro-Rector of Postgraduation). From the creation of the regulations (1969) through the indoctrination of sectors reluctant to accept the stricto sensu model of postgraduation up to full implementation

and expansion of USP's programs in number and quality, Senise was reelected until his compulsory retirement in 1987 at the age of seventy. Thereafter he voluntarily worked 23 more

years at IQ-USP and also wrote the book"Origem do IQ-USP". Honored with many awards and recognitions ranging from Professor Emeritus of USP to the book "Paschoal Senise" published by CAPES, in Senise was deceased weeks before a great tribute to him during the celebration, on October, 9, 20 11 , of one hundred thousand Master and Doctor Titles (perhaps ~5% in Analytica l Chemistry) awarded by USP - now the most important university in Latin America.

Senise dedicated all his labor, ta lent, study, ethics, spirit and serenity to science and education

in the broadest sense, not limited to outstanding teaching, publishing of relevant research and establish ing a school in Analytica l Chemistry, but embracing the creation and implementation of policies for human resources development as well as counseling or directing many academic, funding and professiona l entities (USP, Butanta Institute, FAPESp, CNPq, CAPES, CFQ,

ABC, NAS(USA)-CNPq program, etc.). His legacy certainly inspires BrJAC readers and stands as

an example to present and future generations.

Sao Paulo, October 14, 2011

Ivana G. R. Gutz Professor - IQ-USP

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I EDITORIAL BOARD

EDiTOR-IN-CHIEF

EDITORS

ADVISORY BOARD

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lauro Tatsuo Kubota Full Professor / Institute of Chemistry -State University of Campinas

Cristina Maria Schuch

R&D Coordinator / Analytical Chemistry Department - Rhodia Polyamide and Specialties Marco Aurelio Zezzi Arruda Full Professor / Institute of Chemistry - State University of Campinas Maura Moreira Gomes Management of Engineering Projects - PETROBRAS Pedro Vitoriano de Oliveira Associate Professor / Institute of Chemistry - Sao Paulo University

Adriano Otavio Maldaner Criminal Expert / Forensic Chemistry Service - National Institute of Criminalistics - Brazilian Federal Police Auro Tanaka

Full Professor / Department of Chemistry - Federal University of Maranhao Carlos Roberto dos Santos Engineering and Environmental Quality / Director - CETESB -Environmental Company of Sao Paulo State Elcio Cruz de Oliveira

Engineering Management - Petrobras Transportes S.A. Gisela de Aragao Umbuzeiro Professor / Technology School- State University of Campinas Helena Miiller Queiroz Federal Inspector / Inorganic Contaminants Unit - Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply Janusz Pawliszyn Department of Chemistry - University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Joanna Szpunar Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry and Environment Bio -CNRS, Pau, France Joaquim de Araujo Nobrega Associate Professor" / Department of Chemistry - Federal University of Sao Carlos Johanna Sabine Becker Central Division of Analytical Chemistry - Head of Brain Met, Forschungszentrum Jijlich, JUiich, Germany luiz Rogerio Silva Laboratory Manager - U.S. Pharmacopeia Marcio das Virgens Rebou~as Business Development / Basic Petrochemicals Unit - Braskem S.A. Marcos N. Eberlin Full Professor / Institute of Chemistry - State University of Campinas Maria luiza Tristao Management of Chemistry / Reasearch and Development Center (CENPES) - PETROBRAs Mario Miyazawa Researcher / Soil Chemistry -IAPAR - Agronomic Institute of Parana Pierina Bonatto

Full Professor / Pharmaceutical Sciences School of Ribeirao Preto - Sao Paulo University Renato Zanella Associate Professor / Department of Chemistry - Federal University of Santa Maria Ricardo Erthal Santelli

Full Professor / Analytical Chemistry - Federal University of Rio de Janeiro WokimarTeixeira Garcia Research Laboratory Coordinator - CTC - Sugarcane Technology Center

Br J Anal (hem

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I I INTERVIEW

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One of the last interviews given by Professor Paschoal Senise is scheduled to be published exclusively in BRJAC 2011; 1 (5). Professor Senise received the Journal at the Chemistry Institute in March, 30th. Below is the text as it was prepared and approved for publication by him em May.

PROFESSOR PASCHOAL SENISE

One of the most important teachers, researchers and analytical chemists of his generation, Professor Paschoal Senise is a kind of living memory of the Chemistry Institute of University of Sao Paulo OQ-USPJ. He has built a long and solid academic career in the Chemistry Ins­titute of USP that started back in 1935, when he and a small group of students formed the first class of Chemistry of the University. Today, he is often consulted on academic matters, because of his deep knowledge of the system, its administrative structure and also because of his relevant role in Analytical Chemistry studies in Brazil.

Although he has been retired for more than 20 years - he will turn 94 years old next August-, almost every morning he still drives his own car to the University. There, at the Chemistry Institute building, he occupies a room full of books and Chemistry magazines, and welco­mes fellow teachers and former students. This routine is even more important on Fridays,

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INTERVIEW

when the Professor participates on regular seminars of Analytical Chemistry Graduate Program with his collea­gues, most of which are his former students.

As an extremely dedicated teacher and researcher, Professor Senise has brought innovations and teaching techniques to USP and, in two different periods in the 1970s, he was director of the Institute as well. However, even when he was in this function, Professor Senise never stopped teaching. "If there is such a thing as vocation, mine is teaching'~ he states, proudly and modestly. Professor Paschoal Senise embraced Analytical Chemistry and academic life with passion and dedication. This is visible in each and every word he says. To resume this passion and his incredible capacity to remember episodes with details, in 2006 he published Origins of the USP Chemistry Institute - reminiscences and comments, an interesting and important book of memoirs, sponsored by the Chemistry Institute-USP.

WHY DID YOU (HOOSE THE S(IENTIFI( (AREER?

I embraced the career of Chemistry even before

I decided to become a scientist. My teenage

dream was to be a doctor, but when I finished

high school, there were no pre-medical schools

to prepare students for the vest ibular. We have

to go back to 1935 to tell this story.

In 1934, the Philosophy, Sc iences and Languages

School (FFCL - USP) had been founded, and the

Chemistry Department began to be structured.

USP supporters, such as Julio de Mesquita Filho,

were very much concerned with the level of the

teachers and decided to hire great international

names, such as worldwide famous Professors

Rheinboldt and Hauptmann. They made a lot of

publicity of it, and it called my attention. I was

only seventeen years old, and by that time little

was known about the career of chemist, which

was considered merely a low level technical pro­

fession . Because of my straight relat ionship with

a fraternal friend then, Luciano Barzaghi, whose

father was a chem ist in the chemical industry

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and whose brother was already studying Chem­

istry at Escola Politecnica, I was aware that this

career cou ld be interesting. Both Barzaghi and I

were approved in the vest ibular test.

Soon after the classes at USP began, Professor

Rheinboldt started to organize the courses and

teach. His classes were inspiring and exciting. He

had extraordinary charisma and a fantastic didac­

tic ability, with a singular style, that fascinated us

all. Also, the atmosphere was excellent, and we

fe lt so comfortab le among the co lleagues, that

both Luciano Barzaghi and I promptly made an

option to continue studying Chemistry.

You WERE PART OF THE FIRST GROUP OF (HEMISTS

GRADUATED IN USP. How DID YOU GUIDE YOUR (ARE­

ER IN CHEMISTRY?

Whe n the Chem istry course started, many

people, including professionals of other areas,

joined it, because they thought that the presti­

gious teachers who had been hired wou ld give

g reat conferences and lectures. However, soon

they realized it was a common course, wh ich in­

vo lved a lot of laboratory studies and demanded

dedication and hard work. So, from the twelve

students that really initiated, only four of us re­

mained and graduated. We were a small group

and this helped us to stay together and share sci­

entific experiences along our careers. The group

was: Luciano Barzaghi, Simao Mathias, Jandyra

Franc;:a and I. Soon after graduation, Barzaghi

was invited to join thelPT (Instituto de Pesqui­

sas Tecnol6gicas - Technological Research In­

stitute). He then proceeded successfully in the

Pottery Industry. The other three were hired as

assistant teachers of Chemistry at USP.

The course had a completely different structure

at that time. It lasted only three years, but, when

this period finished, we were not satisfied and

requested and granted another year. Soon after

graduation, we initiated a PhD program, Simao

Sr J Anal Chem

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[ f

Mathias and I with Professor Rheinboldt, and Jan­

dyra Fran<;:a with Professor Hauptmann. In 1942,

we had all conc luded our theses and were the

first PhDs in Chemistry at USP. This was the actual

beginning of my scientific career, so to say.

During the PhD program, I became very much

interested in research, and Professor Rheinboldt

strongly encouraged me. I have always had great

pleasure in teaching and joyfully dedicated my­

self to it as well, over the years . I also directed the

Institute twice, in different periods in the 1970s,

and only left academic life official ly, in a compu l­

INTERVIEW

Eu rope and arr ived in Rio de Janeiro around

1940. In Rio, he soon joined the Mineral Pro­

duct ion Laboratory (Laboratorio da Produ<;:ao

Mineral) . Professor Feigl was the creator of the

"spot test". He was a ve ry accessible person,

entire ly dedicated to science, and worked in a

modest tiny laboratory. His wife and son were

his assistants, in different periods. Although his

name has been cogitated to a nomination for

the Nobe l Prize, h is rea l va lue as a scientist was

never acknowledged as it should have been.

After some time, Professor Feigl recomm ended

me to Professor Ph il ip W. West, of the Univer­

sory retirement, when I got 70

years old . However, I still come

to USP almost every morn ing,

where my ex-students and

their students insist generously

in maintaining a study room for

me and include me in seminar­

ies and discussions. I am glad to

Hlzaak Kolthoff, whose studies gave the scientific

bases to Analytical Chemistry, used to say

that some scientists thought that the analytical

chemists were servants"

sity of Baton Rouge (1951-52),

Louisiana, w ith whom I spent a

year and a half. Professor West

was a famous micro-analytical

ch emist. In Baton Rouge, I also

worked w ith Professor Paul

Delahay, a Belgian-American

electrochemist.

be close to my fe ll ow resea rchers and teachers .

But I also know that it is very important to make

room for the new generations.

How, WHEN AND WHY DID ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY BE­

GIN TO INTEREST YOU AS A RESEARCHER AND CHEMIST?

Since the very beginning. In fact, I built my entire

academic career based on Analytical Chemistry.

This happened naturally. During graduation, we

had intense laboratory work, widely based upon

Analytical Qualitat ive Chemistry. Neverthe­

less, neither Professor Rheinboldt nor Professor

Hauptmann did real research in the field of Ana­

lytical Chemistry itself. Professor Rheinboldt had

interest is Inorganic Chemistry, and had already

concluded very relevant researches on sulfur. As

for Professor Hauptmann, he was a real organic

chemist himself.

When I was still a student, I became acquainted

to the eminent Professor Fr itz Feigl, an Austrian

Jew, Nazi fugitive, who had travelled all around

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After I came back from this rich experience

abroad, I began to introduce some novelties in

teaching and laboratory work, especially some

instrumental methods that were not usual yet.

HAVE YOU NOTICED PROGRESSES IN THE ANALYTICAL

CHEMISTRY STUDIES OVER THE YEARS, CONCERNING ITS

SCIENTIFIC STATUS AND THE USE OF NEW THE TECHNO ­

LOGIES?

It is possible to notice some progress. The ques­

tion is that, in the past, due to the fact that it was

necessary to make much analysis, there has been

the false impression, over many years - even

among sc ientists and chemists themselves - that

Analytical Chem istry was a kind of subsidiary field.

One of the fathers of modern Analytical Chem­

istry, Izaak Ko lthoff, whose studies gave the sci­

entific bases to Analyt ical Chemistry, used to say

that some scientists thought that the analytical

chemists were servants. Maybe this was a current

thought - and, at some extent, still is - because

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INTERVIEW

Ana lytica l Chemistry has Its origin in Alchemy

and has been empirically applied for a long pe­

riod of time. In the 1930s and 1940s, Kolthoff, an

extraordinary scientist w ith a huge production,

proceeded his works on physical chemistry and

electrochemistry, which large ly contributed to

develop much more rational ana lyt ical methods

and gave Ana lytica l Chem istry a different status.

Even so, there are still many peop le today who

don't realize that Ana lyt ica l Chem istry plays a

fundamen tal role in t he field of Chemistry and

other sciences. This is a mistake. As for technol­

ogy, we can see notable progress, even here in

Brazil, though not to the same level we notice

abroad. The equ ipment and instrumental tech­

niques have improved a great deal, but the pric­

es are still high. Howeve r, as we can see in many

other areas, prices and sizes tend to get smal ler

as technology advances.

in academ ic hierarchy. From then on, there has

been a caree r progression and a profess ional iza­

tion of the teaching activity at un iversities. This

res ulted in a fantast ic expansion. Today, there

are many Ph Ds, working hard on research with

their own teams, which is fundamental for the

improvement of research. Also, the possibility

of getting to the top of the academic career at­

tracts and stimulates more and more people to

join it. Today, there are many more PhDs than

years ago, and I th ink this number has to grow.

We have to go further, but with quality. There

must be more investment in qualification and

research. And we cannot do it in a hurry: in sc i­

ence, maturation takes ti me and hard work. Also,

academ ic life is not about presti ge.

Is ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY A STRATEGIC FIELD OF

KNOWLEDGE AND RESEARCH FOR EVERYDAY LIVING AND

SCIENCE ACTIVITY NOWADAYS?

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE IN TERMS OF

ACADEMIC STRUCTURE IN BRAZILIAN

UNIVERSITIES TO IMPROVE TEACHING

AND RESEARCH IN GENERAL?

"/ have a/ways been against centralization,

even when / myself became a full Professor"

Yes, absolute ly. Take the envi­

ronmental issue, for example.

Any seri ous study on the effects

With t he University Refo rm ation, w hich took

place during the late 1960s and was implement­

ed in 1970 in Brazil, many im porta nt changes

were made. One of the most effective was the

division of facult ies and inst itu tes into depart­

ments and the extinct ion of the "chairs" (with a

sing le full Professor per discipline), for example.

This system favored on ly one professor and hi s

assistants. Until this person did not retire or die,

other teachers remained subord inated to him or

her. In the system of departments created then,

it became possible to have more than one full

professor per discipline.

I have always been aga inst cen tralization, even

w hen I myself became a ful l Professor. The de­

cent ralizat ion brought by the reformation was

somewhat mirrored in the North American sys­

tem and had the clear goa l to provide mobility

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of polluti on has to take the

content of t he po lluting substances into con­

sideration. With the technology and expertise

we have in Analytical Chem istry today, to iden­

tify and determine extremely low contents, it is

possib le to quantify substances more precisely.

Th is makes it possible to distinguish poisoned

from potable water, for instance. This affects ev­

eryone in the planet. The same happens w ith

the food and pharm aceutica l sectors. Ana lyt ical

Chemistry procedures and methods are neces­

sary and va luable, as much as the methods of

other sciences, mainly to estab li sh safe rates of

su bsta nces.

AT WHAT EXTENT DO YOU THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO

DIVULGE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH TO LAY AUDIENCES?

I think information is always important. But it has

to be done w ith criteria and in a way that takes

Br J Anal Chem

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INTERVIEW

the position of the lay audience into consider- there has a lot of work still to be done, here in ation. Somet imes, we read news about one or

other scient ific achievement, especially in the

medical field, but generally the information is in­

cipient and incomplete. This can be dangerous,

Brazil. The contribution of Analytical Chemistry to the chem ical industry can be much great­

er than it has been. We have to pursue both

the culture of expertise and the exchange of because it may create expecta-tions as to the cu re or a revolu ­

tionary treatment of this or that disease, for example. Sc ientific

information has to be dealt with

care and w ith responsibility.

l1lny serious study on the effects of pollution has

to take the content of the

exper iences and knowledge,

to stimulate a new mental­ity about the re lationship be­

tween academic research and

soc iety. In the University, there should be more investment in

Do YOU BELIEVE ANALYTICAL CHE­

MISTRY BRINGS A DIFFERENTIAL TO

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH? How DOES IT

CONTRIBUTE TO IMPROVE EVERYDAY

LIVING?

polluting substances into consideration. With the

technology and expertise we have in Analytical research and human resourc-

Chemistry today, to identify and determine extremely low contents, it is possible to quantify

es. There are many practices

and procedures related mainly

to the Applied Sciences, but it doesn't mean they have not

been studied and performed substances more precisely."

Ana lytical Chem istry has th is intrinsic capacity

to intermingle wi th other sciences and to pen­

etrate in many areas of knowledge. It has a kind

of interdisciplinary essence. And th is interdisc i­

plinary path is inevitable and desirable to rea ch

sustainable progress. In the industr ial sector, for instance, Analytical Chemistry is of great im­

portance, espec ially in creating new products,

for examp le. In this particular matter, I believe

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w ith the care and the theoreti­

cal bases of Analytical Chemistry methodology provides them. Th e analyt ical chem ist shou ld

study and practice to become more and more spec ialized and to achieve precision in his anal­

yses. Besides, one cannot do serious research

and work without deep study, and scient ific work inexorab ly leads to reflection. There is a

subjacent philosophy in it. This is very impor­

tant to sc ience and society.

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