Vol. 113 No. 3 (2017)

Science must be objective. What would happen if, from a gender perspective, science was not considered objective? What would happen if there were some factors that prevented such objectivity and which were more decisive and important than time? The following text, based on a historical overview, shows some of the current studies on this subject and their findings. It shows that gender differences in science cannot be solved only by time as there are other factors, that could be unconscious, in the social consideration of the relationship man-woman, that do not allow equality.

Keywords: Science, Gender.

The conversion of C-H bonds into C-N bonds is a process of great interest due to the presence of nitrogenated fragments in several relevant organic architectures. A sustainable way of performing this transformation consist in reaction of a metal catalyst with a nitrene source, giving rise to the formation of high-valent metal-nitrogen compounds. In this paper, the most relevant examples of these species based on late first row transition metals such as Fe, Co or Ni are described. Special emphasis is paid on Cu complexes, which have been widely applied in these transformations.

Resumen: Los beneficios que aportan los reactivos diborano en síntesis orgánica son diversos y constituyen una fuente de innovación en la generación de enlaces C-B con marcada precisión y eficiencia. La activación de los reactivos diborano se ha considerado un aspecto sutil por la posible ruptura del enlace B-B de forma homolítica o heterolítica. La naturaleza del agente diborano justifica su posible activación mediante métodos organocatalíticos o con metales de transición, que en esencia generan grupos borilo de naturaleza electrofílica o nucleofílica, capaces de reaccionar de forma directa.
Palabras clave: diboranos, bis(pinacolato)diboro, organoboranos, selectividad, funcionalización.
Abstract: The benefits from diboron reagents in organic synthesis are several and represent a source of innovation in the C-B bond generation with high precision and efficiency. The activation of the diboron reagents has been considered of great importance due to the ability to cleavage the B-B bond in a homo- and heterolytic way. The nature of the diboron reagents justifies their activation via organocatalytic methods or with transition metal complexes, which essentially generate boryl groups with electrophilic and nucleophilic character, which might react in a direct way.
Keywords: diboranes, pis(pinacolato)diboron, organoboranes, selectivity, functionalization.

The drug discovery process is continuously evolving and pharmaceutical companies have changed the strategies for effective collaboration in research. The current trend is focused on external innovation and the interactions between academic and public sectors have been gradually increased. Many companies have implemented Open Innovation strategies to attract external talent, share knowledge and leverage synergies creating value. In this ecosystem, the Lilly OIDD (Open Innovation Drug Discovery) program offers a variety of engagement modes to the affiliated investigators and has had an excellent acceptance globally with 800 participants and 53.000 compounds tested.

Keywords: Open innovation, Collaboration, Drug discovery, Pharmaceutical industry, Chemical diversity.

The centenary of the IUPAC will be celebrated during the next years. This article reviews the transformation of chemical terminology from the late eighteenth century until the late nineteenth century. Summarizing historical research on this topic, I review many problems encountered before and after the creation of IUPAC: persistence of old words, tensions created by new discoveries, controversies over new names, resistance against novelties synonyms, losses in translations, and the uses of chemical vocabulary in different contexts, particularly in the world of pharmacy. The main aim is to promote a debate on the role of historical research in the future celebrations of IUPAC based on current scholarship on commemorative practices in science.

This work performs a historical reconstruction on the fundamentals of the equilibrium law. After a brief presentation of the evolving ideas that made possible the first mathematical equation of what we know nowadays as the equilibrium constant, the theoretical principles that initially grounded the quantitative study of chemical equilibrium are analysed. It is discussed how the use of mathematical language helped in the construction of the new chemical knowledge. The first interpretations accounting for how the equilibrium situation was eventually achieved are also studied.