Newsletter No. 528

楊英洋 教授畢業於中大,主修化學,副校長 吳基培 教授 及其他化學系教授都記得這名學生。楊教授自2016年  1月起出任化學系系主任。他與《中大通訊》暢談現今 化學這個學科的演變、何謂綠色化學,還有特敏福。 Prof. Yeung Ying-yeung studied chemistry at CUHK and is remembered by many chemistry professors including Pro-Vice-Chancellor Dennis Ng . He has served as chairman of the department since January 2016. He talked to CUHK Newsletter about the changed landscape of chemistry, what green chemistry is, and Tamiflu. 楊英洋教授 Prof. Yeung Ying-yeung 化學系系主任 Chairman, Department of Chemistry What was it like studying chemistry at CUHK in your days? Back then it was a three-year curriculum with comprehensive contents and a tight study schedule. But tough work made it all the more relishing, as I still remember we went to morning classes from Monday to Saturday and the lab classes from 2 to 6 pm on weekday afternoons. For some difficult lab works, the classes lasted until 7 pm. What changes have you seen in the field of chemistry? The field of chemistry has changed from its emphasis on fundamental understanding to multi-disciplinary inquiry and application. Many frontier topics such as drug synthesis, material science (e.g., OLED techniques), biosensing (e.g., sensing of diseases), water impurity sensing (e.g., detecting lead content in drinking water), and organoelectronics (e.g., new materials like graphene) are all based on fundamental chemical knowledge. Is chemistry a basic or an applied science? The line is blurred now, but chemistry is a central science subject. 那些年,你在中大攻讀化學的日子是怎樣的? 那還是大學三年制的歲月,化學系課程內容充實全面,堂課 課程緊密,求學路艱,但我樂此不疲。還記得我們逢週一至 週六早上上堂,週一至週五下午二時至六時上實驗課,若實 驗較為複雜,更延至下午七時下課。 你認為化學這個學科近年有哪些轉變? 化學由重視基礎知識邁向跨界別研究和應用,很多新領域 都是從基礎化學知識演化而來,例如藥物合成、物料科學  (如有機發光二極管技術)、生物感應(如檢測疾病)、水 中雜質檢測(如食水含鉛量),以及有機電子學(新物料如 石墨烯)。 化學是一門基本科學,抑或應用科學? 兩者界線已愈來愈模糊,但化學是科學的核心科,則毫無 異議。 化學系畢業生可從事哪些工作? 多年前,化學系畢業生大多從事與本科直接有關的工作。 然而,近年化學系畢業生的出路更廣泛、工種更多元化。 為何如此? 化學涉及數據分析和邏輯思考,這些技能正是很多行業都 求之若渴的,例如投資銀行的分析師。另外,負責藥廠專 利事務的律師要兼具科學和法律的知識。化學系學生畢業 後,可以接着修讀法律,從而考獲律師資格。 你在美國獲聘博士後研究生,為何從事研究特敏福的 工作? 時維2006年,全球爆發流感。特敏福是有效治療流感的藥 物,各地政府搶購囤積,導致藥物供應短缺。生產特敏福並 不容易,因為用以生產藥物的原材料供應不多,而且其中一 個製藥步驟容易引起爆炸,所以每次只能少量生產。 你的研究工作是? 當時我研究製造特敏福的新方法,最後我們團隊研究出的 方法,既不用倚賴稀有原材料,又可避免使用爆炸性強的化 學物。 甚麼是綠色化學或永續化學? 長久以來,人們只在意化學過程的產物,卻忽略了生產過程 可能產生廢料或有毒物質。能源消耗是另一個問題。有見 及此,近年科學家設計化學過程時,開始引入環保概念,盡 量減少在生態系統中留下碳足印,好讓這些化學過程得以 持續。 化學如何可做到永續? 透過使用可再生資源,便可減少廢物和能源消耗,例如稀 土金屬以往常用作催化劑,但無可避免造成金屬污染。現 在,若情況許可,都會採用非金屬有機催化劑。 What career options are open to a chemistry major? Many years ago, chemistry majors mostly began their careers in fields directly related to chemistry. In recent years, however, more diversified career opportunities are available to chemistry students. Why’s that? Chemistry involves data analysis and logical thinking, skills that are much sought after in other positions, such as analysts in investment banks. Patent lawyers in drug companies need to have knowledge in both science and law. After finishing a chemistry degree, a student can study a top-up law degree to be qualified as a patent lawyer. Why did you do your post-doc work in the US related to Tamiflu, a drug not strange to Hongkongers? In 2006, there was a worldwide pandemic influenza. Tamiflu is an effective drug to cure influenza and governments were stockpiling Tamiflu, resulting in a shortage of the drug supply. The production of Tamiflu was challenging because the starting material was in limited supply. In addition, one of the production steps is potentially explosive, meaning that the step could not be carried out on a large scale. What did you do? My work at that time was to explore a new pathway to produce Tamiflu. Eventually, our team successfully established a production method that does not rely on the scarce starting material and avoids the use of explosive chemicals. What is green or sustainable chemistry? Classically, people were only concerned with the products yielded from chemical processes but they ignored that the chemical processes may generate wastes or toxic materials. Energy consumption is also a concern. Thus, in recent years scientists have incorporated the concept of ‘green’ in the design of chemical processes with the aim of minimizing the carbon footprint on the ecosystem so that the chemical processes can become sustainable. How is that achieved? By using renewable resources, reducing wastes and reducing energy consumption. For example, rare- earth metal was commonly used as a catalyst, with the inevitable result of metallic contamination. Now, non- metallic organic catalysts are used in its place whenever feasible. T.C. 10 # 5 2 8 | 0 4 . 1 2 . 2 0 1 8 口 談 實 錄 / V iva V oce

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