Bulletin Number Four 1985

Kwan-yu Hui Syntheses, properties and structure o f organometallic compounds o f group V I ， V II and V III transition metals; syntheses, properties and kinetic studies o f coordination compounds o f Co(III) and C r(III). Choi-nang Lam Organic synthesis o f aromatic and antiaromatic bridged ring compounds. Oi-wah Lau Atomic-absorption, spectrophotometric, electro chemical and gas-chromatographic methods for the determination o f trace elements. Wai-kee L i Semi-empirical and ah initio molecular orbital studies o f (i) electronic and geometric structures o f novel organic and inorganic species and (ii) pathways o f simple reactions. Tien-yau Luh Transition metal promoted organic reactions; homo geneous and heterogeneous catalysis; synthesis and reactivity o f strained organic molecules; mechanistic study on the hydrodesulfurization process. Danny S.H. Mak Study o f amino acids and peptides by gas chro matography and computer correlation. Thomas C .W. Mak Synthesis and structural characterization o f clathrate inclusion compounds, salt hydrates, and hydrogen- bonded molecular adducts; metal coordination by cyclic polyenes, polycyclic tertiary amines, (arylthio)- acetic acids, penicillamines, pseudohalides, and macrocyclic ligands; structure elucidation o f organic compounds and natural products. James C.N. Ma Isolation and physiological studies o f active compo nents in Chinese medicinal materials; instrumentation o f NMR, GC/MS/DS and chromatography. Tsun-kong Sham Structure and electronic properties o f surfaces; chemical- and radiation-induced luminescence o f solids, liquids and gases; photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Suk-pingSo Force constant calculations; ah initio molecular orbital studies o f electronic structures o f molecular species. Shang-wai Tarn Synthesis and study o f the properties o f metal com plexes o f 3,4,7,8-tetrahydroazocine ； iron carbonyl complexes in organic synthesis. Kam-han Wong Crown ether chemistry; ion pair reactivities; polymer reactions ； polymer catalysis. Henry N .C . Wong (N.Z. Huang) Application o f deoxygenation in organic synthesis; synthesis o f highly strained unnatural molecules; synthesis o f natural products. Undergraduate Programmes The Department offers both major and minor undergraduate programmes plus a number o f service courses. The first three years o f the major programme are devoted to sound basic training o f students in all major disciplines o f modem chemistry. Major students in their final year are allowed the choice o f a variety o f elective courses in their chosen areas o f specializ ation. Fourth-year students o f good academic standing may also elect to do a research project and submit an undergraduate thesis in lieu o f a fu ll degree paper. Some twenty to th irty undergraduates annually participate, on a voluntary basis, in summer research projects organized by staff members, thereby gaining valuable practical experience which supplements their formal education in the regular curriculum. Employment Prospects o f Graduates According to statistics compiled by the Appoint­ ments Service in the past few years, about th irty- four percent o f fresh chemistry graduates found employment in the education sector ， th irty percent joined industrial and commercial firms, sixteen per cent proceeded to graduate school, and the remaining twenty percent served society in a variety o f capac ities. Many former graduates now occupy prominent positions in the academic profession, as well as in local and Asian branches o f international companies doing business in the trading o f industrial chemicals, petroleum products, and scientific equipment. Graduate Programme The Department has a tradition o f encouraging its best graduates to pursue their higher degress abroad, and accordingly has always had a relatively small enrollment o f graduate students. The MPhil programme started in 1970 and has so far produced sixty-one graduates. This two-year programme involves both course work and a thesis embodying the results o f original research, which is graded by an External Examiner. A new PhD programme has been introduced in the 1985-86 academic year. Further Development The Department aims to further enhance its status as a centre o f chemical research, being moti­ vated by the conviction that active involvement o f its staff members in current research effectively and continually upgrades the levels o f undergraduate and graduate teaching. 16 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS