Spectroscopy commissions of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry

All chemists have heard of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, or IUPAC as it is usually called. Most chemists have regularly made use of the work of IUPAC, even if did not realize that they were doing so. Infrared spectroscopists have depended for years on the IUPAC wavenumber standards to make their spectral data transferable between laboratories, or even transferable across temperature changes in the same laboratory. But few chemists or spectroscopists know much about IUPAC. The purpose of the article is to tell the reader about IUPAC and its spectroscopy commissions. IUPAC was founded in 1919 as a voluntary, nongovernmental, nonprofit association of National Adhering Organizations. In 1995 IUPAC had 40 Member Countries, 14 Observer Countries, 30 Associated Organizations, and approximately 160 Company Associates worldwide. Each country interacts with IUPAC through its National Adhering Organization.

Duke Scholars

Author Tuan Vo-Dinh Biomedical Engineering