NMR Spectroscopy of Polymers: Innovative Strategies for Complex Macromolecules

H. N. Cheng is currently a research chemist at Southern Regional Research Center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in New Orleans, where he works on projects involving improved utilization of commodity agricultural materials, green chemistry, and polymer reactions. Over the years, his research interests have included NMR spectroscopy, polymer characterization, biocatalysis and enzymatic reactions, functional foods, and pulp & paper technology. He is an ACSand a POLY Fellow and has authored or co-authored 148 papers, 24 patent publications, co-edited 7 books, and organized or co-organized 20 symposia at national meetings since 1997. Tetsuo Asakura has been Associate Professor and Professor in the Department of Biotechnology of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology since 1981. He was Assistant Professor of Nihon University School of Dentistry at Matsudo in 1980-81 and Visiting Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Florida State University in 1990-91. He has produced approximately 300 publications. His research specialties include structural analysis of polymers using NMR, NMR chemical shift calculation,characterization of silk and transgenic silk, and applications of silk to biomaterials. He received Awards of Polymer Society in Japan and Fiber Society in Japan.Alan D. English is a DuPont Fellow in DuPont Central Research and Development at the Experimental Station in Wilmington, DE. His interests include solid state NMR spectroscopy of polymers and development of polymer structure/property/processing relationships. He is both an APS Fellow and an ACS Fellow and has been the recipient of a number of awards including the ACS Award in Applied Polymer Science and the International Award of the Society of Polymer Science Japan. He is the author ofnearly 100 papers/patents/books and has organized or co-organized 15 symposia at national meetings/workshops since 1981. He is also an Associate Editor of Macromolecules.