Pure and Applied Chemistry

Abstract: This document was prepared as a report from IUPAC to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to provide an evaluation of scientific and technological advances in the chemical sciences relevant to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The report is intended to assist OPCW and its Member States in preparation for the First Review Conference to be held on 28 April 2003. The CWC, now ratified by 145 nations and in effect since 1997, totally prohibits the production, storage, or use of toxic chemicals as weapons of war. This report is based on an IUPAC Workshop held in Bergen**, Norway, 30 June to 3 July 2002. The report highlights developments in organic synthesis and changes in chemical plant design that will pose new challenges to the Convention, but it also describes recent and probable future developments in analytical chemistry that should assist in implementation of the Convention. The key issues identified at the Workshop are listed, and the findings and observations are summarized in 18 points.