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In the 1980s, while working at Utah State University, Janusz Pawliszyn tried to get funding for research on polymer-coated optical fibers that could extract both volatile and nonvolatile analytes from complex media in liquid or gas phase. As long as equilibrium is reached, the amount of analyte extracted by the fiber would be proportional to its concentration in the sample. Pawliszyn’s idea was to transfer the fiber to the injection port of a chromatographic system, where the analyte would be desorbed from the fiber and analyzed.
If he could pull it off, it would simplify sample preparation and eliminate the need for organic solvents. But his proposals were continually rejected by U.S. funding agencies because most scientists didn’t think the technique would have sufficient detection limits.
Pawliszyn didn’t give up, however. Instead, he moved to Canada, and with support from the country’s Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council, he began making his own equipment. A few years later, that original idea led him to develop a solid-phase microextraction (SPME) device, which incorporates the fibers in a microsyringe needle.
Today, Pawliszyn, 55, a professor of chemistry at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario, is being honored for inventing SPME. The technique “has revolutionized many areas of sampling and analysis,” says Daniel W. Armstrong, a professor of chemistry at the University of Texas, Arlington.
SPME has gained widespread use in flavor and fragrance, food and beverage, and environmental applications. The technique is also increasingly being used in forensics, toxicology, homeland security, and biological applications. “SPME was used to sample the toxic compounds present in the air at ‘ground zero’ at the World Trade Center after the events of 9/11,” Armstrong notes.
Pawliszyn is “one of the stars of the separation science community,” says Norman J. Dovichi, a professor of chemistry at the University of Washington, Seattle. His paper on SPME (Anal. Chem. 1990, 62, 2145) has been the second most highly cited research paper published in Analytical Chemistry since 1990, Dovichi notes.
Although Pawliszyn is best known for his work on SPME, he is one of the “top 10 most broadly cited analytical chemists ever,” says Purnendu (Sandy) Dasgupta, a chemistry professor at the University of Texas, Arlington. That recognition “testifies that his contribution to analytical chemistry is broad-based, long-lasting, and not just based on the single discovery of SPME,” he says.
One of the most important aspects of his work is making a positive impact on the world, Pawliszyn says. “In high school, I recognized that progress in science and particularly chemistry will fundamentally improve the quality of life,” he tells C&EN. As a result, he has made it a priority to focus on the practical aspects of SPME to make it as widely applicable as possible.
When he is not developing highly automated and integrated instrumentation for isolating analytes from complex matrices, Pawliszyn enjoys traveling the world and exploring different cultures. A native of Poland, he enjoys hiking, bicycling, jogging, and playing soccer.
Pawliszyn will present the award address before the Division of Analytical Chemistry.
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