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46-435: The Herzberg medal is commonly called Canada's top award for science and engineering. It is an individual annual award that recognizes continued excellence and influence in research in either natural sciences or engineering. The award is a gold medal, and the guarantee of $ 1 million over five years to use for personal research. NSERC's Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering was first awarded in 1991 to Raymond Lemieux ,

92-586: A chemist working at University of Alberta . Mathematician James Arthur from the University of Toronto was the 1999 recipient, the last year before the award was renamed in honour of Gerhard Herzberg , the winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize in Chemistry . NSERC decided to rename the award after Herzberg because they felt he embodied the two main qualities of the award, namely research contributions that are of high quality and influential. The Herzberg medal

138-656: A sugar nip , a pliers-like tool, in order to break off pieces. The demand for cheaper table sugar drove, in part, colonization of tropical islands and nations where labor-intensive sugarcane plantations and table sugar manufacturing could thrive. Growing sugar cane crop in hot humid climates, and producing table sugar in high temperature sugar mills was harsh, inhumane work. The demand for cheap labor for this work, in part, first drove slave trade from Africa (in particular West Africa), followed by indentured labor trade from South Asia (in particular India). Millions of slaves, followed by millions of indentured laborers were brought into

184-404: A black, carbon -rich solid, as indicated in the following idealized equation: H 2 SO 4 (catalyst) + C 12 H 22 O 11 → 12 C + 11 H 2 O + heat (and some H 2 O + SO 3 as a result of the heat) . The formula for sucrose's decomposition can be represented as a two-step reaction: the first simplified reaction is dehydration of sucrose to pure carbon and water, and then carbon

230-420: A post-doctoral scholarship at Ohio State University , where Bristol Laboratories Inc. sponsored his research on the structure of streptomycin . He met his future wife, a doctoral student, at Ohio State and they were married in 1948. In following years, he returned to Canada where he spent two years as an assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan . Next he served as Senior Research Officer at

276-1010: A professor in the Chemistry Department and to serve as the chairman of the Organic Chemistry Division. He developed a method to make synthetic versions of oligosaccharides , which led to improved treatments for leukemia and hemophilia and the development of new antibiotics , blood reagents , and organ anti-rejection drugs . While at the University of Alberta, he established a number of biochemical companies, including R&L Molecular Research Ltd. in 1962, Raylo Chemicals Ltd. in 1966 (which purchased R&L) and Chembiomed in 1977 (which has since been taken over by Synsorb Biotech of Calgary , Alberta.) Prof. Lemieux published an autobiography, entitled " Explorations with Sugars: How Sweet It Was ," in 1990. Dr. Raymond Lemieux died of an aneurysm in 2000. In 1999,

322-572: A sticky, extracellular, dextran -based polysaccharide that allows them to cohere, forming plaque . Sucrose is the only sugar that bacteria can use to form this sticky polysaccharide. The word sucrose was coined in 1857, by the English chemist William Miller from the French sucre ("sugar") and the generic chemical suffix for sugars -ose . The abbreviated term Suc is often used for sucrose in scientific literature. The name saccharose

368-468: Is a naturally occurring sugar, but with the advent of industrialization , it has been increasingly refined and consumed in all kinds of processed foods. The production of table sugar has a long history. Some scholars claim Indians discovered how to crystallize sugar during the Gupta dynasty , around CE 350. Other scholars point to the ancient manuscripts of China, dated to the 8th century BCE, where one of

414-462: Is awarded to a scientist or engineer working at a facility in Canada. It is considered Canada's top award for science and engineering. Eligible facilities include universities, government and private labs. Nominations can be submitted by any Canadian citizen or permanent resident. The winner is chosen by a selection committee representing different scientific disciplines, who make a recommendations to

460-430: Is by isotope analysis of carbon. Cane uses C4 carbon fixation , and beet uses C3 carbon fixation , resulting in a different ratio of C and C isotopes in the sucrose. Tests are used to detect fraudulent abuse of European Union subsidies or to aid in the detection of adulterated fruit juice . Sugar cane tolerates hot climates better, but the production of sugar cane needs approximately four times as much water as

506-452: Is grown – crush the cane and produce raw sugar which is shipped to other factories for refining into pure sucrose. Sugar beet factories are located in temperate climates where the beet is grown, and process the beets directly into refined sugar. The sugar-refining process involves washing the raw sugar crystals before dissolving them into a sugar syrup which is filtered and then passed over carbon to remove any residual colour. The sugar syrup

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552-443: Is often used in food preparation, humans find molasses from sugar beets unpalatable, and it consequently ends up mostly as industrial fermentation feedstock (for example in alcohol distilleries), or as animal feed . Once dried, either type of molasses can serve as fuel for burning. Pure beet sugar is difficult to find, so labelled, in the marketplace. Although some makers label their product clearly as "pure cane sugar", beet sugar

598-609: Is oxidised to CO 2 by O 2 from air. C 12 H 22 O 11 + heat → 12 C + 11 H 2 O 12 C + 12 O 2 → 12 CO 2 Hydrolysis breaks the glycosidic bond converting sucrose into glucose and fructose . Hydrolysis is, however, so slow that solutions of sucrose can sit for years with negligible change. If the enzyme sucrase is added, however, the reaction will proceed rapidly. Hydrolysis can also be accelerated with acids, such as cream of tartar or lemon juice, both weak acids. Likewise, gastric acidity converts sucrose to glucose and fructose during digestion,

644-500: Is the main sugar. In others, such as grapes and pears , fructose is the main sugar. After numerous unsuccessful attempts by others, Raymond Lemieux and George Huber succeeded in synthesizing sucrose from acetylated glucose and fructose in 1953. In nature, sucrose is present in many plants, and in particular their roots, fruits and nectars , because it serves as a way to store energy, primarily from photosynthesis . Many mammals, birds, insects and bacteria accumulate and feed on

690-594: Is the source of the word candy . The army of Alexander the Great was halted on the banks of river Indus by the refusal of his troops to go further east. They saw people in the Indian subcontinent growing sugarcane and making "granulated, salt-like sweet powder", locally called sākhar ( साखर ), ( شکر ), pronounced as sakcharon ( ζακχαρον ) in Greek (Modern Greek, zachari , ζάχαρη ). On their return journey,

736-439: Is then concentrated by boiling under a vacuum and crystallized as the final purification process to produce crystals of pure sucrose that are clear, odorless, and sweet. Sugar is often an added ingredient in food production and recipes. About 185 million tonnes of sugar were produced worldwide in 2017. Sucrose is particularly dangerous as a risk factor for tooth decay because Streptococcus mutans bacteria convert it into

782-608: The National Research Council 's Prairie Regional Laboratory in Saskatoon . In 1953 he and a fellow researcher, George Huber, were the first scientists to successfully synthesize sucrose . In 1954, he accepted the position of Dean in the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences at the University of Ottawa , where he established their Department of Chemistry. In 1961 he returned to the University of Alberta as

828-728: The Royal Society (England), and a recipient of the prestigious Albert Einstein World Award of Science and Wolf Prize in Chemistry. Dr. Raymond U. Lemieux was born in Lac La Biche, Alberta , Canada. His family moved to Edmonton , Alberta in 1926. He studied chemistry at the University of Alberta and received a BSc with Honours in Chemistry in 1943. He went on to study at McGill University , where he received his PhD in Organic Chemistry in 1946. He won

874-777: The University of Alberta Faculty of Science and Strathcona County established the Strathcona County/R.U. Lemieux Chair in Carbohydrate Chemistry. In 2001, the University of Alberta renamed the building(s) housing the Department of Chemistry to the Gunning/Lemieux Chemistry Centre to acknowledge the contributions of Profs. Raymond Lemieux and Harry Gunning . Dr. R.U. Lemieux received numerous awards and honours for his work in chemistry: Raymond's daughter Janet Lemieux

920-691: The West Indies in 1506 ( Cuba in 1523). The Portuguese first cultivated sugarcane in Brazil in 1532. Sugar remained a luxury in much of the world until the 18th century. Only the wealthy could afford it. In the 18th century, the demand for table sugar boomed in Europe and by the 19th century it had become regarded as a human necessity. The use of sugar grew from use in tea, to cakes , confectionery and chocolates . Suppliers marketed sugar in novel forms, such as solid cones, which required consumers to use

966-463: The date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera ), sorghum ( Sorghum vulgare ), and the sugar maple ( Acer saccharum ). Sucrose is obtained by extraction of these crops with hot water; concentration of the extract gives syrups, from which solid sucrose can be crystallized. In 2017, worldwide production of table sugar amounted to 185 million tonnes. Most cane sugar comes from countries with warm climates, because sugarcane does not tolerate frost. Sugar beets, on

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1012-487: The water-gas shift reaction also take place. A more accurate theoretical equation is: C 12 H 22 O 11 + 6.288 KNO 3 → 3.796 CO 2 + 5.205 CO + 7.794 H 2 O + 3.065 H 2 + 3.143 N 2 + 2.988 K 2 CO 3 + 0.274 KOH Sucrose burns with chloric acid , formed by the reaction of hydrochloric acid and potassium chlorate : 8 HClO 3 + C 12 H 22 O 11 → 11 H 2 O + 12 CO 2 + 8 HCl Sucrose can be dehydrated with sulfuric acid to form

1058-562: The Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Pacific Islands, East Africa, Natal, north and eastern parts of South America, and southeast Asia. The modern ethnic mix of many nations, settled in the last two centuries, has been influenced by table sugar. Beginning in the late 18th century, the production of sugar became increasingly mechanized. The steam engine first powered a sugar mill in Jamaica in 1768, and, soon after, steam replaced direct firing as

1104-569: The Greek soldiers carried back some of the "honey-bearing reeds". Sugarcane remained a limited crop for over a millennium. Sugar was a rare commodity and traders of sugar became wealthy. Venice, at the height of its financial power, was the chief sugar-distributing center of Europe . Moors started producing it in Sicily and Spain . Only after the Crusades did it begin to rival honey as a sweetener in Europe. The Spanish began cultivating sugarcane in

1150-587: The United States (including California). In the northern hemisphere, the beet-growing season ends with the start of harvesting around September. Harvesting and processing continues until March in some cases. The availability of processing plant capacity and the weather both influence the duration of harvesting and processing – the industry can store harvested beets until processed, but a frost-damaged beet becomes effectively unprocessable. The United States sets high sugar prices to support its producers, with

1196-433: The bond between them being an acetal bond which can be broken by an acid. Given (higher) heats of combustion of 1349.6 kcal/mol for sucrose, 673.0 for glucose, and 675.6 for fructose, hydrolysis releases about 1.0 kcal (4.2 kJ) per mole of sucrose, or about 3 small calories per gram of product. The biosynthesis of sucrose proceeds via the precursors UDP-glucose and fructose 6-phosphate , catalyzed by

1242-672: The current NSERC president. The award consists of a gold medal, and the guarantee of at least $ 1 million to use for research or for establishing research chairs, fellowships or scholarships in the recipients' name. From 2002 until 2009, three finalists were selected for the Herzberg Medal, and the winner selected from among them. The other two finalists (if it was their first time as a finalist) were awarded NSERC's Award of Excellence. Canadian Association of Physicists#CAP Herzberg Medal Raymond Lemieux Raymond Urgel Lemieux , CC , AOE , FRS (June 16, 1920 – July 22, 2000)

1288-404: The earliest historical mentions of sugar cane is included along with the fact that their knowledge of sugar cane was derived from India . By about 500 BCE, residents of modern-day India began making sugar syrup, cooling it in large flat bowls to produce raw sugar crystals that were easier to store and transport. In the local Indian language, these crystals were called khanda ( खण्ड ), which

1334-450: The effect that many former purchasers of sugar have switched to corn syrup (beverage manufacturers) or moved out of the country (candy manufacturers). The low prices of glucose syrups produced from wheat and corn ( maize ) threaten the traditional sugar market. Used in combination with artificial sweeteners , they can allow drink manufacturers to produce very low-cost goods. Since the 6th century BCE, cane sugar producers have crushed

1380-406: The enzyme sucrose-6-phosphate synthase . The energy for the reaction is gained by the cleavage of uridine diphosphate (UDP). Sucrose is formed by plants, algae and cyanobacteria but not by other organisms . Sucrose is the end product of photosynthesis and is found naturally in many food plants along with the monosaccharide fructose. In many fruits, such as pineapple and apricot , sucrose

1426-465: The harvested vegetable material from sugarcane in order to collect and filter the juice. They then treat the liquid, often with lime ( calcium oxide ), to remove impurities and then neutralize it. Boiling the juice then allows the sediment to settle to the bottom for dredging out, while the scum rises to the surface for skimming off. In cooling, the liquid crystallizes, usually in the process of stirring, to produce sugar crystals. Centrifuges usually remove

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1472-410: The liquid, which gets recycled in the crystalliser stages. When economic constraints prevent the removal of more sugar, the manufacturer discards the remaining liquid, now known as molasses , or sells it on to producers of animal feed. Sieving the resultant white sugar produces different grades for selling. It is difficult to distinguish between fully refined sugar produced from beet and cane. One way

1518-402: The manner that glucose and other reducing sugars do. Since sucrose contains no anomeric hydroxyl groups, it is classified as a non- reducing sugar . Sucrose crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2 1 with room-temperature lattice parameters a = 1.08631 nm, b = 0.87044 nm, c = 0.77624 nm, β = 102.938°. The purity of sucrose is measured by polarimetry , through

1564-694: The other hand, grow only in cooler temperate regions and do not tolerate extreme heat . About 80 percent of sucrose is derived from sugarcane, the rest almost all from sugar beets. In mid-2018, India and Brazil had about the same production of sugar – 34 million tonnes – followed by the European Union , Thailand , and China as the major producers. India, the European Union, and China were the leading domestic consumers of sugar in 2018. Beet sugar comes from regions with cooler climates: northwest and eastern Europe, northern Japan, plus some areas in

1610-433: The production of sugar beet. As a result, some countries that traditionally produced cane sugar (such as Egypt ) have built new beet sugar factories since about 2008. Some sugar factories process both sugar cane and sugar beets and extend their processing period in that way. The production of sugar leaves residues that differ substantially depending on the raw materials used and on the place of production. While cane molasses

1656-471: The rotation of plane-polarized light by a sugar solution. The specific rotation at 20 °C (68 °F) using yellow "sodium-D" light (589 nm) is +66.47°. Commercial samples of sugar are assayed using this parameter. Sucrose does not deteriorate at ambient conditions. Sucrose does not melt at high temperatures. Instead, it decomposes at 186 °C (367 °F) to form caramel . Like other carbohydrates , it combusts to carbon dioxide and water by

1702-463: The simplified equation: C 12 H 22 O 11 + 12 O 2 → 12 CO 2 + 11 H 2 O Mixing sucrose with the oxidizer potassium nitrate produces the fuel known as rocket candy that is used to propel amateur rocket motors. C 12 H 22 O 11 + 6 KNO 3 → 9 CO + 3 N 2 + 11 H 2 O + 3 K 2 CO 3 This reaction is somewhat simplified though. Some of the carbon does get fully oxidized to carbon dioxide, and other reactions, such as

1748-543: The source of process heat. During the same century, Europeans began experimenting with sugar production from other crops. Andreas Marggraf identified sucrose in beet root and his student Franz Achard built a sugar beet processing factory in Silesia (Prussia). The beet-sugar industry took off during the Napoleonic Wars , when France and the continent were cut off from Caribbean sugar. In 2009, about 20 percent of

1794-449: The sucrose in plants and for some it is their main food source. Although honeybees consume sucrose, the honey they produce consists primarily of fructose and glucose, with only trace amounts of sucrose. As fruits ripen, their sucrose content usually rises sharply, but some fruits contain almost no sucrose at all. This includes grapes, cherries, blueberries, blackberries, figs, pomegranates, tomatoes, avocados, lemons and limes. Sucrose

1840-451: The uncrystallized syrup. The producers can then either sell the sugar product for use as is, or process it further to produce lighter grades. The later processing may take place in another factory in another country. Sugarcane is a major component of Brazilian agriculture; the country is the world's largest producer of sugarcane and its derivative products, such as crystallized sugar and ethanol ( ethanol fuel ). Beet sugar producers slice

1886-401: The washed beets, then extract the sugar with hot water in a " diffuser ". An alkaline solution (" milk of lime " and carbon dioxide from the lime kiln) then serves to precipitate impurities (see carbonatation ). After filtration, evaporation concentrates the juice to a content of about 70% solids, and controlled crystallisation extracts the sugar. A centrifuge removes the sugar crystals from

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1932-448: The world's sugar was produced from beets. Today, a large beet refinery producing around 1,500 tonnes of sugar a day needs a permanent workforce of about 150 for 24-hour production. Table sugar (sucrose) comes from plant sources. Two important sugar crops predominate: sugarcane ( Saccharum spp. ) and sugar beets ( Beta vulgaris ), in which sugar can account for 12% to 20% of the plant's dry weight. Minor commercial sugar crops include

1978-481: The α form. Fructose exists as a mixture of five tautomers but sucrose has only the β- D -fructofuranose form. Unlike most disaccharides , the glycosidic bond in sucrose is formed between the reducing ends of both glucose and fructose, and not between the reducing end of one and the non-reducing end of the other. This linkage inhibits further bonding to other saccharide units, and prevents sucrose from spontaneously reacting with cellular and circulatory macromolecules in

2024-597: Was Canadian champion soccer player and was inducted to the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame in 2021. Sucrose Sucrose , a disaccharide , is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar . It has the molecular formula C 12 H 22 O 11 . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined from either sugarcane or sugar beet . Sugar mills – typically located in tropical regions near where sugarcane

2070-411: Was a Canadian organic chemist , who pioneered many discoveries in the field of chemistry , his first and most famous being the synthesis of sucrose . His contributions include the discovery of the anomeric effect and the development of general methodologies for the synthesis of saccharides still employed in the area of carbohydrate chemistry . He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and

2116-535: Was coined in 1860 by the French chemist Marcellin Berthelot . Saccharose is an obsolete name for sugars in general, especially sucrose. In sucrose, the monomers glucose and fructose are linked via an ether bond between C1 on the glucosyl subunit and C2 on the fructosyl unit. The bond is called a glycosidic linkage . Glucose exists predominantly as a mixture of α and β "pyranose" anomers , but sucrose has only

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