The world-famous historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes was back in Estonia last week, and this time she visited scientists at the University of Tartu, including the members of the Archemy Lab from our chair of analytical chemistry. Ester and Mari talked about their interdisciplinary research and recent discoveries in biomolecular archaeology.
As they say in the filming industry “to be continued…”.
Below are some first shots of the filming with Ester.
Photos by Kätlin Jansons
On Tuesday, November 26, 2024 the web course LC-MS Method Validation was launched for the ninth time as a MOOC (Massive Online Open Course). There are 1034 registered participants from 99 countries, ranging from Mexico to Japan and from Australia to Iceland. The image below shows the countries where the participants come from.
This is a practice-oriented online course on validation of analytical methods, specifically using LC-MS as the technique. The course introduces the main concepts and mathematical apparatus of validation and covers the most important method performance parameters and ways of estimating them. The LC-MS validation course is delivered by a team of 7 teachers, each with their own specific area of competence. This way it is expected to offer the best possible knowledge in all the different subtopics of analytical method validation.
The full set of course materials is accessible from the web page https://sisu.ut.ee/lcms_method_validation/. The course materials include videos, schemes, calculation files and numerous self-tests (among them also full-fledged calculation exercises). In order to pass the course, the registered participants have to take all tests and get higher than 50% score from each of them. These tests are available to registered participants via the Moodle e-learning platform. Participants who successfully pass the course will get a certificate from the University of Tartu.
We are happy to announce that a member of our group, Mari Tõrv, research fellow in the Archemy team, is one of the three Estonian researchers to receive the Baltic Women in Science fellowship this year!
Mari’s research delves into the biological and cultural diversity of ancient humans, emphasizing the duality of the human body as both a historical and cultural construct and a biological reality. She studies life and death in past cultures through the analysis of ancient human remains, highlighting the importance of understanding end-of-life rituals to fully grasp human nature, a subject often taboo in the Western world.
Tarmo Soomere, President of the Estonian Academy of Sciences emphasized “Talented and successful women scientists deserve to be highlighted and recognised across the whole spectrum of science. Their example inspires and ignites.”
The fellowships were funded by the Ministry of Education and Research and awarded within the program co-organised by the Baltic National Academies of Sciences and National Commissions for UNESCO. The fellowship is aimed to support the research of young women scientists to continue their outstanding work in the Baltic States.
See the video below, where Mari talks more about her research. The basis of this blog post and information on the work of the other two laureates can be found here.
The ninth edition of the online course LC-MS Method Validation is open for registration (registration link is here)! The course will be offered as a Massive Open On-line Course (MOOC) during November 26, 2024 – February 7, 2025.
This is a practice-oriented on-line course on validation of analytical methods, specifically using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) as technique, mostly (but not limited to) using the electrospray (ESI) ion source. The scope of the course is sufficiently broad, so that it will be useful also to chromatography practitioners using other detector types. The course introduces the main concepts and mathematical apparatus of validation, covers the most important method performance parameters and ways of estimating them. More information about the course can be found in Course introduction page.
Participation in the course is free of charge. Receiving digital certificate (in the case of successful completion) is also free of charge. Printed certificate (to be sent by post) is available for a fee of 60 EUR. Registration is possible until the start of the course. The course materials are available from the above address all the time and can be used via web by anyone who wishes to improve the knowledge and skills in analytical method validation (especially when using LC-ESI-MS).
On the 23rd of October, the building that has been the home to the Institute of Chemistry of the University of Tartu – Chemicum – turned 15 years old!
To celebrate the special occasion, all the Chairs of the Institute prepared various dishes showcasing some of their research fields. Of course, our Chair of Analytical Chemistry was also present with a special cake – a pH cookie cake!
The cookie cake was 100 x 40 cm large and consisted of classical layers of whipped cream mixed with curd, chopped bananas and cookies.
The main attraction was the decorative top layer, where we used colourful fruits and berries to visualise the pH and pKa scale with the typical colour gradient.
In addition, some structures of acids and bases made from chocolate were added as representative examples.
The making of the cake turned out to be a fun group activity, which is best seen in the gallery below.
The making of the cake turned out to be a fun group activity, which is best seen in the gallery below (or click here for the full gallery).
Happy birthday, Chemicum!
We are happy to announce that Ester Oras, Associate Professor in our Analytical Chemistry Chair and PI of the Archemy group has received the honorary title “Female Academic of the Year” from the Estonian Association of Academic Women!
Ester is a modern scientist who works across multiple disciplines, integrating methods from archaeology, chemistry, biology, and even food science. Her research is primarily focused on ancient diets in Northern Europe, particularly in Estonia. Through this work, she established the first archaeochemistry lab in the Baltic region called “Archemy” at the Univeristy of Tartu. Her studies focus on ancient food practices — what people ate, how diets varied between social classes, and how food was tied to broader economic and cultural systems. She has also applied her expertise in archaeochemistry to investigate topics such as ancient migrations and Stone Age crafting technologies.
At the same time, Ester’s research extends well beyond Estonia. She has trained at leading research institutions worldwide, including Oxford, Cambridge, Max Planck Institute, and Weizmann Institute, mastering advanced analytical techniques like mass spectrometry and chromatography. Internationally regarded as an expert in the biomolecular analysis of food remains, she collaborates with researchers from countries like Germany, Finland, and the UK. Her work has been published in over 50 scientific articles across top journals in archaeology and natural sciences. In recognition of her groundbreaking research, she was recently awarded the prestigious ERC Starting Grant, and she holds several international leadership roles in organizations such as the International Society for Biomolecular Archaeology.
Beyond her scientific work, Ester is deeply committed to public outreach and gender equality in science. She regularly speaks at schools, museums, and on television, raising awareness about archaeology and inspiring future generations of scientists. She is an advocate for women in science, having launched also in Estonia the celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and contributing to numerous international gender equality projects. Her leadership extends to the University of Tartu, where she has been part of developing the university’s gender equality plan and growing a more inclusive academic environment. Through her interdisciplinary research, international collaborations, and dedication to social issues, Ester is shaping both the future of science and the role of scientists in society.
Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition, Ester!
Märt Lõkov works in our group focusing on investigations of acid-base equilibria – first of all, determination of acidity and basicity constants (pKa values) of molecules – in nonaqueous solutions. This is a core research direction in our group and he is one of the key people in advancing it.
He has made significant contributions to the self-consistent acidity scale and self-consistent basicity scale in acetonitrile, containing pKa values 231 acids and pKaH values of 279 bases, respectively. Because of how these values have measured (“multiple overlapping” relative spectrophotometric measurements), these scales are widely regarded as the most reliable sets of pKa values in acetonitrile. Thus, assembling those scales was to a large extent also a revision of existing pKa values for many compounds and assigning new values to them.
Märt has mastered the art of pKa measurements in nonaqueous media to the highest degree and is right now one of the most skilful people on planet Earth in performing nonaqueous pKa measurements. Besides doing these measurements himself, he has supervised and is supervising numerous master’s and doctoral students who measure pKa values in their degree projects. Thus, indirectly, via the supervised students, his contribution is even larger.
Perhaps the most ambitious endeavour that Märt is now engaged in is a large-scale re-evaluation and revision of pKa values of carboxylic acids in three nonaqueous solvents – acetonitrile, DMSO, dimethylformamide. The analysis of available pKa data that we have carried out in the framework of the IUPAC project 2015-020-2-500 Critical compilation of acid pKa values in polar aprotic solvents reveals that the non-aqueous pKa values available in the literature for this very important compound class are often significantly in error, sometimes by several orders of magnitude. The revision will involve measurements and analysis of literature data. Märt has assembled a group of people involving several students and the expected outcome will be a large amount of high-quality nonaqueous pKa data of carboxylic acids.
These contributions have been noticed by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and Märt has been awarded the Balarew Award for an Outstanding Young Scientist working in the field of critical evaluation of solubility and/or related chemical equilibria!
Märt, please accept our warm congratulations!
We’re delighted to share that members of our Archemy and Analysis of Cultural Heritage Objects groups have published a new article titled, “Influence of Mineral Composition and Firing Temperature on the Micro- and Mesoporosity of Replicate Archaeological Ceramics” in the journal of Clays and Clay Minerals (Volume 72, 2024, e13). Read the Open Access article here.
This study examines how the mineral composition of clay and temper, along with firing temperatures, influences the formation of micro- and mesopores in pottery. The porosity of ceramics is considered a significant factor in the absorption and preservation of organic compounds, such as lipids, within archaeological pottery. Our research provides the first quantitative analysis of pore structures in ceramics designed to replicate archaeological samples, establishing valuable baseline information for future investigations into ceramic porosity and organic residue analysis.
On the 5th of September 2024, PRG workgroup members Dr Signe Vahur, Dr Anu Teearu-Ojakäär, Dr Rünno Lõhmus, Dr Aleksei Treštšalov and specialist MSc student Martin Leissoo visited the Mitutoyo metrology lab at Riga Technical University (RTU) where the director of the lab Ass. Prof. Janis Lungevics kindly hosted them and introduced different new equipment in the lab.
The one-day trip was undertaken for the purpose of research work. As part of the collaboration, various materials related to the PRG project have been measured with an optical 3D profilometer in Mitutoyo’s laboratory. Janis introduced the 3D profilometer and showed also very interesting research results that will be published in the joint scientific article.
All the members of the PRG group were very excited about the visit, which gave new interesting ideas for further research.
Thank you, Janis, for a very interesting day and all the support and help!
At the recent Balticum Organicum Syntheticum conference Ivo Leito made a presentation titled How to make maximum use of the available pKa data in non-aqueous solvents? (Photo on the left)
The presentation started with how acid and base strengths, typically expressed as pKa values (acids) or pKaH values (bases), depend on solvation of the proton, as well as of the neutral and ionized forms of the acid/base. Every solvent has different solvation properties. Thus, the pKa values for the same acid/base in different solvents are also different (often dramatically different).
In principle, whenever using pKa values for predicting or rationalizing chemical processes, the pKa values determined in the same solvent should be used. In some solvents, e.g. water, DMSO or acetonitrile large bodies of pKa data exist, while in most solvents either very few pKa values are available or none at all. This leads to the frequent need of estimating pKa values in one solvent from the data in other solvent(s) (Picture on the right). An additional consideration is the (often problematic) quality of pKa data in the literature.
When estimating pKa values in one solvent based on the data in another solvent it is important to clearly define the aim. Is it needed to have the absolute pKa value or is it rather necessary to have the acidity/basicity differences (or acidity/basicity order) within a set of compounds? Perhaps the question is just “can base B deprotonate acid A in solvent S”? If absolute pKa value is needed then what accuracy is necessary? Depending on the aim, there are different possibilities of estimating pKa and pKaH values in a solvent on the basis of data in other solvents.
The presentation gave an overview to what extent such estimates can be usefully done, highlighting both successes and failures, as well as how to recognize clearly erroneous pKa data. The presentation also highlighted the IUPAC project Critical compilation of acid pKa values in polar aprotic solvents that is nearing completion. The critically evaluated pKa data of acids in dimethyl sulfoxide, acetonitrile, N,N-dimethylformamide, pyridine, acetone, propylene carbonate, tetrahydrofuran are available from Ivo Leito on request.
The presentation turned out to be highly interesting for the participants, receiving a large amount of questions, which extended well into the coffee break!
