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Pure Appl. Chem., 2010, Vol. 82, No. 7, pp. iv

Preface

Pavel Kočovský

The International Conference on Organometallic Chemistry Directed Towards Organic Synthesis (OMCOS) traditionally brings together chemists from industry and academia from all over the world to present and discuss the latest advances in new metal-catalyzed and -mediated reactions, novel preparations and reactions of organometallic reagents, mechanistic insight into important metal-based reactions, and new or improved methods for the synthesis of functional molecules and materials, in which the metal plays a key role.

The symposium came to the UK for the first time, following the successful series of OMCOS meetings held in Fort Collins (1981), Dijon (1983), Kyoto (1985), Vancouver (1987), Florence (1989), Utrecht (1991), Kobe (1993), Santa Barbara (1995), Göttingen (1997), Versailles (1999), Taipei (2001), Toronto (2003), Geneva (2005), and Nara (2007). Since Glasgow is the hometown of Peter Pauson, who can be regarded as the founding father of the OMCOS agenda, one can even say that OMCOS came home, after so many years. The symposium was held in the modern Royal Concert Hall in the heart of Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland and the birthplace of the industrial revolution. About 500 participants attended the symposium; particularly large delegations arrived from Japan, Germany, China, and the UK.

The symposium program featured 5 plenary lectures, 18 invited lectures, 15 short communications, and one OMCOS Award Lecture (sponsored by Springer Verlag). The topics spanned the broadest area of the OMCOS agenda; particularly interesting was the direct comparison of the two approaches to metathesis, as illustrated by the key players themselves, Profs. Bob Grubbs and Richard Schrock. A number of contributions were focused on C–H activation, which culminated in the lecture delivered by Prof. Keith Fagnou of the University of Ottawa, Canada, the recipient of the OMCOS Award. Those who attended the symposium, as well as the international chemistry community, were then shocked a few months later by learning that this brilliant young scientist became a victim of the swine flu; he will be remembered by all of us.

About 350 poster presentations further contributed to this exciting event and highlighted the strength, diversity, and novelty with which this science is being practiced. On the basis of the assessment by a distinguished international jury, 12 posters were selected for OMCOS-15 Poster Awards, sponsored by Springer Verlag.

This issue of Pure and Applied Chemistry comprises a collection of 19 papers based on the lectures delivered at OMCOS-15, thereby offering the readers a glimpse of the fascinating chemical achievements communicated at the symposium.

The series will continue with OMCOS-16, which will be held in Shanghai, China, 24-28 July 2011, under the chairmanship of Profs. Shengming Ma and Kuiling Ding (www.omcos16.org).

Pavel Kočovský
Conference Chair