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Organometallic
Chemistry Directed Towards Organic Synthesis
The
idea to organize the IUPAC Symposium on Organometallic Chemistry
Directed Towards Organic Synthesis (OMCOS) was expressed by the
organic division of IUPAC 20 years ago, and ever since, the biennial
conference has attracted an enormous number of chemists in the field
of organic synthesis and organometallic compounds. The 11th OMCOS
was held in Taipei, Taiwan in June 2001. Fears that the remoteness
of Taiwan from many scientific centers would result in lowering
of the number of participants fortunately did not come true as more
than 800 participants from 32 countries attended. The conference
attracted not only eminent scientists from all over the world, but
also their young colleagues. Much credit is due to the organizing
committee and its chairman Professor T. Y. Luh for managing to engage
a large number of sponsors, making the registration fee for the
young scientists merely nominal.
Five
plenary lectures, 19 invited lectures, and a large number of short
reports were delivered at the conference. Over 300 posters were
exhibited as well. The lectures, short oral presentations, and posters
reflected enormous progress in this field and demonstrated the extraordinary
potential of transition metal catalysis in organic synthesis to
lead to the creation of new drugs and new materials, the synthesis
of complex molecules, and the discovery of new chemical reactions.
The
conference was opened with a lecture by Professor F. A. Cotton,
which was dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the discovery of
ferrocene. The story of this discovery, which has changed the face
of organometallic chemistry, as told by one of its authors was certainly
an unforgettable episode. Another eminent organometallic chemist,
Professor A. Yamamoto, talked about the discovery of the oxidative
addition reactions before discussing the most important task of
modern chemistrytransforming it into "green chemistry."
The
Springer award for young scientists (under age 40) was presented
at the conference to Professor G. Fu of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, USA, for his outstanding contribution to this field
of chemistry. In accepting the honor, Fu gave a brilliant "award
lecture."
The
conference was held at the Grand Hotel, a unique construction in
an oriental style that dominates the Taipei cityscape and provides
excellent conference facilities. The conference was very well organized
so that everything progressed in a highly efficient and orderly
manner, and the atmosphere, as usual at OMCOS, was exceptionally
friendly.
A
selection from the plenary and invited lectures is published in
the Janaury
2002 issue of Pure and Applied Chemistry, for which the
Conference Chairman, Tien- Yau Luh, acted as editor.