Advanced Synthesis & Catalysisafter 15 Years: Challenges and New Opportunities for Synthetic Science

Abstract

1 I am honored and excited to assume the role of Chairman of the Editorial Board for Advanced Synthesis and Catalysis. Professor Noyori’s legacy, not only with respect to this journal but to the fields for which it is named, is both overwhelming and greatly inspirational. My colleagues and I on the Editorial Board are deeply grateful to Prof. Noyori for his leadership on ASC, and we look forward to his continued guidance in his role as Chairman emeritus. The fields of synthetic chemistry and catalysis have certainly advanced in the 15 years since this journal has been in existence, in some ways more easily foreseen than others. This period has been marked by breakthroughs in established areas such as cross-coupling chemistry, olefin metathesis, biocatalysis, and enantioselective catalysis. Other areas exploded in importance from what had been highly specialized corners of the field. These include CH functionalization, gold catalysis, cascade reactions, organocatalysis, flow chemistry, and photocatalysis. The often-jolting progress in these arenas has been documented to a significant extent in the pages of ASC. At their very core, the fields encompassed by this journal span fundamental science and the practical world. The major changes in both the chemical and pharmaceutical industries in the last 15 years have been driven in part by advances in science and technology, but also by business and societal pressures that can seem to run in direct opposition to scientific progress. Through the many upheavals, it is clear that the importance of discovering unique molecules with desirable functional properties remains critical. Indeed, long-standing challenges in synthetic chemistry receive new urgency as society changes and new technologies emerge. The advent of automated high-throughput screening methods has created new opportunities and demands for chemists to invent methods for generating large numbers of new and diverse functional compounds. Chemistry plays a critical role in how our societies will contend with global climate change and the future of energy; I doubt if there is a reader of this journal that has not been inspired to spend some time recently thinking about the synthetic and catalytic chemistry of CO2. And the pressing need to minimize the environmental impact of the chemical enterprise is certain to influence the design and implementation of chemical reactions as never before. It is exciting to speculate about what areas might blossom during the next decade or two, and ASC will continue to strive to present the very best work in the field.