Bridging generations.

Abstract

This issue of The Chemical Record represents a milestone in several ways. It marks the beginning of the 15th volume of the journal (see Table 1 for an overview of the 15 most-cited articles ever published in the journal), and is simultaneously the largest issue in the journal's history. This issue also marks the completion of one of the most exciting projects that the journal has ever launched—the publication of the Nozoe Autograph Books. Since October 2012, The Chemical Record has been publishing the Nozoe Autograph Books, segment by segment, over 15 consecutive issues. The Nozoe Autograph Books are a collection of signatures that document the travels and countless professional interactions of Tetsuo Nozoe over a four-decade period, from 1953 to 1994. The autograph books contain more than 4000 autographs, from chemists around the world along with members of their families, including at least 37 Nobel Prize laureates. The signatures not only express well wishes to Prof. Nozoe, but also include chemical illustrations as well as humor, poetry, and even puzzles. As such, the Nozoe Autograph Books are a treasure that uniquely chronicles the sentiments and scientific ideas of a broad chemistry community over a substantial time period. The suitability of the Nozoe Autograph Books for publication in The Chemical Record was unmistakable from the beginning of this project. The autograph books well supported the journal's coverage of historically significant records in chemistry as well as the journal's roots in Japan. We could have published the pages of the autograph books as a single volume and stopped there, and that alone would have been a wonderful documentation of Nozoe's unique travels and collection of signatures. But the autograph books were also a perfect opportunity to explore and interlink multiple publishing formats. This project begged the question: How could a historical document be presented with a modern appeal? After all, the last signatures had been collected in 1994, and greater online publication capabilities had become available in the meantime. With Dr. Jeffrey I. Seeman serving as Guest Editor for this project, a plan was created that included: a series of invited Essays covering diverse themes and personalities around the autograph books, the autograph book pages in browseable online format, and a wiki-type website allowing readers to spot signatures and build an online index of the signees (http://www.tcr.wiley-vch.de/nozoe). At least one Essay has been published to accompany each of the 15 segments of the Nozoe Autograph Books, with the Essay authors spanning multiple generations, from former students and family of Prof. Nozoe to members of the “next generation” of chemists (e.g., see the Essay in Issue 4/2014 by Eva-Maria Tanzer, which she authored upon finishing a post-doc appointment in Japan). In parallel, the wiki-type website and online browseable autograph book pages offer a fresh way for readers of all backgrounds to connect with the autographs that Prof. Nozoe had collected up until 1994. The current issue, coinciding with the 15th segment of the Nozoe Autograph books, aims to continue this theme of connecting generations. In 1970, Tetsuo Nozoe founded the conference series now known as the International Symposium on Novel Aromatic Compounds (ISNA; “Novel” replaced the original “Nonbenzenoid” in 1977, as detailed in the Essay by Lawrence T. Scott in Issue 6/2013). Nozoe personally attended the ISNA conferences up until ISNA-8 in 1995, and he now has a permanent presence at the conference through the Nozoe Lecture which is held at each ISNA. The ISNA conference series, with ISNA-16 scheduled for July 2015 in Madrid, brings together the modern chemistry community in the same friendly spirit that was initiated by Tetsuo Nozoe back in 1970. Inspired by Prof. Nozoe and in honor of him, this issue brings together authors who have spoken at the ISNA conference in recent years, and is meant as a link between Prof. Nozoe's legacy and the current state of the art in Novel Aromatics. This special issue contains 23 Personal Account articles from around the world, together with one Record Review as well as three Essays from the Nozoe project, not to mention the final of the 15 segments of the Nozoe Autograph Books. But why stop now? To bridge the generations in a true sense, today's chemists should also have the opportunity to sign the autograph books. As a result, we are now revealing a plan for an extended segment of the Nozoe Autograph Books, one that shall allow all readers to include their own inscription. But I won't spoil the surprise by describing all the details in this space. Please see the Essay by Jeffrey I. Seeman and myself inside this issue (“The Nozoe Autograph Books: ‘It Ain't Over ‘Til It's Over' ”, DOI: 10.1002/tcr.201500002). The Nozoe Autograph Books project, together with its modern formats, accompanies the journal into a new, digital era. As of this issue, The Chemical Record is now published fully online. This step is partly a response to the declining usage of print formats in general, but is more importantly an opportunity for the journal to move with the cutting edge of online publication. Going to fully online represents a commitment to bolstering the online version of the journal, and many digital offerings are under way. Already in 2014, the Anywhere Article was launched, which is an enhanced HTML version that provides increased functionality to articles and wider compatibility with mobile devices. The Anywhere Article, accessible by clicking on the Enhanced Article (HTML) link for any article, is live for all volumes of The Chemical Record. And coming soon is the journal's very own TCR App. This App will initially be available for iPads and iPhones with further expansion to Android shortly thereafter. The reading experience of The Chemical Record, regardless of article format, begins foremost with the high quality and internationality of its articles. Both of these are secured thanks to the journal's Board, chaired by the Editor-in-Chief, Hisashi Yamamoto. This year, we start the journal's 15th volume with a newly assembled core Editorial Board (see full list of members in Table 2), and we say goodbye—with deepest thanks for their vital service to the journal—to Shigeru Amemiya, Noritaka Mizuno, Shigeru Nagase, Hiroshi Sugiyama, Yasuhiro Uozumi, and Eiji Yashima. We also start the year with a new Honorary Board (Table 3) as well as several changes to the International Advisory Board (Table 4). Our thanks also go to those who retired from the International Advisory Board at the end of 2014 and contributed greatly to the journal's success over the years. The many highlights of 2014 included three special issues: one looking back on the 40th anniversary of the Mukaiyama Aldol Reaction (organized by Hisashi Yamamoto and Keiji Maruoka and prefaced by Masahiro Murakami), an issue on Total Synthesis (organized by Masayuki Inoue), and an issue on Surface Science (organized by Kiyotaka Asakura, Hans-Joachim Freund, and Katsuyuki Fukutani). The year 2014 also saw a terrific The Chemical Record Lecture (TCR Lecture), given by Scott Snyder of The Scripps Research Institute on “Exploring Chemoselectivity through Natural Product Total Synthesis”. Professor Snyder's lecture was held at the 94th Annual Meeting of the Chemical Society of Japan (CSJ) at Nagoya University. This year, we are excited that the 2015 TCR Lecture will be held by Scott J. Miller of Yale University. Professor Miller's talk will be on “Searching for Selective Reactions on Complex Molecular Scaffolds” and will take place at the 95th CSJ Annual Meeting at Nihon University in Funabashi, just outside of Tokyo. TCR Lecture 2015 Prof. Scott J. Miller (Yale University, New Haven, USA) Searching for Selective Reactions on Complex Molecular Scaffolds 2015 CSJ Annual Meeting Saturday, March 28, 2015, 11:00–11:50 pm Nihon University, Funabashi Campus Lecture Room 1421, Bldg No. 14 Brian P. Johnson Managing Editor