Editorial of the Bürgenstock Organization Committee

Abstract

Helvetica Chimica ActaEarly View e202300033 EditorialFree Access Editorial of the Bürgenstock Organization Committee First published: 23 March 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/hlca.202300033AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Graphical Abstract The Bürgenstock conferences started in 1965 and have taken place yearly since then with only three interruptions due to hotel reconstruction in 1990 and the COVID pandemics in 2020–2021, making it one of the oldest conferences in chemistry. Originally focusing on the concept of stereochemistry, central to both chemistry and biology, it evolved over the year to an interdisciplinary conference, where synthetic chemistry meets chemical biology, materials science, theoretical chemistry or even art, stretching everyone's boundaries and inspiring out of the box ideas. With the JSP (Junior Fellowship Program) and an increasing involvement of industry participants and speakers, the conference has become a meeting point between different generations and career paths with the support of the Swiss Chemical Society. The continuing success of the conference, which is often already overbooked in December of the preceding year, may be explained by not only scientific excellence, but also a set of unique traditions together with a drive to evolve to stay in contact with the most exciting research areas. Among these traditions, one can mention the not disclosed program and participant list, uninterrupted exchanges and discussions after the lectures, as well as the special role of the Bürgenstock president. In fact, the latter plays a central role by selecting the speakers for the conference and participating to the selection of the JSP fellows together with the organization committee. He or she will participate three times in a row to the conference, first as vice-president ‘in charge of the weather', then as the president and finally as a more relaxed past president. During the fifty-five editions of the Bürgenstock conference, many leading European, Swiss and Israeli scientists have acted as presidents and contributed to its legend.1 As the organizing committee of the Bürgenstock conference, we are now very pleased to start this collaboration with Helvetica Chimica Acta, the journal of the Swiss Chemical Society at Wiley, to publish each year a special issue as a tribute to the president of the Bürgenstock conference. Past and present participants and speakers of the conference will have the occasion to submit a scientific contribution to this special issue, with full freedom of format (research article, synthetic procedure, perspective or review). This first special issue is dedicated to Prof. Janine Cossy, president of the 55th Bürgenstock conference. It is the occasion for the organization committee to thank Prof. Cossy for her great leadership, especially in the difficult context of the COVID pandemics, which led to two cancellations of the in-person conference in 2020 and 2021. The 55th edition in 2022 was finally a full success, as the scientific community could finally meet again in the exceptional settings of the Swiss Alps in Brunnen.2, 3 In the spirit of the Bürgenstock conference, the contributed articles cover a broad range of topics, from synthetic methods to catalysis to chemical biology, and come from both academia and industry. We hope you will enjoy reading them! The Bürgenstock organizing committee Dr. Fabrice Gallou, Prof. Cristina Nevado, Prof. Francesca Paradisi, Dr. Maud Reiter, Prof. Thomas R. Ward, Prof. Jérôme Waser References 1K. Müller, ‘50 Years in the Sun of Bürgenstock – On the Success Factors of a Famous Conference', Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 54, 5012– 5017. 2A. Nowak-Król, P. Dydio, ‘The 55th Bürgenstock Conference under the Banner of Sustainability', Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202214722. 3A. Archambeau, M. Delbianco, ‘Highlights from the 55th Bürgenstock Conference on Stereochemistry 2022', Chem. Sci. 2022, 13, 9806– 9810. Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issuee202300033 ReferencesRelatedInformation