Preface

Abstract

The 13th International Symposium on Novel Aromatic Compounds (ISNA-13) was held in Luxembourg City, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, the smallest country so far hosting a conference of the ISNA series. It took place 19-24 July 2009 and was attended by 360 participants, mostly from academic institutions, representing 34 countries. The scientific program consisted of the Opening Plenary Lecture given by Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn (Institute of Science and Supramolecular Engineering and Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg), the 2009 Nozoe Lecture presented by Prof. Atsuhiro Osuka (Kyoto University, Kyoto), 34 invited lectures, 26 oral communications, and 194 posters presented in two sessions. In a public lecture, vice rector Prof. Luciënne Blessing presented the activities of the recently founded University of Luxembourg. The organizing committee made a strong and successful effort to attract numerous graduate and undergraduate students to ISNA-13.The ISNA symposium series was launched by Prof. Tetsuo Nozoe in 1970 as the International Symposium on Nonbenzenoid Aromatic Compounds. Since then, the currently biennial conference rotates between Asia, North America, and Europe. As indicated by its present name, the focus of the symposium has broadened and is now set on new experimental and theoretical insights into the concept of aromaticity, synthesis and properties of novel aromatic compounds, as well as applications of π-conjugated systems in different fields of molecular science and technology. From a broader perspective, through interactions between participating scientists, ISNA conferences aim at the generation of new knowledge and its eventual application for the betterment of society.In line with the above, the organizers of ISNA-13 emphasized not only the traditional and fundamental aspects of novel aromatic compounds, such as their theory, synthesis, structure, and properties, but also their application in materials science. This included, for example, macrocycles, oligomers, and polymers and their optoelectronic properties, supramolecular chemistry based on aromatic functional modules, aromatics on surfaces, and molecular electronics based on aromatic units. The main subjects of the meeting that are covered in this Special Topic issue are as follows:- aromaticity and novel aromatic systems - theory- aromaticity and novel aromatic systems - experimental- fullerenes and concave aromatics- aromatic polymers and oligomers and their optoelectronic properties- supramolecular aromatic devices, switches, and machines- aromatics on surfaces, including graphene- optoelectronicsThe next conference, ISNA-14, will be chaired by Profs. Michael M. Haley (University of Oregon, Eugene) and Benjamin T. King (University of Nevada, Reno) and will be held in Eugene, OR, USA, 24-29 July 2011. ISNA-15 will be organized by Prof. Ken-Tsung Wong (National Taiwan University) in Taipei, Taiwan.François DiederichA. Dieter SchlüterCarlo ThilgenConference Editors