Shining a Spotlight on Photochemistry

Abstract

Photochemistry shines bright: In this editorial, ChemPhotoChem’s editorial team looks back on the events of 2022, a year which marked the 5th anniversary of the journal, and introduces some of the new projects in the pipeline for 2023. In 2022, ChemPhotoChem celebrated its 5th anniversary, an important event in the life of the journal. It is hard to believe where time has gone! To mark this event, this year we put together a Special Collection of invited contributions showcasing the work of some of the journal's Editorial Advisory Board and Early-Career Advisory Board members and their research teams. We invite you to take a look at this excellent 5th Anniversary Special Collection on the journal webpage. On behalf of the editorial team, the 16 chemical societies of Chemistry Europe who own the journal, and in the name of the publishers Wiley-VCH, we take this opportunity to sincerely thank all Chairs and Members of our Editorial Advisory Board and Early-Career Advisory Board, both past and present, for their support and engagement over the lifetime of the journal. The journal covers throughout 2022 also featured specially designed 5-year anniversary logos (Figure 1). Two of the special 5-Year Anniversary covers published this year in ChemPhotoChem. Left: Front cover of Issue 02/2022 by Henry Dube, Eberhard Riedle and colleagues; Right: Cover feature of Issue 04/2022 by Bo Qiao and colleagues. You might have noticed a slight change in nomenclature as this year we switched from using the term “Editorial Board” to instead employing the more informative title “Editorial Advisory Board”. This change was to more appropriately describe the role of our board members, who, together with members of our Early-Career Advisory Board, serve as advisors to the journal's editorial team and as ambassadors for the journal. The editorial team at the journal also underwent quite a bit of change this year. In June 2022, I was given the opportunity to take over from Dr. Greta Heydenrych as Editor-in-Chief of the journal. Greta was the founding editor of ChemPhotoChem and it is as a result of her tireless efforts as Editor-in-Chief that the journal has become the success it is today. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to have been involved at the journal since its launch in 2017, first as Associate Editor and later as Deputy Editor, and to have benefited from Greta's support, encouragement and of course expertise over the last few years. The editorial team at ChemPhotoChem currently consists of a team of three in-house professional editors: Myself as Editor-in-Chief, Senior Associate Editor Jessica Nilsson (who joined the team at ChemPhotoChem in October 2021) and Associate Editor Sergey Paramonov (who joined the journal in July 2022). Together we take care of all peer review and manuscript handling at the journal. We are ably supported by Editorial Assistant Bettina Dauch and our Assistant Christine Ehrhard. Although the editorial team looks a little different, the aim of the journal and the in-house editorial team remains unchanged: To publish the highest quality photochemistry research and to provide the best possible service to our authors, reviewers, readers and the global photochemistry community. The year 2022 saw ChemPhotoChem enter its sixth volume and with it came some important developments at the journal. This year ChemPhotoChem received a record number of submissions. This is an important milestone for the journal and is a clear sign that the journal has established itself as one of the most trusted photochemistry journals in the community. This would not have been possible without the trust of all of our authors, as well as the many referees who dedicated their time and energy to the peer review process. A sincere thank you to you all! The many submissions we received featured research from multiple fields across the breadth of photochemistry, from fundamental studies to more applied contributions, in fields such as photocatalysis and artificial photosynthesis, optoelectronics, flow photochemistry, and bioimaging, to give just a few examples. In Table 1 we present a selection of the top ten most accessed articles published at ChemPhotoChem this year. Corresp. author(s) Title Article type Stefan C. J. Meskers Circular Polarization of Luminescence as a Tool To Study Molecular Dynamical Processes Review Rene M. Koenigs Photochemical Nitrene Transfer Reactions of Iminoiodinanes with Sulfides Research Article Quan Li Tunable Circularly Polarized Luminescent Supramolecular Systems: Approaches and Applications Review Pengyao Xing Regulation of Circularly Polarized Luminescence in Multicomponent Supramolecular Coassemblies Minireview Julien Bonin, Marc Robert Phenoxazine-Sensitized CO2-to-CO Reduction with an Iron Porphyrin Catalyst: A Redox Properties-Catalytic Performance Study Research Article Marc C. Kimber Dimeric Cyclobutane Formation Under Continuous Flow Conditions Using Organophotoredox-Catalysed [2+2] Cycloaddition Research Article Dennis G. Hall Recent Advances in the Luminescence of Arylboronic Acids and their Heteroatom Condensates Review Reinhard J. Maurer Effect of Electron Donating/Withdrawing Groups on Molecular Photoswitching of Functionalized Hemithioindigo Derivatives: a Computational Multireference Study Research Article Grigory Smolentsev Time-Resolved X-Ray Spectroscopy to Study Luminophores with Relevance for OLEDs Minireview Igor Alabugin, Svetlana B. Tsogoeva Visible-Light-Driven Metal-Free C−H Functionalization: Access to New Bioactive Tetrahydroisoquinoline-Butenolide Hybrids via Domino Amine Oxidation/Vinylogous Mannich Reaction Research Article At ChemPhotoChem, the editorial team aims to bring our readers the latest research on hot topics in the photochemistry community. With this goal in mind, we regularly publish special issues and special collections on a variety of important topics. For example, this year ChemPhotoChem put together a special collection on Emissive Materials for OLEDs. Guest edited by Professors Peter Gilch and Thomas Müller (HHU Düsseldorf), this project is almost complete and contains some of the latest research in this ever-growing field, featuring experimental synthetic and spectroscopic investigations, together with computational photochemistry contributions. Looking towards 2023, we have several new and exciting projects in the pipeline. The first of these will focus on Ultrafast Spectroscopy. Understanding photoinduced processes occurring on ultrafast timescales is fundamental in photochemistry, and the ongoing development and application of ultrafast spectroscopic techniques has led to many important advances, with applications in fields such as solar energy conversion, optoelectronics, excited-state dynamics, and photosynthesis. We are happy to feature this critically important subject in the journal and invite you to keep an eye out for this special collection, which should be completed in the second half of the year. This year looks set to be another busy one for collaborations with our sister journals. For example, ChemPhotoChem has recently partnered with our sister journal ChemPhysChem to launch a special collection focusing on Synchrotron-Based Photo- and Physical Chemistry. Guest edited by Professors Christian Papp (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg), Melanie Schnell (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel; Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY), Justin Wells (University of Oslo) and Junfa Zhu (National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (NSRL), University of Science and Technology of China), the scope of this project will include topics from (photo)chemical (surface) reactions, through to electronic structure, imaging, structural and reaction dynamics and interfacial chemistry. In other upcoming projects, we are also planning a joint special collection with our Chemistry Europe sister journal ChemBioChem and our ACES colleagues at ChemNanoMat focusing on Artificial Photosynthesis. Although this is a field which has been active for several decades, the drive to make progress in sustainable energy solutions means that this subject remains very much of relevance today. Our society relationships and links to the community are vital to the success of ChemPhotoChem and our Chemistry Europe sister journals. With this in mind, the journal, together with Chemistry – A European Journal, ChemElectroChem, ChemistryOpen and Chemistry–Methods, are organising a special collection celebrating the 140th Anniversary of the Swedish Chemical Society (Svenska Kemisamfundet), one of the chemical societies of Chemistry Europe. We invite you to keep an eye on the dedicated webpage for the latest research from researchers affiliated to Sweden. For the latest published articles and news on these projects, as well as other developments at the journal, please check out the journal's Early View page and follow us on Twitter @ChemPhotoChem! Chemistry Europe, the association of 16 European chemical societies that co-own ChemPhotoChem and its sister journals, is augmenting its journals portfolio with its most ambitious new launch: ChemistryEurope – the journal. ChemistryEurope aims to represent the core values of the association and has been conceived as a high-quality, high-impact Gold Open Access journal covering all areas of chemistry. ChemistryEurope will feature as the new flagship journal in Chemistry Europe's publishing program, alongside Chemistry – A European Journal, the ChemXChem family, the open access titles led by ChemistryOpen, and their sister journals. The journal will be open for submissions from January 2023 and will have the following three editors-in-chief who are already strongly connected to the Chemistry Europe family of journals as board members: Luisa De Cola (Università degli Studi di Milano and Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Italy). Expert for luminescent systems and nano-/porous structures for biomedical applications and member of the Editorial Advisory Board of ChemPlusChem as well as the International Advisory Board of Angewandte Chemie. Ken Tanaka (Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan). Expert in organic synthesis and transition-metal catalysis and former member of the International Advisory Board of the European Journal of Organic Chemistry. Ive Hermans (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA). Expert in sustainable chemistry and catalysis engineering and member of the Editorial Advisory Boards of ChemCatChem and ChemSusChem. Last, but certainly not least, we sincerely thank all our authors, reviewers and readers for your continued support of the journal. As always, we would be happy to hear from you with any ideas or feedback on the journal – you are welcome to contact us at the editorial office chemphotochem@chemistry-europe.org. We are always looking for new ways to collaborate with the photochemistry community, so please feel free to get in touch! We look forward to working with you all and to continuing to bring you the latest research across the entire scope of photochemistry into 2023!