Pure and Applied Chemistry — Looking back over 2017

Since its first issue in 1960, the IUPAC journal Pure and Applied Chemistry (PAC) has been publishing IUPAC technical reports and recommendations, together with selected papers based on presentations at conferences and symposia endorsed by the Union. 2017 has seen a very active publication schedule, with papers from a broad spectrum of the chemical sciences. The first issue in the year 2017 featured papers from the 16th International Conference on Polymers and Organics Chemistry (POC-16), Hersonissos (near Heraklion), Crete, Greece, 13–16 June 2016, with Kostas D. Demadis as Conference Editor. Other papers from this meeting were published in the journal at the end of 2016, and a description of the Conference has been published in Chemistry International (Nov 2016, p. 42).

February saw the publication of communications from the interesting and successful Open Access Online Conference dedicated to “Science, Disarmament, and Diplomacy in Chemical Education: The Example of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons,” and was held from 2 May-20 June 2016. Online Conferences present an important way of stimulating collaboration and the interchange of ideas without the financial and time constraints of traditional meetings. Robert E. Belford and Jonathan E. Forman were the Conference Editors, and this issue features an informative Preface that places these papers within their proper context. This issue also includes two papers from the XXVIth IUPAC Symposium on Photochemistry, which was held in Osaka, Japan, 3-8 April 2016.

The March issue highlighted work presented at the highly successful International Conference on Phosphorus Chemistry (ICPC-21), Kazan, Russia, 5-10 June 2016. The Conference Editor was Yulia H. Budnikova. This issue included research on various aspects of this important field, and follows in the tradition of this well-established IUPAC endorsed Conference series.

A series of biennial Conferences on Solid State Chemistry are held, alternately in Slovakia and the Czech Republic with IUPAC endorsement. The April issue of PAC featured papers covering various topics in this area, and was guest edited by Mariana Klementová. This meeting honoured Prof. Miloslav Frumar (University of Pardubice, Czech Republic) on the occasion of his 80th birthday, to celebrate his life-long scientific contribution, particularly to the field of solid state and inorganic chemistry.

IUPAC publications on solubility phenomena have a long history, and in May, papers from the 17^th International Symposium on Solubility Phenomena and Related Equilibrium (ISSP-17) were published in the journal. The meeting was heldinGeneva, 24-29 July 2016, and the Guest Editors for the publication were Montserrat Filella and Wolfghang Hummel. This issue also contains the IUPAC Recommendation “How to name atoms in phosphates, polyphosphates, their derivatives and mimics, and transition state analogues for enzyme-catalysed phosphoryl transfer reactions”.

The 23rd IUPAC Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry (ICPOC-23) follows in the long tradition in this field, and this meeting was held in Sydney, Australia, 3-8 July 2016. Papers from this were published in the June issue, with Jonathon E. Beves, Jason B. Harper, and Pall Thordarson as Conference Editors. Both computational and experimental aspects of this important topic were treated, leading to an interesting and stimulating publication.

Carbohydrate chemistry is a major area within the field of Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. The highly successful XXVIII International Carbohydrate Symposium (ICS-28) was held in New Orleans, USA, 17-21 July 2016. Although only selected papers from this conference were accepted, there was so much high quality work that these were published in two issues of PAC, July and September. Topics covered included various aspects of synthesis, analysis, simulation, and applications of carbohydrates, and were edited by Amélia P. Rauter and Nikolay E. Nifantiev.

Mendeleev Congresses are the main Russian chemical forums on General and Applied Chemistry, and typically take place in different Russian cities every 4 or 5 years. The XXth edition of this series was held 21-26 September 2016 in Ekaterinburg under the auspices of IUPAC. This Congress covered major aspects of Pure and Applied Chemistry and produced a number of high quality papers, which were published in two issues of the Journal, in August and October. The Conference Editor for these issues was Nikolay E. Nifantiev.

The November issue contained papers from various conference, while the year ended with contributions presented at the 3^rd International Conference on Bioinspired and Biobased Chemistry and Materials: Nature Inspires Creativity Engineers (NICE-2016), in Nice, France, 16-19 October 2016. Bioinspired and Biobased Chemistry is an emerging field covering materials science, chemistry, physics, and biology, and this conference series highlights progress in this interdisciplinary area. The Conference Editors of the December issue were Frédéric Guittard and Elena Celia. The issue also contained papers from winners of the 2016 IUPAC-SOLVAY International Award for Young Chemists.