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Pure Appl. Chem., 2008, Vol. 80, No. 5, pp. vi

Preface

Koichiro Oshima

The 14th IUPAC International Symposium on Organometallic Chemistry Directed Towards Organic Synthesis (OMCOS-14) was held in Nara, Japan, 2-6 August 2007, under the auspices of IUPAC, and with cosponsorship of the Science Council of Japan and the Chemical Society of Japan. OMCOS-14 was held at Nara Centennial Hall, surrounded by National Treasures including eight World Heritage assets.



This symposium is a continuation of the successful series of OMCOS meetings, previously held at Geneva (2005), Toronto (2003), Taipei (2001), Versailles (1999), Göttingen (1997), Santa Barbara (1995), Kobe (1993), Utrecht (1991), Florence (1989), Vancouver (1987), Kyoto (1985), Dijon (1983), and Fort Collins (1981). The event once again brought together industrial and academic chemists from all over the world to discuss the latest advances in new metal-mediated and -catalyzed reactions, mechanistic insights into important reactions, new preparations and applications of organometallic reagents, as well as ingenious methods for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and materials using metals.



Almost 1000 participants attended from 34 countries, one-third of them from abroad. Particularly strong representation from Asian countries such as China, Taiwan, and Korea underscores the remarkable growth of interest and development in organometallic research in these countries.



The scientific program of OMCOS-14 featured 6 plenary lectures, 20 invited lectures, 28 short oral presentations, and one OMCOS Award lecture. The lectures were uniformly outstanding and held the attention of an audience fascinated by the excellent chemistry. One sensed that the warmth of the weather was matched by the warm enthusiasm that prevailed at the venue throughout the meeting. Themes that attracted attention included metal-catalyzed direct functionalization of alkenes, alkynes, and arenes, environmentally benign processes and gold-catalyzed reactions. In a particular highlight, Prof. F. Dean Toste from the University of California, Berkeley received the OMCOS-14 Award (sponsored by the Yen Chuang Foundation and Springer Verlag) for his glorious research on gold-catalyzed reactions.



The scientific program also presented well-supported poster sessions comprising 546 posters of remarkably high quality. On the basis of assessments by distinguished juries, 27 posters were selected for awards of OMCOS-14 Poster Prizes, two of which included free registration for students to participate in the 23rd International Conference on Organometallic Chemistry (ICOMC-2008, co-chaired by Profs. Dixneuf and Bruneau at Rennes, France, 13ñ18 July 2008).



This issue of Pure and Applied Chemistry comprises a collection of 40 papers based upon lectures delivered at OMCOS-14. It therefore offers readers an enduring and representative record of the great achievements announced during the symposium. The series continues with OMCOS-15, which will be held in Glasgow, UK (<http://www.omcos15.com/>), 26-30 July 2009, under the chairmanship of Prof. Pavel Kočovský.



Koichiro Oshima

Conference Chairman