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Editorial

Melbourne-RACI December Synthesis Symposium

School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, Victoria, Australia
Molecules 2004, 9(6), 383-386; https://doi.org/10.3390/90600383
Submission received: 1 January 2004 / Published: 31 May 2004
(This article belongs to the Special Issue RACI 2003 symposium)
This special issue of Molecules celebrates the Synthesis Symposium held in The School of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne during the first week of December each and every year since 1976. The Symposium is organized jointly by The School of Chemistry at The University of Melbourne and the Organic Chemistry Group of the Victorian Branch of The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI). This special issue of Molecules contains papers from the Symposia held in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, and I thank the authors for their cooperation and support in putting this issue together. I must also thank our major sponsors Sigma-Aldrich and The RACI Victorian Branch for their long-term financial support and other organizations, including Merck Pty. Ltd., Boron Molecular, Medos, GBC Scientific Equipment, Mettler Toledo, Jomar Diagnostics, Davies Collison Cave, The Australian Journal of Chemistry and CSIRO Molecular Science who, by their involvement, have contributed so much to the continuing success of the Symposium. Professor Emeritus D. W. Cameron has been intimately involved with the Symposium since its inception in 1976 and I am pleased that he has kindly agreed to contribute to this Guest Editorial.
Melvyn Gill
University of Melbourne
Shortly after completion of the latest annual Synthesis Symposium (the 28th) seems a good time to outline some of the features that have led to these meetings being well supported by chemists from the Melbourne area and other parts of Victoria. Perhaps the most important is that successive organising committees have wisely interpreted the title word 'synthesis' so broadly as not to exclude any area of organic, physical-organic or bio-organic chemistry from involvement. And, as one-day events, the symposia hardly represent a heavy time commitment for most would-be participants. So, over the years, there has been a gratifying level of attendance covering local institutions across the board - universities, government laboratories and commercial operations. As a result, the meetings now represent probably the most effective local forum for a good cross-section of organic chemists to catch up with one another in person and be made aware of what is going on.
My involvement with the symposia, apart from having attended them all, began early in 1976 when, as departmental Chair, I was asked to help institute them. A colleague, the late Dr Geoff Feutrill, was Secretary of the Victorian RACI Organic Chemistry Group at the time. In consultation with others, he had concluded that the idea of just such an annual event was worth implementing. So did I, though mindful that some enthusiastic beginnings fizzle out quickly for want of organisational staying power. I needn’t have worried. Successive Group Committees have done themselves proud in establishing appropriate continuity. The pattern that has emerged has led to parallel meetings being established at other Australian centres, covering at different times Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra or Sydney, and allowing overseas plenary speakers the opportunity to address a wider audience overall, than would otherwise apply.
Perhaps not surprisingly, successive symposia have witnessed progressive evolution towards covering a wider range of activities. In the early days, the content was all contributed papers. Nowadays, though still forming the core of the programme, contributed papers are generally buttressed at both ends of the day by plenary lectures. There are posters and trade displays, too. Attendances have increased. We used to regard the benchmark figure as around 100 but in recent times have generally been able to count on registrations being nearer 150, sometimes more. Granted, those are not large numbers by the standards of national or international meetings, but they are very substantial in the context of local research chemistry in Australia.
While some such aspects of the symposia have changed, one other, deliberately, has not. There remains a preference for a good proportion of the contributed papers to involve presentation by graduate students, giving many of them the first, encouraging opportunity for describing their work in a serious, though not too daunting, environment. Students and other young chemists make up a considerable proportion of those attending. Whatever uncertainty I might have felt in 1976 as to the longevity of the Synthesis Symposia, the series is now an ongoing Melbourne institution, fulfilling a valuable scientific function. It gives me personal and professional satisfaction to see it so, and I am most grateful to have been afforded the opportunity of contributing to this special issue highlighting some of its recent activities.
Donald W. Cameron
28 Lumeah Road
North Caulfield, Vic. 3161
  RACI Synthesis Symposia - Plenary and Invited Speakers 1976–2003 
  RACI Synthesis Symposia - Plenary and Invited Speakers 1976–2003 
19761st meetingShort contributed papers
19772ndShort contributed papers
19783rdDr J. E. Pike, Upjohn Company, USA
19794thProfessor S. J. Angyal, University of New South Wales
19805thProfessor H. Prinzbach, University of Freiburg
19816thProfessor W. Steglich, University of Bonn
19827thProfessor E. Winterfeldt, University of Hannover
19838thProfessor H. Musso, University of Karlsruhe
19849thProfessor M. T. Reetz, University of Marburg
Professor I. O. Sutherland, University of Liverpool
198510thProfessor J. Tsuji, Tokyo Institute of Technology
198611thProfessor D. Enders, University of Aachen
Professor M. C. Whiting, University of Bristol
198712thProfessor R. W. Hoffmann, Philipps-University, Marburg
198813thProfessor B. Giese, Technische Hochschule, Darmstadt
Professor B. Halton, Victoria University of Wellington
198914thProfessor G. Bringmann, University of Wurzburg
199015thProfessor G. Helmchen, University of Heidelberg
Professor H. Alper, University of Ottowa
Professor A. R. Battersby, University of Cambridge
199116thProfessor H. Hopf, University of Braunschweig
Professor W. A. Denny, University of Auckland
199217thProfessor H.-U. Reissig, TechniecheHochscule, Darrmstadt
Dr. M. G. Banwell, University of Melbourne
199318thProfessor H. Kesler, Technical University of Munich
Professor R. A. Russell, Deakin University
199419thProfessor J. Mulzer, Free University of Berlin
Professor L. Hegedus, Colorado State University
199520thProfessor A. Brossi, NIH and The University of North Carolina
Professor D. W. Cameron, University of Melbourne
199621stProfessor P. Wipf, University of Pittsburgh
Professor I. Ojima, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Dr F. J. Leeper, University of Cambridge
199722ndDr I. Patterson, University of Cambridge
Professor K. Feldman, The Pennsylvania State University
199823rdProfessor S. M. Weinreb, The Pennsylvania State University
Professor N. Miyaura, Hokkaido University
199924thProfessor G. Molander, University of Pennsylvania
Professor C. Chatgilialogu, Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche, Bologna
200025thProfessor D. P. Curran, University of Pittsburgh
Professor P. J. Steel, University of Canterbury
Professor C. Forsyth, University of Minnesota
200126thProfessor S. Kim, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and
Technology, Taejon
Professor A. Ganesan, University of Southampton
200227thProfessor M. A. Brimble, University of Auckland
Professor M. G. Banwell, Australian National University
200328thProfessor P. Renaud, University of Bern
Dr J. Palmer, Celera Genomics, San Francisco
Melvyn Gill, PhD, DSc (Brad), FRACI, FRSC, CChem.

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MDPI and ACS Style

Gill, M. Melbourne-RACI December Synthesis Symposium. Molecules 2004, 9, 383-386. https://doi.org/10.3390/90600383

AMA Style

Gill M. Melbourne-RACI December Synthesis Symposium. Molecules. 2004; 9(6):383-386. https://doi.org/10.3390/90600383

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gill, Melvyn. 2004. "Melbourne-RACI December Synthesis Symposium" Molecules 9, no. 6: 383-386. https://doi.org/10.3390/90600383

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