Editorials ...

... used to be published only occasionally in Angewandte Chemie, and they were usually written by the Editor or the Chairman of the Editorial Board. In this anniversary year of the International Edition (Volume 50 is being published in 2011), that has changed, inspired by the diverse activities associated with the International Year of Chemistry. The inaugural issue of Volume 50 contained my Editorial on the history of the International Edition as well as an Editorial by the Chairman of the Editorial Board, François Diederich, in which he gave a personal overview of the most important advances in chemistry over the past 25 years. In Issue 4, Diane Smith, Senior Associate Editor of Angewandte Chemie, wrote about women in chemistry. Issue 15 presented an Editorial by Andreas Kreimeyer on “Chemistry as Innovation Driver”; Kreimeyer is a member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF, where he is, among other things, Research Executive Director. He has been a member of the Editorial Board of Angewandte Chemie since 2008. From now on at least once a month you will find an Editorial in this spot (and of course in advance online in EarlyView as well). The contributions come from internationally renowned chemists or other scientists, for example, members of the Editorial Board and the International Advisory Board of Angewandte Chemie, who discuss topics such as research politics, the relationship of chemistry and society, and chemical education. The authors present their own personal views, which do not necessarily represent the opinions of the editorial office, the publisher Wiley-VCH, or the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society).

In the next but one issue, the president of the GDCh, Michael Dröscher, writes about 50 years of Angewandte Chemie International Edition, and he moves from there to the International Year of Chemistry and to Marie Curie and radioactivity. He takes this opportunity to encourage readers to think more about the responsibility of scientists “after Fukushima”. Read more in Issue 21, which is being published on the occasion of two symposia held in Japan (Tokyo, June 20, 2011) and China (Beijing, June 22, 2011) and contains primarily contributions from scientists in these two countries. With these symposia, the GDCh is celebrating, together with the respective sister societies, the Chemical Society of Japan (CSJ) and the Chinese Chemical Society (CCS), the anniversary of the International Edition as well as the underlying international cooperation (more information can be found in advertisements in this issue or on the web under www.angewandte.org/symposium).

This issue contains an 1Essay from Emanuel Vogel: “From Small Carbocyclic Rings to Porphyrins”. In the second half of the last century, Emanuel Vogel’s group in Cologne synthesized many fundamentally important small-ring and aromatic compounds and finally, with the synthesis of porphycene, made a decisive contribution to the renaissance of the field of porphyrin isomers and analogues. Nearly all of his pioneering advances were published in over 150 Communications in Angewandte Chemie. Tragically, Emanuel Vogel passed away on 31 March 2011, right after completion of this Essay. This issue also contains contributions from Latos-Grażyński, Osuka, and Senge, who refer directly to Vogel’s chemistry. There will surely be many such contributions in the future!1

Angewandte Chemie does not publish thematic special issues, but the journal profits again and again from the confluence of contributions that, in their sum, are especially stimulating. With such elements and now with more Editorials, the journal stays its innovative course in year 50 of the International Edition.1 1 1