In a normal year approximately 3 months pass between students taking their final examinations in high school or college and beginning an undergraduate course in chemistry. In the months prior to those examinations, students will usually have undertaken an extensive period of revision and consolidation of the key concepts learned throughout their course. Some of this will be supported by their teachers and some will be independent study. The COVID19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of these examinations in the UK and Ireland, potentially leaving students with a 6-month gap between their last formal study and beginning their undergraduate courses. Insights from the literature and from teachers of students in the 16–18 age range show that it is likely students beginning undergraduate courses in the autumn of 2020 will have weaknesses in subject knowledge compared to previous cohorts. This is likely to be more significant in the areas of synthetic transformations in organic chemistry and core physical chemistry topics. In this communication we present a brief analysis of the potential issues with subject knowledge in order that instructors in higher education may be better informed about the potential challenges in teaching and learning following the COVID19 disruption.

Since the sudden emergence of COVID-19 global pandemic, all educational institutions have looked to move resources and delivery online. Some institutions had already embraced delivering instruction in this way, however, broader adaptation to this teaching style is new to many educators.While the teaching of theoretical concepts is more easily transferred to a blended learning environment, the teaching of practical chemistry poses significant challenges, yet it is crucial to the chemist's identity.Here we describe the establishment of a new, international, network to consider how practical chemistry can be taught outside of the traditional laboratory environment and invite readers of this special edition of the journal to join. Meeting fortnightly and maintaining links through a shared networked drive between meetings, the network has been accessed by over 100 delegates in the UK, mainland Europe, North America and Australasia. The traditional siloes of chemistry have not defined the discussions, which have instead focused on logistical aspects such as social distancing and the pastoral role of the laboratory environment. Initial evaluation shows the network is valued by its members and is making progress towards its aims.

A sulfur HASC (alpha-hetero-atom substituted carbonyl) linker has been utilized in solid-phase approaches to oxindoles and tetrahydroquinolones. The route to oxindoles employs the first Pummerer cyclizations on solid phase, whereas the route to tetrahydroquinolones involves a microwave-assisted Heck reaction followed by a Michael cyclization. In both cases, the linker is cleaved in a traceless fashion by electron transfer from samarium(II) iodide. The routes illustrate the compatibility of the linker system with a number of reaction types and its utility for library synthesis.