5th Heron Island Conference on Reactive Intermediates and Unusual Molecules

Abstract

Heron Island is a small coral cay on the Tropic of Capricorn, 72 km north-east of Gladstone and 600 km north of Brisbane. It is a place of great tranquillity and natural beauty. These Heron Island Conferences have been taking place since 1991 and enjoy an excellent reputation as a vibrant forum for presentation and discussion of frontline research covering a wide area from organic synthesis to reaction mechanism to computational chemistry and materials science. The Heron5 conference followed the tradition of the previous, highly acclaimed events, hosting ,80 outstanding scientists from Europe, North America, the Asia-Pacific region and Australasia. Scientific sessions in the mornings and evenings with afternoons free for social and reef activities are a tradition for these conferences. This arrangement has fostered extensive discussion and several new international collaborations across chemistry disciplines.This issue of Aust. J. Chem. captures the flavour of the meeting by publishing 15 papers covering gold catalysis in organic synthesis, [2] corannulene-based curved p-radicals, [3] formation of 1,3-diradicals from bicyclic azo compunds, [4] electron spin resonance spectroscopy of a,n-didehydrotoluene diradicals, [5] allene-carbene conversion in the thioxanthene series, [6] nitrene and free radical intermediates from azidomethylacetophenones, [7] s-hole binding, [8] synthesis and reactions of cyclobutenimines, [9] development of methodology for natural product synthesis, [10] organic-inorganic composite nanoscale materials, [11] matrix isolation of nitrile sulfides, [12] unusual thioketenes and extended cumulenes, [13] mixed cyclophanes, [14] photoelectron spectroscopy of short-lived molecules containing Ge and As, [15] and the HERON reaction (Heteroatom rearrangements on nitrogen) of N-acyloxy-N-alkoxyamides. [16] We are pleased to acknowledge Dr Brett Schwartz for designing the cover art.The next Heron Island Conference in this series is being planned for July 2013. [1] References[1] www.heron5.org [verified October 2010].[2] A.