Editor's Page pubs.acs.org/Organometallics
Award-Winning Organometallic Chemistry: The Centennial Sacconi Medal or the last two years, Organometallics has sought to recognize chemists who have been honored by chemical societies or related bodies for advancing organometallic chemistry, as manifested by an extensive series of Editor’s Pages and “Award Articles”.1 Many nations have been represented to date, but this is the first issue to profile an award originating in Italy, a country with a particularly rich tradition of organometallic chemistry. Luigi Sacconi (1911−1992; Figure 1) was one of the giants of Italian inorganic chemistry.2 The Division of Inorganic Chemistry of the Italian Chemistry Society (La Società Chimica Italiana),3 together with the Fondazione Luigi Sacconi, awards a medal annually in his honor (Figure 2).4 They seek to recognize scientists who have blazed new trails and obtained highly significant results in inorganic chemistry. The list of past awardees includes many organometallic chemists who have published extensively in this journal.4
F
Patrick Favre, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Figure 2. The Centennial Sacconi Medal.
(on left) Patrick Favre, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Figure 3. (left) Professor Paul J. Dyson (1966−) at work and (right) seeking inspiration on Lac Léman (Lake Geneva), adjacent to the campus of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.
organometallic chemistry in highly diverse fields such as biphasic catalysis, both in aqueous media and ionic liquids, and the synthesis of innovative anticancer ruthenium-based complexes”. In January of 2012, he delivered the award lecture in Florence following a memorable introduction by Prof. Maurizio Peruzzini and the late Prof. Ivano Bertini. It should also be noted that Professor Dyson recently served as an Editor, together with Michael P. Coogan and Manfred Bochmann, for a special issue of Organometallics on “Organometallics in Biology and Medicine” (second August issue, issue 16).5 Paul, we enthusiastically congratulate you for your many creative and trailblazing achievements and the richly deserved Centennial Sacconi Medal. Your work has inspired many among us, and we wish you the best of luck in your future chemical undertakings.
Fondazione Luigi Sacconi, Fiorentino, Italy
Figure 1. Professor Luigi Sacconi (1911−1992).
In December of 2011, Professor Paul Dyson (Figure 3) of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) was presented the Centennial Sacconi Medal, commemorating the 100 year anniversary of Sacconi’s birth. Paul is of course wellknown to our readers, and a biographical sketch can be found in his Award Article, which immediately follows this Editor's Page. The ceremony took place in Rome at the Accademia dei Lincei, which was founded in 1603 by Federico Cesi and was the forerunner of the Pontifical Academy of Science. Professor Dyson’s laudatio reads “for contributing with original, innovative and creative research to the development of © 2012 American Chemical Society
John A. Gladysz, Editor in Chief Published: October 22, 2012 7029
dx.doi.org/10.1021/om3008822 | Organometallics 2012, 31, 7029−7030
Organometallics
■
Editor's Page
REFERENCES
(1) Previous Editor’s Page in this series: Gladysz, J. A. Organometallics 2012, 31, 4081. (2) http://www.cerm.unifi.it/sacconi/biographical-sketch-of-lsacconi. (3) http://www.soc.chim.it/divisioni/chimica_inorganica. (4) http://www.cerm.unifi.it/sacconi/sacconi-medal. (5) Coogan, M. P.; Dyson, P. J.; Bochmann, M. Organometallics 2012, 31, 5671−5672.
7030
dx.doi.org/10.1021/om3008822 | Organometallics 2012, 31, 7029−7030
