Editorial pubs.acs.org/OPRD
Special Feature Sections of Organic Process Research & Development in 2013 and 2014 pecial feature sections were first introduced in Organic Process Research & Development in the year 2000 (Vol. 4), with 10 papers on Large-Scale Oligonucleotide Synthesis, coordinated by our Editorial Advisory Board (EAB) member, Yogesh Sanghvi, who has considerable expertise in that subject. In the same volume there was also the first Polymorphism and Crystallization special section. Since then, the special feature sections have widened the scope of the journal, covering topics such as Biocatalysis, Process Intensification, New Software, Fluorine Chemistry, Hydride Reductions, Phase Transfer Catalysis, Genotoxic Impurities, Polymorphism and Crystallization, and Safety of Chemical Processes. The last topic was considered so important for industry by the editors and the EAB that it is now an annual feature and has appeared every year since 2002 in the last issue of each year. Occasionally, we have had special feature sections devoted to papers from industry/academic collaborations (INTENANT, Vol. 16, issue 2, 2012) and one important commemorative special issue after the death of a dear friend and outstanding Associate Editor, Chris Schmid (Vol. 13, issue 2, 2009), the latter attracting 30 papers. This was the only time that an entire issue was dedicated to a special subject, although in this case, that subject was Process R&D, with the papers being written by friends, acquaintances, and colleagues of Chris. Each year at the annual meetings of the EAB in the United Kingdom in December (usually at the SCI Process Development Symposium in Cambridge, U.K.) and in the United States in February (at Informex, in whatever city that is held) the topics of special feature sections for the coming two years attracts intense discussions wherein we always have difficulty deciding what subjects to aim for in the future. Sometimes, it is simply a question of repeating a topic which has attracted wide interest in the past, such as Biocatalysis, which has appeared in 2002 (v6), 2006 (v10), and 2011 (v15), each one coordinated by our EAB member, Mahmoud Mahmoudian. He will be coordinating another special issue on Biocatalysis for 2014, since this is still a hot topic in process R&D. The topics we have chosen for 2013 (Vol. 17) are Polymorphism and Crystallization (issue 3), for which most papers are already published on the web either as “Just Accepted” or as ASAP papers; Engineering Contributions to Chemical Process Development (issue 10); Transition MetalMediated Carbon−Heteroatom Coupling Reactions (issue 11); and finally, the annual Safety of Chemical Processes 2013 special feature section (issue 12). There is still time to contribute to these last three feature sections of 2013, and I invite you to contact me if you wish to do so. The deadlines for receipt of manuscripts are May 1, 2013, for the Engineering special section; June 1, 2013, for the Coupling Reactions; and July 1, 2013, for the Safety 2013 special section. I look forward to receiving your e-mails and manuscripts. For 2014, the Biocatalysis 2014 special feature section will be followed by Continuous Processes 2014, coordinated as for the May issue of 2012 by our Associate Editor, Jaan Pesti. If you
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© 2013 American Chemical Society
have a possible paper for these two 2014 feature sections, you will probably need to be writing it in 2013do let us know if you intend to submit a paper (e-mail: oprd@scientificupdate. co.uk). At the December 2012 EAB meeting we discussed many other ideas including Metathesis, Photochemistry, Work-Up of Chemical Processes, as well as a special feature section devoted to another European Industrial−Academic Consortium. Also discussed were possible repeat issues on topics such as Genotoxic Impurities and Fluorine Chemistry. In order to successfully attract papers for such a special feature section, we need at least one expert in the field on the coordinating subcommittee. The members who discuss these ideas are not always on the EAB, and we occasionally coopt experts to assist us. Thus, if you feel we should be offering a special section on a topic in which you specialize, please volunteer to assist us in coordinating the issue and in contacting the most appropriate scientists and engineers in industry and in academia in that field. Please also feel free to suggest new topics that we may have overlooked! An example of a special section coordinated by a non-EAB member was Genotoxic Impurities. Andrew Teasdale, who has since written a book on this topic (reviewed in this journal: Org. Process Res. Dev. 2011, 15, 728), helped produce an excellent special section with 14 papers in 2010 (Vol. 14, issue 4). This is clearly a topic which we will run again in the future. I welcome volunteers to help us coordinate special sections in the future as well as to offer ideas for new ones. Please contact me at the e-mail address above. So, if you are not averse to another limerick, here is my contribution for this year: Resolution for 2013: Write a paper for OPRD. If this is not poss., Consult with your boss For feature sections you’d both like to see. There should also be a sixth line “and send these ideas to me”!
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Trevor Laird, Editor AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
Published: January 30, 2013 159
dx.doi.org/10.1021/op400009x | Org. Process Res. Dev. 2013, 17, 159−159
