New Talent: Asia

The beginnings and early development of “Modern Coordination Chemistry” can be traced back to Professor Werner in Europe. After World War II, a centre of coordination chemistry also developed in the USA. As the world entered the 21^st century, from the viewpoints of populations, economies, resources, etc., Asian countries and regions have become extremely important on the world stage, and science and technology in this region has continued to develop. At the same time, their research budgets have dramatically increased, and the number of papers published in various scientific journals has grown exponentially. I believe this means that a centre of coordination and inorganic chemistries is now established in Asia. Thus, it is very timely and my great honour that the editor of Dalton Transactions asked me to edit the themed issue “New Talent: Asia” which is focused on researchers from Asian countries and regions who have been identified as rising stars in the fields of coordination and inorganic chemistries.

With the increase in prominence of Asian coordination chemistry in mind, I organized and chaired the 1^st Asian Conference on Coordination Chemistry (1^st ACCC) in Okazaki, Japan in 2007. More than 350 people participated and the presentations were all quite impressive. The purposes of ACCC are (1) to develop coordination chemistry in Asian countries and regions, (2) to promote collaboration among Asian countries and regions in coordination chemistry, (3) to encourage young coordination chemists in Asian countries and regions, and (4) to activate the coordination chemistry in host countries and regions. The 2^nd ACCC held in Nanjing, China in 2009 with Professors You and Guo from Nanjing University as chairpersons had more than 600 participants. For the 2^nd ACCC, the organizers invited top coordination chemists from all over the world. In other words, the 2^nd ACCC was international and very successful. The 3^rd ACCC will be held in Delhi, India in 2011 from October 17^th to 20^th with Professor Bharadwaj from IIT in Kanpur as the chairman. Currently, 17 Asian countries and regions, such as Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Russia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, Pakistan, Thailand, Mauritius, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Philippines, Bangladesh, and India, currently participate in ACCC. However, in the future, I believe that all Asian countries and regions will come to participate in ACCC and that the Asian region will become the centre of coordination and inorganic chemistries for the entire world.

Finally, I hope that you enjoy this themed issue, and I would like to thank Dr Jamie Humphrey of Dalton Transactions for giving me this opportunity.

Masahiro Yamashita

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