2014 International year of crystallography celebration: Asia-Pacific

X-ray crystallography was born when the first X-ray diffraction experiment was performed on a crystal of copper sulphate pentahydrate. Max von Laue provided the theoretical background for the experiment and German physicists W. Friedrich and P. Knipping performed the experiment successfully in 1912. Motivated by these findings, W. H. Bragg and W. L. Bragg, father and son respectively, determined the crystal structures of simple molecules like diamond, rock salt and zinc blende. These were then extended to more complex molecules and macromolecules such as the globular proteins haemoglobin and myoglobin, DNA, vitamin B12 and the recent discovery of ribozyme. As a result, the determination of 3-dimensional solid state structures by X-ray crystallography opened up new areas of scientific research, such as molecular biophysics, molecular genetics, structural biology and many others. More broadly, the development of modern X-ray crystallographic hardware and software has revolutionized our understanding of physics, chemistry, biology, and the science of materials. Indeed, the number of Nobel prizes that have been awarded in X-ray crystallography, for either the technique or the results derived thereof, is without equal. In order to recognize and celebrate the contributions of X-ray crystallography to the advancement of science, engineering, medicine and technology, the United Nations declared 2014 as the International Year of Crystallography (IYCr2014). In celebration of IYCr2014 we have collected contributions from some of the leading crystal engineering groups in the Asia-Pacific region.

This region in particular has a long and distinguished history in the field of crystallography, from Bragg's Law, formulated by the Australian Lawrence Bragg, through to the seminal and often field-defining contributions to the crystal engineering of organic molecules (India) and coordination polymers (Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, and more recently, China). This special issue is an opportunity for current researchers in this region to showcase their work to the world, and will also serve as a platform to reflect upon the impact that crystallography is making on crystal engineering and crystal growth.

Therefore, in this special issue we have collected contributions from a number of leading scientists from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan. As you will see, research in crystal engineering in this region is now dominated mainly by China and the area of metal–organic frameworks (or coordination polymers). We hope that this issue will increase awareness of X-ray crystallography and crystal engineering among scientists and create more interest among researchers in the Asia-Pacific region to come together for scientific exchange and collaboration. We thank all of the authors for readily accepting our invitation to contribute to this special issue of CrystEngComm. We would also like to thank Anisha Ratan of the Royal Society of Chemistry and her team for successfully bringing out this issue on time.

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