Celebrating the 110th anniversary of PKU chemistry

In 1910, seven students were enrolled in the Chemistry Sector of the Science Department at the Imperial University of Peking, which later became known as Peking University. That was the beginning of the Division of Chemistry of Peking University (hereinafter referred to as “PKU Chemistry”). In the past 110 years, PKU Chemistry has been one of the main forces leading chemical education and research in China, and its great achievements have earned global recognition. The development of inorganic chemistry at PKU Chemistry would provide a microcosm for development and achievements of the whole discipline (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Laboratory of analytical balances (left), and laboratory of chemistry (right) at Peking University in 1918.

In the last century, inorganic chemists at Peking University have made great contributions to the field. From the late 1970s to 1990s, Prof. Guangxian Xu () and his team developed the rare-earth countercurrent extraction theory/technology, which has been widely applied in the separation of rare-earth cations, and allowed China to become the top rare-earth producer in the world. Prof. Tsing-Lien Chang () led the measurement of the atomic weights of 10 elements, which were adopted as the standard values by the International Atomic Weight Commission. In the current century, the progress of inorganic chemistry at Peking University is accelerating, similar to the whole of PKU Chemistry. Nowadays, our research on rare-earth chemistry and materials, molecular magnets, solid state chemistry, bioinorganic chemistry, organometallic chemistry, and nanomaterials, is renowned in the scientific community.

To celebrate the 110^th anniversary of PKU Chemistry, we organized a themed collection for Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers. This collection highlights 48 reviews and research articles from PKU since the journal was launched, covering broad topics in inorganic chemistry and related fields. These articles partially represent the research at PKU Chemistry. We hope that they bring interest and inspiration to the readers.

In the end, I would like to thank all the authors, the editorial team of Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, particularly Dr Wenjun Liu, and my colleagues at the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University. Without your great contribution, help, and support, the publication of this issue would not have been possible.

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