Advanced Synthesis & Catalysis

Edited by:
  • Joe P. Richmond
Wiley-VCH. 8/yr. 428 euros, $498 (institutional)
Credit: DAVID NEWTON

Catalysis and synthesis are two of the most important areas of investigation in modern organic chemistry. These fields have critical implications for medical and pharmaceutical research as well as for materials science. Not surprisingly, many outstanding, internationally recognized journals dedicate a notable portion of their pages to describing advances in these areas. Journal of the American Chemical Society and Angewandte Chemie are among at least ten respected publications that regularly cover the latest research in catalysis and synthesis. Such publications deal with novelty of approach and with issues of practicality, scale and environmental friendliness.

It has become an accepted dictum that a new method in synthesis must strive to satisfy some or all of the above criteria; and papers introducing a new catalyst or synthesis method generally include discussions of these issues. After all, some of the most important aspects of catalysis concern issues of economy and the environment. Papers in the journals mentioned above frequently cover attempts to develop recyclable supported catalysts, those that do not require a solvent, or processes that have a high turnover number and/or frequency. And several journals regularly publish symposia-in-print that cover exciting new related topics.

It is therefore difficult to understand immediately what niche Advanced Catalysis & Synthesis is expected to fill. The publishers state that the new publication focuses on “chemical reactions that are economical, safe, environmentally benign, resource- and energy-saving”. But such attributes have always been part of the yardstick by which papers in catalysis and synthesis are measured. For example, the incisive and thought-provoking review article on catalytic kinetic resolution that appears in the first issue could easily have been accommodated in Angewandte Chemie, a journal produced by the same publisher — one might argue that the latter venue would have allowed the article to reach a wider audience.

Most of the remaining reviews and communications in the journal's first four issues address questions of efficiency and selectivity. A few others are directed more towards the practical aspects of synthesis and catalysis, but all could have been submitted to any of several existing journals.

Perhaps the most striking feature of this new publication is its illustrious editor-in-chief and editoral board; a more respected and better-qualified group would have been difficult to assemble. Such a talented and accomplished editorial ensemble clearly have a valid reason for supporting the journal. But if there is such a mission, it has unfortunately not yet emerged from the first 400 pages of Advanced Catalysis & Synthesis. Furthermore, in thinking about the need for new journals in these important and well-represented subdisciplines of chemistry, and considering the truncated budgets and rising costs that face most of our libraries, one is reminded of the words of the great twentieth-century architect, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, that “less is more”.