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Centennials are always cause for celebration. Whether honoring a historical event, an institution, a birthday, a sports statistic, or some other notable achievement, there is something magical about the number 100. We delineate the passage of time in centuries and view them as self-contained eras for analysis of the evolution of all dimensions of human history. Likewise, in the annals of scientific publications, the appearance of a 100th issue, volume, or publication year is a testimony to the vitality and enduring relevance of the work.
Although the Organic Reactions series is not yet a century old, the publication of Volume 100 represents an important milestone from which to evaluate the historical evolution of the series, the status of the organization that produces it, and the prospects for its future. Organic Reactions celebrated similar milestones with the publication of its 25th, 50th, and 75th volumes in 1977, 1997, and 2011, respectively. Whereas the anniversary was celebrated with a special preface in each instance along with a special color case for the volume (silver, gold and white, respectively), the chapter content was handled much like any other volume, with the exception of Volume 75 which featured chapters by former and current members of the Board of Editors. For Volume 100, we have chosen to create a special collection of chapters to serve as a yardstick to capture the state of the art of synthetic organic chemistry at the early part of the 21st century.
The origins of the series have been described in detail by Harold Blatt in his preface, Recollections, that served to mark the silver anniversary issue of Volume 25. Similarly, Bob Joyce composed an expanded and updated version in his preface to Volume 50 entitled A Golden Anniversary. That tradition was continued by my special preface to Volume 75 entitled Are Diamonds Forever? This preface will continue that tradition by chronicling the events since 2011. The perceptive reader will immediately recognize that it took 36 years to produce the first 25 volumes, 20 years to produce the next 25, 14 years for the next 25 and only eight to reach the century mark. As Thomas Friedman has astutely pointed out, we are "thriving in the age of accelerations."
The missions of Organic Reactions as a publication and an organization have remained the same since it was founded in 1939. The goals were clearly laid out by Roger Adams in the Preface to the Series published in every volume since 1942, and are reproduced here on page xix. In view of the significant changes brought about by the advent of electronic databases and search engines, I felt that a reaffirmation of these goals was warranted; therefore, on assuming the role of Editor in Chief in 2008, I wrote an updated Introduction to the Series (see page xx).
Board of Directors (Volumes 76-100)
The Organic Reactions Family
The Elders
Whereas the goals of Organic Reactions have remained the same, the individuals entrusted with preserving the institution and its mission have changed. Larry E. Overman stepped down as Editor-in-Chief and President in 2007 and passed the honor on to me in 2008. Similarly, I will pass the baton to P. Andrew Evans effective upon the publication of Volume 100. The composition of the Board of Directors has changed substantially since 2001. Leo Paquette stepped down in 2007, Andy Kende retired in 2015, and Robert Bittman passed away in 2014. In 2018, through a change in the By-Laws, we increased the composition of the Board of Directors to nine to better accommodate succession planning and also instituted term limits. Currently, the Board of Directors includes André B. Charette, Scott E. Denmark, P. Andrew Evans, Dennis Hall, Larry E. Overman, Jeffery B. Press, William Roush, Amos B. Smith, III, and Peter Wipf.
The Scribes
The bulk of the editing of chapters and communications with authors falls to the members of the Board of Editors. As chapters have significantly increased in length over the past eight years, this task has required a greater investment of time to assure that the manuscripts adhere to the strict style and format that characterizes Organic Reactions. Those individuals who have edited chapters appearing in Volumes 1-100 appear below; the names listed in bold are current members of the Editorial Board. Those listed with an asterisk have passed away.
Roger Adams* William G. Dauben* Andrew S. Kende* Homer Adkins* Huw M. L. Davies Laura Kiessling
Jeffrey Aubé Scott E. Denmark Marisa Kozlowski Werner E. Bachmann*
P. Andrew Evans Willy Leimgruber* John E. Baldwin Vittorio Farina Steven V. Ley Peter Beak Louis F. Fieser*
Jennifer A. Love David B. Berkowitz Paul L. Feldman James A. Marshall Robert Bittman* Josef Fried* Michael J. Martinelli
Paul R. Blakemore Jacquelyn Gervay-Hague Stuart W. McCombie A. H. Blatt* Heinz W. Gschwend Frank C. McGrew* Virgil Boekelheide*
Dennis Hall Blaine C. McKusick* George A. Boswell, Jr.* Stephen Hanessian Jerrold Meinwald* Dale L. Boger Richard F. Heck* Scott J. Miller Theodore L. Cairns* Louis Hegedus
Gary A. Molander Jin K. Cha Paul J. Hergenrother John Montgomery André B. Charette Ralph F. Hirschmann* Carl Nieman* Engelbert Ciganek Herbert O. House* Larry E. Overman Arthur C. Cope*
Donna M. Huryn Albert Padwa Donald J. Cram*
Jeffrey B. Johnson Leo A. Paquette* Dennis P. Curran Jeffrey S. Johnson Andrew Phillips David Y. Curtin* John R. Johnson* Gary H. Posner* Anthony W. Czarnik Robert M. Joyce*
Jeffery B. Press Samuel J. Danishefsky Robert C. Kelly T. V. RajanBabu Hans J. Reich
Kevin H. Shaughnessy Milán Uskokovic* James H. Rigby Martin F. Semmelhack Christopher D. Vanderwal William R. Roush Charles Sih
Steven M. Weinreb Tomislav Rovis Amos B. Smith, III Boris Weinstein* Scott D. Rychnovsky Harold R. Snyder* James D. White
Jennifer M. Schomaker Barry M. Trost Peter Wipf
Editor-in-Chief Scott E. Denmark
Board of Editors (Volume 76-100)
The Producers
Jeffery Press joined Organic Reactions, Inc. in 1983 and served as Responsible Secretary shepherding volumes to publication. This position was taken over in 2017 by one of our editorial staff, Dr. Dena Lindsay, who serves as Secretary to the Editorial Board and Processing Editor. Jeff continues to provide stability and continuity (through various administrations) as Secretary-Treasurer and Recording Secretary to the Editorial Board.
The accelerated productivity of the series has required a significant increase in our editorial staff to whom the major burden of producing the chapters falls. Dr. Linda S. Press served as Editorial Coordinator through 2015 when she transitioned to a less-demanding role as Editorial Consultant. Fortunately, Linda was able to bring on board and train Dr. Danielle Soenen who took on the mantle of Editorial Coordinator. To help offset the increasing workload, Drs. Landy K. Blasdel and Debra Dolliver have joined the staff as Processing Editors, and Dr. Robert M. Coates assisted as Proof-Reading Editor. These outstanding individuals are the backbone of the organization and deserve much of the credit for the high quality of the chapters.
A special note of thanks goes to Dr. Engelbert Ciganek who has provided outstanding service to the organization for 17 years on the Board of Editors and since 2000 as our Editorial Adviser. Bert's skill as a proofreader is legendary, second only to his amazing ability to rearrange tabular surveys for authors to enhance user friendliness. Bert has also authored or coauthored seven chapters in the series. Editors, authors, and staff alike have benefitted from his generous and expert...
