Research Papers from the 22^nd International Conference on Phosphorus Chemistry (ICPC-22)

The 22^nd International Conference on Phosphorus Chemistry (ICPC-22; ICPC 2018) took place in Budapest, Hungary on 8–13 July, 2018. ICPCs started in 1964 in Germany, and were organized every 3 years in the world’s largest scientific centers. The writer of this summary can recall meetings in Bonn, Tallin, Toulouse, Jerusalem, Cincinnati, Sendai, Birmingham and Xiamen. Starting from 2010 in Wroclaw, then Rotterdam, Dublin, Kazan and now in Budapest, the ICPCs have been organized biennially. It was a great acknowledgement of the contributions of Hungarian organophosphorus chemists that we were given the right to host this prestigious event. The conference was dedicated in memory of Professor Imre Petneházy, the founder of Hungarian organophosphorus chemistry, who passed away in April 2018. ICPCs are always prominent meetings, where the majority of the participants know each other well, while other delegates, particularly from the younger generation, are warmly welcome. ICPCs are often endorsed by IUPAC, which is justified by the outstanding scientific level and the international importance.

The main objective of the conference series is to explore the new trends and tendencies of organophosphorus chemistry both in fundamental and application areas, as well as to train the participants, especially the young generation of researchers, in innovative approaches to develop new compounds and synthetic methods for different purposes. The synthesis of biologically active substrates (e.g. drugs), the development of new catalysts, the application of green chemical approaches, and the spread of theoretical calculations in the evaluation of mechanisms were all in the focus in ICPC22. It was also an important purpose to enhance scientific collaborations.

Before the get together party, there was a special 0^th plenary lecture “Budapest Scientific” delivered by Professor István Hargittai after his book with a similar title introducing the famous scientists educated in Budapest. The rich scientific program included 10 plenary and 40 keynote lectures, 100 short oral and 130 poster presentations, which were presented and enjoyed by ca. 300 participants from 25 countries all over the World including Australia, Austria Canada, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, UK, US and Ukraine. Four young scientists were awarded the poster prizes. In addition to the exciting scientific sessions and fruitful discussions, the social program included an organ concert by Professor György Hajós in St. Emerich Church and a bus trip to Visegrád to take part in a castle game followed by a gala dinner and boat tour on the Danube to arrive back to Budapest.

The Steering Committee decided that ICPC-23 will be held in Ningbo (China) in 2020 to be organized by chair Yan-Mei Li, with honorary chair Yufen Zhao, and ICPC-24 will be in Częstochowa (Poland) in 2021 under the chairmanship of Józef Drabowicz with honorary chair Marian Mikołajczyk.

The two issues of Pure and Applied Chemistry (connected with a virtual link) accommodate selected plenary and key-note lectures, and, in a few cases, other hot-topic contributions. The collection of the full papers will give a good impression to the readers on the state of art of organophosphorus chemistry in our present days.