Papers from the 17^th International Conference on Polymers and Organic Chemistry (POC-17)

The 17^th International Conference on Polymers and Organic Chemistry (POC-17, http://poc2018.enscm.fr/) took place in the town of Palavas-les-flots, near Montpellier in France, from 3^rd to the 7^th of June 2018. This IUPAC conference is organized by research scientists of the Institute Charles Gerhardt of Montpellier (ICGM), with the support of National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the National Graduate School of Chemistry of Montpellier (ENSCM). This conference contributed to promote the role of polymers in various areas of chemistry (organic chemistry, chemical transformations, catalysis, polymer applications, and environmental issues), and provided perfect opportunities for participants to present and share the results of their research in the fields of polymer chemistry and applications.

The program focused on the following topics:

1. Phosphorus chemistry and polymers

2. Polymers for and from the sea

3. Polymers for energy

4. Smart and novel functional polymers

5. Bio-inspired polymers for health

6. Bio-based polymers and their applications

It attracted nearly 170 participants from 35 countries. There were two Plenary and nine invited Lectures. Sixty three oral communications were given in two parallel sessions and 64 posters were presented and divided into two poster sessions. For the first time in the POC conference history, four industrial partners (Netzsch, Malvern, Magritek and MP2E) hold a stand and also gave a short presentation of their latest products and innovations.

Pure and Applied Chemistry presents selected peer-reviewed contributions from POC-17 in two consecutive issues. These papers give a flavor of the high quality research presented during the conference and convey the latest developments at the interface of polymers and organic chemistry.

I would like to extend sincere thanks to the Local Organizing Committee for their immense help, the Scientific Advisory Committee, Fabienne Mayers (IUPAC), Roger HIORNS, IUPAC delegate, and Hugh Burrows and Joshua Gannon (Pure and Applied Chemistry) for their valuable help at various stages of the organization and publication of the special issues.