Developing the Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry Group
Peter Tasker, who started the Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (MASC) Group in 1982 alongside David Fenton, talks about the history of the group, and about their latest meeting, which was attended by Nobel laureate Sir Fraser Stoddart.
The December meeting of the Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry Group at the University of Edinburgh was a great success, attended by 200 delegates from more than 15 countries. Congratulations to Paul Lusby and Scott Cockroft, the local organisers, for assembling a programme that covered an extraordinary breadth of science!
A memorable feature of the meeting was the inspirational lecture given in his alma mater by Sir Fraser. He was presented with balloon models of two of his most famous molecules by May Gatward and Izzie Berry from Trinity Primary School and stayed on for nearly an hour after the meeting to talk with young researchers.
The MASC group’s first meeting was held at the Polytechnic of North London on 5 May 1982 and was organised by David Fenton and me. Luigi Fabbrizzi was the plenary speaker and contributions from early career researchers included Martin Schröder, who was then a post-doctoral research assistant at the University of Cambridge. Peter Moore and Bob Hay, pioneers in coordination chemistry and reaction mechanisms, attended the following meeting, also held at the polytechnic, and arranged for the “Macrocyclic Chemistry Group” to become affiliated to the Royal Society of Chemistry, acting as secretary and chair, respectively.
The annual meetings had a format which was unusual at the time, in that they provided opportunities for early career researchers to speak alongside well-established researchers. This arrangement of having input from both the venerable and the vulnerable proved very popular.
Keeping registration costs low by having local organisers undertake most of the admin work was key to the group’s success. Peter Moore hosted at least three meetings at the University of Warwick prior to the year 2000. Generous sponsorship from the Royal Society of Chemistry, publishers and equipment suppliers has also been essential in making the meetings accessible to young researchers, and we are very grateful for their support of the 2016 meeting.
Bob Hay’s contributions to macrocyclic and supramolecular chemistry and to the MASC group were recognised by the establishment of the Bob Hay Lectureship. This was first awarded to Mike Ward (Sheffield) in 2001 and this years’ winner was Steve Goldup (Southampton). Emily Draper and Xin Wu earned the MASC PhD Gold and Silver Awards for 2016.
Phil Gale is the group’s most recent chair. Mike Watkinson is taking over for the next four years and Steve Goldup was elected as the next secretary and treasurer at the Edinburgh meeting.
The incorporation of supramolecular chemistry into the group’s remit at the suggestion of Fraser Stoddart, one of this year’s Nobel Prize winners, and others, has ensured the meetings cover a very broad range of applications of ligand design and self-assembly, enhancing their vibrancy and topicality.
This year the group trialled a special one-day meeting, the MASC Early Career Symposium, for PhD students, postdocs and early career researchers, organised by Steve Goldup and Jonathan Kitchen at the University of Southampton, which proved very successful with lots of excellent talks and posters. Similar events will be run annually with the next taking place in December 2017, also at the University of Southampton.
In 2017 the MASC meeting will run as part of the International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (ISMSC 2–6 July 2017), which is being organised in Cambridge by Jonathan Nitschke and his team. The following meeting has been scheduled for 2018 in Lancaster, organised by Nick Evans and The University of Kent has agreed to host the 2019 meeting.
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