”Wow” congress at the WOW Convention Center in Istanbul

The Turkish Chemical Society led by Mehmet Mahramanlıoglu and supported by the conference organisers headed by Cem Tunçel showed splendid hospitality to the 1200 delegates from 35 countries in five continents at the 5th EuCheMS Chemistry Congress (ECC5) held at the WOW Convention Center in Istanbul from 31st August to 4th September. The congress was exceptionally well organised and we were made to feel extremely welcome in the city where Europe meets Asia and many cultures mix.

We were treated to a positive feast of chemistry put together by the scientific committee under Helena Grennberg (see right). It started with the remarkable revelation that structures of proteins in their natural state can now be measured at the atomic level by electron microscopy. We heard about exquisite control of nanostructure, how CO2 can be used as a sustainable feedstock to make a range of important chemicals, how spinal cord injuries can potentially be repaired using carbon nanotubes and about the enormous importance of water to every aspect of life, especially food production. We learnt about highly efficient new synthetic methods for a wide variety of important and complicated molecules,

Journal