Preface

The idea for a new book on chalcogen chemistry, to be published by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), came about in the middle of the COVID pandemic's acute phase and in the middle of the three years occurring between the ICCST-14 (International Conference on the Chemistry of Selenium and Tellurium) organized in Italy in 2019 and the ICCST-15 due to be held in Brazil in 2022. As organizers of the two events we wished to build a cultural bridge between the two conferences and scientifically project chalcogen chemistry into the future pulling together, in a period of isolation, acclaimed researchers around the world. We strongly desired to edit a book that would provide an update and one-stop resource for newcomers in the chemistry of chalcogens (S, Se, Te), but also a guide to the latest developments for established experts; a book organized for both beginners and experts, gathering in the right balance, fundamentals with results in frontier research fields stemming from the similarities and differences between the chemistry of these elements. We aimed at a manageable book for readers, highlighting the impact of chalcogens in many aspects of research; a book that could attract young chemists toward chalcogen chemistry highlighting the increasing role of chalcogen elements in multidisciplinary fields of modern applied chemistry and hot topics related to supramolecular chemistry, materials science, biology, pharmaceuticals medicine, and environmental science, but also giving the necessary fundamentals on the inorganic, organic, analytical, synthetic, structural, and theoretical chemistry of chalcogens.

To reach these goals, we asked both emerging young scientists and acclaimed experts from different countries and continents to contribute. We asked authors not only from different countries, but also from different continents to work together united by their expertise in specific fields and topics of chalcogen chemistry. While many books on the chemistry of each chalcogen have been published, books that consider in a comparative way the chemistry of these elements are very few and they have not recently been published.

This book comprises 27 chapters dealing either with the synthetic, structural, and multidisciplinary applicative chemistry of particular classes of compounds (e.g., chalcogen-based metal clusters, metal-chalcogenolates, pincer and macrocyclic ligands, chalcogen heterocycles, chiral chalcogen-containing derivatives, therapeutic molecules, molecular probes, chalcogen-containing proteins, and nucleic acids), or emerging synthetic approaches involving new nucleophilic and electrophilic chalcogen-based reagents and redox processes. Particular attention has been paid to both the structural features, supramolecular chemistry, and synthetic applications of chalcogen bonding, and the biological role of chalcogen elements including physiological, metabolic, nutritional, and food analysis processes.

We believe this book is a candidate to become a point of reference for beginners and experts for many years thanks to its multidisciplinary approach toward hot topics in biological, material, and supramolecular chemistry, starting from basic aspects of chalcogen chemistry.

We are greatly indebted to all authors for their commitment and to the RSC for believing in our project in support of the chemistry of chalcogens.

Vito Lippolis

Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

Claudio Santi

Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italy

Eder J. Lenardão

Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil

Antonio L. Braga

Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil