Reaction Mechanisms Conference
This distinguished Reaction Mechanisms Conference (RMC) has held a position of long-standing significance in mechanistic chemistry since its founding in 1946. The RMC resembles a Gordon Research Conference in both size and format. Discussion and sharing of ideas at the forefront of the field has always been the style. Subjects traditionally include organic, organometallic, inorganic, and biological studies with significant mechanistic implications. The scope has broadened in the past decade; initially the focus was on mechanistic organic chemistry in the traditional sense, with emphasis on the topics and controversies that had great impact on the development of organic chemistry as a whole. The list of the organizers for the early conferences includes the names of many of the progenitors of modern organic chemistry.
39th Reaction Mechanisms Conference
The 39th RMC will be held on June 23-26, 2024 at the University of New Mexico.
William Karney (University of San Francisco) and Kathleen Morgan (Xavier University of Louisiana) are the RMC 2024 co-chairs. Brian Gold and Jeffrey Rack, from the University of New Mexico, are the local organizers for the conference. See the 2024 Conference Website for more details
The RMC has been serving the mechanistic chemistry community since 1954, and typically about 150–200 faculty, students, and industrial chemists attend the meeting. Detailed information on the 2022 (38th) RMC is available.
History of the Reaction Mechanisms Conference
Brian Myers and Ed Fenlon are researching the history of the Reaction Mechanisms Conference (view their recent work on the NOS). Currently, they are gathering information, photos, and stories about past conferences from previous participants. In particular, they are looking for the speakers and titles for the RMC from these years: 1962, 1964, 1966, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002. Ideally this would come from copies of the program books – scanned in electronic versions or hard copies. Please send information to Brian Myers and Ed Fenlon.
| Reaction Mechanisms Conferences | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | University of Notre Dame Paul D. Bartlett, Charles C. Price |
1946 |
| 2nd | Gordon Research Conference William v E. Doering, Frank H. Westheimer, Frank Mayo, Saul Winstein |
1948 |
| 3rd | Northwestern University Stanley J. Cristol, John D. Roberts, Cheves Walling |
1950 |
| 4th | Bryn Mawr College Ernst Berliner, Herbert C. Brown, David Y. Curtin, C. Gardiner Swain, Wyman E. Vaughan |
1952 |
| 5th | University of New Hampshire Donald J. Cram, Nathan Kornblum, Henry Kuivila, Richard M. Noyes |
1954 |
| 6th | Swarthmore College Frederick G. Bordwell, George S. Hammond, Harold Kwart, Robert W. Taft |
1956 |
| 7th | University of Chicago Weldon G. Brown, Elias J. Corey, Ralph G. Pearson |
1958 |
| 8th | Princeton University George Buchi, DeLos F. DeTar, Paul v R. Schleyer, Andrew Streitwieser, Jr. |
1960 |
| 9th | Brookhaven National Laboratory Frederick D. Greene, William McEwen, Kenneth B. Wiberg (Chair), Alfred P. Wolf |
1962 |
| 10th | Oregon State University Ronald Breslow, John L. Kice, Elliot N. Marvell, V. J. Shiner (Chair), Howard E. Zimmerman |
1964 |
| 11th | McMaster University Jerome A. Berson, Arthur N. Bourns, Joseph F. Bunnett (Chair), Gerhard L. Closs, John Warkentin |
1966 |
| 12th | Brandeis University Harlan L. Goering, Ernst Grunwald, Maurice M. Kreevoy, Howard E. Simmons (Chair) |
1968 |
| 13th | University of California, Santa Cruz Joseph F. Bunnett, Harold Hart, Ross Robertson, William F. Saunders, Jr. (Chair) |
1970 |
| 14th | University of Vermont Paul G. Gassman, William M. Jones, John L. Kice, Calvin D. Ritchie (Chair) |
1972 |
| 15th | Colorado State University John I. Brauman, Kenneth E. DeBruin, Anthony M. Trozzolo (Chair), Charles E. Wilcox, Jr. |
1974 |
| 16th | College of William and Mary Robert J. Crawford, Charles H. DePuy (Chair), Eddie Hedaya, Melvyn D. Schiavelli |
1976 |
| 17th | University of Minnesota – Duluth Robert G. Bergman, Ronald Caple, Maurice M. Kreevoy, J. C. Martin (Chair), Robert A. Moss |
1978 |
| 18th | University of Massachusetts – Amherst Charles P. Casey, E. Thomas Kaiser, C. Peter Lillya, J. Michael McBride (Chair), Bernard Miller |
1980 |
| 19th | University of Utah Peter B. Dervan, Josef Michl (Chair), Ned A. Porter, Peter J. Stang |
1982 |
| 20th | Duke University Edward M. Arnett (Chair), Robert D. Miller, Richard R. Schrock |
1984 |
| 21st | University of Texas – Austin Marye Anne Fox, Joseph J. Gajewski, John C. Gilbert, Kendall N. Houk (Chair), L. M. Stephenson |
1986 |
| 22nd | University of Pittsburgh John I. Brauman, Paul Dowd, David McClure, Julius Rebek, Jr., Stuart W. Staley, Patricia L. Watson |
1988 |
| 23rd | University of Colorado Cynthia J. Burrows, Gerhard L. Closs, Paul Dowd, G. Barney Ellison, Matthew S. Platz (Chair), Phillip M. Warner |
1990 |
| 24th | University of Maine Udo H. Brinker (chair), Joseph J. Dannenberg, Gideon Fraenkel, Raymond C. Fort, Jr., James E. Jackson, Philip T. S. Lau, Allan R. Pinhas |
1992 |
| 25th | University of Notre Dame Edward M. Arnett, John E. Baldwin, Joseph P. Dinnocenzo, William v E. Doering (Chair), Paul Dowd, Kendall N. Houk, Frank-Gerrit Klärner, Daniel J. Pasto, Matthew S. Platz, Richard L. Schowen, Robert R. Squires, Kenneth B. Wiberg |
1994 |
| 26th | State University of New York – Stony Brook William J. le Noble, Kenneth B. Wiberg (Chair) |
1996 |
| 27th | Asilomar Conference Center – Pacific Grove, California Donald H. Aue, John E. Baldwin, Cynthia J. Burrows, Miguel A. Garcia-Garibay, Kendall N. Houk (Chair), Frank-Gerrit Klärner, Yves Rubin |
1998 |
| 28th | University of Wisconsin – Madison Barry K. Carpenter (Chair), Robert J. McMahon |
2000 |
| 29th | The Ohio State University – Columbus Christopher M. Hadad, Hilkka Kenttämaa (co-Chair), Matthew S. Platz, Craig Wilcox (co-Chair) |
2002 |
| 30th | Northwestern University Weston T. Borden (Chair), Joseph B. Lambert |
2004 |
| 31st | University of Maryland Donald H. Aue (Chair), Daniel E. Falvey |
2006 |
| 32nd | University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Malcolm D. E. Forbes, Richard P. Johnson (Chair), Clelia W. Mallory |
2008 |
| 33rd | University of Massachusetts, Amherst Robert S. Sheridan (Chair), Paul R. Rablen (Vice Chair), Paul M. Lahti (Local Organizer), Sally Mallory (Convener) |
2010 |
| 34th | University of Missouri in Columbia Christopher Hadad (Chair), Rainer Glaser (local host) |
2012 |
| 35th | UC Davis Paul G. Wenthold (Chair), Dean Tantillo (Local Organizer) |
2014 |
| 36th | St. Louis University John P. Toscano and Dina C. Merrer (co-Chairs), Ryan D. McCulla (Local Organizer) |
2016 |
| 37th | University of British Columbia, Vancouver William Jenks and Anna Gudmundsdottir (co-Chairs), Jason Hein (Local Organizer) |
2018 |
| 38th | University of Colorado, Boulder Igor Alabugin and Jeehiun Lee (co-chairs),Oana Luca and Michael Marshak (Local Organizers) |
2022 |
| 39th | University of New Mexico William Karney and Kathleen Morgan (co-Chairs), Brian Gold and Jeffrey Rack (Local Organizers) |
2024 |