2023 Volume 6 Issue 3 (Published 30 June 2024)

Dear colleagues,  

I would like to thank the authors of the materials of the Andrianov Conference, who presented the most striking results in the form of communications to our Journal. To a large extent, this confirms the high potential of our Journal in terms of reaching young audience, which is beginning to understand the importance of "INEOS OPEN" for the dynamic exchange of scientific information. This is largely due to external conditions, in particular, the latest upheavals with domestic journals, which led to the fact that most academic journals have published only the first issue. But let's not talk about sad things, especially since we discussed the measures to overcome this impasse in the previous editorial.

Today let's talk about our conferences. The international status of the Andrianov Conference was upheld thanks to the delegation of Chinese scientists, among whom were our long-standing scientific partners, such as Prof. Feng from Jinan University as well as our old friend Zhu Xiaoming, representing not Germany this time, but the rapidly progressing Textile university in Hangzhou. Chinese industrial silicones were presented by a delegation from Baolongda headed by Mr. Dzeng, the "silicon" (main) sponsor of the conference. The "gold" sponsorship position of our young colleagues from Siltech is also noteworthy, as they have showed themselves as manufacturers of excellent water-based (latex) paints.

The highlight of the Conference program were the reports of young scientists from the Andrianov laboratory: Maxim Temnikov and Anton Anisimov, who presented breakthrough results in the most important areas of silicone chemistry. The first—in the field of chlorine-free direct synthesis of methylalkoxysilanes, a key element in the production of third-generation silicones (the world today works with the second-generation derivatives). The second—in the field of combinatorial transformations based on stereoregular organosiloxane cycles, the raw material for which are the famous polyhedral metal organosiloxanes—a calling card of the laboratory from the times of A. A. Zhdanov. Thus, the presented achievements turned out to be a kind of gift to famous predecessors. The direct synthesis—for the 120^th anniversary of the "father of silicone chemistry" K. A. Andrianov. The combinatorics based on stereoregular cycles—for the centenary of the "father of regular metallosiloxanes" A. A. Zhdanov.

A notable event of the Conference was the work of the Round table, at which the "Strategy for the Development of Silicone Chemistry in the Russian Federation" was presented, the main thesis of which is the transition to the next technological order—the third generation of silicone production—chlorine-free silicone chemistry. (For reference, the world is currently working within the framework of the second technological order.) We did not expect any explosive interest in the Strategy, but the complete indifference of rare representatives of business structures emphasized the shortcomings in the organization of the Round table. The organizers of the event clearly overestimated the level of interest of business circles in the event. We will have to work on correcting those mistakes and separately present the "Strategy ...," perhaps within the framework of the anniversary conference of INEOS RAS in November.

And yet I would like to finish the report on the past Conference on a positive note: the "conference" issue of the Journal promises to become a good precedent in the interaction between the organizers and participants of the conference with the editorial board. The free "no-pressure" manner of submitting materials, together with the strict rules of preparation and reviewing to which the materials submitted for publication were subjected, can serve as a model of interaction of this kind. Previously, we were unable to reach such a constructive level of interaction with the organizers of various conferences held by INEOS RAS. So, today's model deserves approval and further development.

I can't help but mention another conference directly related to our Institute—the 9^th Kargin Conference, which was held at the Chemistry Department of Moscow State University exactly one month after the Andrianov Conference. The main organizer of the Conference is the Scientific Council on High-Molecular Compounds of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which for many years has been residing at our Institute. An employee of our Institute, a full member of the RAS A. R. Khokhlov is the chairman of the Conference organizing committee.

The Kargin Conference is an event of a different scale, a different representation, directly proportional to the place that polymers and polymeric materials occupy in our day-to-day lives. This Conference already has a long history. Organized at the beginning in the form of the Kargin Readings on the basis of the MSU High-Molecular Compounds Departments, it was transformed into the All-Russian Conference in 1997 and reached its apotheosis by the 100^th anniversary of V. A. Kargin. The opening of the Conference took place in the Assembly Hall of the main building of MSU. The Conference program included round tables and related symposia. Based on the results of the Conference, a Conference Resolution was drawn up, which was sent to the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The 9^th Kargin Conference, in essence, returned to the format of readings. It was held in a business format without a lavish opening ceremony and presentation of the resolution, having packed the eventful conference program into three work days, which was certainly beneficial. The plenary lectures were compressed to 30 minutes instead of 45 in the classic version, which, of course, affected their format, and only the most experienced lecturers (A. Khokhlov, M. V. Katsevman) managed to fit into this time limit without losing quality. M. V. Katsevman's lecture "Realities of the Polymer Production and Processing Industry in the Russian Federation: Challenges and Prospects", thanks to a skillfully designed balance of challenges and prospects, aroused, perhaps, the greatest interest among the participants, judging by the prolonged applause at the end of the report.

The most intriguing was, perhaps, the debut on the polymer scene of Igor Antipin, a well-known specialist in the field of self-organizing organic ensembles. He presented an elegant solution for isolating the key para-isomer of dichlorobenzene for the synthesis of polyphenylene sulfide, which made it possible to create a pilot production of this in-demand plastic. Since the chemical part of the report was quite short, the author devoted a significant part of the presentation to the creation of a research center for structural plastics based at the Kazan Federal University in cooperation with business structures of the Republic of Tatarstan.

The new (old) format of the Conference left not only a good aftertaste, but also a number of organizational issues. The transition of a full-scale conference to the format of university readings poses the question to the specialized Scientific Council of the need to either return it to the "table" format of the conference—one of the main tools of the Scientific Council for the implementation of its scientific and methodological functions, or create a new conference named after other polymer giants of a similar rank to replenish this declining scientific and organizational instrument.