Guest Editor's Notice

The purpose of this special festschrift section is to honour the 70th birthday of Boris D. Berezin, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Professor, Full Member of the Natural Science Academy of the Russian Federation and the founder of porphyrin and phthalocyanin coordination chemistry studies in Russia.

This issue of Molecules contains a series of seven papers devoted to the chemistry of porphyrins. They report some recent results obtained in Ivanovo (Russia) at the Institute of the Solution Chemistry of Russian Academy of Sciences, Ivanovo State University of Chemistry and Technology and Ivanovo State University. The chemistry of porphyrins, phthalocyanines and their analogs has been successfully developed at Ivanovo since the sixties under the capable direction of Professor Boris D. Berezin. Top- ics now under investigation include the synthesis of porphyrins, their coordination chemistry, electro- chemistry, solubility, liquid-crystal properties and the thermochemistry of sublimation of porphyrins and related compounds. Several scientific conferences on the chemistry and biochemistry of porphy- rins and analogous macroheterocyclic compounds have been organized by Ivanovo scientists in the past years.

I would like to thank Dr. Marija E. Klueva for her help in preparing this special section.

Nugzar Zh. Mamardashvili,

Doctor of Science, Guest Editor