ISOCS meetings are well established international forums for the presentation and discussion of research results on the many aspects of sulfur chemistry. The importance of sulfur chemistry and responsiveness of the symposium to the needs of the participants has propelled this conference into a prestigious international meeting awaited by the scientific community. Sulfur meetings attract worldwide interest, bringing together chemists from all over the world, sharing their interest in the different areas of sulfur chemistry.

ISOCS 30 follows the long-dated tradition of these symposia, originating back from the first one held in a castle in Liblice, near Prague in 1964, exactly 60 years ago. The initial success of this conference led to its regular repetition every two years except 2020 due to covid-19 pandemic situation.

The conferences were convened in Europe until 1996, when the first conference in Asia was organized in Tsukuba, Japan. The conference then returned to Europe until 2002, when the first conference in the Western Hemisphere was held in Flagstaff, Arizona.

While the focus of these symposia has always been sulfur chemistry, areas of emphasis have changed. The areas originally emphasized were structure, mechanism and reactive intermediates. Then the emphasis shifted to stereochemistry, hypervalent sulfur and synthetic applications.

Currently the interest on synthetic chemistry, as well as on mechanisms and stereochemistry still continues, but there has also been expansion to biochemistry, medicinal chemistry, materials science and environmental issues. In all of these areas sulfur chemistry plays an important and key role.

ISOCS-30 in Florence has the aim to continue this prestigious series of events. Since ISOCS is being held in Italy for the fourth time, organizers have to opportunity to celebrate in 2024 the centenary of birth of Prof. Giorgio Modena, one of the fathers of Italian Organic Chemistry, and the centenary of the University of Florence.

The full listing of ISOCS Symposia: