On behalf of the Organizing Committee, we are pleased to invite you to attend the 18th International Symposium on Olefin Metathesis and Related Chemistry (ISOM XVIII), to be held in Leipzig, Germany, from Sunday, August 2 through noon on Friday, August 7 2009. This symposium is organized every two years. ISOM XVIII is the follow-up meeting of previous, very successful meetings in Mainz (1976), Amsterdam (1977), Lyon (1979), Belfast (1981), Graz (1983), Hamburg (1985), Hull (1987), Bayreuth (1989), Collegeville (1991), Tihany (1993), Durham (1995), St. Augustine (1997), Kerkrade (1999), Boston (2001), Kyoto (2003), Poznan (2005) and Pasadena (2007). It thus returns to Germany for the third time 33 years after being initiated by Prof. H. Höcker.
Metathesis and metathesis-based technologies have gone a long way. The enormous progress was finally acknowledged by the scientific community by awarding the Chemistry Nobel Prize 2005 to Y. Chauvin, R. H. Grubbs and R. R. Schrock. However, many exciting developments have occurred in the area of metathesis since then. The objective of ISOM XVIII is to provide a fruitful platform for cross-disciplinary exchange on the latest developments in this area. A number of leading scientists in that area of research have already agreed to give Plenary and Invited Lectures. I cordially invite you to participate in ISOM XVIII and to present your latest accomplishments in that area of research. The program will cover all aspects of alkene and alkyne metathesis including theory and mechanism, catalyst and initiator design, catalyst immobilization, applications in organic synthesis, polymer chemistry, medical chemistry, materials science and chemical engineering. Significant contributions will also be made from leading industry scientits, thus providing a profound insight into the current state of commercial applications of metathesis.
We encourage you to consider submitting a contribution either as a short lecture (20 min) or a poster presenting original unpublished work. We kindly ask you to forward this invitation to any of your colleagues that might be interested in attending. A pdf-version of this invitation can be downloaded here.

ISOM XVIII is organised by the
Leibniz-Institute of Surface Modification, Leipzig