The 3rd ‘From Carbon-Rich Molecules to Carbon-Based Materials’ Conference took place at the Hilton Tulum Riviera Maya near Tulum, Mexico on 7–10 May 2023. This interdisciplinary meeting provided unique “fusion” opportunities for chemists and physicists having various backgrounds but sharing a passion and interest in carbon-rich molecules and carbon-based materials. Returning conference chairs Marina A. Petrukhina (University of Albany) and Michael M. Haley (University of Oregon) assembled a group of scientists ranging from graduate students and young assistant professors to world-recognized leaders in the field. The largest “Carbon-Rich” Fusion Conference to date, 76 attendees came from all over the globe—USA, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Japan, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom—to discuss the current challenges, needs and goals of this quickly-evolving interdisciplinary field. Talks (34) and posters (39) at the 2023 meeting focused on areas ranging from new designed methods of chemical synthesis, characterization, and structure determination of carbon-rich molecules and carbon-based materials to measurements of their functional properties in devices and on surfaces and investigations into their potential breadth of practical applications as new materials.

‘Thank you for a great conference. The planning and execution was impeccable, and the science was awesome, as anticipated. Fingers crossed for another exotic site for Carbon#4!’
Larry Scott

Congratulations to the poster prize winners:

Fusion Conferences

• Felix Full (Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg)
• Hannah Anderson (University of Nevada Reno)
• James May (University of Oregon)
• Julia Fehr (University of Oregon)
• Lamis Herrera (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)
• Tara Clayton (University of Oregon)

Journal of Materials Chemistry C & Chemical Science

• Nayanthara Asok (York University)
• Joshua Barker (MIT)

Journal of Physical Organic Chemistry

• Zheng Wei (University at Albany, State University of New York)
• Robert Eichelmann (Universität Heidelberg)
• Christoph Oleszak (Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg)

We sincerely thank the RSC and Wiley journals listed above for being our media partners. The meeting was expertly organized by Jack Peters, who was a pleasure to work with. We acknowledge Laura Trundle and her team at Fusion Conferences, Ltd. for their helpful interactions with the organizers and participants. Both organizers have heard nothing but strongly positive, very glowing comments from a number of the participants. This was one of the smoothest conference operations the organizers have been involved with. More importantly, this was probably one of the very best, most scientifically rewarding meetings in both of the organizers’ academic careers. We cannot thank the speakers and poster presenters enough for the high quality of the science disclosed at this conference.

Conference Chairs; Marina A. Petrukhina (University at Albany) & Michael Haley (University of Oregon)
 

If you are interested in this meeting but not yet ready to register, you can sign up for updates here and our team will keep you updated regarding deadline reminders and grant opportunities relating to this meeting only.

This interdisciplinary conference will provide unique “fusion” opportunities for chemists, physicists and engineers having various backgrounds but sharing passion and interests in carbon-only or carbon-rich molecules and carbon-based materials. It will allow a diverse group of scientists from all over the globe to discuss the current challenges, needs and prospects of this quickly-evolving multidisciplinary field.

The major focus areas will range from newly designed methods of chemical synthesis, characterization, and structure determination of carbon-rich molecules and carbon-based materials to measurements of their functional properties and investigations into their potential practical applications. The types of carbon-rich molecules include (but are not limited to) π-bowls and π-baskets, carbon nanohoops, nanobelts and short segments of carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, graphene, graphene nanoribbons, and full-length nanotubes. This forum is designed to promote excellence in research and education and to facilitate the interchange of new information among a broad community of scientists.

Confirmed Plenary Speakers

Harry Anderson (University of Oxford, UK)
SYNTHESIS OF NEW ALLOTROPES BASED ON sp-HYBRIDIZED CARBON
Roman Fasel (EMPA, Switzerland)
QUANTUM MAGNETISM IN CARBON NANOSTRUCTURES
Andreas Hirsch (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany)
COVALENT PATTERNING OF GRAPHENE
Nazario Martín (University Complutense Madrid, Spain)
TOWARDS THE STEREOSELECTIVE SYNTHESIS OF MOLECULAR NANOGRAPHENES

Confirmed Invited Speakers

Igor Alabugin (Florida State University, USA)
LOCALIZING AROMATICITY FOR BREAKING BONDS / LOCALIZING ANTIAROMATICITY FOR MAKING BONDS: CLASSIC  ELECTRONIC EFFECTS IN CONTROL OF FUNCTION AND REACTIVITY
Thomas Baumgartner (York University, Canada)
(UN)USUAL PHOSPHORUS-BASED CONCEPTS FOR ORGANIC MATERIALS
Juan Casado (University of Málaga, Spain)
EXCITED STATES OF DIRADICALS
Lei Fang (Texas A&M University, USA)
CONJUGATED LADDER POLYMERS AND POLYMER NETWORKS: NEW FUNCTIONS IMPARTED BY FUSED-RING CONSTITUTION
Felix Fischer (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
ENGINEERING STRONGLY CORRELATED PHASES IN BOTTOM-UP CARBON NANOMATERIALS
Renana Gershoni-Poranne (Technion, Israel)
EXPLORING THE CHEMICAL SPACE OF POLYBENZENOID HYDROCARBONS WITH INTERPRETABLE MODELS
Rainer Herges (University of Kiel, Germany)
NON-ADIABATIC PROCESSES OF PI SYSTEMS ON BULK GOLD
Hiroyuki Isobe (The University of Tokyo, Japan)
DESIGNING NANOCARBON MOLECULES WITH CURVATURE
Ramesh Jasti (University of Oregon, USA)
DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SYNTHETIC METHODS AND THEIR APPLICATION IN CARBON NANOSCIENCE
Malika Jeffries-EL (Boston University, USA)
DESIGN AND SYNTHESIS OF ORGANIC SEMICONDUCTORS
Norbert Jux (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany)
Milan Kivala (University of Heidelberg, Germany)
FROM ROD-LIKE ALKYNES INTO FASCINATING PI-CONJUGATED POLYCYCLIC LANDSCAPES
Semin Lee (Louisiana State University, USA)
SYNTHESIS OF CARBON-RICH MACROCYCLES AND CAGES USING ALKYNE METATHESIS
Jean-François Morin (Université Laval, Canada)
SYNTHESIS AND PROPERTIES OF ANNULATED AZULENO[2,1,8-ija]AZULENES
Agnieszka Nowak-Król (University of Würzburg, Germany)
BORON-CONTAINING POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS: FROM HELICENES TO CHIRAL PHOTOSWITCHES
Xavi Ribas (UdG)
REGIOFUNCTIONALIZATION OF FULLERENES BY THE SUPRAMOLECULAR MASK STRATEGY
Natalia Shustova (University of South Carolina, USA)
FROM A “BROKEN-HEARTED” CORANNULENE BOWL TO NOVEL FULLERETIC MATERIALS
Irena Stará (Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Republic)
HELICENES: SCIENTIFIC CURIOSITIES? NOT ANY MORE
Marcin Stępień (University of Wrocław, Poland)
John Tovar (Johns Hopkins University)
PEPTIDES AND PI-ELECTRONS: “TWO GREAT TASTES THAT TASTE GREAT TOGETHER”
Rik Tykwinski (University of Alberta, Canada)
CARBON-RICH MOLECULES FROM ACETYLENIC SCAFFOLDING 
Judy Wu (University of Houston, USA)
MOLECULES IN A HURRY TO ESCAPE ANTIAROMATICITY
Yan Xia (Stanford University, USA)

Student Offer

Take advantage of this fantastic opportunity for students! Fully paying academics can bring a student for only $777. Unfortunately, Postdocs are not eligible for this offer. Both registration packages include; accommodation for the 07, 08, 09 May 2023 (on a shared basis for students) and a food and beverage package for the conference period. Once registered, please contact Jack Peters to obtain a special registration link for your student.

We have organised a group activity to Rio Secreto the morning of the first conference day, Sunday 07 May. For further details, please visit the 'Group Activities' tab on the left. If you wish to join we would encourage booking an extra night (Saturday 6th May) to ensure you can attend the trip comfortably.