Chemical synthesis underpins scientific advance across society. From medicines to functional materials, the ability to selectivity construct complex chemical targets is key to discovery and exploitation. In an ever increasingly resource constrained world, the sustainable future of chemical synthesis must utilise the entire periodic table. The entrenched methods of d-block catalysis and ‘named reactions’ must be complemented and surpassed. The main-group offers an untapped resource with potential impact across methodology, catalysis and functional materials. This Beilstein Organic Chemistry Symposium brings together international experts from across the main-group at all career stages and the traditionally siloed areas of main-group chemistry in an open and supportive environment. Expertise across s-block and p-block reactivity and catalysis, inorganic, organic and theoretical chemistry, and fundamental understanding in mechanistic analysis are all represented. Our core aim is to foster discussion and collaboration among main-group chemists to highlight how main-group chemistry is already addressing and what is still needed to overcome the current challenges for the future. This goal can only be achieved through shared knowledge, expertise and collaboration to finally overcome society's great challenge to develop a more diverse and sustainable chemistry.

The symposium will cover, but is not limited to the following themes:

/ Understanding the chemical reactivity and bonding in the main-group compounds

/ Catalysis using main-group species

/ Synthetic methodology and sustainable methods and solvents

/ Theoretical and experimental analyses of main-group structures and reactions

/ The cross-over of organic, inorganic and organometallic chemistry in main-group chemistry