Reaction Mechanisms Conference

This distinguished Reaction Mechanisms Conference (RMC) has held a position of long-standing significance in mechanistic chemistry since its founding in 1946. The RMC resembles a Gordon Research Conference in both size and format. Discussion and sharing of ideas at the forefront of the field has always been the style. Subjects traditionally include organic, organometallic, inorganic, and biological studies with significant mechanistic implications. The scope has broadened in the past decade; initially the focus was on mechanistic organic chemistry in the traditional sense, with emphasis on the topics and controversies that had great impact on the development of organic chemistry as a whole. The list of the organizers for the early conferences includes the names of many of the progenitors of modern organic chemistry.

39th Reaction Mechanisms Conference

The 39th RMC will be held on June 23-26, 2024 at the University of New Mexico.

William Karney (University of San Francisco) and Kathleen Morgan (Xavier University of Louisiana) are the RMC 2024 co-chairs. Brian Gold and Jeffrey Rack, from the University of New Mexico, are the local organizers for the conference. See the 2024 Conference Website for more details

The RMC has been serving the mechanistic chemistry community since 1954, and typically about 150–200 faculty, students, and industrial chemists attend the meeting. Detailed information on the 2022 (38th) RMC is available.

History of the Reaction Mechanisms Conference

Brian Myers and Ed Fenlon are researching the history of the Reaction Mechanisms Conference (view their recent work on the NOS). Currently, they are gathering information, photos, and stories about past conferences from previous participants. In particular, they are looking for the speakers and titles for the RMC from these years: 1962, 1964, 1966, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002. Ideally this would come from copies of the program books – scanned in electronic versions or hard copies. Please send information to Brian Myers and Ed Fenlon.

Reaction Mechanisms Conferences Year
1st University of Notre Dame
Paul D. Bartlett, Charles C. Price
1946
2nd Gordon Research Conference
William v E. Doering, Frank H. Westheimer, Frank Mayo, Saul Winstein
1948
3rd Northwestern University
Stanley J. Cristol, John D. Roberts, Cheves Walling
1950
4th Bryn Mawr College
Ernst Berliner, Herbert C. Brown, David Y. Curtin, C. Gardiner Swain, Wyman E. Vaughan
1952
5th University of New Hampshire
Donald J. Cram, Nathan Kornblum, Henry Kuivila, Richard M. Noyes
1954
6th Swarthmore College
Frederick G. Bordwell, George S. Hammond, Harold Kwart, Robert W. Taft
1956
7th University of Chicago
Weldon G. Brown, Elias J. Corey, Ralph G. Pearson
1958
8th Princeton University
George Buchi, DeLos F. DeTar, Paul v R. Schleyer, Andrew Streitwieser, Jr.
1960
9th Brookhaven National Laboratory
Frederick D. Greene, William McEwen, Kenneth B. Wiberg (Chair), Alfred P. Wolf
1962
10th Oregon State University
Ronald Breslow, John L. Kice, Elliot N. Marvell, V. J. Shiner (Chair), Howard E. Zimmerman
1964
11th McMaster University
Jerome A. Berson, Arthur N. Bourns, Joseph F. Bunnett (Chair), Gerhard L. Closs, John Warkentin
1966
12th Brandeis University
Harlan L. Goering, Ernst Grunwald, Maurice M. Kreevoy, Howard E. Simmons (Chair)
1968
13th University of California, Santa Cruz
Joseph F. Bunnett, Harold Hart, Ross Robertson, William F. Saunders, Jr. (Chair)
1970
14th University of Vermont
Paul G. Gassman, William M. Jones, John L. Kice, Calvin D. Ritchie (Chair)
1972
15th Colorado State University
John I. Brauman, Kenneth E. DeBruin, Anthony M. Trozzolo (Chair), Charles E. Wilcox, Jr.
1974
16th College of William and Mary
Robert J. Crawford, Charles H. DePuy (Chair), Eddie Hedaya, Melvyn D. Schiavelli
1976
17th University of Minnesota – Duluth
Robert G. Bergman, Ronald Caple, Maurice M. Kreevoy, J. C. Martin (Chair), Robert A. Moss
1978
18th University of Massachusetts – Amherst
Charles P. Casey, E. Thomas Kaiser, C. Peter Lillya, J. Michael McBride (Chair), Bernard Miller
1980
19th University of Utah
Peter B. Dervan, Josef Michl (Chair), Ned A. Porter, Peter J. Stang
1982
20th Duke University
Edward M. Arnett (Chair), Robert D. Miller, Richard R. Schrock
1984
21st University of Texas – Austin
Marye Anne Fox, Joseph J. Gajewski, John C. Gilbert, Kendall N. Houk (Chair), L. M. Stephenson
1986
22nd University of Pittsburgh
John I. Brauman, Paul Dowd, David McClure, Julius Rebek, Jr., Stuart W. Staley, Patricia L. Watson
1988
23rd University of Colorado
Cynthia J. Burrows, Gerhard L. Closs, Paul Dowd, G. Barney Ellison, Matthew S. Platz (Chair), Phillip M. Warner
1990
24th University of Maine
Udo H. Brinker (chair), Joseph J. Dannenberg, Gideon Fraenkel, Raymond C. Fort, Jr., James E. Jackson, Philip T. S. Lau, Allan R. Pinhas
1992
25th University of Notre Dame
Edward M. Arnett, John E. Baldwin, Joseph P. Dinnocenzo, William v E. Doering (Chair), Paul Dowd, Kendall N. Houk, Frank-Gerrit Klärner, Daniel J. Pasto, Matthew S. Platz, Richard L. Schowen, Robert R. Squires, Kenneth B. Wiberg
1994
26th State University of New York – Stony Brook
William J. le Noble, Kenneth B. Wiberg (Chair)
1996
27th Asilomar Conference Center – Pacific Grove, California
Donald H. Aue, John E. Baldwin, Cynthia J. Burrows, Miguel A. Garcia-Garibay, Kendall N. Houk (Chair), Frank-Gerrit Klärner, Yves Rubin
1998
28th University of Wisconsin – Madison
Barry K. Carpenter (Chair), Robert J. McMahon
2000
29th The Ohio State University – Columbus
Christopher M. Hadad, Hilkka Kenttämaa (co-Chair), Matthew S. Platz, Craig Wilcox (co-Chair)
2002
30th Northwestern University
Weston T. Borden (Chair), Joseph B. Lambert
2004
31st University of Maryland
Donald H. Aue (Chair), Daniel E. Falvey
2006
32nd University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
Malcolm D. E. Forbes, Richard P. Johnson (Chair), Clelia W. Mallory
2008
33rd University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Robert S. Sheridan (Chair), Paul R. Rablen (Vice Chair), Paul M. Lahti (Local Organizer), Sally Mallory (Convener)
2010
34th University of Missouri in Columbia
Christopher Hadad (Chair), Rainer Glaser (local host)
2012
35th UC Davis
Paul G. Wenthold (Chair), Dean Tantillo (Local Organizer)
2014
36th St. Louis University
John P. Toscano and Dina C. Merrer (co-Chairs), Ryan D. McCulla (Local Organizer)
2016
37th University of British Columbia, Vancouver
William Jenks and Anna Gudmundsdottir (co-Chairs), Jason Hein (Local Organizer)
2018
38th University of Colorado, Boulder
Igor Alabugin and Jeehiun Lee (co-chairs),Oana Luca and Michael Marshak (Local Organizers)
2022
39th University of New Mexico
William Karney and Kathleen Morgan (co-Chairs), Brian Gold and Jeffrey Rack (Local Organizers)
2024