Introduction
Microscale chemistry got its initial impetus during the
late 1970s and early 1980s when environmental and economical concerns, mainly
in US, aroused inside laboratories, especially of organic chemistry nature.
From then on, the relevance and advantageous aspects of microscale or small
scale chemistry being recognized quickly and globally. It is now regarded as
'normal' to do microscale organic chemistry. Beside the obvious reduction in
the amounts and material costs in chemical consumables, microscale operations
also offer the alternative of adopting simpler and smaller apparatus, not to
mention the drastic decrease in laboratory hazards as a result. This is not
the end of the story. A specimen of recent research journal titles even revealed
the incipient research activities of this new field, never merely confined to
organic chemistry anymore.
As a sequel to our
"Microscale Chemistry Workshop" (July 3-5, 2000), this symposium is
intended to promote the scientific exchanges among scientists and school teachers
in this exciting field.