Editorial [Hot Topic: The Use of Heterogeneous Catalysts in Organic Synthesis (Guest Editor: Arpad Molnar)]

Part II of the second special issue of Current Organic Chemistry dedicated to the topic of the use of heterogeneous catalysts in organic synthesis, again, brings together experts of a few selected, important fields to highlight recent major achievements. I am pleased that by these contributions we can maintain the diversity established in the previous volume. In the opening account Mohammad Ali Zolfigol (Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan) and his group of experts from Iran (Farhad Shirini, Guilan University, Rasht, Peyman Salehi, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, and Masoumeh Abedini, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan) provides an up to date survey of the use of various metal hydrogen sulfates. These recyclable catalysts can be easily handled and have been applied in a broad range of organic reactions under mild conditions. Professor Said Sebti (University of Hassan II-Mohammedia, Casablanca, Morocco) and his team of experts from Marocco (Mohamed Zahouily, University of Hassan II-Mohammedia, Mohammedia, and Hassan B. Lazrek, University of Cadi Ayyad, Marrakech), Spain (Jose Antonio Mayoral, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza), and the United Kingdom (Duncan J. Macquarrie, University of York, Heslington) give an account of the use of phosphates as heterogeneous catalysts with the main emphasis on natural phosphates. The review provides a detailed treatment about the wide array of organic transformations in which these new catalysts have successfully been applied. The contributors of the final chapter are Habib Firouzabadi (Shiraz University, Iran) and Abas Ali Jafari (Yazd University, Iran). They review recent applications of cesium and aluminum salts of dodecatungstophosphoric acid. These efficient and eco-friendly catalysts have been applied successfully in numerous organic transformations. It is the sincere hope of both the contributing authors and myself that the readers will find the second part of this second special issue about heterogeneous catalysis in organic synthesis interesting and informative.