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This Guest Editorial gives an overview of LabEx SynOrg, to which this Special Collection of EurJOC is dedicated. The LabEx, or Laboratories of Excellence, are the winners of a call for projects by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research as part of the Investments for the Future Program that was launched in 2010. These LabEx are aimed at funding research teams around innovative and promising projects. Selected by international juries, these world-class French laboratories are endowed with significant resources, enabling their teams to compete with their foreign counterparts on a level playing field. Located in the 2nd-largest French chemical industry region (Figure 1), LabEx SynOrg brings together the chemists from four laboratories, that is, two in the Normandy region: COBRA-UMR 60141 in Rouen and LCMT-UMR 65072 in Caen, and two in the Centre Val de Loire region: ICOA-UMR 73113 in Orléans and the IMT team of the GICC-UMR 72924 in Tours. LabEx SynOrg is the largest French Institute in the field of molecular chemistry with a staff of about 300 researchers, engineers, and technicians including about 100 PhD students. An overview of the LabEx SynOrg. World-class chemical research is being developed and includes the following major areas of research: Organic synthesis and Catalysis Analytical and theoretical chemistry Polymer chemistry The research projects in the LabEx SynOrg are focused on molecular diversity with expertise in heteroelement chemistry, heterocyclic chemistry, glycochemistry, analytical and theoretical chemistry and homogeneous catalysis as well metal-promoted reactions. The search for new tools to characterize and understand biological mechanisms is at the heart of the scientific interests of the LabEx SynOrg. These research themes are linked to several of the Key Technologies (KT) of the European Research and Innovation Strategy (H2020): KT 8 (processes for green chemistry), KT 15, KT 16, KT 17 (microfluidic chemistry), KT 18 (meta-omics), and KT 32 (imaging technologies for preventive health care). The LabEx SynOrg benefits from several high-level technology platforms with outstanding facilities for Synthesis, Analysis, Cosmetomics, Cell and Medical Imaging, Proteomics, and the characterization of materials. It is also equipped with a range of instruments backed by the EU FT ICR network at very high resolution (Figure 2). Top: Fourier transform mass spectrometer (FTICR) equipped with a 12 T superconductive magnet. Bottom: on the left, Bruker NEO 600 MHz solid-state NMR spectrometer equipped with a 4 mm IProbe 1H-13C CPMAS probe and a 2.5 mm trigamma 1H-X,Y probe; on the right, Bruker NEO 500 MHz spectrometer equipped with an IProbe 1H-X probe and InsightXpress reaction monitoring. LabEx SynOrg acts as an organizer and co-organizer of landmark scientific events and gatherings, including prestigious international symposia (11th International Conference on Heteroatom Chemistry (ICHAC XI), 11th International Symposium on Carbanions Chemistry (ISCC-11), 29th European Colloquium on Heterocyclic Chemistry (XXIX ECHC) as well as national ones (28th National Meeting of the French Glycochemistry and Glycobiology Society). It also supports comprehensive workshops for young scientists (GECO, French Chemical Society DCO meetings). Every year, LabEx SynOrg welcomes renowned scientists to train students in organic chemistry and develop international collaborations, in particular thanks to a specific program called "the Chairs of Excellence" that is fully funded by LabEx SynOrg. Among the recent recipients, are: Prof. A. B. Charette (University of Montreal) Prof. M. Lautens (University of Toronto) Prof. N. Shibata (Nagoya Institute of Technology) SynOrg offers a range of international chemistry education that includes several research-oriented and professional Master's degrees. At the Master level, several innovative training initiatives are proposed through the SynOrg-affiliated graduate school "XL–Chem",5 which directly benefit from SynOrg′s strong areas of expertise. In addition to high-level fundamental research projects, SynOrg encourages partnership research projects with private companies, which are developed within the I2 C6 Carnot Institute of Chemistry with the mission to meet the innovation needs of its industrial partners through close collaboration. LabEx SynOrg encourages the filing of patents or the granting of licenses for new methodologies, technologies, and devices developed within the LabEx through the innovation and technology transfer office, Normandie Valorisation. SynOrg also joins some international exhibitions on health and cosmetics, such as CPHI Frankfurt, Cosmetics, and together with the SCT (French Society of Therapeutic Chemistry) has organized the 50th International Meeting on Therapeutic Chemistry with more than 70 industrial participants from pharmaceutical companies. All in all, the Synorg LabEx is a cutting-edge research institute in the fields of organic, and bioorganic chemistry, homogeneous catalysis, and analytical sciences. Some of its excellent contributions to research are exemplified by the research papers in this Special Issue Collection of the European Journal of Organic Chemistry. This work has been partially supported by University of Rouen Normandy, University of Caen Normandy, INSA Rouen Normandy, ENSICaen, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Labex SynOrg (ANR-11-LABX-0029), Carnot Institute I2C, the graduate school for research XL–Chem (ANR-18-EURE-0020 XL CHEM), and Region Normandie. E.N. and T.B. thank the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement no. 758710). Annie Claude Gaumont is a university professor with a PhD in organic chemistry obtained at the University of Rennes 1 in the group of Dr. J.M. Denis (1991) and a postdoctoral qualification in organometallic catalysis obtained under the supervision of Dr J.M. Brown at the University of Oxford (UK). In 1992, she joined CNRS as a research fellow. She was appointed Professor at the University of Caen-Normandie in 2000. Her research interests include the development of new methodologies for the synthesis of original sulfur, boron or phosphorus containing molecules, the development of new catalytic methodologies and the study of the degradation of elastomers. Between 2008 and 2016 she directed the Laboratory of Molecular and Thio-Organic Chemistry, a unit associating the University of Caen-Normandie, CNRS and Ensicaen. Since 2019, she is the coordinator of the LabEx SYNORG, dedicated to organic molecules for life sciences, Philippe Jubault received his Engineer Diploma in «Chemistry and Process» from the National Institute of Applied Sciences of Rouen. In 1992, he joined the research group of Prof. Collignon and Prof. C. Feasson at the INSA of Rouen where he obtained his Ph.D. in January 1996. After one year as a post-doctoral student at Hydro-Québec (Shawinigan, Québec, Canada), he was a Marie Curie research fellow in the laboratory of Prof. V. K. Aggarwal at the University of Sheffield. In 1998, he returned to the INSA of Rouen and assumed in 2000 an assistant professor position, becoming full professor in 2008. His research interests include the development of new methodologies for the synthesis of original fluorinated building blocks bearing CF2, SF5 groups, new methods for the synthesis of fluoro, CF2H, CF3-cyclopropanes, the developments of new heterocyclic scaffolds for medicinal chemistry and flow chemistry. Since 2019, he is at the head of the research department of LabEx SynOrg. Tatiana Besset obtained her PhD in organic chemistry (2009) at Grenoble University with Dr. Greene. She then moved to the WWU Münster as a postdoctoral fellow in the group of Prof. Glorius. In 2011, she joined the group of Prof. Reek at Amsterdam University as an industrial postdoctoral fellow (Eastman company). Since 2012, she is a CNRS Researcher in the 'Fluorinated Biomolecules Synthesis' group at the laboratory COBRA (UMR 6014, Rouen, France). Her research involves the design of new transformations involving transition-metal catalysis (C−H bond functionalization) and the development of new strategies in organofluorine chemistry.
Gaumont et al. (Wed,) studied this question.