Preface

The 15th Korea–Japan Symposium on Catalysis was held from May 26th to 28th in Busan, Korea. This symposium was organized under the auspices of the Division of Catalysis and Reaction Engineering in the Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers. Ever since the first Korea–Japan symposium was held in 1987 in Seoul, this symposium was continued bilaterally as shown in Table 1. This symposium has been a very enjoyable and successful occasion to have information on recent catalysis research outcomes and to promote cooperative relationships between scientists and engineers in Korea and Japan.

Table 1 History of Korea–Japan catalysis symposium

The symposium was organized by Prof. Kwan-Young Lee, Korea University as Chairman, Prof. Jong-Ki Jeon, Kongju National University as Vice-chairman, Prof. In Kyu Song, Seoul National University as Secretary, Prof. Sung June Cho, Chonnam National University and Prof. Do Heui Kim, Seoul National University as Program Chair, and Prof. Atsushi Muramatsu, Tohoku University as Coordinator of Japan.

In this symposium, four plenary lectures, four keynote lectures, 40 oral presentations, and 168 poster presentations were presented, covering all aspects of catalytic research works from fundamentals and characterization to various applications extended to green and sustainable technology. The total participants were 341 including 70 Japanese participants, which was the biggest symposium among the series of Korea–Japan Catalysis Symposium. Especially this symposium operates the Young Scientist Session separately for a close exchange of Korea-Japan young catalyst researchers. Senior members from the both country also have participated in the symposium including Prof. Yoshio Ono, Prof. Makoto Misono, Prof. Yoshihiko Morooka, Prof. Miki Niwa from Japan as well as Prof. Wha Young Lee, Prof. Hyun-Ku Rhee, Prof. Sang Heup Moon, Prof. Son-Ki Ihm from Korea.

The Young Scientist Session was opened on May 26th with two plenary lectures, entitled “Metal–Organic Frameworks for Catalysis” by Prof. Wha-Seung Ahn (Inha University, Korea) and “Metal Cluster Catalysts for Environmental Friendly Chemistry—Breakthrough by Collaboration with Different Research Area” by Prof. Atsushi Satsuma (Nagoya University, Japan). The Main Session was opened on May 27th and 28th with two plenary lectures, entitled “Unique Structural Properties of Tin Hydroxide Nanoparticles-embedded Montmorillonite (Sn-Mont) Demonstrating its Efficient Acid Catalysts for Various Organic Reactions” by Prof. Makoto Onaka (The University of Tokyo, Japan) and “Heterogeneous Catalytic Conversions of Alcohols/polyols Derived from Biomass to Fine Chemicals” by Prof. Jongheop Yi (Seoul National University, Korea). The four keynote lectures were given by Dr. Yong-Ki Park (Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Korea), Prof. Toshiyuki Yokoi (Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan), Prof. Yoshinao Nakagawa (Tohoku University, Japan), and Prof. Dae-Won Park (Pusan National University, Korea).

Some of the speakers of plenary lecturers and keynote lecturers from this symposium contributed review articles to Catalysis Surveys from Asia. These review articles on surveys of recent progress and activities in catalytic science and technology are published here. I want to take this opportunity to extend my appreciation to the authors for submitting such excellent articles.