Metal Ligand Interactions In Organic Chemistry And Biochemistry

The 9th Jerusalem Symposium was dedicated to the memory of Professor Ernst David Bergmann. An imposing and deeply moving memorial session, chaired by Professor Ephraim Katzir, the President of the State of IsƯ rael and a close friend of Professor Bergmann preceded the Symposium itself. During this session, Professor Bergmann's personality, scienƯ tific achievements and contributions to the development of his country were described and praised, besides President Katzir, by Professor A. Dvoretzky, President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Professor D. Ginsburg, Dean of the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and the author of these lines. May I just quote short extracts from these speeches. President Katzir: "As we open this ninth in the series of symposia initiated in 1967, it is difficult for me as, I am sure, for many of Ernst Bergmann's friends, co-workers and students, to be here without him. He was not only a great scientist and a beloved teacher, he was one of the most important founders of science in this country. To him we owe many institutes and the establishment here of many branches of science." Professor Dvoretzky: "Ernst Bergmann's greatness did not stem from one component overshadowing all the others. It was a multifaceted greatƯ ness consisting of the harmonious co~lescing of seemingly contrasting entities into a wonderful unity "

The 9th Jerusalem Symposium was dedicated to the memory of Professor Ernst David Bergmann. An imposing and deeply moving memorial session, chaired by Professor Ephraim Katzir, the President of the State of Is rael and a close friend of Professor Bergmann preceded the Symposium itself. During this session, Professor Bergmann's personality, scien tific achievements and contributions to the development of his country were described and praised, besides President Katzir, by Professor A. Dvoretzky, President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Professor D. Ginsburg, Dean of the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and the author of these lines. May I just quote short extracts from these speeches. President Katzir: "As we open this ninth in the series of symposia initiated in 1967, it is difficult for me as, I am sure, for many of Ernst Bergmann's friends, co-workers and students, to be here without him. He was not only a great scientist and a beloved teacher, he was one of the most important founders of science in this country. To him we owe many institutes and the establishment here of many branches of science. " Professor Dvoretzky: "Ernst Bergmann's greatness did not stem from one component overshadowing all the others. It was a multifaceted great ness consisting of the harmonious co~lescing of seemingly contrasting entities into a wonderful unity ••.

In September 2002, a NATO-ASI was held in Cetraro (CS), Italy on the theme of "Metal-Ligand Interactions in Molecular-, Nano-, Micro-, and Macro-systems in Complex Environments". This event has followed the previous ones held in the same place in 1991, 1994 and 1998. In the present and the previous schools a broad interdisciplinary cross-section of experimental and theoretical researchers, interested in a better understanding of metal-ligand interactions from different viewpoints, was linked together to exchange experience, to review the state-of-the-art, to indicate new techniques and methods, to explore new fields and perspectives. Particular emphasis was given to the problems related with the crossing from molecular systems to nano-, macro-and micro-scale materials and to the effects of the environment on the properties of the molecular systems. The school was organized around lectures and special research seminares given by leading experts in the following fields: • metal clusters • inorganic complexes and materials • surface phenomena • adsorption and catalysis • organic and bio-inorganic systems • ab initio theory • density functional theory • classical and quantum dynamics This volume contains the formal lectures and selected contributed papers and describes the main aspects and problems tackled during the 12 days of the event.