Erick M. Carreira takes helm of Organic Letters

Erick Carreira, a professor of chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, has been named the new editor in chief of the American Chemical Society peer-reviewed journal Organic Letters. He will succeed Amos B. Smith of the University of Pennsylvania, who has led the journal since its debut in 1999.

Organic Letters is a one-stop communications journal where researchers can reliably find a rich, dense collection of cutting-edge organic chemistry, Carreira says. “It is an exciting time to be an organic chemist because of the discovery of new reactions and reactivity modes that can be combined with unparalleled advances in analytical techniques along with new technologies and engineering to enable expansion of what is possible in reaction/structural space,” he adds. “One of the things I love about Organic Letters is that it is inclusive of the broad swath of science that modern organic chemistry embraces.”

Carreira’s research covers catalysis, methodology, target-oriented synthesis, mechanistic studies, and chemical biology. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Harvard University.

“Professor Carreira’s extensive editorial and publishing experience with the journal, as well as his scientific expertise in the areas of organic synthesis and natural products, will ensure the journal continues to develop and be held in the highest regard over the years ahead,” says James Milne, senior vice president of the Journals Publishing Group at ACS Publications.

“As with anything new, there will be a steep learning curve as I familiarize myself with the operations,” Carreira says. “In parallel, however, I wish to modernize some aspects of the various processes to ensure a rewarding experience for authors, reviewers, and readers.”