Editorial [Hot Topic: Current Organic Chemistry Devoted to Carbohydrate Chemistry (Guest Editor: Zbigniew J. Witczak) ]

Welcome to the fifth special issue of Current Organic Chemistry devoted to carbohydrate chemistry.1-5 As we witness unprecedented growth and interest in the subject, from the introduction of glycobiology through the molecular recognition of carbohydrates, and their supramolecular chemistry, the idea to continue to cover these diversified topics is one of the great temptations. The aim is to present authorative overviews of the current status of structural and synthetic carbohydrate chemistry, which we perceive to be central to the study of carbohydrate chemistry. This issue also intends to strengthen the steadily increasing understanding of the roles of carbohydrates in nature and the life sciences, in particular. This jubilee issue (enriched with DNA topics) is a collection of reviews by internationally recognized experts, which are compiled sequentially in order of their importance. The first review, entitled "From Exocyclic-Olefinic Carbohydrate Derivatives to Functionalized Carbocyclic Compounds" by Professor Xin-Shin Ye and co-workers Jian Zhou, Guannan Wang (State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China), examines significant information published thus far on the topic of utilization of functionalized exocyclic-olefinic carbohydrates as universal templates to carbocyclic compounds. The second review contribution by Professor Slawomir Jarosz and Dr Arkadiusz Listkowski (Institute of Organic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw, Poland) describes a new carbohydrate chemistry challenge: "Sugar Derived Crown Ethers and Analogs: Synthesis and Properties". The review covers many various new aspects of crown chemistry as applied to synthetic carbohydrate chemistry. The fundamentally important topic of DNA recognition has been an enduring theme in the life science of carbohydrate chemistry: Professor Dev Arya and Dr. Bert Willis (Clemson University, South Carolina, U.S.A) set out the principles and procedures for these endeavors and contribute a review on "Major Groove Recognition of DNA by Carbohydrates" Finally Professor Eriks Rozners (Department of Chemistry, Northeastern University, Boston, U.S.A) contributes a review of "Carbohydrate Chemistry for RNA Interference: Synthesis and Properties of RNA Analogues Modified in Sugar-Phosphate Backbone". This critically important topic is often unappreciated by synthetic carbohydrate chemists and by highlighting the significance of these physicochemical properties of carbohydrates should give a better understanding and appreciation of carbohydrates. I kindly thank all the authors for their diligent efforts in producing such an informed and enlightened collection for this jubilee issue and I welcome suggestions and ideas for topics of future issues.