In Memory of Professor Pedro Joseph-Nathan (1941-2022)—Our Friend,a World-Renowned NMR and Natural Product Scientist

The enjoyable element of publishing this special collection of Natural Product Communications comes from the recognition and tribute made to an exceptional individual, Prof Pedro Joseph-Nathan, who has played a key role in the development of natural product research, not only within Mexico but also in the various countries of Latin America, Spain, and Portugal. ¹

Prof Joseph-Nathan was born in Mexico City on September 17, 1941. He simultaneously undertook Chemistry and Chemical Engineering undergraduate studies, from UNAM in Mexico City, where he continued with graduate work to obtain his doctorate in 1966. Throughout his entire professional life, he was associated with CINVESTAV-IPN, where he was appointed in 1966, was promoted to Professor of Chemistry in 1972, and was Emeritus since 1996. He has coauthored over 525 research publications and was recognized by numerous Honorary Professor titles, as well as doctor Honoris causa awards by several universities, and, in 1991, he received the National Award of Sciences and Arts from the Government of Mexico. He was deeply involved in natural products of Ibero-American species, including structural elucidation, chemical transformations, and the use of physical methods such as NMR, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and VCD.

He was a passionate scientist and mentor who was one of the most prominent supporters of Natural Product Communications having published more than 30 papers in the journal. We were fortunate to organize 2 special issues (Natural Product Communications. 2008;3(3) 303-468; and 3(4) 469-654) for his 65th birthday. His 2 review articles, related to the application of VCD for assigning the absolute configuration of natural products,^2,3 were selected for the Gerald Blunden Award.

His earlier work ⁴ related to Carbon-13 NMR during 1974 inspired us to write the first review ⁵ and carbon-13 NMR of flavonoids in 1981 and we were able to write an article ⁶ related to a similar subject for his memorial collection. He will be remembered for his outstanding research in organic chemistry as well as by the community of natural product researchers for his vision through his pioneering work. He was a world-known scientist who trained directly and indirectly several hundreds of researchers around the Latin-American world. His legacy is amazing and expressed in so many ways by his excellent research and leadership which had a great influence on the scholarly endeavors of his students.

The editors of this special collection, Dr Pawan K. Agrawal, Prof Rosa E. del Río, and Dr Eleuterio Burgueño Tapia, take great pleasure in thanking the authors of the various contributions and to Samantha Crown and Natalie Gerson, Sage Publishers for their support and kind efforts for the success of this collection.

Pedro Joseph-Nathan was an inspiration to scientists, young, and old.