History of the Group

The origin of the Spanish Organometallic Chemistry Group from the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry dates from mid-1981, when the first meeting took place at the Universidad of Alcalá. This meeting was sponsored by Prof. Pascual Royo, the subsequent first President of GEQO, with an attendance of forty researchers related to Organometallic Chemistry (see image with the list of attendees). Previously, the creation of such a group had been requested to the RSEQ, whose positive response supported the beginnings of GEQO.
The Statutes were approved at that first meeting, and the place of the next meeting, which would coincide with the Biennial of the RSEQ, was also decided. Since then, with some exceptions, the Group's Scientific Meetings have alternated over the years with the Biennials of the RSEQ. It should be noted that, due to the growing number of members of the Group, the presence of Organometallic Chemistry in the Biennials has been quite remarkable. This growth of members, from the first forty in 1981 to the current more than five hundred and fifty, is a consequence of the intense activity that has been developed in Spain in this field over the last decades, with great repercussion in the publications derived from said activity in high-impact chemistry journals.

Since its inception, several members have dedicated their time to the management of the Group. It has already been mentioned that the Group was established by Pascual Royo, who during his presidency was supported by a Governing Board with Víctor Riera, Antonio Otero, José Vicente, A. Vazquez, Luis Oro, Ernesto Carmona, Manuel Gómez, and J. Sales. In 1988, there was a change in presidency and Pascual Lahuerta was elected for this purpose, supported by a Governing Board with some of the above members in addition to Juan Forniés, Carmen Claver, Ricardo Serrano, Francisco Estevan, Pablo Espinet, and Esther Delgado. It was, in fact, Juan Forniés who was chosen to preside over the group in 1993 in Santiago de Compostela, with some of the previous members of the Board and the incorporation of Mª Teresa Chicote, Miquel Seco, Agustín Galindo, and Babil Manjón. Two years later, at the 1995 Sevilla Meeting, a new election was held, with Pablo Espinet being elected with the support of Mª Pilar García, Javier Cabeza, Ana Carmen Albéniz, Mercedes Cano, and Oriol Rossell as new additions to the Board constituted by the members already mentioned. This Board operated until 2002, when, in San Sebastian, Javier Cabeza was elected President, supported during his presidency by Jaume Granell, Jesús Pérez-Torrente, Ignacio del Río, and M Mar Díaz Requejo. In 2010, at the Meeting in Huelva, a Governing Board chaired by Pedro Pérez took over with the support of Ana Carmen Albéniz, Ana Caballero, Eduardo Peris, M Concepción Gimeno, and Ernesto de Jesus. The current Board was elected at the XXXII Meeting of the Group in Tarragona, whose president is Eduardo Peris, supported by Zoraida Freixa, Gregorio Guisado, Eduardo Sola, Montserrat Gómez, and M Carmen Nicasio.

As can be deduced from the above, many members of the Group have collaborated in its administration over the years. This dedication is a demonstration of the efforts made by researchers in the area of Organometallic Chemistry during these decades, from the tough beginnings, characterised by the lack of infrastructures and support programs, to the present, where it occupies a privileged place in the international community. These efforts have been recognised in the form of Awards to a significant number of members of the Group. Thus, Luis Oro has received the National Award for Research (2007). The RSEQ Medal has been awarded to Rafael Usón (1994), Pascual Royo (1998), José Vicente (2001), Ernesto Carmona (2006), Luis Oro (2007), Pablo Espinet (2008), Antonio Echavarren (2010), and Pedro J Pérez (2016). As for the RSEQ Award in Inorganic Chemistry, it has been granted to Miguel A. Esteruelas (2001), Santiago Álvarez (2003), José Gimeno (2004), Pedro J. Pérez (2007), Margarita Paneque (2009), Eduardo Peris (2012), and Ruben Martín (2015). In addition, Antonio Echavarren has been awarded the Organic Chemistry Prize (2004), and Agustí Lledos (2008) and Feliú Maseras (2011) that in Physical Chemistry. Also worthy of mention is the award of the Jaume I Prize to Luis Oro (1999) and Ernesto Carmona (2010).
In 2011, the thirty years of GEQO were celebrated in a Scientific Event at the Universidad Complutense with high participation of the members of the Group.