Dear readers,


For the third time, we are pleased to offer you a total of 12 interesting papers, the authors or co-authors of which are Ph.D. students of analytical chemistry. The aim of this special issue of Monatshefte für Chemie/Chemical Monthly is—as with the two previous issues—to help these budding scientists develop their skills in scientific communication. After all, the exchange of new discoveries and information is an essential and necessary condition for the development of any scientific field.

Two electroanalytical reviews open our special issue. The first is devoted to the centenary of the discovery of polarography, one of the most important electroanalytical methods, and its application in pharmacy. The second review shows that even after a century since the discovery of this method, its possibilities have not been exhausted, and its new applications are still being discovered, especially in the determination of organic compounds.

The following ten original papers open an article on chemophobia and its interrelationship with the workplace of chemists—the laboratory. The following six papers are devoted to separation analytical methods and the determination of various analytes in authentic samples, both modern and historical. Finally, the last group consists of three articles focused on electroanalytical methods for the determination and modeling of the metabolism of substances.

We hope that you will find the papers collected in this issue to be of high quality, interesting, and stimulating. They will also demonstrate that new, emerging analytical chemists are capable of following the footsteps of their predecessors and make useful contributions to chemistry, that great science in the service of humanity.

As editors, we especially thank the Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Prof. Dr. Peter Gärtner, for his generous consent to publishing this issue. We are very indebted to the Managing Editor, Dr. Christian Hametner, for his kind support in preparing this issue. Our thanks also come to all referees for their valuable comments that improved the quality of the contributions, and to the staff of the Publisher, Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, for all their help with the release of this special issue.


Enjoy reading this issue,

Karel Nesměrák and Tomáš Navrátil