Chemistry is an enabling science. No material of any type can be studied or utilized in a larger context unless it can be prepared, and thus Chemical Synthesis plays a central role in science, technology, and society, broadly defined. There is a constant demand in all quarters of society for new molecules in diverse arenas – from therapeutics to agrochemicals to functional materials of every description. Although it is probably true that, given enough resources and time, any reasonable molecule can be synthesized, substantial advances are still necessary to furnish a specific molecule in appropriate amounts under the modern constraints of time, economics, and environmental sustainability. The Chemical Synthesis symposium plans to cover the following four topics, which address many of the modern challenges of the discipline. Synthetic method; total synthesis of biologically active natural products; catalysis and structure, function, mechanisms and processes.