This special issue of the Journal presents papers authored by RACI and AAS award winners from 2018 to 2020.

We provide users with a succinct overview of and recommendations for treating excited states of organic molecules with time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT), with a special emphasis on time-dependent double-hybrid density functional approximations which are currently the most robust TD-DFT methods.

This paper provides a personal account of the Macquarie–Yaegl partnership, which commenced as a bush medicines research project and has been the catalyst for positive cultural change and educational outcomes that have benefited Australian Aboriginal people. This account showcases how as chemists we can collaborate with Indigenous communities in a manner that provides fulfilling research and societal benefits.

Bis-thiosemicarbazones derived from benzoylacetone exhibit complex and unusual chemistry upon reaction with copper, including the stabilisation of Cu^III in a dimeric product of ligand oxidation.

The complete ¹H, ¹³C, and ¹⁵N NMR chemical shifts of 4-NI and CH₃-4NI are reported for the first time and supported by accurate DFT calculations (within 2 % for ¹³C). The ¹⁵N chemical shifts, however, indicate that effects such as imidazole ring resonant structures and molecular dynamics need further investigation.

The development of reaction conditions for the iodocyclisation of electronically resistant alkynes affords access to 2-carboxy (and sulfoxy)-3-iodobenzo[b]thiophenes that, among other things, can be employed in iterative coupling–iodocyclisation sequences for the synthesis of more elaborate ring systems.