Prior to World War II, the center of organic chemistry research and industrial production was Germany. Students interested in pursuing a career in organic chemistry needed to learn German to read articles and textbooks, and often went to graduate school in Germany. When the war broke out, an effort to jumpstart a native US organic chemical industry and academic network was initiated. As part of this effort, the journal was launched. The first volume was published in 1942, with Roger Adams as editor-in-chief. In the early years a volume would come out every two years or so, but the pace of publishing has accelerated, with volume 100 issued in 2019.