Most syntheses in the chemical research laboratory fail and usually require several attempts before proceeding satisfactorily. Failed syntheses are not only discouraging and frustrating, but also cost a lot of time and money. Many failures may, however, be avoided by understanding the structure-reactivity relationship of organic compounds. This textbook highlights the competing processes and limitations of the most important reactions used in organic synthesis. By allowing chemists to quickly recognize potential problems this book will help to improve their efficiency and success-rate. A must for every graduate student but also for every chemist in industry and academia. Contents: 1 Organic Synthesis: General Remarks 2 Stereoelectronic Effects and Reactivity 3 The Stability of Organic Compounds 4 Aliphatic Nucleophilic Substitutions: Problematic Electrophiles 5 The Alkylation of Carbanions 6 The Alkylation of Heteroatoms 7 The Acylation of Heteroatoms 8 PalladiumCatalyzed CC Bond Formation 9 Cyclizations 10 Monofunctionalization of Symmetric Difunctional Substrates

F. Zaragoza Dörwald studied chemistry at the Georg-August University of Göttingen and Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1990 on the synthesis of natural products under the guidance of M. Franck-Neumann and M. Miesch. He spent each one postdoctoral year in the groups of A. Pfaltz (University of Basel) and A.P. Marchand (University of North Texas), and worked then on the synthesis of unnatural amino acids at the Technical University of Dresden. Since 1995 he has a position as medicinal chemist at Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, Denmark. His main interests are the development of parallel and solid-phase syntheses for lead identification and optimization.

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