Classics in Total Synthesis: Targets, Strategies, Methods [Paperback]

K. C. Nicolaou (Author), E. J. Sorensen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 3527292314 | ISBN-13: 978-3527292318 | Publication Date: December 17, 1996 | Edition: 1

This book is a must for every synthetic chemist. With didactic skill and clarity, K. C. Nicolaou and E. Sorensen present the most remarkable and ingenious total syntheses from outstanding synthetic organic chemists.

To make the complex strategies more accessible, especially to the novice, each total synthesis is analyzed retrosynthetically. The authors then carefully explain each synthetic step and give hints on alternative methods and potential pitfalls. Numerous references to useful reviews and the original literature make this book an indispensable source of further information.

Special emphasis is placed on the skillful use of graphics and schemes: Retrosynthetic analyses, reaction sequences, and stereochemically crucial steps are presented in boxed sections within the text. For easy reference, key intermediates are also shown in the margins.

Graduate students and researchers alike will find this book a gold mine of useful information essential for their daily work. Every synthetic organic chemist will want to have a copy on his or her desk.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This book is first to cover in detail the syntheses, reactions, and physical properties of nitrocarbons. Examples from the group of other, as yet unknown nitrocarbons are also discussed. It further includes a very complete survey of all published literature on the subject.

From the Back Cover

K. C. Nicolaou, E. J. Sorensen Classics in Total Synthesis Targets, Strategies, Methods This book is a must for every synthetic organic chemist. With didactic skill and clarity, K. C. Nicolaou and E. J. Sorensen present the most remarkable and ingenious total syntheses from the laboratories of some of the world’s greatest synthetic organic chemists. To make the strategies more understandable and accessible, especially to the novice, each total synthesis is first analyzed retrosynthetically. The authors then carefully describe each step and comment on alternative methods and potential pitfalls. When appropriate, key chemical reactions are discussed in the wider context of the chemical literature, giving the reader a lesson in both total synthesis and synthetic methods. Diverse structural types of natural products and important organic transformations including pericyclic, ionic, radical, and photochemical reactions are covered. Catalysis, asymmetric synthesis, organometallic chemistry, and cyclization reactions are especially highlighted. Mechanism, reactivity, selectivity, and stereochemistry are presented clearly and discussed analytically. Numerous references to useful reviews and the original literature will make this book the first point of entry into the vast field of synthetic organic chemistry. Special emphasis is placed on the skillful use of graphics and schemes. Retrosynthetic analyses, reaction sequences and crucial synthetic steps are presented in boxed, blue background sections within the text. For easy reference, key intermediates are also shown in the margins. Graduate students, teachers, and researchers alike will find this book to be a gold mine of useful information. Every synthetic chemist will have a copy on his or her desk.

Product Details

• Paperback: 821 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-VCH; 1 edition (December 17, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3527292314
• ISBN-13: 978-3527292318
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Chemistry > Organic > Synthesis
  • #39 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Chemistry > Analytic
  • #48 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Chemistry > Physical & Theoretical > Physical Chemistry

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classics in Total Synthesis Revisited, February 9, 2002

By 

Matthew M. Yau "Voracious reader" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Classics in Total Synthesis: Targets, Strategies, Methods (Paperback)

The more I read and study out from the book, the more I appreciate the beauty of it. Nicolaou and Sorensen's Classics in Total Synthesis is the most widely consulted title on organic synthesis. As many have commented, this book is a must for every synthetic organic chemist, organic student and researcher.

Released in 1995, despite the advances in synthetic methodology, Nicolaou has presented some of the most remarkable and ingenious total syntheses from laboratories of the world's most prominent organic chemists. Molecules adopted include strychnine, prostaglandin, progesterone, vitamin B12, erythronolide B, monensin, endiandric acids, biotin, hirsutene, capnellene, methyl homosecodaphniphyllate, calicheamicin and more.

Nicaolaou has done an incredible favor to make the strategies more understandable and accesible. For each molecule, the total synthesis begins with a thorough retrosynthetic analysis. Sometimes more than one retrosynthetic routes are introduced in order to show the possibilities of finding the most efficient synthesis.

Nicoloau then meticulously describle each step in synthesis with referral to important named reactions such as the Noyori assymmetric reduction, Luche reaction, Johnson Claisen rearrangement, Julia olefination, etc. With such didatic skill and clarity, Nicoloau has taught the gist of synthesizing complex molecules from commercially available building blocks. A great way to use the book and learn organic synthesis would be to write down every single step on a separate piece of paper and understand what each step does in the overall total synthesis. The synthesis steps and important reactions are presented in schemes with blue background sections, with emphasis on asymmetric synthesis, catalysts, stereochemistry and mechanism. Major reaction intermediates are presented at the margin.

Chemical synthesis relies heavily on chemical literature research. Nicoloau also provides numerous references in each total synthesis for further studies and consultation. Nicoloau has made organic synthesis fun and approachable. Every synthetic chemist should own a copy of Nicolaou.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for synthetic organic chemists, December 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Classics in Total Synthesis: Targets, Strategies, Methods (Paperback)

This is an impressive collection of 36 syntheses. Each chapter describes a different synthesis. Included are a retrosynthetic analysis(very helpful for those learning the art of total synthesis), the total synthesis(explaining key steps along the way and why the reaction gave the products it did) and then some conclusions. The appendix in chapter 22, on Catalytic Asymetric Reactions is very useful. If you bought "The Logic of Chemical Synthesis' and were dissapointed, don't let that scare you from this book. It is well worth the price.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for all organic chemists., July 28, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Classics in Total Synthesis (Hardcover)

Nicolaou has written the book that Corey's _Logic of Chemical Synthesis_ should have been. The total synthesis of over thirty natural products is described in great detail, outlining the strategy and retrosynthetic analysis for each compound. The book begins with Woodward's ground-breaking synthesis of strychnine (in 1954!) and culminates with one of Nicolaou's own great triumphs, the synthesis of brevetoxin B. The other syntheses presented, including vitamin B12, ginkgolide B, and Taxol, are no less impressive. This book is truly inspiring; it is the kind of book that will induce bright young students to enter the field of organic chemistry. It is exciting reading, and I hope it will be but the first in a series. Congratulations, Nicolaou, on an excellent book. (For a sample of the tone of the book, see Nicolaou's recent article on the synthesis of brevetoxin B in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, issue 35, pages 589-607, 1996)