Total Synthesis
A total synthesis is the complete chemical synthesis of complex organic molecules from simple, commercially available (petrochemical) or natural precursors. In a linear synthesis—often adequate for simple structures—several steps are performed one after another until the molecule is complete. The chemical compounds made in each step are usually deemed synthetic intermediates. For more complex molecules, a different approach may be preferable: convergent synthesis involves the individual preparation of several "pieces" (key intermediates), which are then combined to form the desired product.
Robert Burns Woodward, who received the 1965 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for several total syntheses (e.g., his 1954 synthesis of strychnine), is regarded as the father of modern organic synthesis. Some latter-day examples include Wender's, Holton's, Nicolaou's and Danishefsky's synthesis of Taxol.
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Famous quotes containing the words total and/or synthesis:
“When we suffer anguish we return to early childhood because that is the period in which we first learnt to suffer the experience of total loss. It was more than that. It was the period in which we suffered more total losses than in all the rest of our life put together.”
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