Chemoselectivity: The Mother of Invention in Total Synthesis
- 30 January 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in Accounts of Chemical Research
- Vol. 42 (4), 530-541
- https://doi.org/10.1021/ar800182r
Abstract
In our laboratory, a premium is placed upon selecting targets that would be difficult or impossible to synthesize using traditional techniques. The successful total synthesis of such molecules demands a high degree of innovation, which in turn enables the discovery of new reactivity and principles for controlling chemoselectivity. In devising an approach to a difficult target, we choose bond disconnections that primarily maximize skeletal simplification, especially when the proposed chemistry is poorly precedented or completely unknown. By choosing such a strategy—rather than adapting an approach to fit known reactions—innovation and invention become the primary goal of the total synthesis. Delivery of the target molecule in a concise and convergent manner is the natural consequence of such endeavors, and invention becomes a prerequisite for success.Keywords
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