Stereochemistry [antikvár]

Foreword Stereochemistry now covers a wide range of topics and during the period 1950-1980 there has been an explosive growth in many areas of the subject. This leap forward was certainly initiated by Barton's discovery of the principles of conformational analysis (1950). These satisfying generalizations were enthusiastically welcomed because organic chemistry was just at a point in its development where there was clearly an urgent need to understand the factors which influence the conformational behaviour of moleciiles. Much experimental information was available which was in need of general correlation and after this had been achieved it was then possible for rapid progress to be made in a number of directions. These new areas of interest which were generated have continued to be included under the general heading of stereochemistry. One of the most spectacular achievements of conformational analysis was the interpretations which it provided of the stereo-electronic aspects of chemical change. This made it possible to propose reliable rationalizations of many aspects of chemical reactions which were exhibited by alicyclic compounds. The initial success by Barton in understanding the reactions of cyclohexane derivatives was rapidly extended to include small, medium and large membered carbocycles as weU as heterocycles. The interaction between conformational analysis and the earlier studies by Hughes and Ingold (1935-1953) of the mechanism of nucleophilic aliphatic substitution reactions was directly responsible for many of the important developments which have taken place subsequently in physical organic chemistry. The examination of the stereochemistry of organic reactions is now a recognized approach in the investigation of the mechanism of organic reactions. The principles of conformational analysis, in association with an appreciation of the stereo-electronic features of reaction mechanisms, have had a profound influence on the design of new synthetic methods which are either stereoselective or stereospecific. Efficient stereocontrol in the total synthesis of compounds with complex acyclic or cyclic chiral molecules is now a