Total synthesis, which involves the construction of complex organic molecules from simpler starting materials, has made remarkable progress in the past fifty years. Despite this, the demand for new synthetic routes capable of generating large natural products for further biological studies remains high. A team of chemists has now identified the abandonment of the routine use of'protecting' groups in synthesis as a way of satisfying this demand. Protecting groups are often used to mask reactive parts of a molecule while chemical transformations take place elsewhere in that molecule.
展开▼
