The Logic of Chemical Synthesis: Multistep Synthesis of Complex Carbogenic Molecules (Nobel Lecture)

“Chemical synthesis is uniquely positioned at the heart of chemistry, and its impact on our lives and society is all-pervasive.” Elias James Corey expresses this opinion in his Nobel Lecture, in which he discusses the origin and development of his contributions leading to the award of the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1990. His concept of retrosynthetic analysis revolutionized both the practice and teaching of organic chemistry. His application of computers to synthetic planning was pioneering. The numerous synthetic methods developed by him and his co-workers have proven invaluable in organic synthesis. Finally, the total syntheses carried out in his laboratories—for example, the synthesis of gibberellic acid and of ginkgolide B—are milestones in the breathtaking development of organic synthesis over the last thirty years.