8.9 An Introduction to Organic Synthesis
There are many reasons for carrying out the laboratory synthesis of an organic compound. In the pharmaceutical industry, new organic molecules are designed and synthesized in the hope that some might be useful new drugs. In the chemical industry, syntheses are done to devise more economical routes to known compounds. In academic laboratories , the synthesis of complex molecules is sometimers done purely for the intellectual challenge involved in mastering is difficult a subject. The successful synthesis route is a highly creative work that is sometimes described by such subjective terms as elegant or beautiful.
In this book , too , we will often devise syntheses of molecules from simpler precursors . our purpose , however , is pedagogical . the ability to plan a workable synthetic sequence requires knowledge of a variety of organic reactions. Furthermore , it requires the practical ability to fit together the steps in a sequence such that each reaction does only what is desired without causing changes elsewhere in the molecule. Working synthesis problems is an excellent way to learn organic chemistry.
Some of the syntheses we plan may seem trivial. Here’s an example.