Mehr als nur ein Lehrbuch der Naturstoffsynthese! Dieser Band erkundet verschiedene Synthesestrategien und vergleicht Herangehensweisen, die unabhängig von der jeweiligen Zielverbindung auf viele Synthesewege anzuwenden sind. Es enthält außerdem eine Zusammenstellung von Totalsynthesen sowie alternative Synthesemethoden für bestimmte Verbindungen. Die Autoren betrachten die Entwicklung der Naturstoffsynthese aus historischem Blickwinkel und arbeiten allgemeine Prinzipien heraus. Zu den behandelten Synthesen gehören Klassiker wie Terpene und Alkaloide, aber auch etliche andere interessante Beispiele wie Maytanise, Palytoxin, Brevatoxin B und Indinavir.

Tomas Hudlicky was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and emigrated to the US in 1968. He received his PhD in 1977 under Professor Ernest Wenkert, and subsequently spent a year at the University of Geneva working under Professor Wolfgang Oppolzer on the synthesis of isocomene. He began his academic career in 1978 at the Illinois Institute of Technology, before moving to Virginia tech in 1982 and then the University of Florida in 1995. In 2003, he accepted a chair at Brock University where he is currently professor of organic synthesis and biocatalysis. Professor Hudlicky's research interests include the development of enantioselective synthetic methods, bacterial dioxygenase-mediated degradation of aromatics and the isolation of chiral metabolites for use in asymmetric synthesis.

Josephine Wiley Reed was born and raised in North Carolina, receiving her PhD under Professor David Kingston at Virginia Tech in 1988. She holds a BA in biology with chemistry minor from the Appalachian State University and a BA in English from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. She has taught organic chemistry courses at Virginia Tech and has held the position of Senior Research Associate at Virginia Tech, University of Florida and Brock University since 1989. She has also served as the editorial assistant for the North American Editorial Office of J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans 1 and 2, as a member of the organizing committee for the Symposium on the Latest Trends in Organic Synthesis, and as a consultant to TDC Research, Inc, a custom synthesis company.