This book was undertaken for the purpose of bringing together the widely diverse lines of experimental work and thinking which has been expressed but has often been unheard on the title question. It will be clear to the reader that a critical viewpoint has been maintained in assembling the material of this rapidly expanding area of concern to organic chemists. It should be clear, too, that the authors are not purvey ing a singular viewpoint and do not regard the discussions presented as the ultimate word on the subject. In fact, it should be anticipated that many ofthe viewpoints pre sented...

The field of phase transfer catalysis is a tribute to the chemists involved in process development research. Phase transfer catalysis is a solution to numerous cost and yield problems encountered regularly in industrial laboratories. In fact, much of the early work in this area was conducted by industrial chemists although the work was not labelled phase transfer catalysis at the time. We certainly do not intend to minimize the contributions of academic chemists to this field, but it is an unalterable fact that much of the early understanding and many of the early advances came from...

In 1970 I wrote a review article for "Topics in Current Chemistry," surveying the general reaction patterns of transition-metal complexes from the standpoint of organic synthesis. The article seems to have evoked wide interest, and I therefore thought it appropriate to treat the subject more comprehensively in the form of a monograph. Organometallic chemistry is a rapidly growing field of intensive research. In this field, the application of organometallic compounds to organic synthesis is an important subject and many unique synthetic methods have been discovered, especially in the last...

Chemistry was at one time completely described in terms of collision theo ry, in which one molecule collided with another, sometimes producing reac tion. Then came the realization that enzymes which are highly efficient ca talysts, work by way of prior complexation, often stereospecific, which is then followed by chemical reaction. Thus, systems that exhibit "host-guest" relationships, i.e., that show complexing are being looked at an ever in creasing frequency. The cyclodextrins are the first and probably the most important example of compounds that exhibits complex formation. This is a book...

Free Radical Chemistry has a comparatively long history. Before the accep- tance of the quadrivalence of carbon, various attempts were made to prepare trivalent carbon species like methyl and ethyl. Initial investigations involving reaction between alkyl iodides and zinc were thought to be successful but were subsequently branded as failures 2. In fact free methyl and ethyl were transient radicals involved in the reactions, but because of their short lifetimes the radicals were not detected, and only the hydrocarbons formed by dimeri- th sation of the radicals were isolated. At the beginning...

This book was written in the context of the daily confrontation with problems in the utilization of polymeric supports for the synthesis of pep tides. Therefore, views and experiences which usually are not mentioned in scientific journals are collected in these pages. The author has deliberately discussed in detail the possible influence of the polymer phase on the varying reaction conditions in the Merrifield synthesis; this aspect is neglected in most publications dealing with peptide synthesis. However, in view of the growing body of information on the chemistry of polymer-supported...

Metal Vapour Synthesis (MVS) can be defined as; "The use in synthesis of high temper ature gaseous species such as metal atoms by their reactions with themselves or other materials in a condensed phase. " This short book, covering the literature up to the middle of 1979, describes MVS in organic chemistry; i. e. the reactions of metal atoms with various, predominantly organic, substrates in the synthesis and reactivity studies of organic and organometallic compounds. In order to effectively describe all the underlying principles and to present a coesive picture of pertinent metal atom...

More than a decade has passed since the appearance of the last edition of the book "Carbon Monoxide in Organic Synthesis." During the intervening period, the signi ficance of carbon monoxide chemistry has become even more evident. The oil crisis and the ever-present awareness of the constant depletion of the oil reserves have both contributed to a surge in activity. The fact that coal will once again replace oil in the near future as a feedstock source has been an impetus for new efforts in the field of carbon monoxide chemistry. Moreover, older almost neglected processes such as the...

Around 30 years ago the transition metal chemistry received great impulses. In the focus have been reactions of nickel and cobalt and herein especially their carbonyls. Also industrial processes have been developed. When the technical oxidation of ethylene with palladium chloride had been discovered, and a great number oflaboratory reactions, many groups have turned towards this subject. Apart from two important industrial processes - acetaldehyde and vinylacetate from ethylene - a great number of conversions and catalytic reactions with palladium compounds have been researched. Their...