1. 1. General 1. 1. 1. Biaryls-Structural and Biosynthetic Variety The biaryl axis is the joint central structural element of a broad variety of structurally (in particular stereochemically) and biosynthetically inter esting as well as pharmacologically promising natural products. The increasing importance of this challenging class of secondary metabolites, its widespread occurrence, its pharmacological implications, and, in particular, the phenomenon of axial chirality, have so far been largely underestimated, if not neglected. This is reflected by the fact that there is as yet no true...