The prodigious growth of knowledge in the chemical sciences of the 20th century continues in the 21st. Accretive and gradual, more like a growing ocean wave than a consequence of dramatic or revolutionary changes, the advance is particularly significant in synthetic chemistry because of its centrality and value to society. For more than a century the rate of progress in synthetic chemistry has been such that every 15 years, or so, problems could be solved that were too difficult for scientists in the preceding period. The subject matter of this book provides abundant evidence of the increasing power of chemistry in recent years. It is a remarkable story considering that even in the mid-20th century the ability to control the absolute stereochemical course of chemical reactions seemed beyond reach. Chemists have been keenly aware for more than 100 years of the awesome catalytic power of nature’s catalysts, the enzymes, to produce complex organic molecules with complete stereocontrol, including absolute configuration. Yet, it is only now that centamolecular catalysts (molecular weights in the hundreds) are being created by chemists that begin to rival the much larger and more complex enzymes of biochemistry.

In Part I of this book we have tried to present clearly, comprehensively and concisely the most useful enantioselective processes available to synthetic chemists. Part II provides an extensive discussion of the most logical ways to apply these new enantioselective methods to the planning of syntheses of stereochemically complex molecules. This hitherto neglected area is essential for the advancement of enantioselective synthesis to a more rational and powerful level. Finally, Part III describes in detail many reaction sequences which have been used successfully for the construction of a wide variety of complex target molecules.

Our goal in writing this book has been to make accessible to researchers and students of synthetic chemistry the vast and still-expanding field of enantioselective synthesis in the hope that this fascinating area of chemistry can more readily be mastered.

Many scientific colleagues have perused pre-publication versions of this book. We have been encouraged by their very positive comments. It would be gratifying if this book empowers students and colleagues all over the world and accelerates progress in synthetic chemistry.

E.J. Corey & László Kürti
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
August 2010

You can read a sample of our work here.