Organic synthesis is essential to creating new materials. While synthetic design has reached a high level of sophistication, many details remain unplannable. To become proficient in organic synthesis, one must study case histories in the same way as a lawyer does. Attention must be paid to overcoming stumbling blocks as one prepares himself to meet future challenges of similar kinds. This book discusses many important syntheses, with emphasis on the need for detours and ways leading back to the main pathways. It thus focuses on one of the most important aspects of organic synthesis, which virtually none of the synoptic literature addresses.
