Released in 1995, despite the advances in synthetic methodology, Nicolaou has presented some of the most remarkable and ingenious total syntheses from laboratories of the world's most prominent organic chemists. Molecules adopted include strychnine, prostaglandin, progesterone, vitamin B12, erythronolide B, monensin, endiandric acids, biotin, hirsutene, capnellene, methyl homosecodaphniphyllate, calicheamicin and more.
Nicaolaou has done an incredible favor to make the strategies more understandable and accesible. For each molecule, the total synthesis begins with a thorough retrosynthetic analysis. Sometimes more than one retrosynthetic routes are introduced in order to show the possibilities of finding the most efficient synthesis.
Nicoloau then meticulously describle each step in synthesis with referral to important named reactions such as the Noyori assymmetric reduction, Luche reaction, Johnson Claisen rearrangement, Julia olefination, etc. With such didatic skill and clarity, Nicoloau has taught the gist of synthesizing complex molecules from commercially available building blocks. A great way to use the book and learn organic synthesis would be to write down every single step on a separate piece of paper and understand what each step does in the overall total synthesis. The synthesis steps and important reactions are presented in schemes with blue background sections, with emphasis on asymmetric synthesis, catalysts, stereochemistry and mechanism. Major reaction intermediates are presented at the margin.
Chemical synthesis relies heavily on chemical literature research. Nicoloau also provides numerous references in each total synthesis for further studies and consultation. Nicoloau has made organic synthesis fun and approachable. Every synthetic chemist should own a copy of Nicolaou.