Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 20, 2026

Synthesis and Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Oligo-peptoids
Published on: February 21, 2018
The enterprise of synthesis: from concept to practice
1Department of Chemistry, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville Montréal, Québec H3C 3J7, Canada. stephen.hanessian@umontreal.ca
Abstract:
A retrospective account of natural products synthesis adopting the Chiral Synthon (Chiron) Approach and spanning nearly 50 years of personal research activity is presented highlighting the interplay between the eye and the mind's eye. Synthesis planning is discussed in terms of visual relational and visual reflexive thinking modalities relying on the recognition of naturally occurring nonracemic starting materials such as amino acids, carbohydrates, hydroxy acids, and terpenes in the carbon framework of target molecules. Lessons learned and synthetic methods developed are discussed in the context of selected natural products covered in this Perspective.
Related Concept Videos
Synthetic Biology
Golden rice
Golden rice is a genetically modified...
Synthesis and Decomposition Reactions
Synthesis of α-Substituted Carbonyl Compounds: The Stork Enamine Reaction
Dehydration Synthesis
Dehydration synthesis (also called a condensation reaction) is the chemical process in which two molecules covalently link together to form a new molecule, along with the release of a water molecule. Many physiologically important compounds form by dehydration synthesis reactions, such as complex carbohydrates, proteins, DNA, and RNA.
Synthesis of carbohydrates
Sugar molecules are covalently linked together by dehydration synthesis. During the reaction, the hydroxyl (-OH) group from...
ATP and Macromolecule Synthesis
Most macromolecules are composed of single subunits, or building blocks, called monomers. The monomers combine with each other using covalent bonds to form larger molecules known as polymers.
Conversion of...
The Synapse

