Biomimetic Synthesis of Natural Products

In the last three decades the so-called “retrosynthetic” approach to the synthesis of complex organic molecules has been widely deployed.  There are however certain intrinsic limitations in this strategy.  We, with others, have been interested in developing the “biomimetic“ approach, which is based on attempts to mimic the synthetic pathways occurring in living organisms.  The scope and limitations of this strategy will be exemplified by recent examples from our own work.