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Chemistry · Glossary

What is Total synthesis?

Also known as: formal synthesis · semisynthesis

Definition 30.1 University Chemistry — Year 3 · Chapter 30 — Total Synthesis: Strategy and Classic Routes

A total synthesis makes a complex molecule, often a natural product, from simple commercial compounds. A formal synthesis makes an intermediate of an earlier total synthesis, completing the route on paper. A semisynthesis starts from a natural compound already close to the target.

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