Example
An example will allow the concept of retrosynthetic analysis to be easily understood.
In planning the synthesis of phenylacetic acid, two synthons are identified. A nucleophilic "-COOH" group, and an electrophilic "PhCH2+" group. Of course, both synthons do not exist per se; synthetic equivalents corresponding to the synthons are reacted to produce the desired product. In this case, the cyanide anion is the synthetic equivalent for the -COOH synthon, while benzyl bromide is the synthetic equivalent for the benzyl synthon.
The synthesis of phenylacetic acid determined by retrosynthetic analysis is thus:
- PhCH2Br + NaCN → PhCH2CN + NaBr
- PhCH2CN + 2 H2O → PhCH2COOH + NH3
In fact, phenylacetic acid has been synthesized from benzyl cyanide, itself prepared by the analogous reaction of benzyl chloride with sodium cyanide.
Read more about this topic: Retrosynthetic Analysis
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