Formal Synthesis
A formal synthesis describes not the synthesis of the desired end product but the synthesis of a compound that is already known from the literature to be a precursor to that desired end product. If it is known from the literature that B can be converted to C then a novel route from compound A to compound B is a formal proof that A can also give access to C.
Read more about this topic: Total Synthesis
Famous quotes containing the words formal and/or synthesis:
“The manifestation of poetry in external life is formal perfection. True sentiment grows within, and art must represent internal phenomena externally.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)
“It is not easy to construct by mere scientific synthesis a foolproof system which will lead our children in a desired direction and avoid an undesirable one. Obviously, good can come only from a continuing interplay between that which we, as students, are gradually learning and that which we believe in, as people.”
—Erik H. Erikson (20th century)