Written by a leading expert in the field, this is a comprehensivereview of the methods for preparing stereochemically definedfluorine-containing compounds of biomedical importance. Fluorinated organic compounds are well known for their unusualreactivity but the growing importance of these compounds in thebiomedical field has been accompanied by an increasing awareness ofthe necessity to synthesise and explore the biological propertiesof stereochemically defined fluoro-compounds. This is the firstbook written on this exciting area of research. It contains: * detailed reviews on stereocontrolled synthesis of biologicallyimportant compounds * 21 chapters covering the main areas of asymmetric synthesis andbiocatalysts where fluorine plays a key role * mechanisms and methods for synthesizing fluoro-organiccompounds Written for professionals involved in organic, physical andorganofluorine chemistry, natural product synthesis, biological,pharmaceutical and other life science related industries.

Recently there has been a tremendous growth in the chemistry of fluoroorganic compounds, which find wide applicatiori in various fields of technique and are used to solve some basic theoretical problems. The chemical properties of these compounds are rather specific, as well as the methods for their preparation. We realized that no good handbooks on the preparation offluoro organic compounds were available, whereas the methods of pre paration are scattered in numerous scientific papers and patents. Even such a well-known publication as Organic Syntheses contains just a few methods of preparation of fluoroorganic compounds. As a consequence, not only for newcomers but even for specialists, searching for simple and convenient methods for the preparation of the required compounds is tedious. To alleviate the problem, we undertook to prepare this book, which presents detailed preparation methods of more than 300 flu oro organic compounds. Emphasis has been laid on syntheses of polyfluorinated compounds, since they are of major interest with respect to preparation and utility. Preparation of fluoroorganic compounds is based both on the classical methods of organic chemistry and on the specific ones, which is due to the difficulty or even impossibility of the direct introduction of fluorine into a definite position of organic mole cule. Most organic compounds of fluorine are prepared by a suc cession of conversions of a relatively small number of starting compounds.

Detailed descriptions of syntheses of fluoro organic compounds are presented. Attention is paid primarily to the methods of synthesizing polyfluorinated compounds, since it is namely these substances that are of greatest interest, both from the procedural and practical point of view. In selecting methods, the authors strove, on the one hand, to offer descriptions for the derivation of such compounds, that can serve as initial products for further syntheses, and, on the other, illustrate as completely as possible the main procedures in fluoro organic chemistry. This report deals with aliphatic fluoro compounds. The description of synthesis for each compound is preceded by an enumeration of its physical characteristics and other methods of its derivation.

In this handbook, Peer Kirsch clearly shows that this exciting field is no longer an exotic area of research. Aimed primarily at synthetic chemists wanting to gain a deeper understanding of the fascinating implications of including the highly unusual element fluorine in organic compounds, the main part of the book presents a wide range of synthetic methodologies and the experimental procedures selected undeniably show that this can be done with standard laboratory equipment. To round off, the author looks at fluorous chemistry and the applications of organofluorine compounds in liquid crystals, polymers and more besides. This long-awaited book represents an indispensable source of high quality information for everyone working in the field.