Harnessing Strain for Chemical Synthesis - The Cyclopropane Angle

Cyclopropanes are the smallest and most strained monocyclic ring systems known in organic chemistry and yet they are often easily prepared and possess high kinetic stability. Furthermore their chemical behaviours are usually orthogonal to those of other functionalities with the result that they can be carried through multiple chemical steps with impunity but at the appointed time engaged in a remarkable array of rather specific ring opening and related reactions. As such they have unique capacities to serve as highly effective building blocks in the synthesis of a wide range of otherwise difficult to access and biologically active molecular frameworks, possibilities that will be the focal point of the research proposed here.