A European Informational Website
learn more
The Nicolaou taxol total synthesis, published by Kyriacos Costa Nicolaou and his group in 1994 concerns the total synthesis of Taxol. This organic synthesis is considered a highlight in organic chemistry. Taxol is an important drug in the treatment of cancer but also expensive because the compound is harvested from a scarce resource, namely the pacific yew. This synthetic route to Taxol is by no means the only one, other groups have presented their own solutions, notably the group of Holton with a linear synthesis starting from Borneol, the Danishefsky group starting from the Wieland-Miescher ketone and the Wender group from Pinene. The Nicolaou synthesis is a good example of convergent synthesis because the molecule is assembled from 3 pre-assembled chunks. Two major parts are cyclohexane rings A and C that are connected by two short bridges creating an 8 membered ring in the middle (ring B). The third pre-assembled part is an amide tail. Ring D is an oxetane ring fused to ring C.