Chemical synthesis

Chemical synthesis is the preparation of chemical compounds from simpler substances through controlled chemical reactions. It can produce natural or novel molecules at laboratory or industrial scale.

Chemical reaction: A process in which substances are transformed into other substances through changes in chemical bonds. Synthesis consists of deliberately chosen reactions that transform starting materials into products.
Retrosynthetic analysis: A planning method that works backward from a target molecule to simpler, commercially available or otherwise accessible precursors. It breaks a target into precursor choices that can guide a forward synthesis.
Total synthesis: The complete laboratory construction of a complex natural product from simpler, usually commercially available, starting materials. It demonstrates how a natural product can be assembled without relying on its biological source.
Chemical analysis: The identification and measurement of the chemical components of a sample. Analysis determines what is present; synthesis deliberately makes compounds.
Reaction mechanism: A stepwise account of the bond changes and intermediates involved in a chemical reaction. Mechanisms help predict whether a proposed route can form the target compound.
Starting material: A substance used as an input in a chemical reaction or synthetic sequence. The identity and availability of starting materials constrain possible routes.
Pharmaceutical chemistry: The study and design of chemical substances used as medicines, including their synthesis and properties. Drug candidates must be synthesized in forms suitable for testing and development.
Biocatalysis: The use of enzymes or whole cells to accelerate chemical reactions. Biocatalysis uses biological catalysts as an alternative to many conventional synthetic methods.
Organic reaction: A chemical reaction involving compounds based on carbon, often with hydrogen and other elements. Many syntheses build carbon frameworks through sequences of organic reactions.
Functional group: A specific group of atoms in a molecule that largely determines its characteristic chemical reactions. Functional groups indicate which transformations can build or modify a target.

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