Editorial pubs.acs.org/CR
Introduction: Small Heterocycles in Synthesis Biography
POWER OF STRAIN IN HETEROCYCLES When I was asked to serve as the guest editor for a special issue of Chemical Reviews dedicated to small heterocycles, I immediately jumped at this unique chance to sift through the recent literature and identify areas of inquiry where small rings have left their mark. Although I suspected it before I embarked on this journey, the process of assembling a great team of contributors was a testament to the lasting value of strained heterocycles across different areas of chemistry. As part of this collection of articles, the readers will find Ohno’s account of the delicate electronic interplay that exists between the double bond and the aziridine ring, Rivard’s captivating paper dedicated to inorganic hetero-
Professor Andrei K. Yudin received his undergraduate degree at the Moscow State University in 1992. He then worked in the laboratories of G. K. S. Prakash and George A. Olah at USC, where he received his Ph.D. in 1996. Following postdoctoral training in the laboratory of K. Barry Sharpless at Scripps, Dr. Yudin started his independent career at the University of Toronto in 1998. He became an Associate Professor in 2002, which was followed by promotion to the rank of a Full Professor in 2007. Since 2011, Professor Yudin has served as an Associate Editor for Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry (a publication of the Royal Society of Chemistry, U.K.). He is an internationally renowned scholar who has created new molecules that serve as powerful tools used for chemical synthesis. His concept of “forced orthogonality” has enabled the development of entirely new classes of compounds, previously thought to be too unstable to be used as practical reagents. Yudin has also been active in translating these fundamental discoveries into applications that impact the fields of chemistry, biology, and medicine. Professor Yudin has been recognized with a number of awards. Most recently, he became a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (U.K.) and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (Academy of Science).
cycles, Luisi’s foray into the aspects of stereocontrol in aziridine synthesis, Lectka’s expertly written account of β-lactam chemistry, Mangelinckx’s impressive manuscript dealing with (carboxymethyl)aziridine transformations, Yoon’s thorough treatment of recent advances in the chemistry of oxaziridines, Chiu’s reflection on the fascinating area of vinyl epoxide chemistry, Coates’ paper describing the role of epoxides in polymerization reactions, Doyle’s account of the rapidly expanding area of transition metal-catalyzed transformations of three-membered rings, Shi’s paper that describes organocatalytic epoxidation and aziridination reactions, Carreira’s manuscript that teaches some valuable lessons in the area of four-membered ring containing spirocycles, and our own attempt at emphasizing the unique role of small heterocycles in multicomponent reactions. While the last sentence is similar in length to those found in Marcel Proust’s novels, I do hope that the reader will appreciate the continuing importance of strained rings in chemical synthesis and will take this opportunity to learn from the stellar collection of articles that is being offered. The list of applications of strained rings indeed appears to be never-ending, and I would like to thank all of the contributors for making this special issue of Chemical Reviews a reality.
Yudin Andrei Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto
AUTHOR INFORMATION Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not
Special Issue: 2014 Small Heterocycles in Synthesis
necessarily the views of the ACS.
Published: August 27, 2014
© 2014 American Chemical Society
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/cr500323m | Chem. Rev. 2014, 114, 7783−7783
