Book Review pubs.acs.org/OPRD
Pyridines: From Lab to Production C bond formation by cross-coupling procedures and the resulting syntheses of fused-ring pyridines. Chapter 4, as mentioned above, focuses on substituent modifications such as conversions from picolines, pyridinenitriles, carboxaldehydes, acids, etc. However, in none of the three above-mentioned chapters are enzymatic processes (practiced by Lonza on large scale) for hydroxylation of pyridines and other heterocycles mentioned. Later chapters cover formation of reduced pyridines (whether by de novo synthesis or reduction of preformed pyridines), alkaloid synthesis, and a special chapter on fluorinated pyridines. This also includes de novo synthesis as well as functional group replacement. The final two chapters cover pyridine-containing reagents and pyridine synthesis using continuous processes (and covers other heterocycles as well as pyridines). A useful 24-page index completes the book. I would have liked to see, given the length of some chapters, each chapter begin with a list of the chapter contents with subheadings to enable finding your way through the book. In conclusion, this is an excellent compilation of modern pyridine chemistry which will interest all chemistsdiscovery or processwanting to synthesise compounds containing the pyridine functionality. However, readers should not expect much industrial chemistry, just a feast of academic heterocyclic chemistry written by experts.
Pyridines: From Lab to Production. Edited by Eric F. V. Scriven. Academic Press: Oxford, U.K.; Waltham, MA, U.S.A. 2013. 572 + ix pp. £75.00. ISBN 978-0-12-385235-9.
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hose chemists who are interested in the synthesis of pyridine-containing molecules will welcome this new volume in Academic Press’s Best Synthetic Methods series, edited by Eric Scriven, who for a long time was head of R&D at Reilly Tar (now Vertellus) in Indianapolis, that manufactured a wide range of pyridines. Eric is also widely known as an editor of other books on heterocyclic chemistry. One might therefore expect, given the subtitle “From Lab to Production”, that there would be a strong industrial focus. This is not the case, however. Most of the chapter authors are well-known academic heterocyclic chemists of some renown, and all produce highquality chapters. Apart from the Introduction by the editor and R. Murugan from Vertellus (who also contributed chapter 4, Substituent Modifications), chapter 5, Formation of Completely or Partially Reduced Pyridines and Quinolines, by Marudai Balasubramanian, and the last chapter, Synthesis of Heterocyclic Compounds Using Continuous Flow Reactors, by Paul Watts and Charlotte Wiles (also well-known experts in their field), there is little mention of industrial usage. This is not to say that the book is of no interest to process R&D chemists. On the contrary, any process chemist wanting to synthesise any pyridine derivative should consult this handbook for an excellent, up-to-date (to 2012) summary of modern methods for the synthesis of pyridines, which covers the literature since the publication of the Science of Synthesis volume on pyridines in 2005 and Comprehensive Heterocyclic Chemistry III in 2008. Pyridines are such ubiquitous compounds that all working in process R&D in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and colour chemicals, as well as with intermediates, need to be aware of newer methods of pyridine synthesis. This seems to be a hot topic at present, so even Scriven’s volume was unable to include some of the most recent innovations. Two very long chapters form the backbone of the book. The first, chapter 2 on ring synthesis, consists of 138 pages and covers “de novo” synthesis in depth but does not neglect pyridine synthesis from piperidines and dehydro- and tetrahydropyridines, although for the latter the synthesis is usually carried out in the reverse fashion by reduction. This comprehensive chapter includes, as in all the Best Synthetic Methods series, practical experimental procedures for a range of pyridines. I was surprised to find, however, that none of the nearly 300 references included papers from Organic Process Research & Development, particularly in view of the book’s subtitle. The second is an even longer chapter (chapter 3, 220 pages) that covers attachment at ring positions and includes 828 references. Whilst the earlier part of the chapter focuses on introduction of halogens, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur and phosphorous groups, the latter part of the chapter includes C− © 2013 American Chemical Society
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Trevor Laird, Editor AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
Published: September 4, 2013 1217
dx.doi.org/10.1021/op400229w | Org. Process Res. Dev. 2013, 17, 1217−1217
