Taxol a commonly used anticancer drug is part of a broader family of taxane natural products which includes Canaxpropellane, Taxol's "complicated cousin". We will explore some of the related and unrelated :) history, biochemistry and chemistry facts and trivia.

Even if you are not deeply engaged with total synthesis, I am confident that this video will enrich your understanding of natural sciences.

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00:00 Introduction
00:32 Setting the scene for Canataxpropellane
03:48 Propellane nature, reactivity, utility (bicyclopentanes), history (Ginsberg)
07:55 Simple synthesis of [4.4.2] propellane
10:08 Total synthesis of Canataxpropellane by Professor Gaich and coworkers from the University of Konstanz (retrosynthetic analysis, disconnections, forward synthesis, mechanistic disussions, stereoselectivity)
19:59 Summary

As always, let me know your thoughts on this video and ideas for future ones. Please take a look at my other videos if you are interested and subscribe to the channel if you would like to see more!

Key references:
https://science.sciencemag.org/conten...
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/...

Some recommended books on organic synthesis:
Clayden, Greeves, Warren; Organic Chemistry (basic organic chemistry knowledge)
Wyatt, Warren; Organic Synthesis: The Disconnection Approach (excellent introduction to retrosynthesis)
Kurti, Czako; Strategic Applications of Named Reactions in Organic Synthesis (extensive toolkit of functional group reactions and applications thereof with common conditions)
Nicolaou et al; Classics in Total Synthesis 13 (the ultimate total synthesis trilogy)
Nicolaou; Molecules That Changed the World (the world's most important molecules and their impact on everyday life)
Carreira, Kvaerno; Classics in Stereoselective Synthesis (compilation of the groundbreaking methods of stereoselective synthesis and application to synthesis of stereochemically complex structures)