Terpene

The introduction outlines the significance of terpenes, their building principle known as the isoprene rule, and their biogenesis. This is followed by an overview of the most well-known terpenes, organized by the number of isoprene units and basic skeletons, detailing their occurrence in plants and other organisms, as well as their biological and pharmacological effects where applicable. Another section describes selected total syntheses of well-known mono-, sesqui-, di-, and triterpenes, chosen based on didactic and methodological criteria, including industrial processes for the production of certain monoterpene fragrances and vitamin A. Systematic retrosynthetic breakdowns, which can be easily understood with basic knowledge of organic chemistry, provide insight into the synthesis strategies. A concluding chapter focuses on the isolation and structural elucidation of terpenes and outlines the process.