The structure of Reserpine was solved by 1953. R.B. Woodward’s group reported the first synthesis of Reserpine in 1956 (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 78, 2023, 2657 (1956); Tetrahedron, 2, 1 (1958)). His scholar...The structure of Reserpine was solved by 1953. R.B. Woodward’s group reported the first synthesis of Reserpine in 1956 (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 78, 2023, 2657 (1956); Tetrahedron, 2, 1 (1958)). His scholarly analysis clearly displayed aspects of retroanalysis, which was just evolving at that time. This synthesis commands admiration for the way he used conformational analysis and stereoelectronic effects to precisely develop the stereopoints in this exceedingly complex problem for that time.
