Copper is one of the oldest transition metals to be used in synthetic organic chemistry. Starting in the 60's, organocopper reagents became among the most popular synthetic tools in the total synthesis of natural product. This is due to the ease of handling and to the chemo-, regio-and stereoselectivities attained with these reagents. Their unique properties for the conjugate addition, for the clean S N 2 substitution, for the mild opening of epoxides, for the carbometallation of triple bonds, etc . . . makes them unavoidable reagents for these synthetic transformations.
Over the years, a whole family of reagents evolved with increased selectivity and reactivity. ''Homocuprates'', ''heterocuprates'', ''higher order cuprates'', ''mixed cuprates'', and others, are terms often employed, and a newcomer chemist may worry about their different properties. Despite a lot of progress in the area of organocopper chemistry there is still a strong lack of knowledge in the mechanistic insights. No reactive intermediates have been trapped, and this ''black box'' was only considered through analogies with other closely related transition metals or, more recently, through extensive calculations. This is to say that all our knowledge about organocopper chemistry did not came by rational design but through empirical way with experimentation.
Over the years, several review articles appeared on organocopper chemistry. Most often, they cover some aspects or some restricted class of reagents, and they are addressed to chemists knowing already the main reactions of organocopper reagents. In contrast to other transition metals, such as Pd, Ni, Rh etc . . . only few books, covering the entire area of organocopper chemistry, have been published. The present book is the most comprehensive and all the most recent advances are extensively discussed: Zn-Cu reagents, Sn and Si-Cu reagents, H-Cu reagents, asymmetric reactions. The reader will learn about the structure of organocopper reagents and about the most updated mechanistic beliefs presently known.
Organocopper chemistry is of wide applicability, very efficient and easy to perform. The main problem is to know the most appropriate reagent to use. The reader will find in this book all the details for the reagent of choice, for the scope and limitations, for the type of substrate needed. This book should be helpful not only to advanced research chemists, but also for teaching this chemistry to younger Modern Organocopper Chemistry.