Domino Reactions in Organic Synthesis

Lutz F. Tietze studied chemistry at the universities of Freiburg and Kiel, Germany and obtained his doctorate under the supervision of Prof. B. Franck in 1968. He then worked as a research associate with Prof. G. Buchi at MIT, Cambridge, USA, as well as with Prof. A. Battersby in Cambridge, UK. Since 1978 he has been Professor and Head of the Institute of Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry at the Georg-August-University in Gottingen. His research focuses on the development of efficient and selective synthetic methods, combinatorial chemistry, the total synthesis of natural products and the design of new selective anticancer agents. Professor Tietze has been awarded several prizes, including the award for his book on Reactions and Syntheses by the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, the Grignard-Wittig Prize of the Societe Francaise de Chimie and the highly prestigious Emil Fischer Medal of the German Chemical Society. He is President of the German Zentralverband der Chemie and a member of the Council of the German Research Association. He has over 360 papers, 31 patents and three books to his name. Gordon Brasche, born in 1976 in Wernigerode, Germany, studied chemistry at the University of Gottingen, gaining his diploma and doctorate under the supervision of Prof. Tietze with a thesis on the synthesis of new highly active analogous of spinosynes. During his doctorate he worked as a teaching assistant for medical and advanced organic chemistry students. Kersten Matthias Gericke, born in 1976 in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, studied chemistry at the University of Gottingen. He gained his diploma and doctorate under Prof. Tietze, achieving several total syntheses of biological highly potent anthraquinone antibiotics. He also was a teaching assistant for medical and advanced organic chemistry students.