Dead Ends and Detours: Direct Ways to Successful Total Synthesis

Miguel A. Sierra studied chemistry at the UCM (Madrid), receiving his PhD in 1987, after which he was appointed Assistant Professor. After a postdoctoral stay at Colorado State University (Professor Louis Hegedus), he returned to Madrid where he was became Professor in 1990. His research encompasses the development of new processes based on transition-metal complexes, the preparation of new bioorganometallic compounds tailor-made for specific applications in crop protection, and the study of environmental organic processes. Professor Sierra is the secretary of the Madrid regional division of the Spanish Chemical Society and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Maria C. de la Torre studied chemistry at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) where she received her PhD in 1986. After postdoctoral work at Imperial College (under Professor Steven Ley) and Colorado State University (Professor Albert Meyers), she returned to Madrid in 1989 as a scientific researcher at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Her current research interests focus on the chemistry of densely functionalized natural products, and the preparation of natural product hybrids with mixed and/or complementary biological properties.