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Synthesis is a purposeful execution of chemical reactions to obtain the desired product.

Syntheses come in all tastes and sizes, from a single reaction to tedious, multi-step processes, involving purification of numerous intermediates. Almost the entire division of natural product chemistry is devoted to the stereoselective synthesis of the vast natural product library.

Typically, long and complex syntheses are preceded by retrosynthetic analyses, deciding which steps to perform in which order, where to cut the molecule apart into fragments and which carbon-carbon bonds need to be formed during this process.

Applicability of the synthesis tag:

• synthesis should be applied to all questions relating to a synthesis, from short 2 step sequences, to long 50 step total syntheses
  • The tag may be applied to both published syntheses, or hypothetical ones
  • The tag may be applied in both the forward sense (syntheses), or the reverse sense (retrosynthesis).
  • The tag should not be applied to simple reactions such as the formation of hydrogen by acidic oxidation of metals.
  • The tag should not be applied to synthesis-golf questions.
• Depending on the nature of the synthesis, organic-chemistry or inorganic-chemistry should also be applied to the question to further define the area of synthesis being discussed.
• Additional tags such as reaction-mechanism or stereochemistry may also be applied, if the question is asking about a specific aspect of the synthesis, e.g. 'why does step 5 give the 1,2-anti stereochemistry from the aldol reaction'

Related tags:

The following tags are related to synthesis, with multiple questions on chemistry.se already tagged with one of more of the following which may be useful as additional tags on questions identified as being related to organic chemistry:

organic-chemistry inorganic-chemistry reaction-mechanism stereochemistry