An Overview of Oxidizing and Reducing Agents in Total Synthesis

Synthetic organic chemists have a wide range of reagents for the alteration of functional groups in organic compounds and the choice of usage is a continuous challenge especially in the total synthesis of complex molecules. Oxidizing and reducing agents play a vital role in the total synthesis of natural and synthetic molecules having biological importance. In this chapter, we emphasize the recent development of oxidizing and reducing agents in organic chemistry and their importance in the field of synthesis. Heterogeneous nanocatalysts also emerged as powerful catalysts employed in oxidation and reduction and are studied. Definitely, oxidation-reduction in organic synthesis is an odyssey and it has ample association with stereoselectivity, synthetic methods, catalysis, and green chemistry.