Current Trends in Organic Synthesis is a collection of papers presented at the Fourth International Conference on Organic Synthesis, held in Tokyo, Japan on August 22-27, 1982. This conference brings together the significant achievements in the diversified frontier fields of organic synthesis. This book is composed of 33 chapters. The first chapters focus on the synthesis of biologically active natural compounds, including metabolites of arachidonic acid, erythromycin A, verrucarins, steroids, anthracyclines, terpenes, yeast alanine t-RNA, beta-lactam antibiotics, and palitoxin. Other chapters deal with the central problems in stereoselective and chiral synthesis, as well as processes of high degree of stereochemical control and asymmetric induction. These chapters also describe chiral pool synthesis by means of carbohydrate precursors. This book also examines the methodologies in organic synthesis using reagents with boron, aluminum, transition metals, silicon, phosphorus, and sulfur. The remaining chapters are devoted to reactions involving radical initiated ring closure, small ring hydrogenolysis, annulene synthesis, vicarious nucleophilic substitution of aromatic hydrogen, and dichlorine monoxide mediated powerful chlorination. This book is of value to organic chemists and allied scientists.