ABSTRACT
Free-radical technology had to come a long way before it gained its current well-deserved recognition among synthetic chemists. Traditionally, free-radical chemistry has often been neglected for rational synthesis of fine chemicals because of the perception that radicals are uncontrollable and unselective. However, this negative view was revised with the adoption of tributyltin hydride in organic synthesis after it was recognized that reactions involving free radicals can indeed occur with a high degree of regioselectivity and diastereoselectivity. Nevertheless, the first examples of radical reactions that proceed with genuine enantiocontrol were reported only in the mid 1990s.
