In memoriam Andre S. Dreiding.

In his talk at the 49th Burgenstock Conference on Stereochemistry, the author paid tribute to Andre S. Dreiding, the founder of this event.

Synthesis and catalysis.

Research projects of the Department of Chemistry, University of Basel are reviewed ranging from the synthesis of complex natural products to the development of metalorganic catalysts and organocatalysts.

Bioorganic and bioinorganic chemistry.

The interdisciplinary projects in bioinorganic and bioorganic chemistry of the Department of Chemistry, University of Basel led to the preparation of new systems that mimic biologically important processes and to the discovery of compounds from natural sources which are very promising with respect to medical applications. The advances in these areas are reported here.

Asymmetric synthesis and biological activity of nor-α-tocopherol, a new vitamin E analogue.

The vitamin E analogues (2R,4'R,8'R)-nor-α-tocopherol (94 % de) and (2RS,4'R,8'R)-nor-α-tocopherol have been synthesized from (all R)-hexahydrofarnesol and phytol, respectively. According to in vitro experiments with murine macrophages nor-α-tocopherol is an anti-inflammatory compound more potent than α-tocopherol.