Asymmetric synthesis is an integral part of synthetic organic chemistry. Some of the reactions in this book were known prior to 1980, while several new ones, particularly catalytic asymmetric reactions, have been discovered in the recent years. The impact of this new class of reactions has been impressively extensive—both on organic and medicinal chemistry. These reactions have been accepted whole-heartedly by synthetic organic chemists in developing shorter routes for complex natural targets as well as in the manufacture of a wide range of drug intermediates.

Tharmaraj Ramakrishnan is Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Ramapuram Campus, Chennai, India. Tharmaraj completed his PhD in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the National Institute of Technology Warangal, India. In the past, Tharmaraj worked as Post Doctoral Research Fellow at the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland. His area of research interests are metal matrix composites, friction welding, and powder metal forming.

PM Gopal is Assistant Professor in the Centre for Material Science, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore. He completed his master’s in production engineering and PhD in mechanical engineering (in the area of MMC) at Anna University Regional Campus Coimbatore under Anna University Chennai. His areas of interest include MMC, additive manufacturing, and waste management. He has published more than 40 articles and ten book chapters in the area of composite fabrication, property analysis, and machining.