In total synthesis

Total synthesis

In organic chemistry, a total synthesis is, in principle, the complete chemical synthesis of complex organic molecules from simpler pieces, usually without the aid of biological processes. In practice, these simpler pieces are commercially available in bulk and semi-bulk quantities, and are often...

, the Quinine total synthesis describes the efforts in synthesis of quinine

Quinine

Quinine is a natural white crystalline alkaloid having antipyretic , antimalarial, analgesic , anti-inflammatory properties and a bitter taste. It is a stereoisomer of quinidine which, unlike quinine, is an anti-arrhythmic...

 over a 150 year period. The development of synthetic quinine is considered a milestone in organic chemistry

Organic chemistry

Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...

 although it has never been produced industrially as a substitute for natural occurring quinine. The subject has also been attended with some controversy: in 2001 Gilbert Stork

Gilbert Stork

Gilbert Stork is a U.S. organic chemist. He is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemistry Emeritus at Columbia University. The Stork enamine synthesis is named in his honor.-Education:...

 published the first stereoselective quinine synthesis and he shed doubt (calling it a myth) on the earlier claim in 1944 by Bob Woodward

Robert Burns Woodward

Robert Burns Woodward was an American organic chemist, considered by many to be the preeminent organic chemist of the twentieth century...

 and William Doering on account that they had obtained not quinine but a precursor molecule.