Synthesis of Phytohormones, Phytoalexins and Other Biofunctional Molecules of Plant Origin

Abstract

Since ancient times, mankind has utilized higher plants as the sources of foods, clothes, houses, medicinals and so on, which are indispensable for mankind's existence on this planet. Chemists became interested in clarifying the physiology and ecology of higher plants. Studies on natural products of plant origin have prospered for these two centuries, and the field is now called phytochemistry. Chemical studies on physiology of higher plants clarified the roles of various phytohormones in higher plants. Semiochemicals and phytoalexins are important biofunctional molecules in plant ecology. In this chapter we will learn the synthetic chemistry of biofunctional molecules related to higher plants.