Iterative Synthesis in Organic Chemistry

Iterative synthesis is a useful method in organic chemistry, allowing automation of reaction sequences to synthesize nano-scale molecules. This methodology has recently gained importance as it is the prevailing synthetic strategy to build up dendrimers and other supramolecular systems. Iterative pathways open up an approach to the synthesis of monodisperse oligomers or polymeric precursors. Moreover, linear aliphatic molecules constructed of identical building blocks can be assembled. This contribution gives a brief overview of iterative syntheses with emphasis on organic preparative chemistry. In order to elucidate this principle some biological and biochemical examples are given. The scope and limits of selected iterative applications are discussed and compared to other methods.