oa Editorial of Part I by Stefan Chassaing

(Poly)phenols1 are, in my opinion, the most investigated family of natural products. Research into their occurrence, their (bio)organic (hemi)syntheses, their physicochemical properties, their biological effects so as their industrial use are indeed highly documented in the literature. Accordingly, (poly)phenols represent nowadays a very relevant family of natural products whose peculiarity clearly relies on its close connection to many fields of organic chemistry, ranging from phytochemistry (i.e., natural product chemistry), through physical, analytical and bio-organic chemistries, to organic synthesis. This unique multi-disciplinary feature of (poly)phenol chemistry is thus highlighted in the present Hot Topic Special Volume entitled ‘(POLY)PHENOL CHEMISTRY’ and consisting of two consecutive issues: (i) Part I - Organic Synthesis; (ii) Part II - Physicochemical Properties & Biological Implications. Gathering in-depth contributions of 9 experts in (poly)phenol chemistry from diverse (but interdependent!) chemical ‘horizons’, this Special Volume aims at exhibiting the undisputed importance of (poly)phenols to organic chemistry. The present issue, namely Part I - Organic Synthesis, contains 5 contributions of synthetic relevance, each contribution (the last one excepted) reviewing the current strategies and methods for the synthesis of a peculiar type of (poly)phenolic architectures. To the best of my knowledge, such an issue gathering together reviews related only to synthetic aspects of (poly)phenols is unprecedented in the literature. In this regard, this issue intends to make both specialists and non-specialists aware of the unique and wide chemical reactivity exhibited by the huge array of (poly)phenolic scaffolds elaborated by Mother Nature. First, Peter LANGER (Universitat Rostock, Rostock, Germany) et al. offer a mini-review summarizing the synthetic applications of an elegant [3+3] cyclocondensation-type approach for constructing highly functionalized phenols from acyclic (and thus non-aromatic!) precursors.....