Oleg I. Kolodiazhnyi, Phosphorus Ylides Nobody could have imagined how useful and versatile phosphorus ylides could be, when Wittig first developed and described this class of compounds. This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date compilation of the chemistry and applications of phosphorus ylides in organic synthesis. Phosphorus ylides are discussed as reagents in the synthesis of a broad range of substances, amongst them olefins, acetylenes, cyclic and heterocyclic compounds, naturally occuring compounds like pheromones, steroids and carotenoids, and pharmaceutically and biologically active compounds such as antibiotics and prostaglandins. A special beneficial feature of this book is about 150 key experimental procedures with all necessary data. So bitten by the new idea you can start immediately on the preparation without having an extremely time-consuming literature search. But should the search be inevitable, about 2500 references (till 1998) supply an easy access to the primary literature. No doubt, every chemist in academia and industry working in organic, bioorganic, inorganic, and medicinal chemistry will welcome this book as an inspiration of concepts, ideas and practical syntheses.