Abstract
Synthesis of pheromones, hormones and other bioregulators is discussed summarizing Mori's synthesis of optically active and naturally occurring compounds of biological interests. The reason why Mori began his enantioselective synthesis of natural products is discussed first in connection with the synthesis of (±) -gibberellin A4, (±) -kaur-16-en-19-ol, (±) -juvenile hormone I and (±) -juvabione. His subsequent synthesis of optically active grasshopper ketone and pheromones is then briefly discussed. Application of biocatalysis to enantioselective synthesis, Mori's hall-mark, is summarized to emphasize the usefulness of biocatalysis in synthesizing optically active compounds such as pheromones. The relationships between stereochemistry and pheromone response are summarized. Diversity is the key word of pheromone response. Several examples are given to illustrate that some natural products are optically impure. Finally, recent examples of Mori's pheromone synthesis are given in the cases of (4R, 9Z) -9-octadecen-4-olide (the female sex pheromone of the currant stem girdler) and the stereoisomers of 9-acetoxy-19-methylnonacosane (the female sex pheromone of the screwworm fly).
