With the rapid developments in spectroscopic techniques and accompanying advances in high-throughput screening techniques, it has become possible to isolate and then rapidly determine the structures and biological activity of natural products, hence the importance of this book.
Atta-ur-Rahman, Professor Emeritus, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (H. E. J. Research Institute of Chemistry and Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research), University of Karachi, Pakistan, was the Pakistan Federal Minister for Science and Technology (2000-2002), Federal Minister of Education (2002), and Chairman of the Higher Education Commission with the status of a Federal Minister from 2002-2008. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London (FRS) and an UNESCO Science Laureate. He is a leading scientist with more than 1283 publications in several fields of organic chemistry.