The Natural Product Chemistry of Terpenoids - a Tribute to the Remarkable Legacy of Academician Pavel Vlad

The purpose of this paper is to put forward concisely some of the most valuable scientific contributions of academician Pavel Vlad and his disciples to the field of natural product chemistry of terpenoids. Under the guidance and with direct contribution of academician Pavel Vlad, new approaches to determining the absolute configuration of a series of labdanic diterpenoids and of converting them into bi-, tri- and tetra- cyclic compounds have been designed. Novel universal methods for synthesizing tetrahydrofurans from 1,4-glycols, olefins from tertiary alcoholic acetates, as well as dienones by means of photodehydrogenation of unsaturated cyclic ketons have been developed by academician Pavel Vlad.