Convergence of the Orthogonal: A Tribute to the Imaginative Chemistry of George Barany

Abstract Background Orthogonality was a chemical term advanced nearly 50 years ago by George Barany as a concept guiding protecting group selection in synthetic design. In the succeeding decades, orthogonality has blossomed from this focus to represent an encompassing term of both modern synthetic chemistry and modern biological chemistry. Objective This essay muses on the circumstance of the genesis of orthogonality, and its transition to a ruling concept (now, broadened to include bioorthogonality) that is guiding the emergence and application of new reagents and new reactions for chemical discovery.Orthogonality was a chemical term advanced nearly 50 years ago by George Barany as a concept guiding protecting group selection in synthetic design. In the succeeding decades, orthogonality has blossomed from this focus to represent an encompassing term of both modern synthetic chemistry and modern biological chemistry. This brief essay muses on the circumstance of the genesis of orthogonality, and its transition to a ruling concept (now, broadened to include bioorthogonality ) that is guiding the emergence and application of new reagents and new reactions for chemical discovery.