The first systematic review of the naturally occurring lignans was presented by Professor R.D. Haworth in his Tilden lecture of 1942. There have been a number of subsequent review articles, notably that by W.M. Hearon and W.S. MacGregor in 1955. Their chemistry was covered in a collection of learned reviews published in honour of Professor L.R. Row by Andhra University Press in 1978. The present work is the first to cover the whole field of lignan chemistry including the application and promise of lignans as pharmaceutical agents. It is anticipated that expansion will continue through the application of modern methods of chromatography including HPLC, combined with the use of 2D-NMR and NOE for structure evaluation. These techniques are of especial relevance to the study of oligomeric lignans which are touched upon in the text.

The principal classes are defined in Chapter 1 with an explanation of the system of nomenclature that has been adopted. The contribution of Dr G.P. Moss who took on the considerable task of rationalising the often conflicting systems is gratefully acknowledged. It is hoped that readers who find that we have diverged from their own preference will accept that changes had to be made in order to be self-consistent. The system used throughout the book evolved with the help of some twenty active researchers who kindly responded to our requests for criticism of draft proposals.

Chapter 2 is a registry of lignans described up to April 1988 and includes at least one leading literature reference and plant source for each entry.