Borodin, Alexander

This reaction was first reported by the Russian composer-chemist Alexander Borodin Liebigs Ann. Chem., 1861, 119, 121. 

A. D. White, Alexander Borodin full-time chemist, part-time musician , J. Chem. Educ., 1987, 64, 326-327. 

Since its identification in 1872 by Charles-Adolphe Wurtz and Alexander Borodin, the aldol reaction has found immense synthetic utility in the formation of carbon-carbon bonds. The utility of the aldol reaction, however, was typically limited due to the formation of various condensation adducts. The desire to reduce the formation of unwanted byproducts led researchers to investigate modifications to the classical aldol model. One theme which emerged from studies to overcome the limitations to the aldol reaction was the incorporation of more powerful lithium amide bases for the production of kinetic and/or thermodynamic lithium enolates. ... 

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