Isolated Pyranones: Multifaceted Building Blocks for Molecular Diversity covers the latest findings on synthesis and chemical reactivity of highly functionalized pyran-2-ones and pyran-4-ones, their reduced analogs and compounds derived from them through chemical reactions, and their applications in drug discovery and material sciences. It covers the mechanisms of the reaction and step by step formation of final products. Numerous pyranones from natural and synthetic origins, as well as their derived products, have shown diverse pharmacological activities and some are in clinical use. The applications of these compounds are not limited to drug development and imaging agents, and they are also used in material science as organic semiconductors, liquid crystals, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic catalysts, solid state lasers, photovoltaic and photoconductive devices. The book is ideal for organic, bioorganic, physical, material and natural product chemists working to generate diverse molecular entities through ring transformation reactions of pyranones, and those working in material science to generate new chemical entities. – Includes various synthetic methodologies for generating molecular diversity- Covers the applications of functionalized pyranones as substrates for generating new molecular entities such as arenes, heteroarenes, oligoarenes, spiroarenes, and condensed-oligoarenes through base-induced ring transformation, substitution-cyclization and cycloaddition reactions- Discusses numerous compounds derived from pyranones that are useful as organic semiconductors, liquid crystals, organic catalysts, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), solid state lasers, photovoltaic and photoconductive devices