Chapter 5: Natural Products in Plant Cell Walls: Model Systems to Investigate Complex Natural Products

This chapter takes the complex chemistry of plant cell walls as its starting point. Attempting to delineate the mechanism of formation of aromatic cyclobutanes leads to the development and use of model systems. This enables the complexity of the system to be reduced and for a reasonable hypothesis to be developed. In a wider context, the importance of evolution and morphology is discussed and this leads to a consideration of specialisation in science. The tendency for scientists to work within paradigms they understand and using tools that are available to them is noted and commented upon. It is relevant to consider if such a view allows for the widest possible understanding of a system or just that part of it which is most accessible.