Book excerpt: The collection of the six contributions of the 7th International Seminar on Modern Synthetic Methods, written by leading experts in their fields, gives an overview on the state of the art, trends, and new accomplishments in solvent effects on chemical transformations, in reactions on surfaces, in the synthesis of oligosaccharides and nucleid acid analogues, and in antibody catalyis. This volume is an invaluable companion to both the active research chemists and the advanced students, fascinated by the world of biologically important compounds and by the creativity in synthetic techniques directed towards their preparation.