The practical synthesis of vitamin D analogs: a challenge for process research.

New, highly-potent vitamin D analogs have increasingly come under consideration for the treatment of a variety of diseases as diverse as psoriasis, diabetes, renal osteodystrophy, osteoporosis, leukemia, cancer (breast, colon, prostate), AIDS and multiple sclerosis. This review will present recent efforts for the development of practical syntheses of these valuable compounds using the synthetically convergent Lythgoe approach.