Retrosynthetic analysis is a technique for solving problems in the planning of organic syntheses. This is achieved by transforming a target molecule into simpler precursor structures regardless of any potential reactivity/interaction with reagents. Each precursor material is examined using the same method. This procedure is repeated until simple or commercially available structures are reached. These simpler/commercially available compounds can be used to form a synthesis of the target molecule. Retrosynthetic analysis was used as early as 1917 in Robinson's Tropinone total synthesis. Important conceptual work on retrosynthetic analysis was published by George Vladutz in 1963. E.J. Corey formalized and popularized the concept from 1967 onwards in his article General methods for the construction of complex molecules and his book The Logic of Chemical Synthesis.