Cover Picture: Allylsilanes in Organic Synthesis − Recent Developments (Eur. J. Org. Chem. 15/2004)

The cover picture shows the “Dune of Pyla”, the highest sand dune in Europe (105 m high, 2.7 km long and 500 m wide). It is situated 70 km away from Bordeaux, where part of the research described in the Microreview by Landais et al. on p. 3173 ff. was performed. The dune is composed of 60 million m3 of sand (silicates). Silicon is the second most abundant element inside the earth crust [O2 (46%), Si (28%), Al (8%)] and is essentially present in nature as its oxidized form (SiO2). Synthetic organosilicon compounds, and more particularly allylsilanes, are very common and useful organometallic intermediates for organic synthesis. Such synthons are of economical importance due to the abundance of silicon, and are of environmental concern due to the low toxicity of organosilicon by‐products.