Explore periodate cleavage, retrosynthesis, and green chemistry in this 46-minute lecture from Yale University's Freshman Organic Chemistry II course. Learn about the historical importance of periodic acid in structure determination of sugars before spectroscopy. Discover various methods for synthesizing alcohols using organometallic and hydride reagents, considering competing processes. Examine the Wittig olefination for converting carbonyl groups to alkenes with control over constitutional isomerism. Investigate the pharmaceutical industry's efforts to develop environmentally friendly solvents and reagents. Dive into topics including vicinal diol cleavage, alcohol synthesis design, Grignard reagent reactions, and the principles of green chemistry.