Can someone tell me, which of the following terms should be used or avoided? (Google shows the presence of all the candidate terms.)

  • synthesis route
  • synthetic route
  • route of synthesis
  • synthesis pathway
  • synthetic pathway

Imagine for example a sentence such as "A new ... was developed."

  • 3
    $\begingroup$ all of these seem pretty acceptable. there is no definitive rule on this $\endgroup$ – bon Mar 25 '15 at 13:40
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    $\begingroup$ In your example, "synthetic route" or "synthetic pathway" would fit best. I suppose it is a matter of personal style, but that's what sounds best to me. $\endgroup$ – ron Mar 25 '15 at 13:41
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I like concision, so I would vote for "A new synthesis was developed." You don't need any extra words in there; the meaning is clear from "synthesis" alone. $\endgroup$ – Curt F. Mar 25 '15 at 15:15
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    $\begingroup$ Synthetic is an adjective, which seems to more naturally modify the following 'pathway' in English. While I am not a native German speaker, my understanding is that combining nouns is natural in that language and as such 'Synthesis Pathway, makes more sense. $\endgroup$ – Lighthart Mar 25 '15 at 17:59
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    $\begingroup$ Ask this question on English SE. $\endgroup$ – Asker123 Apr 26 '15 at 13:54

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